The Hero: Prelude [COMPLETED]

Final Stretch

IT'S ALL going to end soon. This is the final stretch.
The mail came this morning. It was contained in a quaint yellow envelope with a red seal deliberately attached to its opening. I mercilessly tear open the paper, and took out the thick white paper. In clear black ink, it wrote,

Dear Lily,
On behalf of your outstanding academic accomplishments this school year, we would like to welcome you to the annual 3 day 2 night long Fair located at Capitol Hills, as it always had been. This fair is a exclusive event to all teens ages 18 and below. We honor you as the new generation and would like you to seize this opportunity to interact with other like minded individuals and perhaps exchange ideas. This would bound to be a great opportunity for you as it is for us. It will be on May 8th, as always. We anticipate to see you there!

With great sincerity,
O.Rí

First of all, I would like to point out, this letter contradicted itself in two ways. One, it addressed my 'outstanding academic achievements' (which to contradict, isn't really outstanding, since I'm ranked 16th at Eddie Lang) but goes on saying this fair is 'exclusive to all teens ages 18 and below'. Was there any correlation between my achievements and the selectivity of this fair? They do this only to make you feel like you've been invited to some special, secretive, exclusive club, when in reality you're just being forced to attend a fair that is not optional, but necessary. Yes, required by our school. I never understood the reason we have to attend this fair, since the only thing that ever happens is awkwardness, lots and lots of awkwardness. I mean what kind of chemistry do you expect from a group of students who's grown up in a environment of cutthroat competition and learned that their biggest enemy is their own peers? Certainly not a bond.

I sighed, but decided to immediately phone up Felix, my childhood friend, best friend, and mentor. Felix was the single most important person, along with my dad. Throughout my life, Felix has always been the supportive figure, the boy-next-door (like literally, he lives next door), the one I could rely on in a difficult situation. Now, I was going to call him so that we could pack together for the Fair tomorrow afternoon. Felix always lived next door, by himself. His mother passed away when he was 6, and his father was murdered in a gun shooting four years back. Even after dad and me zestfully invited him to join us, since he was like my brother anyway, he still refused. When he became legal, he immediately received an internship at ICO, the greatest software company in Tray and started earning his own income as a software engineer and developer.

"Hello?" a deep but gentle voice fills the other side of the line. No doubt, it was Felix.

"Are you coming over tonight?" It was a stupid question, I mean, he lived right next door.

"Err, I'm working on AlphaQ's system enhancement right now. Probably gonna work on it till 12. Sorry little one." I sighed.

"Fine, fine. Capitol Hills fair this week. Wanna meet up tomorrow?"
"I would be glad to." I hung up a while after, hoping the dread of the fair never comes. Every single damn year, the same awkward crap repeats. I hate humans, especially a crapload of them all gathered together in one place. It stinks.

The doorknob turns open, and a slim figure creeps in.
"Dad!"