The Academy of the Elite

I went back to classes on Wednesday, and by Friday I was feeling much better. Vic’s words echoed in my head throughout my days causing me to wonder if what he said was true. I was glad to have today off. Since it had only been the first week of school there was no homework. Friday’s mandatory breakfast was pushed back to nine so students could sleep in after a long week in classes. I took full advantage of this privilege setting my alarm the night before for 8:15 am. I rolled out of bed at 8:30 and by 8:50 I was sitting at the usual cafeteria table; in a pair of black skinny jeans and a shirt that stated ‘The lead singer of Pierce the Veil is hot’. My hair was in a side bun and I wore big hoop earring. I scuffed my vans against the floor as I stared at today’s menu. They had multi-grain waffles, with vegan bacon strips and hash browns. I would get that with orange juice, my favorite. My mouth was watering with thoughts of digging into my breakfast when Zac slid himself into the seat next to me.

“Hey Liza,” he squeezed my hand briefly, “Mister Rodriguez likes our chemistry from your audition. So he is partnering us up to play Romeo and Juliet on Monday. He said he emailed you on Tuesday but didn’t get a respond. How are you feeling by the way? I was worried about you when I didn't see you in class. I didn't know if I should text or what?” Zac cleared his throat. "Anyway, are you feeling better today? You look better."

“I am feeling much better, thanks Zac. I completely forgot to answer the email. Anyway, its cool with me.” I smile at him, trying hard to forget how I feel about him.

I knew I should just agree to Monday, I mean the teacher would pair Zac and I up eventually. This is my way of getting it over with and getting used to the fact that he is my classmate. We share the same major so we will be working together. That's just how things are going to work. I smiled at him, and he gave me a cautious grin in return.

“What are you cool with?” Vic said from behind us with strained voice.

“Nothing, just something for class Vic,” Zac never broke eye contact with me. “See you Monday Liza.”

He got up and left, Vic took his place, an unhappy look in his eyes. He rubbed his temple and mumbled to himself. He stayed that way for a few moments and I began to worry. Did Zac’s presence really make him that unhappy? Finally he looked at me with a strained smile on his lips. When he saw my shirt his mood clearly lifted and his smile loosened. He turned me around so he could read it more clearly and his smile grew wider. He twisted my chair back to face the table and chuckled to himself. I took that as my cue to crank it up a bit.

“Like my homemade shirt? It’s about some dreamy guy I have the hots for. He is so gorgeous.” I sighed dramatically and placed my head on his shoulder. “I hear that he has the voice of angels. Plus they say that he is quite the kisser.”

He chuckles and lifts me head, “do you want to find out for yourself?”

“I would love to.” We kiss for a few moments before the rest of the gang fills the table, making kissing noises as they sit down.

I laughed and put my head back on Vic’s shoulder. The waiter comes to our table and we all order our breakfast. As soon as that was taken care of the complaining about classes begins. Everyone had something or someone who was already bugging them and the year had just started. I happened to be very happy with my classes and my teachers. I was glad for the first half of the year I would also have music, acrobats, dance and art. I was even getting a chance to meet new people, which I actually didn’t mind. Emily, Mike’s girlfriend, was a culinary major so it was nice getting to know her better. She called us the Fuentes girls and said she hopes we can be good friends. Sweet girl, speaking of good friends, drama of course was the best. I could already foresee that all this time with Roxy was going to bring us even closer than I imagined.

Roxy was sitting across from me mumbling in Italian as Jonny asked for forgiveness for who knows what. Kellin was on the other side of her; he winked at me when he saw me looking before going back to talking to Justin. Justin stuck his tongue out at me, and crinkled his nose up. I giggled and Tony, who was next to me, poked me in the side. I looked at him and he had two straws up his nose. He was also crossing his eyes while making some strange noise. I was in a fit of laughter when the waiters served us our food. I couldn't believe that in such a short time I ended up with such an awesome group of friends. The talking all but ceased as everyone started eating; it was so quiet that I had to laugh. Vic gave me a confused smile.

“What’s so funny?” He pulled my chair closer to his.

“Nothing, it just got so quiet so suddenly that I thought it was funny.” I picked up my fork and shove some fakcon into my mouth.

Vic ran his hand gently along the side of my cheek; I paused my fork mid-way and looked at him. He gave me a cute half smile and then went back to eating. I watched as he ate for a few seconds before continuing to eat myself. Breakfast was one of my favorite parts of the day here, being with everyone, enjoying great food. It made me so happy. I grabbed Vic’s free hand with mine and laced my fingers through his. I would get to spend the whole day with him, Roxy and Kellin, my three very favorite people.

“Today’s activity kiddies, is flag football.” Roxy handed out red flags and blue flags at random to the whole gang. “I am glad you all showed up to lose to me.” She said while walking out to the open field. “I am the champ at flag football.” She said turning towards me. “Stick with me kid and you won’t fail.”

Roxy, Vic, Kellin, Emily, Mike, Gabe, Tony, Jack, Max, and I were all on the red team. Justin’s Girlfriend Lindsey, Jonny, Ally, Naomi, Tally, Justin, Jesse, Jaime, Reggie and Jesse’s girlfriend Ashley were on the blue team. I watched everyone split into their team and I stood in the center not really sure what to do next. I watched as Ally and her teammates gathered around each other putting their heads together.

“This is what we do on most of our Friday’s off while classes are in session.” Gabe said while pulling me into the huddle formed by my team. Gabe paused and faced me,"You should take this off before we play." He put my earrings in my pocket then faced the team. “Okay team, for those of you who are new let me explain the rules. The rules are there are no rules, only objectives. Our objectives are to do whatever it takes to get the ball and the players’ flag. Whatever team gets all or most of the flags win. Of course the team that gets the most points can win only if they have a minimum of three flags. Okay team, break.”

Gabe patted my back and the team broke apart. I was clueless about football, if its baseball, I am your girl, but this is foreign to me. I watched everyone else confidently spread out on the field, game faces on. Roxy gave me a confident grin and a thumbs up then looked at the opposing team. Vic wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed behind my ear. I was sure that his actions had nothing to do with the sport.

“You will be fine babe, it’s just for fun. Just stick with me and Roxy, we will cover you.” He kissed the back of my neck before walking a few paces behind me.

Then the game started and Vic was right, it was fun. It was like a huge blur of screams, laughter, deceit, and plotting to get flags. Roxy wasn't lying by the way, she was the champ at this game. Within thirty seconds of the start she had Jonny’s flag in hand. She probably used this morning’s fight to her advantage. Within five minutes Max had charmed Ally’s flag away and Tony tackled Jesse, taking his. The other side lost three players so they picked up on their defense. Managing to get enough teamwork going on that they grabbed Max’s flag and he was out. Through all the commotion I managed to score a touchdown and steal Tally’s flag. This game was so much fun. We ran around like that for two hours, wearing ourselves out. My team won, mostly thanks to Roxy, she was amazing out there. She tied the flags around her neck as a sign of victory which made us all laugh.

When the game was over we all laid down on the grass. My body thanked me for the much needed break, since I wasn’t used to this much movement anymore. I lay on my back with my eyes closed, the sunlight shining orange through my lids. The warmth tickling my skin, making me smile. Simple moments like these mean the most to me, just lying in the grass with the sun kissing my skin. Vic grabbed my hand and I felt him lay by my side. He was humming wonderless, and gently caressing my fingers. I joined him in humming, enjoying this sweet and simple moment with him. He moved closer to me, resting his head on my shoulder. He kissed my cheek, and started softly singing the song in my ear. I opened my eyes and turned towards him and smiled. Then Jesse and Ashley came and handed out waters with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to everyone. Jesse gave me a brownie then pressed a finger on his lips and kept handing out the lunches.

As we drank our waters and chowed down we somehow ended up in groups of five. We were all scattered about yet close enough to hear each other’s conversation if we liked too. Tony and I were having a staring contest while Vic and Roxy debated about some band I had never heard of. Kellin sneaked up behind me and tickled me, causing me to lose to Tony. So I chased him, got tripped by Gabe and caught by Jesse. We were all laughing the whole time. I felt so relaxed, like I didn’t have to worry about a thing. I could just be. Even Roxy and Jonny looked blissful today. The weather was perfect - it was one of those fall days that made you think we would have an Indian summer this year. The rest of the day went by like that, just good times with good friends. I felt like when the year was through, these friends would feel more like a family to me than my own did.

Vic and I ended the day alone together, watching the sunset. He held my hand in his, not saying a single word. I could feel that tension had entered his body and I know from that that he wanted to say something to me. I exhaled and hoped that this wouldn’t be the end of my perfect day. I hoped that whatever he had to say would be lighthearted and fun. He turned to face me and I could see it in his eyes that my hopes were dashed. I braced myself for whatever was going to come next.

“Lizzy, when I told you that I was falling for you, well….uh…. you didn’t say anything about it.” I could see sadness creeping into his eyes and seeping into his voice.

“I don’t know what to say. Isn’t that kind of fast? I mean becoming fast friends with everyone is hard enough for me to grasp. The fact that I am used to this place and its routines after only three weeks is amazing to me too. I mean we have been dating a week, Vic. I know I knew you before but, I don’t know, I am just not ready yet. Give me some time. I do really like you, and I feel like I could one day in the future love you, just...not right now.” I was staring at my feet the whole time, afraid that he would leave after I said what was on my mind.

“Thank you for being honest with me babe.” Then he kissed me and went back to watching the sky, just like that.

We walked to dinner hand in hand. This of course meant that he was sincere about my honesty. I think we both really wanted this to work out. I thought about tonight's menu, tonight was make-your-own taco night. I knew that Vic loved tacos as much as I did. We sat at the usual table and everything was already laid out for us and labeled. I started making a vegan taco and sipping on ice tea before the rest of the crew showed up. Roxy bragged about our win, the blue team denied it and that's pretty much how most of dinner went on. I yawned mid-way through dinner, tired from all the day's activities. So I excused myself, saying I needed to sleep if I was going to be able to function at work tomorrow. I kissed Vic goodnight and headed back to my room. I enjoyed a much needed shower and curled into bed afterward. I was wearing one of Vic’s shirts that I asked him to give me to sleep in tonight. It smelled like him which caused me to fall asleep right away. I had beautiful dreams of him and me writing music together, and just relaxing. Even in my sleep I was hoping for more days like today.