Morning orientation was a slog. Despite its profound and relatively contemporary outlook, this university was like many before it, and, probably, many after it. The professor reiterated some class rules, reviewed the requirements for the course at length, and tried to make the three-line school code sound more profound than it was.
“Honesty and service beyond measure
Justice and valor beyond duty”
Day felt the groaning frustration bubbling inside of her blocked only by the two capsules of gum in her mouth. She didn’t try to be discreet as she folded her arms atop the desk to rest her head on. Orientations are tiring and unnecessary. As far as she was concerned, holographic memos were enough to tell you what you needed to know for these kinds of classes.
Nate sat with his back ramrod straight. The perpetual scowl on his face deepening by the minute. Two-third of an hour in, he heard the even breathing of his incidental desk mate. “Tsk.” How he wished he could have done the exact same thing. Then, again, noble brats have all the privilege and no responsibility.
The professor walked around the front of the class, obviously uninterested in the orientation he was, most likely, forced to hold. It wasn’t his choice, really. This was the procedure he was asked to enforce – a formality every participant despised. Still, he droned as every other professor just like any other educator did at this exact moment. It was only at the section where he was set to dissect the school code that he noticed a student with their head pressed down in the middle rows of the class.
Two puff balls on their head shook as the student lay splattered onto the desk. Beside them, Oliviero noticed, a stalwart figure in a crisp uniform. Their shoulder was squared, and their face was pressed into a grimace, eyes shifting to the side. Ah, he noted, walking up to stairs right up to the desk of the sleeping student and their very uncomfortable deskmate. Rolling his eyes and smirking, Oliviero put a finger to his lip before knocking on the tabletop.
The whole class sat with bated breath expecting their classmate to sit up in alarm only to be scolded. Instead, said classmate just shifted from their spot, rolling closer to their seat mate.
Oliviero clicked their tongue. “Your sir,” nodding at the frowning boy,” wake up your little classmate.”
Nate could only bite his lip and gently prod the girl sleeping next to his seat. “Hey,” he whispered to her. “Hey, get up.” She didn’t move, not even a mumble of acknowledgement. Fuck. So, he shoved her hard.
Suddenly pushed off her seat, Day blearily threw a punch at her opponent. In a matter of seconds, Nate, three heads taller, and two Days wider, was sprawled on the floor clutching his swelling chin.
Professor Oliviero whistled. It’s not everyday you see a petite diva deck a young veteran. He gestured to the student behind Nate to pull him up before placing a hand on the young girl’s shoulder. “At least we know your reaction time is pretty good. Though, I would still prefer if you don’t go around hitting your classmates outside of the arena,” he chuckled,” or, sleeping in my class.”
Day rubbed her sleeve over the corner of her lips, nodding to the professor. “Yessir,” she murmured.
“Anyway, both of you take your seat. I know it’s a bore to get through, but we must follow the school’s protocol and do the actual orientation – even if you could have just read the e-pamphlet or the course introduction on the class server.”
Now, it was Nate’s turn to lay on the desk. His body seemed to have lost all the previous rigor he showed. Instead, he was limp for the rest of the class, face buried in folded arms.
By the time the class was excused for the morning, Day felt guilty at having hit him. Standing to the side, she poked his shoulder. “Nate.” He didn’t move. “Nate? Are you okay?” He replied with a groan. “Nate, do you want to eat with me?” Nothing again. Day crouched down, sitting back on her heels with her head a little below the height of their shared desk. And, right near where she estimated his ear to be she began a tried-and-tested chant, the kind her cousin was never actually able to ignore: “Natenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenatenate ---”
“Shut up!” He stood up from his seat, Day popping up after.
“Let’s eat, then.”
Fixing his wrinkled uniform, Nate could only sigh. He knew this girl was trouble from the moment she said hello. He should have listened to his gut and ran away when he could. Maybe, he looked at the doorway.
“No, can do, buckaroo.” Day jumped up and down trying to block his view of the exit. “We’re going to lunch.”
Nate raised an eyebrow, using his arm to brace the tabletop. “And, what makes you think I will just go along with you?”
Day pondered, eyes swirling. “Nothing, really,” she shrugged. “I just thought you would be less lonely. Besides, I owe you for that one.”
His hands finding his sore jaw, massaging it.
“Lemme feed you, ‘kay?”
The hand massaging his jaw fell, resting atop the desk fingers gripping the wood. “Why?”
The girl snorted, mouth curling in a sly grin. “No reason. Do I need a reason to want to?”
“Yes.”
“No, I don’t. Who ever said that I need to have a reason to be feed the person sitting next to me?”
“I won’t just go along with it because you said you’d feed me.”
“Hmm,” her hands rested on her hips as she thought about what exactly made him hesitate to take her up on her offer. Free food is free food; plus, it wasn’t like she was going to poison him. It was just a meal at the cafeteria! “Think of it like this,” she bent down, admittedly not very much as even while sitting the boy’s head would be able to reach her shoulders,” accompany me because I can’t find my way.”
The boy scoffed at the thought. “How did you get to class today?”
“My cousin walked me to the front of the building and programmed my holo-band to do a live cast of the directions with arrows and everything. It was cool.”
Nate studied this classmate, meeting her eyes for the first time. She definitely stood out – beyond her questionable taste in clothes, they way she talked and carried herself showed a carelessness that was not common amongst the rest of the cadets. She didn’t seem to mind or care about where she was and what that meant. From what he can tell, she probably was from a well-to-do family and, in any other circumstance, would not be the type to talk, much less be-friend, someone like him.
The girl felt his hesitance, not the arrogance he seemed to project out into the world but the quiet calculations he hid beneath his well-ironed uniform. If she gave up now, maybe they would be sharing the table amidst a silent divide, a wall built in a single conversation founded on the first impressions. Imagine being working partners with someone like that, Day gagged inside. It would be like a horribly cut C grade horror movie where the villain and the hero were one person, but every character spends forty-eight minutes pretending that they were in fact different people. She didn’t want to be a pseudo-final girl who dies in the first few minutes of opening credits.
“Just this one lunch, okay?” This time, she pleaded softly, her tone bordering on a kitten’s whine. “Besides, would be so bad to eat with the person who’ll be your combat partner for the year? Think of it as an orientation meal, yeah?”
He couldn’t say no. At this point, it was practically ridiculous to turn her down without making an enemy out of her. And, she had a point – she was going to be his combat partner this year, the professor said as much. Despite everything he felt he knew about people like her and people like him, he wanted to try and believe that there were good people out there – so he nodded.
