1 Zander Cortez

It was at the beginning of the school year. The rather spacious classroom was almost empty, since it was now lunchtime, but still, one person remained at his desk.

A boy with blond hair, dressed in a school uniform, was very interested in what he was doing at the moment, namely, making origami out of sheets of paper. He kept his amethyst eye fixed on the resulting figure of the cat, which he had been working on for several days and was almost finishing his work. You may think that he is just idle, but in fact he does all this only at recess, and in the lesson he works hard to make everything perfect.

The sharp slam of the front door makes the boy jump in fright, and when he sees who exactly entered, Zander shrinks back in chair, propping origami closer to him and covering it with his hands.

The newcomers were quite tall, unlike Zander, and they also looked two years older than him. At first, they calmly looked around the classroom, but when they saw the boy sitting alone, their gaze immediately changed to a more sinister, sadistic look, like the gaze of some murderers.

"What a coincidence, and we were just thinking about you, Cortez"

One of the guys said with a grin in his voice, walking up to the blond man. - Do you want to play a game?

And then he grabs the boy's shoulder, squeezing it tightly. Vision went dark and my mind went blank.

"Hey, man, we're came, you hear me?!"

There's a shout that makes Zander jump and open his eyes, staring ahead in shock. Did he fall asleep while they were driving to their destination?

"I-I'm sorry to keep you! Keep the change!"

The guy immediately blurted out, grabbing an armful of some folders with documents and giving the taxi driver a couple of bills, immediately got out of the car, closing the door. A heavy intake of breath, followed by an even heavier exhalation. What a nightmare?...

Shaking head to the sides to get rid of unnecessary thoughts in this way and wrapping the red knitted scarf more tightly, lifting it at the level of nose and holding on to the package more tightly, the guy approached the entrance to a rather huge building, barely opening the massive metal door and going inside.

The interior of the first floor was carried out in strict English style: it is often met various wood, burgundy, green and beige that bring both a sense of comfort, but were forced to strain in the end it's not a comfortable house, a Military Academy...

"IDs."

A woman's voice, rough but clear, makes Cortez twitch a little.

"Oh, I'm sorry, now!"

The guy immediately began to rummage in the pockets of his jacket, finally pulling out the cherished plastic card with his photo on it, smiling awkwardly and handing, it seems, his pass to the cadet on duty. She looks at the pass for a moment, then looks back at Zander, slightly surprised by the unexpected smile.

"The reception room is in the right corridor, the farthest door..."

"Thank you, have a nice day!"

He leaned forward slightly, then immediately headed for the right office.

"How strange he is..."

She whispered, following the blond man with eyes.

"Rather positively oriented."

A soldier sitting in a chair next to a girl who, judging by him uniform, is a junior sergeant, speaks sharply, with a slight grin.

"Who do you think will get it? I'm beginning to guess where they can send such a kind person."

And now, a few minutes later, Zander was sitting across from three people of completely different ages: one was clearly almost old, the second slightly younger than him, and the third was still quite "green" compared to them. Well, Cortez is not a hatched chick at all.

The atmosphere, surprisingly, became much more tense. The average man's stern gaze was particularly alarming.

"Zander Will Cortez, 19 years old, height 159, weight 51, blood type AB+, all right?"

"Yes, that's right."

The youngest of the men looks up at the blond man, staring intently into his unclothed eye. Cortez immediately understood what was going on, but he didn't say anything until he was asked about it.

"Do you wear lenses?"

"No, it's my natural eye color."

He was unable to see at an early age because of an accident.

"I see. One more question. Your father, Will Cortez. He was in the military, wasn't he? Moreover, he worked at our academy, right?"

There was a small silence, the boy looked away, then answered:

"Yes, Will Cortez is my father."

Silence again, the three of them looked at each other, the youngest of the three looked accusingly at the older one.

"Your father was an excellent soldier, even rising to the rank of sergeant Major..."

"Yes, I know, he was a good man" Zander smiled and looked up at one of the older men.

"Well, considering how you passed the entrance tests, your physical abilities, and so on, Cortez... - the man looks at the three sheets that each of the commission had. - You have the right to become a part of our academy."

"Really? Seriously?! T-that is... I'm sorry, sir, I didn't expect to pass."

"Yeah, seriously, kid. The general assembly of cadets will be held on Monday at 5 o'clock sharp. Being late is unacceptable."

"O-okay, sir!"

"All the documents will be in our archive, so you don't need to pick them up, you can go"

The younger smiled at the blond, and he, in turn, immediately saluted and got up from his chair.

"I'll try best, thank you!"

Zander comes to the door after a while, his legs shaking a little, but he's still smiling warmly, and then he leaves the room and heads out of the building.

"I passed! I passed! I can't believe it... So, Zander, hold yourself together, hold yourself and —"

And then, turning the corner, the boy collides with his forehead with something, or rather with someone, because of which he already fell to the floor, as he is abruptly pulled up by the hand, slightly lifting it off the floor, and then again lowered to the ground, releasing the hand. Raising his head, the blond man meets the eyes of the person he is facing. It was a man with dark hair, dressed in the same dark uniform.

"Hey, you need to be careful."

"I-I'm sorry! It won't happen again next time..."

Zander immediately stepped aside, and then bends slightly as a sign of respect.

"I'm sorry, I have to hurry!"

Cortez immediately quickens his pace and heads for the exit, throwing a hasty "Good-bye" to the girl at the door.

"Oh my God, oh my God, I hope it wasn't someone at the rank of major, what a shame..."

The guy immediately wraps red knitted scarf around face, looking at the time on wristwatch. Very soon there will be a bus at one of the nearest stops, Zander need to go as fast as possible.

Fortunately, our hero managed in time and already fully considered the views of snow-covered roads, houses, and sometimes even forests that quickly flew through the window. He arrived home late enough. Looking up at the windows, he noticed that the lights in the house were no longer on.

Zander carefully inserts the keys into the keyhole and finally walks into a rather small hallway and hurriedly removes jacket and scarf, then boots, finally leaving only a beige knit sweater and dark pants.

He carefully walks further down a small corridor, and then he sees something jump out of the darkness at him.

Cortez immediately jumps to the side with a cry, turning on the light.

"Aunt Elizabeth! God, why do you have to scare me like that? And if I hited you?"

"Ahah, I'm sorry, honey, I couldn't resist"

She hugged her grandson tightly and kissed him on the forehead.

The guy smiles slightly, then, even with pride in his voice, said:

"I passed."

"You're my fighter! I know you can do it! Aren't you hungry?"

"No, no, I took food with me, I'm fine. Training will start on Monday.

"I already packed your things because I knew you'd pass, so you don't have to worry about it."

The woman said gently, stopping hugging her grandson. There is a slight silence.

"Your father would be proud of you."

"I think he's proud of me right now, Aunt Elizabeth."

"That's also true. So, okay, Mr. Zander Cortez, you should get a good night's sleep, so go to bed."

Naturally, with sarcasm in her voice, the brown-haired woman said, to which the blond man salutes and turns in the direction of his bedroom.

"That's right, ma'am!

The woman immediately laughed.

"God, I didn't think you'd really take that as an order! In any case, good night, Zander. Let your studies at the military academy be as successful as possible.

"Good night, Eli."

The boy answered her, and finally went to his room, after a while, falling asleep.

Very soon he would be a real cadet. Of course, it will not be without difficulties that will arise on his way, but it can not be easy, right?

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