Hothead:
"I can't believe it. I still can't believe it! This is so awesome!"
I wipe the tears from my eyes as I press my face against the window.
"I can see it! I can see it!"
"Okay, okay. Please stop."
Alodia grabs the back of my jacket and pulls me away from the window.
"You're fogging the window."
I shake Alodia off and return to the window. Looking outside, I see the beautiful view. I see all the stunning colors. I see freedom and fun.
"I can't believe we finally have a day off. Yayyy!"
I shoot my hands into the air as I scream.
"I can't believe I have to spend my day off with you," Alodia whispers.
"I heard that!"
"Enough," Renee says. "Both of you. Sulien, please sit back down."
I shake my head and slump back down into my seat.
"Fine, but I'm doing it because I want to! Not because you told me. Got it?"
"Got it."
Crossing my arms, I turn and still look out the window.
"Finally," I say, bumping Jump with my elbow. "After everything that happened, we can enjoy some free time. Ahh, my head is still hurting from doing all that homework."
"There, there," Jump says, patting my head. "Tell you what. I'll buy you an iced drink when we get to the city."
"Uhh, don't suppose you want to buy me an ice drink too?"
Renee asks when he scratches the back of his head.
"What?" Jump asks.
Renee must have just heard what he said. He stops scratching his head and starts shaking his hands left and right.
"No, no, no! That's not what I meant! I mean, I can buy your own drink, but do you want to share my drink?"
"What?" I ask this while looking between Renee and Jump.
"No! That's not what I meant either! I mean--I meant--"
"It's fine," Jump says, putting up her hands. "I can get you an iced drink, too. In fact, I can buy drinks for all of us."
Renee wipes his sweat before slapping himself in the face.
"It's fine," Alodia says. She reaches into one of the pockets on her dress and pulls out a black credit card. "I can afford my own."
Jump and I look at each other before looking back at Alodia. We both begin to giggle.
"What? What's so funny? Do you know what this is? This is a Monyrexa credit card. A Monyrexa! Banks don't just give these out to anyone. You need to know the right people, convince those same people to issue you one, and that only if you have assets of over fifty million dollars, which, as the daughter of the Darreth, I do."
Jump and I watch as Alodia smiles and places her hand on her chest. She acts all fancy and schmancy. Seeing this, I couldn't hold it in any longer. I burst out laughing, almost dying from a lack of air.
"Hahahaha!"
I don't know how, but somehow, Jump was able to hold it in.
"Okay! That is enough. What is so funny? Do you know understand this?"
Alodia turns to Renee and yells at him. Renee backs up and puts his hands up.
"No. I don't."
Still laughing, coughing even, I wipe a tear from my eyes.
"You or me? Jump, please let me."
"Yeah," Jump says, holding her hand over her mouth.
"Okay, okay."
Jump reaches into her pocket and pulls out a similar black credit card. Alodia's eyes go wide when she sees Jump's card.
"You have a Monyrexa credit card, too? Impossible? How?"
"How else?"
Laughing a bit more, I finally catch my breath. Coughing and clearing my throat, I point at Jump.
"Jump's family is also rich. Very, insanely rich. Her last name is Avita."
Alodia's jaw drops open.
"Avita? As in the Avita Family? One of the biggest mining families, possibly the biggest in the whole world, Avita?"
"Yes," Jump says, nodding. "You didn't know."
"How could I know!"
Alodia shouts as her head twists and turns.
"You go by 'Jump'! I barely know that your first name is Eimear! I didn't know your last name is Avita! Oh my--"
Alodia's eyes roll back, and we all watch as she falls back onto her seat before sliding down it. Seeing this, I burst into laughter again.
"Hahahaha! Oh man! Why didn't I bring a camera?"
Jump slaps me on my arm before getting up. She and Renee grab Alodia and bring her back up, gently placing her back down in her seat.
"So, apparently, you're the daughter of a rich family," Renee says, sitting back down.
"Yeah, but I don't really like to think about it."
Renee nods before turning to me.
"What about you? Do you have secrets you're leaving out? Are you the son of another rich family?"
"Nope," I say with a pop. "Just a regular student from a normal family. My dad and mom work, we live in a small house, and we are not rich. You?"
"Same. Like, the same. My family isn't rich, and we don't have any connections. In fact, I almost wasn't admitted, but I got lucky. Really lucky."
Renee starts scratching the back of his head again. Turning away from us, Renee stops scratching and gets up.
"Hey, look!"
Running to the window, Renee smiles.
"Move it, leader," I say, shoving Renee aside to also enjoy the view. Through the window, the hover traincraft slowly ascending, I see the giant city with millions of bright, almost blinding colors. Skyscrapers touch the blue sky, and the streets are filled with thousands of people, enjoying their days.
"Burnara," I cry. "We're here! We are here!"
"Ahhh," Alodai cries, her eyes snapping open. She pushes herself up and looks around. "Where am I? What happened? Are we at Burnara yet?"
Shocker:
"Yaaayyyy," Honey shouts, shooting her hands into the air as we all step out of the hover traincraft and onto the city's hover platform. "Finally."
Honey starts twisting and turning her body, the sound of her bones cracking echoing loudly in our ears.
"Ohhh, yaaayyy. I really needed this. We really needed this."
Honey bumps Chadd, Clementine, and me on our chests.
"It had been nothing but classes, homework, sleep, eat, and repeat. Now, it's time for some fun! Hooo!"
Before any of us can do anything, Honey grabs Chadd and pulls him away. The two quickly disappear into the crowd, with Chadd begging Honey to slow.
"If you need anything," Honey shouts, her voice even louder than the hundreds of people waking around the city's streets, "Call us on our holo-display!"
"Honey! Slow down. Please! You're going to rip my shirt. I like this shirt."
While Honey drags Chadd somewhere, I tap Clementine on her shoulders.
"Yes," she whispers.
I point between us, my fingers going back and forth.
"Oh, I get it. You're saying that since Chadd is with Honey, maybe we could spend the day together. Is that right?"
I nod my head, grateful that Clementine is starting to understand.
"Thank you," Clementine starts, "But if you don't mind, I would rather be by myself for a little bit. If you need anything, just call me on my holo-display."
Clementine nods before turning around and walking away. Like Chadd and Honey, Clementine also disappears into the crowd. A little sad not to spend some bonding time with my team, I shrug my shoulders and reach into my pocket. Pulling out my holo-display, about to call Hothead and Jump to see if I could hang out with them today, I stop when I hear a familiar voice.
"Hey."
Turning around, I see Alice standing there with a smile on her face. Smiling, I type a message into my holo-display before turning it around.
"Hello Alice," Alice reads, "How are you doing today?"
Alice's smile grows when she reads my message.
"I'm not going to lie. My day didn't start off too well. As you can see, I am by myself. My team wanted to go see something in Burnara, but I didn't, so we separated."
"Oh, that's suck," I write, ending the message with a sad face.
Alice laughs when she reads my message.
"Listen," Alice says, clearing her throat and turning her head. "I know this may be a bit sudden, but since we're both alone, do you want to explore Burnara together? I mean, I've been here a few times already, so I can get you a tour if you want. Or you can just explore by yourself. The choice is yours."
I don't even have to think about it. I turn my holo-display off, slide it into my pocket, and step to the side. Moving my hands, I point toward the street with a smile.
"I guess you decided to go with me as your tour guide," Alice says.
I smile and nod.
"Awesome. Well, follow me. Our first stop in Burnara is the Jones's Treat Shop."