Fandomania

Chapter 20 - Training Stations

Miles couldn't believe that it was only the fourth day of school at the academy. The fourth day. With all that had happened, he felt like he had been in Fandomania for at least a month, maybe more. It was all very exhausting. Every day had its own agenda, and none passed without something out of the ordinary happening. Then again, Miles wasn't so sure he knew what ordinary was anymore. It felt like he was living a mystery, thriller, action, and fantasy movie all at once. Everything had changed so drastically the past weeks, and Miles' life was nowhere close to what it was before the coma.

The coma. Miles had almost forgotten about his coma. Was it a coincidence, that everything had changed right after he had woken up? Or was it related somehow? It all just made Miles' head hurt. A good two week sleep would probably help.

But he couldn't rest either. There were people, apparently very bad people, who hurt him, or worse. Use him. And with the suspicion of Ms. Lisa working with Necron, Miles had no idea who he could trust. If it wasn't for Caspar, Jason, and Lilly, Miles would be completely lost. The thought that he had friends now that he could trust was one of the only things that kept him hopeful for the future. Hopeful that they could find a way to stop Necron and have things go back to normal. At least that's what Miles thought the end goal was at first. Now, he wasn't so sure things could get back to normal.

"Miles?" a voice drew Miles from his thoughts. It was Ms. Lukeson staring at him, a concerned expression on her face. "Are you with us today?"

"What?" Miles replied bluntly. "Oh, yeah, I'm with you. Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell."

"That is correct, but the question about Mitochondria was fifteen minutes ago," this earned some laughter from the class. "Are you sure you're okay, Miles?"

Miles rubbed his eyes. "Perfectly. Just didn't get enough sleep."

Ms. Lukeson smiled. "Neither did I. They start school here too early, if you ask me. Going to sleep earlier will fix that right up though. Then again, so would moving two cabins away from Caspar over there."

This earned even more laughter. Caspar put his innocent face on and was about to say something when the door burst open, revealing Owen, the boy who Lancaster had shown up with two days ago.

"Lukeson, I—" Owen stopped dead, noticing the filled classroom.

Ms. Lukeson's face flickered with something Miles had never seen before, probably surprise. Her easy smile soon returned. "I'm sure you're here to explain being an hour late to class?"

"I, um, yes," Owen nodded vigorously.

"Nervous wreck, that one," Caspar was commenting in the back. "Poor bloke."

Ms. Lukeson led Owen back out the door. "We can talk out in the hall."

She shut the door behind her, and the class came to life with hushed whispers.

"Somebody's in trouble..." Kane whooped.

"He's not in trouble," said the girl Miles had never talked to, but knew her name as Elisa.

"Yeah," agreed Ian. "Ms. Lukeson's never gotten anyone in trouble before."

"She's also never taken anyone out in the hall before," Caspar countered, renewing the talk of what could be happening outside.

Almost 15 whole minutes later, Ms. Lukeson returned. Owen walked in behind her, disappointing some of the kids with crazy theories.

Ms. Lukeson clapped her hands together as soon as Owen sat back down, saying, "Okay, back to class!"

And so the class continued. Miles made an earnest attempt to stay awake and listen to the lesson, and managed to stay conscious the rest of class.

In Ms. Lisa's class an hour later, Miles made less of an effort. He'd had turkey for lunch and he couldn't help drifting off a little in class. He ended up thinking about what Ms. Lisa was hiding, whether she was working with Necron, what Necron wanted, how safe the academy was, and when he would see his family again. So basically, the usual. Endless possible answers to an endless amount of questions. Miles was living day to day no knowing what tomorrow would bring. For people like Caspar, who seemed to always keep himself in the present, this would hardy be difficult. But Miles could never stop wondering about what was to come and there never seemed to be a sufficient answer for him.