Rio was bored out of his gourd.
It was ten minutes until lunch, which for whatever strange reason was at 10:30 AM, oddly enough, only 2 and a half hours after classes had started at the Academy for a Brighter Tomorrow.
Brighter Tomorrow was a school for troubled young children from the ages of five through fourteen that genuinely tried its hardest to support the students, but it's hardest was not enough. The pastel colors of the hallways could not make a child forget the prison-like atmosphere nor ignore the glaring fluorescent lights. Every Friday was Pizza Friday in the cafeteria, but it did not stop the many fights, usually on Pizza Friday.
Brighter Tomorrow's students were an odd bunch.
Most of the younger students under ten were children whose powers were dangerous and came in oddly young, before puberty. They needed special guidance on not how to hurt themselves, or other people, and to help them transition easier into society as adults. The older students were children who were kicked out of various middle schools in the area, an impressive feat. But this mixture meant that many of the younger students that came, who were meant to stay a short time would learn and copy from the older students, be sent back to regular public school, and then be kicked out and returned to Brighter Tomorrow.
Rio was one of those students.
Rio sat in the very back of the class, not paying any attention to the lesson at hand. He wiggled in his seat, staring at the clock, willing time to move forward.
It didn't work, causing him to become even more impatient.
His teacher, Mrs. Wu, looked at him in utter bewilderment and decided not to say anything because, at least, he wasn't making noise. When it was finally time for lunch, Rio ran out of the classroom without the rest of the class, and she didn't bother to stop him.
Rio didn't understand it yet, but most of the staff feared him.
He wasn't violent, or rude and rarely missed a day of class. What they feared was what he could do. Every day his powers grew and Rio didn't know what he was doing. Ninety percent of the children in the same program as Rio had learned to control their abilities by the third month of classes.
Rio was not one of them.
Those who pitied him tried to help, but the language barrier didn't help either. Rio didn't have a Cochlear-Chip, so he spent most of his days at school alone and bored.
He wandered off on his own into the cafeteria while absentmindedly scratching at his bright red school-issued grounder. The loud cafeteria was fuller than usual. It smelled of cheese, oil, sweat, plus the added aroma of too much body spray from the older students. His amber eyes flitted back and forth while he tried to find his target. His eyes settled on a table near the back where his target lay.
"FENTON!"
Fenton's body twitched and then he relaxed when he felt the familiar aura of his best friend, Rio.
Fenton was wearing a thick, red, turtle-neck sweater and long black jeans even though it was hot out. He looked uncomfortable but didn't complain when his mother dressed him that morning. Rio, too smart for his own good noticed. He came to school in a highlighter yellow shirt and shorts, feeling snazzy. Rio and Fenton got along great because Fenton could understand his words from reading his thoughts and Rio never pressured Fenton to speak.
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"Fenton, do you like my clothes?"
He nodded yes.
"Can I sit with you?"
He nodded yes again.
Fenton never spoke but Rio spoke enough for the two of them. He even ate enough for the both of them! Fenton magically never was that hungry and said Rio could have whatever he didn't want. So Rio had two pizzas on Pizza Friday, and he felt like a king. He started to wipe his greasy hands on his shirt but Fenton stopped him. He made a washing motion with his hands.
"AH YES!"
They went off to the bathroom together to wash their hands. Rio, like most eight-year-old boys, was more concerned with playing in the bathroom than actually using it. He made faces in the mirror and smeared soap on the brown-speckled restroom countertop. The entire countertop was covered in bubbles and foam. Fenton grinned and pulled up his sleeves to join in on the harmless mischief, but recoiled when he saw Rio's reaction.
"What happened to your arms," Rio asked.
Fenton looked at the bruises on his forearm, then at Rio, and lastly at the ground. He shrugged and pulled his sleeves back into place.
"Did you get into a fight?"
Fenton shook his head no, very fast, and covered Rio's mouth with his hand. Something soft and wet quickly flicked against his palm and Fenton shrieked. Rio had licked his hand and snickered.
"I think that's the first noise I ever heard from you," Rio said in surprise. "Should I do that again?"
Fenton clutched his right hand as if it were burned and vigorously shook his head no.
"Tell me how you got hurt or else I'll DO IT AGAIN," Rio threatened.
Fenton expected the back of his head to tingle, the feeling he always got when someone was lying.
Much to his horror, there was no tingling, and the threat of being licked was very real. So he caved in.
A voice that was not his own rang inside Rio's head.
"It was an accident," the voice said.
Rio grabbed the sides of his head, getting soap on his hair, and looked for the source of the voice. He opened all the stalls while Fenton giggled waiting for him to understand where it was coming from.
"Over here dummy," the voice said.
Rio made a weird noise, ran over to Fenton, and playfully poked him.
"Well now you got no more excuses to not say nothing," Rio exclaimed.
Fenton gave a sly grin, shrugged, and put his finger up to Rio's temple. An image of the playground flashed through his mind and Rio understood.
"Not until you tell me about the arms," Rio complained.
Absentmindedly he rubbed his eyes with soapy hands and immediately regretted his decision. He shrieked in pain, and while blinded by the soap, he tried to make it back to the sink. Next, he tripped over his highlighter yellow laces, and his grounder cracked. With tears in his eyes, Rio began to panic. Fenton tried to help by giving him a wet paper towel but it was too late. Once Rio was wound up it was hard for him to stop.
A small black speck appeared on the bathroom tile. Another on the ceiling. A third popped up on the countertop once Rio finally made his way over to it. They slowly grew in size, filling up the room. Fenton's throat felt dry, he shook his head no, and screamed, but the room continued to be swallowed. Rio finally got the soap out of his eyes, but once he glanced away from the mirror, he became confused.
" I don't know why you were making all that noise! I can stop it whenever it starts," Rio asserted.
He opened the door to exit the boy's room and was greeted by a warm, lush garden. Cautiously he left the room with Fenton trailing behind. Rio did not take only himself this time, but the entire room, including a part of the school's hallway.
"Whoa, this is awesome! I didn't know I could do all this," Rio shouted.
Fenton glared at him and Rio muttered a quick apology.
"Don't worry, don't worry! We can stay here instead of going to the playground for recess. It's so much bigger!"
Fenton shook his head no again, but after some poking, a bit of tickling, and a very bad knock-knock joke, he was convinced to stay. He told himself it couldn't be that bad. That they could go back home whenever they wanted. But home was not such a good place for Fenton lately and Rio felt ignored at home as well.
They made their way through the hedges and grazed their fingers on the petals of flowers the size of their bodies while Rio explained to Fenton all the amazing things you could do in the garden, and that make-believe games were real here! Soon the conversation changed from "staying during recess" to "staying until the end of the day", and then eventually "running away together." Since they could leave whenever they wanted, Rio promised him that he shouldn't be afraid of the "strange man in a suit".
Fenton was more afraid of going back home than a funny man in a suit and decided to stay.