The Academy: Ashland

Talking to the Captain

            We spent most of that day and the next in the lab. Jack, Seth, Trip and I blew up the explosives lab seven times and then another thirteen times the next day. I guess you could say I was starting to “adjust”.

            After the thirteenth explosion, the Captain came down to see us. “You know I can feel those explosions in my office,” he said.

            “Hello to you too,” I said without looking up.

            Jack laughed, “Hey Cap'n Crunch. I'm just teaching little Ash everything she needs to know,” he said.

            “Liar,” I said. “You just want an excuse to blow stuff up.”

            Seth laughed, “He doesn't need one. He's just showing off.”

            I looked up from the circuit board I was rewiring and grinned, “What's the purple gunk do?” I asked.

            “Markus already told you,” the Captain said.

            I sighed, “You suck,” I said as I picked up a wire.

            Markus and Laura laughed as they walked in, “You are a horrible role model,” Markus said to Jack. “I have a huge headache.”

            “Ask Taven for drugs,” I said absently.

            “You asked Taven for drugs?” Seth asked.

            “Yeah, aspirin,” I said, looking up and cutting my hand on a wire when I saw everyone’s shocked looks.

            Laura saw me cut my hand and sighed, “I'll get the band aids.”

            “It'd better have Batman on it,” I yelled.

            Laura laughed and walked out of the room as I examined my finger, “Its red,” I declared showing Markus my blood.

            Markus laughed, “Told you.”

            Laura walked back in the room and handed me a Batman band aid that I put on my hand.

            “Of course it's red,” the Captain said. “Its blood, what else would it be?”

            “Purple,” Markus, Laura and I said.

            “Of course,” the Captain mumbled.

            I laughed and Jack poked my circuit board, “No touch,” I said smacking Jack's hand.

            Jack laughed and grabbed a few of my wires, “Let's build a time bomb and see what wire we have to cut,” he said.

            “You never actually find out in the movies,” I said.

            “I always hate that,” Jack said, grabbing three wires and a stopwatch.

            “No way,” Markus said. “You are not building a time bomb.”

            We all laughed and out of the corner of my eye I saw Seth give the Captain a look that made him walk over. The Captain bent his head down and had a quick and quiet conversation with Seth before nodding. Seth said something after the Captain nodded and raised an eyebrow. The Captain shook his head and gave Seth a look before leaving the room.

            I looked around before following the Captain out of the lab, “What was that?” I asked.

            “What?” the Captain asked.

            “Don't play dumb,” I said. “You and Seth.” I waited for an answer and, when I didn't get one, I sighed and crossed my arms. “You've been giving me headaches.”

            The Captain laughed and had the decency to look sheepish, “Yeah, sorry about that.”

            “Why am I here?” I asked.

            “You have potential. There is something special about you,” the Captain said.

            “No there isn't. I grew up in a group home. Then I left and lived on the streets in a hotel,” I said.

            “Who do you think your parents are?” the Captain asked.

           “I've never thought about it and I couldn't care any less. They left on the steps of a police station,” I snapped.

            “What if they didn't have a choice?” the Captain asked.

            “I still don't give a damn. They could have written me a friggin' letter or at least told me my last name,” I said.

            The Captain stared at me before doing the last thing I thought he would do, he began to laugh, “You sound just like your mother,” he said.

            “You knew my parents?” I asked.

            The Captain nodded, “Yes.”

            “Are they alive?” I asked.

            “Your father is. Your mother died a few years ago,” the Captain said.

            I absorbed the Captain's words and paused. I had never thought about my parents, I never even thought about having parents and I didn't really care. I was left at the police station with my teddy, Academy, and was later found by two officers named Grace and Liam.

            “Starting to, as you put it, “give a damn”?” the Captain asked.

            “I am sixteen years old. My father never tried to contact me. I don't even know who he is. I doubt he even knows my name.” I rolled up my sleeve and showed the Captain my arm, where my largest scar, and he flinched, “I got that when I fell off a skateboard when I was-”

            “Twelve,” the Captain said, “the one on your calf is from when you got stuck on a broken fence. You've got one on your shoulder from when you tried to save a boy from getting snatched on the corner. You've got another cut on your back from when you got into a fight with two kids at the group home,” he took a breath. “Trust me, your dad knows everything.”

            I thought for a moment, “What's my last name?”

            “That’s… complicated…”

            “It’s not complicated. What is my last name?”

            The Captain sighed, “Forrester, Sumner, Cole,” he said.

            “Forrester-Sumner and Cole or Forrester and Sumner-Cole?” I asked

            “Yeah,” the Captain said as he walked away.