The rising suns rays streamed through Advos’s window. He’d forgotten to draw his shades, and the bright light woke him, as it painfully glared into his eyes. Advos rolled over irritatedly to get the time. The clock vexed him as he realized there was at least another hour before he had to wake up for school. At this point he was awake and didn’t see much reasoning to lay in bed. With a huff, he threw the blanket from his body and shuffled into his bathroom.

After getting ready, he dressed in his everyday school uniform. He stepped over to the full-length mirror next to the door and straightened his tie to align it with the open fold of the jet black double-breasted jacket. He picked a piece of lint from his chest just over the embossed ‘E’ entangled in a thorny golden flower that was the crest of Egica Rose Academy.

He loved the way the fitted clothes looked on him with the matching black pants and shoes and the freshly pressed white shirt underneath. He played with one of the black buttons that lined the length of the coat with silver E’s etched into each one. He grabbed a comb from the dresser next to him and he parted his hair around his right horn so that his hair draped forward over his left eye. It was how he loved to wear it, and he never left the house without making sure it appeared perfect. He buffed his shoes one last time and headed downstairs able to smell breakfast cooking.

“Morning Mama.”

“Good morning, son.”

His mother dressed plainly, with her hair still braided out of her face and an apron around her waist.

“What’s for breakfast?”

“Just porridge and eggs.”

He strolled to the table just as his mother set down a plate for him. At that moment Kye and Kaley came running down the stairs dressed similarly in their school uniforms.

“Porridge, ew!” they both exclaimed in unison.

“Well, too bad; it’s what’s for breakfast, now sit down and eat.” Asani’s tone made it very clear there would be no more debate on the matter. The twins made their way the table with sullen faces. They sat there barely eating and pushing their food around for almost half an hour before their mother reluctantly took the bowls away.

“It’s time for school...” she said annoyed as she pushed the remaining food into the sink. “Advos, dear, get them ready and call the car, please.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“You two should be old enough to dress yourselves and not mess up your clothes after every meal," he scolded them.

After helping the twins straighten their uniforms, he went over to the touch monitor by the front door. He pressed a sequence of buttons before hearing the garage door slide open and the start of an engine.

“We are all ready!” He called back to his mother in the kitchen. She finished loading the few breakfast dishes into a cleaning machine, she made her way to the door, to see her children off to school.

“Have a wonderful day today at school!” she said as she kissed all of them on the forehead.

“Thanks, Mama” they all responded.

Advos walked towards the front door, the armband activating the door’s response.

“Good morning Master Advos, the current temperature is 65 degrees with a high today of 75. There is a chance of precipitation but expect a slight wind.” The door slid open, and there sat a black sedan with its door open to reveal two rows of facing seats. They waved one final time to their mother before climbing into the car. Advos pressed a button on the display from his PRISM, causing the door to close and the vehicle to activate.

“Destination: Egica Rose Academy, please confirm.”

“Confirmed” Advos responded from the front seat.

“Confirmation received, time to destination twenty-two minutes.”

The engine turned over as the vehicle pulled itself down the driveway and onto the main road.

#

They made the entire ride in relative silence as all three children were on their computers. In its wrist form, their PRISMs displayed a holographic interface. Both twins were playing games while Advos attempted to do some last-minute studying for a quiz he was all but certain his teacher would spring on them today.

“Arriving at your destination,” the car blared from its speakers.

The announcement caused them to view out the window, as the building came into view. A massive structure of sandstone and glass split into four distinct wings that converged in an X pattern with the entrance being at the center.

Egica Rose Academy was one of the most prestigious schools on the planet, reserved for only the wealthy and powerful. The children of governors, senators, generals, and admirals were among its distinguished alumni and student body. The Klorda family was well off, and Tanus was well known, but they were far from wealthy enough to be in this school. Tanus had called in more favors than he ever felt comfortable with, to get his children admittance.

As the car pulled to a stop, Advos pressed the button to open the door. He shuffled the twins out and set the car to park itself in the nearby lot. They were almost at the front door when Advos heard the whispering and giggling coming from the group behind them. He sighed hard, hearing their whispers, which undoubtedly were about him and his siblings. He would never blame his father for the fantastic opportunity he had worked so hard to give them. But, it was these kinds of comments that reminded Advos why he preferred to be alone than associate with his entitled classmates.

Inside the school was pristinely clean, with polished floors and a huge rug at the entryway with the same golden rose and ‘E’ that brandished all the children’s uniforms.

“Behave yourselves today!” Advos said as he hugged the twins.

“You too,” they replied in unison that forced Advos to try not to grimace visibly. He maintained a smile in front of them as he watched them walk off before heading to class.

They were in an entirely different wing of the school, and it was highly doubtful he would see them again until it was time to head home.

Advos made his way to his assigned desk, he saw all the surrounding faces, each cold and distant. It was hard to go to a place where he knew everyone hated him over nothing. They hated him for no other reason than the concept he didn’t belong. Despite this, Advos yearned for their approval. His saving grace being this would be the last year he would have to endure it. But the thought crossed his mind a few times that just because he was getting out, he was sure things wouldn’t be any better for Kaley and Kye.

“Good morning class,” Mrs. Nika said pulling Advos out of his reflections.

“We will have a quiz today,” she said far too cheery for so early in the morning. She reveled in the audible groan that emanated from nearly every student. She took off her black wristband and put it into the cradle on her desk. This prompted all the students to do the same putting their devices into school mode. A display appeared in front of each of them displaying the quiz. Advos looked through the questions and saw nothing unexpected after his almost pre-cognizance of knowing Mrs. Nika was bound to give an exam this morning. They had covered at least two weeks of material without one, and he was sure the quiz would happen today. He finished in a few minutes and hit the submit button without even thinking.

As the display vanished, he immediately regretted everything he had just done. The low ping chimed from Mrs. Nika’s desk to alert her to a quiz submission, and Advos could feel the entire room of eyes directed at him. His face filled with blood as he tried to slide down into his chair wishing there was pit beneath him he could just sink into and never come out of. He had learned long ago that the only thing his classmates hated more than his lack of status was how much better his grades were then the rest of them. Flashy displays like the one he had just caused, unintentional as it was, were sure to be the ruin of the rest of his day.

Something hard hit him in the back of the head which stung so severely he was sure he was bleeding. When he turned around, he could see Corvin Peckgray giving him a dirty look. His dark brown eyes almost reduced to slits and his strong jaw clenched tightly, as he glared at Advos. Corvin was the Mayor of Egica’s son, one of the most powerful men in the city. Advos slowly turned back around, again wishing the floor would open and swallow him. Twenty painful minutes had passed when Mrs. Nika announced that time was up. Groans again filled the room and started into her lecture. The minutes passed agonizingly slowly before the chime sounded from their PRISMs, which signified the end of the period. Advos quickly detached his wristband and ducked out of the room to his next class which he was grateful didn’t include Corvin.

#

The rest of the school day passed uneventfully. Advos met the twins by the door as he saw Corvin coming his way down the hall, moving with purpose with the look of murder in his eyes. His goons, for lack of a better term, Irel and Tarin were close on his heels. Advos quickly herded the twins out the door, the last thing he wanted was to get beaten up today for something as trivial as finishing a quiz too fast. In front of the school, he saw a familiar car that looked a lot like the one his father usually rode in. But Advos thought to himself that seemed silly, why would he be here. Even if he was back from his trip, it was rare and unnecessary for him to come to the school.

“Is that dad’s car?” Kaley asked as if reading Advos’s mind.

The door panel opened and out stepped Tanus, a tall, stocky man with gray hair that had turned white on the side. His horns full grown along the entire length of his head coming out just above his close-cropped hair. He was the image of what Advos envisioned Kye would look like in forty some odd years. Kaley let out an ear-piercing scream of joy as her father came into view and she couldn’t help running to him, the two boys walking up behind her. She jumped up into her father’s arms as he spun her around trying to keep himself from being pushed to the ground.

“Well hello, my beautiful girl and my handsome young men.”

“What are you doing here?” Advos asked surprised but just as excited to see his father, just wishing Kaley hadn’t made such a spectacle.

“Well, I haven’t seen you all for weeks. I thought I’d come get you from school, so we can all catch up,” Tanus said so nonchalantly with a grin on his face as he hugged both boys.

“I’ve sent the car home already, so come on and get in,” He said moving from the car door.

“Bye Advos!” Corvin called out, a fake smile plastered on his and his friends’ faces, concealing what Advos knew to be far more menacing.

“Um, Advos your friends are saying bye, it’s rude just to ignore them.”

“Those aren’t my friends. Can we go, please?” Advos said with a tone of panic and fear in his voice.

“Yeah...” Tanus replied puzzled as he climbed last into the car.

“Destination: Home, please confirm.”

“Confirmed,” Advos said in a panicked voice at the same time Tanus did.

“Confirmation received, time to destination twenty-two minutes.”

“Is everything okay son?”

“It’s fine, just leave it alone,” he snapped back. “I just want to go home,” He said more remorsefully. He felt bad for snapping at his father as he turned away from them to face out the window.

“How was your trip papa,” Kai asked hoping to change the subject.

Tanus spent the remainder of the ride home talking about how interesting and exciting the conference was. He explained overly complex medical concepts he knew they didn’t understand, but he couldn’t help but excitedly ramble about them. Advos stared out the window only half listening to his father nearly incoherent babbling. His mind drifted to the ridiculous size and ill temper of Corvin that would surely wait for him tomorrow morning.

Advos wasn’t weak, but he had a more lean runner’s build while, Corvin and his friends were just big brutes, each easily doubling his size. He had no chance especially against all three.

When they arrived home, Asani had dinner waiting for them already on the table. Advos spent more time moving the food around on the plate than he did eating any of it.

“Is everything ok son?” Asani asked noticing that his mood seemed odd.

“Hmm... yeah I’m fine...” he responded being pulled out of his thoughts.

“Can I be excused please, I’m not hungry.”

“Sure, if that’s what you want, are you sure there’s nothing you want to talk about?”

“Yeah everything is ok” he responded feigning the smile on his face. He cleared his plate from the table and went up to his room, closing the door behind him.

Asani waited till the twins had gone off to bed before talking to Tanus about Advos.

“Do you think he is ok? Do you know what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, he didn’t say much, but it might have to do with school.”

“I hope it is nothing bad. What do we do?”

“I’m not sure, I think I’ll call the school tomorrow to see if they know anything. I think for now we just have to leave him to figure out things for himself.” He replied putting his hand over hers reassuringly.