Prompt:
Oh, Clouds of time
Seem to rain on
Innocence left behind
It never goes away
-"Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" by The Offspring
"Is this seat taken?"
Wesley looked up from the PAD he was studying from to find one of his classmates, Harry Kim, standing at the table. Though they had worked on a couple of class projects together, they hadn't really interacted with one another much outside of class. Granted, he didn't exactly have a lot of friends at the academy nowadays, given that his original classmates had all graduated the year before due to the incident with Nova Squadron.
"No," Wesley replied, placing the PAD down on the table. "Can I help you with something?"
"Possibly. As you may know, I'm editor for the school paper and..."
"No," Wesley replied immediately not given the other cadet a chance to finish his request.
"You didn't even let me finish."
"Because I don't need to. I don't want to appear in any articles for the school paper no matter what the reason. I'm pretty sure most people know who I am as it is."
"Do we really?" Kim countered. "I mean we know the story about what happened when you were Nova Squadron and that you served on the Enterpise but sure there is more to you than that."
"Look, Harry, I'm sure you mean well, but I'd prefer if what happened a couple of years ago wasn't refreshed in everyone's memory."
"Then we'll focus on your experiences on the Enterprise. I'm sure there are quite a few good stories there. It would give the rest of us cadets an idea on what to expect when we finally get out there. I know I'd be interested in hearing those adventures."
"They'll find out soon enough," Wesley assured him, seeing himself a few years back when he had stepped onboard the Enterprise. Starfleet's flagship. He had been wide-eyed with excitement himself. He had done a lot of growing up since then.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Kim consented. "Thanks for your time," the young cadet said, getting to his feet, his mind already trying to think of another story.