Luke anxiously observed the crowd of kids wandering the halls of the school. The narrow, oppressively white halls mixed hellishly with the deafening crowd, voices from every direction stirred into a cacophony of soupy dialogues with occasional words breaking free and scrambling into Luke’s hearing range. Getting passed the crowd would have been an even more impossible feat, until a vicious, terrifying noise blared from above.
That sound signaled every kid to cluster into one of several doors that broke the pattern of white brick wall, Luke following behind one crowd smushing themselves into a door frame. Upon entering the rectangular room, he could see a large man sitting at desk, looking slightly older than his father. Having found his seat, the boy hadn’t known what to expect.
“Good morning children. I see we’ve got a full room this year; better get started with attendance right away! I’ll start calling names and checking them off my list. If you hear your name called, step up, introduce yourself, and tell us your element. Let’s start with: Terrance Avani.”
Luke gulped as he watched a kid make his way toward the front of the room where the teacher now stood up.
“Hi, I’m Terrance, I live in Northwest middle. Mom says it’s better here. And uh…I’m nature.”
“Hi Terrance” a blast of voices called out.
“Nice to meet you Terrance; that must be a long walk, but I’m sure your mother is right.” The man waved for the boy to return to his seat. “Next: Luke Baronia.”
With those word, Luke felt his heart stop beating, his blood halt, chills galloping up and down his body, and his eyes blow up. With a deep inhale, carefully taken through his nose, he stood up and walked forward before the teacher could think to call him again.
Turning around to face the whole class, he could see what he assumed was over thirty other kids, all with expecting gazes staring back at him. Luke just wanted to melt, to run away out the door and back home. He wanted so bad for his brother to come in and save him like so many times before, but he knew it wasn’t happening.
“My name,” the boy took in a deep breath, “is Luke Baronia.”
“Hi Luke.” A flat echo of voices rang throughout the room, hollow and forced. The monotone cacophony of desynced hellos was reassuring as they were similar energetic towards the previous kids before him.
“And what are your elements?”
That relief had died on hearing that question. Was Luke to lie? He couldn’t prove it if the teacher asked. Was he to tell the truth? He would face untold ridicule!
“Well?”
Goaded into giving an answer, the boy gritted his teeth and began sweating again. “I-I don’t know.”
The teacher had walked next to Luke, his towering figure drawing even more attention to the already petrified little kid, unsure of whether he was fine being buried up to his chin or if he wanted to dig himself even deeper.
“Well, perhaps you’ve forgotten. Try concentrating your mana into the palms of your hands and see what comes out.”
The boy didn’t have to be told the technique, he was already made aware countless times from his brother since spring. Even now, the teacher was complimenting his form, his hands forming a ball with the open space as to give the potential energy room to fill yet limit how possibly destructive it could become.
‘Perhaps this time would be different’ is what he lied to himself. Despite his form, despite having been four years since his father was given the news, Luke had never moved on from having no element or mana to speak of. No energy congealed within the space he created, not even a drop of mana had coalesced in his arms, no matter how naturally or forcefully he concentrated.
“Maybe another time.” The teacher shooed the boy backed to his seat, realizing all too late the damage being done. “Next up…”
Luke had paid no mind to the teacher, instead quickly taking his seat within the classroom, slumping down as far as he could so that he felt invisible. Unfortunately, his sliding down the chair had worked too well, requiring him to readjust himself before falling to the floor. Wiggling back up had made him feel even more awkward than before.
Looking around, he felt himself grow a little relieved as the others seemed fixated on a girl being introduced, a girl who controlled fire. She was replaced with a boy that could use lightning, another who used earth, and then a girl who used water, followed by wind.
These introductions continued for the whole of class, until a bell signaled for the class to end and math class to begin.
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Ding ding ding. A pedal hit a bell with furious anger, signaling lunch time.
“Alright everyone, you’ll line up by the first letter of your last name, starting with: Ambeline.”
One by one, the little kids gathered by the entrance and exit to the classroom, the single door that led to freedom, or in this case lunch.
“Baronia.”
Perking up, Luke breathed through his nose in an attempt to calm himself before getting up and walking up to the line. He had hoped the hours between being introduced and embarrassed to now would ease him into this new setting. He was wrong.
As the teacher continued to call names, Luke couldn’t help but glance behind him at regular intervals and watch the line behind him grow further and further until it was forced to curved as to not hit the wall.
“All right kids, follow me to the cafeteria! No cutting in front now.”
Opening the door and leading the way, the kids proceeded forward in an orderly fashion, Luke trying his hardest to keep perfectly within line, avoiding stepping on the heels of the girl in front of him while not holding up those after him.
Through the long hall of white walls and brown doors that led to other classrooms, the cafeteria sat at end, to the right. The cafeteria was massive, taking up half the building’s total size. The aroma was intoxicating to Luke, the smell of chicken and mashed potatoes had his mouth watering.
Following the lead of the girl before him, he picked up a tray and waited for the lady behind the kitchen desk to put food on it. Before he could even tell what had happened, Luke found himself falling on to the girl who was about to walk away from the line.
The landing resulted in mix feelings: Luke’s face and upper body were protected by the girl’s back, but his knees had hit the tile floor, though only resulting in bruising. When he picked himself up, he realized the girl was not so lucky, her face landing right in her potatoes; the rest of her food was all over the floor.
The girl had begun crying, the teacher from earlier having ran in to comfort the girl and understand the situation.
“Are you alright, who did this?”
Wiping away her tears long enough to see the kids behind her, she pointed toward Luke, the boy feeling his heart stop when she did.
“A troublemaker, eh? Let’s see how you feel after detention.”
Luke tried to argue, he tried to defend himself, but his words were lost over the teacher grabbing him by the arm pulling him harshly away from the cafeteria. As he was dragged away, he watched as the boy behind him flashed a devilish grin.
“I didn’t do it! That boy behind me pushed me!”
The boy’s attempts to explain his innocence were tosses aside, the teacher glaring at him with a stare that pierced his skin and stabbed at his heart. Realizing his protest was being ignored, he sat in the desk of the empty classroom, no lunch, no chicken, no potatoes, not even an apple slice.
As the clock on the wall ticked, ticked unbearably in the deafening silence, the boy put his head down as if to nap. His mind wandered, thinking back on the scene, wishing he could have said something or done something.
Luke felt his eyes grow watery, but as tears began to form around his eyes, the words of his father echoed through his head.
‘Luke, stop crying this instance!”
The boy’s sadness had snapped away instantly, replaced by a bold determination to listen to the commanding memory in his head.
“Crying won’t solve anything. When people see you cry, they’ll see you as weak, they’ll hurt you more, make you want to cry more. Don’t cry when you fail, think about what you did wrong and how you can do better.”
“I hope next time you’ll think about what you’ve done.”
Luke rubbed his eyes and sat up straight before looking at the man. Instead of responding, he simply returned the angry glare the teacher gave him.
“You rich kids never learn” the man sighed.
Ding ding ding
Again the clanging of the bell signaled the students, this time signaling the end of lunch. As the kids poured into the room, Luke could see the girl from earlier, her clothes still dirty from the food and tear stains; when the two made eye contact, Luke slid back in his seat when he saw her anger.
Right after her was the boy, short and blonde, he still had the sinister grin that riled up Luke, whose regret was replaced with anger.
The lessons continued for what seemed like forever, but eventually the bell signaled once again, this time the teacher had led the kids to the end of the hall, but through the door straight ahead, opposite of the entrance of the school. Beyond the doors was a field, the older man instructing the kids to go and play, all except for Luke and someone named “Maple”.
“Alright Luke, tell maple you’re sorry.”
“I’m sorry Maple.” Luke’s apology was cutoff at the end, his eyes pointed toward the ground.
“Young man, show some respect! Look that girl in the eyes when you speak. And don’t mumble either.”
Luke began to grit his teeth when chastised, but he stopped, pulled his head up, and looked at the girl who still looked rather angry.
“I’m sorry Maple.”
“For?” The girl escalated her tone.
“For knocking you over.”
With a humph, the girl walked off to play with other girls, leaving Luke to be further berated.
“There, doesn’t it feel good to tell the truth?”
Not having the energy to argue, the boy went searching for one who started all of this. It didn’t take him long to spot the blonde by himself, sitting beside a tree, not a care in the world.
“Why did you knock me into that girl?”
“I just wanted to see what would happen. I thought it was funny.”
“Well it wasn’t! Everyone thinks I did it.”
“What are you going to do, beat me up? I’d like to see you do that without mana.”
Luke paused, thinking for a moment.
“Tell you what kid, we fight tomorrow. If you beat me up, I’ll tell everyone I pushed you and you fell onto that girl. Deal?”
“I-“
“Deal! Now move, you’re blocking the view!”
Luke again wanted to protest, but he figured this could be a chance to prove himself. Doing as the kid requested, he moved, but not before looking at where the blonde had faced. The girl from before was playing jump rope with some others.
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“So Luke, how did your day go?”
Matthew had waited for Luke at the middle-class square, where he and his friends met on weekends and during summer. The younger sibling had hung his head in shame.
“Awful Matt. Some kid made me knock over a girl and everyone thinks I did it on purpose.”
“Ouch. If you want, I can tell dad about what happened, or I could beat that kid up.”
Luke took a moment to process what his brother had offered him, but decided people might hate him more.
“No, it’s okay.”
“You sure Luke?”
“Yeah…”