Fenton walked into his dorm apartment he shared with too many people.
It resembled more of an army barracks than a dorm sometimes in other parts of the building. He hadn't looked at the paper Santos had given him yet because he was nervous.
Ace and the others had been his roommates since the beginning of the term, but he had known Ace since he was 10. He didn't know Santos very well, so how could he trust what he said?
Santos could just be absolutely crazy and believe he was telling the truth; the one weakness to Fenton's sixth sense.
Fenton unfolded the note and read the following:
September 17th: Ace and Candice Break Up(Trigger event)??
September 18th: It rains even though the weather forecast says clear skies
September 22nd: First mission. It goes without a hitch, boring, and uneventful.
September 25th: Acheus disappears.
He sat on the couch, trying to make sense of the note.
This is impossible, Fenton thought. Why would he disappear? Where would he go?
Fenton was worried about if what Santos said was true, but he knew that it was probably the rantings of a very sleep-deprived man.
He always looks tired, Fenton thought. Lack of sleep is possibly just all it is, confusing his brain.
Santos was not physically tired, but simply emotionally and mentally from no one believing a word he said about anything.
Fenton walked into the shared bedroom and saw Ace on the top bunk. "Hey…", said Fenton.
Hey…", said Fenton. "Can we talk"?
"Not right now", moaned Ace. He was in a terrible mood. Fenton shifted uncomfortably.
" Did Candice break up with you"?
Ace shot up quickly and alertly. "Who told you"?! Fenton was surprised, but it was a common occurrence at this point and he figured that maybe it would be over soon.
So the note was true, he thought. But this doesn't mean anything. They break up like twice a month.
"No one," Fenton lied. "It was just a guess. Sorry".
" Don't pretend like you care. You never liked her anyway".
" That…. Is true", Fenton admitted. He scratched the back of his head, his shaggy hair now going from slightly unkempt to bedhead.
"But I want you to be happy", Fenton groaned.
"I don't want to talk about this".
In the blink of an eye he teleported away to his father's apartment.
Fenton felt awful, not because his best friend was becoming distant, but because Santos was right.
What else does he know, Fenton wondered.
But knowing one thing didn't mean that what Santos had said was true. So Fenton decided to wait before coming to a conclusion.
The next day, Fenton made sure to watch the morning news on TV. Sunny skies were forecasted for the day.
But the note said that it would rain, Fenton thought. Clearly Santos is crazy.
A part deep inside his skull was still nagging at him that it would, in fact rain.
There was no proof, no magic eight ball, no tea leaves or sign in the sky, but Fenton was willing to believe against any sign of proof. His logic was overridden by his crush.
There's no harm in taking an umbrella, Fenton convinced himself. He went into his room and quickly found his umbrella, next to Ace's baseball in the closet.
It's not weird for the weatherman to be wrong, Fenton cautioned.
So he tucked his mini umbrella into his backpack and set off for the day.
Fenton had to sit through a mandatory meeting on plagiarism and integrity.
Team 48 and 57 were not the only ones that cheated, in fact, almost all of the Teams number 65 and lower had cheated, which simply begged the question if the higher ranked teams were simply better cheaters.
Fenton didn't cheat, so he was bored having to listen to all the rules they were already forced to listen to when they first passed the entrance exam. He did however see the looks of anger on almost everyone in the auditorium.
Everyone wasn't angry that they had to sit through it all, they were just angry that they got caught.
Everyone's just going to do it again, Fenton thought. This is such a waste of time.
His head started to pound once the speaker started talking about enforcement of punishments. Everyone's loud thoughts flooded his head at once, complaining and internally groaning.
I hate crowds, Fenton thought. I hate all of this.
Thankfully the loud and angry thoughts disappeared but they were soon replaced by Ace's sad thoughts. Fenton felt terrible for Ace. His aura had never been so… blue.
No matter what he tried to do to cheer him up, it didn't work. He thought that them going on their first mission would cheer him up, but apparently that just made him worse since he couldn't be First Cadet.
Ace grimaced when he noticed Fenton's intense gaze.
Get out of my head, he bellowed.
Pictures of citrus flooded Fenton's head, Ace's go to when his friend didn't understand basic boundaries.
Fenton groaned and didn't bother to push into his mind further. He laid back into the old brown auditorium chair and tried to just stop another headache in case the speaker said something else the crowd didn't like.
The moment it was all over, Ace disappeared, saying nothing to Fenton.
He's really upset even though this happens all the time, Fenton wondered. She's clearly messing with him. Fenton shuffled his way out of the auditorium with his backpack, and made his way for the entrance.
His heart sank into his stomach when outside he saw that it was raining.
Young adults, teachers, and staff members ran inside quickly, as a freak storm came out. It was bright and sunny outside, yet rain was falling down.
He was telling the truth, Fenton realized. This has happened.
Fenton took out his umbrella to shield himself from the rain and quickly made his way to the sub building for the meeting before their first mission.
It was a practice mission, but they were required to do it before they graduated from the Defense Program's training courses. Fenton adeptly found the room they were meeting in, long used to the large and ornate wooden halls.
I think I'll miss it here, Fenton thought. I really like it here.
A loud noise could be heard and Fenton turned to see what it was.
It was a normal daily occurrence, the Running Of The Sandras.
Sandra Sesay, known on campus as Sandra The Slut, came down the hallway, all 24 copies of her as well, trying to avoid another fight.
Instead of using her punishment for something useful, or frankly fun, she used it to keep many boyfriends at once.
The girls on campus were not amused. Another girl had found one of the Sandras with her boyfriend, and they attempted to confuse her of which one did it, as they all ran down the halls.
They filled up the hallway and pushed everyone out of way, hitting Fenton in the face three times. The Sandras could be heard arguing with each other, and Fenton wondered why they argued with each other more than other people.
Suddenly he welcomed a peaceful life without worrying if someone would accidentally sneeze and send him into the air, like last week when he was walking to the cafeteria.