The minute hand shifted, and the clock began to excitedly rattle its twin bells, only to be immediately silenced. The occupant of the bed it was supposed to awaken was already up and dressed. Amyna Anthropos had a gleam in his eye and an irrepressible smile on his tanned face. Today was the last day of finals for his senior year of high school. He was already eighteen years old, and after graduation he planned to go to a community college in the small city where he lived with his mother and father.
Bounding down the stairs, Amyna inhaled deeply trying to take in the smell of today's breakfast. What reached his nostrils was the smell of toaster pastries. With a shrug, Amyna leapt his way down to the last step.
Coming into the rustic kitchen Amyna found his mother slurping on a coffee and eating a strawberry toaster pastry. "Dad already left?"
Eliana Anthropos nodded and took a hefty bite of her pastry. "I will be too, in a minute." Both of Amyna's parents worked full-time. It would be hard to live comfortably otherwise, especially in this age where most the world's resources were hoarded by greedy villains.
"Is that breakfast?" he teased with a smirk, gesturing towards the strawberry pastry in his mother's hand.
Returning his smirk, Eliana shot back, "Is that a problem?" before snarkily slurping her coffee.
"Nah, it's perfect." Amyna grinned happily, snatching up a plastic wrapped pair from the box. "I wanted to head out early anyway. I need to brush up on some things in the library."
Eliana sighed in exasperation as Amyna rushed out the door. "Why do you always leave studying to the last minute?" She shouted after him. Shaking her head, Eliana went back to nursing her coffee with a light smile.
Amyna arrived at the school's courtyard ten minutes before it even opened its doors. His final wouldn't be until nearly noon, so he had more than enough time. Right as Amyna emerged from the dusty streets, the loud clap of footsteps charged up beside him, portending the arrival of the goofily grinning skyscraper who also happened to be Amyna's best friend.
"Ha!" The young man's voice carried a trace of both bravado and relief. "I finally got here earlier than you." His name was Charlie Jones, and he stood at least two feet taller than everyone in the school, teachers included. He was also thin as a rail, and no amount of food could fill out his lanky frame. "Are you ready?" Charlie's eyes gleamed with a competitive ferocity.
"You bet." Amyna returned the gaze in equal measure. Then the pair raced behind the wooden school building, to the empty basketball court.
"I win again!" Charlie loudly proclaimed, hands high in the air as he jumped and slapped the top of the plywood backboard.
"How could I possibly outrun you? Your legs are freakishly long." Amyna complained as he jogged onto the court, prompting Charlie to snort with laughter.
"You say that, but here you are challenging me to a game." Charlie slowly stretched his long, lanky arms to their full height, resting them gently on the rusted rim of the ten foot hoop. "It's not too late to back out."
Amyna picked up a ball from the schools supply of them and shook his head with a smile. "Why would that stop me?" Taking a step inside the court, he heaved up a prayer from half court before Charlie could react. The pair watched the sailing ball as it neared the hoop, eyes traveling in a perfect arc. As the ball swished through the net, Amyna jumped and exclaimed in excitement. Even he hadn't expected that random shot to sink in.
"Lucky shot." Charlie predictably responded, and bounced the ball back to his friend. "We got all morning."
...
The clock struck 11:00, and the game finally stopped, resulting in Charlie winning. Amyna shot from a distance to avoid the long limbs of Charlie, while Charlie had all the advantage inside, and Charlie used that advantage to the fullest. As they hurried to the locker room to shower and change before the last final, Charlie chattered happily.
"It was only inevitable. You may be Greek, but you're no Giannis, y'know?" Charlie punched Amyna's arm. "But seriously, when did you learn to shoot like that? You said you hadn't played since middle school." He eyed his friend suspiciously.
Amyna held up his hands in a mock placating gesture, "Hey, I swear it's the truth." Amyna smiled cockily, "Maybe I'm just talented."
"Ha! Right." Charlie teased. "Well you better hope you're talented in World History." The pair walked through the locker room door.
"Please, history is my best subject." It was no bluster, Amyna was thoroughly confident. It's why he always only studied last minute, for just a little extra assurance. Today, however, he didn't need it.
Amyna and Charlie prepared themselves for their last test of High School.
...
After finishing his test, Amyna didn't wait for Charlie, instead making his way to the cafeteria for one last free meal. Charlie would probably head there himself when he was finished anyway.
"Hey, Amyna! Hold it!" A gruff voice demanded rudely, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. A hand clapped tightly onto Amyna's shoulder and a grim-faced youth with long, blonde hair pulled up beside him.
"What's up, X?" Amyna matched the grimness of the youth, named Xavier, with an equal level of enthusiasm.
"Just hangin' out. Finished my finals yesterday. Not that it matters." Xavier, or X, flashed just the slightest hint of a smile.
"You really gonna do it?" Amyna didn't know why he held his breathe as he waited for an answer.
X released his grip and nodded, "Government pays well, especially in this quadrant."
Amyna let out a hefty sigh, before joking, "I didn't think a cynical asshole like you would end up a Protector."
"Hey, fuck you." X jabbed a knuckle into Amyna's ribs playfully, though he still had scowl on his face.
"What? You know you're an asshole." Amyna teased back.
"Yeah, but who ever told you I was a cynic?" Xavier loosened up just a little as he and Amyna trash talked each other on the way to the cafeteria. They sat together devouring the formerly frozen pizza that barely surpassed the standard of cardboard. It didn't matter to them. Food this good would be hard to find outside of Steel Lances protected quadrant.
After a few minutes, Amyna decided to break the silence. "Will there be many risks?"
"There's always risks," X shook his head, "but I'll never face the worst dangers while Steel Lance is alive."
A silence hung between them, and X seemed about to say something more, when Charlie suddenly jumped out of nowhere onto the table, sending their paper plates and pizza flying. "Guess who's back!" Looking at his friends scowling faces, then down at his feet Charlie exclaimed again."Oh, there's pizza?!" He quickly jumped from the table, and ran around the dividing wall between the dining and serving areas.
X exchanged glances with Amyna.
"Are we just gonna let that go?"
"No way."
Amyna beamed mischievously as he and X took off after their pizza-destroying classmate, Xavier phasing straight through the wall to get a better head start.