Bonded

Chapter Twenty Two and a Half

Noah followed behind James as they entered the museum. He tried to keep his steps as solemn and serious as his cousin did, but it was hard to contain the giddy excitement inside himself.

He was finally going to get to see an O and see if they were really worth pining over, like so many A's do. He had been asking and asking James to let him see one, just see, even from afar. For so long James told him no, lecturing him about rules and procedures, but when James had gotten caught skipping school, Noah covered for him without being asked, and now James owed him.

Noah bounced on his feet as he waited for his cousin to pay their entrance fee. As soon as they were on the other side of the gate, Noah rushed to dip around James and lead the way down the hall towards the main exhibition. When he arrived he ignored all the art, twisting and turning his body, trying to see where the academy's class could be.

James grabbed Noah from behind and pulled him close, wrapping an arm around his neck in a way that looked affectionate but was used to keep their conversation private.

"What are you doing?" James quietly hissed, sobering Noah up only a little. "You can't be so obvious in looking for them, we aren't even supposed to know that their coming. We'll get in huge shit if anyone finds out we came here just to see the academy's class. You need to listen or we are going to leave."

Noah froze at that, turning his head to look up at his cousin. "We can't leave before I see them, you promised. I got you out of trouble, remember? Auntie would have been really mad if she knew you skipped school to play video games all day."

James pressed his fingertips onto his forehead. He should have just accepted the consequences from his mother instead of letting Noah guilt trip him into doing this. The kid was too immature, he was going to get them caught for sure. "Being here just to see them isn't worth not being allowed at the academy in the future. You need to calm down and act more mature."

Noah finally got the point enough to bowed his head in guilt. "I'm still a kid," he complained. "They wouldn't really ban me for life just for being excited, would they?" He asked while keeping his head down. It was hard for Noah to comprehend how his actions today could affect his life so far in the future, but he had no reason to doubt James. His cousin had never, ever lied to him before.

James let out an exasperated sigh. How someone could be so innocent and naive while simultaneously also always getting into trouble was beyond him. He sometimes felt like the best way to protect his younger cousin would be to smack him real good, right upside the head.

"I tell you all the time, but there's no leeway when it comes to people like us. A's have more sway over others but we also have more expectations, and once you fail to meet them that's all anyone will see." James pulled Noah back a step with the arm still draped over his shoulder so that he could look Noah in the face while talking. This was the first time Noah would be in a position to genuinely mess up in a way that James might not be able to save him from. He really needed Noah to understand the possible consequences of any poor choices he might be inclined to make.

"You might be fine if we get caught," James continued, "but I likely wouldn't be and my friend who told us about his sisters outing definitely would not. Plus if you're over zealous you could end up upsetting one of the O's and the academy always takes that very seriously. There will be nothing I could do for you if that happens, so you need to make sure you listen to my words and stay away from the class. Just get a casual, quick glance from afar and then we can leave."

Noah nodded, doing his best to absorb his cousins teachings. "Okay," he said letting James know he took the warning seriously.

James released his hold on Noah and straightened out his back. "I'm going to wait for you at the little coffee shop at the front. Come meet me when you're done."