amagicbeyond

(Submitted by Adina)

His hair was choppy, his face unshaven and scruffy, his clothes wrinkled, unwashed. The overall effect made him look homeless. But Pedro wasn’t homeless. He was simply…lost. Not in the where-am-I way, but more in the I-have-no-idea-what-I-should-do way. And Pedro, like many males in their twenties, was in love with a girl. A wonderful girl. He felt this magnetic pull toward her. She was something else.

Taz was beautiful, first off. But she wasn’t aware of it and that made him love her even more. And independent, fiercely loyal and by far the most stubborn person he’d ever met.

“Stop, stop it, Pedro. Stop thinking about her,” he thought to himself. “You’re only going to cause yourself more grief. She’s in love with Up, she always has been. Even if the idiota won’t admit it to herself.” 

It was late that night, so late that the horizon had begun to turn dark red that would soon blend with light orange. Pedro was lying on his bed, listening to the chorus of snores that echoed throughout the bunk he shared with the other male Ensigns in his year at the Starship Ranger Academy. 

“You’re such an idiot for liking her, Pedro. Just get your mind off of her and go to sleep.” He thought. Pedro’s eyelids began to droop, the effect of going 72 hours without sleep catching up on him, and he gladly fell asleep. 

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The water that hit his skin the next morning was felt like he’d taken a plunge in the Arctic Ocean on Earth. 

“Wake up, dude! We have a surprise inspection before breakfast today!” his best friend James called out. Pedro’s eyes reluctantly fluttered open. 

“Wuzzgoinon?” he asked dazedly. 

“James just told you, you idiot, we have an inspection in five minutes. Now get off your lazy ass and help us clean!” Noah shouted. A loud ringing sound in his ears, Pedro’s eyes flew open. 

“Mierda,” he swore and threw back the covers. It was complete chaos in the cabin. Guys were frantically sweeping their quarters, making their beds, tucking their beige shirts into neatly pressed slacks. An inspection required that all the Cadets wear the dress uniform instead of their normal practice uniform. Pedro hurriedly ran to his small closet and pulled on the dress uniform. Lucky for him, his friends had already cleaned their own beds, so they helped him make his bed and straighten up his living are. 

“I hope you Cadets are ready!” A loud voiced boomed and the Cadets paled. “Because it is time for inspection.” Commander Up had enough of an intimidating presence that each Cadet’s heart increased. They all stood at attention, spines perfectly aligned, at the foot of their beds. “Well well, you boys are good,” Up said after he’d finished roving his eyes over their bodies and cabin.  “But not good enough.” He walked over to a boy in the corner, a large boy who went by “Z”. “Z, isn’t it?” The boy nodded. Up smirked at the boy and walked over to his bed. “Your bed isn’t made properly. You’ll be cleaning the toilets for the next two weeks. And Cadet Herrera!” Up turned his steely eyes toward Pedro. “For your untidy appearance, you’ll be joining him. Dismissed!” The Cadets only relaxed after Up had left the room, when a collective sigh of relief was heard. 

“Great. This will be so much fun.” Pedro said to his friends. Noah clapped him on the back. 

“No problem. You can thank me later by helping me with the Calculus homework.” Pedro grinned and turned around in order to change out of his dress uniform. 

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The cafeteria was crowded that morning. A new ship had docked at the Academy for re-fueling and as a result, the dining hall was packed. Pedro was laughing and joking with his friends as the four of them got in line for food, taking a brown plastic tray from the stack. It was then that he ran into someone short in front of him. When he saw who it was, he grinned widely. 

“Hola, mi hermana mexicana,” he greeted Taz. She responded with a nod of the head. “How are you this beautiful morning?” She glared at him, somehow he found this even more attractive. 

“Pedro, it’s seven in the morning. Do me and everyone else a favor and shut up. I can’t stand your cheeriness.” She yawned and grabbed the standard bowl of oatmeal that they ate every morning. Pedro laughed good-naturedly at her. His friends, who’d long ago discovered his secret crush on Taz, hung back and talked quietly among themselves. 

“But then you’d miss my wit and my charm,” he said, winking confidently at her. He noticed how her cheeks became a little rosy, but her calm demeanor remained. 

“Yeah. I’m miss you like I miss the disgusting meat special, you estupido idiota!” She snapped at him. He smirked. 

“One of these days, Taz, one of these days-” Pedro began.

“One of these days, I’m hoping you just leave me alone!” she said fervently. 

“Oh, but where’s the fun in that?” Pedro replied. Taz couldn’t help but smile at his persistent actions. They had moved further down the line and Pedro grabbed his beige mush that resembled oatmeal, a fruit cup and a carton of milk. 

“Taz, mija-” Pedro started but as soon as the words had left his mouth, Taz was gone. 

“Good try then, mate,” James said, clapping his hand on Pedro’s back. “I’m sure you can try to hit on her again during training.” Pedro punched his friend lightly in the gut, not trying to hurt James, but just to get him to shut up. Noah and Nate laughed and the four walked to a spare table.