"Very well, um..." Will looked down at his desk, pulling up his interface on the glass surface. "Kevin?" he asked, looking up to confirm if that was me. I nodded. "Okay great. Anyway, I know I just interviewed your brother, but I'll treat it like I don't know anything about you. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"Awesome. Well first off, I will brief you a little on the purpose of this interview. Have you heard of the integration initiative?" Will asked, clasping his hands together.
"I know of it, but I don't know much about it. All I know is that it's an initiative to integrate elite and natal life to be more cohesive," I said.
Over the last few years, a new initiative was started to help natals and elites live in a more cohesive environment, trying to mix the social classes to foster understanding between the different groups. It was a good sentiment, but execution was slightly more than a little problematic.
First of all, most natals went about their lives, never meeting an elite, being in jobs where it was unheard of for elites to participate in. Of course, there were jobs like nurses and scientists, where natals and elites worked in a similar environment, but these jobs were few and far between. Secondly, most elites were simply too busy to even attempt to make small talk while at work. Social integration seemed second priority when there were more pressing matters to attend to.
"Yes, and that's basically the essence of the initiative. Today's interview will be covering a little bit of your experiences in your job internships in regards to elite and natal interactions." I nodded to the older elite. "At any point in the interview, should you have a question, feel free to stop me and voice your thoughts. Also, should you feel uncomfortable in answering a question, you can simply voice it and we'll move on."
"Okay."
"Great. So first, I'll like to know a little bit about you. Can you describe to me your family?" Will asked, browsing through his desk interface.
"Okay, well my family consists of my father, Dave and my mom, Justine. You already know my brother Kenneth."
"Any other siblings other than your brother?" Will asked and I shook my head. "And how do you feel about the accommodations your family is currently residing in. Any complaints or issues you want to bring up?"
"It's fine. Serves its purpose and we live comfortably enough."
"And what about school? You're almost done with your education, do you have a job in mind that you would like to get placed in?"
"I'm really good with mechanical stuff, so I'm hoping I'll get placed in something along that line," I said. Will chuckled at my statement, and I got confused for a moment. He may have been a natal before, but I couldn't help but feel like maybe he was judging me. "Is there a problem with that?"
"What? Oh no. It's just funny, how everyone I interviewed today knew what they want to be after they completed school. When I was in your position, I didn't know who I was, let alone know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," he said.
"If I may ask, how did you even become an elite," I asked, unsure if the question was out of line. Really, everyone knew Will Harrison went from natal to elite, but no one knew how or why, at least in the natal community. Then again, he may have answered the question so many times that it just became a chore to him.
"Long story short, my test results were peculiar, indicative of elite education rather than natal. To this day no one can tell me why," he said, rolling his eyes. "You'd think that the best elite minds would be able to figure it out by now."
"Oh...I'm sorry." I said, suddenly feeling guilty for assuming he was looking down on me for wanting to be a mechanic.
"For?"
"I thought you were looking down on my choice of profession."
Will cocked a side smile. "There are no important or unimportant jobs on Lunaris. Everyone has a role to play, and all of them are equal." I nodded, but blushed and looked down at my hands. I could feel Will's eyes on me, could feel the way he was thinking, analyzing my reaction. It had been done so many times to me by Alena that I could sense it. Whatever he was analyzing, he didn't say though, immediately carrying on with the interview.
The interview went by with him asking questions in relation to natal life, school and anything of the like. Slowly, I felt myself grow more comfortable and I answered the questions, forgetting about how I had embarrassed myself in front of Will.
"Moving on, what are your thoughts of elites. Have you had interactions with any of them?" Will asked.
"My best friend is actually elite," I replied.
"May I ask the name of this elite?"
"Alena Hopper." At the name, Will looked up from his desk in surprise, his eyes wide.
"Alena Hopper? As in platinum hair, silver eyes, piercings on her ear Alena?"
"Yeah why, do you know her?" I asked, seeing Will expression change to a confused one, staring at me intently.
"You're...kidding right?"
"About what?" I asked, myself growing more confused.
"So that's why he didn't want to tell me," Will muttered under his breath.
"Who didn't tell you what?"
"You're brother. He didn't want to tell me Alena was you guys' best friend."
"Why not?" Will stared at me, his face scrunched in thought as he took in my question.
"Kevin, you do know who my husband is right?"
"Thane Hopper?" I replied, a little unsure myself now. I was definitely missing something here.
"And you know who his father is?" Will probed further. I sensed like he was trying to get me to figure out what he was getting at, but I wasn't grasping any of it.
"President Varek Hopper," I said. Will looked at me, motioning with his hand to carry on, waiting for me to suddenly realize what he was getting at. I tried piecing together what he had just said. All I knew was that it had something to do with Thane and Varek Hopper, but nothing else. It was times like this, that I wished Ken was there to fill in the blank spaces for me. I looked up at Will and saw him raising an eyebrow at me. I suddenly couldn't remember how we even deviated to this subject. We were talking about Alena, so how did it come to this.
Then I had an epiphany. We were talking about Alena. Alena Hopper. Then Thane Hopper and finally Varek Hopper. Did that mean...?
"Alena is related to Thane and Varek Hopper?" I practically shouted.
"I'm surprised you didn't already know that. Hopper isn't a common last name on Lunaris," Will stated.
"But..." I was having real trouble believing it, stuttering as my brain tried to keep up with reality. Alena had never once mentioned that she was part of the presidential family. How was I to know? I wondered if Ken knew about it, and if he did, why didn't he tell me.
"You're brother probably knows, hence why he didn't feel comfortable telling me about Alena," Will said, confirming my preconceptions and further making me wonder why Ken never said anything to me.
"Okay...so...Alena is the president's daughter and apparently, I'm the only one who didn't know that," I said.
"Don't be too hard on yourself."
"So you're her brother-in-law."
"Well I guess so, but listen Kevin—" Will started but was cut off by me.
"Am I really that dumb that I couldn't even figure that out?" I mumbled to myself. I mean, I always knew I wasn't the brightest person, but to miss something like that about my best friend, it made me feel a new sense of stupidity.
"Kevin."
"Some best friend I am. I couldn't even piece together something as significant as my best friend's family. How stupid can I be?"
"Kevin!" Will shouted, finally grabbing my attention. "You're not stupid. It was a simple mistake, and it doesn't make you dumb. No one could have guessed it."
"Ken did."
Will sighed, "Listen Kevin, I may be a little out of line here with this question but, has an elite ever held his social status over you? Made you feel less than you are?" I looked at him but said nothing. He stared at me, as if looking deep into my thoughts, weeding out the truth. "Is it by any chance Taron Wolfrum?"
At that name my eyes went wide. How could he have possibly known that? At my shocked expression however, Will closed his eyes and sighed once again. This time though you could almost hear the exasperation in his voice. "Someone really needs to put that boy in his place," Will muttered. "What's worse is that he's Alena's friend."
This wasn't news to me though. I knew right from the first time I met Taron that he was Alena's friend. "It's really no big deal," I finally manage to say.
"But it is Kevin. It's that damn mentality that's gonna hold back progress on the whole social integration thing," Will sighed. "If you don't mind me asking, what has he ever said to you that has made you feel bad about yourself."
Could I tell him? How the only degrading thing Taron had ever said to me was call me natal, albeit in a very condescending manner. That the only reason I felt bad about what he says is because of my nonsensical crush I had on him. Would I dare tell Will Harrison that?
"Nothing. It's just the feeling I get from him that makes me uneasy," I replied, leaving out the whole truth.
"Please Kevin, if he ever says anything to try and belittle you, don't listen to him. Know that he is a minority and most elites do not share that sentiment. Natals are important too. Maybe even more important than elites. Don't forget that."
"What made you think that an elite has...you know?" I asked. I had not given any indication of experience with elite prejudice. Heck, I wasn't even perturbed enough to let it affect me that much, but the way Will was making it out to be some huge deal, made me really curious.
"From the way you seemed taken aback when I chuckled at your choice of profession. You seemed to immediately think that I was looking down on you. And then again when you were going on about how you were dumb. I sensed some sort of inferiority complex and I had to guess."
"Oh..."
"Listen, if you need anything at all, you call me okay? I'll tell Alena to transfer you my contact," Will said.
