The Song of a Phoenix

Chapter 2: Confrontation

July 1998. Forefield, Republic of Crathenia

  Mrs Hatton, the principal, placed my report card and exam papers on the table. "Unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. Your teachers from last year claimed that you were an outstanding student, Damian, but you somehow managed to fail nearly every subject. You've only got two days before you graduate from secondary school— no, I don't think you could even graduate at all! It's too late now, anyways. But how is it that you actually seemed to pay attention in class? I've seen you taking notes."

  "Uhh... I was doodling," I replied, a sheepish expression being played on my face. "I couldn't understand anything in class."

  She eyed me suspiciously. "That's not what your teachers in eleventh grade said about your academics."

  "Twelfth grade's been really hard for me— there's just so much pressure!" I forced myself to bury my face in my hands. This should be enough to convince her— I couldn't let her find out, or she'd probably turn me in to the police.

  Every able-bodied male in Crathenia was required to join the army and fight in the east after they graduated from secondary school. Conscription was something everyone dreaded and tried to avoid— it even got to a point where people who avoided it are now officially enemies of the government and can be sentenced to prison for a maximum of ten years. I knew that graduation would be the point of no return, and I'll have to go to war instead of staying in the safe haven of the capital. So I decided to keep myself from graduation by failing a majority of classes in order to repeat grades. This was a secret I kept only with my sister, Daphne, for people who tried to find ways around the system are considered enemies of the government and can be arrested for treason.

  "Damian, are you even listening?"

  "Of course, Mrs Hatton!"

  "Very well. Your detention is over now. Take your report card and you may leave."

  I immediately ran out of the classroom, not wanting to remember how she almost discovered my secret.

  Daphne waited for me outside the school. "What happened? You're late."

  "Not much. Mrs Hatton just kept me in detention."

  "It's because of your grades, isn't it? Hopefully she didn't find out."

  "She didn't. But I'm scared... what if she finds out how I got from being the top of the class to this? She'll definitely turn me in to the cops!"

  She sighed. "Listen. Mrs Hatton is smart, but not in your way. She doesn't know how to cheat her way through conscription and find ways around things like you do. Her type of knowledge is only about how to make kids behave."

  "Thanks, Daphne. I'm glad that I can still be honest to someone."

  "Of course! I know it's been hard ever since Dad..."

  Ever since the new law passed, you'd expect that people wouldn't dare to bypass conscription, but quite the opposite happened— just like when the system was introduced, people have found ways around it. When my father received a letter for recruitment, he immediately hung himself in order to get away from the brutality of the war in the east. I barely even got to interact with him before he did it— he exchanged apartments with other men in our area a few times a week, a common tradition in our area of the city to save people from conscription. Why do people even go to war? Why are all the blood shed ones of innocent people and not the ones of people who deserved to die? And now I've only got a few days before I leave my family. Or will I?

  I won't leave Daphne and Mom, whether it be conscription, suicide, or being arrested.

  "You two are getting your report cards today, aren't you?" Mom asked as we ate our dinner. "I heard it from the other parents and I'm just amazed at how high everyone's grades were. I knew I made a good choice enrolling both of you into this exceptional school— Daphne, you'll definitely excel at college next year, and Damian..." her gaze shifted towards me. "Good luck in the east."