The Reckless & The Brave

Chapter 3.

Chapter 3.

Noble

adjective having or showing fine personal qualities or high morale principles and ideas.

Several minutes after Peyton the girl is revealed, the arena goes into a chaosq of applause and shock. My mom grabs my wrist and we follow my dad out of the Brave dependency, we ride the Noble bus home. I expect that my brother will be here during free hour, and before my mother can request it, I depressingly clean my room.

I eat a late lunch without my parents, but I know that order will soon come into play because I have Saturday classes from two until four, which is terrible because classes are strict and mind dulling. I grab my bag and walk slowly, dragging my feet against the pavement until I reach the bus stop. The large bus rolls up in a matter of seconds, and I shift the weight of my depressingly heavy bag. The doors slide open, and I take a seat, pressing my head against the back of it. I stare out the window of the grey bus, watching the cars drive by.

The bus slams to a stop, and I watch people get off at the supermarket. We lurch forward, and soon reach Noble Knowledge for Minors center. I sigh, and when the bus stops I slide out into the isle. I walk out and into the building. NKM is a large buliding, but it's not very impressive. Noble don't think it is very important to decorate the place, because people come here for knowledge, not admiring. The walls are a pale grey, with tile floor that has dirtied over the years. I walk to my classroom on floor B, and take a seat.

Five minutes later my session of tedious learning has commenced. Math is not my favorite, especially when we are discussing numbers. But I guess that is what math is. Numbers.

I zone out, until something hits my back. I turn around to see Aria grinning at me. I roll my eyes in the direction of my teacher, and she nods. Aria is in my dance group. We aren't too close, but she is as close to a friend that I've got. Order doesn't really leave time for friendships, unless I want to spend free hour with her, but most people spend time with themselves, like me.

After class, Aria runs up to me.

"Did you hear the news?! Someone stole a helicopter from the Brave and flew it over the city and off to the ocean." She tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, her eyes sorrowful.

I for one am slightly surprised. The Brave have order and security like the Noble. "How do they not know who it is?"

"Oh they do." I raise my eyebrows, but Aria avoids my gaze.

"Then who did it!? Brave is so going to kill them." I put my hands out in front of me, and turn Aria so she faces me.

"Your brother."

My knees shake. She can't be serious. "No. Funny, now who really did it?" I dig my nails into Aria's shoulders and she shakes out of my grip.

"I'm not joking." She reverts her gaze again. "They have it on video. After the public training he ran up to the roof and stole the keys from the storage room. Apparently he was so beside himself that he just got out of here." Now it was her turn to put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know how much you looked up to him."

I bite my tongue and force a smile to keep the tears back. I guess that is the worst kind of pain though, isn't it. Having to smile so you won't burst into tears. Yeah, I looked up to Dylan. But it isn't just that. He was my model of bravery. He proved to me that, yes, I could join Reckless, because when he was only 13 when he joined the protective Brave.

He was my brother, and even though I didn't talk to him or see him that much, I still trusted him and we were kind of close. And now he's gone.

"Thanks for telling me. I'm gonna go." I sling my bag back over my shoulder and run outside. I don't care that I have another class right now. I hailed a cab and hopped in. I handed the driver my money, telling him to take me to the beach.

He pulled onto the road by the sandy haven, and the car slows to a stop. Thanking the driver, I step out and run to the sand. I drop my bag and sandals run until I am ankle deep in the chilly water. Then I let the salty tears fall into the salty ocean where they belong.

I don't like to cry in front of other people. I like to be alone. Like right now. Dylan's gone. I might not ever see him.

"Sorry about your brother leaving." I look behind me and see the last person I could ever think to see. Peyton.

"Whatever. I'm sure you care." I turn back to face the water, praying that she will leave. She is the reason Dylan left. Hatred boils in my veins and I turn back around. "You are the reason he's gone anyways." I snap.

"Yeah that's probably true." She sweeps her golden hair over her shoulder, and sighs. "I guess I damaged his ego so much that he had to leave. It must suck to be beat by a girl." I scoff.

"You think he's one of those guys with the big egos. All he's ever wanted was to advance out of first class so he could be a fighter. Now if he comes back they will make him start all over, or put him in prison, or banish him." I glare at her, but she doesn't seem as if I have changed her statement.

"I knew him, and saw him when he was training. Sure, he was your brother, but let's not forget that you are in Noble. If your brother saw you, you were probably with you parents a lot too. He probably hid his arrogance so he wouldn't be punished. When he trained, he boasted and pushed himself to hard."

"Well at least he was good." I sit down on the beach, turning to face the water.

"Yeah, he was good. But apparently he wasn't everything else a fighter needed to be. If losing to me was going to hurt him this bad, imagine how losing a battle might affect him." Peyton turned around, her blonde hair blowing in the wind as she stalked off. I sighed. I couldn't decide what to think of her. She was the reason my brother left, but she also seemed to understand my feel for the whole, high classes are frustratingly only boys.

I laid down on the sand, staring at the grey sky. Dylan was gone. And I guess I would have to accept that.

- - - - -

"I can't believe this! Two times in a week! You are late Marcella and that is NOT acceptable. You need to follow orders. I heard that you also skipped a class today. What is happening with you?" My mother had slammed the door shut behind me and immediately started yelling at me after the beach.

"Well I am sorry, but I was a bit shocked with the whole, Dylan is gone and I will probably never see him again!" I yelled back.

"Oh please, don't change the subject on me! You know the rules, and talking back, being late and skipping important classes are unbearable!" My mom walked into the kitchen, and started rinsing off plates from the dinner I had purposely missed.

"So you're saying you don't care that your own son just disappeared mom! Woah, great parenting! And I am so sick of orders and rules and being so unbearable!"

"Dylan left! He is not here, and he's not in Brave any more either. That is terrible. But I am more heartbroken that my own daughter hates her own lifestyle. If you don't like it here than why don't you just leave!" She slammed the cuboard shut.

"Fine. I haven't had guts to do this yet, but why not now! I'm transferring to Reckless!" Storming off, I dump all of my stuff out of my bag and onto the floor. Then I grab some of the clothes I like to wear and throw them in my bag along with a few other things I would miss otherwise. I sling the bag over my shoulder and stomp out of my room.

"Bye parents!" I slam the door after grabbing shoes and my coat from the rack. Then I scream and run down the sidewalk until reaching the street. That's when I realized what I just did.