Classes start and I'm grateful for the distraction provided by them. I spend most days buried under a mountain of books. I read ahead because the assignments the teachers hand over in class aren't enough to occupy my mind. Nothing is, really but at least I'll be able to make good on one promise I've made. I should make a list.
I step out of the dormitories in the morning to head to class. I still haven't figured out how to face Enid. How do you face someone who has been like a mother to you that you pretended to be dead for a year, while they mourned you and buried you?
I don't have an answer to that. I know she will be beyond happy to have me back but also I'm afraid that her heart might give out. Frankie fainted. Enid might have a heart attack.
I shake my head and climb the steps to the hall and head into class. The ones that reside in Morston are familiar with said tragedy, and don't waste a moment to remind me of it.
" Dead girl walking," Titian says in a sing-song voice and everyone laughs. I sigh and plop myself into a seat.
The girl next to me, Riley looks at me with a compassionate eye but says nothing.
She hasn't spoken much since we started classes, but she said is from Baranstain District where I used to live.
I made an effort not to mention that little fact because it was irrelevant to the case in point.
" Say," Titian plops in the seat in front of me," Did you meet god when you died?" He smirks at me and I'm acutely aware that I'm perfectly capable of sending him flying through the wall and have absolutely zero regrets about it.
" Yes, I did," I smirk back at him," I have a message for you," Slowly lift my middle finger and he laughs.
" Well, if you see him again tell him, same," He gets up to move back with his obnoxious friends as Emmeline walks into the room and settles herself at her desk, shuffling stack of papers getting ready to teach class.
" Open the book in front of you at page thirty-eight. Today we will be discussing market trends," She says curtly and takes a sip of her coffee. It's Wednesday and it is my first class with her but so far she hasn't made eye contact with me. Not that it is something I'm looking forward to.
I'm not standing on steady ground and I'm well aware that my every move is watched and reported back to Aldo, who is just waiting to kick me to the curb like old garbage. If the first time around he wasn't very agreeable, the second was worse and the third was a straightforward hand-out. And he doesn't seem the type of person to give handouts.
" Miss Abernathy," Emmeline calls from her seat and I raise my eyes to look at her, a little surprised. She is wearing a frown on her pretty face, and I have a feeling I have done something that I shouldn't.
" Could you please share with the class what are the current market trends?" Emmeline asks and I make an effort and rise to my feet to answer her question. I've spent every waking moment in the past three days reading all I could find on the courses I'm taking.
The library on the academy grounds provides extensive sources from different authors and I've spent every waking moment soaking it all up as much as I could. Provided that I'm running on fumes that is, but that wouldn't be much of an excuse if I fail to answer her question.
" Unfortunately, I won't be able to provide an accurate answer to your question, because consumer habits change periodically in accordance with the offer on the market. In short, it is impossible to predict or know for sure which trends are most popular but not impossible to influence through advertising and methods such as short-term offers to entice the public. What might be current today, it might be old history tomorrow because consumer behaviour can be unpredictable," I take a deep breath and she seems satisfied with my answer. It is a textbook answer, nothing flashy, and certainly not new.
She gestures for me to sit down, and says," You don't have to stand. Just a reminder for next time," She says as she rises to her feet and begins teaching the class by drawing graphs on the board behind her.
I don't know much about business but like anything else, it's all about numbers and I understand that. I might fail at the human component but I can do numbers with my eyes closed.
After about an hour of rambling about how consumer behaviour can be influenced and what techniques can be implemented to achieve the desired outcome, Emmeline dismisses the class.
I realise that business isn't a heavy subject, so my next class is on economics. The professor is a nice man with a bushy moustache, and a tuff of hair in the middle of his head, who seems to have a mind of its own. He spends the entirety of the class trying to tame it with his hand. So far, he has been unsuccessful.
The day goes by in a blur where I spend my time half paying attention to the class and half somewhere else. Wherever he is. It took me a while but I know I can sense him through the hind that connects us. And I know he does too. The connection is faint but it is there and it takes everything I have to ignore the little thread of golden light that ties us together.
After class, I head into the common area which doubles as a mess hall. There isn't a kitchen on site but they offer a buffet with finger food and drinks. Nothing that would impress anyone, but enough to settle a grumbling stomach and a parched throat.
It's packed as usual in spite of the unwelcoming environment. I make my way through the crowd and pick some pretzels and what it appears to be juice.
I'm not looking forward to finding what it is in that glass. It has a strange greenish colour.
David spots me and waves to join them. There are a few others at the table, a boy and another girl that I haven't met before.
" Kaya, meet Lily," David makes the introductions as I sit down, next to the curly-haired beauty. I say hey and she smiles, tracking my movements with her eyes. I hope David hasn't told them about me, because I sort of feel like I'm about to be ambushed and strapped to a table. I shake my head, to rid myself of that thought.
David introduces me to Frederik with a K, not a C. He makes that little amendment quite smugly. They must be friends of David's.
They fall into a conversation with each other while Laira and I fall into a conversation of our own.
We are not in the same year, so she tells me about everything she learned in the past year and pulls out of her bag a decahedron. And proudly holds it in her hand, as if it is the most precious thing in the world. It is something she has made for her final exam. The shape is rather unusual, and considering that we are still struggling on some fronts of technological development, it is ahead of its time. She is brimming with pride and my heart swells in my chest with joy for her. She is a smart girl. Smarter than I'll ever be.
" I just need to figure it out how to power it," She says with a sigh looking at the device in her hand.
" I wish I could help you but I have no clue how to help you," I pick the decahedron from her hand, " What does this gizmo is supposed to do?" I study it intensely because it doesn't make any sense. It is a ten-faceted ball with an empty core.
She points at the hole in the middle," It could be used to store energy but I don't have a cell resistant enough to contain anything above twelve watts. That's not a lot. We are still redeveloping technology from the old world while crafting new ones. Not easy.