Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets by Laurence Moroney

head. “This
isn ’ t a public school. It ’ s an academy, a military academy. If you do that, the
teachers will think you ’ re soft. And worse , the other kids will think you ’ re soft and a snitch. We ’ ll have to deal with this ourselves.”
    “ How?”
    “ There ’ s
only one way,” she replied. “ Earn their respect. Sooner or
later they ’ ll have to depend on us, and
they know it. The sooner we make them respect us, the sooner all
this ends.”
    Those words echoed in
Aisha ’ s mind as she worked her way through
the crowd into the mess hall. Then she saw the issue. The older
kids had spread themselves across all the tables, leaving no room
for Aisha ’ s peers.
    The new kids looked at each other,
unsure of what to do. As Aisha entered, they looked to her too.
Soo-Kyung had gone straight back to the apartment to get some
sleep.
    Earn their respect, she had
said. Stand up to a bully and smack him in the mouth, she
had always learned. The closest table had only two students -- the
English boy she had recognized from the launch, and a short Asian
girl who also bore a British flag. The name Lim was
embroidered beneath.
    Without a word, Aisha grabbed her
food and sat at the table.
    “ Space is taken, ” said the boy. His nameplate bore
the name “ Bennett. ”
    “ Which ones?”
    “ All of them.”
    “ By whom?”
    “ None of your business,
Meteor.”
    “ Well, I will use it until they
get back.”
    “ No, you won ’ t,” he snarled.
    Aisha was aware that all eyes in
the room were on her. She put her tray down, sat, and calmly began
to eat as if nothing happened.
    “ Did you hear me?”
    Looking at her plate, Aisha picked
up her knife and started slowly cutting the meat, trying to ignore
him, and trying to look like she wasn ’ t actively ignoring him -- and instead that he
just wasn ’ t part of her
universe.
    She cut a small piece of meat, put
it in her mouth and began to chew.
    “ I said, ‘Did you hear me,’ you
stupid cow?”
    His voice was raising in volume
and pitch. She knew that she shouldn ’ t
react. She was winning. She closed her eyes a moment and took a
deep breath. She wasn ’ t going to let him
get to her.
    She felt the table jar as Bennett
stood and pushed himself back from it. Her drink toppled and
spilled. She tried not to flinch, and calmly picked the cup up and
placed it upright.
    “ You think the silent treatment
works with me, is that it, you little scumbag?”
    It obviously is working, she
thought to herself. Keep it up.
    She quickly looked around the
room. All eyes were on the confrontation. Many of the older kids
were watching her, measuring her up. Her launch group was gathered
around the doorway, eyes darting between her and
Bennett.
    Suddenly she felt a hand on her
back, grabbing her hair. With surprising strength, he pulled her
out of her seat and slammed her against the wall.
    “ You think you are so smart,
don ’ t you? Well, you are nothing.
You ’ ve never been anything.
You ’ ll never be anything, and definitely
not around here.”
    “ That ’ s not for you to
judge, ” said
Aisha, trying not to show the pain she was feeling in her voice or
on her face. She fought to stay calm.
    “ Oh yes it is. You ’ ll listen to me. You keep your ugly black face out of
my sight for the rest of the time you are here, or I will break it
for you in front of all your friends.”
    “ You are in front of them now,”
she said. “Show them what you can do.”
    Fighting the urge to cry, she
instead smiled a broad smile.
    “ You don ’ t know what I can do, you stupid n--”
    Aisha was stunned. Was he really
going to use that word? Before she knew it, she had
flinched. Eyes opened wide. Tears began to flow. Her body
involuntarily began to shake.
    But he hadn ’ t said it. He stopped, and she realized that he was
baiting her. “One simple word can do all that? And I
didn ’ t even say it,” he smiled.
“That ’ s how I know we won.
That ’ s how I know we