1Author's note: Hi, dear readers! This "story", if you want to call it that, was actually an assignment that I was given in high school, where I was tasked with writing the introductory chapter for a potential novel, in any genre that I wanted. I received a mark of 91% on it, so I hope you'll enjoy reading what I have written. :)
"Xavier! Wake up! Rise and shine!" my mother's shrill voice rang throughout the house as I sleepily opened my eyes.
"There's no time to dawdle, son," she spoke sternly. Groaning, I glanced at the time that was projected on the wall.
"Oh my gosh," I screamed before leaping out of my bed. "I slept in for more than a half hour!"
"That's why you need to set your alarm!" I heard her shrieking from downstairs.
I ran to the bathroom to comb my thick brown hair. I had to squint to see my pale face in the mirror, which was full of steam and condensation. I guess that's what happens when I have to share the bathroom with my younger brother, I thought. Roughly ten minutes later, I descended the elegant glass staircase into the spacious, glass-walled living room, when my father proudly announced that he was heading off to work, like he always did. Since he owned a major tech company, he was the reason why my family was so rich. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. Pretty much everybody is rich these days. I slightly remember being in middle-school history and learning about the division between rich and poor that took place in the 21st century. It was a rather interesting subject, although my bad grades didn't seem to prove it. I barely squeaked past a failing mark on the final exam.
"Mommy, look at me," my younger brother, Axel, squealed in delight. Despite the fact that he was almost eleven years younger than I was, his face was nearly identical to mine, except he was smearing milk all over it.
"Axel," my mom yelled, "don't eat your cereal with your fingers! Use your spoon!"
"No!" my younger brother screamed in response.
"If you do that again, I'm sending you up to your room," she warned, pointing a finger directly at his face. My brother hesitantly picked up his spoon as my mom turned to me with a completely different expression on her face. "So," she asked me in an obviously excited tone, "are you ready for your very first day at Robertstein Collegiate?"
"Yep!" I responded with enthusiasm while taking my seat at the table. "It's gonna be great, being in a 2,964,000 square-foot building with 7,634 students, 265 teachers, 40 different clubs, 8 gyms, a driving course for students 16 and older, indoor bike paths, 12 cafeterias..."
"I understand, and I love listening to your technical details," my mom replied while she placed my breakfast on the table, "but you have to get moving. No more yapping. I made you a wonderful breakfast for your very first day."
"But, Mom," I said just before I took a bite out of my French toast, "we don't actually have classes today. It's only orientation day today."
My mom touched an area of the table and a holographic display illuminated, showing my schedule for today.
"Actually, you do have one class today," she told me. "Why didn't you think of looking up your schedule yet?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "Been lazy, I guess."
"According to the schedule," she said, pointing to the display, "you have teleportation class this afternoon with Professor Schwagner."
"Really?" I perked up in excitement. "I'm so looking forward to that class!"
"Yes, Xavier, I know," my mom said. "I remember you watching people teleport ever since you were just a little kid. But be prepared. Teleportation probably won't be as easy as you think it will be."
"I understand," I reassured her as I finished my delicious breakfast, rubbing my belly in satisfaction. "But I do like to be challenged sometimes."
After brushing my teeth and making sure that my supplies were ready, I said goodbye to my mom and opened the large glass front door. At once, the blinding sun beamed its light and warmth down on me. Once my eyes adjusted, I just stood there and looked around at the neighborhood as if it was going to be my last time there. Every house was different from each other: there were glass houses like mine, stone houses, brick houses, and even one that was underground. The front lawns were enormous since the houses were placed what seemed like twenty feet apart. The sun gleamed off of the windows of each home, illuminating the fresh green grass that dominated nearly everyone's front yard.
I proceeded to walk down the street towards the RAPIGO Line, our city's rapid transit system. A slight breeze blew over my head as I strutted down the cobblestone sidewalk leading out of the neighborhood.
"Maybe this isn't really so bad, after all," I said to myself. "I actually like living in the city, now that I've spent a few weeks here. This actually doesn't seem to be very different from the small town I used to live in. I'm sure that I'll enjoy high school. It's school. It's a safe place. What could go wrong?"
Before long, I reached the RAPIGO Line, which strangely enough, I had never been on before. Several other people around my age were in line to board the transit system, which was a large, elevated monorail. They all looked like they were going to Robertstein Collegiate as well. The line moved quite a bit faster than I thought it would, and before long, our shuttle smoothly pulled up to the platform before coming to a stop. It looked sort of like an oblong glass pod that was about sixty feet long. The doors automatically opened, and we all climbed inside. There was a narrow aisle, flanked by several rows of seats. I ended up sitting beside a nerdy-looking guy with glasses and a very wild black hairdo. He looked about a year older than me.
"Excuse me," I asked the guy, "I don't think I see any driver or any sign that this system is powered by electricity. How does the pod move?"
"Look down," he told me, motioning towards my feet.
"Is it just me, or do these look like bicycle pedals?" I noticed.
"You must be new to the city," he said. "The rapid transit system here is powered by us, the riders."
"Sorry, I guess I was just so caught up in the moment that I didn't notice at first," I replied, slightly embarrassed. "That was a tad stupid of me, since I'm generally very knowledgeable about how things work."
"That's okay," he smiled while I leaned down and strapped my feet onto the pedals. "Since you seem to be interested in how things work, basically the power from the pedals goes through a gearbox for each individual rider, so that everyone can pedal at his or her own speed!"
"That's awesome!" I exclaimed just before we started to move. Even though I was able to pedal with relative ease, I was tempted to slack off and let everybody else do the work of moving the car, but my mother had always taught me to contribute to the group. Plus, I needed to get into shape and work out for a little while.
"Thank goodness this vehicle has air conditioning," I heard someone behind me complain. "I'm starting to sweat already!"
My legs were already starting to become warm from the work of pedaling the car. I decided to take my mind off of my body temperature and continue talking with the person beside me.
"Sorry I forgot to ask you earlier, but what's your name?" I asked him.
"My name is Cameron," he warmly replied. "What about you?"
"Xavier," I introduced myself.
"That's an interesting name," Cameron said.
"Yeah, that name is actually gaining quite a lot of popularity these days."
"Really?" I marveled. "I'm surprised."
"It's true," he nodded.
"I don't know about you," I asked, "but are you excited for classes to begin?"
"Yes I am," he replied. Suddenly, he turned to the window and pointed his finger at an enormous building off in the distance. "There it is!"
Through the car's curved glass panels, I feasted my eyes on a large glass sphere that was probably at least 2,500 feet in diameter. Surrounding the main central sphere was a group of smaller spheres that radiated out from all sides of the building. My jaw dropped in amazement.
"So that's Robertstein Collegiate?" I asked Cameron, completely awestruck.
"The one and only," he smiled. "You're gonna have a great time there. I know that because this is my second year at the Collegiate, and there hasn't been a single moment I did not like. Okay, maybe there was one time when I accidentally teleported my glasses into the middle of a brick wall. Obviously, they were permanently embedded in the wall as a result, and they were quite expensive, so I had to buy a cheaper pair of glasses."
"That's funny," I tried to say while laughing at the thought of objects being teleported halfway into walls.
"Maybe that was funny," Cameron replied, "but be warned: teleportation could be very dangerous. One slight miscalculation of your atoms could yield some...rather gruesome results." He shuddered. Before I was able to reply to him, an automated voice interrupted me.
"You have reached your final destination," the voice rang throughout the pod as it left the outdoors behind and entered an indoor station, lit by several blue LED's. The doors automatically opened while I began to unstrap my feet from the pedals.
"Hey, move it," a large dude rudely growled while he was forcefully pushing people out of the way like a tank.
"Don't take him seriously," Cameron shrugged. "He's nothing but a large scumbag of a bully."
"Are there many people like him in the school?" I nervously asked him. I did not like being around anyone who showed even the slightest disliking of me.
"Naw, don't worry, ninety-nine percent of the students here are very friendly. But there is one teacher you should watch out for. His name is Professor Mack, and he teaches biology. He sits back and eats ice cream while he randomly sends students to detention for absolutely no reason. I can only wonder why he hasn't been fired from his job yet."
"Wow, what a jerk," I half-grinned at my new friend as I rose up out of my seat. Once we debarked the pod, we all found ourselves in a spacious corridor that seemed to go on forever. The whole room took on a light-blue hue, and the entire place was spotless. The floor was so smooth and clean that I could clearly see my reflection like a mirror.
A tall man emerged from a nearby hallway and strutted towards us. He had a fully shaven head and he wore some of the thickest-framed glasses I have ever seen.
"Welcome," he greeted us, "to Robertstein Collegiate! I am the main head of operations at the school, so I oversee everything and check to see exactly which student is where and at what time. So, in other words, don't be late for your classes or skip them! You probably learned all of that in elementary and middle school, am I correct?"
Everyone nodded in response.
"Perfect," he smiled and clasped his hands together. "My name is Stanford Gardchuk, but you can just call me Mr. G. Now, today is mostly going to serve as an orientation day, mainly for you to know where you're going and to get accustomed to being at this school. Some of you may have one class today, others may not have any. Just letting you know."
I turned to Cameron. "I wonder if there will be any hot chicks here," I whispered in his ear.
"I'm sure there will be," Cameron whispered back to me. "For this year, a total of 7,634 students will be enrolled. Considering that number, there are bound to be plenty of good-looking fish in the sea." He winked at me.
"Now, my fellow students," Mr. G smiled, "come on and follow me."
He began to walk at a very brisk pace, his black suit swishing behind him like the tail of a fish. Our group, comprised of maybe fifty or sixty students, scrambled to avoid getting left in the dust (or lack thereof). "Be careful here," he warned as we reached a large moving walkway. The floor was moving the same direction we were going in order to speed up our journey down the seemingly endless corridor. I felt a slight breeze rushing past my head as I walked onward, propelled further by the moving floor.
I turned around to quickly scan the group. The ratio of boys versus girls was pretty much equal, and there seemed to be people from almost every cultural background.
"You are now approaching the end of the moving walkway," an automated voice announced. "Please watch your step."
Some people regarded those instructions, walking smoothly off the end of the walkway. Others were still walking as the end approached, causing them to stumble over with their arms flailing. I barely caught a glimpse of a girl who landed on the floor face-first. Once everyone was back on stationary ground, Mr. G led us down one more hallway before coming to a stop at a set of double doors.
"Now, we are about to enter the main entrance of the school," he announced. He then lowered his glasses and peered over them as he began to address the newcomers, like me. "First-years, it will be an incredible sight to behold, but don't just stand there goggling at everything. You have some very important things to do in order to get properly oriented."
He held up what looked like a glass wristband to the door, which automatically opened in front of everyone.
What I saw literally took my breath away, even more so than seeing the school outside. We were inside the massive central sphere, which was so immense that I could barely even comprehend its actual size. The whole area was bathed in the sun's glowing rays. There were fifty elevator shafts, all encased in glass, that seemed to stretch up into the stratosphere. Hundreds of elevated paths radiated from the elevator shafts like spokes on a bicycle wheel, and there had to be at least four thousand students mingling and walking around in this massive space.
"I said don't just stand there!" Mr. G shouted, snapping us back to the tasks at hand. "Now, first-years, you will be heading off to get your identification wristbands, like the one I have on my arm. For anyone returning to the school, I suggest you just go off and socialize with your friends. I'm taking care of first-years only."
"See ya, buddy," Cameron smiled before he patted me on the back and walked towards one of the elevator shafts. I waved goodbye to him.
Mr. G guided us to a large area that was populated with staff and teachers.
"Welcome to Robertstein Collegiate," a young female teacher announced to our group, with a rather strong British accent. "I am Professor Simons. How are you all doing?"
"Good," everyone replied all at once.
"Now, you will be getting your identification wristbands," she warmly smiled. "These wristbands will be your best non-human friend. They will serve as identification, wallets, agendas, reminders, and phones. They are also locators, so teachers know where you are, and students can also identify each other's whereabouts if you're looking for a specific friend. You must wear it to school every day, and of course, I don't see why you wouldn't, because these things are so freaking cool."
Everyone laughed at Professor Simons' last remark. In response, she simply pushed back her long brown hair.
"Now, if you forget your wristband at home," she continued in her heavy accent, "it is your responsibility to go back home and put it on before returning. The only acceptable time it can stay at home during the day is either if you are sick and have to stay at home, or if you choose not to come to school ONLY on a day where you don't have any classes. So that means that any time you are on school grounds, you MUST wear them at all times! Is that clear?"
"Yes, Professor Simons," everyone said at once.
"Okay, I will be handing each of you your wristbands. Once you receive your wristband, you will just hold it up to mine to get your profile submitted to our database. Once that is completed, you are officially a student of Robertstein Collegiate."
She walked around as she clipped a wristband to each student's arm. After four other students received their wristbands, she walked towards me. The wristband looked like a thin, flexible sheet of glass. I held out my arm and she simply brought the two ends of the wristband together before they snapped together with a loud click. I held mine up to hers, which responded with a beep, letting her know that my profile had been submitted. As the rest of the group received their wristbands, I took a good look at mine. It was really nothing more than a clear glass ring that encircled my wrist. It gleamed in the sunlight that streamed through the gigantic glass sphere in which we stood. I laid a finger on the wristband and a holographic display instantly projected itself in front of my face, displaying a map of the entire school. "This is cool," I said to myself."
"Thanks for the compliment," the wristband replied in a female voice, much to my astonishment.
"You can talk?!" I asked it.
"Yes, I can," it replied. "I will be involved in a lot of your time at the school. Professor Simons already told you about what I can do, so I don't need to explain. If you want me to perform any specific function, just tell me and I will do it."
"Okay, then," I responded to my wristband. "Tell me where my first class is."
The map on the holographic display instantly zoomed in to one of the smaller spheres. "You have teleportation class at 2:15 with Professor Schwagner."
"You are so cool," I said to it. "Tell me where all the really hot girls are."
"I'm not sure how I can help you with your specific request, but I can try," it replied. Immediately, every single girl's wristband began to ring with an audible tone, all of them displaying my face on their holographic displays. Those nearby turned to me, obviously confused and bewildered.
"Er, sorry about that, everyone," I told the girls in my vicinity. "I'm just fooling around with my wristband here." Everyone then just went back to what they were previously doing.
"If you ever want me to turn off the holographic display," my wristband told me, "just say, 'display off'."
"Display off," I responded. Immediately, the display disappeared, letting my eyes focus on Professor Simons, who cleared her throat.
"Now that you all have your wristbands," she said, "you will now proceed to the main theater, where an assembly will be held in about a half-hour to welcome you to our wonderful school. Your wristbands will tell you where to go, as some of you have found out already."
I touched the wristband to display the map of the school. It showed a series of blinking arrows leading to a large room right in the center of the sphere.
"What time is it?" I asked my wristband.
"Ten o'clock," it replied.
"Perfect," I smiled, still looking at my surroundings in awe. The whole group descended a series of short flights of stairs that led past several doors to various classrooms, two of the clubs, and the band room. Everything was still relatively out in the open, so even as we reached the Robertstein Theater, I could still see the labyrinth of elevated walkways crisscrossing the interior of the sphere. The doors automatically opened, revealing an enormous space with thousands of plush seats and a massive stage at the front. The entire population of the school, students and staff, were seated comfortably in the area with lots of room to spare. "How did everybody get here so quickly?" I asked a short guy who had a mohawk.
"Most of the people just teleported to their seats," he replied, "but they had to know exactly which seat they wanted to sit in, because of course there is always the possibility that you can teleport into the exact same coordinates as another person..."
"Yeah, I really don't want to think about the outcome," I flinched with disgust. "Thanks anyway."
"YEESSS!" a girl screamed not too far away, making me jump. "Fred Johnson asked me out on a date! I LOVE THESE WRISTBANDS!"
"Teenagers...some people can be a little crazy," I heard one of the teachers mumbling to himself.
I eventually found a seat in the third row of the auditorium, earning me a clear view of the stage. To my left and right, a duo of nervous first-year students, both males, sat beside me.
"Um, excuse me," the person on the left asked me, "I might be sounding stupid here, but it's your first year at this school as well, am I right?"
"Yes," I calmly responded to him.
"What's your name?" the person on the right asked.
"Xavier," I told him.
"I hope school will be okay," he awkwardly said.
"I'm sure it will be," I reassured him.
A series of claps rang through the air, diverting my attention towards the stage. A well-built man in a tuxedo and black pants strutted across the stage, and everyone began clapping and cheering wildly. The person then stepped onto an elevated podium and spoke into a microphone.
"Good morning, everyone, thank you," he greeted us. "My name is Donald Gurham, and I am the head principal and President of Robertstein Collegiate! Now, as you can see, we have a ton of students at the school. 7,634, to be exact. This is the highest attendance number we've had in almost five years. Who's ready to begin another amazing year at this fine establishment?"
Everyone, including me and the formerly nervous students beside me, cheered and screamed as loud as we could.
"Excellent, that's what I like to hear," Gurham smiled and winked. "Now, let me introduce our first-year students!"
"Uh oh," the student on my left said as all the color drained from his face.
"Since we obviously cannot present each and every student on the stage with the amount of time that we have, we will just quickly flash your names and faces onto the screen behind me. Here we go. Amira Abdallah!"
A girl with short black hair and brown eyes flashed onto the screen for two seconds.
"Troy Allen!"
A boy with a mop of hair that covered his whole face appeared on the screen.
"Yelena Allen!"
A girl with long brown hair and blue eyes, presumably Troy's sister, appeared on the screen.
"Sam Amin!"
"Bruno Ayotte!"
"Muhammad Baghdadi!"
Face after face and name after name were displayed. The list seemed to go on forever and ever before my name was displayed.
"Xavier Vincent!"
My smiling face appeared on the screen. I sighed in relief when I saw that the picture turned out very well.
After ten more students' faces were displayed, ending with "Habib Zahir!", Gurham stepped back onto the podium.
"Okay, everyone, the assembly is over," he smiled. "Enjoy the rest of your first day at the one and only Robertstein Collegiate!"
He bowed down in front of everyone as we cheered and applauded, and then we were all free to go. I touched my wristband to bring up the holographic display. "What could I do now?" I asked it.
"You have about two and a half hours until your teleportation class," it replied, "so you can do whatever. You can explore the grounds, socialize with people, eat at one of the cafeterias, check out one of our clubs..."
"Okay, thank you," I said. "Display off."
As soon as I stepped out of the theater, I found myself back in that enormous glass sphere. I decided to explore the building and see what it had to offer. After walking back up the stairs towards the main entrance, I began to strut towards one of the elevators, where several groups of people were waiting.
A glass car descended the tube and stopped right in front of us before a set of doors opened. "Going up," it said in an automated voice. We all piled into the elevator like sardines in a can. The doors closed behind me and everyone began touching various areas of the elevator's glass panels to select their desired floors.
Immediately, the elevator shot straight up like a rocket. My stomach felt like it was suspended fifty feet below me, and the G-force was so strong that I could not lift a single toe. The various walkways that meandered through the dome quickly became smaller and smaller every single second. All I could hear was the hollow whooshing sound of air rushing past the walls of the car. Just before I thought the elevator was going to shoot straight out of the dome like in Willy Wonka's factory (I read that book in elementary school), it quickly slowed down and came to a stop. My stomach caught up to me about five seconds after the elevator reached the 70th floor and the doors slid open.
Once we vacated the car, I walked down a long bridge towards the outer edge of the glass sphere, where a group of at least fifty students mingled inside one of the cafeterias.
I sat down at a table right beside the edge of the sphere, and I beheld the sight of the outdoor landscape from almost a thousand feet in the air. The tracks of the RAPIGO Line seemed to twist their way out of the school like a really long snake, and I could see the rolling hills and glistening lakes that populated the outskirts of the city for miles around.
"Xavier?" I heard a familiar voice from behind me. "Xavier!"
I turned around and saw Cameron, much to my surprise.
"Hey, buddy, how are you doing?" I asked him.
"Nothing much, really," he replied as he slid into the seat beside me. "I've been mainly talking with my friends and I teleported myself to the Robertstein Theater to watch you guys being formally introduced to the school, as you already know."
"What classes do you have today?" I inquired.
"Nothing at all!" Cameron whooped, throwing his arms up in the air.
"I only have teleportation class today," I responded enthusiastically. "I'm really looking forward to it!"
"That's great," Cameron smiled. "Why don't we go and have some lunch?"
"Sure," I said. "I am feeling hungry. Let's go."
After a couple of burgers and sodas as well as almost two hours of conversation, a random thought nagged at me that made me check the time. "Two o'clock," my wristband told me.
"Holy cow!" I screamed and jumped up, almost lifting the table right off of the floor. "I have my teleportation class in fifteen minutes! Sorry, Cameron, I have to go. See you soon."
I hastily bolted for the elevator, and the ride back down was even worse for my stomach, considering the fact that I had just eaten lunch. Once I returned to the ground level, I wove my way in and out of a mob of students, trying my best not to push anyone over. I was running so fast that I could hear the air rushing past my ears. After what felt like forever, I found myself in the middle of a smaller glass sphere, where there were still no less than sixty classrooms clustered inside. Fortunately, the door to the teleportation classroom was only fifty feet away, so I managed to reach it with about five minutes to spare.
While my heart was pounding and I was panting like a dog, the door automatically opened to reveal a spacious area with five rows of desks, mostly occupied, in the front half of the room. The rear portion of the room was completely empty, probably meant for practicing teleportation. In the very center of the room was a circular podium where our teacher, Professor Schwagner, turned around to face me as I entered the room, giving me the opportunity to take a good look at his curly black hair and thin, wiry glasses.
"Hello, chum," he said with a slow, drawling voice. "Could you hold up your wristband to mine so that I could download your student profile?"
I held my outstretched arm beside his before his wristband beeped two seconds later. "Download complete," I heard his wristband say.
"Thank you, Xavier," he drawled. "You can go ahead and sit anywhere you like...as long as the chair is not already occupied, of course."
"Thank you, Professor Schwagner," I said before bowing down to him. I strutted over to an empty chair in the second row. I didn't pay any attention to the rest of the people in the room, including my desk partner, because I was so excited for the class to get started. Then again, I have always been fascinated with teleportation ever since I was a kid, and I was finally of age to start learning how to perform it.
"Okay," Professor Schwagner said as he clasped his hands together. "It looks like everyone's here. We are about to start what is probably the most exciting, and one of the most challenging, courses at Robertstein Collegiate! Who is ready to start learning about teleportation?"
The entire classroom erupted in cheers. Clearly, I was far from being the only one who was excited!
"Excellent, excellent," he said. "Now, could you all turn to your desk partner, introduce your names and tell each other a blurb about yourself?"
I turned to my desk partner, who was sitting to my left. My jaw almost dropped when my eyes who was probably the most beautiful girl I had ever met. She had shoulder-length hair that was dyed hot-pink, sparkling blue eyes, and a brilliant smile on her face.
"Hello," she said in a sweet, relatively high-pitched voice. "I already know your name. Xavier, correct?"
I blushed at the sound of her saying my name. "Y-yes," I stammered awkwardly, trying to regain my composure. She smiled at me in response. "What's your name?" I asked her, blinking several times.
"My name is Vega Swan," she replied, still smiling as if she was used to being around awkward-sounding guys like me. "I really like going on nature walks and listening to music. How about you, Xavier?"
There was a short pause while I tried to summon my voice. "I like music as well, and I grew up in a small town before I moved to the city," I answered. "I've always been looking forward to this particular class."
"Why, because of me?" Vega chuckled.
"Well, maybe sort of, I don't know," I laughed. "I've always been interested in teleportation, but you..."
"Okay, class, let's begin," Professor Schwagner announced, interrupting my sentence. By the look on Vega's face, however, she seemed to have understood what I was trying to say to her.
"Now, teleportation is a very dangerous mode of transportation. Just a warning. If anyone in the room feels uncomfortable with the dangers associated with teleportation, please turn your backs to me and walk out that nice-lookin' door over there," the teacher said, pointing to the door of the classroom. Nobody got up from their seats.
"So it looks like everyone is still interested," he smiled. "Perfect. We are going to start off with some important safety information." Everybody groaned in response.
"You must learn the techniques behind teleportation first before you can attempt it on anything or anyone," he continued. "If you don't, as I'm sure you can guess, you might be putting yourselves, objects, or those around you in serious danger. One false move while teleporting and you could be dead in the blink of an eye."
Vega glanced at me with a slightly nervous expression on her face.
"Obviously, you all have those snazzy wristbands on you, correct?" Professor Schwagner asked. "Fortunately for you, your wristbands have some fail-safe mechanisms for teleportation, so you're not in terrible danger, for now at least. On your wristband, you probably already know that to turn it on and bring up the display, you would just lay your finger on it. You could also use your finger to initiate teleportation. All of our fingerprints are different, so when it registers your fingerprint, ask it to start the teleportation process while you are holding down your finger. If you don't hold down your finger, the wristband will remind you to do so. Ready? Let's begin."
I touched my wristband, and everyone else did the same, so there were at least twenty holographic displays floating in the air.
"Now," he continued, "while resting a finger on the wristband, say "teleport."
"Teleport!" the whole class chorused.
"Perfect," the teacher smiled. "You should now see a list of options: Teleport Yourself, Teleport Object, or Cancel. I would not recommend trying to teleport yourself just yet, so just say, 'Teleport Object'."
"Teleport Object," everyone said in unison.
"On your desks, you should see one paper clip," Professor Schwagner said. "For those who have no idea what the heck these are, they were very popular in the 20th and 21st centuries, and they were used to hold thin white sheets, called paper, together. People used to write and draw on them. Your job is to teleport the paper clip to your partner. On your display, you should see a list of any inanimate object in the vicinity. Move your arm around until your wristband locks onto the object you wish to teleport. Then, you would have the wristband lock onto where you want the object to go. Once that is done, say 'Teleport', and the paper clip should be teleported to your desk partner."
"You go first," Vega told me.
"Okay then," I said, with my voice wavering ever so slightly. I moved my arm around until the display zeroed in on the paper clip. My wristband let out a small beep.
"That's it," Vega beamed. I then slowly positioned my arm so that the wristband locked onto Vega's spot.
"Teleport," I told my wristband. For a nanosecond, a small jolt of electricity went through my wrist. The paper clip disappeared from in front of me and materialized in front of Vega almost instantly. I was completely speechless. Vega then attempted to teleport the paper clip back to me and her outcome was just as good as mine.
"Look at these two," Professor Schwagner announced as he strutted over to our desk, putting us in the spotlight. "They did it perfectly on their first try! Well done, you two."
"Thank you," Vega smiled at him.
"This is so cool," I chimed in.
"T-t-teleport," I heard someone behind me stammer. His paper clip disappeared from his desk, and he immediately let out a piercing cry of pain. The bottom loop of the paper clip was half-buried in his arm. The whole class winced at the sight of it.
"Now, now, Ben," Professor Schwagner said, trying to stay calm, "we will send you up to the nearest doctor immediately. As for the rest of the class, that is one example of what can go wrong during teleportation! I will be leaving now because I have to take him to the school hospital at once. Class dismissed!"
"I hope he'll be okay," I heard Vega worry.
"I'm certain he'll be fine," I reassured her, no longer appearing to be terribly shy around her.
"Do you have any classes tomorrow, Xavier?" Vega asked me just before she was about to leave the room.
"No I don't," I said. "I'm probably just gonna explore the building a little more and check out some of the extracurricular activities." In a rather bold move, I asked her, "Do you want to join me?"
"I would love to, but I can't," Vega replied in a relatively miserable tone while slightly lowering her head. "I have to take an entrance test for a mysterious course that I signed up for, and the test is six hours long."
"SIX HOURS?!" I gasped.
"Yes," Vega said. "The course only shows up as a question mark on my schedule. I just decided to sign up for it out of pure curiosity."
"Well, I'm sure you'll do fine," I said to her, blushing slightly. "Have a good day tomorrow."
"Thank you, Xavier," she smiled and winked at me. "You too." She even gave me a quick hug before we went our separate ways.
"Wow," I said to myself once I made my way back to the transit pod. "That sure was a heck of a great way to begin my year at school!"
"So, my boy, apparently you had a great day from what your mother told me earlier."
My dad, a man with shoulder-length brown hair and glasses, sat across from me at the table just after we finished dinner. I already had a long conversation with my mom about the day's events, and she told my dad almost everything, except...
"Did you make any new friends at Robertstein Collegiate?" my dad inquired in an enthusiastic manner.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did," I beamed at him. "I made friends with a person on the transit pod, and his name was Cameron. He was a pretty cool person, and we kinda met up at the cafeteria later today and had lunch together."
"That's great to hear," my dad replied, "but judging by the tone of your voice and the fact that your cheeks are now looking...sort of red, I'm guessing you must have met one other very special person?" He put a lot of emphasis on the word "special".
"Um, yes," I said, realizing I was blushing.
"What's her name?" he asked.
"How did you know it was a girl?" I blurted in surprise.
"Well, first off," he said, "your cheeks are a little red, and second, you don't normally act like this when you talk about guys."
"I met her in teleportation class today, and her name is Vega," I announced, wiping the sweat off of my forehead.
"That's a nice name," my dad smiled. "Well, it looks like you've got something going for you in your life now," he said. "I'm proud of you, son. You've made a rather bold step towards becoming a true man. Now all you have to do is..."
"Try and save someone, I know," I finished for him. "I just hope that I won't have to actually experience that kind of danger firsthand."
"No one does," my dad said as he smiled and laid a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head around, focusing my vision straight into his blue-green eyes. For a second, they appeared to shimmer with excitement. I knew from then on that everything was going to be okay.
Author's note: I hope you enjoyed reading this. Feel free to review, as always! :)