The School for the Elite

Chapter 9: Him Again

The door of the hovercraft opens, and a boy walks into the vehicle. The first thing I notice is his snow-white hair, combed neatly to the side, a few strands falling over his right eye. Just as I was about to look away, he turned his head to stare at me.

When we make eye contact, his eyes widen with recognition. I suddenly feel myself raising my eyebrows. He was that pain in the ass from the cafe!

What starts out as simply eye contact soon becomes a glaring showdown, and a few people on the bus look back and forth between the two of us, shifting uncomfortably.

His eyes are still blue as ice, shining with a hint of rage in the sea of calm. I look away from him and out the window, forcing myself not to glance back at him.

He's wearing navy blue joggers with a simple white shirt, yet he carries himself with a sort of confidence. He walks slowly to the back of the bus where I'm sitting and makes a face when he sees the only seat left is the one next to me. He rolls his eyes and mumbles something to the ground, then takes a seat.

He and I say nothing to each other, an angry silence filling the space between us, when after maybe twenty minutes he looks at me.

"Why do you think we're here?" He says. Why would he think I know? I look away from the window and shrug, shaking my head.

"No idea." I respond, my voice flat. He scoffs at my answer as if he had had higher expectations, and looks forward again. I roll my eyes, done with his impatience, and look out the window again, resting my head on the back of the seat.

We've been in this hovercraft for what I can easily assume to be over three hours, and I still have no idea where we're headed. We'd left the main city and hovered through the outskirts of the land until we were finally, truly, in the middle of nowhere, the only road made of dirt and the occasional gravel. I was starting to feel nervous about this. Who were these people really, and why were they taking us? Why were we all the same age? Was this really a mass kidnapping?

As I continue thinking up the worst-case scenarios, the hovercraft takes a sharp turn to the right and I suddenly feel a weight on my shoulder. I look away from the window, slightly confused, when the boy's white hair greets my face. I hadn't realized he fell asleep a little while ago, and now his head was resting on my shoulder.

I don't move for a moment. In fact, I stop breathing altogether. He looks peaceful, which means he's definitely not conscious, and I sigh. I don't really want to shove him off, fearing that I might wake him, so I just stare out the window again, at the lush forests around the hovercraft.

After a few more minutes, my eyes begin to feel heavy, and I catch myself nodding off to sleep a multitude of times.

I finally give up on trying to stay awake, my notions of the true nature of our little trip failing to keep me from sleeping, and let myself drift into unconsciousness.

It's probably the most horrible slumber I've ever had in my life. 

~•~

I wake up again after what feels like an hour and blink a few times, my eyes adjusting to the light within the hovercraft. My head is resting on something soft, and for a moment I think of my pillow, then I blink a few times and widen my eyes with comprehension.

I glance down and realize that my head was resting on top of the boy's head. I quickly lift my head before it's too late, but when I look down at him again, I realize his eyes are open. He blinks lazily, glancing up at me.

"You were asleep for a while." He said, slowly lifting his head off my shoulder and leaning back into his seat. I notice his ears are slightly red.

"Sorry," I mumble, looking outside to see where we were. A few other people on the bus are asleep,  while others whisper to each other quietly, trying not to break the fragile silence.

He nods and closes his eyes. "I never asked, what's your name?"

I hesitate, not looking at him, and respond after a few moments. "Vesper." There's a pause, then I hastily add "Viottan. Vesper Viottan."

He nods as if my name is acceptable. I roll my eyes slightly, still facing away from him, and ask "What about you?" even though I'm not all that curious.

It's as if he was waiting for me to ask him the question, for he opens my eyes and looks in my direction. "Caspian Whitlock." he says, calmy yet proud.

I respond with a small nod, turning my head back towards the window when suddenly the hovercraft stops. Everyone who is sleeping jolts awake, and others begin talking to each other excitedly with nervous anticipation. It seems that Caspian and I are the only ones who haven't reacted yet.

Suddenly, the doors to the hovercraft open, and the woman in the white suit walks in, her heels clacking loudly and sharply on the smooth gray floors of the vehicle.

Everyone falls silent, and it's as if the noise in the room has been snuffed out.

"Everyone," the woman begins saying, her hands clasped behind her back,

"We have arrived."