The Galaxians

Chapter 1

Arastell Neame

I stared at the teacher's blank face. Morning Assembly was probably one of the most boring periods. But Monday's weren't as bad. The teacher stared at the screen, projecting the announcements from his eyes. "One last announcement," The image, which was the headmaster, said "I am selecting kids from Years 5, 6, and 7 to participate in a month-long practice mission to the moon to help restock supplies there." The 5, 6, and 7-year students in the room erupted into cheers of joy, while the younger ones groaned in disappointment. No school for an entire month plus being able to visit space early. Every kid's wish. "AHEM" The teacher coughed abruptly, disrupting the projection on the screen. The headmaster image disappeared. "I suppose you would want to know how to enter?" The teacher muttered. The room immediately settled down.

The image was back up. "At the front desk, there is a box in which you put a piece of paper with your name inside. You have until Wednesday to put in your slip of paper. 6 kids will be randomly drawn on Wednesday night" The image explained. "You are dismissed." The teacher proceeded to stroll off the stage as students streamed out of the giant room. I glanced around, spotting my best friend. "Miran!" I called. He turned his head, and as he spotted me, his eyes lit up. I pushed my way over to him. "Hey!" I exclaimed. "Hello!" He replied happily. Miran grabbed my hand and we exited the room. "How are ya boo?" I asked, looking around for any of our other friends. "I'm pretty good bae-" Miran burst out giggling and I looked at him in confusion, at least, until I saw our other friends.

They all had some look of hope on their faces as they came over. "Soo~" Selia, our friend, hummed, sauntering over to us. Along with her came Jack David, Jordan, Frank, and Halle. I started to laugh too. "You guys are way too optimistic about this. We're not together and we're not gonna be together" I took a deep breath as to calm myself in my laughter. Their disappointment was evident. Finally, I managed to control my laughter, as did Miran. "Anyway, are you guys going to enter the... Space drawing?" I inquired. Jack David nodded shyly. "I'm not completely sure I'm right for it though." He mumbled. I gasped. "You're perfect for this! You get along well with everyone and you're super helpful!" I told him, probably sounding kind of outraged at Jack's statement.

Miran nodded. Jack began to protest, looking slightly flustered. "Of course, you don't have to if you don't want," Miran cut in, "But you would definitely be a good fit Dai. And it can't hurt to try! If you get picked and don't want to do it, there's no shame in saying no." He added. Jack looked down at the floor, his face red. "Oh, uh, thank you!" He stammered. I gave him a pat on the back. "No problem Hun. My-" I was cut off by Miran. "-Our" He quickly added. Jack looked like he was attempting to hold back a laugh. "Our job is to encourage you" I told him.

Jack was about to say something when the school bell went off, scaring us all. We all burst out laughing. "See ya'll at lunch!" I called as we all scattered to our classes. The morning classes went as expected. Soon lunch came around and I was quite hungry. As soon as I made it to the lunch room, I go myself school lunch. I skipped over to the usual table where we sat with my lunch. I plopped myself down next to Miran. "How was class?" I asked, grabbing the pack of gummies Miran had. I got a chorus of "Decent" and "Meh" s. I ripped open the gummy pack and grabbed a handful before passing it back to Miran. I popped a gummy in my mouth. "Anything exciting?" Miran took his turn asking a question. "A fight broke out during PE between Lee and Carlos. Pretty sure Lee has the flu now from the storm Carlos created over his head." Halle recited. "Oh wow" I marveled, popping some more gummies in my mouth. "What were they even fighting over?" I raised an eyebrow. Halle shrugged. "Some game I think." She sighed. "...Dang, that's stupid." I mumbled. "OH!" I suddenly remembered. "I put my name in the box!" I told them. "Jordan, Jack, and I went together right before we came here" Miran replied.

As I was about to reply, one of my gummies flew out of my hand and into Jordan's mouth. "Hey! That's my gummy!" I exclaimed, feigning anger. "No," Miran said, grabbing a gummy from my hand also, "That's my gummy." We all laughed, chatting for the rest of lunch. Miran and I had the same schedule for the rest of the day, so we walked to our next class together.

...

"3, 2, 1... DONE! Ava wins!" The Teacher yelled. It was Wednesday and we were doing sparring in our Powers class. I was up next with Matt Rathe, some kid from my math class. He had superhuman agility, which would be hard to beat but I could do it. "Go!" The teacher screeched. I sent tendrils flying in his direction, but he dodged them with ease. I attempted to see if he had a strategy, launching another set of tendrils towards him as he came towards me. As he jumped back to avoid them, I saw that his strategy was simply to dodge my moves until he could get close enough to pin me down. But then he was in front of me and he pushed me down. He gently placed his foot on my stomach as the teacher began to count. "5! 4! 3-" They stopped counting when I launched my poison tendrils at him, taking everyone by surprise. Matt was knocked over and stuck to the ground. Seeing he was quite stuck; the teacher began counting again. "5! 4! 3! 2! 1!" The teacher yelled. "Arastell wins!"

I collected all my poison back up, then stuck out my hand to help Matt up. He took my hand and stood. "Good job! Surprise attack at the end was a nice touch." He told me happily. "Thanks. You did take me by surprise with that push." I admitted. We chatted for a bit more before I went over to Miran. As I made my way over to him, I saw a girl on a bench. Racking my brain, I doubted that she had been in a sparring match. I shrugged it off. She would probably be going later. After the last groups went, class was over. The intercom crackled to life. "It's time for the name drawing. All students to the assembly room." It announced. I grabbed Miran's arm in excitement. "I expect the halls to be very crowded. Wanna take the fast way?" Miran asked. I nodded and he opened a portal. We stepped through and we found ourselves right outside the assembly room. We went to go find seats, finding some right next to the rest of our friends.

After a short while, the principal came on stage and said some things. Then he began to pick names. A box full of papers and a table popped up on the stage. "Here's how this will work," He began, "If you're name is called, then stand and make your way to the stage." The principal reached in and pulled out the first name. "Noah Iaaz!" He called. A boy stood from the middle section, looking completely surprised. He made his way up the stage, everyone clapping for him. "Miran Keve!" He yelled. Miran gasped. He ran up to the stage. He also called Seta Ario, Ryhea Mealio and then... me? "Arastell Neame!" He called out. I gasped and sped walked up to the stage. I stood next to the Seta girl, who looked scared out of her mind.

I fiddled with my sleeve. "And finally," The headmaster announced, "X-" He paused with a sour look on his face. He attempted a couple more times, but was unsuccessful. A girl stood, a bird-like mask on her face. "X will do just fine sir!" She called. The girl, X, walked briskly up the stage and stood next to me. "There you have it! Your six explorers going into space!" He projected. There was a lot of cheering and clapping. Even though they had not been picked, it seemed most of the students were still very excited to see this happen. The kids in the room began to disperse. "You guys are also dismissed. You'll get your schedule changed on Friday. Until then, you'll still be attending normal classes," The headmaster explained. "Be ready!" He called before floating away. I turned to the group. "Nice to meet you all!" I exclaimed. They all smiled back, a couple head bobs too. "Well, it seems like we're all tired so I think it's time to head back to our dorms? And maybe tomorrow after classes we can meet here so we can chat a bit?" Miran suggested. More head bobs and slight murmuring. I stretched. "Welp, we're off then. See you guys tomorrow!" I told them, turning away to walk out. I paused, turning back for a moment. "Here at 5 sound good?" I added. "Yeah." X replied, seeming as if answering for the others. With that, I turned and made my way to my dorm, excited for the training to come.