Hope was in front of him, leaving Kain's class and heading toward Professor Petrov's. They turned down a hallway and strode along the red brick wall on their right. The glass-walled library towered to their left. The freshly painted steel lockers with black numbers on the top were in the middle.

Skye grabbed his hand again. Her hands were soft, and her skin was smooth. He smelled her cherry blossom perfume. She shifted her head toward him and smiled, yet he knew it covered up how she really felt. Regardless he could not fathom they were together, and he thought his heart would explode with pleasure.

He noticed something upset Hope. "What happened?" It was probably because Ansh beat her again. "Maria, that was an abnormal performance from Hope. She usually dominates each class."

Maria said, "I know what she can do."

Maria and Hope were next to each other again. "Am I distracting you?"

"No. I'm confident we'll catch them if Cole and I work together."

Cole stated, "He'll be jealous when we're flying to Mars and he's left behind."

Hope snickered.

He remembered Ansh's name because Hope kept mentioning it, otherwise he would quickly return to the faceless mass of students he ignored each day.

They made their way through the halls to Professor Petrov's room. There was no one in the room again, so they ambled out into the sun and heat. It was muggy which sunk his desire to move. Hope put on her straw hat and they ate a snack and drank a lot of water. He examined the farm that stretched in front of him.

They made their way past the corn they planted yesterday and stopped at the next area. There was a tall sheet that quartered off their section yesterday. Someone had removed the sheet and he observed the large farm in front of him. It was bigger than he thought. It was mainly barren dirt which meant Professor Petrov expected this class to plant all of it before the end of the semester.

"Holy Crap, it's hot out here," Skye said, "That's it. I give up."

Skye spun around and jogged the other way.

Maria grabbed her and spun her back to their section. "You're not going anywhere. Like Cole and Hope, we're in this together."

"Damn you, Gonzalez. I'm pretty sure there's an exception in the best friend code book, if your friend is muy loca," Skye giggled to herself.

Maria pointed her finger in her face and said angrily, "Quit bitchin', and listen to the teacher!"

"Language," Hope mouthed the words, showed her disapproval, and motioned towards Professor Petrov.

The sun beat onto his already raw skin and the humidity made the air heavy.

"Today, we will plant Kale." Professor Petrov stated with her Russian accent.

A few students groaned including Skye.

Hope thought it was Cole and glanced his way.

He returned a big grin and a thumbs-up. He would do anything for Hope.

Professor Petrov paced around the inside of the circle made up of her surrounding students. "I understand most of you geniuses are wondering why we keep wasting our time planting seeds. But I was serious when I said we need intelligent and strong students there. Your life and every single person on Mars depends on it. This is an amazing way to weed out the bad seeds."

She paused.

"Get it?" She sniggered to herself.

He did, but it was an ill-timed joke with a miserable audience. Also, he considered learning Russian to understand her clearer. He had to learn other words like Prochnost.

"You will have physical tests at the end of each semester. Like what we did yesterday and daily homework assignments. You must work in groups of two." She held the Kale seeds in front of her. "These are easier because you can plant them all year long. except winter. They need to be planted ¼ to ½" deep."

She demonstrated while she talked. Hope had explained this to him before class. Then Professor Petrov said, "Get to work."

Skye said, "I did not understand a single word she said."

"I'll show you," Maria said, "Stay close and do what I do."

Maria got to her knees and dug her hands in the dirt, moved the soil out of the way, dropped a seed, then spread the dirt back over it.

"That's easy," Skye said.

"Cole." Hope waved her gloved hand in his face. "You can stare at her for the rest of the day when you get back. Right now, focus." She pointed down at their empty plot.

"Anything for you Hope. You see yesterday I was a fish out of water. I survived but did not give my best effort. Today, will be much better."

His muscles were sore, and his skin was raw, so touching anything stung. They started by carving out their rows. Then dropped to their hands and knees to put the seeds in the dirt and then covered them. Hope grunted when she switched positions.

"Where's Lamont and his sister?" asked a student behind.

"Their mom pulled them after she saw what occurred yesterday," responded a female voice behind him.

"Bad for them."

"Good for us."

He never met Lamont but agreed. His muscles loosened after the first fifteen minutes. Today, was as hot as yesterday and they had agreed to take extra breaks to get water.

Cole had a rush of energy at the beginning. He wanted to make up for his last showing. He dug his hoe into the ground then he got on his hands and knees. It was easier to crawl on the ground, so he did that with Hope.

After thirty minutes, Skye groaned from the field next to him, "Goddamnit! I think I broke a nail." She ripped off her glove and threw it to the floor, inspecting her thumb. "Yep. I did and it's bleeding." She dressed better than yesterday, blue jeans, and a gray t-shirt.

Maria yelled, "You're gonna lose a lot more than that before we're done."

"Doubtful. It's too hot." She wandered over by him and shouted, "Hey, Cole. You look cute in overalls." She winked again.

He said, "You lasted longer than I expected, thanks to your best friend." She had done far less physical labor during her lifetime than anyone else on the planet.

She wandered closer to Cole.

"Watch out!" Hope yelled and pointed to where her dirt-covered shoes crushed their evenly lined rows. "You're standing on our seeds."

"Sorry." She raised her hands in the air and backed away. "I'm leaving, anyway. I'm going back to the air-conditioned room." She sauntered back inside.

Professor Petrov stormed past them, ignoring Hope. She shouted in her Russian accent, "This is why we need smart and strong people on Mars."

He made it through the first hour with little discomfort. They took a break and met in the middle of the field.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Good." She gave him an OK sign. Then, removed her gloves and drank ice-cold water from her thermos. Condensation covered the outside of the bottle. She was sweating and breathing heavy. She drank too fast and gasped for air when she finished.

"Me too, so far."

"We need a system." She stated, "Ansh and his partner are working together." He motioned back toward them.

Cole craned his neck in their direction and observed Anshe and his partner. The partner prepared the ground and then rushed back to collect more seeds, while Ansh stayed on the ground and planted.

"We can do that. I'll do the grunt work and you focus on planting. Also, we can save even more time by getting all the seeds at once and splitting our plot in the middle would cut down the need to traipse through the long rows."

And they did. He did not need a lot of time to carve lines in the dirt and replenish the seeds, so he swiftly returned to planting with Hope.

They began the second hour and he felt sharp stabbing pangs from the skin of his knees. He sat up and brushed away whatever caused it. There was only dust. He examined the ground and saw many jagged rocks sticking out. They still had hours remaining, so he knelt down again and did his best to push through the pain. His nerve endings eventually became numb. They toiled away until the end of the second hour. Then paused again and drank more water.

Hope asked, breathlessly, "How do you feel?"

"Good. My knees hurt." He massaged them re-inducing the soreness. He predicted exactly what she would say next.

"I told you to pack your knee pads."

"Now, I know." He would not forget this easily. "How about you?"

Hope showed him a blister on her palm that opened. Puss and blood oozed from it.

"That's gross." Cole poured water on it and used the roll of gauze they brought to wrap her hand. She put her glove over it and got back to work.

"Hey Maria! How are you?" Hope shouted.

She yelled, "Tired." She was beat red, like them yesterday and sweating.

"Make sure you drink plenty of water!" Hope added.

Maria paused on her knees and grabbed her water bottle. She drank and nodded her head.

"Don't worry we're almost done," he told Maria. They were not. They were halfway.

The third hour was about the same, but the last hour was arduous. He could barely lift his arms and legs near the end. It was similar to working underwater. Simple movements like spreading soil over the seeds took immense amounts of effort.

He checked on Hope and saw the same. Her face grimaced through every pain. She did not possess his ability to zone out, so she felt everything. They were much slower the last hour and ended up in second place to Ansh and Sai. They finished with a twelve-row lead.

After class, they met Maria on the straight dirt path that ran through the center of the fields. It used to be grass, but the students and workers had stomped it down.

"You made it," he patted Maria on her back.

"Yes. I did," she said.

"How was your first day?" Hope asked.

"I LOVED IT," Maria beamed, covered in dirt, sweating, and her face was red. "I wish I could have done more. I was in last place."

"It's hard to do much without a partner."

Cole inspected her rows. It was a lot less than half when compared to them, although he did not want to discourage her. So, he said, "Good job, Maria."

They limped over to a ten-meter-long trough against the wall on the outside of their classroom. It had running water they used to clean up.

Skye stepped out of the room. "That took forever!" she huffed. "I had to watch two whole movies."

"Ahhh! Poor Skye," Hope said, sarcastically, "That must have been horrible." The afternoon sun highlighted Hope's profile. She tugged her curly dust caked hair out of her hair band.

"I know, right?" Skye said, agreeing. Then obliviously continued, "You guys look awful."

They laughed at her.

"You have to last longer than thirty minutes tomorrow," Maria said.

"I'll try, but I'm not promising anything." She strolled into the classroom and closed the door.

They finished cleaning up. There was still dirt on him and under his fingernails. The cool water was soothing, but he could not clean everything.

"Like my grandpa always says; it's really clean dirt," Hope stated.

He chuckled because this was the first time it applied to him and it made sense. "I know. You've said it before."

Hope dried her hands and packed her bag.

He was still trying to get his hands and arms clean.

Then Hope said, "We can take long showers at our houses and your mom is probably waiting." She motioned him to follow.

Hope and Maria hobbled into the classroom. He hurried, jammed his clothes, and school supplies into his backpack and ran after them.

Skye sat in Professor Petrov's desk, watched something on her viewer, and then gut laughed. Maria knocked on the door. Skye noticed and rose to join them still distracted by her movie. They continued toward the parking lot.

When they made it to the parking area, they saw his waiting for them in her car. They entered and sat in the back. The limo was waiting too. Skye embraced him and started to kiss him.

"My mom's watching."

Skye grinned and waved at her. Then, she kissed him on his cheek. "Tomorrow, the four of us should ride, together."

"Good idea," Cole said.

Marcus held the door for Maria and Skye. They entered the limo.

Hope and Cole entered his mom's car.

"You two look worse," his mom said when they got in the back seat.

"How was your second day?" she asked and drove away.

"Better," Cole said.

"We're still behind one group," Hope stated. "We need more practice and training."

Cole said, "I think we should go visit your grandfather's farm. We could do extra work when we're there."

"I agree. We need to plan a visit. I'm not sure when, but we'll figure it out."

Hope pulled her viewer from her backpack and kept reading the Perfect System.

"Yeah. We're really far behind."

He was exhausted and the cool air combined with the car rocking over the bumps put him to sleep. He closed his eyes and let his mind take over.

Cole took a deep breath inside his pressurized suit. He wore a helmet and stared out the glass faceplate. He inhaled again and heard the oxygen switch release, maintaining his atmosphere. He felt the weight of the oxygen tank on his back, and he pulled himself up and over the top of a dust-covered ridge. The suit smelled like melted plastic and sweat.

The volcano Olympus Mons plateaued in front of him. He gazed across the wide expanse. Wind kicked rocks and dirt into the air. Red-orange sand covered the area, and he could see across to the farthest ridge.

"Congratulations, sir." A metallic male voice spoke to him through his helmet's intercom. "You are the first person to climb the highest peak in the Solar System."

He beamed. Hope climbed over the ridge too and stood next to him.

"We should stay up here," he said to her.

The ground and his body rumbled. Then the floor in the center fell away and hot lava rose from the bottom, surrounding him with boiling molten magma.

Cole reached with his right hand and gripped the ridge he had just peaked. She lost her grip and fell toward her boiling demise below. He held out his hand to Hope. She seized his hand in time. Her feet dangled over the rising heat and melted the bottoms of her boots.

She shrieked. He swung her up toward the ridge. Hope grabbed it with her hands. Both pulled themselves over to the other safer side, adrenaline pumping through their veins. They could feel the heat growing and the volcano rumbled.

The steep drop below them forced him to cling to the wall.

Magma exploded through the mountain wall next to him. It burned a hole in his shoulder of his suit.

"We need to jump!" She yelled.

He knew it would be his death, but so was the volcano. He took Hope's hand and the two of them leapt into air. He closed his eyes and anticipated his imminent peril not knowing how long it would take. He lost his breath falling.

Their ending did not come today because instead they soared through the air. They flew over Olympus Mons and its molten lava. Then they spun around and headed back home to Tharsis.

"We're home," his mother's voice and the car driving over the driveway bump woke him.

"Dammit. We're still here."

He was holding Hope's hand in real life. She continued to read her viewer in her other hand.

"Where did we go this time?" She smirked at him.

He chuckled and said, "We climbed Olympus Mons and then the volcano erupted, so we had to jump off."

"Cool. We'll be there soon."

"Yes. We will."

His mom parked the car and they walked into his house.

"We need to study immediately," Hope said and laid on the couch in the front room.

He joined her with his viewer. They moved to opposite sides and their feet crossed in the middle. This was a familiar position they repeated often.

He enjoyed the peaceful view of evenly cut grass in his front lawn and two maple trees that blocked the sun. They provided a place to run for the squirrels and bunnies, searching for food.

He finished chapter three and was ready to begin chapter four. Hope was right. He enjoyed this book and did not have to force himself to read it. He heard Hope snoring, and he was content because she needed to rest. Although, his body enjoyed not moving also and he fell asleep again.

______________________________________

His mom woke them when she made dinner. Pots and pans banging jostled him. He woke with his face pressed against Hope's leg. She was still sleeping. He knew she would be mad, so he said, "Hey Hope, wake up."

She did. Then they ate and went to study on their hill. They met Skye and Maria up there.

Maria positioned herself near the edge at the top and spun in a circle. "I cannot believe I am standing on your hill."

"What?" Cole asked.

"You two always talk about it, but they rarely show it."

Cole chuckled. "That's because they're smart. Most people don't want to study for three hours, much less watch somebody else study for three hours."

Maria said, "Well I'd watch it." She sat next to Cole and Hope against the wide tree trunk and held up her viewer. "So, what are we reading today?"

"Perfect System." Hope pressed her viewer rapidly and said, "I sent it to you."

"Thanks, but I already read it."

"This is not his bestselling book. We need to learn the extended training version for students."

"Awesome!"

"You three nerds are making me sick." Skye pretended to vomit.

Cole chortled. He was not sure if she was joking or serious, but either way she was amusing. "Skye, sit over here. We have room," Maria said. Skye sat in between Maria and Cole. They formed a circle around the tree.

Maria stated, "I think it's obvious that Ansh is cheating."
"We considered it," said Hope.

"He's definitely cheating. I know that you two are focused on yourselves, studying and training. So, you don't have time to watch every other student. I do. I was online and reviewed each person's grades and examined his IQ tests."

"Are you trying out for the lead nerd position?" Skye asked, sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Maria placed her palm in Skye's face and continued, "There is no way he could do this on his own. Somebody has to be helping him."

"I think you're right, but if we want anyone to believe us, we'll need proof."

"I could spy on him. I have time. Also, he teamed up with the third-place kid Sai and they had never spoken a word to each other. The rest of the kids, like you and Cole, were already friends. Something bizarre is going on."

"I never thought about it that way," Hope said, "I like your outside approach."

"Thank you," Maria grinned.

Cole said, "We'll still need to catch him even if he is cheating. Because farming, is only conditioning and he had a head start. So, we still need to beat them."

"I know we will," Hope stated.

"Me too," said Cole.

The next three days were the same. They could not catch up to Ansh and Sai in Professor Kain or Professor Petrov's classes.