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does that make you? So what if your father’s not what you want him to be? So what if your momma ran out on you? So what? You’re the problem. Just you. At the end of the day, we choose what we are, and what you are is a coward.”
    James gulped down his fear and balled up a fist. His father looked down at it and then back into his son’s eyes, chuckling from within and giving him a smirk of superiority.
    “Am I making you mad? Am I finally getting a rise out of you? Or are you too lazy to take action?”
    He chuckled and let his son loose from his grip. Brushing himself off, James continued to stare at his father in disdain as he walked away, confident and silently reveling in the fact that he was still the alpha male. James sneered and spat out the words he had been holding back for years. It was the only attack that could hit its mark with deadly, painful accuracy.
    “She left because of you!”
    His father stopped in his tracks, sighed heavily and turned his head, his lips barely visible as he spoke. 
    “Get out of my house…tonight. You have ten minutes to gather your things.”
    “Where am I supposed to go?”
    “The Academy. You wanted to get there early, didn’t you?”
    “I need more than ten minutes.”
    “Any longer and your stuff goes in the burn barrel.”
    And without another word, he stormed out of the house, giving his son space to gather his belongings. James huffed as soon as the door closed, feeling like flipping the kitchen table over . So that’s going to be the good-bye of my old ma n , he thought . One last kick to the groin.
    “Fine,” he muttered to himself and headed upstairs to his bedroom for the last time. He was barely aware of what he was doing, just throwing a bunch of clothes into a satchel, too angry to think straight.
    He finally stampeded downstairs with his satchel over his shoulder, deciding to raid the fridge one last time, grabbing everything he could carry and making sure to break his dad’s precious eggs on the way out. He barely looked back when he headed out the door.
    Thankfully it was still warm outside so he wouldn’t have to fight the climate, but where was he going to go on such short notice? Jennings’s parents were clinically insane and would probably end up giving him a beat down just for interrupting their beauty rest. Korey’s parents were no better and Leidy would hurt him personally, especially since she had to wake up early to open the store. She might forgive him this once and let him stay the night since he was on his way out, but he really didn’t want to bother her. For some reason…his father’s words had gotten through to him…as they always did. Suddenly, he felt utterly alone.
    There were no benches or conveniently flat boulders to lie on so James knew that he would have to settle for the ground, ladled with hay, mud and hungry critters on the hunt…which also meant he wasn’t going to get any sleep that night. Best to just stay up.
    But what was he going to do so late at night? What was his plan anyway? He had never actually thought about where he was going to go instead of the Academy. He had heard there were other Kingdoms but he had no clue of the direction they were in, and the people in the village were so scared of going outside the borders that he figured there had to be danger out there . Wouldn’t that be ironic ? he thought . Abandon the Academy because I would get killed there, only to be killed because I didn’t go.
    James sighed and started walking toward the carriage station. Wherever he was eventually headed, it was best to start there. It was only a five minute walk, and it was well past dark so no one was up in the village to catch his movements . No one to watch my leavin g , he said to himself . No one to weep over my departure…
    When he arrived to the station, the driver was sleeping, snoring and nearly toppling over onto his horses. It must have been a light doze, however, for when James came near, he turned to