Not for the first time this morning, someone enters the classroom, looks at me, then rubs their eyes, as if they thought they were hallucinating. Or in a dream. Apparently, me being in class twice in a one-week period is something to disbelieve.

It's amusing as all get-out.

Though it is a rare enough occurrence as it is, so it's not entirely unbelievable. I think the last time I was in school twice in a one-week period was a few years ago.

As the students arrive in ones and twos and threes, our teacher arrives as well. As he approaches his desk, he seems to take notice of me, and stares for a few minutes.

"Hello, Mr. Wade," he says, shock clear on his face. "Didn't expect to see you here today."

"Tanner convinced me to come," I indicate Tanner, who did, in fact, convince me to come.

We had a long discussion after a couple of hours of sex last night, and I decided to attend what's left of school. For the most part. I might still skip a day or two just because I'm a guy who prefers to move around, and school… doesn't really let me do that a whole lot. Sitting in a classroom several days in a row will definitely grate on me.

"What, a hot Sigil-Bearer moves to town, and you suddenly decide to start attending classes?" Someone asks. "What are you, gay?"

"Being hot is part of being a Sigil-Bearer," I look at him. "So, uh, you were a bit redundant, there. If you say 'Sigil-Bearer', it's known they're hot. Also, does a guy need to be gay to be convinced of something by a guy? Or is that just you hoping I am because of that desire you have to suck my dick and take me up the ass?"

Tanner gives him a strange look at that, then gives me a strange look, probably wondering how I knew that. Hm. What's the guy's name? Now that I think about it, I never bothered learning the names of my classmates. I just remember his face because of how I know about his fantasy.

"Excuse me?" The guy asks. "Why the hell would you think that I'm-"

"I found your forum posts discussing what you wanted me to do to you," I state. "It's honestly kind of disturbing how in-depth you got with it. I don't mind it if you're fantasizing about me, but please, keep those fantasies to yourself. In the first place, I'm not into what you apparently are."

"What is he into?" Tanner asks.

"I'll show the post after school," I tell him. "Ian sent it to me when it went up last week, along with the face of the guy who posted it."

"He posted it last week?" Tanner asks.

"During lunch on Tuesday," I confirm. "Ian owns the forums, so he noticed it pretty fast."

"Who the hell is Ian?" The now-outed classmate asks.

"His boyfriend," Tanner answers. "A technokinetic Sigil-Bearer."

Normally, I'd have been opposed to letting my classmates know I'm gay and would avoid coming here again after they found out. Most people don't have an issue with gays, especially those of us born after the World Revolt.

At the same time, though, the gossip mill would love to know that detail about me.

Tanner suggested letting them know anyway when we were talking last night, and even though I'm going to be here a bit more, I agreed to let the gossip mill have some rumors. We also decided to let them know I've got a boyfriend, though that might not stop some of them from wondering about Tanner and me.

"Wait," one of the girls asks. "You're dating a Sigil-Bearer? But there isn't another here, especially not-"

"It's mostly long-distance," I interrupt. "He visits about once a month, though. We've known each other since we were… ten."

Tanner gives me a strange look over my pause, probably aware that there's something I didn't tell him about when Ian approached me. Even though there is, I don't intend on telling him. Ian and I did know each other before we were ten, but he hadn't approached me yet and the stuff from before Myths and Sigils is complicated.

"Once I graduate, it'll be less long-distance," I say.

"If you're already dating him," someone else asks. "Why aren't you with him? You already skip school all the time, anyway."

"I have my reasons."

Which will probably become clear after graduation, but they don't need to know that.

"Anyway," Tanner says. "It explains why he seemed so nonchalant about me. I've seen pics of his boyfriend, and damn is he hot. And powerful. Makes my ability seem lame in comparison."

Tanner has a momentary look of depression on his face, but it's gone quickly enough I doubt our classmates noticed it. If anyone did, they'll probably think they miss-saw it.

"Did you tell him your ability?" Someone asks.

"Class started about a minute ago," I interrupt. "It's probably better to pay attention if you have any intention on getting good grades. Even with only a week and a half left, you can still ruin your life."

The teacher clears his throat, and the rest of the students turn their attention to him. I pull out some paper and start doodling instead of taking notes, though I do somewhat listen to the lesson. At the end of class, Tanner pokes me on the arm.

"Why did you draw bunnies playing laser tag?"

"Ian had a break last night and was playing laser tag with some of his coworkers."

"Oh," Tanner says as we start packing our stuff up to move to the next class, some of our classmates looking at my drawing due to his comment. "Wait. When you're doodling, are your doodles related to stuff Ian did the day before?"

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Yeah."

"So he was surfing last Monday?"

"Last Sunday," I correct.

Our next class is some form of History, and it seems that today, they're talking about the World Revolt. I guess since everyone's getting ready to go off into the world, they see it important to remind us of the event and the changes that have occurred since.

"Can anyone tell us what one of the most significant effects the Calamity had on the world?" The teacher asks. "In terms of living, especially for people who have just graduated high school."

No one raises their hand, and a few classmates look at each other uneasily. Tanner might know the answer, though a glance at him shows that he's displaying a mask, hiding whether or not he does.

"Come on, we just discussed this a few weeks ago," our teacher says. "How has the Calamity affected the lives most people live after graduating high school now?"

Still just silence. This is frustrating, especially since they do know the answer, they've just 'forgotten' it because of how natural it seems to us. The main reason would be that they've probably forgotten their lessons on how things were before the Calamity, since we didn't live through that era.

"While many things are similar," I decide to break the silence. "Most of those things are also different in some way. Before, most people would go to college immediately or go straight to work, with some people already working and some taking a break. However, in any city that works with the Federation, you can have a standard income for a few years. Colleges are less expensive than before as well. These two things combined means that many people are either going to college and using part of the standard income to pay for it, or they go into an apprenticeship. Some people are also taking a gap year, using the standard income to live and relax, then going into work, an apprenticeship, or college.

"Basically," I say. "It boils down to: towns and cities with Federation assistance have standard income for a few years after you become an adult, a higher labor force is needed to help with recovery, rebuilding, and such, and college is cheaper. Of course, the assumption is that most people who graduate high school are intelligent enough to be able to maintain a job, though there are the cases of people who aren't able to.

"However," I continue. "With the events which occurred after the World Revolt, the younger population isn't as lazy as the generations before the World Revolt, a direct result of most needing to put in effort and a change in the way punishments are handled in schools, moving from keeping out of classes to labor or hard exercise. Many people already have jobs they work because of the increased pricing making many luxuries once easily afforded expensive. That's part of why schools like ours built dorms for students – to help provide some of the resources they can use, including a place to live with an easy trip to the school regardless of weather, food, and a clothes voucher each semester if they can prove they need it."

The looks of my classmates tells me they didn't expect me to have any insight at all.

"I've studied a bit about the stuff from before," I add. "It fascinates me, the differences between then and now. This is probably the only topic I could have answered."

Tanner tries not to laugh as some of my classmates give me a strange look.

"And how do you expect to make a living after, if you aren't educated?" Someone asks. "You said it yourself, and I doubt your parents had enough left after the Calamity for you to just coast by after you get evicted from the dorms in a couple of years."

"First, I'll be moving out before I turn twenty," I say. "On my own, not due to an eviction. I'd like to be with my boyfriend more than long-distance and the occasional in-person visit he can manage due to his work. Second, I already have a job and plenty of income, so my education isn't even relevant in the first place. I've had this job for years now, and it pays rather well. Since I'm living in the dorms and we're all given a food supply crate each month, I have plenty of savings, too. Third, don't ever bring up my parents again unless it's with the utmost respect."

The dark tone I use for my warning causes him to stiffen up in terror, and a couple of my classmates visibly pale, too. Part of the reason I started skipping was because of comments about my parents, about how they were failures after the World Revolt because society no longer cared about models due to needing to focus on recovery.

Not that it's any of their business, but I still have most of what my parents left behind. No one could touch it but me, so it's remained as it is for the last fourteen years. Since the school system was taking care of me anyway, the money wasn't needed in the first place, and then we started Myths and Sigils, so I ended up with my own income.

Though it's even stupider that people actually thought that models weren't needed anymore. Companies still needed to advertise things, my parents just decided to settle down here and give it up because my mom found out she was pregnant. They were both in ads and commercials for a few months after the World Revolt.

Rather than allowing the discussion to continue, our teacher resumes the lesson, but I just grab my bag and leave. No point staying here any longer today, I'm in a bad mood.

Exiting the school, I return to the dorms and drop my bag off inside the door, then take off my boots and socks and head into my room. Tanner will probably come track me down after school, so rather than heading into the ruins and blowing shit up or training or something, I put in a game and start playing, stopping only for lunch and to make a couple of bathroom breaks. I don't even check the school-issued phone to see the crap that's being said about my exit.

Not even ten minutes after classes end for the day, there's a knock on my door, so I pause my game and answer the door. It's Tanner, so I let him in.

"Hey," he says. "I would have left, too, but…"

"It's fine," I tell him. "Come on in."

"You're in a bad mood," he enters the apartment and removes his sneakers and socks as I close the door, then we head to my room. "I didn't know your parents were a sore subject for you."

"It's… complicated," I tell him. "Let me get to a place I can save, then we can head out to the ruins to do some training."

"You probably want to punch some stuff," he smiles. "I'll let you punch me, it won't be that bad. I'm tough enough to take it."

"Nah," I tell him. "I can punch the air just fine, though I have some punching bags set up to use if I really need to punch stuff."

"Okay," he looks a little happy that he won't be getting punched, even if he can take it. "So in addition to my ability training, I was wondering if you'd be willing to teach me how to fight, too? With guns and martial arts and stuff?"

"Hm," I think about it for a few minutes. "Sure, though you can also go to the dojo I trained at for martial arts lessons. You'd probably not be able to spar with someone, but we can use Ali for that stuff."

"You went to a dojo?" He seems surprised.

"What, you thought I taught myself how to fight?" I ask. "Nah, I learned from a professional at first. I even helped out with some of the classes once I'd advanced enough. I used to go three times a week, but haven't gone in… a year? A year and a half? I didn't care enough to keep track."

Though if I actually tried, I could probably remember. But I don't care to.

"Oh, cool," he says. "I guess it makes sense you learned from someone else. I take it you trained Ali?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Passed off some of my knowledge to her, we train together a fair bit. She's a bit more used to moderating her strength than you are, though, so I trust her not to hurt me."

"Okay," he frowns a little. "I thought I held back enough? You've never complained."

"We were in the middle of sex, I wasn't going to," I say. "And besides, you're not all that powerful, and I'm pretty tough from my training. It didn't bother me too much, and there aren't any bruises."

"Oi!" He playfully punches me, then frowns. "Erm, um, did that-"

"No bruise," I smile at him. "It's just during sex, not your playful punches. But it's while you're training that I'm a bit hesitant. Ali knows how to control her strength in a fight, she's had four years of practice, and she knows when to and when not to. You've never trained in fighting, and so don't have any experience with it. So you're going up against Ali for the things that would be contact in martial arts."

"Got it," he says as I finally reach a save point, then save and close the game. "So. Ruins?"

"Nah," I stand. "Let's head to the dojo. I'm sure Sensei won't mind us stopping by unannounced. He might even give you a lesson for free."