Sticking it to the man

[Tejs Stenberg]

It was late afternoon and the training field were almost deserted. The only people in the area were a couple of students finishing up some training and Tejs walking lazily walked around the training field. Although he was trying to hide it, it was pretty obvious that Tejs was waiting the other students to leave. He kept glancing at them impatiently every time he thought they weren't paying attention.  Being somewhat creeped out by Tejs behavior, the other students quickly finished up their stretches and left.

"Finally" Tejs thought as he gave a sigh of relief. "In all of America i get imprisoned at the one school where people actually care about exercise." Just his luck. Now that he was finally alone, Tejs reached into the pocket of the red hoodie he was wearing under his black blazer and pulled out the top of a bottle of vodka into view. He smirked to himself, everything had gone just as planned so far. Paying the bum to buy him booze, sneaking it inside the academy, finding a quiet spot where he could be alone. And now for the last part of his plan. Getting hammered.

Tejs tugged the bottle back into the pocket and started walking over towards the place he had decided would be most suitable for the task ahead. He went little way from the training field and walked towards a particular close patch of bushes next to a tree. According to his calculations he shouldn't be visible from the training field if positioned himself behind the bushes.

Tejs sat down behind the bushes with his back resting on the tree. He then, in the most self satisfied manner, pulled out the bottle of vodka and took a sip. The taste was pretty harsh, and made him cough a little. But he started to forget the bad taste as a warm feeling started to fill his chest. "Skål" He cheered quietly. Just saying  the old Danish word for cheers, made him feel good. Even if he was imprisoned at this stupid academy they still couldn't make him follow their rules or change who he was.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina almost chuckled as a girl she’d occasionally trained with warned her about a creepy guy who had scared off most of the students who’d wanted to work out. The confrontational and curious natures that were always at war within her compelled her to go see what was going on. When she got to the fields she was just in time to see a young boy put a bottle of what must have been booze back into his pocket. Selina wondered how this young blonde boy could scare or creep out anybody, but then again white men, regardless of age, had a certain way about them that even she found unsettling.


    She smirked and waited in the shadows of the entrance to the field. She wasn’t one for stalking, but this was too interesting to pass up. He’d been careful enough to wait for the other students to leave, but he didn’t seem to be cognizant of her arrival just yet or even too keen on being subtle. She followed him at a relatively safe distance and waited until he was settled into his hiding place before making herself known to him, “Careful there, you seem to be a little young for that,” she teased.


    “Don’t want you getting caught by the academy officials do we?” she asked as if she were about to blackmail him. Selina despised the restrictions here as much as any other so she wasn’t really going to turn him in. Honestly, she just wanted to get a rise out of him. Technically, she was underage here in America as well, but back home was another story… and she had a feeling he might be in a similar position as he’d spoken a language she’d never heard here before, “By the way, what language was that?” she asked.

[Tejs Stenberg]

Tejs was about to take another sip of his vodka bottle, when he was suddenly surprised by a voice. Reflectively Tejs hid the bottle behind his back and stated looking around frantically. He quickly spotted a young woman approaching him. Damn, and he had been so careful too. "Well that's what i get for letting my guard down even for a second."  He thought. It was too late to try and figure out how she found him, now he had to do damage control. For a moment he thought about downing the entire bottle in one go. At least that way he'd get to enjoy his booze. But then again, he might also die. Besides there were still a chance he could work things out with the young woman.

Deciding that trying to bargain was the best option, Tejs changed his expression from one of surprise to one of calm coolness. Back in Colorado, Tejs had learned by hanging out with the social outcasts, that bribing people were usually a pretty good way to gain a persons trust. Deciding on a approach, Tejs tried to answer the questions she asked as nonchalantly as possible. "Hey, no need to tell anybody about this" Tejs said as he pulled out the bottle of vodka from behind his back. "I mean who cares about age right? Back where I'm from, there's no such thing as a drinking age. So its all pretty relative. Besides, if you did that, you wouldn't get to have any." Tejs swung the bottle back and forth alluringly. "I'll even tell you what that word meant." Hopefully she'd take the bait.

For some reason, Tejs felt worse about having to explain that he was speaking Danish to the young woman, than sharing his booze. Every time he had spoken Danish back in Colorado he had usually been ridiculed. Hell, even speaking with an accent would get people on his case. It was usually reserved for family and alone time only. But for now he'd do what he could to humor her.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina chuckled lightly at his response to her appearance and eyed the bottle of booze with a grin. “Deal,” she agreed. This was turning out so much better than she’d thought it would. Not only did get her fair share of entertainment, she’d gotten alcohol to go with it. She sat down next to him and set down her duffle bag in the grass. It held her workout clothes, water, and a spare pack of cigarettes her forgetful mother had accidentally left behind.


    Selina hadn’t smoked at all since school started so she’d just left the pack where she’d found it. Selina then glanced at him and decided to be a little more forthcoming, “My country had a lower drinking age as well, so I wasn’t actually going to turn you in,” she explained with a teasing grin. “From one expatriate to another, cheers.” She held up her water bottle as if it were a wine glass and took a long drink. “I was just interested in who could actually intimidate my sparring partner into leaving the fields early,” she offered with an amused smile.


    “So where are you really from?” she asked, genuinely interested in his language and even his culture if he wished to share it. People were a fascinating study for her, and she was interested in finding other immigrants. There weren’t many that she’d met who could understand what it was to be completely uprooted and sent somewhere with both a foreign culture and a foreign tongue.

[Tejs Stenberg]

Although Tejs had been alarmed by the young woman's appearance at first, her demeanor put him somewhat at ease. It didn't seem like her threat to tell on him had been for real. And if it had been, his offer of booze had apparently change her mind. Score one for bribery.

He moved slightly to make better room for the girl to sit down. There wasn't too much room between the bushes and the tree, but as they were positioned they should still be hidden from view. Just as long as they didn't move around too much.

Tejs listened with an interested expression to what the young woman had to say. It seemed she wasn't from the States either. That fact alone made her instantly more likeable to him. Maybe this was a chance for him to finally make an acquaintance at the academy. Tejs joined the young woman's cheer by lifting his own bottle and taking another sip. The taste was still too bitter for his taste, but the booze seemed to work. Tejs couldn't help but smile embarrassed as she told how he had scared the other students. He needed to work on his sneaking around skills.

Then came the question he had feared. She wanted to know about where he had come from. At least she did seem genuinely interested. Although he didn't like talk about it, as it reminded him of the bullying he had suffered, he still decided to give her a chance.

"Well." Tejs started talking but then hesitated for a moment. Instinctively he put forward the bottle of booze to offer the young woman a sip while he tried to think of what to say.

"I'm from Denmark. Its a small north European country. You probably haven't heard of it. Its the place that Hans Christian Anderson guy came from. You know, the fairytale guy." Hopefully that would give her a hint to what he was talking about. " Its nothing special, but its home. I only moved to the states a couple of years ago. Can't say I really like this place, but I can't leave. Especially not after they got me locked up here at the academy. What about you? Did they kidnap you to this place too?"

Tejs was interested in learning more about the young woman. She seemed like the first person he had met at the academy that wasn't a total square. "Oh, the names Tejs by the way." It was nice having a normal conversation for once. Hopefully it wouldn't turn ugly once the young woman learned where he was from.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina took the Vodka with a grateful nod to him and whiffed the contents, “Wow, strong stuff,” she complimented before taking a sip and sighing in relief as the liquid fire made its way down her throat. She’d missed this. Losing open access to alcohol was probably one of the hardest losses she'd suffered.

    Selina then nodded her recognition. “I know of Denmark,” she responded with a wry smile, “Chilean schools are a bit better at teaching geography than the schools here in the U.S. That’s where I’m from, by the way. Chile. Small country next to Argentina on the southernmost tip of South America,” she offered lightly before taking another sip and handing the bottle back to him. “So you were speaking Danish?” she asked to clarify.


    When he asked her about kidnapping, she studied him with renewed interest before answering, “No. I actually applied to come here because I’d heard about the school’s good academics. I never even thought about the possibility of going to a normal college,” she admitted. Selina had merely been trying to get out of Chile, and since the closest sister school was in America, it was where she’d wanted to go. “The schools in Chile were… not a good fit for me, so I was just focused on trying to get away,” she admitted.


    “But what do you mean they kidnapped you?” She asked in interest. This school had some worrying policies that she’d been wary of from the start, but she hadn’t yet heard about something like this. Of course, she wasn’t exactly a social butterfly either, so that was probably why. This school wasn’t her ideal, but it was better than what she’d have da back in Santiago. It felt like she at least had some sort of chance to start anew and leave her past behind, even if that hadn’t been working out as well as she’d thought it might.

[Tejs Stenberg]

Listening to the young woman talk, Tejs found himself both pleased and relieved. She hadn't started ridiculing him when he told her where he came from. And she even seemed to at least know that Denmark was a place that existed. Tejs had gotten pretty tired of explaining that Denmark had nothing to do with Germany or The Netherlands. Apparently they taught about Denmark in Chilean schools, not something he would have expected. Unfortunately Tejs only knew the basics about Chile, such as it location and that it had been rather turbulent in recent history. Although he thought that he remembered that its was doing better now.

As a combination of the relief Tejs had felt and the effects of the booze coming on, he started looking considerably more relaxed. He chuckled when the young woman joked about American schools. The young woman brought up what he been saying again. This time Tejs didn't feel so bad explaining. "I was." Tejs nodded and took back the bottle of booze from the young woman.

 "I was saying Skål. Its a word every true Dane knows. Its basically the old Viking word for cheers. Its still used to today, pretty much for the same purpose. Skål." Tejs demonstrated by ending his sentence by taking another sip of the Vodka bottle. He took a smaller sip this time, he still wanted to get wasted, but was no longer in a hurry.

Tejs gave the young woman a befuddled expression, as she explained that she had come the academy voluntarily. It sounded like she had reasons to leave to leave Chile, but why come here. Then Tejs remembered that before being kidnapped, the so called recruiters had tried to lure him to the academy of his own free will. Maybe she simply didn't know about all the illegal stuff going on around here. He concluded that that was probably the case.

"About a week and a half ago i discovered that i had superpowers. I was pretty stoked at first, who wouldn't be right? Be after only a couple of days these "Recruiters" from the academy appeared at my house." Tejs made air quotes with his left hand when mentioned the word recruiter.

"Somehow they knew I had super powers, and that apparently means that I am something known as a mutant. They told me that about this place, trying to get me to come here. I told them they go screw themselves. Getting sent to some secret government school for people with super powers seemed pretty damn suspicious. But it turned out that I didn't have a choice. Seems it was mandatory." Tejs shrugged. "I tired to escape of course, but i was quickly caught. So a cop showed up, slapped handcuffs on me and took me here. Now I'm pretty sure they're trying to brainwash me into becoming a weapon or something. Seems pretty typical for America if you ask me. I mean you gotta wonder why excatly they keep us here right?"

It was the first time Tejs had had the opportunity to talk to someone about his situation that wasn't part of the establishment keeping him at the academy. He realized it all sounded pretty unbelievable. Suddenly Tejs felt like having a smoke. He always got that feeling when he was getting drunk. "Hey I know its a long shot, but you wouldn't happen to have some smokes. I'd kill for one right now." Tejs asked and held the bottle out towards the young woman motioning for a trade.

       

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina grinned at him, “To toast someone in Chile, we say ‘Salud!’” Selina was so interested in learning other cultures and languages, she sometimes automatically assumed that other people were as fascinated as she was. She was happy that he seemed to be gradually loosening up though. He was one of the first immigrants she’d met and she was always happy to find others who knew what it was like.


    As he started to explain how he’d come to be here, her expression fell and her thoughts grew dark. This school had been looking more and more suspicious to her lately and this only confirmed a lot of her worries. Selina sighed and glanced up at the tree they were under when he finished. She didn’t really want to run because she knew her actions would likely cause a lot of trouble for her mom… but if they didn’t let her out of here in three years when she would typically graduate from college, then she might not end up having a choice.


    Selina glanced at Tejs after a moment and shrugged, “It’s mandatory in Chile too… I guess I just didn’t realize how serious they were about that. I mean, I had other problems to worry about at the time so transferring didn’t really bother me then, but… it’s hard not to wonder why they’re so adamant about us staying here,” she admitted. “I also doubt this is just America, since so many other countries are involved. After all, Americans are greedy. If they were building an army, there’s no way they’d be willing to share,” she reasoned.


    “Unless this conspiracy theory you mentioned is much more widespread in scope,” Selina added thoughtfully, not dismissing the idea. There was so much that just felt… off here. It was difficult to put her finger on it, but hearing of Tejs’ kidnapping definitely raised a lot of red flags. Selina almost felt claustrophobic in this school at times and she briefly wondered how fast the school would be able to track her down if she made a run for it… not that she would. Selina was always concerned with her family first and foremost, and she wouldn’t put them in possible danger or under scrutiny if she could help it.


    Selina then nodded at his request and reached into her bag, tossing him her mom’s unopened box of cigarettes, “Actually I do. My mom’s a bit forgetful,” she explained casually. Selina grinned as she took the offered bottle and raised it briefly, “Salud,” she said with a smile before taking a long draught. The vodka had a slight burn to it, but she felt more relaxed almost instantly.