DAYDREAMER

PART I: The Mystery Gift

"And you, Lucia, you need to stop endorsing this lack of discipline," He sighed, "I can appreciate that it's been a long day, term even, but that's no excuse to disregard expectations completely, do I make myself clear?" They both nodded silently. "Well, I suppose you two should be off then, you don't want to miss the bus, you're free to go," Aiden slung his rucksack over his shoulder and made for the door, Lucia closely following, Mr Turner looked on with inquisition.

...

They both walked down the hallway in silence, despite the windowless nature of it, they could still feel the winter darkness creeping in, leaving them with a curious sense of uncertainty and gloom. Lucia glanced over at her now reserved friend, trying to read his thoughts. Aiden's face was an open book at times, making it easy to tell how he felt. Aiden acknowledged her perusal and repaid it, both eyes narrowing in attentiveness until they both began to smirk, they'd never take each other seriously, they were too close for that. The hallway was almost empty and only the two of them were still walking.

"We better get going, you heard Turner, we don't want to miss the bus" Aiden reminded. And in those moments of realisation, a relaxed saunter between the two of them shifted to a frantic dash as they both scampered down the hall to the main exit. Their instincts were vindicated as they stepped outside into the central courtyard. The sky was pitch black, dotted with the occasional star, and the path beyond them was lighted by the few lanterns scattered across the yard. Ahead of them, the sound of an engine revving could be vaguely heard in the distance. They both exchanged a look of realisation before continuing their wild sprint across the yard, the shape of the bus could be barely perceived from their distance and in the dark, yet it was as clear that it was about to leave.

"WAIT!" Lucia screamed, she had an uncompromising schedule and couldn't afford to miss the bus, as for Aiden however, he could afford to be late, there was always the next one. Fortunately, they arrived just in time, starting to hammer at the door before it eventually opened for them. They stepped on, too exhausted to speak, though giving an appreciative nod to the driver who nodded back with a faint beam. The people on the bus, however, weren't so happy, shooting daggers at them that made them shrink under their collars, clearly Lucia wasn't the only person on a strict schedule. They manoeuvred past the bags across the floor until they found vacant seats towards the back of the bus, they collapsed in them and waited as they got their energy back, breathing heavily.

"What was the hold-up?" A voice behind them started, they both turned their heads back to see who asked the question.

Magnus Altan was that person, a close friend of Aiden, sitting next to him was Cynthia Lopez looking at them both with an amused grin. If Lucia didn't attend this school, the title for the "smartest person" would've fallen to either Magnus or Cynthia. Lucia had to acknowledge their brains too, though she hated to admit it; she's asked them for help before in her time. That fact often caused rivalry between the two of them, though never long-lasting.

"Well?" Magnus was still waiting for an answer.

"We were held back by Mr Turner" Aiden answered.

"Again?" Cynthia sighed, "This is the 3rd time this week," She looked at Magnus, who shook his head in pity.

"Well, we have an exam coming up, we should go to the library to revise for them," Lucia suggested, trying to change the subject

"I suppose we do," Magnus answered, with a raised eyebrow, clearly aware of her attempt, but playing along, he rarely had the energy to entertain Lucia's charades.

"The library is near, about 3 stops from now," Aiden announced, "How can you tell? The windows look like they've been covered in black paint," Lucia asked.