School's Out

'Alright, you're done. Have a nice summer, OK, class?' said the gruff voice of the history teacher, an ex-military man from Sovereign City whose past showed clearly in his muscled build, sharp eyes, and the unhesitant way he dealt with anyone who disrespected him.

'Thanks, Mr Noble,' chorused a few students. (None of them had ever been stupid enough to disrespect him.)

Rex threw papers and books into his school bag, his nerves feeling frayed to pieces. As everyone filed out of the classroom, he followed the line with great reluctance. This was perhaps his least favourite time of the year. Watching his classmates go home and enjoy their summers while he had little to look forward to except six weeks of misery and loneliness.

'Walter.' A low voice interrupted his musings, and he turned to see a shorter boy with brown hair sidling up to him.

'What is it?' he asked.

The boy, Cowell, reached inside his jacket and withdrew a handful of loose coins. Mostly bronze raines, with a single glittering haar lying among them like the pearl in a clam's mouth. He slipped them into Rex's hesitantly outstretched hand. 'Use this over the summer, if you need anything.'

'Thanks,' said Rex, pocketing the money. He always felt awkward saying thank you, his mouth and brain unsure how to work in unison to express gratitude. But Cowell just nodded.

'By the way, Jade wanted to see you,' he said as they filed down the corridor together.

'Jade Williams?'

'Yeah. She didn't say why, she just told me to tell you.'

'Where?'

'Stable Street, right after school.'

Rex awkwardly thanked him again. As they left the building, he peeled off from the main crowd. Most everyone was talking, laughing, discussing their plans for the summer holiday, the vacations their families were going on, the fun they would have. In the gentle summer warmth, with the breeze scattering late blossom across the sidewalk, the scene could hardly have looked more beautiful.

While Rex's home life wasn't common knowledge, a few students seemed to have caught on somehow, and Cowell wasn't the first to discreetly slip money into his hand. He was grateful, of course he was, but it was embarrassing. He was glad none of them had reported it to the teachers after he specifically asked them not to. The last thing he wanted was to be labelled an attention seeker or have his granddad find out.

The noise of the students gradually faded as he made his way down the road. The afternoon was mild and breezy, the temperature pleasant. A horse-drawn carriage clattered past and a cat jumped down from a wall to demand attention, making him smile. For all its flaws, he loved the city.

As he turned onto Stable Street, he saw Jade standing in front of an apartment building, all alone. Jade had always looked like a person who knew how to handle herself. A short, slim girl with long black hair and cool grey eyes, she carried an air of assurance. There were more rumours surrounding her than there were of Rex himself. People seemed to think she lived alone, that she'd had a falling-out with her parents and relied on no-one but herself. Looking at her, Rex could believe it.

'Hey,' he said uncomfortably as he walked over. He didn't know her very well. They'd spoken a few times, and he'd helped her with her maths homework once, but he wouldn't call her a friend.

'Hey, Rex.'

He moved to stand beside her, unsure what to expect.

'Um, someone was saying that you wanted to talk to me...?'

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. 'Yes,' she said. 'Listen, it's no secret that you don't exactly live in the best place. Your grandfather is mistreating you. You need to get out of there.'

Rex grimaced at her bluntness. 'It's not that bad. I admit he's not the best granddad, but--'

'Knock it off, Walter! Cowell said that he sneaked over to your street after school one day, and heard shouting and... other noises. I wasn't there, but what he described sounds horrific.'

Jade was always calm, confident, and just about the coolest girl in the school. To hear her fumble over her words – however briefly – drove home how much this topic meant to her.

Rex's brain jammed the pieces together and his mouth ran away with them.

'Were you ever...?'

Jade's eye twitched, and for one wild moment he thought she was going to punch him. But all she said was: 'Sort of. It wasn't the same. But if you heard the rumours about me not living with my parents anymore... they're true.'

A shiver scuttled up Rex's spine and he almost asked for details, but he was too nervous. 'Well... I'm sorry.'

Jade shrugged as if it didn't matter. 'It's in the past. So, are you going to do the same?'

It took Rex a moment to remember that she'd dragged him out here to talk about him.

'I can't,' he said helplessly. 'I don't have any relatives who would take me in, and I can't afford my own place. If I got a job, my grandfather would probably take all the money for himself. I've nowhere to go.' In the past, the idea of going to the authorities had occurred to him. But there was always a veiled, crippling fear that they wouldn't believe him, or just wouldn't help, and that his grandfather would be furious upon finding out.

'You're turning sixteen next January, right?' said Jade.

'Um, yes?'

'Come and live with me, if you want. I'm renting an apartment on this street. You can get away from your grandfather. I don't mind having you around.'

Rex could hardly believe what he was hearing. The coolest girl in school was offering him a place to stay, with her. It sounded like every one of his classmates' dreams come true.

Then the technicalities of her proposal began to sink in. Sixteen-year-olds in Shacklestone could legally move out of their parent or guardian's home if they so wished. He could leave, and his grandfather wouldn't be able to stop him. He briefly wondered what kind of job Jade had; something suitable for a full-time student but something that paid enough for her to live alone in a nice area - but that was the least of his concerns.

He barely knew Jade. He was jumping off a cliff without knowing how high it was, putting himself at the mercy of a person who probably just pitied him. But he finally saw a chance to leave his grandfather's filthy house behind, forever.

'Well, if you don't change your mind...then yes, I'd like to do that.'