After bursting in, Jean slammed the door behind him, leaving Ty in silence as the door was apparently soundproof. “What are you thinking!?” Jean continued. “No kid his age has ever gotten into anything above R3 in the history of the rogue section of the academy!”

“I’m well aware of this. However, he has more potential than I’ve seen in a long time—”

“Potential or not, no one will respect him—”

“Precisely,” the Head said in the middle of Jean’s sentence. “In case you haven’t noticed, this Ty holds his head high, most likely a result of his low status in life. He won’t accept disrespect. I also noted in the examination that he might thrive under pressure. He did best against me when all seemed lost. Let’s see what happens with this. I mean, there’s only a year and a half left…” he trailed off.

Jean blinked, “You can’t be serious.”

The Head’s reply was nothing more than a wink, “Now, show him to his room.”
__________________________________________

After an awkward walk out the building’s back exit and through a large plaza towards a relatively small structure, the bowman, Jean, stopped at the door. “Inside you will find the rest of your division. I can’t promise they will treat you too kindly. Clothes have been supplied and can be found in the closet next to your bed, R110.” Ty looked at a nearby window and found it bright, the occupants of the building still awake well after dark. “Your… sister and friends are roomed at 114 on this street, just a block down from where we are now. Your schedule can not be readied until tomorrow so you can do what you wish with it. After that, you’re in for quite a bit of rigorous studying and work.” All this was meaningless to Ty except for Julie’s location. He found it hard to think beyond surviving and found this immense change hard to grasp. One could say that the enormous consequences of that day’s events had not yet hit him.

When he looked up after a moment lost in thought, he found the man gone. Seeing no other option, he opened the door and stepped inside. The room was filled with half a dozen conversations going on simultaneously. Various games were being played by teens three to six years older than him. As the door shut behind him, all activity and sound ceased. All eyes were upon him as he walked through the room and found his bed, none attempting to hide their focus upon him. Confused and seeing nothing more useful he could do that day, he lie down on his bed and promptly fell asleep. No attempt had been made to get under the sheets as the concept was foreign to him. Once the boy had fallen asleep and all were sure of it, the conversations began again in hushed tones. This time, all talk focused around this new boy who had such bravado as to accept an assignment to R1. He would have to be shown his place.

When Ty awoke in the morning, he found no clothes in his closet. Shrugging it off, he continued on his way. He’d been wearing the same rages for almost a month, why should he care about clothes now? As he walked towards the exit of the large room he was bumped roughly by any who passed him. One even attempted to trip him, but he nimbly dodged it. It was almost second nature by now as many orphans attempted to trip up others and take whatever fell out. You either learned how to avoid such things or got used to being robbed. This act raised a few eyes, but made little to no progress in his acceptance, even if he was unaware of it. In the entire time he’d been in the building, only thirty minutes of it awake, not one person had said anything towards him. This fact escaped his notice.

Upon exiting, he found another boy, maybe two or three years older, heading towards the building he had just left. He moved over as the path was narrow and he naturally avoided unnecessary confrontation because of its tendency to hurt either his supply of food or his body. Ignoring this gesture, the boy headed straight for Ty and, lowering his shoulder, rammed into him and lifted him off his feet. Ty landed roughly and looked up angrily. Thinking back to the way he had been treated since he had entered these people’s world, he began to notice the pranks, the rough bumps, and any other attempt to humiliate him. This kid’s attack had not only been the straw to reveal everything to the naïve boy, but the last.

More action is coming, yay! Sorry for the delay, but I attended an unplanned Wii Party. Also, UNC won! They beat USC by 10 in the Sweet 16 and move on to the Elite 8! Hope you enjoyed the read. The next chapter will probably come Monday. Click the button and comment in you enjoyed!