Facts, One Shots, and More

Mechanical Malfunction

"Hey, Axel, you okay, dude?" Axel could feel and hear the knock against the helmet he was wearing. He removed the piece of metal from his head and made eye contact with his friend. "The video ended ten minutes ago."

Did it? Axel thought. He must've zoned out toward the end.

"I get it. Not all of us are born with insane smarts like Axel Volt-Arden." His friend, Versuz, moved his arms in the air, then bowed before him. Axel pulled his at Versuz's arm and mouthed for him to stop being an idiot. He hated the attention his name and family status gave him.

His brother was top of the entire school. Robert Volt-Arden, the smartest and "most handsome" guy known by the world, apparently. Most people called him, Robo, for understanding and creating many of the machines used today. The work was put in by our father, but was made reality by Robo.

Axel, almost, lived up to the name. Only a select few knew why he could never compete with his brother. He didn't care to. The comparison made irked him, though.

"I thought you fell asleep in there," Annora, his class partner, poked at his noggin. She loved to see the purple highlights shining between his natural black hair. "You better not be trying to bring down our grade like a rebel who wants to go against his family."

"You amaze me with your assumptions, Annie."

"Good, because that means I can finally work on my dream of becoming a creative writer. Am I doing well yet?" She hugged her clear tablet against her chest, swinging her body left and right. "The silence is killing my confidence here, boys."

"Can't judge until you let me read a piece of your work," Axel said, squinting his eyes on her tablet.

"Hmmm... hmmm. I don't think you're ready for what my brain can create," she continued to hum as she made her way toward her group of friends, not giving Axel a chance to respond. She knew if he kept pushing, she might give him a sneak peek. Annora wasn't ready to share her work just yet. Not even her circle of friends had read a piece of it.

Axel's tablet beeped with a unique sound, indicating the message came from his brother.

"Guinea pig time," Versuz whispered, slowly walking away from Axel.

Axel made his way through the hallway and caught a glimpse of Annora standing near her next class. She was tapping her foot against the floor, impatient. He saw her mouth moving, assuming she was mumbling to herself. Annora's eyes never once left the door.

Axel turned around, and stood next to Annora. She sighed, a bit of relief washing over her.

"She normally has the door open," she whispered to Axel. "I can't imagine why it's locked now."

"I'm sure she'll be here. Must be running a bit late or something," he tried to assure her.

"Yeah, maybe. But the laughs... that name. The professors... they promised."

Axel wished he could help her somehow. She may have been confident around him and her friends, but there were many things that brought her down.

"Looks like her class is canceled," she bit her lip.

At that point, Axel's tablet would not stop beeping with messages from Robo.

"I'm going to go to hell by my parents themselves, but... come with me." Axel grabbed Annora's hand and pulled her toward the door only a few had access to.

He clicked the code for the high level floors, grabbed the mechanical wings, strapped them both in, then flew to the higher floors. Only some professors and high intelligent students had access to these floors. Axel believed he had the code for these floors because of his family.