Chapter 2: Golden Hello
With my house behind me, I jog my way over to the bus stop where I would be picked up. The reason why I’m being picked up at a bus stop as opposed to my house is that the school didn’t want to endanger family member’s lives. This is also why, once I get in the academy, access to the outside world will be restricted.
As I look around the dreary urban area, waiting for the bus, I realize that I won’t be seeing anything like it for at least two years. The four-story cement apartments, the small, cheap houses, even that smell of old diesel hanging in the air; I’ll miss all of it. Most especially, I’ll miss my mom. My friends too, I guess, but most of my friendships had felt superficial. Thinking about it, I chuckle. Everyone always told me how handsome I looked, and I hadn’t even kissed a girl. How silly is that?
An average looking commercial bus rumbles up to the stop. It’s dark blue, like the uniform I have on, but it looks like it's been used for quite a few years. With a hiss of air, the door opens, and a plain bus driver looks out at me.
“Well, get in here. You’ll put your bag in a compartment under yer seat, so don’t worry about it. Come on; we don’t got all day.” The gruff bus driver glares at me as I make my way onto the bus. The doors close with another hiss, and the bus is on its way.
Once I get to the top of stairs, I am stunned. From the outside, it looks like your average bus, but it’s way larger on the inside, like the TARDIS. It has rows of compartments, the kind you’d expect to see on a train, and the floor is a plush carpet. Either the school paid a lot for this bus, or this is just the tip of the iceberg for what they can do.
“You’re in compartment C3, the middle of the bus, with Kuro Tokumade. Go, shoo, I’ve got driving to do.” The gruff driver absentmindedly shoos me away with his hand.
I guess I’ll be going to C3, then. Looking above the compartment doors, I see different combinations of numbers and letters. Going down the line, it goes from A1 to A9, before going to B1. That means there are at least twenty-one compartments, with two people in each, for a total of forty-two students. That’s assuming that my compartment is the last, which, if my eyesight is right, is not true. The last letter I see is D, so that means thirty-six compartments, in total, if it is the last, meaning at most there will be seventy-two students on this bus.
According to the brochure, there are two-hundred-and-fifty students per grade, meaning that this bus holds about twenty-nine percent of the school in it. That’s pretty cool.
This is the point that I realize that standing in front of a door doing mental math is probably not the best use of my time, no matter how fun it is, so I decide to open the door and greet my compartment compatriot. Sliding the door open, I see two beds covered in white sheets, with a small table in between them. Next to the bed is a trash can, and under the beds are wooden containers, which must be where I put my bag. It’s not as cramped as one would expect it to be, looking at it from the outside, but that’s probably more dimensional weirdness.
One of the beds is empty; the other is occupied by a Japanese guy with black hair and back eyes. When I say black eyes, I don’t mean his irises are black, I mean each of his eyes are black, bottomless pits of despair. He’s wearing the same uniform as me, laying back on the bed with his shoes scattered on the floor. I can only assume this is Kuro Tokumade.
“Hey there! I’m Gild Smithson, and if I have this right, I’ll be your roommate for this trip. You are Kuro Tokumade, yes?” I greet him in my friendliest voice with a smile on my face, trying to make a good first impression. Even if I never see him again, it never hurts to be nice.
He nods in response, before going back to a book he was reading. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all. I go over to my new bed, reaching down and pulling open the compartment under it - a compartment in a compartment, how funny. I take my bag off my back, then drop it in the box. Unzipping it, I reach inside, grabbing one of the gold cubes and an energy bar. I didn’t eat breakfast earlier, and now is as good a time as any.
I slide the container back into its spot before plopping myself on the bed. It’s pretty nice, for something that probably is probably used about once a year. I reach down and untie my shoes, placing them gently next to each other next to the bed. I carefully unwrap the energy bar and eat it, before throwing away the wrapper. It wasn’t filling, but it would do. I hadn’t thought to bring a book, so all I have is my gold to play with.
I’m holding the gold in my hand, about to use my power, and the sliding door is slammed open. In front of the now open door stands an aquamarine girl in a power stance. She has large blue eyes, a wide mouth, and shoulder length, seaweed green hair. On her neck is a series of odd flaps which, if I were a betting man, I’d say are gills. As she stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips in a classic power stance, I could see a thick fish tail hanging down. She must have a custom uniform, to let her tail stick out.
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“What’s up, neighbors? I’m Molly Fisher and I’m bored, wanna talk?” Having finished her unusual entrance, she stares at us expectantly. Kuro glanced at her, a glance that had more malice in it than any villain’s eyes could ever hold, before going back to his book. Molly then turns to her gaze to me, at which point I realize I should probably respond.
“Hello, I’m Gild Smithson, it’s nice to meet you. This silent fellow to my right is Kuro Tokumade,” I say while pointing to Kuro. “Maybe we could talk outside the compartment? I don’t want to be a bother.”
“Sure, that’s fine. Not like I need to know everybody.” Molly stops talking to blow a bubble with the bubblegum that I hadn’t noticed she’d been chewing. I put my boots on and walk out of the compartment, making sure to close the door behind me. No need to bother Kuro with my useless chatter.
“Alright, Goldie Locks, let’s share powers and talk about our lives. I’ve got water-breathing, enhanced swimming, and super endurance, along with the ability to spray water out of my hands and mouth. I like metal, long swims in the ocean, and punching jerks in the face. Your turn.”
Still reeling from that tidal wave of information, I managed to eek out a reply, “I have gold manipulation, enhanced constitution and strength, plus a resistance to heat, and a lot of acids, thanks to my golden body. I like new wave rock, doing math, and stretching my limits.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I want to punch myself. ‘I like doing math’?! That sounds so stupid, and nerdy to boot! And what kind of hippy bull is ‘stretching my limits’? AH! Well, first, let’s just see how she’s reacted, and hope the panic didn’t show up on my face.
“New wave, huh? I could never get into myself. Who’s your favorite band?” Molly’s face shows no indication that she thinks anything I said was weird. Good.
“Definitely CRX. They’re pretty new, but they’re music is awesome. How about you?” Chill response, perfect.
“I dunno. Metallica is pretty sweet, as is Iron Maiden, but everybody likes them. I guess I don’t really have a favorite. Oh, but Through the Fire and Flames is my favorite song, by far.” Molly leans against the wall, absentmindedly blowing a bubble.
Now that we’re closer together, I can better see how she looks. Not in a creepy way, I mean, just in the cursory glance way. Her hair hangs loosely off her head, probably because of her water powers. Around her neck lay what looked like a golden necklace that disappeared into her uniform.
“Hey, watch the eyes, Goldie. I know we’re getting friendly, but not that friendly.” Molly glares at me, which is only accentuated by her large eyes.
“Huh? Oh! No no no, I didn’t mean anything like that, I mean, I was just… I was looking at your necklace is all. Gold, right?” I frantically reply, hoping she doesn’t think I’m some kind of pervert. I don’t want to be ‘that guy.’ Not that Molly isn’t good looking, it’s just that I didn’t think anything in that kind of way when I looked at her chest. I wasn’t looking at her chest, though. Just the necklace. Only the necklace. Yes, of course.
“Oh, this old thing? It’s nothing, something my mom forced me to bring. I guess I’ll let you look at it, but you better not judge me for it or something, got it?” Molly bares her surprisingly sharp teeth at me, her threat of retribution obvious. She did say she enjoyed punching people in the face. I hope I’m not put in her jerk list.
“I wouldn’t dare.” I say, with a grin that hopefully looks reassuring enough. The last thing I want is to get sucker punched by this girl, even with my gold body.
“Good.” Molly then reaches into her suit and pulls out the entire necklace. It’s quite long, with a cross hanging on the end of it. So that’s why she was so serious about this. The girl who likes rock and acts like a rebel has a super religious mom. Well, we all have our little secrets, even I have some skeletons in the closet.
“Hmm, nice cross. The gold is especially pure, must be twenty-four karats. Where did your mother get it?” Molly gave me a confused look, perhaps she was expecting a different question? I was just trying to make conversation.
“I dunno. She told me it was a family heirloom that brought her good luck. Currently, this has brought me nothing of the sort, but she did only give it to me this morning, along her a list of stern warnings. And when I say list, I mean she has literally printed out a list.” Molly rolls her eyes, probably thinking something that would go against one of those stern warnings.
“Can I see it? Might be fun to make fun of it.” I give her my best impish smirk. The smirk was my key to success, as she says she’ll be back, because it sounded like a great idea. Achievement Get: New Friend! I am such a loser. But a loser with an acquaintance, so that’s got to count for something. I stand against the wall for a few more seconds, hearing sounds of rummaging through the doorway on my right. Actually, why am I standing out here? Molly’s compartment is literally feet away. I gather up my courage, walk in front of the door, and prepare to knock. I’m not going to do what Molly did, both because I want to be the nicer person, and because if anything compromising is happening, I want my face to stay how it is.
I raise my hand to knock. Let’s hope nothing bad happens.