NEVER EVER

Chapter Three: Topic Of All Interest

“HURRY UP ROME!” Collins Michaels, commonly called Loon, called from their usual lunch table. Roman, Hansel and himself were the most inseparable group of friends in their class. Among them, Loon came in second tallest after Hans. He had short spiky black hair.
They’d learned together the past two years at Centaury Highschool, a hub for intellectually gifted individuals. Students were handpicked by the school for their various incredible academic acts in their prior schools to be nurtured in these walls for greater things.

Roman sat down and quickly dug into his lunch like a wolf.
“Yoh,” Loon tapped his shoulder, “Slow down. If you chock, I’ll let you die and collect all your earthly belongings for myself.”
“I have to eat a lot,” he shook his head, “Nurse Hatchet said so.”
“She said eat a lot, not eat fast like the Passover.” Hans sipped canned drink, “Besides, I don’t trust Hatchet. Something is off about her.”
“Like what?” Roman pushed his glasses back into his face.
“No, no, Hans’ got a point. She’s a little weird.” Loon pulled the spoon from his mouth, brown eyes seemingly reflecting deep thought, “Something is definitely off.”
“Maybe… or it could be your approach to the female gender,” Rome eyed Hans, suppressing a grin, “just like this morning.”
“That information does not leave the table.” Hans beamed at them both.
“Whose to say that Jane isn’t already telling her friends as we speak?” Loon smirked.
The trio looked across the cafeteria to the table Jane was at.

Jane had perfectly straight black hair that brushed just past her shoulders and her eyes were a crimson-brown shade that fit perfectly with her brown skin. She was sitting with her friends.
“Well, if she is telling her friends, then you have no shot with the new purple-head girl.” Loon continued.
Roman suddenly chocked on the milk he was drinking. He was so loud the whole cafeteria went quiet and looked his way.
“I called it. I called it.” Loon whispered to Roman as he patted his back, but Roman only chocked because he was thinking about the new girl just before Collins mentioned her.
“Okay, thanks…” he drew in a sharp breath, “I think I’m good now. I’m good.”
“Shows over folks.” Hans said loudly to the cafeteria. Everyone went back to whatever they were doing.

“You should sign a will before your next spoon buddy.” Loon joked.
“Yes, all the tech I’ve built this year goes to charity, far away from the clutches of Collins, the Loon.”
“You are dead to me.” Loon turned from Roman, “So Hans, will you attempt the new girl too?”
“New girl?” Roman asked on purposely.
“Oh, right. You went out of math class.” Hans recalled, “It’s that one with the purple hair sitting between Molly and Jane. Her name’s-”
“Evelyn Gordon.” Roman completed his sentence.
Both Hansel and Collins eyed their friend with a hint of surprise.
“You know her?” Loon inquired.
“A friend of yours?” Hans added before he could respond to Loon.
“I bumped into her on my way to Nurse Hatchet’s office. I guess that means I met her before you guys.”
A grin grew on Hans’ face.
“What?”
“Rome,” his tone was suspicious, “Did you just call dibs?”
Loons mouth dropped a little as he turned to Rome.
“Wait, what? No, no, no, no I did not. You misunderstood my statement.”
“Did he?” Loon smirked.
“Yes, he did. I did not call dibs.”
“Fine,” Hans took a spoonful of his lunch and smiled coolly, “I call dibs.”
“What...”
“I. Call. Dibs.”
Something twitched unwillingly in Roman’s stomach.
“So, what have you finally figured what we should build?” Loon quickly changed the topic sensing the rise in tension.
“Huh?”
“For the Students Invention gig.” Loon clarified.
“Ooh, yeah.” Hans scratched his chin, “No, that slipped my mind. Have you?”
“No. I had an idea but realized it might be considered illegal in this state.”
“I’m not surprised. Rome?” Hans looked at his friend.
“Nothing solid yet. I’m still mowing over a few ideas.”

There was a moment of silence.
“What about a mini demolition machine?” Loon’s face lit up.
“Go on.” Hansel leaned forward; his fingers intertwined in front of his face as Rome leaned on the table.

“Let’s say there is one wrecking ball but too many buildings. If we could build a device that creates strong vibrations, like a miniature, controlled earthquake, shake down the designated smaller buildings while the wrecking ball takes out the big guns.”
There was a wave of silence as his friend’s digested the information. They seemed to already be testing the feasibility of the idea and Loon, maintaining a nonchalant composure, shoved more food into himself.
“It would need a really strong shell to prevent it from being damaged from debris and a good power source.” Hans finally let out.
“We could also calibrate it to have different impact sizes. Maybe they just want to take out one wall instead of the whole building.” Roman added
“It needs to be built with precision so that parts don’t fall off when switched on.”
“How big should the prototype be?”
“Size doesn’t matter. The real question should be how much power the prototype should output.”
“I’ll take it that my brainchild pleases you both, gentlemen?” Loon grinned.
“We still have to work out a few things before we can say yes, but it’s a bold and brilliant Idea.” Roman pushed his glasses up his nose.
“Not to mention profitable.” Hans leaned back in his chair, “Construction companies can save time and cut down some labor costs.”
“I’m impressed Loon. An idea that might not set a man on fire.”
“Dude, it was one time!” Loon defended himself.
They all laughed until a painfully familiar ringing sound resurfaced in Roman’s head. He rubbed his temple as the pain of the migraine heightened then suddenly died off.
“Dude, you okay?” the concerned voice Hans slipped into his ears.
“Yeah, I’m good. It’s just a headache.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I just have to take the meds Nurse Hatchet gave me after I finish lunch.” He nodded with his most reassuring voice. “Anyways, have you thought up a name for the device?”
“How about Chronic?” Loon said dramatically.
“Hard pass.” Hans said plainly.
“Quake?”
“Meh…” Hans tilted his right-hand side to side as his voice drifted off.
“Tremor?” Roman suggested.
“I’ll take it.” Loon vouched.
“Yeah, I guess it’s catchy.”

They continued to geek-out on their project idea the rest of lunch, though every once in a while, Roman would catch a glimpse of a certain purple hair girl, not entirely sure why he was fascinated with her.

Author's Note:
Sorry I'm late, its been... chaotic.

So we're off to build a destructive product prototype. I'll be in my workshop... (Laughs maniacally).

So I'll guess my next update might come Friday.

Until then, eat, sleep, comment, share and hit that star!

- Danté F Spear.