Chapter 1 :

It was just another normal day at the Interstellar Academy.The students were busy with hurrying from one lesson to the other and eventually made it in time in order to prevent themselves from an unpleasant comment of their angry teacher.The hallway was filled with laughter and talking when the bell rang and all of the students stormed out of the classrooms and went to the canteen for it was lunch time.The canteen was a wide room,with enough space for all students,who sat together in their respective cliques.It was amazing how many of those groups were at the academy.Well,it wasn`t such a bad thing.If you belonged to one of the cliques it was easy for you,you had your friends and didn`t have to worry about other people because you stayed with those you knew best.However,there were still some „outsiders“,students who prefered to be alone or who were simply ignored by everybody.

Jim was one of those „outsiders“.Why?He didn`t know.Ever since he had first attended the Interstellar Academy his classmates didn`t seem to like him very much.Most of them were only able to go to the academy ´cause their parents were rather well off and could easily afford this special education for their children.They soon found out that Jim`s family was quite poor and that he was with them just because a captain-friend of his had put in a good word for him at the principal of the academy.But what made him even more unpopular with the rest of the students were his grades.He was one of the best students,so the ones who couldn`t stand being outshone by such a „poor guy“ kept talking behind his back and threatening him like he was invisible.Of course,it wasn`t very pleasant,but Jim got used to it.He has never had what you would call a ´wide circle of friends´ and besides he even enjoyed being alone for most of the time.

On this day,he sat as usual alone on a bench,leaning with his elbows on an empty table and reading a book about pirates (he loved those stories) while he chewed absent-minded on a cheese-sandwich.After finishing the 5th chapter he took a little break,put the book away, supported his head with his hands and observed some of the students rather bored.Aliens of all kinds of races were sitting together and talking to each other,but no matter how different they looked at first sight,they had divided into several groups which every school seemed to have.There they were,the typical over-dressed cheerleader-girls ,giggling and snickering like they would still be in pre-school ; the sportsmen,who had twice the self-convidence of a normal person but half the brain,yelling around like they would rule the whole academy...and many other people Jim loved to get out of his way.But then his eyes suddenly wandered to another student,who sat lonely on a bench on the other side of the canteen.It was a girl around his age with long brown hair and two strands hanging down on every side of her face.He had to smile when he saw that she was wearing a black shirt with a white three-eyed skull on it.Apparently she was drawing something in a sketchbook and doing this more than concentrated.In fact,Jim had never seen her done anything else.She was in none of his courses but when he saw her during the breaks she always drew something.According to the talks he had heard from some of his classmates she was apparently not interested in talking to anyone and had no friends at the academy.On the one hand Jim was curious in what was going on with that girl but on the other hand he knew that some people just want to be left alone,just like himself.So he turned towards his book again in order to read on.At that moment he heard a female voice yell for fury and saw the girl and a tall boy with short black hair who held something grinning in his hand.Jim soon recognized that he had taken the sketchbook away from the girl and was holding it above her head so high in the air that she was unable to reach it.

„Hey,gimme that back,you vacuum-brain!!!“ she yelled.

The tall boy just kept grinning mischievously at her.

„Heh,you just have to take it,sweetheart!“

„Why,you damn idiot,gimme my drawings back or I`m gonna-„

„What?Do you wanna take your rubber and attack me?“ he laughed.

„You blasted fool!!!“

„Oh,hard words.I`ll give you a fair chance to say sorry.Well,I`m listening?“

„Jerk-head!!!“

The student gave her a smack in the face which made her fell on the floor.He stepped closer to her but was suddenly faced with another boy he knew only too well.

„Out of my way,Hawkins!“

„Have your parents never told you not to beat girls,Carren?“ said Jim with a stern voice.

„Hey,man,that`s life!The strong ones beat the weak ones!Get used to it!“

„Yeah,and you can get used to my fist in your face!“ Jim snarled as suddenly the girl walked in-between the two of them.

„Thanx for your help but I can handle this on my own.“ she said to Jim in an angry yet somehow grateful voice.

„Oh,girly,look heeeeeere!“ Carren said mockingly and ripped one of the sheets out of the sketchbook and crumpled it up in his palm.

„Waaaaahhhhh!!!“ the girl screamed furiously and jumped towards Carren,sending both of them to the floor.

„You`re gonna regret that!Prepare yourself to die!!!“ she yelled and began to strangle him.

Carren gasped ´cause of the loss of air,trying to get the girl off of him but wasn`t successful.

„Whoa,whoa!Not so fast!“ said Jim and took her by the shoulders. „He isn`t worth it.“

The girl looked blankly at him but eventually let go of her victim and stood up,clenching her sketchbook in her hand.

„You`re right,he isn`t worth anything.“ she said and turned her back on Carren.

At this moment he jumped up and just wanted to punch her with his fist as he felt another one`s fist smashing in his face.He tumbled backwards and landed unconscious on the floor.

„Well,except of that!“ grinned Jim triumphing.

The girl had to smile,too,and stared at him with her green eyes.

„Uhm,so.. you like pirates,hhm?“ asked Jim shyly.

„What?“

„`Cause of your shirt.“ said Jim pointing at it.

„Oh,yes.I think they`re cool!They don`t have to worry about what other people think of ´em and when somebody gets in their way they can simply get rid of them.“

They looked at each other for a moment,when the girl finally added :

„Well,thanx for helping me with this `little problem` here.“

„Heh,don`t mention it.“ Jim answered smiling.

„Oh,I forgot to introduce myself.I`m Jim Hawkins.“

„And I`m Jessica Dolphers,but my friends call me Dolphy...well,assumed that I would have any friends....“ she said with an ironic yet sad smile.

„Don`t worry,now you`ve got ME.“ Jim tried to lighten her mood.

„Oh,lucky me.“ said Dolphy and winked at him.

Their discussion was interrupted by the noisy bell which announced the end of the lunch-break.

„Great,now we can finally get back to our wonderful school books and our even more wonderful teachers...“ said Dolphy sarcastically.

„Yeah,oh joy.“ agreed Jim. „Don`t you just love it when they talk about solutions to problems you`d never have imagined they would actually exist?“

„Boy,you read my mind!“ laughed Dolphy.

„Well,uhm,I`ve got to go now.“ said Jim slowly. „Erm,if you agree,could we,uhm,meet after the lessons?Maybe take a walk or something like that...only if you`ve got nothing else to do of course...“

„Sure,I`d love to spend some time with a normal human for a change.“ she smiled.

„Okay,see ya then!“ yelled Jim as he made his way to his classroom.

„Yeah,see ya!“ said Dolphy and watched him leaving the canteen. „Maybe this academy isn`t that bad after all...“