Avilien

Wednesday

Awaking on Tuesday, Luke felt drained. He opened his curtains and checked for any sign of Brit. She couldn't be found anywhere. Starting his usual routine with the inclusion of Nebs, Luke started the day off right. In school, he hoped to see Brit, but as the day dragged on, she never showed. Mr. Mock had even come to see Luke and dragged him into the corridor. He asked questions about Brit and then asked further questions about his dad. In the end, it felt like an interrogation and Luke found his first meeting with Mr. Mock to be intimidating, as he seemed agitated and angry. What happened to be worse for Luke was the fact that Mr. Mock had no GTs covering his scary face.

Other students had grown curious as to where the flaming redhead that put Jayce in his place had disappeared too also. Teachers like Tucker, Belmont, and Lait said nothing of Brit's absence, and when some students asked, they found sharp glares etched into their skulls and a lunchtime detention for the unnecessary curiosity.

Luke thanked his own wits for leaving Nebs at home asleep after Monday's fiasco. The cat enjoyed making out that he had the mind of a monkey, but in fact, Nebs could be considered the idiot of the pair. After school, Luke strolled home checking as much of the town as he could, again in the hopes of finding his friend. He gave up as the sun started to descend behind the hills. Grabbing more potatoes from the green canopy market stall for his cat, he headed home to research more of his class and pray that Brit turned up.

The next day, magpies chirped as loud as they could as the sun rose, the tall leafy oak tree at the front of Luke's yard being their home.

"Shut up! I'm trying to sleep here!" shouted Nebs as he hopped onto the windowsill. "Geeze, what can a cat do when a bird keeps on tweeting?" Nebs sighed. He had opened the window to shout at the two magpies before then returning to the duvet to try to get some more sleep.

Folding his paws, positioning his behind so that it rested close enough to Luke's sleeping head, he closed his eyes. The alarm on Luke's phone started to sing a tune and with it, Luke sat up at the speed of light, making the duvet and Nebs go flying. Luke had been having strange dreams for the past two nights, and he kept feeling like someone was in the room watching him, putting him on edge.

"Oh come on! Who wakes like that?" protested Nebs as he crawled out of the covers wagging his tails furiously.

"Oh, sorry Nebs," said Luke as he rubbed his eyes and got out of bed.

For two days now, Luke's room had smelt of peaches. Sometimes the odd potato could be smelt, but he surmised that Nebs hadn't brushed his teeth after his meals. Following the usual morning routine of getting dressed, brushing his teeth, and sneaking down into the kitchen for a bowl of Choco Crunch, Luke couldn't believe the amount he had spent on potatoes in two days. He'd almost had enough for his own GTs, now he had another three days to wait for the next lot of pocket money from his dad before he could buy a pair. That would be Saturday, the day before Avilien went live. Luke wondered if there was a point in buying them anymore.

Sitting at his computer desk with a spoon in his mouth, Luke analysed the printed-out spreadsheets that contained his class skills, attributes, and abilities. With Nebs's help, they managed to get the information onto the computer and then print them off. It took two hundred pages of A4 paper, the size of a small book, before the entire lot was printed off.

"I want to go to school with you today. It's too boring here," said Nebs as he made Luke's bed using his teeth and paws.

"The first time I took you to school, the whole class nearly found out about you. If I take you today, you have to promise me to be quiet. I have P.E. all day, so my phone will be left in the locker rooms. Are you still sure you want to come?" Luke hoped Nebs would say no and agree to stay at home.