NEXUS TRIAL: The Rise of Liam Parker

The Mysterious Package

Liam opened his mouth to try explaining what had led to the fight, but the words died in his throat when he realized how pointless it would be to defend himself. Principal Matthews had already made up her mind about what had happened and nothing he said would change her perception of him as the aggressor who had ruined the peaceful atmosphere of her precious school. The system was designed to protect students like Derek who had money and connections, while students like Liam were expendable and easily discarded when they caused problems.

“I have nothing to say,” Liam finally answered, slumping back in the chair and avoiding eye contact with the principal. “Do whatever you’re going to do.”

Principal Matthews frowned at his attitude and her lips pressed into a thin line of disapproval. “Very well then,” she said while pulling out a form from her desk drawer. “You are suspended for one week starting immediately, and during that time you will not be allowed on school property for any reason. When you return you will be placed on academic probation and any further incidents of violence will result in permanent expulsion. I’m also calling your mother to inform her of your behavior today.”

The mention of his mother made Liam flinch because he knew how much this news would hurt her. She was already dealing with so much stress from losing their home and trying to figure out where they would live, and now she would have to worry about her son getting kicked out of school too. He wanted to tell Principal Matthews about everything that had happened over the past two days, wanted to make her understand that he wasn’t some violent troublemaker who attacked people for no reason, but pride kept his mouth shut.

Principal Matthews picked up her phone and dialed the number listed in Liam’s student file while he sat there feeling like the world was closing in around him. The conversation was brief and one sided, with the principal explaining the situation in clinical terms that made it sound like Liam had committed some heinous crime. He couldn’t hear his mother’s responses but he could imagine the devastation in her voice, and guilt twisted in his stomach like a knife.

After hanging up the phone Principal Matthews stood and gestured toward the door with a curt nod. “Your mother is on her way to pick you up,” she said. “Wait in the front office until she arrives and then leave the premises immediately. I’ll expect to see you back here in exactly one week with a better attitude and a written apology to Derek Whitmore.”

Liam stood and walked out of the office without saying another word because he didn’t trust himself to speak without saying something that would make his situation even worse. The secretary in the front office gave him a disapproving look as he sat down in one of the plastic chairs lined up against the wall, and he pulled out his phone to avoid making eye contact with her. He had three missed calls from his mother and a dozen text messages from classmates who had already heard about the fight.

Most of the messages were from people he barely knew who were pretending to care about what happened so they could get more details to gossip about. A few were from Derek’s friends threatening him with various forms of retaliation, and one was from a girl named Sophie Martinez who he had worked on a group project with last semester. Her message was simple and surprisingly kind, just asking if he was okay and offering to send him notes from the classes he would miss.

Forty minutes passed before his mother arrived looking exhausted and worried, and the disappointment in her eyes when she saw him was worse than any punishment the school could have given him. They walked to Sarah’s car in silence because Alice had borrowed it to come pick him up, and the drive back to the apartment was equally quiet except for the sound of traffic around them. Liam kept his gaze fixed on the window and watched the city pass by in a blur of buildings and people going about their normal lives.

“What happened Liam?” Alice finally asked as they sat at a red light. “Principal Matthews said you attacked another student but she didn’t give me any details about why.”

Liam considered lying or making up some excuse that would make him look less bad, but he was too tired to maintain any kind of pretense. “Derek Whitmore was talking about dad and you,” he said quietly. “He called us parasites and said dad deserved to die. I just couldn’t take it anymore mom.”

Alice was silent for a long moment and when Liam glanced over at her he saw tears streaming down her face again. “Oh baby,” she whispered, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “I’m so sorry you had to hear those awful things. But violence isn’t the answer and now you’ve made everything so much harder for yourself.”

They arrived back at Sarah’s apartment to find a note on the door saying that they needed to be out by tomorrow morning because the landlord had stopped by and threatened to evict Sarah if she kept housing guests. This news seemed to be the final straw for Alice who sat down on the couch and started crying in earnest, and Liam felt completely helpless as he watched his mother fall apart. Everything they touched turned to disaster and there seemed to be no way out of the downward spiral their lives had become.

Liam spent the rest of the afternoon searching online for homeless shelters and cheap motels they might be able to afford with what little money his mother had saved. Most of the shelters had waiting lists that were weeks or months long, and the motels that were within their budget were located in dangerous neighborhoods where crime was rampant. He considered reaching out to some of his father’s old friends to ask for help but pride stopped him, and besides most of them had disappeared after the funeral when it became clear the family had no money left.

Evening came and went with no solutions presenting themselves, and Liam lay awake on the floor that night staring at the ceiling while his mother slept fitfully on the couch. His body ached from the fight and his knuckles were bruised and swollen, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the crushing weight of hopelessness that pressed down on his chest. Tomorrow they would be on the streets with nowhere to go and no prospects for improving their situation, and he had no idea how they were going to survive.

Around midnight Liam finally gave up on trying to sleep and grabbed his phone to mindlessly scroll through social media. The video of his fight with Derek had been viewed over five thousand times already and the comments were a mixture of people mocking him and others expressing shock at seeing quiet Liam Parker lose control. He was about to close the app when a notification popped up on his screen from an unknown sender, and curiosity made him tap it despite his better judgment.

The notification opened to reveal a sleek black website with silver text that seemed to glow against the dark background. At the center of the page was a single line of text that read “Congratulations Liam Parker, you have been selected for the Nexus Trials” followed by an address for a warehouse on the industrial side of town. Below that was a time stamp indicating that he had twenty four hours to arrive at the location or his invitation would be given to someone else.

Liam stared at the message for a long time trying to figure out if this was some kind of prank or scam, but something about the professional design and mysterious wording intrigued him. He had nothing to lose at this point anyway since his life was already destroyed, and the idea of some kind of trial or competition appealed to the desperate part of him that wanted a chance to prove himself. Maybe this was exactly the opportunity he needed to turn everything around.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​