by Angie
Jim Hawkins sat impatiently in his seat. His was in the auditorium of the Interstellar Academy during an assembly that he thought would never end. It was 5 weeks before summer vacation of his 2nd year and the assembly was explaining “the big exam”. Word around campus was that this test came around only once every 3 years. But so far all the principal was doing was babblering about how far the students had accomplished and other useless stuff. He decided to look to the side of him, then smiled at what he saw. He was starring at his roommate Angie. She was writing in her notepad like she always did when she was bored.
Angie hummed to herself. “So I lay my head back down…And I lift my hands and pray… That’s it!” She wrote down that line before she forgot it. Angie had been writing down the lyrics to “Only Hope” since she didn’t want to pay attention to the principal. Writing down lyrics to songs she liked was Angie’s way of entertaining herself. Angie was a human girl with wavy shoulder-length dark brown hair and eyes to match. She suddenly had a weird feeling that she was being watched. She turned her head only to see Jim suddenly faced to the front of the auditorium. “He’s probably starring at Cecile in the front row. But then again which guy isn’t?” Cecile was also human that was pretty much every guy’s dream. She had blond hair, a super-slim body, and high priced fancy clothes. Nearly every guy in the Interstellar Academy had a crush on her (even the ones that weren’t human). Angie went back to writing very jealously.
“That was close”, Jim thought. He didn’t know why, but he had caught himself starring at Angie and feeling funny inside more than a couple of times. They had been roommates for about 6 months and had become very good friends. Jim could talk to Angie nonstop about solar-surfing and she told him all about her favorite kinds of music. They actually had a lot in common. They both had this spark that kept them going and they both dreamed of adventure. So he always enjoyed the time they spent together. Angie even taught him how to dance a couple of nights a week.
Finally the principal was explaining about the final exam. Jim nudged Angie in the arm with his elbow. She turned her head to him. “Now it’s getting good”, Jim said. They both faced the principal expectantly.
“…Now there will be 50 top students that will be sent in groups of 2 to 25 different planets. Each group will spend 3 weeks on that planet with nothing but what they’ve packed and the survival skills they have learned these past years. These students are the ones who are most likely to become captain of their own ships or even fleets. I shall now read off the names of the students chosen and the planets of which they are assigned too. When I call you name please come up to the stage and receive the name of the planet you are assigned to. It will be handed to you on sheets of paper. The rest of you that are not chosen will take written exams. Alexander Baymon and Tamara Demoines…”
“Jim, let me know when something good happens”, Angie said and went back to writing.
“Okay”, said Jim. He was trying to pay attention to the principal but his mind (and eyes) kept wandering. Wandering to Angie. For some reason he couldn’t stop starring at her.
“Don’t worry. I don’t know what this means but I’m sure it happens to everyone”, Jim kept thinking to himself.
“I hear you`re doing
ok, but I just want you to know. I’m addict, I’m addicted to you. I can’t
pretend I don’t care when you don’t ask about me. Do you think I deserve this?
I tried to make you happy…” Angie was starting to write down the lyrics to
“Addicted To You”. She was writing down this song because she knew she had a
crush on Jim. “Angie, people always say
that friends who are guys will never be boyfriends”, she kept thinking. And
she had a reason to, (by her opinion) she wasn’t extremely pretty or slim, so
why should she even think of being more than just friends with Jim? “You’re just a hopeless romantic, Angie.
Completely hopeless…”
Suddenly they both heard the principal say, “…James Hawkins and Angie Aguilar…”
“Oh God”, Jim said. He was going to be on a planet ALONE with Angie for 3 weeks. No teachers, and no students. “This is the greatest moment of my life”, Jim thought. But he wondered why he thought that on their way to the stage.
“Great, I knew Jim was going to want to be with Cecile. Not too many people say ‘Oh God’ when they’re happy! Well, it could be worse.” Angie thought on their way to the stage.
They climbed the step to the stage and walked to the podium.
The principal handed them 2 rolled up sheets of paper. On their way back to
their seats they unrolled the pieces of paper. They both gasped as the read the
name of the planet. In bold letters it said the word: XAVEIVIA