Memory Shards (Book#1 of Malachi)

Chapter 5

"Do you think maybe one day..." the boy began, but then stopped. He knew it was no louder than a whisper. He knew she hadn't heard.

He knotted his fingers and looked down. His small everything shoes- as he had called them- were starting to rot. Black solid sneakers that he had wore to school, church, and everything else was what he had grown use to. His pants hardly differed. Raised by a single mother, not knowing even the identity of his father, the whole cliché poverty story. He was the epitome of it.

The girl beside him was looking forward. Her eyes were set on the holographic image in front of her. She wore casual clothes with a conservative amount of makeup. Her black shirt matched the color of her hair. She wore flats with her kaki pants. Her hair was up, a rooster tail made of it. She puckered her lips brielfy, before running her hand through her hair.

She felt his stare and turned to look at him.

"What?"

"N-Nothing," he blurted out. He was making a clown of himself.

"Was there something on my face?" She asked, a bit of edge to her tone.

"No, no," he said, waving his hands in front of him. He gave a crooked smile.

She resumed her attention on the image. She scrolled up the page, using her fingers to navigate.

He was for a loss of words and breath. Being this close to her made him lose his nerve. She was beautiful. She had no real use for him. Most girls would have had him do their work or write a report. She was on a whole different level.

She spoke a couple languages, opposed to his one.

He had recently applied and been accepted to the company of her father. It was the new technological dream house for 'urds' under privileged nerds. He didn't have the luxury of knowing what it was to be normal.

Of course, neither did the girl to side of him.

She was a new up and coming protégé.

He was just average at most. He felt so out of place in her home. He never thought he'd live to ride in a hovercraft, as he had done the day before to walk into her grand house for the first time.

He pulled out his holo - pad. It was old tech compared to what she had. It was sorely obvious. He was embarrased to be there. Luckily for him, she hadn't commented on what he wore or how he looked. She seemed to carry a very unbiased opinion of him except when it came to his work.

"The system will have to be checked for bugs every so often," she said, bringing him out of his depressed state.

"O-of course!" He sputtered out.

She raised a brow at him before going back to working on her screen.

"There is no need for you to be shy about anything here. My father is paying you to work, not be shy."

He felt his heart sink. That's why she needed him. Work, that was all. In that moment, he dedicated his time to work only and nothing else. He had to work, become better.

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Malachi's mouth filled with sand once again as he crashed face first into the ground.

"Move! Move!" Yelled one of the Arns intructors.

Malachi rushed to his feet and kept running.

Ahead he saw several other Arns candidates run.

His body had refused to give up. He had tried everything to stop himself from continuing.