Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets by Laurence Moroney Page B

corridors were quiet, and few
people would see her. She barely noticed Soo-Kyung in the common
room as she ran past her, into her room, and slammed the
door.
    She turned the window beside her
bed to views of home. Hills, fields, oceans and beaches. Anything
that wasn ’ t this place. It
didn ’ t help. If anything, it made things
worse, and the yearning within her chest hurt worse than the cut on
her scalp.
    There was a soft knock on the
door.
    “ Go away,” she yelled, trying not
to sound like she was crying, but she found herself crying all the
more.
    She knew that Soo-Kyung was still
standing outside. “Just go away, I want to be alone,” she repeated.
But quieter this time.
    “ No, ” came the soft voice from outside. “ You
don ’ t, please
come out. ”
    Aisha sat in silence, calming
herself. Trying to stop the sobbing. How had she fallen apart so
quickly?
    Another voice came from outside.
Patrice. “Aisha, I heard what happened. Can you please come out?
We ’ re here for you.”
    At his voice,
her heart leapt in her chest. She just wanted him to hold her right
now. Not to fight her fights for her. Not to save her. Just to hold
her. She wanted to feel the closeness of another person. Of
a man . That
strength that only a man had. She wanted to hold onto him and feel
it seep into her pores so she could stand up and face everyone
again. So that she could walk up to Bennett and Lim
and…
    And what? Beat them up? What would
that solve? How would she win this fight?
    She ’ d
have to start by picking herself up off the floor. By ceasing the
crying and feeling sorry for herself. By working with her friends
to gain her strength, her confidence and her self-respect back.
They were just on the other side of the door. It should be so
easy.
    It wasn ’ t. She ’ d try to lift herself
up, envision walking out the door and seeing Soo-Kyung, Patrice and
Seamus there. See the kindness in their eyes as they heard about
what happened. It would be so beautiful.
    But she was still sitting
here.
    “ If you ’ re not coming out, I ’ m
coming in,” said Patrice, finally. “I ’ m
giving you a count of three.”
    She hugged her knees around her. He was coming to her .
    “ Three,” he said.
    She thought of him coming into the
room and sweeping her up in her arms. It felt good to be so
wanted.
    “ Two,” he continued.
    But no. She couldn ’ t have that. She wanted to be a great woman, and not
the woman behind the great man. They would have to do it as equals.
There was no way she would let him carry her. She made to stand up,
but her legs wouldn ’ t respond.
    “ One,” he said, flatly.
    She stood up, turned and faced the
door.
    It opened, and she saw his eyes
first. Locked on his eyes. They were the windows of the soul after
all, and through those eyes she saw a good soul. Did he see the
same in her? She hoped so, she longed for him to see her as good
also.
    His eyes never left hers, as he
smiled gently. “We are here for you, Aisha. Always. But you need to
know what you ’ re up against.”
    She half-walked, half-staggered
into the common room, and took a seat on one of the sofas that
looked out on the stars. Mercifully, Earth wasn ’ t in view right now, because she felt she might try
to jump out the window, to go home, to be a meteor . Perhaps
the rich kids were right after all.
    Seamus had pulled a couple of the
bar stools over, and was sitting, watching her silently, with an
encouraging smile on his face.
    Soo-Kyung had gasped when she saw
the cut on Aisha ’ s scalp. The blood still
oozed from it. The blood that had already dried on her neck was
beginning to itch. Soo-Kyung withdrew to the bathroom and came out
with a towel she’d soaked in hot water. She began cleaning the
wound, and Aisha flinched.
    “ Sorry, ” said Soo-Kyung. “ But I ’ d better clean this in case it gets
infected. ”
    “ Thanks,” said Aisha, and looked
back at Seamus. His eyes had drifted up to look at the top of her
head.