Before The Storm..

Chapter 25

Recap:

“That’s so sweet of them, trying to help those poor animals in need, you must be so proud of them.” Zoey commented softly, taking note on the way he talked about his mom in the past tense. Louka took a bit out of his meal, taking a while to chew, but eventually he answered.

“I was – I am- but it would have been a whole lot nicer of them to haven’t always been out there trying to save the world and instead took care of themselves…” Zoey gave out a startled breath but Louka continued mercilessly “… maybe then my mom wouldn’t have died in the wilderness giving birth to me.”

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“Sorry I don’t know why I shared that with you, I haven’t really ranted like this with many people, and never on a date.” Louka said a little surprised. Zoey only nodded in response, still trying to regain her composure after hearing that he was almost as damaged as she was.

“Don’t be sorry.  Sometimes we just have to let out the things that bother us, and if it’s in a non-destructive way its better.” Louka’s smile seemed to light up the whole room at her words.

“So why are you here and not in some school in Australia?” Zoey asked him nonchalantly, taking a bite out of her meal trying to make it seem like the not so subtle change in subject was no big deal.

“There’s actually no school for our kind in Australia.” Louka took her lead, channeling a blasé attitude, although his smile was still there. “We have to relocate to the UK school.”

“How young did you start?” Zoey asked truly interested in his answer. The fact that there were people that could do what in her old world only fictional characters could do fascinated her. How come no one in the outside seem to suspect any of this?

“I was 5 when I started boarding school, I don’t know if someone has told you this but were all kind of in a year-round sleepover here. The days we get to be out of the schools protection are scarce.”

“Wait. Are you saying that were like prisoners here?”

“Not really. We still get the vacations most schools get, only that when we go on a trip it’s kind of like an all-school thing. The boarding school will rent out a small island resort in the summer somewhere and jet us all out there. Relatives can come visit when were on Christmas break, but out of that, the only time we get to go anywhere is on the Spring Equinox games on Spring Break.”

“What are those?”

“It’s this big competition between all of the schools in the world for people like us. Think the Olympics but with a wider range of activities and levels. All of the school goes, even the elementary section.”

“That’s so cool. Do you participate?”

“Yeah it’s kind of required. Last year we brought home the gold for the Group Mock battles in the dangerous abilities category and on the play we did in my cultural elective. We did a theater adaptation of the Despicable Me movie, everyone went nuts for it.” With that picture in mind, Zoey burst out laughing.

“What?” Louka asked puzzled.

“I just, I can’t really imagine you in a minion outfit.” Zoey managed to say in between her giggles.

“So what’s the deal with Nathaniel wanting to stay with Luce? I never got the vibe that he was the most sociable type of guy.”

“Yeah he’s a tough guy to love, but he’s been my best friend for most of my life, I’m kind of used to it.”