Apex Academy

Part 2

Tae and Natalie had decided that it would be best to leave Elliot and Renee alone so that Elliot could get his bearings and not feel so embarrassed about what had occurred. Renee had agreed to meet them at the local bar downtown that was owned by Elliot's family. 

"Elliot, Are you feeling any better?" Renee questioned carefully as she settled down on the edge of Elliot's plain bed. Elliot nodded and looked up at the dark-haired girl with a forced smile and put his thumbs up. "Don't worry about me, I will be fine." He responded casually as if he hadn't been having a panic attack just a few moments ago. Renee let out a sigh and stood up and walked over to a wooden chair and grabbed the leather jacket that was thrown over it and shrugged it on. "I promised to meet up with Nat and Tae and a few other people at the local bar..." 

Elliot had let Renee leave and spend time with her friends before it got too late. He decided that he didn't want to face the pitying looks that Natalie and her boyfriend would shoot at him and decided that it would be best to stay in his dorm and decorate a few things. Once he had emptied his few belongings he had thought about heading down to the shops. His mother had given him a hefty sum to spend on more belongings for his new dorm room. 

He ran along the pavement, dodging other students and skidded out of the college grounds. He was very good at being sneaky when he wanted to. He hoped that nobody would catch him in getting him in trouble on his first day. Most students had passes to leave when they wanted but he hadn't had the chance to get one made yet. He would have to ask his brother about it after he had finished work. He also knew that his brother would be begging him to work a shift at the Paradise Lounge that was on the College grounds since it was owned by his family. 

Elliot pulled the hood of his yellow jacket over his head and kept his head down as he made it into the small shopping centre. It wasn't overcrowded and a few other students could be seen loitering about with skittish glances around. He wasn't the only one sneaking away from the college. 

"Woah, Watch it, Amigo!" A startled voice spoke as Elliot clumsily walked into someone. He had been lost in thought and had bumped into a male. Elliot looked up sheepishly and gave a small nervous grin. The boy was the same age as him, Bright green eyes, green hair and piercings scattering across his face. Elliot noticed that instead of legs the male had prophetic legs. 

"I am so sorry! I wasn't looking. I apologise-" Elliot stammered and waved his hands around before noticing the boy was simply grinning at him. "Chill out Amigo, I was just messing with you. I see you are also bunking off college, Hey. I haven't seen you around before." The male spoke with a Spanish accent and radiated bundles of energy that reminded him of Natalie. He would have thought that they would have made a cute couple if Natalie wasn't taken by the Korean. 

"Uh, yeah. I arrived today. The name is Elliot Witt." Elliot responded feeling his hoodie begin to become soaked by the rain that was starting to pour down. The male nodded and glanced up at the sky with a frown. "Nice to meet you, Witt, You can call me Silva or Octane. My real name is Octavio Silva but I don't like it." He shrugged and let out a chuckle. "Eh, You need a nickname, Most of the crew has one...I know! Mirage." He hopped on one of his legs before detaching it and examining it before slamming it back on as if it was a normal thing to do. 

Elliot wondered what Octavio meant by the rest of the crew and wondered if he had connections with Natalie, Renee and Tae. They had all introduced themselves with strange nicknames and now he had been given one. He had never heard his brother mention anything about nicknames and only ever heard him complain about a strange bunch of students that he found annoying. Elliot guessed that his new friends were the weird ones. "Why Mirage?" He questioned trying his best to not look at the boy's legs as he hopped from one foot to the other. Octavio laughed loudly causing a few passer-by's to look over in their direction. 

"I didn't see you coming Amigo, I always see them coming." He stated as if that cleared everything up. Elliot decided not to question the subject further. Octavio let out a small sigh and pulled his green hoodie out of his backpack and shrugged it on and pulled up the hood and pointed over to the furniture store. "I am heading in there until this weather clears up." Elliot didn't get a chance to respond before the boy ran out from his view and into the store. 

Elliot had managed to buy a few decorative items whilst browsing the furniture store with Octavio. He had admitted to himself that he could take a liking to the overly energetic male. He hadn't expected to have the green-haired boy follow him around the store like a lost puppy through and was quite confused until the male answered his question. "I have nothing else to do, Don't worry. I am not stalking you or anything. You would be a pretty boring target." He teased playfully and grabbed something off of the shelf and examined it with a bored expression before placing it back down with a groan. 

"What are you doing in the shopping district anyway?" Elliot questioned as he walked over to the bored-looking cashier and paid for the items quickly. Octavio caught up to him and ran on the spot causing the cashier to shoot him a glare that he returned. "Stop staring buddy or we are gonna have a problem." He growled catching Elliot by surprise. 

The Cashier bagged the items and tossed them at Elliot without saying a word and walked into the back of the store hastily. The two exited the store. "Most of my friends are hanging at the bar tonight and I would join but honestly, I just don't feel like watching the girl I have liked since the start of the school year flirt with her boyfriend." 

Elliot looked over at the male with a small frown etched onto his face. "Did you ever tell her about your feelings?" He questioned and Octavio shook his head. "Nah, Never got the chance. She is hella smart and I ain't. Of course, she would choose the smart Korean over a junkie like me." 

He could hear the pain seeping into the other male's voice and he brought his hand up and patted him on the back. "Hey, Maybe you will get another shot if they break up or you will find someone better." He reassured and Silva gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, dude, I normally don't blurt out my problems but nobody ever really asks me or tries to get to know the real me."

"You called yourself a junkie before, What do you mean by that?" Elliot wondered out loud and followed the eccentric male down the street as they headed back to the college. "I have an addiction to my handmade stims, They are my pain relief from the phantom pain in my limbs." He explained in a flat tone. "My best friend is trying to help me cut down on them. She knows that I can't come off of them completely because the pain gets so bad." 

The boys made their way back onto the college grounds without being noticed by any older students or teachers. "I guess I should head over to the bar before A.Jay notices that I haven't turned up, She might think that I have overdosed in a ditch somewhere and send out a search party." Octavio laughed dryly and looked over at the direction of the lit up bar with a sorrowful face. Elliot slung a arm around the slightly shorter male. "How about I keep you company, My family owns this bar and I have to go apply to work their  against my will." 

They arrived at the bar and was relieved to notice that it wasn't as packed as it usually would be. Octavio glanced over to a rather large group of people before grabbing Elliot by the arm and dragging him over to their direction. Elliot put on his usual fake smile and hoped to survive the night.