"Nisa!"
My eyes flew open and I shot forward, just barely missing a collision with Josh's forehead. He stumbled backwards, just out of harm's way. I rubbed my face, trying to get a bearing on where, when, and why I was awake. I glanced at Josh standing at the base of my bed, in full uniform.
I sighed loudly. "I overslept again, didn't I?"
Joshi nodded meekly.
I groaned. "Thanks for waking me and all, but you couldn't have done it a little sooner?" I glanced at the clock on the wall. "You left me fifteen minutes to get my ass together."
"I didn't realize you were still asleep," he shrugged.
"Alright, out," I said, shooing him out the door. "Let Ravi know I'll be downstairs as soon as possible." I crawled out of bed, hastily raking my hands through my short hair. By some stroke of luck, I had laid out my uniform on the chair last night, which wasn't like me. Even if I hadn't, it wasn't hard to find the dark blue blazer and the bright yellow pants. I got dressed and grabbed my bag, scurrying down the stairs as fast as I could. Mr. Patil was waiting for me at the bottom.
"Morning, Ravi," I said, trying to slip past him, which was like trying to run through a brick wall. The enormous police detective glared down at me in his uniform. Normally, Ravi was a pretty mellow guy, but something about his police uniform always made me slightly uneasy. I tried to look him in the eye, but I could only manage his bushy moustache.
"Nisa, you're late again," he said sternly.
"Sorry, rough night," I mumbled, so Josh wouldn't hear me from the other room.
Ravi shook his head and sighed. "Nisa, it's been almost ten years. Maybe you should consider moving their picture away from your bed."
I sighed and shrugged. Ravi put his hand on my shoulder gave me a small smile.
"Joshi! Are you ready?" Ravi called. Before Josh had even replied, someone knocked at the front door. Ravi knit his eyebrows and pulled open the door, greeting the young police officer outside. Josh hurried into the foyer, shoveling a pastry into his mouth, just catching the end of their hushed conversation. I couldn't make out a word of it, but Josh had a suspicious glint in his eyes.
Ravi shut the door and turned to face us, frowning as he looked over Josh. He had crumbs on his blazer. Ravi sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Joshi Patil, you better dust those crumbs off before you get to school. No son of my will leave this house in a dirty jacket," he nagged. Josh smiled sheepishly and scampered out the door. I shrugged at Ravi and followed Josh out the door. He was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps with his eyebrow raised.
I shrugged. "What?"
"What were you two talking about in the hallway?" He asked.
"None of your business," I said, starting down the cobblestone street. The grey morning light always made the brick apartments lining the street look so much older than they were. I glanced up at the clocktower down the street to make sure we had enough time. I must have spaced off, because Josh was tapping my shoulder.
"Huh?" I asked.
"I said 'it's my business because he's my dad'," He answered back.
I rolled my eyes. "For someone only a few years younger than me, you sure do act like a kid."
"Hey! I'll be seventeen in a couple months!" He said.
I snorted and stared at the ground, thinking about my classes for the day, and I suddenly remembered what week it was. I groaned loudly.
"What?" Josh said.
"I forgot tomorrow's Migration Day," I replied.
"Yeah, so?" He asked.
"That means my history class is gonna have to run through the ceremony today to make sure there's no issues," I said. Migration Day was nice and all, but I'd seen the ceremony three times already, and wasn't looking forward to my forth. It was the same thing every year: a bunch of model students get on stage and explain the glorious history of Alvion while younger students act it out in the background. People sing songs, do dances, recite poetry. All that. It's a good learning experience for first years, but it's just repetition for fourth years like me. I reminded myself that it was the last time I would need to sit through it until I graduated, but it didn't really make me feel any better.
"You're just grouchy because you never got to be the Speaker," Josh said.
"I could have been the Speaker if I wanted to, I have enough CPCs. Just wait until you're watching it for the billionth time," I replied, elbowing his ribs.
We got to school as the bell rang, just in time for me to slip into the auditorium with the rest of my class. Those who weren't participating or help backstage more or less had a free period, as long as they stayed in the auditorium. I slouched into a seat and kicked my boots up on the row in front of me. Maybe I could get a little sleep. No, I reminded myself, sleep is too painful. I tapped a pencil against the armrest, half listening to the petite girl on stage.
"Happy Migration Day!" She bubbled into a staff with a strange rectangular bulb at the top. Her voice echoed throughout the large room and I realized she must have been using one of those new microphones. I didn't even know the school had money for one of those, but at least it would make this year a little more exciting.
"My name is Sadie," the girl continued "And I hope you're ready to migrate your thoughts over to our history lesson!"
No one laughed at her wordplay. I would have felt bad, but she continued unfazed.
"As we all know, Alvion came to be through the Great Migration three hundred nineteen years ago! But what caused us to found this great nation? Well, it all started with the Ekotian Civil War!"
I rolled my eyes at the thought of hearing the same story I'd heard a million times before.
"The native Ekotians were a nasty group of people that wanted the country all to themselves. They were powerful, too! Some say they were immortal! We tried to fight them, but they were too strong. So we left across the sea, and found the glorious nation of Alvion, and protected ourselves behind strong walls, so they could never hurt us again!"
A few people clapped half heartedly, so she continued.
"In the capital city of Nessun, our chancellor-"
"Psst!"
I glanced around, confused. I didn't see anyone.
"Psst!" This time it was much louder.
I turned around to see Josh poking his head through the doorway. No one noticed him. My eyes widened.
"What are you doing here?" I whispered.
He motioned for me to join him. I glanced around to make sure no one was watching and grabbed my bag, tiptoeing out of the auditorium.
"Why aren't you in class?" I asked grabbing his shoulder.
"I had to go to the bathroom. And you looked bored," He replied.
I shook my head. "Get back to class. I'll get in trouble if I get caught and so will you."
He smiled, and I raised an eyebrow.
"What?" I asked.
"I think I heard something that might change your mind."
"What would that be?"
"I heard an Ekotian was spotted in the city last night."
Rumors of Ekotians in the city sprung up every few months or so, but were always met with no result. I'd heard stories of some Ekotians smuggling themselves into Alvion through the mountains outside the wall, but the wall was designed to be completely impenetrable. It's the first thing we learn in architecture courses.
I crossed my arms. "Yeah, so? People always say they're in the city plotting a coup, but they never find them. What makes this any different?"
"That's why that officer came to our door today to talk to my dad. If he has to investigate, it must be serious," he said.
I stared at him. "So what do you want us to do, go chasing after a dead end that the police already seem to have under control? Do your really wanna risk losing a day's worth of CPCs over this?"
"The best way for me to become an officer is hands-on experience," Josh said smugly.
I glanced back at the auditorium, where the rehearsal was still going on, and would continue for another hour. They probably wouldn't even know I was gone. And I could use a break during my last year.
I looked at Josh.
"Fine," I said "But I have to be back for my next class. And if we get caught, I'm blaming you."
Josh pumped his fist and I rolled my eyes. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall as fast as he could without making too much noise. We burst through one of the side doors and took off down the street.
"So, where is this fabled Ekotian?" I asked, sprinting next to him.
"Couple blocks away," He called, swerving to avoid a car. "They'll probably have parameters set up so it shouldn't be too hard to find."
Sure enough, two streets over a crowd of people had gathered next to a brownstone. We slowed down and stopped behind them, standing on our toes trying to see.
"Do you see Ravi?" I asked Josh.
"Not yet, but he's probably here. We need to get closer," he said, pushing his way through the crowd.
"Excuse me," I said as I followed after him. I found him directly behind the police tape.
"They're positioned outside an apartment," Josh said, gazing down the street. "It must be for real."
A dozen or so police officers were milling around a section of a intersection blocked off. They didn't seem too concerned, but they all had their guns in their holsters and I noticed a sniper positioned on the roof of the brownstone next to us.
I scoffed. "Yeah right. Someone probably reported it as a prank before Migration Day." I turned to leave, but Josh wouldn't move.
"Josh, we need to go before your dad shows up. If he sees us, we're dead," I said, pulling his arm. He followed, slightly dragging his feet.
"Josh, come on!" I whined. A megaphone stopped me dead in my tracks.
"Attention! Everyone needs to step back from the tape for their own protection. There is nothing to see here, so please, scatter!" an officer called from the other side of the tape.
"Told you," I said, marching off with the rest of the crowd. Suddenly, something exploded in the brownstone, shattering the front windows.
"By Audral, it's for real!" Josh yelled, running towards the source of chaos. People screamed and stampeded past me as I chased after him.
"Josh!" I yelled, pushing my way through the crowd. "We need to go!"
He stopped at the tape and stared at the officers scrambling about in a frenzy.
"Josh, we have to go right now!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him along through the crowd. We ran back down the street at top speed, but we must have took a wrong turn in the confusion because we weren't back at school.
"Shit, I think the academy was left and not right!" I scolded myself aloud.
"Nisa, I need to go back and help them!" Josh yelled, yanking his arm free of my grip.
I stopped in the middle of the street and spun around. "Josh, now is not the time to play hero!" I snapped.
Josh began storming off in the other direction, back towards the crime scene.
"Josh, something exploded in that building, it could have been a bomb, or a terror attack. People could have died, and we need to get back to school, now!" I shouted, following behind him. I caught his shoulder and he turned to face me.
"My dad could be back there," he said, walking backwards up onto the sidewalk. "I need to make sure he's ok. You'd do the same thing for your parents."
"Josh, do you want to know what Ravi and I were talking about this morning?" I called.
Josh froze.
"I've been having...nightmares about my parents when they died. Don't you think the same thing would happen to us if you got hurt?" I pleaded. His eyebrows were furrowed and his arms crossed, but his eyes looked pained.
His face was the last thing I saw when the car hit me.