The Fight for Freedom (Book One in the EDSOR Military Academy Trilogy)

Chapter 28- The Arrival of the Militicians

12:30 pm. The sun burns my skin. I feel like a melting icecube. Stephan’s busy playing computer games like Prototype and Unreal Tournament 2004 to relax and chill. He’s still a seventh grader so I don’t blame him. Paulo’s been interviewing numerous people, even Enzo who was inside EMA’s music room in the La Salle camp. He was playing piano and making his last record before “it all ends”. According to Paulo, he was playing Rondo Alla Turca which was really happy and energetic but…when it ended, my tranquil world of music shattered. There is no such thing as happiness in time of killings and war.

“This war will be the time of our lives when we’d just fight for one common desire; freedom”, Steffi, Rani’s assistant, said. I kinda eavesdropped when she was speaking. Lexine was restlessly jumping up and down and practicing her judo kicks. “Hey I didn’t know you did judo before”

She flashed a nervous grin at me. Was that nervous or excited? “Well, I’ve wanted to surprise people with that fact”

“I see. Remember Lexine, alert and swift”, I laughed. I realized I was being like a stagemom already.

Trevor was shivering. “Hey dude, you okay?”, I punch his shoulder.

“Yeah. I am shivering because I am so excited to see red ribbons flow”

For a normal girl (not like me), Trevor would be weird, gross and uncouth.

“I won’t be surprised if I see your own ribbons flow. You can’t really avoid that, I suppose”, I shrugged.

“True”, he grinned at me. “Stay positive always, Jesse”

I bumped into Malcolm who deliberately tried to trip me awhile ago. He’s such a kid. An awesome kid. “Watch it, Jezzie!”, he exclaimed sarcastically.

“Shut up Malcolm”, I laughed. “How are you feeling for this battle?”

He heaved a sigh then looked at the fortress he helped build. “Excited. When I die, people will remember me as the Head who built that fortress around EDSOR”

Okay that was not the answer I was expecting from a selfless person but if I were him, I’d think the same too. “Such vanity”, I said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Peter was busy applying his shiny pink lip gloss (I am not exaggerating. It was from Christian Dior) when I messed his hair up with my right hand. “Aww…Jesse. Can’t you let me prepare for death? I need to look magnificent for the funeral”

“If there will ever be”, I placed my hands on my hips. “You know Peter, out of all War Council Members, you really stood out among the rest, Not to mention, your looks….well…they’re..”

I knew I wanted to say it but it was just so weird that I thought of vomiting…

“Unique…different from the other people I knew”

He wrapped his arms around my chest. “Oh thank you so much Lady Jesse. I won’t let you down! Wait. Let me retouch my blush with some waterproof..”, the rest was unfinished. He was walking away to some far off place to look at himself. He’s such a weirdo but a nice one.

I caught Stephan gulping a breath of fresh air. I thought he was hyperventilating. “Yo Stephan!”

“Hey Jesse. My brother was really red when he entered the computer room. Any idea why he was sweating all over?”

He was? “He was sweating?”. What on earth??

“You’re kidding, dude. He can’t be…”

Stephan smirked. This is the first time I saw him smirk. And I thought he was an innocent kid!

“Well, if you want to kindly inform me what has my brother been doing to you…”

“That’s private!”, I snapped, unconsciously. I slapped his arm. “Sorry”

He shrugged. “Well, hope you can make it out alive in this war. Good luck”

“Thanks Stephan. Good luck to you too”

This battlefield, inhabited by many children, will be a precipice of death in a couple of minutes. The time strikes a blow to my heart as I hear the rumbling of horses’ hooves and noise of airplanes from the distance…I looked at my minute army and bit my lip. We were done for.