The Elite

Twenty-Five

Leon

We were on a plane, flying at amazing speeds on the way to our destination. Aubrey was sitting to my right, yanking her red hair into a ponytail. Ramiro sat on my left, with Lelise across from him. Mi-Suk was sitting across from me and Haruki was across from Aubrey. In other words, standard seating.

"Where do you think we're going?" Lelise asked, breaking the silence. "To not be told is kind of strange, isn't it? Personally, I hope we're going to Ethiopia. I've always wanted to go home."

"I've always wanted to go home too," Mi-Suk said, a smile on her face.

"You want to go home?" Ramiro said, raising his eyebrow. "If I never return, I'd be totally fine."

"Oh, come on!" Lelise said. "Don't you have good memories of home? Haruki, what about you? Ever think of returning to Sapparo?"

"Japan was the land of my ancestors, not me. My home is with the Elite."

"I would like to return to London," Aubrey said. "I have fond memories of my time there."

I wasn't really interested in listening to my friends talk about their homes. Mine never really felt great since I often disagreed with my parents' philosophies and my childhood seemed so long ago. So, when Lelise prompted me, I merely replied that I didn't want to go home either. I was better off leaving my home in the past where it belonged.

"You know, sometimes I wish we'd just have an odd number of Talbots to a squad so that we could settle disputes," Lelise said, laughing.

"I think the Squad Captain is supposed to do that," Mi-Suk said, "but our problem is that changes every other week. Today we were supposed to change it, but we never got to it."

"It's totally cool if I remain Squad Captain," Ramiro said lazily.

Squad Captains were typically static, but we struggled so much to decide who that was we ended up just switching between captains. We were at pretty much the same skill level anyway.

"I think it's my turn," Haruki said.

"No offense, but last time you were Squad Captain, we failed the mission," Aubrey said apologetically. "Therefore, considering the fact that we don't know what's going on fully, I think I should be Squad Captain."

"I made one mistake," Haruki argued. "Redemption should be a quality this squad exemplifies. It is my turn. You mess up the whole thing if you take the job!"

Getting tired already of the arguing, I decided to step in with a solution.

"It is Haruki's turn," I said. "Perhaps if Aubrey has a strong desire to be Captain, then she loses some of her days in the future."

"You're brilliant!" Lelise said, smiling, and then realization dawned on her face. "Hey, why don't we let Leon give it a go?"

Fear enveloped me faster that a supersonic jet. I had never been captain, nor had I ever wanted to. It just seemed like too big of an undertaking. I was not the leading type, so I usually left it up to my other squadmates.

"I won't be good," I promised.

"How do you know?" Aubrey said, giving my shoulder a playful shove. "You've never tried before. Do it for me, Leon. Just this once."

"Okay," I agreed reluctantly.

I knew just how difficult it was to get Aubrey to change her mind when she was set on something. If she wanted me to be Squad Captain, then I was probably going to end up as Squad Captain no matter what, so I shouldn't bother to waste my energy trying to resist. She was just that resilient and pushy.