Solar Academy

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

"All this traffic is making me stressed out," Damion said.

"Don't worry, you still have fifteen minutes before your plane leaves and we are only a few miles away," Mom assured him.

"I'm scared, what if I don't make any friends, what if my grades drop, and what if the teachers don't like me? What if they expel me? Or worse, what if I won't be able to play video games anymore?" Damion pulled up his hoodie and stared outside the dusty and dirty window, painted with raindrops.

"Damion, you wouldn't be worrying about any of that if you make a good impression, study hard, and do your homework! Just try your best, okay?" Mom patted Damion's broad and square shoulder.

Mom tried to find parking as Damion scrolled on social media trying to find the slightest hint about Solar Academy. No one seemed to know about it, so Damion was left with no information but the little that his family had told him.

"Listen, every girl and boy in our family attended Solar Academy, and we told you everything possible. You are going to be the youngest boy in our family generation that has been here. Just be yourself," Mom said.

"Thanks, I guess," Damion brushed his hair out of his eyes and opened the door to enter the Canadian Airport.

Damion and Mom waved goodbye, for Damion wouldn't come back until summer. Even still, he was always free to roam the campus during summer, so Mom might not see him for almost two years. Damion walked to his gate with the tickets in his right hand, and the luggage in the left. He looked up from his ticket and saw another girl walking in the same direction, with the same ticket, and same Solar Academy luggage.

"Excuse me!" Damion called out to the girl.

"A boy that's so young? Solar Academy as well?" the girl asked, and Damion nodded.

"I wondered if you would walk with me to the gate," Damion said.

"Walk? You never walk to the gate, it's just simply not right! I know all about your family!" the girl replied.

"My family, you know my family?" Damion stopped in his tracks.

"Of course! I'm Sophie," she held out her hand.

"Damion," he shook Sophie's hand.

"Goodness me, is that the time?" Sophie started rushing to the gate, but after gaining momentum, she hopped on her luggage and it took her straight into the waiting area to Solar Academy.

Damion copied her every step. Then everything was a blur, and the one thing he could think of doing was to hold on like his life depended on it. Sophie was sitting down talking with her friends. When he walked over, Sophie stood up and said, "Your hair is a mess," then she sat back down and continued talking with her friends.

He turned around and couldn't find a seat, so he sat on the floor for a few minutes until the Solar Flight Director announced the flight was ready and called names one by one to rip half of each passenger's ticket.

"Damion?" the director called.

"Hi, ticket for one please?" Damion handed him his ticket, ID, passport, and verification acceptance certificate.

"Excuse me sir, it appears here the certificate approving that you were accepted to Solar Academy was the 7th of August," he glared at Damion.

"So? A date is a date, and a good school director would let me in since others in line are waiting as well. Perhaps consider the time in which the plane leaves and how much time you are spending lecturing students about minor infractions," Damion said calmly.

"How dare you! The deadline was the 9th of July!" he growled but ripped off Damion's ticket and let him walk down the path to the plane.

After a few minutes, everyone was loaded and the flight attendants were offering drinks and hanging suitcases and bags. Hours passed as Damion quietly found something to do. Sophie sat next to him and tapped his shoulders.