Oliver follows Claire into the bright and strangely familiar looking room, and for the first time in a long time he's genuinely happy to be somewhere. He smiles widely like a child in a candy shop as his eyes do a once over of the entire room, but gradually he starts to feel eyes looking towards him. The room itself is a state of the art light gray wonderland for anyone and everyone who loves inventing, tinkering, or robotics. On the left side is the lounge area with a brown coffee table, a couple chairs surrounding it, a light blue and green couch, and a white kitchen area. On the ride side along the wall where the door is are lockers and a few hooks next to them. There are also 10 computer screens on the wall that are showing the blueprints for what's on the smart tables in the middle of the room. On 5 of the tables are different and unique projects where 4 of the students are currently working. On the wall opposite of the entrance are two huge garage doors and in between are a magnitude of assorted tools. As Oliver walks further into the room all their eyes fully dart up from their projects and look his way, but he's lost in his own thoughts having so much fun looking at everything. There are slight murmurs from the students as Claire notices that Oliver has an excited look on his face as she gestures at him, "Everyone, this is Oliver Watson, our new Captain. Please give him a warm welcome."
The team look at him and back at each other with a sense of worry in the air as they ultimately decide to put their tools down and make their way over. Oliver looks at them unsure of what to do with himself; he tries to give them a warm smile but the cold look in his eyes causes them to freeze up. Claire looks at them confused until she looks up at his face which causes her to laugh and punch him on the shoulder. "Wow, she really wasn't lying when she said you hadn't been around people in a while. You definitely need to work on your smile and social skills, pronto. Alrighty, I will introduce everyone to you, so we can all get back to work and for you to head over to your meeting."
Oliver looks at her with an embarrassed look on his face while rubbing his shoulder as she makes her way over to the group and starts to introduce them from left to right. First up on our left we have our coding team, Cecilia Garcia, her twin brother Connor Garcia, and the only freshman on our team Samantha Drake. This is Colin Young, a Junior and a mechanic on the team as well as me, but Vanessa says you are a mechanic yourself, is that true?"
Oliver looks at each of the members and tries his best to give them all a warmer welcome as he looks at Claire, "Yeah, I have trained in all aspects of the trade. I can give you my files later on or tomorrow."
She smiles, "Good, we needed another mechanic anyway and maybe you can teach our coding team a thing or two. Lastly we have the managers, you already met Nessa, and the other one is Jason Tennant."
He looks at them all individually trying to memorize their names and faces, but as he is about to say something Colin makes his way over. He's roughly the same height as Claire, but extremely thin, he has dark brown hair and eyes that look nearly black, and is wearing a blue and black jumpsuit. "Hey! As she said my name is Colin and I would formally like to challenge you for the position of Captain! If you win then we can move forward but if I win then you have to give me the position. How does that sound?"
Everyone around the room laughs and Claire looks like she's about to explode with laughter as Oliver looks around and smirks as he reaches out his hand. Colin looks at him with pride as he shakes Oliver's hand which causes everyone to quiet down. Oliver's normally cool and calm exterior starts to break down as a smile spreads across his face. "Mr. Young, I gladly accept your challenge, but what exactly is this challenge going to be about? Hmm, actually maybe we should leave that to the others so there isn't a distinct advantage one way or another. Are you okay with that?"
Colin has a big toothy grin as he nods softly and takes a step backward as the others are muttering to themselves trying to figure out the best challenge. Oliver looks around at the others as a smile forms on his face, "Well, while you all give it a moment to come up with something let me officially introduce myself. As she said my name is Oliver, and to be honest with you all the way I am right now I don't think I'm the perfect fit to be your Captain. Although if someone has their way I won't be, but I hope each of you can bear with me as I try and figure out how to do all this. Talking, joking around, being a normal person is something I forgot how to do, so please give me time. Anyway, I was hoping to take a look at everything you have been working on."
Oliver's eyes seem more alive then they have been in the past few years and he has a huge smile on his face as the students are dragging him to the different projects and telling him everything. One at a time Oliver starts helping each of them with the different problems they were having with their machines. Claire has a smile on her face as she takes out her phone and texts Elijah, -Just letting you know that he seems to be fitting in with everyone. I will make sure to keep an eye on him, so you have nothing to worry about. Also babe you were right, this is going to be a great year.-
Oliver watches everyone fixing the small mistakes he had advised them on and slowly walks the entirety of the room as he ends up at the computer screens. His eyes trace each screen and notices the last one has a sticker with his name on it that is turned off, and the next thing he notices is a tear streaming down his cheek. 'Huh, interesting. Mom, Dad I hope you're watching, because I will make you proud to have ever called me your son. I don't deserve to be here in the slightest, but I will keep pushing forward no matter what. I promise.'
Two hours later across the campus in the auxiliary gym Elijah is sitting on the basketball court tired and sweaty as Tyler runs over and sits himself down next to him. "Coach Kelly is really trying to kill us, isn't he? I mean all we did was miss one little practice and all of a sudden my dribbling skills needed work and your passes lacked confidence. How could that old man make us practice fast breaks for 2 hours straight, my body is exhausted. Oh yeah, Ness said your friend is on his way to the Dean's office for his meeting."
Elijah barely has the energy to look up as he nods softly before struggling to reach over for his phone in the bag. The bag falls over and his phone along with his clothes and a purple envelope fall out of it. Tyler picks it up and notices the name that's on it and tosses it back at Elijah. "Hey Eli, who would send that hermit a letter? It's obviously not yours because your handwriting is more like chicken scratch."
Elijah tries to glare at him but his body is so physically exhausted he gives up halfway through and stares at the envelope with a slight smile on his face. He reaches out for it and grabs it as he leans against the wall for a moment before pushing off putting the letter back in the bag. He slowly makes his way to his feet as he stretches a bit and reaches out to help Tyler up from the floor. "Oh, the letter is from that girl we spoke about in the truck. Elizabeth. She moved away a few days after the accident, and honestly it's one of the reasons he became the way he is, first his parents were gone, then she was gone and finally I had left. We never did figure out why she moved or where she ended up moving to, but during the Winter Tournament I saw her taking pictures for her school and we got to talking. It was nice catching up with her after so long, and as she was leaving she handed me that letter and told me to make sure he got it. Actually I should take it over to him right now, see ya later man."
Tyler looks at Elijah as they are gathering their things, "Your friend has really gone through a lot hasn't he? I still can't get over the fact that he was able to withstand so much pressure on his mind and body for so long, because I was only wearing that thing for 15-20 minutes and I got a nosebleed, my brain felt like it was fried, and I still feel like absolute hell. How did he do it?"
Elijah has a somber expression on his face, "Yeah and it still kills me everyday that I had to leave even though he's the one that pushed me away and I know she feels the exact same way as me. I'm just glad he's back here with me and a chance at a normal life, or as normal as that little genius can have."
Tyler laughs as they walk out the door and wave goodbye to each other before walking out in opposite directions, and Elijah decides to text Claire. - Hey baby, practice just finished. I was wondering if after I dropped something off with Oliver did you want to grab something to eat. -
A few seconds later he gets a response. - Yeah, we can go to the Warm Mug. :) -
Elijah looks at the message as a smile creeps up on his face and he puts the phone back in his pocket while he makes his way to the Dean's office. On his way over he passes a few empty classrooms as images of him, Oliver, and Elizabeth laughing and playing around flood his mind. Elijah opens the door of the administrators building and notices Oliver sitting alone outside of the Dean's office as he calls out to him. "Hey Bud! Where's Vanessa, I heard she was going to bring you over?"
Oliver looks at him and gestures towards the Dean's office as he goes back to working on the Practobot in his hands. Elijah smirks as he walks over to the bench and plops himself down watching Oliver work as memories of the past cross his mind. He pulls the letter out from his bag and places it directly onto the little bot as Oliver looks up at him confused but once he sees the handwriting he freezes in place and drops the Practobot. "Ollie, a few months ago during a tournament I saw her. We talked for half an hour catching up on everything that has happened and as she left she gave me that letter for you. She wanted me to make sure that when you read it that you were alone. I know it's sudden and I should've taken it to you in Chicago, but honestly I forgot it was in my bag until just right now. Well, I have a date to get ready for, but I wanted to make sure you got this. See ya bud."
Elijah pats him softly on the back before standing up and heading out the door making one last look at him before leaving. Oliver's eyes haven't moved from the envelope and his breathing has staggered as he begins tracing the letters he gets startled by Abigail. She grabs his shoulder softly while looking down at him smiling which causes him to look away quickly back at the envelope. He sighs softly as he stands up placing the letter in his coat pocket and walks up to her, "I'm so sorry, something important came up and I can't stay for the meeting, but once you're done you will head over to the housing department in the building next door. They will assign you a room and get all the boring stuff settled up, and again I am truly sorry for leaving you all alone. Have fun and breathe. I will meet you in the lobby later tonight with the others."
Oliver looks at Abigail with a weak smile as she heads out the doors just like Elijah and he takes a deep breath slowly making his way into the spacious room. He looks around and notices that the atmosphere gives off a comforting feeling along with a professional aura. He walks over to the chair and doesn't sit until the Dean looks up and gives him a warm smile and gestures for him to sit, but only after a moment or two does he sit. "Ah, the famous Mr. Watson, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Don't worry I won't be keeping you for too long, so let's get this meeting started."