Thaddeus

"Mister Axton, will you please pay attention!" I raised an eyebrow, shifting my gaze away from the digi-window as Mr. Packard, my Society History teacher, screeched from across the classroom. I had to hold back a grin, as his face honestly resembled a bright red apple or a boiled lobster. The entire room of my Instructional-mates turned to stare at me with curiosity, obviously excited to have some kind of change from the normally structured activities. 

"Since you think the digi-window is much more intriguing than the history of our great Society, I am forced to take away all of your daily points." he rasped, shaking his head while tapping away on his tablet furiously as if I somehow ruined his day with my idle daydreaming. I rolled my eyes at his dramatic display and turned my eyes back to the digi-window. The Society chose a really pretty scene to display on the digi-windows today: a rainforest, complete with green, jumping forest frogs and thick cumulous clouds layering the sky.

Besides, how was I supposed to keep from daydreaming when the Soul Mate Society Ceremony was happening tomorrow? 

So yeah, Mr. Packard could suck it because I was very much occupied with imagining the pretty lady I would be Soul-Bonded to by the day's end tomorrow. 

"Mister Axton, I will not tell you again! It may be your last day of attending Instructional Period, but since you think it's okay to disobey your superiors, I am now forced to give you a disciplinary during your Free Period." Mr. Packard sputtered, slamming his tablet onto his desk as he fumed with rage. I could tell by the way his knuckles tinted a ghostly white that he was on the edge of completely flipping off. I couldn't help but feel bad to for whatever lucky lady he was Soul-Bonded to.

I sighed heavily when my tablet chirped in my pocket, and I registered that he'd really just assigned me an after-school disciplinary on the last day of Instructional. What an asshole. 

Sitting up in front of the glass desk, I silently and respectfully raised my hand and swallowed my pride with a gulp of air. If that statement were literal, I would have almost choked at the size of it, but this time I had no choice. The last thing I needed was a disciplinary with this guy, and I needed my Free Period after Instructional Period to go back to my Housing Pod and prepare for the ceremony. 

Besides, I wasn't the only one excited to be Soul-Bonded tomorrow. My mother was practically jumping for joy this morning, vowing that she would go to the market pod to grab my mandated formal wear so that I could try it on with her after Instructional. She would be pissed if I had to miss it because of a petty ass disciplinary.

"Listen, I'm sorry Mr. Packard, I should have been paying attention. But I have plans with my mother tonight for the Soul Mate Society Ceremony." I grumbled out. My tone was laced with insincerity, but it seemed to satisfy Mr. Packard as he smirked triumphantly and gave a great, big 'harrumph' - as if he just knew he had the upper hand now. 

"Well... I supposed we could work out a deal." He answered. It was weird, watching him pace back and forth while his eyes held a borderline sadistic gleam. "This is Advanced Society History, so tell me how the first Society began and I will excuse your disobedience." 

Fuck. 

I knew that something big happened on the surface which caused us to build The Society deep underground, but I couldn't tell you what it was.

Regardless, I squared my shoulders and put on my signature smirk, leaning back in my glass desk. If I did anything, I would bullshit this answer. 

"Well, you see there were bad things happening on the surface and so we had to form the Society to live. The end." I stated, crossing my arms across my chest in a frustrated manner. I couldn't help but roll my eyes a moment later when I saw Mr. Packard's creepy smirk widen even further.

"Wrong. Does anyone that actually pays attention want to answer the question that Mister Axton so painfully failed?" He asked the class, tapping his tablet against his thigh at an impatient pace as his piercing eyes scanned the class for any takers. 

Obviously, the entire class was just as ready to end their last day of Instructional Period as I was, because from my count, zero hands raised into the air. I couldn't help but grin at that, satisfied that nobody was giving him the satisfaction that he obviously craved.

"Nobody? Fine, we're not leaving this classroom until someone tells me how and why The Society was created. I could wait all day." He rasped, leaning back against his large, glass desk at the front of the room while his creepy ass eyes narrowed into thin slits.

Still, no one in the class went to raise their hand. I grinned triumphantly, covering my mouth with a hand and slumping in my seat to hide my amusement at the entire situation. Mr. Packard's face got gradually redder as the seconds passed, but just as he almost reached the threshold of 'fresh boiled lobster' again, a dainty hand reached timidly into the air in my peripheral vision. 

Who the fuck...

"Ah, yes! Mister Toulsend, please help this entire class out and enlighten us on the brilliant history of our Society!" Mr. Packard gleefully stated, the redness in his cheeks dissipating slowly but surely. I couldn't help but roll my eyes again, shifting my line of vision to the very back of the room to see the dude who had decided to ruin my fun.

Wait... Dude?

No way this guy had a dick. 

First of all, he was the smallest guy I've ever seen, and that's saying something seeing as to how every one of the Society members were genetically engineered through the Elder's precise calculations. He practically disappeared into the back of the room, and seeing as to how I hadn't even noticed that he was in the same class as me until now, he did a pretty damn good job of it.

Second, his hair was long, falling much past the Society-mandated close-cropped style customary of all males. In fact, it fell in flowy sheets down to his shoulders, much like the female  members of The Society.

I had to look away before his girly appearance had the opportunity to keep fucking with my head. After all, I'd never see him again since today was our last day of Instructional, and at the Soul Mate Society Ceremony, we would also be assigned to our occupational work training.

"W-well..." an incredibly soft, effeminate voice came out of the dude, further supporting my theory that he was not actually a dude at all. 

I almost plugged my ears to make it stop.

"T-the Society was created after the disaster of World War Five in the late 2150's. You see, that's how the surface became unable to support life, because of the advancement of nuclear technology during the war. It only took a couple of bombs to make the chemical makeup air, soil, and atmosphere change so much that we couldn't survive on the surface anymore. In an effort to save as much of the population as possible, governments around the world utilized an extreme emergency backup plan that picked those with the most viable genes to move into the until-then secret compounds built deep underground..." the dude trailed off, and as I peeked at him, I could tell he was biting his lip as if he was unsure if he should go on.

"Continue, continue!" urged Mr. Packard, his voice inflection indicating that he was happy that at least one person paid attention in his mind-numbingly boring class.

I turned my head away again when I saw the slightly pink hue that took over the dude's cheeks at Mr. Packard's urging, and how he submissively bowed his head to play with his fingers underneath the glass desk. 

Wasn't he embarrassed by how damn girly he was acting?

"Oh, well... After that, when the Societies thrived in the many different continents, governments decided to expand them and create as close to a surface-like experience as they could. However, specific things such as population had to be carefully controlled in order to keep The Society functioning. From this, came the Soul Mate Service, the Health Service, and others. Due to these needs, Elders were appointed to lead each Society and use their knowledge about life on the surface to guide the foundation of our societies. Today, the largest Society houses one million people, and it's still growing." the dude trailed off as he finished and shrunk back into his seat, hiding behind the curtain of his hair. 

I simply shrugged and glanced at the time up on the digi-board at the front of the class. I didn't have time to worry about this know-it-all pansy. 

The Elders must have been looking out for me, because just as Mr. Packard went to clap for his student's explanation, The Society Anthem began playing through the speakers, signaling the end of Instructional Period.

I immediately jumped out of my seat, grabbing my Instructional bag and slinging it over my shoulder, making a beeline for the door before Mr. Packard could finalize my disciplinary. 

~"Long live The Society..."~

Glancing behind me, in my peripheral vision I could've sworn that I saw a delicate wrist grabbing a bag of fresh-baked cookies nicely wrapped up in light pink cellophane, and a soft, genuine smile playing on the lips of the girly-boy as he handed them gratefully to our evil ass teacher.

But sooner than later, the girly-boy with the weird hair was forgotten, and the only thing on my mind was preparing to meet the woman that would be lucky enough to Soul-Bond with me tomorrow.

~"Our home, sweet, home..."~

__

A/N: I just love it when guys think they're straight LOL. Thad has a big storm coming!

Please Like and comment!

Also, follow me on Instagram for funny story memes and character art! @CoolingsunAlex

Xoxo, Alexander