Locking In With My Life System

”Here. For you.” Aiden handed over the thin but slightly heavy Ultrabook to the youth whose eyes were widening in real-time.

He knew that laptop! He’d seen it several times over the past few years in various ViewTube tech reviews!

It had an 8th Gen Processor, 32 gigs of RAM and a modestly powerful 6GB dedicated GPU from last gen, all in a bezel-thin form-factor which was priced at an expensive $1,500.

Instantly, Theo shook his head in denial;

”No, no, no. I can’t take that, Aiden. It’s too expensive--”

”You can, and you will.” Aiden cut him off, his tone serious as he pointed a finger at him.

”Trust me, if you want to make faster progress, you’re going to need one.” the youth explained.

”Besides, I got it open-box so it was relatively cheaper in comparison to its original price,” Aiden shrugged to which he cut Theo off once again before he even managed to speak;

”Don’t even think about saying no.”

”Instead, think of it as an investment. A necessary investment from yours truly as the producer and primary investor.” he joked to which he then placed the device in Theo’s laps.

Then, with a casual wave, he made his way out the door while remarking;

”You should come sit with us at lunch sometime,”

”Also, if you’re worried your mum’s gonna be curious or wary, just say a friend borrowed you,” he turned around just as he opened the door, a thin smile on his side frame as he added;

”There is some metric of truth to that, isn’t there?”

Just as he was about to close the door and leave Theo with those words... the youth suddenly called out;

”Hey, Aiden!”

Turning to face him, clearly surprised that he was willing to speak that loud given the doors were open and those roaming the hallways might hear him, the brown-haired youth spoke nonetheless, his expression one of immense gratitude;

”Thank you... thank you so much.”

To that, Aiden reciprocated with a warm smile and ticked two fingers off his head as he proceeded to take his leave;

”You’re welcome, Theo. You’re most welcome.”

*

(The next day...)

The student council had kicked the preparations for the spirit week into full gear.

Considering this was the second week of August and the Spirit Week and Homecoming was set to happen on the first week of September, it was only natural they wanted as many hands on-board as they possibly could.

Which was why, even though today was Monday and the closing bell had rung, the halls weren’t as empty as they usually were.

From time to time, a couple students and the occasional teacher would walk by, each of them either carrying a prop, a stack of rolled cardboards or just the general decorative supplies.

As at the moment, they were gathering the materials required to decorate the halls with the theatre club and the art and crafts club.

It was also why, most of them were headed towards the theatre out back, murmurs, conversations and the occasional laughter echoing through the hallways from time to time.

That said, Aiden was currently in his AP Calculus class, his gaze curious as he watched Mr. Lazlow explain the concept of the limit on the board.

”And that, is exactly why we can’t just substitute the value in immediately,” their teacher remarked as he leaned against the front desk, a dry-erase marker twirling effortlessly between his fingers.

”Sometimes the function lies to your face, and you have to take your time to not just understand but equally, review and retrace each step, just in case you make a mistake.” he tossed up the marker and caught it.

”In any case, that will be all for today’s class. Your homework should be submitted before the next class and also, don’t forget to review not only today’s, but tomorrow’s class in preparation. That will be all.” the man finally dismissed the class, their forty-five minutes up.

No sooner had he said that though, seven of the students taking the class gradually filed out. Aiden too was zipping up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder when Mr. Lazlow called out to him;

”Aiden. Have you got a minute?”

”Sure, teach. What’s up?” the youth casually walked up to the man whom was still leaning against the front desk.

”Have you ever considered joining the Academic Decathlon?” Mr. Lazlow curiously asked.

Aiden on the other hand, blinked. Then he replied, a slightly wary expression on his features;

”No, but why do you ask?”

In response, Mr. Lazlow pushed himself off the desk and said;

”As you may already be aware, our weakest link is Mathematics, and we’re rebuilding a bit of the team this year with that in mind.”

”I think you’d be a perfect fit for a substitute.” the man then invitingly gestured to the youth.

”Lil ol’ me? Perfect fit? Nah.” Aiden, on the other hand, was already backtracking whilst gesturing to himself, clearly uninterested in joining the team.

”Though you’ve been pretty good with calculations in general, I’ve noticed you’ve been paying more and more attention in class these days.” his homeroom teacher casually added to which Aiden was already closing the door, his head peeking out slightly from the side as he said;

”Teach, I’m sure there are way smarter students than me. I’m sure you’ll find someone more... scholastically inclined.”

”If you say so. Still, try and consider it at the very least? The deadline for signing up is in February.” the man said nonetheless, one of his palms gesturing vaguely.

”Consider, you say?! Got it!” Aiden remarked with a curt nod, his expression completely serious.

Immediately after, the door clicked shut, prompting the teacher to simply let out a resigned sigh.

As for Aiden, he was in fact, not planning on considering duck shit.

For a fact, the youth wasn’t scared of attending or getting invested in the decathlon. In fact, if it was any other day, he honestly might’ve said yes.

His memory and rate of assimilation alone right now, was more than enough to keep him in the top percentile of the most brilliant students currently attending Silverlake High.

However, with the sort of schedule he currently had, complete with managing the game they were building and his own side hustles, it was only natural he knew exactly when to press pause.

Scholastic endeavors were nice and all, but his financial freedom was even more important.

In any case, it didn’t take long before the youth stepped out of the backdoors of the main building.

Silverlake High was built in such a way that most of its facilities and main infrastructures were concentrated towards the back.

It was also why Aiden was casually strolling through the pathways of their fairly-wide park and past the empty school yard to meet up with the homecoming committee in the mini theatre whilst checking his wristwatch as he was to report by 5:00pm.

”Four, fifty-eight. Just about enough.” he muttered to himself, and arrived before the doors of said theatre a minute later.

Casually, he pushed open the doors, the lively chatter and bustling environment of students and volunteers decorating several things greeting him.

In one corner of the stage, Lizzie and her friend were currently rummaging through a box with the name ’Decoration Supplies’ written on its sides, seemingly looking for whatever supplies only they knew as they conversed.

Billy, on the other hand, was currently carrying what looked suspiciously like half a cardboard castle over one shoulder, one of the student council members leading him.

Unexpectedly, Kevin and some of the guys on the football team had been somehow roped into inflating balloons... though admittedly, they did seem to be enjoying it.

That said, scattered around the rows of seats, members of the media club wandered about with cameras in hand, occasionally snapping pictures for the school’s newsletter while interviewing some of the volunteers.

On top of the stage, Daisy and a handful of the girls in the soccer team, alongside Clarissa and her clique of attractive girls were discussing amidst themselves while carefully weaving faux ivy around the wooden arches that would later serve as photo booths during Spirit Week.

Not too far from them, Casper had somehow, someway, acquired a hot glue gun and was looking at it with a playful glint in his eyes.

Which was precisely why someone was already yelling at him;

”Casper! Drop that thing right now!”

”I’m helping!” he shot back.

”No, you’re fucking not! Now drop, the darn, glue gun!”

’Yep. Typical Casper--’

Aiden’s thoughts hadn’t even settled when a hand firmly gripped his and began to drag him sideways.

”Right on time!” Megan remarked as her mid-heighted frame kept pulling him... not that it stopped the youth from greeting her;

”Hi, Megan.”

”Hi, Aiden.” she reciprocated.

”Need me to stop Casper from misusing the glue gun?” the youth followed up as she expertly kept dragging him through the hustle and bustle.

”No. I’ll sic Daisy on him pretty soon.” she casually replied, strands of her caramel-hair which was currently tied into a messy up-do, bouncing with her movement.

”So... carrying something?” Aiden casually asked.

”Yeah.” she simply replied, a pencil tucked behind one of her ears while flecks of paint decorated the sleeves of her oversized Student Council hoodie.

However, mid-way through as she was expertly dragging him across the hustle and bustle to reach the storage room, Aiden suddenly stopped as they climbed up the stage, his hand slipping from hers.

Naturally, that prompted her to look back at him in confusion.

Yet, before she could say anything, Aiden’s head tilted slightly, a couple fingers on his chin and his gaze locked onto the wide white-colored banner balanced across two easels as he declared;

”I refuse.”