Head Space

Drop Off Zone

Octo

'That's so humiliating'

I watched as we sped past buildings, reducing them to colorful blurs. I could tell we were in a different part of the city. The people looked different, the cars looked different, and there were a lot more trees.

Now one would think I was simply fascinated by hte change of scenery, and maybe I was. But this was not the case. My eyes were peeled. I was actually looking for the Academy.

Not that I knew what it looked like though. They did show us on the day of the orientation, but I must have missed it. 

"It's probably massive. Do you know they have upwards of 600 new comers every two years?" Philo piped up from the front seat. She was also helping me look.

"Impressive" said Mom. She turned the car into a street with less cars and shops. It felt quiet. We kept on.

Mom took so many turns I almost thought we were lost. Then round the next bend we found it.

Oh. My. Jed.

First off there was a dangerous amount of people in the streets. They must have spilled even into the next one too. Mum gasped loudly and hit the brakes.

"Get out of the road!" she yelled from the comfort of her vehicle. A man in uniform strode up to her window and knocked. She rolled it down in a huff.

"Excuse me sir but I think that is a huge safety hazard. Those people should not be there." she pointed in front of us. 

The man didn't even look in their direction but calmly explained "Sorry ma'am but the parking lot is down the way you came. Apologies if you didn't catch it."

Mom's face went beet red in the face. "Oh! I'm so so sorry! No I don't think we saw it. Thank you for the directions though." she laughed nervously and rolled the window up. The man gave a thin smile and walked away sharply.

"Ahh goodness. That was about to be very humiliating. Let's re-trace our steps, shall we?" We slowly reversed the car.

Philo scoffed in her seat "About to be?" Mom playfully swatted at her. I watched behind us as we went further and further down the street.

Then I saw the sign. It was large and colorful with bold printed letters; CAR PARK THIS WAY. PEDESTRIANS AHEAD.

"Mom we're here! Stop before you run someone over." she gracefully pulled the car into the tall stone structure.

Once she'd found a good enough spot, we got out and started unloading my things. Mom took the large suitcase, Philo snatched up the duffel she carried earlier, and I reluctantly took the small suitcase. I peered down at the road. It was rather empty, save for some Security guards here and there.

"Are we going to have to carry this stuff the whole way?" I asked in disbelief. How embarrassing would it be to just hear nothing but the rumble of your wheels against the concrete. Yikes.

"Think of how much walking you're gonna be doing when you actually get in." Philo reminded me.

"Hm. Yeah probably not a lot. At least I hope." We started down the ramps to get to ground floor. "See! I know just about nothing about being a Little! This is going to suck." I dragged my feet loudly.

"Well you'll live. You'll have to anyways. Now let's get going we're almost late." Mom tried to rush us. I glanced at my watch.

"It's not even 8 o'clock yet, what do you mean by late?" I shot back at her. She raised her eyebrows as if she'd just been caught in the act.

"Oops. Guess it just slipped out. Nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt to make good time. Come on."

We walked silently across the road, giving small greetings to the officers here and there. The distance was far, but doable.

We finally reached the end of the street and the large building came into view.

"Woah...It's so much bigger from down here. Hurry up, I wanna see the inside!" Philo said excitedly. The man from earlier- Reul, I've come to find out is his name- was kind enough to lead us through the absolute crowd of people. 

"Why are there so many people out here?" I asked him. He gazed around us before answering.

"Well, child, this is a very prestigious Academy, I'm sure you've heard."

"I have." I said importantly.

"Right. It's doors are only opened every two years for new arrivals. As such, locals and other people in the area will gather outside in hopes to catch a glimpse of the Pengasuh, you know, those kids."

"Kids? I'm sure the youngest would be at least 20." Mom said with a scoff. Philo shook my arm lightly. I turned to look at her.

"I found out that word basically means baby-sitter in Indonesian. Cool, right?" she wore a proud look.

I shrugged and faced ahead of me. "The more you know."

The security guard at the gate stepped in front of us and said in a gruff tone. "Identification please." Mom pulled me forward. "Trivoctonimer Numan."

I blinked and pointed at myself. "Am-am I the identification?" The man gave me a once over and nodded. Then he pulled out two wrist bands and handed them to Mom and Philo.

"Go right in ma'am. And don't take those off for any reason." he pulled back a heavy chain and we shimmied through.

In front of us was a long wide flowery garden, with a stone path leading up to tall black doors.

As I stood in that place, seconds away from. . .Wow. .a familiar warmth spread through my gut. Was there any turning back? No, I think we've well passed the point of no return. If this goes south I'll be spending the next four years in hell. Alone.

I took a deep shaky breath, but couldn't properly finish it so it ended up sounding like a fake sigh. I jogged to catch up to the two of them seeing as I'd been standing and staring.

"Excited, Octopie? Or where's your head at?" Mom asked, slipping her hand through mine. 

I pursed my lips and faced her. "I'm not nervous. But let's not walk so fast okay?"

She chuckled and squeezed my hand.

"Silly boy."

Last week's update was skipped because I was deathly sick (much better now though) so yeah that's why. I hope it doesn't happen again. Just know I was thinking of y'all that whole Saturday 🤧.

Preach the gospel of Head Space.

Tell all your friends about this book. See you guys next Saturday :)