3. Friends And Hardships
Things at Wharton Academy was moving swiftly along, days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. And soon it was already mid-October and everyone was looking forward to the coming holidays. And for once in his life, Fermat was actually a little sad over how quick time had passed and getting closer to return back to the island. Not that he didn't miss his dad or the Tracy's, but over the past few months he had started to enjoy his stay at Wharton that didn't involve education. The reason behind this positive change was oddly enough because of his roommate Alan. They got along great and shared many similar interests, even though there was huge difference between them as well both in personality and appearance, but the best thing was that they both had this mutual respect for each other. It was hard to explain it, but whenever their opinions clashed they both respected their differences and didn't try and convince or change it. Instead they allowed themselves to be themselves, which was truly rare to find among friends, and could almost be considered friends. Almost, that is.
Fermat learned over course of weeks that even if they were talking and was generally nice to each other (not mentioning the ordinary forced politeness he got with everyone else other than family) Alan was generally secretive about himself and everything about his past. Whenever he mentioned his dad or the Tracys in a conversation Alan's face would turn completely blank and pretend to be interested, but his thoughts were somewhere else entirely. That wasn't all either. His friend's secretiveness not only made him friendless at the academy due to his own impulsive actions and Marcus's shutting him out from the rest of the students, but he wouldn't explain anything about all the things he knew or how he learned it, not even to him. Like that one time they had locked themselves out of their room and Alan managed to pick the lock in manner of minutes with just a pair of bobby pins. Even then his newly found friend would reveal anything to him, which caused Fermat to doubt if they really were as good friends as he wished them to be. But despite his doubts he wasn't going to give up, especially when it seemed that Alan more than anything needed a true friend in his life. And he wanted to be that friend.
Jeff Tracy read through the proposal for Tracy Enterprises before he leaned back in his office chair. The entire morning he had been busy with work proposals and phone meetings and everyone demanded his attention on the minute. So he didn't realize that he was starting to get tired before lunchtime. He closed his eyes and he placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose in exhaustion over the on-going list of things he needed to do as well potential work he was going to do once someone requested International Rescue help.
International Rescue was a secret, non-profit organization that was dedicated to assist people who found themselves in danger. The organization was founded by him and with the help of his sons and employees of his household. The work they did for the world was most of the time successful, but there were also times where they couldn't save everyone who was in danger. No matter how much they tried and wanted to help everyone, there was no possibility to save everyone. Just like he couldn't save his wife and baby son from death.
Jeff opened his eyes and looked around distressed before he found the photograph of his lovely Lucy and his baby boy Alan. In the photo she was holding their son in her arms and looked at the photographer with grin on her face, meanwhile Alan looked more or less confused over what was going on, but that didn't stop him from giving off a gentle smile on his face. It had been thirteen years since they died and it still hurt to think about them till this day.
They all had been on holiday up in the mountains, just having fun in the snow when an avalanche suddenly happened and buried Lucy and Alan alive in the snow. Everyone tried to look for them, but it was useless to find anything in the snow. So they finally gave up trying to find them since there was no way neither of them could have survived the avalanche after being buried in the cold for hours. With a heavy heart he had to tell his sons that their mother and baby brother wasn't coming back. After hearing those news it literally broke his family apart. His sons had not only lost their mother, but also lost a brother. Somehow they still managed to stay strong for each other due to his oldest son Scott, but he couldn't handle it and distanced himself from his sons who each reminded him about the woman and child he lost. It was until Scott and his mother demanded him to step up after Gordon managed to land himself in the hospital after an unfortunate event in the playground. Only then did he managed to snap out of his grief and realized that his other sons still needed him, which ultimately ended with them moving to the island and established IR to help others in need. Jeff never regretted the decision, but he felt terribly guilty for not being able to save Lucy and Alan.
"You would have been sixteen right about now," Jeff mumbled to the picture. "If you were still alive I would bet you would have been quite the firecracker, causing trouble wherever you went. Being a pain to your brothers and probably getting in a lot of verbal fights with Scott and me."
He couldn't help but chuckle over the idea of Alan, the son who resembled his mother the most in both personality and appearance. His hand gently caressed the frame like he was truly touching their faces. He missed them very much and wondered if they were out there somewhere watching out for him and everyone in spirit. If they were he hoped that they were proud of him and would continued watching out for them, giving them hope and courage whenever they needed it.
As he thought this, his thoughts and memories were interrupted by the loud alarm that timbered over the entire island. It signaled that someone was in desperate need of International Rescue's assistance somewhere. And it didn't take long before Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Brains showed up at his office and his office turned into the command center for IR. Once everyone gathered up he and his three sons went to the silos, which lead to the hangar, where they kept all the Thunderbird aircrafts. Then shortly after that they were on their way off to the location where they requested their assistance.
Alan sighed once again. Sitting in class and listening to the dull teacher was almost suffocating him. He understood how important his education was and that the intelligence level for the education at Wharton were at its top, but he already knew and remembered perfectly the subject of the class by heart and listening to it again was just simpler way to put him to sleep. However he had promised Jem that he would at least try and listen and not fall asleep again like he had done many times at his previous schools. So in order to stay awake and at least appear to be listening he did the thing he was good at and mostly enjoyed to do when he was seriously bored, he escaped the boring life of reality and began daydreaming about a life outside the academy. It was nice not thinking about all the things that were going on around him as well as the things that he couldn't explain about himself no matter how much he tried. When he woke up at the hospital four years go everything around him was strange and confusing, but he adapted and figured things out despite not having access to his memories prior to the amnesia. He was happy with how his life turned out, not the part about being forced to attend Wharton Academy, but that didn't stop him for dreaming of another life than his own.
When he began daydreaming he could imagine his life being as adventurous and important as International Rescue or as fans officially called them the Thunderbirds. From the moment he first time saw them on the television he had been amazed by their work and how they put their lives in stake for the sake of others. It was truly admirable and something he wanted to take part of and help others. He had a dream of joining them, but he shook his head by the thought. No way was it possible for him to be a part of such an organization, even in his dreams it seemed so unlikely.
"Mr. Shepard?" an annoyed voice said, interrupting his mindless daydreaming. Alan turned to the direction of the voice and noticed the teacher standing a few feet away from his desk, staring at him with disdain. Alan had no clue what to do, especially since everyone else in the room was staring at the interaction between the two of them. "Are my classes that boring that you can't focus for ten more minutes?"
"…Do you really want me to answer that?" Alan answered innocently. He tilted his head and grinned. The students snickered over his comment, while Fermat looked worried about the whole conversation since he was basically asking to get himself in trouble. The teacher tried her hardest to restrain her aggravation and keep herself calm in front of the class before she said forcefully, "Mr. Shepard, I don't think you understand how lucky you are to get an education here at Wharton Academy because there are many people with your status who would have loved to attend here. I have seen your grades and I must say a student with your intelligence and talent is wasting it all away by daydreaming in classes or skipping classes all together. You should really reconsider you attendance here if you don't even try to make it count to the fullest."
Alan shrugged his shoulders. He had heard the same lecture so many times before that the meaning behind it seemed to lose its purpose. What was the point to do well if you don't really do it for yourself? Everybody have told him to do his best and it will lead you to great results, but he came to realize over time that he did those things not for himself but for everyone else's sake. He shouldn't have to live up to anyone else's expectations other than his own, which was right now not much, but until he had figured it out would it be too much to ask that people got off his back about how he is wasting everything away.
The teacher sighed and showed a disappointed expression on her face, the same kind of expression he had seen multiple times on Jem and Haley, which made him feel like the dirtiest person walking on God's green earth. However he was too stubborn and proud to allow anyone to see his weak side.
"Alright, Mr. Shepard. Your punishment for not listening to my class as well as interrupting it just now will be detention where you will write me a paper on the subject I went through with the rest of the class. And I expect to see the paper at my desk at the end of the day, is that clear?"
"Crystal," Alan replied. Then he turned down to his desk and began opening his notebook quietly. He pulled out a pen and began writing his paper, despite the class not being over, but he figured he could get a head start and at least the teacher wouldn't catch him again for daydreaming and give him more detention. As he wrote everything down his gaze moved shortly to Fermat, who had been sitting next to him, and noticed that his roommate looked worried and possibly disappointed. Normally he wouldn't care or at least appear like he didn't care since he disappointed almost everyone, but he felt this pull in his chest that made him feel even guiltier about it. Fermat was the only person he was relatively close to and could almost be considered his best friend, but he was reluctant to truly open up to the friendship he was presenting him with for several reasons. The most important reason was that he was scared to let Fermat in and allow him to see the truth. The truth about his life and about his missing past was more vulnerable and more of a burden to anyone's knowledge than relief. People would pity him something he couldn't stand or want from anyone, especially from Fermat. However how was he supposed to really become friends with him if he wouldn't allow himself to admit his inner secrets?
"Crap-crap-crap," Scott mumbled to himself the moment he landed Thunderbird 1 in the hangar. The rescue mission in Cleveland was successful like most rescue missions, but he didn't realize the time before him and his family was on their way back to the island. He was over three hours late and from the looks of things there was no way he could make his appointment with one of his good friends from the Air Force he still had contact with. Normally his friend would have been understanding over the fact that he could make it due to work commitments, especially considering his friend also had a job that required much of his time, however he had already skipped out or cancelled on so many appointments at the last minute and his friend was already starting to lose his patience with him.
Scott pulled out his cellphone and hurried off before his dad or any of his younger brothers had time to stop and chat with him. His breath was getting more and more intense as the phone tried to connect the call. It wasn't until someone picked and grunted an irritated hello before he began apologizing.
"I'm sorry for doing this again," Scott said sincerely. "Something came up at the last minute and I didn't have the time to warn you."
"You know, I would have understood that if it happened two or three times, but not when it happens every single time for the last six months!" his friend exclaimed. "The worst part about this is that you can't seem to tell me what exactly you do that keeps you so occupied."
"It's complicated, Jem," Scott sighed. He ran his fingers through his short brown hair before he took a seat on the couch in the living room.
"I can understand complicated," Jem said annoyed. "I'm a police officer, which means things are never easy. However I have at least the decency to give a message in time, not three hours later."
Scott wanted to argue, but he had no good excuse that would help him in this discussion. Jem was one of his closest friends in the Air Force and one of the few people he still managed to keep some contact with, even after he joined the family business and International Rescue together with his family and the rest of the household on the island. However his dedication for his family and work affected greatly his friendship with Jem and they have not been able to catch up with each other entirely for the last four years.
"Look, I know that you have your own things to deal with," Jem replied softly. "But I miss hanging out with you. Sometimes I wonder if you distancing yourself from me is because of your relationship with Haley fell apart."
Scott could feel the warmth on his cheeks, thinking about his ex-girlfriend and Jem younger sister Haley. They were good together back in the day when they were still a couple, but things ended horribly between them due to the same reasons he was having with Jem. The only difference was that there was a whole other reason as to why he couldn't completely commit to her. Anyway even after he and Haley separated he still held warm feelings for her and if he ever believed there was a chance to get back together with her he would do it in a heartbeat, but as the situation was now there was no possibility that would happen if he could barely keep in touch with Jem.
"No, that's not it," Scott tried to reassure. While he continued holding the cellphone against his ear he looked around to see his younger brothers Virgil and Gordon by the pool. Then his dad entered the living room and quietly took the seat next to him and began reading the newspaper. "But listen, I'm very sorry and I hope I can make it up to you."
"How?" Jem snorted. "You don't exactly have a great track record."
"I know-I know," Scott forced himself not to roll his eyes in annoyance. If he didn't know his friend very well it wouldn't be hard to find out that he could hold a grudge if he was determined and it was truly a pain for everyone who was involved. Unfortunately for him this was one of those things Jem had begun holding a grudge against.
"I will be in town next week," Scott said, while eyeing at his dad to confirm his plans. His dad gave him a reassuring smile. He took it as a sign that his dad agreed with his plan and they could manage any rescue mission that might show up fine without him. "How about you give me a time? And we can set up a meeting from there."
The line went strangely quiet and he could almost imagine the gears in Jem's brain turn in order to think over about his proposal. Luckily it didn't take long before Jem agreed to meet him, but he had rearrange his schedule to make it work since he had apparently planned to visit someone on his day off. Scott almost felt bad for causing trouble on Jem's plans, but his friend quickly reassured him that it was alright and his visit was probably not very wanted for some reason.
"Great, then I will see you next week," Scott said with a grin before he hung up the phone. He let out a relived breath and turned to look at his dad, who had this amused expression on his face.
"What?" Scott asked. His dad only chuckled and returned to his paper. "Did I do something you found amusing?"
"Sort of," his dad answered before he turned a page. "It is rare to see you losing your cool like that. Normally that happens when your brothers are involved, so it is both surprising and comforting to see you do the same with your friends as well. You warm your old father's heart."
Scott felt immediately embarrassed. His cheeks were warm and he was pretty sure they were starting to go red. He clenched his teeth and screeched, "Seriously, dad! Are you trying to embarrass me?"
"It's my job as father to embarrass you and your brothers whenever I get the opportunity," his smirked before he ended the conversation completely. Scott didn't mind the conversation being over since he didn't want to stay around to have his dad tease him over his actions and almost putting him on the same level as Gordon. So he almost ran out of the living room and out to the pool to spend some time with his younger brothers, however that didn't stop him from hearing his dad laughing shortly after he had left the room.
Once classes and his detention was over for the day Alan went back to his room to relax before dinner. The room was empty when he arrived and almost wondered where his roommate where if he wasn't in his room. Then he remembered that Fermat was part of the computer club and would normally spend the afternoons when classes were finally over at the clubroom. Never once had he considered joining a school activity, even though there was clubs on campus that he found interesting, but he didn't really feel comfortable around people who judged him and looked down on his due to his abilities and social status. So he decided he rather stay in the background and see where things were going at the school before he would even reconsider joining a club.
Alan brushed his hair with his right hand. He found staying in the room lonely without Fermat there as company. Something he found peculiar since he had only known him for a couple of months and he was more used to be on his own due to Jem and Haley's occupations as well the fact that he didn't have any close friends to hang out with. Most of the time he was all right being alone, but in the long run it was lonely. However with Fermat around he never found himself lonely or bored. There was always something new he learned about him and he strangely found himself wanting to know more as well have the desire to let him know more about himself.
He shook his head, not wanting to think more about those thoughts, instead wanted to distract him until Fermat got back or till it was time for dinner. Whichever came first, he didn't care. His first on how to distract and keep himself occupied was to work on his computer, since it was one of his favorite activities and his main interest, but strangely enough he wasn't in the mood to sit in front of a computer screen. Normally he would be working on one of the programs he had developed or just strengthen his hacker skills, which no one knew about. It was essential that officer Jem in particular didn't know about that certain skill or the other crime-related talents he had. Of course he had no clue how he knew these things or where he had learned them from, but if Jem found out about those abilities Alan was pretty sure that Jem would overreact and possibly send him to juvie the moment he learned the truth. And he was certain that he wouldn't suit the orange jumpsuit. As the phrase goes, what you don't know won't hurt you.
In the end he decided to get a better perspective or rather look at things through a different angle. So in order to do exactly that he needed his hair not flowing around that is why he braided his hair to the side. Then he began stretching his limbs and joints before he found the perfect spot in the middle of the room to the exercise. He inhaled and exhaled before he stood up straight with his feet comfortable apart. Then he took a big step forward with his right leg before he tipped his body forward to do a handstand. In the heat of the moment he made sure straighten his legs and torso toward the ceiling as well keeping the weight on his hands. The feeling of standing upside down was exhilarating and was totally in control over his body. It was kind of interesting how things looked upside down and it was certainly a way to look at things through a different angle, quite literally he might add. He stood there for a short while before he attempted to spit his legs. The attempt was successful, so he decided to make things more difficult by walking on his hands. That was more difficult since he would tip over if he made sudden movements and did it really fast, but he took tentative steps around the room and somehow didn't lose his balance too much. However as he did this he thought over what he was going to do. As things was right now he was pretty friendless and alone here at the academy and he wasn't allowed outside the perimeter of the school property to see the people he worked with back at the body shop, but that was beside the point. Before he viewed the world as them against him and he allowed only Haley and Jem into the little bubble he lived in, but there was something about Fermat that made him question whether he should let him in or not. Was it because his roommate understood him? Possibly completed him differently from the way Jem and Haley did?
Alan shook his head, trying to deny the questions that were coursing through his mind. It sounded almost like he was in love with Fermat, which was definitely not the case, but a large part of him wanted to let Fermat in and become his friend. However that thought was almost terrifying to think about, since it meant to trust him not to hurt or betray him like he has been in the past. Again he didn't remember enough about his past to know this, but he had this nagging feeling to be suspicious about people and who to trust and the feeling hasn't been wrong up till now. Still he shouldn't let fear stop him from having a friendship or any kind of relationship for that matter with someone who cared and sincerely wanted him in his or her lives.
"W-what are y-you d-doing?" Fermat stated, interrupting his thoughts. Alan was sort of dazed that he didn't notice or realize him standing there by the door with this surprised expression on his face. Once he did notice he was taken by surprise that he lost both concentration and balance and his body began to tip. Knowing he needed a plan on how to land otherwise he could get seriously hurt, and since he had better control of his landing by tipping his feet backwards, he desperately forced himself to do exactly that and his feet fell backwards towards the floor. The he dropped into a crab back or as many called a bridge pose before he carefully laid his body on the floor. Once he was in the safe zone he turned his attention back on Fermat, who still looked surprised and confused over the whole situation.
"I got bored so I decided to pass time by doing handstands," Alan replied simply. He sat up and before he continued. "I hope you don't mind me doing so."
Fermat shook his head anxiously and sat down on his bed, looking like he was trying to comprehend the information he just gathered before he said anything else. So Alan didn't wait before he asked gently, "How was computer club?"
Fermat blinked his eyes a few times before he stuttered somewhere along the line that it went fine. Alan smiled him a gentle smile as a way to reassure him that he wasn't as terrifying as he might assume him to be, since Fermat always looked sort of insecure to talk his mind.
"W-why aren't y-y-you in the g-gymnastic club?" Fermat asked. "W-with your s-skills you s-should get in e-easily. S-so why h-haven't you j-joined any c-clubs?"
Alan sighed over the question. Once again his thoughts returned back to his dilemma, whether he should trust Fermat and allow him to become his friend. No matter what he did he didn't find any reasonable doubt to know take the chance, but again fear was standing in the way of making his final decision. Screw fear, Alan thought to himself after finally reached his limit and had finally had enough about worrying about the whole thing. He was tired of thinking it over, so he decided to take the leap and if it turned out to burn him in the ass later then at least he wouldn't have any regrets.
"First of all, I would get uncomfortable being around people who judge and look down on my abilities and social status," Alan replied. His gaze was turned towards the floor, not wanting to see the look on Fermat's face when he continued explaining his reason. "There is also the fact that people would ask where and how I learned certain things. You see I don't know twelve years of my life; I suffered from amnesia and everything about myself and my past is completely blocked and I don't have any access to them. Of course I remember stuff I learned, so I'm not a empty sheet or a vegetable, but I don't know who I was before I woke up in the hospital."
Fermat breathed in surprise, obviously wasn't expecting that answer. Alan could feel the shivers coming up his spine. He was nervous to continue, but he needed to get it out before he lost courage.
"…So in a way you could say I have technically existed for four years," Alan smiled awkwardly. "Which is why I keep a distance between others. I don't trust people easily and is mostly suspicious about their intentions. The only people in the whole world I trust and care about are my guardians, who are sort of my adoptive family since I woke up. That is, till now they were the only people I allowed in my world. And I hope to at least someone else want to be part of that world."
Alan turned up to look at Fermat, hoping he saw where he was going with the conversation. Guys weren't really into talking about their feelings or straight-out ask to be friends with each other. Alan was good example of this, because it was seriously embarrassing to ask someone to be his friend.
"Y-y-you mean m-me?" Fermat said astonished. "Y-you want m-me as your f-friend?"
Alan nodded and turned his gaze away. He knew he was probably blushing in embarrassment, but he tried not to think about it instead waited for Fermat's response.
"I-if y-you really want m-me to," Fermat said softly. "T-then I-I would be h-honored to be your f-friend and y-you mine."
Then like someone had lit a spark, Alan felt this warmth inside. The feeling of acceptance and friendship from another was truly heartwarming and amazing feeling and he could definitely grow to love it even more.
"We should probably head to dinner before everything is gone," Alan said with the goofy grin on his face. "Are you coming, friend?"
Fermat responded by giving him a similar smile before the duo of friends headed out the dorm and towards the dining hall. Neither of them had any idea what their friendship would mean in the future or how much their friendship was going to be tested through difficult trials.
.
.
.
New chapter, hope you guys like it. I know that this chapter might be more of a filler than anything else, but I felt I needed to establish the friendship between Alan and Fermat before the real story could start. For me, friendship isn't something you establish easily and it takes time before you fully trust someone enough to let them into your most vulnerable sides of yourself. Which is why Alan is more suspicious about people and their motives and not wanting to get hurt, so having Fermat in his life will give a more positive and a less reckless behavior.
Many of you asked about when to include the Tracys, so I did exactly that and I plan on having them more involved as the story goes on, but they won't figure out the connections between them and Alan before much later since there is going to tension between first. Hopefully you can bare with me, since I plan on writing this story longer than I'm Still Here story.
I want to thank you guys for the reviews, favorite and followings. And I seriously hope that you will continue doing so because I believe this story is worth it and you all will find it suspenseful and enjoying. So until next update...
xXrebelgirl07Xx