It's Time to Choose, Soldier (BxB)

Chapter 21

(Picture: Sam McCarthy as Hunter)

Xander's POV

That day, Al had gotten caught by Dr. Hathaway after having snuck out of the medical wing which resulted in him getting smacked upside his head and then apologizing for interrupting our class. He then proceeded to drag Al by his collar back to the medical wing, scolding him the entire way there. That same afternoon we had gathered in our usual conference room and began talking while eating lunch. "Oh my god! It's almost time for the school's annual over-the-top party!" Elise practically squealed. I froze mid-chew and looked up in confusion. Hunter's face displayed horror and like me, Andrew seemed equally confused.

"What party?" I asked after I had swallowed the spoonful of rice I was chewing on.

"Oh, that's right. This is your first party," Andrew comments and Elise's eyes fill with enthusiasm.

"Every year, the students are sent a poll where they can decide the theme and style of the party. The year before you got here, it was spring-themed" Hunter explains. I watched as Elise pulled out her wristband and began searching in our school's website. "Basically it was an event where people showed up in extravagant spring-themed clothing and we had a contest to see what outfit was the most spring-like. It gets wild at these parties" He says.

"If it's just a party, why do you look so mortified?" Andrew asked while turning to look at Hunter. He shivered in what seemed to be fear.

"Every year it was usually Elise and Cora who would trap us in one of the team member's rooms to get us ready for the party. This year, Elise vowed to make use look perfect in memory of Cora. It's terrifying. If a single thing goes wrong, we're all as good as dead men" He said and Elise paid no attention to him. She wouldn't allow any of us to leave until she had gone over the entire plan, which minds you, she had created on the spot.

Al was still in the medical wing so he didn't have to endure this I wished I was as lucky as him. We all turned around at the sound of a knock. Andrew, who isn't on our team but was still forced to be here, moved over and opened the door to reveal an underclassman wearing a delivery uniform. He looked up and tilted his head in confusion.

"I'm sorry, is Alphonse not here?" he asked politely.

"No, sorry squirt. Al is still in the infirmary but luckily for you, we're his teammates. Is there something you'd like to deliver to him?" Hunter informed him. The boy sighed and pulled a fancy-looking scroll out of his messenger bag. He quickly handed it to Andrew who looked at it in confusion.

"Please deliver this to him. It's urgent that he gets it" he said before running off. We all shared a look of confusion before shrugging and walking towards to medical wing.

~

Al looked at the scroll that Andrew had given him in confusion. I noticed that compared to the last time I was in his room, his hair was back to it's a shorter length. This time, it was out and it framed his face. I didn't realize how long I had been staring until I notice that his eyes were on me. His brow raised and an amused smile on his face. I quickly cast my eyes to my feet as I felt my cheeks burn.

I looked up later to see as he slowly pulled the red ribbon that held the scroll together. The roll slowly fell open to reveal fancy-looking writing. "Dear Alphonse, This is a letter written by your student staff to tell you that you've been chosen to be the king for this year's medieval times party. You will be expected to show up to our office for further instructions?" He finished with a questioning tone. All of our jaws had dropped in shock.

"Al, let me see that paper..." Andrew commanded. When he took the scroll out of Al's open hands he quickly began to review it. He began to unravel it further and his eyes widened as he let out a shocked gasp.

"What's wrong Drew?" Al asked and the redhead looked up, shock painting his features.

"454 of the 928 students in this school agreed that you should be elected as king of the party" he mumbled breathlessly.

"That's nearly half of the school!" Elise exclaimed. Andrew's shock slowly disappeared and he soon began to chuckle which confused the living hell out of us.

"I did say Alphonse helped a lot of people. I never did specify how many" he states and the trio stares at him and Al in shock.

"You've helped almost half of the entire school! How is that even possible?" I asked him in shock.

"Well, there's been a whole lot of incidents in this school. Let's just say that for some odd reason, people look to me for help with these problems," Al answers simply. Andrew rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"You're too modest for your own good. In all truth, Al has saved 200 of those people's lives by volunteering for missions that no normal human being would dare to go on. He's helped fix and modify the control center where another 200 students work to prevent hacks and or an off-shores shut down after they had a security breach two years ago. And if I didn't mention it, he does small things like help the younger kids study, help out in the kitchen during rush hour, and spars with those who need help training" Andrew listed nonchalantly. The team stared at Al in complete astonishment while he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"It's all just small stuff. That's why I never thought I should mention it" He mumbled.

"You helped almost half of the school with little to no problem and you didn't think to mention that?" Hunter asked and he smiled softly.

"You're something else, Al," I say. He smiles lightly and somehow I could feel the warmth radiating from his happiness. I only hoped that one of his abilities isn't super hearing because I didn't want him to know how fast he'd gotten my heart to beat. And I wouldn't even know what to say if he found out.

"Well, since you're gonna be crowned king you might as well give them a show. That means you have to go over the top with visuals. I already texted Sebastian, your appointment is three days before the party" Elise informs him, and we look at her in shock.

"How did you already do that? I have to make appointments three months in advance with Sebastian to get stuff done! Most of the time all I need is a simple haircut!" Andrew exclaimed and she rolled her eyes.

"I have Sebastian on speed dial. We have a strict friendship which allows me to do things faster than his regular customers. This is Xander's first party. I will not allow any of us to go around looking like... Well, peasants!" She says in a serious tone. We all shook our heads and sighed deeply. We were going to a party... Like normal kids our age should.

I looked around the room at the people around me, I noticed their smiling faces and carefree laughs. It all seemed to suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I had entered this school almost three months ago. Just last month I watched as a once close friend was imprisoned for murder and attempting to frame someone for it.

Furthermore, it had only been three weeks since we had been rescued from the mission. In those three weeks, one of our comrades had been buried and we all had landed in the medical wing. Aside from finding out that Max was Al's older brother and that the three of us were subjected to experiments that link me and Altogether. And to top it all off, we'd also found out that Al wasn't human and that he was really a prince from a planet that was light years away from here...

What really got to me was just the thought that this was going to be one night that would make us feel normal for once. One night we'd get to forget that we were at war with other kids our age. And looking around at the joy-filled smiles of my friends told me that we were going to be okay. And I couldn't be happier.