Fandomania

Chapter 22 - Too Many Tests

It was the last day of school until winter break. It was December 17th, and Miles should have been excited that it was the last day of school until January 2nd, a whole new year. Miles didn't feel excited, though. 2 weeks of no school now sounded longer to him. He had somehow been distanced from all of his friends, and had no idea what he would do without them. He had also ceased working on the code, which was the other reason he had wanted to stay in Fandomania over Christmas.

Miles was now second-guessing his choice to stay. He wondered if it was too late to tell Lancaster he wanted to see his mother. It probably was. That was okay, Miles knew she'd be safer away from him. But it didn't help. Even now, only an hour after the "fight", Miles felt different. Caspar, Jason, Lilly, and the mystery behind the code had helped distract him from things going on outside of Fandomania, and without them there, Miles was once again focusing on his family. He thought about how his father had betrayed him, tried to turn him in to Necron. He thought about his brother, how he had run away when Miles needed him the most. And he though about his mother. How she must also feel betrayed by everyone around her, now living in some undisclosed location to keep her "safe". That is, if safe even existed. Truth be told, Miles had no idea what Necron was capable of, what they might do. He didn't even know how much he was capable of, and if he was being honest, he didn't know which one scared him more.

Jason walked in and sat down beside Miles, not saying a word. It was first period, and even Mr. Turner looked surprised that Miles, Jason, Caspar, and Lilly—for once—had not walked in together. Miles decided to look around. Caspar was sitting with Kane, and Lilly was sitting with Elisa. Those were their usual seats, but something still seemed off.

Jason focused ahead, not so much as glancing at Miles. He didn't look exactly angry, but he also didn't look like he was in the mood to talk. Not that Miles would know what to say anyway; it was probably better to wait and maybe apologize that night.

"Welcome to the last school day of the calendar year," Mr. Turner said. "Today is math and archery, and today we're taking a test."

Everyone groaned. Fandomania was completely different from every other school, but some things always stayed the same.

"As my Christmas present to you all, I'm giving you fifteen minutes to study with your partners before we start."

Everyone started talking immediately and taking out their notes. Miles and Jason each took out their notes without saying anything to each other.

Miles cleared his throat awkwardly and wished he was somewhere else. Knowing there was nothing else to do, he tried to find something to say to Jason. "About yesterday—"

"No," Jason interrupted. "I need more time to sort all this out. I don't do well with changes like this, okay? Give me some more time."

Miles put his hands up. "Fine." So what if Jason didn't want to clear the air or even just study, he thought.

Miles pulled out his notes and stared at them, but his mind was on other things. For instance, what was there for Jason to sort out? I mean, sure, they had had a disagreement. But they had disagreed many times over the past months, so why was this time any different? It just didn't make sense. Miles had thought that he would just talk to Jason and explain that he and Caspar had overreacted, and Jason would understand. Then they could get Lilly to join back too, and they would be a team again. But maybe it was something different that was bothering Jason. Miles tried to push all this from his head though, as he kept staring at his notes. 

But instead of studying, Miles ended up eavesdropping on the other conversations in the classroom. Caspar, of course, was the loudest. He seemed to be going to town on a punchline, his audience being Kane, Dawn, and Fiona, the latter of the three not looking the least bit interested, but the former two being genuinely intrigued. Or so it seemed—Miles had only gotten a glace in their direction. Caspar obviously wasn't affected as much as everyone else by the argument. Lilly was talking softly to Elisa, probably about some drama. Actually, Miles thought, probably about our drama. Ian was explaining something—definitely math related—to Gira in sign language. Jason was doing the same as Miles, quietly staring at notes. Whether or not his mind was actually in it, Miles couldn't tell.