The Academy was pretty much empty by the time we ran out of the classroom. The three of us walked in silence towards the main gates. Our heads were in clouds and we couldn’t bring ourselves to utter any kind of words, even trivial ones. Once we were outside, I immediately took a tobacco stick from my purse and offered one to Otho. He accepted the brown stick with tenderness and without saying a word. Marius sighed and grabbed another bottle from his bag. For some reason that made me laugh, which in result made Otho laugh, as well as Marius. In moments we were howling like mad men. After we regained our senses, we walked to the edge of the lot and stopped next to a large oak tree. We sat down on the soft grass and I took my lens to light the tobacco stick. Then I handed my stick to Otho, who used it to light his. In the distance there were lingering crowds of our colleagues, but we decided to ignore them.
“Why, Otho?” I asked.
He again blushed.
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“Why Otho,” Marius asked as well, with a grin, as he took a sip from his home-brewed beer.
“I… Suppose they didn’t accept me. I would have turned out to be a fool. It seemed easier to… I don’t know… I guess I was scared... So I pretended nothing will change.”
“But it will. Everything will change. We're pledges of the Cohort,” I yawned.
“A glorious future awaits us!” Marius burped and took a new sip of his homemade beer.
“What about your father, Otho? How will he take the news?” I asked with a laid back voice. I felt good, cocky even. I succeeded.
“Hah! That's what frightens me! My parents, well, nobody for that matter, knew of my intent. But I won’t tell him today. I have the whole week to break the news. Today is about celebration! Let’s go to the city! I’ll buy us something to eat, and we can get drunk with beer and wine and have some fun… We’re pledges of the Cohort! Eventually we’ll get knighted, and then, who knows! New life, new opportunities!” Otho screamed. We stood up and headed towards the city.