"Seriously?" Kim asked. "Don't you have sponsors or something?"
"Yeah, I do, but they're supporting me because of my parents," Sonya replied. "If my parents pull their support, then my sponsors will too."
"How does that work?" Patricia asked.
"It's actually simple," Sonya replied matter-of-facctly. "My parents are one the board of directors in their company. Not ones at the top, but they still have a lot of influence in the company. If they knew I liked girls, they would pretty much disown me and do everything they could to cancel me. Those who support them would be more than willing to attack anyone who would support me after that."
"Seriously?" Kim asked again, feeling herself getting rather upset about the whole matter. "Wouldn't the left cancel them instead for being homophobic?"
Sonya sighed. "I'm not sure what it's like on your world, but on mine, as long as they're the 'right kind of people' they can pretty much do what they want and not get serious consequences," she replied, sounding rather resigned. "They wouldn't say it's because of me going out with a girl. They'd come up with some excuse as to why that's perfectly acceptable for the public. The real reason wouldn't matter to those who would otherwise be outraged on my behalf. Just like those who get accused of sexual harassment. If they're not among a certain group, they get crucified in the media, but if they're one of the 'right kind of people' they'll get a much more muted response in the media usually. Sometimes they'll lose the job they currently have, but they'll typically not get run out of their careers."
"Why would the do something like that?" Elin asked, her confusion evident in her voice. "Shouldn't they love you no matter what?"
"I really couldn't say," Sonya replied. "All I know for sure is that they have made it clear that I'm only to be going out with guys."
"Uh, we're kind of getting off topic," Owen remarked. "We still have two people to go, so who wants to go next?"
"I'll go," Bart volunteers.
"Good enough for me," Jonas remarked.
Kim wondered idly if why she was so willing to trust him will be explained with his story, but pushed that thought to the side as Bart started his story.
+++
Bart waited patiently for the results. His parents wouldn't accept him to come back without them, just as they wouldn't accept him not being the best. Sometimes Bart wondered if he should throw whatever competition or evaluation he gets. Just to say, 'see? I'm good, but I'm not perfect.'
Yet, he never goes through with it. He wasn't sure if he'd like what would occur, or if he'd even survive it. He really didn't know what his parents would do if he wasn't the best in everything he did.
He'd heard rumors of other kids being found dead after not being the best, but he couldn't say if those rumors were true or not. He hoped they weren't, but given how his parents looked at him when they would talk to him about being the best and how he needed to keep being the best for his future, he could see them doing something that could threaten his life if he wasn't 'the best.'
Finally, the principal came out of his office, with a piece of paper in his hands.
"Sorry to make you wait, Mr. McKenzie. I hope you weren't waiting long," the principal said, as he handed the paper to Bart.
"Not long," Bart assured the principal.
That was a bold faced lie. He'd been waiting for over two hours while he waited for the results to be tallied. Part of the wait was because he had to wait for all of the other students to have turned in their tests before his could even be hoped to get ranked against theirs. Bart wasn't upset about how long it was. The wait at least gave him time to wonder what he would like to do if he had that luxury.
"That's good," the principal replied, a glint in his eye making Bart wonder if the principal really knew how long Bart had really been waiting. "I just hope this doesn't cause much trouble for you."
Confused, Bart looked at the paper. He wasn't surprised to see he had a perfect score on the test. However, he was surprised to see he wasn't alone. His name was listed second, but that was because of the other person's name being ranked above his because how any ties in scoring were then listed in alphabetical order. So, his name came second because his family name starting with an M, while the other person's name started with a G.
He read the other person's name: Elena Gomez. He wasn't familiar with the person, but that wasn't surprising. After all, it was a large school and Bart really didn't have time to socialize with even his classmates. The only time he really had time in which he could socialize was times like thse in which he was merely wating. Though, he generally didn't do that regardless, because if even a rumor of this got back to his parents, they would let him know just how inappropriate it is for him to interact with the competition like they weren't competing.
That's how his parents saw everyone in his school who weren't the faculty, in relation to his grades. He suspected that in the other competitions that his parents signed him up for before he was even aware of it, they would consider anyone in the world his competition, and so would object to him talking with anyone in a friendly manner.
Sometimes Bart would wait longer, even after he'd been given the results, just so he could have more time by himself before he went back to his parents and they set him down to study or practice whatever instrument, sport, or whatever they had in mind for him.
The excuse that he had to wait for the results to be tallied was always accepted by his parents and they would never question him on why it took so long, because he wouldn't be able to say if there were problems on the faculty's side, but he was glad he'd never had to pin the blame on them for that.
Bart went outside as he put the paper he'd been given in his backpack, since if he waited in the office, there was a chance that they would call his parents to let them know he was waiting for them. He'd only ever made that mistake once. His parents weren't happy about being asked to pick him up.
So, he would find ways to make his own free time last longer. Not that he really did anything with his 'free time.' It was merely free because he didn't have anything that he had to focus on at that moment. Besides, his parents wouldn't allow him to even read a book they hadn't approbed of beforehand.
So, he walked a little away from the school and sat under a tree. From under the tree, he could see the clouds in the sky and have some shade from the hot sun. Watching the clouds was something that he'd found fascinating. Aside from seeing various objects in them, they were free and able to go wherever they wanted.
They also looked so soft and fluffy. He wondered what it would be like to be able to lie in a bed that was as soft as thse clouds looked.
"You really like that cumulonimbus cloud, don't you?" Bart heard a girl's voice ask.
Bart looked in the direction of the voice, startled. He hadn't realized he wasn't alone and worried what his parents would say about that.
"Hey, relax," the girl said as Bart looked around frantically for her. "I'm up here."
Bart looked above him to see a girl sitting on the lowest branch of the tree. She looked to be about his age, which was twelve. She had raven black hair, brown eyes, and a smile that warmed Bart up like if he was sitting in the sunlight. He could also see up her skirt, so he quickly looked away.
"Shy huh?" the girl said, chuckling, jumping down from the branch, landing between him and the sidewalk. Then once on the ground, she turned to face Bart. "What's the matter, didn't you like the view?"
"I- I don't know what you're talking about," Bart stutters, not sure how to respond to her question.
The girl laughs. "I mean what you could see under my skirt," she tells him. "I don't know many boys who wouldn't like to see under a girl's skirt."
"Um…" Bart's mind is panicking. He has absolutely no idea what to say and is terrified of anyone his parents might know seeing him around this girl and reporting it to them. "I have to go," he finally manages, as he starts to get up and leave.
"Hey wait!" the girl snaps, grabbing Barth's hand as he started to run away. "I'm not going to bite."
"It's not that," Bart said, trying to get away.
"Then what is it?" the girl asked. Then before Bart could answer, she seemed to realize something. "Oh, I should introduce myself first! My name is Elena Gomez. What's your name?"
"Uh, my name is Bart McKenzie," he replied, slowing his struggles down, his will to escape diminishing as he turned to face her. "And my parents don't like me talking to anyone my age. They're the competition."
"Wow," Elena said flatly, surprise evident on her face. "What kind of parents do you have?"
Bart shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "They're just my parents."
Elena pulled Bart back towards her. "I can understand that," she said. "But at the same time, how will you be able to talk with others if you don't learn now?"
"Life is about coming out on top," Bart replied, recalling one of the maxims his parents had drilled into him since he could remember.
Elena shook her head. "Well, if you'd like, I could talk to you sometimes," she said, looking shy all of a sudden. Almost like she feared what his response would be. "You don't have to even say anything back to me. Just let me be around you."
Bart couldn't help but smile, "I guess I could accept that," Bart said, not sure what else to say.
"Well, that's settled then," Elena said. "Anytime I'm talking to you, you can also say anything you want. Even if it's something you're worried about and don't want anyone else to know. I'll keep your secrets for you if you'd like."
Bart suddenly felt his panic return in full force as he thought about his secrets. Somehow her mentioning that made him feel like his parents were listening in on his thoughts and learning all of his secrets. He tore his hand out of Elena's grip and took off running. He ran three blocks before he slowed down and settled down for a regular walk.
By the time he made it home, he had recovered his breath and hoped that he didn't look as panicked as he still felt at the moment.
As he entered the house, he wasn't surprised to see his mother waiting for him. She looked at him sternly. She had the same light brown hair as he did, though except for his blue eyes, she had light green eyes.
"What took so long this time?" his mother demanded. "Did you stop to talk with the competition again?"
"No," Bart said. "I waited in the office for the results to be tallied." Bart pulled off his backpack and began looking through it so he could get the results out to hand to his mother.
As she took it from Bart, she glanced at it. "Second place?" she asked, her voice a clear warning that he was in serious trouble.
"No, it was a tie," Bart said, quickly pointing to the fact that both had perfect scores. "They listed me second because they list all the ties in alphabetical order."
Bart felt himself sweating, not sure what'll happen. He had to assume that Elna had merely moved in recently and that's why she'd never been on those results before. Not that he really paid attention to any of the other names before.
His mother sighed as if he was a heavy burder for her. "That doesn't matter. Getting listed second means you're in second place because your name appears second."
Bart wasn't sure how he could do anything about that. He certainly didn't create the system in which the scores were listed. So, he merely remained silent. He at least knew his mother would not take it kindly if he spoke unbidden.
"Well, if that's the best you can do, you might as well go downstairs. You look tired," his mother said, her voice softening.
This was the first time he'd ever heard her voice soften towards him. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad. Maybe they wouldn't be so critical of him if he wasn't the best as he had feared they would be.
However, as he started to head down to the basement where his room was, he felt a hand on his shoulder before there was a sudden force pushing against that shoulder, causing him to lose his balance and go flying down the stairs.
He wasn't sure what was going on. His mind couldn't catch up with what was happening and he could only close his eyes as he waited for the impact to occur.
Yet, when he opened his eyes, he was in the competition. He still hadn't figured out what had happened to cause him to go flying down the stairs like that. He wasn't sure if something was wrong with him.