by Travis McBee
The first thing Will saw was a pair of brown eyes so dark they looked black which sat under a short crop of wiry black hair. Will’s face instantly contorted into a scowl of hate as he took in the sight of Daniel Collins.
“Look honey,” a deep voice exited from Daniel’s lips, “A table full of losers.”
A girlish giggle broke out next to Daniel and Will turned his focus from his nemesis for the first time. Standing next to him under one of his pale, powerfully muscled arms, stood Jessica with a sinister smile on her face. Will felt anger rising in him like a volcano and in that instant any affection left for her abandoned him completely to be replaced with pure loathing. He rose to his feet with such haste that he knocked his cup of soda over. He opened his mouth to speak but found that his entire vocabulary had left him in the tempest of emotion. Mike rose just as quickly sensing the trouble that was coming like a speeding train and Joseph and Steven were not far behind.
“What are you doing with him?” snarled Mike using the words that had abandoned Will.
Jessica continued smiling as she watched the three boys stand next to Will in a line. Each one of their faces bore the same lines of emotion; hate, surprise, and pure anger.
“He’s my boyfriend, duh,” She said in her fake Californian accent that she adopted whenever she wanted to act better than someone else, which was quite often. Her eyes sparkled as she saw the surprise supplant the anger as the dominant emotion and nearly laughed when she saw Mike’s eyes flit to Will for a halting second.
“Didn’t he tell you? I dumped him last night; I can’t be seen with a loser after all,” she giggled out in that dreadful accent.
She let loose a small melody of sickeningly sweet giggles. Will could see the gears working in Daniel’s head as he tried to keep up with the exchange and when he finally managed to work out that an insult had been sent towards the four boys he started to grunt in his imbecilic laughter.
“That’s right Haynes, you’re a loser, and now you’re my back up,”
“I’ll show you loser!” Will bellowed and launched himself at the giant middle schooler.
He was planning on belting Daniel into next week and he probably would have if it hadn’t been for the four arms that grabbed him and pulled him back.
“Let go of me” he snarled at Joseph and Steven who had grabbed him
“It’s not worth it Will,” panted Joseph who’s dark skin was rippling as the muscles underneath strained to hold him back.
Jessica and Daniel both laughed as Will struggled to extricate himself from their hold. Jessica stood on the tips of her toes and kissed Daniel lightly on the cheek. He smiled dumbly and turned to look at her.
“Come on honey,” she chimed evilly, “Let’s get out of here. There’s too many losers here,”
Daniel offered them one last sneer before turning and pulling on the door to open it for Jessica. The door wouldn’t budge and he pulled harder and harder. He looked up and down the door and his face looked like a baboon would look if it tried to read a book.
“Push you idiot!” Jessica hissed at him
He grunted in sudden understanding and slammed the door open in a savage display of force. It hit the wall outside and slammed back into his face with a sickening crunch as he started to walk out. He squealed in pain and grabbed his nose which was already pouring blood. Jessica moaned in a high voice, and not daring to look at her schoolmates behind her, she pushed her new boyfriend outside and disappeared from sight.
The four teammates stood with blank faces staring at where the two had disappeared. Will had been released before the new couple had managed to exit Lee’s but he hadn’t made a move. If it hadn’t been for the incredible display of stupidity on Daniel’s part anger might have still been seething from each of them, but it had been replaced by shock at the extent to which idiocy was possible.
“Well, I guess they're perfect for each other,” muttered Will under his breath
The other three heard him and broke out in laughter. After a brief moment Will joined them and sat back down at the table with them to finish the pizza. The laughter soon faded and Will found that pain had made itself a comfortable home deep inside his chest. Jessica had hurt him and even though he had thought all feelings for her had vanished he had been wrong, very wrong. He hung out with his friends at Lee’s until the sun went down. He laughed at their jokes and tried his best to join in on verbally abusing Jessica but his heart wasn’t in it.
Will was the first to leave and he made his way home in the gloom of the new night. He didn’t see anyone on his way home and that was fine with him. He had never felt so low in his life, the night before had had a comfortable layer of shock to absorb some of the pain but now he felt fully immersed in the reality of his situation. It was a miserable feeling and he almost felt like walking past the pathway that led to his front door, but he took it anyway.
The door wasn’t locked; it never was before he got home, so he swung it open and looked towards the living room on his right, he started to call out to his parents to tell them he was home but the greeting died in his throat. His eyes had landed on the armchair where his father normally sat reading his newspaper. A tall man was sitting in the chair, but it wasn’t his father. The man was wearing an expensive black suit that fit him perfectly; under the coat was a tie that was as red as fresh blood. Will stared into the boring brown eyes of The Stranger who was looking calmly back at him.
Chapter Four
Explanations
“Hello William,” The Stranger spoke in a clear voice devoid of accent.
Will stared blankly at the man he had last seen walking around the edge of the lagoon. The shock of finding The Stranger sitting so boldly in his house was starting to ebb away and Will felt the tendrils of fear creep downward into his legs urging them to flee. His hand groped behind him for the door knob and as he felt the cool touch of metal greet his fingertips a face appeared around the edge of the door to the living room.
“Will come on in here we need to talk,” His father told him with a cloud of emotions swirling across his face.
Will hesitated with his hand still grasping the door knob behind him but after a second’s observation of his father’s serious expression he released it and walked slowly into the brightly lit room from which The Stranger sat so smugly.
He entered the room to find his parents both sitting on the couch smiling vaguely at him. The Stranger was watching him as well from the comfort of the recliner that was usually filled by his father. Will didn’t take his eyes off of the man as he perched himself on the edge of the couch next to his mother.
“Mom,” He whispered softly, “Who is this man?”
Will’s mother allowed herself a sidewards glance with her husband before answering clearly.
“This is Mr. Roberts,” She informed him, “He is the Dean of Admissions from your father’s alma mater.”
Will scrunched his eyes in confusion. His father had been educated at Harvard, why would the dean of one of the most prestigious schools in the world be in his living room? He was only a middle schooler after all.
“You’re from Harvard?” he asked the man feeling an incredulous smirk break across his face as he did.
“No Will,” His father interceded before the strange Mr. Roberts could answer, “He’s from my…well my high school.”
“Your high school?” Will was perplexed, “Your high school has a Dean of Admissions? What kind of high school did you go to?”
As Will asked the question he suddenly felt very odd for having to ask it. His parents didn’t talk about their past a lot and for some reason he had never bothered to question them. All he knew was that they were both only children from Boston, whose parents had died some time ago.
“A very unique high school William,” Mr. Roberts spoke again in his accent free voice that seemed empty, “A high school that is offering you admission.”
Will stared at the man for a second before looking towards his mother and fath
er who were both smiling meekly at him.
“Okay,” He said closing his eyes in confusion, “What’s really going on here? That guy…that Mr. Roberts,” He pointed viscously at the man who sat as cool as ice in his chair, “Has been following me around since Friday. What kind of Dean of Admissions does that?”
“William,” The man said coolly, “I’ve been following you around to make sure you are Bridgeworld material.”
“Bridgeworld?” Will’s voice was pitched high with skepticism, “The name of your school is Bridgeworld?”
“Yes and as your parents have informed you I am the Dean of Admissions for the Bridgeworld Academy,” The man added never changing his pitch.
Will looked towards his father, “And you went there? This Bridgeworld Academy?”
“Yes Will, I did.” His father replied calmly, “And so did your mother.”
Will looked at his mother, whose eyes were glistening with the fresh arrival of tears.
“Where is it?” He asked, “Boston?”
“No Will, not Boston, “ His father breathed while rubbing the bridge of his nose, “Nowhere near Boston.”
Steven Haynes looked away from his son as he spoke and began running a hand through his hair in obvious discomfort. Next to him, his wife was avoiding eye contact with her son as well as tears dripped into her lap.
“Well where is it then?” Will looked towards Mr. Roberts who was idly passing the time away by twirling his thumbs. The expressionless man simply shook his head and nodded towards Will’s parents in answer to the question.
“Mom, Dad? Where is this Bridgeworld academy?” He asked feeling a weight of unease settling over him and the rest of the room.
“Will,” His father looked at him as he rubbed his temples, “Your mother and I haven’t always been honest with you about certain things.”
“What things?” Will asked as thoughts began bouncing crazily inside of his head. Am I adopted? Are my parents secret agents? He felt as if he had been thrown headfirst into one of the movies he and Mike would catch down at the Gate House dollar theater.
“We aren’t from Boston,” His mother said in a blur of words so that they came out as one.
“You aren’t…What do you mean you aren’t from Boston? Where are you from?” Will had never known his parents to lie about anything and the sudden confession dumbfounded him. What does this have to do with the school anyways?
“We are from a place called Broglio,” His father answered after glancing at his wife who had dissolved into tears.
“Broglio?” Will strained his mind but couldn’t remember ever having heard of such a place, “Where on Earth is Broglio?” He questioned
“That’s just it honey,” His mother said, choking down sobs, “It isn’t on Earth.”
Will looked at his parents stupefied. Not on Earth? What the heck did that mean? He looked towards Mr. Roberts who sat indifferent in his father’s chair. Will was more confused than ever before he finally understood and a slow chuckle escaped his lips.
“So are we some kind of aliens?” He began laughing louder now, “Sent to conquer Earth? All dressed up in human outfits so we won’t be noticed?” He leaned over and began howling at his feet.
“We aren’t joking Will,” His father said seriously
Will glanced at his father’s serious face and guffawed all the louder for doing so. His parent’s had always had a sense of humor but this took it to a whole new level. How preposterous! Will thought as his body shook with laughter Aliens!
“Will, It’s not a joke,” His mother sobbed out seriously, “Your father and I are not from this planet and you are being offered a place at a school that is not on this planet either.”
Will choked back some of his laughter to glance at his mother whose face shown with shed tears. His laughter hiccuped to a halt as he stared into a face that was more serious than any heart attack had ever been.
“Fine,” He said starting to feel anger prickle in his stomach, “My parents are little green aliens. What does that make me?”
“William,” His father used his full name which he only did when things were serious, “You’ve been watching too many movies. We are all human, your mother and I are just not from Earth.”
“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Will snorted angrily, “Do yall really think I’m that dumb? I’m not going to fall for something that stupid!”
“Will, will you at least hear us out?” His father implored, “I know it sounds ridiculous but at least let us finish,”
“Fine, carry on,” Will waved his hand in surrender as his mouth formed a doubtful smile
“Mr. Roberts, if you will?” Will’s father said with a voice laced in frustration.
Mr. Roberts gathered his feet under him without saying a word or changing his expression. He simply stood up casually and walked across the room with a casual deafness before standing in front of Will and offering a silver circlet of metal.
“What is this?” Will asked taking hold the surprisingly warm metal ring that was offered to him.
“It’s called a pseudocepter,” Mr. Roberts replied dryly, “Put it on your head.”
Will afforded himself a smirking glance at his parents before complying with the strange request. He slid the circle of metal over his head and it slid down smoothly, finally coming to a rest just above his ears were it sat warm and quiet.
He looked upwards towards the figure of Mr. Roberts, preparing to scoff him for this insanity when the pseudocepter buzzed lightly and contracted on his head like a child squeezing the seeds out of a grape. Will shut his eyes against the pain and moaned aloud.
“Get this thing off of me!” He yelled in more surprise than pain, the squeezing sensation had already faded.
He opened his eyes after no reply came to his ears and nearly threw up from fright. The living room he had been sitting in had dissolved until nothing was left. The living room had been alone in its disappearance, the entire planet seemed to have vanished. He was floating in what was unmistakably the void of space. He sucked a lungful air into his body as he felt his stomach begin to float freely with the sudden absence of gravity. Around him a million stars twinkled a merry dance yet he was not amused.
“What’s wrong William?” A boring voice asked from behind him.
Will wind milled his arms and managed to swing himself so that he was facing Mr. Roberts who was floating casually in his dark suit with the blue berry of Earth spinning below him.
“How did we get up here?” Will squeaked, “how are we alive without space suits?” he added as the thought crossed his mind.
“We are still in your living room William,” He explained dully, “All of this is only in your head.”
Will was amazed by what he was hearing, but more amazed to find that he believed every word of it. He could no longer, smell, see, feel, or hear his living room, yet he could still sense it sitting there in the background. This is some awesome technology he thought to himself
“Now are you ready to hear about Bridgeworld?” Mr. Jacobs asked Will.
“Yes, let’s hear it.” Will answered as bravely as possible
The star around Will blurred into white streaks of light and Earth winked away in an instant. If it hadn’t been for the science fiction movies that Will loved so much he would have been alarmed, but he knew instantly that he was traveling through space at the speed of light.
“Light speed, very impressive,” He said to Mr. Roberts trying to impress the man.
“It’s actually called warp speed,” Mr. Roberts replied with the faintest touch of a sneer on his face, “It is quite a bit faster than the speed of light, even though we are not technically moving at the moment.”
Will sulked in the sudden, if perhaps unintentional, vicious put down. He stared at the blur of stars that wept around him and wondered how impossibly far they were traveling.
Next to him Mr. Roberts began his speech, “As your parents informed you, I am the Dean of admis
sions for the Bridgeworld Academy as well as the minister for Earth relations for said academy. It is my belief that you are fit to be admitted to Bridgeworld due to both of your parent’s statuses as alumni and the exemplar qualities that you show.”
“Yeah ditch the formal part hot shot,” Will snarled, “Why did you follow me exactly? What did you learn?”
“I learned that you are capable of feeling emotions, like when you girlfriend dumped you. I learned that you are a leader but that you listen to authority from that silly game you played. And most of all I learned that you are observant to the world around you when you noticed me following you.”
“And in the outback? What did you learn from that?” Will asked remembering how he had fled like a startled sheep.
“I had some problems landing,” Mr. Roberts said after a brief pause that seemed almost embarrassed, “My pod is in that pond and I was seeing if I could get it out.”
“Ha-ha, slick dude. Real slick,” Will laughed, “Tell me about this Bridgeworld place, if there is such a thing.”
“Bridgeworld is a school for gifted youth,” Mr. Roberts began
“Whoa wait a sec,” Will shouted out, “Are you telling me this is a school for superheros or some garbage like that?”
“Not hardly, William. It is a school for smart kids. Amazingly enough you are said to be smart, although I have yet to see it.” The faintest touch of a smirk crossed his face, which was the only sign of emotion he ever seemed to show.
“Fine, it’s a school for smart people. Go on.” Will crossed his arms moodily
“As I was saying, The Bridgeworld Academy is a select school for gifted students. It orbits the planet of Broglio and is comprised of four-hundred students separated into four grade levels.”