THE MOMENT
"Why should I?" Rigel shouted at the gathering of onlookers. But, he didn't expect an answer from them. It was only a handful of people, and they were all teenagers like him. His mint green suit was already disheveled when he began his rant. His dark, forest-green hair was neatly combed when he began moments ago; but, in the span of a few seconds, it was as messy as the rest of him. He seemed to be taking every effort to disrespect his own appearance; as if he wanted nothing to do with the role thrust upon him. He yanked off his golden bowtie and threw it at their feet with an exaggerated motion that hinted at pure spite.
"Why should I go back to royalty?" He met the eyes of each and every bystander with a hard, cold glare. It came easy to him now; his upbringing gave him plenty of time to practice. His father had a reputation of being quite evil, not that Rigel would know. He spent a lot of time alone and needed to find his own ways to entertain himself. But now, at 14, he'd gone out into the world and discovered how big it was. He actually met friends that he liked. Friends that were kind and helpful to everyone; it was a new way of being to Rigel and he quite liked it. "Why would I?" he asked again. "When I can go on an adventure and meet people. SAVE people!"
He took several steps back from the growing crowd and shook his head. He spoke quieter.
"Why should I inherit the mistakes of my father?" he asked. His voice was full of regret, even though he did nothing wrong. Regret came easy to him; but, he was never sure which he would have regretted more. Meeting his father, Peppermint, or not meeting him. He was only stuck with the reality of what happened; not that that kept him from wondering 'what if?' But, if there was ever a time to channel that regret, it was now. "After all, you people shunned me!" he gestured at the spectators. Then, he made another gesture to his side. A tall, black portal opened and he took one step into it. "And no, I'm not coming back and that's final!" he spat on the ground and disappeared into the blackness. The portal closed behind him and the gathered crowd immediately began to disperse. Several of the teens chuckled as they walked away; but, a trio of girls remained in the area.
"So, what do we do now?" Emily asked. Each of the three teens had a different hair color and style. Her hair ran straight down to the middle of her back and shined silver in the sunlight.
"His dad was Peppermint?" Riot asked. She had short, spiky, bright orange hair.
"He doesn't like talking about it much," Molly nodded at Riot first. She had curly golden blonde hair that went down to her shoulders. After answering Riot, she turned and smiled at Emily. "We wait," she said. As if on cue, a black portal opened and a cleaned-up Rigel walked out with his bowtie back around his neck.
"That was great!" Molly clapped her hands once he joined them.
"Thank you...," Rigel nodded at her; then looked around at the only other two students. "... but, there appears to be not much interest," he said.
"Eh, people are used to derby," Riot answered as she waved at him. "It's the only extra-curricular we've had since the school opened. I'm Riot, by the way," she said.
"A pleasure," Rigel nodded at her with a warm smile.
"I'm Emily...," the silver-haired girl introduced herself. "...and I'm super annoyed that I didn't think of starting a drama club first." she smiled with the comment to show him she was joking; even if there was a large grain of truth to the comment.
"I hope that indicates you'll be joining us?" Rigel asked.
"Definitely!" Emily nodded.
"Yeah, it seems like fun," Riot said. "As long as it doesn't get in the way of Derby," she added with a chuckle.
"I wouldn't dream of it!" Rigel replied. "I understand the importance of roller derby to the school. I simply felt like doing something different," he said. "Well, it seems that we have a nice small troupe to start with. Where shall we begin?"
"The semester is over next month.. why don't we put on a show then?" Emily asked.
"An inspired idea!" Rigel grinned. "We'll put on a show that truly brings a wonderful bittersweetness to the end."