Brain and Heart

VI: Enlisted

Tommie's POV:
I got off the train and arrived at the wall. Names were being called, and I grabbed my suitcase while patiently waiting to hear mine.

I sat around and waited for a while. Anxious boys waited, pacing around. Older men reassured them. And an endless cycle of crying.

After a few hours, I heard it: "Oliver Monét!"
I scurried over to the admission desk.

"Is the name spelled correctly?" The man asked me.

"Actually no. It's T-O-M-M-I-E." I told him, relieved that I didn't have to follow the name of my brother the entire time. The man gave me a weird look while writing my name down.

Alright, Tommie, go through that yellow door over there." He said.

I nodded, and before I went over, I heard him call back out to me.
"You're a very exotic-looking boy." He told me.

I thanked him and then quickly ran away.

This was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Maybe Oliver was right.
I probably should've let him do this.

I followed a bunch of people through a long corridor to the door. When I got to the end, there was a woman handing out uniforms and a sort of tag.
Right before I was able to get up to her, some random guy shoved me aside to get in front.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed.

He looked at me and laughed. "They really are bringing anyone, aren't they?"

"Don't talk to me like that." I responded, trying to brush off the pain.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." I told him, staring right past him so he wouldn't bother me again.

"What's your name?" He asked me.

"Tommie Monét," I replied.

"Your real name."

I turned my attention to him. "And why do you assume that's not my real name?"

He grabbed my hair and pulled a piece of it off. The action caught me off guard, and I rubbed my head where it hurt.

"You deserve no respect for stealing the name of a man you don't know. You Derian people are weak and fragile, useless and pathetic. You're lucky they didn't kill you." He spat at me.

I tried to ignore him and walked up to the lady.

"Size?" She asked me.

I told her that I didn't know, and she gave me a black suit that I hoped would fit me later. Then she gave me the tag, and I put it in my pocket.

I felt someone drag me backward by my hair.
Hey, don't ignore me!" The same guy shouted at me.

"Thomas Monét is my father! Alright! He named me after him, and I never thought I'd have to explain that." I yelled out, annoyed but mostly afraid.

He then punched me in the face, and I walked out of the corridor in pain. I could've hit him back, but I couldn't cause problems on the first day. There were too many people to make enemies with.

When I got into the academy, I looked around. It looked nothing like I thought it would. There were people everywhere. Just like me, waiting to be introduced to the world of the Ceridwynn Corps.

"You must be Monét." I heard from behind me. I turned around and noticed that there was a boy talking to me.
He was a head taller than me, which was definitely expected.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" I asked.

He pointed to the entrance and to my face.

Oh, I thought, now everyone knows that I'm a bullying target.