The Aegis of Noah Hart

16-Missed You

Monday morning a group of friends all suddenly appear in a clearing of forest behind the senior parking lot. Dressed in their student uniforms and each fitted with a backpack loaded with lunchbox, a laptop, notepad, and pens, they turn look at each other and smile.

"You're back, Noah."

The boy grins as they emerge from the woods and the campus comes into view. Students chatter and rush about the parking lot, but no one seems to notice Noah or his three new friends as they step onto the sidewalk.

"Explain to me how this happened again?"

"Dude, it's all Alexius! He went out and got us these face cards and laptops while you were at the funeral. See!"

Tychon, Kalista, and Alexius all hold up similar looking brown wallets for Noah to see. Each one contains a few dollar bills and a single Tennessee identification card with pictures corresponding to each owner. Ty's card bears the name Tyler Rhipto Aetos, Alex's reads Alexander Thomas Galanis, and Kay's card simply says her actual name, Kalista Peratzatha Allahellos Oinopontos.

Hmmm, very fitting name adjustments on Alexius, yes, Tychon, too, and wait! This is Kay's actual name!

Your principal isn't going to know!

The two glare at each other for a moment until Alexius steps between. 

"Alex, you put her actual name on the ID?"

"Yes," Alex sighs, "I tried to tell her she should come up with an alias but-"

"But you're a complete doormat when Kalista asks you to do something!"

Kay smirks and pats the brooding boy on his back as he paces himself in front of the others. Noah can't hear Alex's thoughts but catches some of his grumbling.

"...will be the princess's best doormat..."

"Awwwww, thanks Alex!"

Kay wraps an arm around Alexius's  shoulders and leans her head gently against his shoulder as they walk. Noah smirks as he notices the gruff boy audibly startle at her touch. Looking ahead of them, he finds the office building getting closer and closer. 

"Not bad, Alexius, but...wait."

He stops the group again to look at Alex closely.

"You broke into the office, too? Wasn't going into the storage room and getting the uniforms shady enough?"

Alex glares at Noah.

"Noah, there is no shade in the storage room. It's quite cold in there."

Noah shake his head.

"Sorry I asked..."

"So you going to tell me what you did to get these IDs, exactly?"

"No," Alex snaps, "these cards are verified and belong to exchange students staying at the Hart residence..."

Alex stops and suddenly making the group stop in place. Raising an eyebrow, he squints his dark eyes intently at Tychon and leans in close to his face.

"Noah met us through online gaming and told us about this school. We applied months ago to get into this school. The paperwork is all in the office. Don't speak about Allahellos or Velos. Here we're on Earth and people will assume we came from Greece. Keep personal conversations with other students brief and professional. Understood?"

"Affirmative!"

Tychon's body becomes very rigid as he shakes his head up and down vigorously. When the others nod as well, Ty relaxes his body with a sigh.