Grace awoke to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing, her eyes still heavy with sleep. She glanced at the time and realized with a start that she had only five minutes to get to school. For a normal person, this would have been a huge cause for panic, but Grace, being the next descendant of Death, had a few perks that came with her power. She got out of bed and walked towards the door.

As she the door, a black smoke began emanating from her skin, covering her whole body. Within a few seconds, the smoke began to dissipate, and she was no longer in her pyjamas with messy bed hair. Instead, she looked as if she had just stepped out of a salon. She was now wearing a black t-shirt, denim shorts, and black flats trimmed with real diamonds. Grace didn't like to abuse her powers like some riders, but every now and then, she'd treat herself subtly in some way. Her father had warned her that some of the previous riders had become very corrupt, so she avoided using her powers for personal gain where possible.

Before she even got to the top of the stairs more black smoke started to engulf her. No sooner had the smoke appeared it started to disappear and Grace was no longer there, leaving no trace that she was ever there. Her power of teleportation allowed her to transport anywhere on earth in an instant, but she had to be careful not to transport right in front of someone, as she had no way of knowing who was where she was going. Grace decided to transport herself directly into her home room, a risky choice, but she knew none of her classmates would be there as most of them usually arrived after home room had started. With a small smile on her face, Grace felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that her powers had allowed her to make it to school on time. As she materialized in her home room, she let out a small sigh of relief that her plan had worked. She quickly made her way to her seat and settled in, ready for the day ahead.

As Grace made her way to her seat, she heard the door open, and as she turned around, she saw her best friend Samantha entering the room. Samantha was a tall, thin girl with long, bright red hair that covered most of her face. She had striking brown eyes, and a sprinkle of freckles across her nose, she was usually incredibly quiet except for when she was around people she trusted, they had known each other since they were very young.

‘Oh, Grace, how long have you been here for?’ asked Samantha as she approached Grace's desk.

‘About ten minutes, I wanted to get in early to finish some math homework,’ Grace lied.

Samantha raised an eyebrow, ‘Please, you probably finished the day we got it. You probably just wanted to see Jack today.’

Grace couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, ‘Alright, you got me, I had something I wanted to ask him,’ she admitted with a sheepish grin.

‘Why don’t you two just hook up already?’ Samantha asked, a hint of teasing in her voice.

Grace felt her face flush, ‘I don’t know, I really like him, he’s smart, and cute, and what if he doesn’t like me?’

Samantha rolled her eyes, ‘Are you kidding? You’re probably one of the best-looking girls at school, he should be lucky that you even considered him… girls like me don’t have a chance.’ Samantha said that last part with a bit of a sad look on her face, and Grace could see a hint of insecurity in her best friend's eyes.

Grace felt a pang of guilt, she knew that Samantha had always struggled with her self-confidence and it broke her heart to see her friend so upset.

‘Samantha, that's not true, you're beautiful and kind-hearted, and anyone would be lucky to have you. You just need to have more confidence in yourself,’ Grace reassured her friend, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Samantha gave her a small smile, ‘Thanks, Grace. You always know how to make me feel better.’

The two of them spent the next few minutes catching up on their weekend and discussing their plans for the day. As the bell rang, they sat in their seats and waited for their homeroom teacher, and the other students to arrive.

* * *

After homeroom, Grace was at her locker loading her books into her bag when it got slammed shut right in front of her face. She looked up to see Olivia and Heather both standing there, both with their arms crossed, looking down at her with a mix of annoyance and expectation. Olivia and Heather were two of the most popular and influential students in the school.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Olivia had long brown hair that had been styled with one side shaved, and the other side cascaded down her left shoulder. She had piercing blue eyes, a sharp jawline and was always impeccably dressed in bold and vibrant clothes, like a bright green dress paired with white shoes. She was also known for her quick wit and sharp tongue and was not afraid to speak her mind.

Heather was a towering figure with a large, strong build. She had a sleek, brown ponytail that reached her waist and piercing brown eyes. She was always dressed in a black tank top and a maroon leather jacket, and she had a pair of expensive-looking headphones around her neck. She had a short temper and is easy to anger

‘So… are you going to Jack’s party Saturday?’ Asked Olivia with a calm yet serious tone.

‘I knew his parents were away, but I had no idea he was throwing a party,’ Grace replied, trying to keep her tone neutral.

Heather snorted, ‘He probably wants to invite you, but doesn't want that freak you hang out with to come along and doesn't know how to tell you.’

Grace remained quiet as she stared at them, she knew she had to keep calm; Heather stared back with the same hostile look and said, ‘if you were smart you would ditch Sam and come hang out with us.’

Grace could feel her anger boiling inside of her, but she knew she had to keep her cool. She stood up, her fists clenched tightly at her sides, and stepped towards Heather, her voice low and controlled. ‘Her name is Samantha, and if you say that again,’ she said, her voice barely above a whisper, ‘and it will be the end of you."’

Heather didn't flinch, she just stared back at grace with the same level of hostility, they both knew the other was not someone to mess with, they stood there for what felt like an eternity, the tension between them palpable.

Olivia rolled her eyes, ‘Oh stop it you two, either get along or you can settle it at Jack's party, we might be able to use the entertainment.’

‘Suits me,’ Heather said with a smirk, her own anger clearly visible on her face.

Grace took another deep breath, her hands clenched into fists as she fought to keep her emotions in check. ‘I... I'd rather not.’

Heather sneered, ‘Well, you better hope we don't get bored on Saturday.’ And with that, she punched Grace's locker with such force that it left an almost perfect imprint of her fist, put her headphones on, and walked away muttering Spanish swear words.

‘See you on Saturday!’ Olivia said cheerfully as she skipped to catch up to Heather.

As Grace leaned against her locker, she took a few deep breaths to try and steady her racing heart. She knew she had to keep her cool and not let Heather's taunts get to her. But as she looked around the empty school hallway, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of anger. With a quick glance to make sure nobody was watching; she placed her hand over the indentation left by Heather's punch. Black smoke began to seep out from between her fingers and, with a few quiet clinks of metal bending, the indentation gradually disappeared. After a few seconds, the smoke dissipated back into her hand and the locker looked as good as new.

* * *

It wasn’t until third period that Grace got to see Jack, they only shared one class Woodshop, Jack preferred classes like Art, English, and Drama, while Grace preferred Computer Sciences, Math, but Woodshop was a passion they both shared.

‘So, I heard Heather wants to fight you on Saturday?’ asked Jack.

‘Yeah, but I'm not going to give her the satisfaction,’ Grace replied determinedly.

‘As entertaining as it would be to see you kick her ass, I don't want to have to explain that to anyone,’ Jack said, looking concerned.

‘There’d be a lot more to explain if that happened,’ Grace said quietly under her breath.

‘Sorry?’ Jack asked, intrigued.

‘Oh… nothing.’ Grace quickly changed the subject, ‘Speaking of the party… Why didn’t you tell me you were throwing one? And what was up with your messages last night, you normally type perfectly.’

‘Umm, I was being silly, and I wasn’t planning it, but Abigail suggested it in Homeroom today.’ Jack replied a bit embarrassed.

‘Of course, Abigail suggested a party’ Grace said with an annoyed tone, Abigail was one of the other people not to mess with. She was a pleasant enough person, but you could always tell there was an ulterior motive with everything she said.

As Grace went over to the band saw to cut her wood into the correct sizes (she was making a chess set for her father’s 94th birthday, as the two of them loved chess, though Grace could never beat him), she was too busy thinking about what Abigail’s plan was with getting Jack to throw this party that she didn’t realize the bandsaw guard wasn’t set at the right height and her hand slipped right into the band saw teeth. She swore so loudly that it could be heard over all the machinery.

As everyone looked over expecting Grace to be missing half her hand and blood everywhere, instead Grace was standing there looking embarrassed, not a scratch on her, but the bandsaw blade had snapped upon impact with her hand.

The class went quiet as her teacher hit the emergency shut off and rushed over with the first aid kit, he was relieved that she was okay. ‘Sorry Mr Hashimoto, there… there must have been a bad knot or something in my piece.’ She explained sheepishly.

‘That was a brand-new blade, I only replaced it yesterday,’ Mr. Hashimoto said, still confused as he examined her hands for cuts, ‘but I’m glad you’re okay.’

Later that afternoon Mr Hashimoto was even more confused to discover that the blade had not snapped, but had essentially shattered, ‘I don’t know how I’ll explain this to the returns department at the hardware shop.’