I sat in class, gazing through a window as vibrant sunlight poured into the room. Our usual teacher, Dr. Lawrence was absent like he’d usually be around this time of the month. If his words were anything to go by he’d be at a monthly department meeting; the only teacher in the school who went to these meetings mind you. Anyway his absence meant we were stuck with yet another substitute. A burly black man with a thick beard and receding hairline. He wore blue jeans and a white button up a size too small for him. He’d told us in a deep gravelly voice that his name was Derrick Ashton, and as long as we finished the worksheet Dr. Lawrence had assigned us, he didn’t give a rat’s, you know, what we got up to.
The worksheet was easy enough. Dr. Lawrence’s class was based around social and emotional stuff. Honestly, I didn’t think that the class wasn’t that bad; a little boring but I was never one to say no to an easy A. Mari on the other hand couldn’t stand it. I could still remember when she first found out; how her face scrunched up so much that I thought that it would disappear into a nest of wrinkles.
“What’s the point of being in a class where the teachers care more about teaching their students how to feel than about the real world?”, she ranted to me in the middle of class one day. “Seriously what’s the point of this class, what are we supposed to learn from it other than how to waste our time?
After I was sure that she finished her venting session, I gave her the only response which I felt could properly respond to such a statement, a quick shrug before turning back to Dr. Lawrence’s lecture.
Shaking my head free from those memories, I slumped out of my seat and walked over to hand in my paper. I’d finished the assignment about five minutes ago and was left with nothing really to do as Mari and Ryan weren’t here. Given that today happened to be a Wednesday afternoon, she would more than likely be at practice for the Speech & Debate team. Unlike Mari, there was little doubt where Ryan was as the announcements had blared this morning to remind the sim team that they had a meet today.
‘The downside of not being the only one not part of a club’, I thought glumly. I’d been in a couple a few years back, but for some reason I could never enjoy them. Being around people was never really an issue for me, but there was something at the core of being in a club that felt so unappealing. However at times like these, when they’re off doing their own thing and I’m stuck sitting behind a desk, the idea doesn’t seem so bad, at least it would be interesting.
I wasn’t looking for very long before I saw something incredible. Four miniature figures flew in from beyond the blue horizon and shot across the sky. It was impossible to actually make out who they were, and with the sheer number of power holders that had made a name for themselves so far I couldn’t have possibly discerned their identities, but somehow, somewhere deep inside, on an instinctual level I knew exactly who they were, everyone who lived here did. They were our heroes, the ones I dressed up as for halloween, the ones my friends and I pretended to be during school recesses, and they were flying toward the school. It took several minutes but my assumption was validated by their clarifying figures. They soared like planes; moved like knives cutting through the vivid blue. Their grace was almost something from a movie, however they looked like they were flying at me. My suspicions were proven as after about a minute of flying they touched down next to my window.
I broke eye contact with them for the first time in five or so minutes, turning around the room to see if anyone had noticed the squadron of heroes landing right in front of our classroom. Nope, they were all just as glued to their phones or asleep as they had been when I’d finished the assignment. If anything there was even less movement in the classroom now, as if they were all trapped in their own little worlds, oblivious to the fact that some of the biggest heroes in the world were standing separated from us by half an inch of glass.
“Hey everyone” I announced; my voice projecting so the entire class could hear “I don;t wanna alarm anyone, but Pentastros is right outside”.
I didn’t even get a grunt in acknowledgment. Didn’t they not hear me?
“Hello? You guys heard that right? They’re literally outside right now” I said, pointing to emphasize my point.
I was met with another burst of silence. And before I could think of another response a loud knock caught me off guard. I turned back and saw their leader Damien Silver with his fist outstretched, it seemed like he was going in for another knock before he realized that I’d heard him. And in his trademark gruff and monotone voice, he said,
“We need to talk to you, come outside.”
Again, despite the fact that superheroes were literally outside right now, Everyone in the classroom apparently couldn’t care less.
“Hey Mr.-uhh”, I stopped, having forgotten the man’s name. “Screw it, you’re not even paying attention. I’m going outside”.
I made my way outside somewhat confused on why I was being singled out by them. After all, I wasn’t really anyone special. Why pick me? By the time I’d made it out, they were standing in a loose half circle facing the exact direction I was walking from. Rose was the first one to talk.
“Hi-ya buddy,” she said in an overly cheerful bubbly voice. “Sorry for pulling ya out of class”.
It was definitely a weird sound. I only assumed that had been her T.V voice. You know the one superheroes or celebrities typically give when talking to reporters. The loud overly happy or deep ones meant to give off a facade to reinforce the persona that they showed to the public. But here she was talking like that when she really didn’t need to. I mean it’s not like anyone would believe a middle schooler after all.
“Now I know you might seem confused, but don’t be scared we’re here for a very good reason”. “Look, Don’t freak out, cause what I’m about to tell you is gonna make you flip.”
“Rose, please get on with it”, Tempra complained, “I have more important things to do today then watch you embarrass yourself in front of a child”.
“That’s weird I forgot what I was gonna say”, she said sticking out her tongue; seriously she was acting younger than me.
“Rose, Tempra”, their leader Damien Silver commanded, ‘we have more important business to take care of today so stop bickering and talk to the kid.
”You know you’re really no fun”, Rose sighed. Anyway where was I again? Oh yeah, don’t freak out because what I’m about to tell you is going to be wild. This past month AEGIS set off to complete their annual scanning of the town’s affinity levels. But when they measured this school they found some pretty weird data. They found incredibly hi-
Before she could finish her sentence, I fell to the ground holding my nose as my chest filled with fire. My body became wracked with a series of painful coughs, and suddenly the world faded leaving me engulfed in black.
…
I woke up sputtering and coughing as roaring laughter filled my room. It only took seconds to figure out where the noise was coming from and even before I turned my head to look I could tell. My little sister, Nicole Michaels, stood next to my bed and was bent forward clutching her sides. She heaved as she bellowed out a stream of long obnoxious laughs one after another. Her long black and blue hair had long since fallen over her downturned face, but even without seeing I could imagine the look on her face and it annoyed me to no end.
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“Yeah, yeah real funny Nic” I wheezed, after the coughing fit passed.
“Shouldn’t have” she started, barely breathing through the giggles that rocked her body, ”slept in for so long”.
She took a few moments to allow her laughter to die down before she continued.
“Mom didn’t want you to sleep through our first day, so she sent me to wake you up”.
“You do realize you could have just shouted?”
“I mean I probably could have”.
“And you decided not to?”
“Nope”, she said curtly
“I'm gonna guess that you did this because you’re mad at me”.
“Wow, outstanding hypothesis, professor”, with enough fake enthusiasm that I could just understand that she was mocking me.
“I mean don’t you think that this is a bit of an over exaggeration, I mean it’s not like I put red hair dye in your shampoo or anything”.
“That’s exactly what you did, you jackass.”
“No I didn’t... I used blue hair dye. If you’re gonna be angry at least get it right
“Like that’s any better you childish piece of-”, she started.
“Are you really calling me childish?!” I proclaimed, hurling droplets of water at her, “Besides I thought that blue was your favorite color”.
“I’m gonna...uhhh” she let out a long annoyed groan before turning on her heel and stomping out of the room
When I was sure that she was gone I picked up one of my pillows and took a deep sniff. With a herculean amount of effort, I prevented the coughing fit that slowly crept up my throat. That was definitely not water.
I climbed out of bed and gathered my pillows and blanket into a messy pile in my arms. Gliding across the tan carpeted floor, I entered my bathroom, and plopped them into the white basket in the corner. My bathroom was, for whatever weird reason, one of the most lavish rooms in the house. It was split into two tall rooms. The first room consisted of a giant mirror that stretched across the majority of the front wall, below it was a large countertop with a stainless steel sink that connected the mirror to a series of wooden drawers. The floor consisted of a shaggy dark brown carpet laid with black and red carpets. The other room was composed of a grey and white tiled floor with both a shower and bath on opposing sides. White walls lined the unoccupied sides of the room, a blank canvas, but enough of that for now.
I made a beeline for the shower, stripped, and stepped in before turning on the water. The moment the frigid water slammed into my skin I felt the air leave my body. It was shockingly cold. The stream cut into me, pierced my dark skin and froze my blood. It took everything I had to stop my teeth from chattering and even then I managed with only mild success. It wasn’t something that I enjoyed, that anyone could enjoy, but it’s supposed to wake you up, so I’d have to make do, and suck it up.
I spent the next five minutes showering, shivering, and wishing I was somewhere else before turning the knob, rather happily I might add, drying off and stepping out of the shower. I pulled on a pair of blue jeans with a black shirt and red hoodie and black steel toes, and exited my room.
‘15 minutes to spare’, I thought checking my phone, ‘nice, now lets hope I can find the kitchen’.
It took around five minutes of blind walking through the indistinguishable labyrinth that comprised my home. It was the type of place that felt like it should be giving away prizes for finding the front door. A nondescript series of white hallways and doors, lacking any decorations that I could have used to orientate myself. Eventually, I managed to make it to the kitchen after walking through the white door next to the other white door, you know down the hall from the other white door. Making a mental note to ask mom to buy some paint or a sign, I stepped into the kitchen.
The kitchen, much like most of the rooms in the house, was a combination of grey tiled floor, brown cabinets of varying sizes, and a granite countertop. The room had two wide arches on opposite sides of the room leading to the living and dining rooms respectively. Two large and black wall mounted ovens were stacked on top of each other on the end of the far right wall, next to a wall microwave and across the room were four bunsen burners; a tea kettle sat on one making that distinct whistle noise.
“Hey Alex, you mind getting that?” My mom asked from the living room.
“Sure” I responded, following her instructions.
I walked through the archway leading to the living room and saw what she was up to. My mother Claura Micheals was sitting on a brown leather couch watching a meteorologist talk about the weather.
Much like my sister she had long black hair which fell down her shoulders in curls, covering much of her heart shaped head. Her skin was walnut colored, and her eyes despite being the same dark brown held a distinct glimmer. She stood a few inches shorter than me which was impressive as I was around six foot four last time I checked and was dressed very casually, grey sweats and a blue tank top.
“It’s going to be sunny all day today; making for perfect weather for the festival, so if you’re hearing this go out and have a wonderful time.”
”Good morning” my mother called out, “How did you sleep.”
I could tell from the amount of expression she’d put into the last half of that sentence, especially the sleep part, that I was getting teased.
“Well I definitely had some sweet dreams, just not in the way most people expect. Hey so random question, did you buy apple cider by any chance?” I asked.
“So that’s what she used.”
Yeah, but I'll get her back so it’s no big deal”.
Are you two still having this little war of yours? I mean what’s the point, it’s not like it’s actually going anywhere, and if this keeps on I might have to get involved.”
“B-but she started it” I whined out, trying to make my voice overly emotional.
“I’m sure she did,” My mom said, giving out a small chuckle, “but this has to end eventually, so one of you needs to be the bigger person, and you’re technically the older one”.
“Since when are you the oldest?” I heard a voice call out from the next room. “We were born on the same day.”
Nic stomped in from the dining room with a small but noticeable frown plastered on her face and eyes that held a look which just screamed irritation.
“Yeah we were but,” I made sure to stretch the but as I talked, “I was born a few minutes before you.”
“Cute, real cute.” Nic responded.
“Yep, but not as cute as you, my adorable little sister”.
“Congrats you’re both equally adorable, but knowing how the two of you are, you’re going to argue regardless. So, for the sake of my sanity I’m cutting this conversation short. Nicole, get ready for school. Alex, go to the kitchen and get some food. Your first day is already gonna seem long enough, I don’t want you ignoring your teachers because you were too busy counting off the second until lunch.”
She could get like that sometimes. My mother spent most of her time in a calm and laid back state, she was someone that was usually hard to annoy and nowhere near strict, that being the major reason why my Nic and I’s prank war has gone on for as long as it has, but sometimes when she really wanted to prove a point or end a conversation she could be like that. Assertive, stern, like a parent would normally act.
“Whatever you say.” I called out.
Then I turned, walked out of the room, in search of something to eat.
“And don’t forget,” My mom called out, “Nic has practice at her friend Emma’s house, so you’re gonna be on your own for a few hours until I get back from work”.