LEO AUREUM

Chapter 5

“Pardon?” Colonel Patrick asked Sable eyes.

“I said, I would like Cadet Alexander to take me on the tour around the school,” Sable eyes responded.

“River, I am sure you are probably mistaken.”

So his name was River.

There are plenty more suitable mates of yours who would be more than happy to take you on the tour.” Colonel Patrick paused. “I would not mind doing it myself, there are some things we need to talk about.”

“With all due respect Sir, that wouldn't be necessary,” River said.

“But Cadet Solaris, Cadet Alexander would be occupied as she has to polish the locker room floors,” Colonel Patrick reiterated.

“Seeing that you assigned her the said punishment, it wouldn't be so hard for you to postpone it so she would take me on the tour.”

My jaw was on the floor, no junior officer could talk to Colonel Patrick that way. Heck even senior officers regarded him with weary eyes owing to his various connections.

There was no way in hell Colonel Patrick was going to allow an ordinary cadet tell him what to do. Especially when it concerned someone he despised so much.

Colonel Patrick looked deeply annoyed and then, with a sigh, he spoke.

“Stephanie, you should take Cadet Solaris on the tour after your classes have ended.”

I couldn't believe my ears, Colonel Patrick had just had his authority challenged in the presence of level 2s by another level 2 and he succumbed.

Who was Cadet Solaris?

“Have your seat, Cadet.” Colonel Patrick told me, his voice laced with resignation.

I rushed to my seat before the Colonel realized what he had just done.

I could feel the daggers burning through my back. Why weren't they looking at Sable eyes with the same hostility? It was his doing that robbed them of the rest of the public spectacle my humiliation caused.

I could see the questions turning around in the heads of my rank mates. I felt exactly the same.

Why did the Colonel go against his wishes to satisfy a level 2 transfer? Why did a transfer immediately get accepted into the inner circle? Why did this transfer want to commit a social suicide by associating himself with the academy persona non grata?

Vern in particular looked at me like I had killed her dog and danced on its grave. The man of the moment barely spared me a glance, behaving as if coming into new places and drastically rocking the social order was an everyday occurrence for him.

My thoughts were cut short, however, as the tiled floor kept on coming closer and closer. Gravity didn't work that way. How I didn't feel the foot that tripped until it was too late was a bother to me. Surely, I wasn't that deep in thought.

My abilities to multitask were top-notch; I was analyzing social hierarchies, reasoning about gravitational physics and face-planting all at the same time.

Now, this is the point in time where I say that I was able to regain my balance and stand up right with the grace of a seasoned ballerina.

No such thing happened. I fell straight to the floor, bringing down the rest of the shreds of my dignity with me. On cue, communal laughter rang out. Pain and humiliation spread out through my body.

Henry's laugh was the loudest. I'm sure he was the one who tripped me.

“The cariot is on the floor where she belongs.”

Very original, Stacey.

“Why was she still allowed in?”

“Why would the River Solaris even want to be anywhere close to her?”

The River Solaris? I would also like to know, Marph.

Those were the types of comments that floated around.

Colonel Patrick was in front of the class, and I was sure he saw Henry trip me.

“Get up from the floor and stop making a spectacle of yourself, Cadet Alexander,” Colonel Patrick commanded.

Immediately, I stood up and rushed to my seat.

Meeting looks of cruel amusement, hatred and a few of pity. I hated the last one the most.

A pair of sable eyes were missing from the bunch as the owner stared forward, completely disregarding what was going on around him.

I put my head on my desk wondering if the crime I had committed was truly so heinous that it warranted the treatment I was getting.

At first, I was grateful that I had been granted the pardon. As time went on, I just kept on wishing I had left the academy.

At least I would have known that I was truly alone, not just lonely in a place full of people.

I was extremely grateful that I was left alone for the most part. I was actually able to pay attention to Colonel Patrick as he lectured on how security objectives and defense policies translate into military operations.

It was not anything I was new to. However, Rose always made sure I was ahead in all my courses.

I actually didn't want the class to end. “Ignorance is bliss,” they say. I am very sure that they did not say it, implying that it was blissful when one was being ignored, but with the way my life had been going in the academy, being ignored truly was bliss.

My enjoyment of being invisible was cut short when the bell rang. It was time to continue that race. I hurried towards the door and just as I was about to head to my room to prepare for our combat session, someone spoke to me.

“Aren't you forgetting something?”

River.