Hothead:
"I am the greatest fighter ever," I yell, raising my sword high into the air. There, below the mountain of defeated animals is the whole village of Norwood. Everyone is there. Even Headmaster Strictcon.
They are all chanting my name over and over.
"Hothead! Hothead! Hothead!"
"Hothead," Headmaster Stricton yells, shooting his fist into the air. "You are indeed the greatest fighter ever!"
"Hothead," they chant. "Hothead! Hothe--Riinggg!"
"Ahh," I say, turning away from the sound. "What in the world? What was that sound?"
"Hothead! Hothead! Hot--Ringgg!"
"Ahh!"
This time, the strange noise is so loud I have to cover both my ears.
"Riingg! Riingg! Riingg!"
My eyes snap open. When they do, I don't see the mountain of defeated animals or the village of Norwood. Instead, I see the wooden bottom of the bed above me.
"Ringg!"
"Ahh," I moan when I hear the most annoying sound in the whole universe. Turning over, I see the clock on the holo-display we were all given last night.
"Riingg!"
"Shut up," I shout back. Not wanting to get out of bed or even take my blanket off, I turn back over. Poking one hand out, I start feeling around.
"Come on, come on. Where is that stupid button? Turn off, you stupid alarm."
Strangely, it seems like the clock turns itself off. The ringing stops without me having to touch the button. I don't hear it anymore."
"Awesome," I say, smiling as I grab my blanket and cuddle. However, I only get to cuddle for a few seconds before something else happens and my blanket flies off of me.
"What the--"
Turning around, I see Alodia standing before me, fully dressed in her armor.
"Sulien," Alodai starts with her arms crossed. "Do you know what time it is?"
"I would," I answer, "But I can't see my holo-display. Also, called me Hothead, not Sulien."
"I am not calling you by your ridiculous nickname," Alodia bluntly states. "As for you."
Doing the same with Renee, Alodia grabs and yanks his blanket right off of him. When Alodia does this, Renee shoots up. He screams and his arms swing wildly.
"What," he yells, "What! What! What's going on! What's the emergency!"
"The 'emergency' is that you and Sulien aren't dressed. And you're supposed to be our 'team leader'. Wonderful start."
Alodia rolls her eyes as she walks away. Biting my tongue, trying to keep everything I want to say do, I turn over and kick off my blanket.
"Happy," I ask, spreading out my arms.
Alodia turns around and sees me. When she does, her eyes go wide.
"You...wear your battle armor to sleep," Alodia asks. "And you. Is that Billy Beet? From the Dancing Veggies of the Round Table? Aren't you a little old for that?"
"What?"
I stick my head out and see Renee. He is wearing a Billy Beet t-shirt. Right in the center of his dark-blue shirt is a small red cartoon beet with sunglasses.
"Shoot," Renee shouts. He grabs his blanket and throws it over himself.
"Too late if you ask me," I comment, reaching down. Pulling out from under my bed my sword, I throw it onto my back and stand up.
"Okay. I'm ready for the day."
Taking a quick look around, I see two empty beds but only one girl. One annoying girl.
"Where's Jump?"
"She is already outside," Alodia says.
"Outside," Renee and I repeat.
"Yes. Outside! Listen to me, both of you! It is time to get up and do some morning exercise. Let's go!"
"Oh hey," I say, eyeing Renee as Alodia pulls my hand. "Team leader. Thoughts?"
Renee, who is still blinking and rubbing his eyes, stretches his arms and yawns.
"Might as well go," Renee says slapping himself in the face. "We're all already up anyway. Time to rise and shine."
"Oh yay," I say as Alodia drags me out of our room. "Yeah. I'd rather be doing morning exercise instead of sleeping in."
"Stop complaining," Alodia says. "This is Yellow Sun Academy. The best fighter academy in the whole wide world."
"So?"
"Soo it means having to put in a little more effort. More than ever before. More effort than you thought was possible. Come on! Fire on!"
"Fire on? What?"
"Just go! Your friend is already outside, waiting for us."
Shocker:
I look at Hothead as he cries. He cries with tears raining down his face. Before the tears can fall and land on his pancakes, I grab and move his plate.
I watch while cutting off some pieces of pancakes on my plate and eating them.
"Everything hurts," Hothead cries. "Everything hurts so much. I want to eat. I'm so hungry, but I can't raise my arms. They hurt too much."
I nod my head while chewing and thinking back to a few minutes ago when Hothead first entered the academy's lunchroom.
He dragged his feet in, his arms were hanging from his shoulders, and he fell into his seat. He didn't take a seat. He dropped onto it.
"Can you feed me," Hothead asks.
I shake my head.
"Come on. Please. Please! Feed me! Foods. Foods!"
Again, I shake my head.
"You suck."
This time, I shrug my shoulder. As I cut myself another forkful of pancake, I turn my head when I hear the doors to the lunchroom open. There, standing is the rest of Hothead's team.
Jump, along with, if I remember correctly, Renee and Alodia, are looking around the room. They must see Hothead in front of me because they start to run toward him. The second Hothead sees them, he stops crying and ducks underneath the table.
"Don't tell them I'm here," Hothead whispers.
I keep my mouth shut as Jump approaches the table.
"Hey Shocker," she says with a wave.
I wave back. As I wave back, Jump eyes the shaking table in between us.
"Hothead," Jump sighs. "I know you're hiding underneath the table. We all saw you. That's and Shocker's plate of pancakes is shaking."
Hothead doesn't answer Jump. Instead, the girl, Alodia rolls her eyes before reaching down and pulling Hothead out.
"What are you doing," Alodia yells. "We weren't done!"
"I was," Hothead yells back. He then shakes her off before adjusting his jacket and sitting back down. "And because I'm done, I'm going to sit here and enjoy some breakfast."
Before any of us can stop him, Hothead grabs the maple syrup-covered pancakes with his bare hands and shoves them into his mouth. While he chews, or at least tries to chew, I push my cup of milk toward him.
As expected, Hothead starts to choke on the pancake. I snap my fingers and point at the cup. Hothead sees the cup and drinks the whole thing. He finishes by letting out a large burp that grabs the attention of everyone in the room.
Alodia's eyes are redder than Hothead's jacket. As she stares at him, I snap my fingers again and grab all of their attention. I point to my plate before taking out my holo-display and pointing at the time.
"What," Renee asks, looking between his team. "What are you trying to tell us?
"Oh," Jump says, "I get it. Shocker is telling us to get some breakfast before our first class. You know, he's right. We might as well get some food before it's too late."
"Uhh, okay," Renee says. "Let's go. You too, Hothead. You already ate, but you should still be with us. After all, we're a team."
"Fine," Hothead says, getting up, "But only because you refer to me as Hothead, not Sulien. See ya, Shocker."
"Bye Shocker."
My two friends leave me alone. I'm only alone for a few seconds before someone else talks to me.
"Hey," Alice says, taking Hothead's empty seat. "How are you?"
I answer with a nod. I then point at her.
"You're asking how I am? I'm fine."
I smile at her response.
"Your friends, especially the one that was sitting here, are quite loud."
I laugh a little as I nod my head. I raise my head and pretend to burp. This time, it's Alice who laughs.
"Hey, I wanted to ask you something. What's your first class?"
Since my holo-display is still on the table, I bring up my class schedule and show Alice it.
"Oh," she sighs. "We have different classes throughout the whole week. Well, I guess it can't be helped. I'll, uh, I'll see you later."
With that, Alice takes her plate and leaves. About to take another forkful of pancakes, I am once again disturbed by someone.
"Hey," Honey yells as she slaps my back. The sound of the slap echoes not only in my ear but also in the room. I have to fight through the evergrowing pain in my back as I try my hardest to cough up my fork.
She, along with Chadd and Clementine, takes their seat around me.
"Hey Team Leader," Honey says with a little bit of steam shooting out her ears and nose. "Thanks for the wake-up call. We really appreciate it."
Honey then leans in close to me.
"P.S., I'm lying. We did not appreciate it. Why didn't you wake us up? I mean, yeah, you don't talk, but a quick tap or a shake wouldn't be too much to ask. Come on, Team Leader, don't make us miss breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day."
As Honey talks, she grabs forkful after forkful of pancakes and inhales them. Despite the headstart, Honey finishes eating before I do. Her plate is clean, free of any crumbs or even maple syrup.
Letting out a happy sigh as she rubs her stomach, she then looks back at me.
"Are you going to eat those?"
I wipe my mouth and slide my plate of pancakes to Honey. Once again, she takes a deep breath and inhales the pancakes, the plate spinning as it shines.
"Thank you," Honey says with a smile. "So, while we wait for you two to finish, let's talk. You and me."
Honey points at me and then at herself.
"What's our first class?"