"Diego, over here!" I called, waving my hands in the air. "I'm open!" The football soared past me, and I shot Diego a dirty look.
"Sorry Aubri, Five was open, too!" he sneered, chasing after the others. I sighed, rubbing the dirt from my hands onto my jeans.
I'd been a part of the Academy for as long as I can remember. I was born on October 1st, along with the others. But when Hargreeves tried to adopt me, my mom refused to give me up. She ended up making a deal with him; me and my mom live in the Academy, I became Number 8 and trained with the others, and my mom takes care of us alongside Grace.
I sighed, looking over at Klaus. He was sitting crisscross on the ground, eyes closed, taking a bite of a big chocolate bar. He was the only one of us not playing football(excluding Vanya, of course). I walked towards him, kicking the grass by his foot. "What do you want, dipshit?" he asked, his eyes remaining closed. I rolled my eyes, sitting down next to him.
"Gimme some," I said, holding my hand out in front of him. Klaus dropped the chocolate in my hand, and I watched as he rested his elbows on his knees and began humming.
"What are you doing?" I took a bite of the candy and my eyes widened at the taste. It was easily the best chocolate I'd ever had. "Mmm, oh my god. Where did you get this?" I asked through a full mouth.
"I'm meditating." he responded. "And you better be careful with how much of that you eat. Maybe you should read labels before you take food from druggies." Klaus's laugh was followed by a snort as I read the label on the wrapper. Smooth medical cannabis infused milk chocolate.
"Klaus!" I said, smacking his arm.
"Hey 8, come back and play! We need even teams and we only have fifteen minutes left!" Luther called.
"Coming!" I yelled back.
"Aubri, go long!" Allison yelled. I dashed down the 'field', jumping in the air to catch the ball. As soon as my fingers made contact with the ball, my whole body camouflaged to match the scenery. Now being completely invisible, I ran towards the end zone, snickering on my way.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Diego yelled.
"It's adapting," Five shrugged.
"And if she can adapt, so can we." Ben added. Soon, the game became a big competition between all of us and our powers.
Finally, when Five scored the final point, the game was over. "That was totally unfair." Diego scoffed. "My power is useless when it comes to football."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
My head snapped up from my studies at the sound of the dinner bell. "Meal time!" I heard Grace call from the kitchen. I stood up, putting my textbook and notes back in their proper places. I walked out of my room, seeing the other seven children doing the same.
"Hey," I said, bumping my shoulder against Ben's. He looked at me with fake disgust in his eyes.
"Grace made liver and onions tonight." He pretended to dry heave, making me laugh.
I'd always been close with everyone in the academy, but Ben and I had been growing a lot closer in the past few months. I don't really know what changed. Something just clicked, like clock work, like we were made to be each other's best friend.
We had been doing everything together lately, which Sir Hargreeves unfortunately didn't like. He had never been fond of any of our relationships with each other. That's why there is strictly no talking at the table and no partner or group activities during class time.
Ben and I followed the others into the dining room, and we all stood stiff and quiet in front of our assigned seats. We waited patiently for Sir Hargreeves to join us. When he finally did, we all sat down. Grace served the food, and Ben looked at me with a pout and I had to stifle a laugh.
"Eat up!" Sir Hargreeves yelled. We ate in silence for a while, before Five stabbed his knife into the table. The silence before was comfortable, but now it was eerily quiet. "Number 5?" the man in charge questioned.
"I want to time travel." Five said forcefully. There were murmurs going around the table, and I gave Ben a questioning look. He shrugged.
"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules." Sir Hargreeves replied, not looking up from his plate. "No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson." He gestured toward the radio.
"I want to time travel!" Five repeated, getting angry. I started to get a bit nervous, and Vanya seemed worried, too.
"No." the old man sang.
"But I'm ready. I've been practicing my spacial jumps, just like you said." I watched as Five scrunched up his face and teleported from his spot at the table to directly next to his father. I had seen the trick many times, but it still blew me away every time he did it. "See?"
Sir Hargreeves sighed. "A spacial jump is trivial compared with the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice," he informed. "the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn."
Five shook his head. "Well, I don't get it."
"Hence the reason you're not ready."
I saw Vanya make eye contact with Five and she shook her head. I knew they were close, and now I knew something was up. I quickly looked to Ben and mouthed 'he's gonna do something bad'. Ben shot me a worried glance and looked back at the scene unfolding in front of us.
"I'm not afraid." Five said, looking back at Sir Hargreeves.
"Fear isn't the issue. The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind, are far too unpredictable. Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore."
I held my breath, knowing Five was about to snap. And I was right. He turned around and started walking to the door, ignoring Sir Hargreeves's calls.
"Number Five! You haven't been excused! Come back here!" And with that, the sound of the door shutting rang through the house.
That was the last time any of us saw Number Five.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I laid awake in my bed that night, not able to fall asleep. I tried to drift away, but I just couldn't get my eyes to close. When they did shut for a minute, all I saw were visions of what could be happening to Five right now. I lifted my head at the sound of a soft knock at my door. I groaned, glancing at my clock.
1:43 a.m. "Come in," I said. I watched as a familiar black haired boy walked in.
"Hey, I thought you'd still be up." he chuckled, shutting the door behind him. "I think we all are. You thinking about Five, too?"
I nodded, patting the bed next to me. He plopped down on the empty side of the mattress, laying down by my side. "Where do you think he went?"
I was silent, because we all knew where he went. Or rather, when he went. None of us wanted to think about it, though. Pogo had told us horror stories about scientific advancements, and time travel was one of them. We knew Five would be messed up when he came back, if he ever did.
"You're right, he definitely went to Griddy's." Ben cracked, making me laugh. We were silent for a few minutes, each lost in our own thoughts. "I hope he's okay." Ben whispered.
I sighed, wrapping my arm around him. "Me too."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I'm so sorry this was really bad! It's my first chapter:) Hopefully they'll get better. Anyways this is for my girl Aubri<3
