The Academy: Ashland

Banishment and Redecorating

            I spent the morning in Jack's lab with Seth, Jack and Trip. Around twelve Markus reminded us to eat, but we ignored him and, a few hours later, he dragged us out of the lab, “Off limits,” he said as he pushed us onto the elevator. “For the rest of the day.”

            “No fair,” Jack whined.

            “We aren't going to die if we miss a few meals,” Seth said.

            Markus rolled his eyes, “Go train,” he said. “Or watch T.V., or read, or color. Just don't go to the lab.”

            “Meany,” I whispered.

            “But dad...” Seth protested.

            “Don't you “but dad” me, mister. You should have listened,” Markus said.

            “We were working,” Jack and I protested as the elevator stopped at our floor.

            “I don't care. So was I,” Markus said as he pushed us out of the elevator.

            “You suck,” Trip said.

            “Bye,” Markus said with a chuckle as the doors closed.

            Jack sighed and pouted for a moment, “Let's go blow up the kitchen!” he declared.

* * *

            As it turns out, we did blow up the kitchen, twice, and set fire to the kitchen table. Between the four of us we managed to make a large pot of mac and cheese, eight peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and six mini pizzas.

            It turns out, as good as Jack is in the lab, he is horrible in the kitchen. He set his sleeves on fire numerous times, poured baking soda and vinegar in a pot of boiling water and managed to turn on the wrong burner, resulting in the burning of Trip's butt (which then resulted in Trip bouncing around for twenty minutes yelling all the swear words he knew (he couldn't sit comfortably for a few days after that and Taven had to give him pain medicine cause Kelsey refused to fix him)).

            After we finished our lunch on the, only slightly, charred table, we looked around the kitchen.

            “At least it's not white anymore,” I said.

            We all laughed and Jack stood up, “T.V. time!” he said loudly, running through the doorway that led to the living room.

            Trip, Seth and I sat at the kitchen table in silence for a moment before breaking down with laughter, “You're dad's going to murder us,” Trip said to Seth.

            “Not if Taven gets his hands on us first,” Seth said.

            “Guys...” Jack whined from the living room. “Are you coming?”

            The three of us controlled our laughter enough to stand and walk to the living room, where Jack had a home improvement show on, “And for the record, you'd better hope Chris doesn't find out before the two of them,” Jack said.

            The four of us managed straight faces for about ten seconds before we started cracking up.

* * *

            Markus found us in the living room, still laughing, a half an hour later. We were holding our sides, from our on and off laughter caused by the thoughts of everyone's reactions.

            “What have you been doing for the past three hours?” Markus asked. “Laughing?”

            Jack stopped laughing and shrugged, “No. We've been hanging out, watching T.V., cooking and eating.”

            “Good,” Markus said, smiling at us. “Did you have fun?”

            Trip, Seth and I managed to calm down enough to smile back at Markus, “Yeah,” Seth said. “Who knew getting out of the lab could be so fun?”

            “Everyone but you,” Markus said. “Are you guys hungry?”

            We all exchanged a look before shrugging, “A bit,” Jack said.

            Markus chuckled at us, “Alright. I'll start some dinner,” he said, turning and heading towards the kitchen.

            As Markus opened the door, I turned in my seat and said, “Hey Markus,” I said, Markus turned. “Can you make some cheesey mac?”

            Markus nodded, “Sure.”

            I turned back to the T.V. and we heard Markus walk into the kitchen. The four of us held our breaths in anticipation as we heard the kitchen door open again and Markus dropped down on the couch.

            “At least it's not white anymore,” he said, weakly after a moment.

            We all burst out laughing, “That's what Ash said,” Seth told Markus.

            “So... Who's explaining this to Taven?” Markus asked.

            Trip, Seth and I pointed to Jack, “He's got the best chance of survival,” Trip said.

            “Way to stick together, team,” Jack mumbled.

            Markus laughed, “You know they're right,” he said.

            Jack laughed and nodded, “Of course they are.”

            “Why can't you enjoy a day out of the lab without blowing anything up?” Markus asked. “You know, like normal people.”

            “Normal people don't exist,” I said.

            Markus laughed as Kelsey walked into the living room with an apple, “I love what you've done with the kitchen,” she said. “I definitely approve of the “just blown up” look.”

           Everyone started to laugh again and Kelsey flopped down on the floor at our feet, “I'm guessing Jack's telling Taven,” she said.

            Seth nodded, “Duh.”

            “So who's telling the Captain?” Kelsey asked.