The teacher looks at me. I shake my head silently.
“I’ll check the CCTV footage,” he says, turning toward the screen on his desk. A few moments later, he nods, then looks at the boy. “What’s your name?”
“Ricky.”
“Ricky, you started the fight and then lied about it. Bring your parents tomorrow.”
Ricky looks down.
The teacher then turns to me. “If someone tries to get violent with you, tell a teacher. If you ever need to settle the score, do it outside the school, but make sure there’s no violence here. Understood?”
I nod.
He looks toward Leo and the other boy. “Did you both hear me? No violence in school.”
They both nod quickly.
Leo pats my shoulder. “Well done.”
We return to our class and continue studying.
By lunchtime, we’ve completed four chapters. I like physics. It’s an interesting subject.
We walk to the cafeteria downstairs.
“We’ll go to biology class after lunch,” Leo says, handing me a plate.
I nod.
“Tomorrow we’ll study mathematics and computer science,” he adds, filling both his plate and mine.
After taking our lunch, we find Avira and Wen sitting at a round table near the window. Leo and I walk over and sit down, he takes the seat beside Wen, and I sit next to Avira.
Leo checks Wen’s plate, making sure there’s nothing that contains nuts. She’s allergic to them.
Avira grabs my hand. “How’s it going?”
“Everything is fine.”
She narrows her eyes slightly. “Did someone bully you?”
I shake my head and start eating.
chapter 4
19 August 2036
Zloban (10 years old)
Avira leans closer to me. “What is emotion nubing?”
I glance at her. “Emotional numbing.”
She nods seriously, then looks around before whispering, “I heard Daddy telling Mama that Uncle Stan said you are emotion nub. What is this?” Her voice grows louder without her realizing. “Are you not okay?” she asks, worried.
I gently hold her elbow and pull her to the side so she doesn’t bump into the children running around. “I’mfine. It’s nothing.”
She must have heard Mom and Dad talking in the car on our way to the amusement park. Before coming here, Dad had taken me to Uncle Stan’s hospital for session.
