Compulsion - The Greenhouse Academy

6: "A m a z i n g D e a n"

A loud giggle resounded from beside Adalynn. "I'm sure I'll love it! Tradition's what's best after all," a girl, whose face was caked with so much makeup you could barely tell what was real and what wasn't, purred out, "Hello Leo, I'm Aspen, Aspen Fairchild."

Leo acknowledged the greeting with a slight nod of his head.

Adalynn glanced from Aspen to Leo and rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again and raised her hands in defeat. "Thanks for the tour, Jason. I'm outta here."

"Wait!"

Adalynn whirled around, surprised, to see the principal, Louis, striding across the ground towards them.

"Before you disperse, I have something I want to give each of you," he stated as he came to a stop near them. "Here," he dug into his pocket and held out his hand.

Adalynn peered down at the mysterious objects he held. They looked like tiny metal bars. Each student's name were inscribed on them. She glanced questioningly up at him. "Um ... what are they?"

"They're called louie's," Leo offered. "They're like phones, but - er - different."

"They can help you with your studies," Louis told them. "Each student gets one when they attend the Academy."

"What does it do?" Max inquired as he took one of the devices from Louis' outstretched hand. "Why are they called after you?"

Louis hesitated before replying, "I invented them."

"Yes and you turned down billions of dollars from Apple for them too," Jason grumbled under his breath.

Louis shot him a stern glare as he continued, "I only wanted them to be for the students. Go on, open them up."

Confused, Adalynn switched on her metal bar by pulling it open at each end. A transparent screen popped up out of it. Once the password was plugged in and the user's fingerprint identified, numerous apps appeared on the home screen. It was almost the same as a phone, yet more modified and easier to transport.

"Wow!" Max exclaimed with baited breath. "This - this is incredible."

"I knew you'd like them," Louis smiled. "They're a bit of a novelty for new users. Anyways, I'll let you go your separate ways. Enjoy the day while you can, for tomorrow, you work."

As Louis walked back out of the room, Jason handed each of them a specified schedule sheet. "Here's your plans for the week. If you manage to lose them, though, they should be filed in the school website which you can look up on your louie's."

Everyone nodded in response.

"Well, I'd better go now, I have an - er - pressing matter to deal with," Jason grimaced as he pushed his way past them and scampered out the door.

Adalynn screwed up her face in disgust. "Amazing Dean."

"Yeah, I know right? No one's particularly fond of Jason," Leo gave a short laugh, his gaze fixated on Adalynn.

Adalynn scrunched up her nose and pursed her lips, making funny faces at the louie. "It's strange."

"You'll get used to it," Aspen trilled as she flounced over to where Leo was standing. "Will you show me the basics of how to work it?"

"Do you own a phone?" Adalynn shot out.

Aspen raised her eyebrows. "Of course. A Samsung Galaxy 11 to be exact. But what's that got to do with anything?"

"You won't need Leo's help then," Adalynn said as she shut off her louie and tucked it away into her front pants' pocket. "Because it's exactly the same."

"No it's not," Max glanced up at her. "It's a much more advanced modification with different technical structures and ..."

"Max!" Adalynn hissed, giving him a knowing look. "That's enough. C'mon."

Max sighed. "Fine." As he trotted after Adalynn, however, he accidentally brushed shoulders with Emma, the quiet, curly-haired girl who was standing next to him.

"Oh, oh, I'm - I'm sorry," Max stuttered out.

Emma smiled, a shy, sweet smile. "It's okay, Max. See you later?"

Max's eyes widened and he nodded vigourously. "Yeah. See you later."

Adalynn chuckled to herself as she grabbed Max's arm and hauled him out of the room. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You know what I mean!" Adalynn giggled, poking him in the ribs.

"Nooo," Max whined, cringing away from her. "I don't know what you mean."

Adalynn let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine! If you don't wanna talk about it to your bestest best friend in all the world, let's go."

"Wait, what? You're my best friend?" Max inquired excitedly.

"Yeah. Of course."

At this, Max grinned. "That - that's great."

"C'mon," Adalynn slung an arm around Max's shoulders as she guided him towards the foyer. "Let's go find Jackie."

____

Gif: Aspen as she flirts with Leo.