Meet the homies/Farewell

The moment we arrived I could already smell the familiar scent of top ramen and crusty old socks. Even if it was for an hour, they could make the biggest messes.

"So, this is your place?" Ziya asked as we walked into the living room.

Bowls filled with noodles sat on a table that was cluttered with junk. Clothes were scattered all over the carpet. Home sweet home.

"I'm gone for an hour and you guys still manage to make a mess."

"Who's da chick," Jake asked, completely ignoring me.

"What's a...chick?"

Everyone started snickering from her remark.

Evan spoke up. "Well, ya see, sista, a chick is—"

"Something she can learn later. Guys, this is Ziya and Jarun. Jarun, Ziya, meet Luke, Jack, Evan, Jake, James, and clyde."

"Sup," they said one after another. They proceeded to resume a show they were watching. Jack lit a cigarette and puffed out little clouds. It was surprising that I hadn't smelled the foul air earlier.

"Yo, dude, could you not smoke today? I already have a headache," I lied. No matter how hard I tried, I could never seem to break their habits.

"Oh yeah, sure. Just lemme finish this one up."

He took another box out of his pocket and opened it up.

"Want one bro?"

"Nah, I'm good. You know I'm not a smoker. Besides, I already told you I have a headache."

"Alright. Suit yourself."

"Where the hell do you even get that many cigs?"

"Skill."

Jack plucked the one from his mouth, snuffed out the end with his finger, and tossed it into the trash can.

"There. Done. No more for the day," he said as if trying to make me believe he would stop smoking.

"So, how come most of your names start with J?" Jarun asked out of the blue.

"Well, you see, that's how the school's system works. If you're part of the foster system, you're given a name and that name corresponds to the times the classes you would have are."

"Wait. You guys are..."

"That's right baby. Jack, James and I are orphans. All three of us have lunch together, along with the other 'J' students."

"So, if I went to school, would that mean I would be with the other J's?"

They looked at Jarun in confusion. "You haven't been to school before? Are you homeschooled or something?"

"What's home—"

"Yeah, he's homeschooled," I finished for him. I couldn't let a simple mistake ruin his identity.

"Huh. Cool. But yeah, you'd probably hang with us during lunch."

The conversation went on for about another two or three minutes before we ran out of ideas to talk about.

They all went back to watching their show, while Ziya, Jarun and I went to my room, or to be more specific, the room I shared with Evan, Jake, and Luke. A plain room with only one desk and a laptop that was shared, two bunk beds were back back with each other.

"This is a small room," Ziya noted the obvious.

"No shit. Anyways, I dunno where you can stay. I might use some of my savings for the army to get you a few nights at a hotel until school is out."

"How long will that be?"

"Meh, a couple weeks, give or take."

"Two weeks? Bro that's like 2,000 dollars, am I right?"

"How did you know what earth's currency is?"

"It tells you in through the system."

"Huh, really? I didn't know that, but I guess that explains why I was able to tell how much stuff was on Jaguer. Anyways, yeah I've been saving up for a while for the U.S. Space Academy of Extraordinary, but some people call it the School of Divine Mistakes."

"Why's it called that?"

I sighed before giving them a rundown of what it was. They call it that because everyone who goes there is either crazy strong or stupidly weak. But it doesn't matter about the differences in power, because they all have one thing in common: most of them are insane.

After I was done, Jarun but stroked his chin. "So, what makes you want to go there?"

I paused for a moment. No one had ever asked me that before. Then again, I hardly mentioned it.

"I guess I'm going because I've always wanted some action in my life. I mean, of course that changed about an hour ago, but even so, everything seems so... boring, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I didn't say that fighting and training wasn't that bad, but outside of that, there isn't really much left."

"Boring? How? Look around Andrew. Sure, there's not much stuff to entertain you right now. But maybe that's something to work for: a place that isn't boring. A good ending."

I looked at the two of them. "Maybe... but who knows. Life doesn't always end with unicorns and rainbows."

"I'm joining."

Jarun and I both glared at Ziya.

I could tell Jarun was also confused. "Joining what?"

"I'm going with Andrew. If he goes, so am I."

I guess I couldn't really argue. She would die if she didn't.

Jarun sighed. "I'll tag along too, I guess. Not like I have much of a choice anyways."

I nodded. "Then it's settled. We'll all sign up for the School of Mistakes."

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For the next month, Jarun, Ziya, and Andrew went to class day after day. Surprisingly, both Jarun and Ziya aced every assignment, quiz, and worksheet there was. Andrew would visit the hotel that the other two were staying in and make sure that everything was in check (actually, he was making sure they didn't leave any messes around). Of course, the three of them made sure to do the daily quest, which Andrew noticed that it was easier to level up now. Andrew studied his hardest for the exams to the Academy, while Jarun and Ziya explored other things outside of learning at school.

Before long, it was the last day of school. Everyone said their goodbyes to each other, including Andrew, because this was the last time he would see his roomates. Andrew, Ziya, and Jarun could officially join the Academy.

As he was gathering everything in the room he shared with Evan, Jake, and Luke, Jack walked in and rested his shoulder against the wall.

"Hey."

Andrew turned around to only glance at him and go back to putting his stuff into boxes.

"What do you want."

Jack laughed. "I know you think I want something this time, but that's not why I'm talking to you."

"Oh, really? Then what do they want."

"We don't want anything."

"Then what are you here for?"

Jack paused before giving Andrew an answer. "Listen, I know we haven't really hung out much, but that doesn't mean all of us are homies. I came here to give you a gift that we all made."

Andrew looked over his shoulder. "A gift? What is it. Shit in a bottle?"

"Haha, that joke was so funny I forgot to laugh. No big brain, it's a necklace with that gold gear thing you have. All of us put a bead on there with a different picture of each one of us inside of it. A holographic one, I should say."

"Really? Oh, thanks bro."

Jack plopped the hunk of metal and string into his hands.

He started to walk out the door before he stopped in his tracks.

"Y'know, it's gonna be real weird without you around. Real messy too, that's for damn sure."

"Haha, that's somethin' that you got right for once."

The two laughed. "Take care of yourself bro."

"You too, man. Who knows, maybe all of us will see each other again one day."

Jack dropped his gaze before giving an answer. "Yeah, maybe."

"See ya around."

"Yeah."

Andrew continued to stuff the small amount of clothes he had into a duffle bag before he noticed a faint, golden glow coming from the gear.

"What the..."

Andrew watched in what he thought was slow motion of the gear floating toward his watch. In a matter of seconds, his watch opened up to reveal the clockwork. The gear latched itself onto one of the gears, sparks flying everywhere. Andrew frantically tried to close it, but it was no use. In the midst of all of it, he could've swore he saw the gears changing into a golden tint. Electricity ran up and down the side of his arm. Although it didn't hurt that much, he could still feel it sting. But for some reason, it felt... good.

He could feel power pumping through his veins. Finally, it was over. Andrew sat there for a minute to process everything before he went back to packing. He figured that whatever happened was not as important as the exams.

Andrew, Ziya, and Jarun rode a bus to the airport, where all the students that were going to the academy would be leaving from.

The moment they stepped foot inside the airport, they could all feel it. This was going to be a ride of a lifetime. They joined with the rest, which was surprisingly more than what Andrew expected. He wasn't surprised about the amount of people, but moreover how that many of them could fit in the airport. It was simply just a sea of clothes and hats.

Everyone mushed together as they were assigned to either a flight or a portal. Luckily, they were put on the same plane together, so they didn't have to worry about finding each other.

Andrew sat there, daydreaming of what the future would be like. He buckled up, thinking about the portals that Bruce used to make.

'This is it,' he thought. 'This is where it all begins.'

Finally, it was time. The three of them bid farewell to earth as they began on their perilous journey.