Sorry for such a long wait, Fallout 4 ruined me and then Finals came by to kick me in the ass as well.
so please enjoy this as it was written while in pain and suffering.
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At home Max groaned as he walked to the kitchen. Today was the first day of school and he was unhappily getting ready for it. The dining table was set with his favorite mean, eggs with a side of wheat bread and a side of steamed carrots. Max thought it was weird how even though they were from a different planet that they could still eat the food here. Deirel walked into the room with a book in his hand’s titled ‘Art of Influence’.
“Don’t you have enough sway already with your abilities? Why read these books on manipulating these humans?” Max asked.
Looking up Deirel smiled, “Simple, if I can get someone to change their mind without using my powers then there’s less chance of them rebounding when my abilities wear off, such making our lives easier.”
Max sighed as he ate his food still not fully understanding why.
“Hurry up, we need to get there early to find parking.” Deirel said.
“OK. Let me get my bag.” Max said as he ran upstairs. After grabbing his bag he turned around to see Vilhei at the door with a small brown wallet and a phone.
“Here this has your ID and cash. The phone isn’t a burner so keep it safe for non-important stuff. Any real emergencies then use the tracker on you to contact us and we’ll get you ASAP. Got it?” he checked.
“Yeah, thanks.” Max said as he walked past him.
Seeing Max go downstairs Vilhei sighed.
“Don’t worry, we have a lock on his position at all times. There’s no place in the world he can go to without us knowing.” Ashara said from behind him.
Turning to face him Vilhei frowned, “I know, but it doesn’t mean I like it. If any of those humans mess with Max I’m gonna set their innards on fire.”
“I know, and relax Takol will be watching out for him, if we need to bug out then we will.” Ashara said trying to calm his brother down. While downstairs they heard Max and Deirel leave the house and get on Deirel’s motorcycle and took off towards school.
Central High was a typical high school in America but with a few kinks, underneath the top high school there was a seedy underbelly of sex, drugs and alcohol. The school was a haven for the best of the city to do whatever they wants but seeing some of the students as Max walked in with his brother Deirel. Max thought that the bar wasn’t very high. They parked the motorcycle in the school parking lot and walked inside.
(Do you remember the cover story?), Deirel quizzed him.
(Kind of hard to forget, the basics are my parents died in an accident, being I had older brothers you took care of me and we moved here from the west coast.) Max replied as they got through the doors.
(What State?), Deirel continued.
(Washington), Max sighed.
(Ok Good, Make sure to stay out of trouble.) Deirel said as he led Max into the administration office.
Behind the counter was a woman in her later years of life sorting papers as she noticed the two walk in.
“Hi there, my name is Deirel Chrone, im here to register my little brother today.” Deirel greeted her.
“Ok sure one moment. What year is he in?” She asked back.
“He’s a sophomore, Ma’am” Deirel smiled.
“Ok, well let’s see Maximus Chrone?” She confirmed as Deirel nodded.
“His homeroom is in 703. He should go up to that room and his Advisor will have his schedule ready.” She told them as she gave Deirel an emergency contact form to fill out.
“Ok, Thanks.” Deirel said as he finished the paper and walked away. Towards the elevator where there were about ten other students waiting. He pointed Max at the metal doors waiting for students, gave him a hug and wished him luck.
“Good luck remember what I said, Humans aren’t all evil. Give a few a chance ok?” Deirel said.
“Yeah…. I’ll try.” Max said as he turned away to the elevator and waved away to his brother.
Standing in line for the elevator waiting for the doors to open was starting to make him feel a bit nervous. Until he heard a few girls giggling behind him. Turning around to see who had such a cute laugh he feasted his eyes on two blondes and a redhead. Huddled together whispering at each other they looked at him in fascination. Turning around at the sound of the elevator opening he tried to enter when the other students rushed past him before he could get in and before he knew it, the elevator had left. Being left behind, he checked his watch and saw that he was going to be late if he didn’t make haste.
Turning to his left he decided to run up the stairs but by the time he reached the fifth floor he was already tired and when he reached the seventh he was sweating profusely. Walking through the doors of room 703 he immediately felt like an outsider. Nobody paid any attention to him so he just walked in and grabbed a seat near the window and stared outside until the bell rang. The only reason he knew about a bell being rung was due to some tv shows he had to watch as ‘research’ designated by his brother Ashara.
With a startle the bell rang and he flinched slightly as he wasn’t prepared for it. Through the doors walked a male teacher into the room and introduced himself.
“Hello class 412, I am your advisor Mr. Reynolds. If you guys and gals have any issues please don't hesitate to ask me. I know there are a few new students here so please don't be shy and try to make some friends. Now when I call your name please come up and pick up your class schedule.” He said as he started to list off names.
One by one students went up from what seemed to be in alphabetical order.
“Chrone, Maximus!” his teacher called as he heard some heads turn from the unusual name.
Walking up and grabbing his schedule, his teacher quietly said to him, “Stay a bit and talk to me after the bell rings ok?”
“Sure thing.” Max responded confused. It was the first ten minutes, was he in trouble already?
His teacher continued to list names off one by one but Max didn’t care. All he did was continue staring out the window as the bell rang again and everyone continued to their classes. Getting up he walked over to his teacher and waited for him to say something. Looking up at Max the teacher looked a little unsure before he spoke.
“Uhh Maximus, I was told about your situation and im sorry for you loss. If you need to talk to someone I’m always available. I’m also sorry to tell you this but I know you were born with those eye and I know there’s nothing u can do but if I may offer you some advice. Get some contacts, you’ll want to them so it doesn't make you a target.”
Confused Max responded with, “Thanks Mr. Reynolds but I don’t understand why my eyes would make me a target?”
Sighing Mr. Reynolds said, “It shouldn’t but as you know people are very critical and then there are those who don’t care at all. All im saying is your new here so I would say don’t give people a reason to start a fight with you.”
“Uhh ok sir.” Max said as he turned around and left the room to begin his day.
Dashing through the halls he ran to his first class AP Physics, luckily it was on the same floor as his homeroom so he didn’t have to travel far. Entering in his class he noticed that there were only about twenty kids in the room. The desks were arranged into a group of four desks in little islands. The moment he sat down and put his bag on the table the bell rang and he teacher got up.
“Welcome to Chemistry, My name is Mr. Crane I recommend that you all don’t get too comfortable. First off we’ll start by arranging seats. When I call you name you will be part of a specific table, remember that you will sit there until I rearrange them later ok? Good” He said quickly.
After arranging the class seats which took only a minute. The teacher continued by passing out textbooks.
‘Now this is your copy of the textbook you will be using. I will only say this once. Take it home and DO NOT LOSE THIS BOOK! We will not issue another and we won’t let you graduate unless you hand in this book along with all other school property. Understood” He asked.
Murmurs of yes and head nods went around the room as he finally started class and after five minutes of it Max was bored beyond his wildest imagination. Living with Ashara wasn’t easy when he was constantly rambling. After eight years together Max was as good at the sciences as any earth professor and had nothing to gain from this class. Max slowly began to nod off when he felt a poke from his right.
On his right he found a folded piece of paper from the girl sitting on his right. He didn’t know her name but she was by earth standards ‘cute’. She was a redhead who was giggling at him by the elevator. He took the note and opened it up.
‘You must be pretty brave or stupid to fall asleep on the first day of school and also inside the most butt tight teacher in the school’
Max read the note over and finally understood what she was talking about. Taking his pen he wrote back.
As he passed it back he heard Mr. Crane’s throat clear. Looking up he could see a slightly more apparent vein running across his forehead.
“Mister Chrone, seeing how this is your first day and I would like us to get along.” He said slightly irritated.
“Sorry, sir. I’d like us to get along as well.” Max said as he forced a tight lip smile.
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“Oh do you now? Well maybe you can answer this question.” Mr Crane asked as he pointed to the board.
Looking at the board and answering the question on the board got him a smile from the girl and a less aggressive attitude from the teacher as he looked away and continued class. Seeing how easy the class was Max and the girl just kept passing notes back and forth all day. As luck would have it after class they had the same class together again in the next period and the period after that. After their set of morning classes though it ended at lunch where she had first lunch and he had second. Saying their good-byes he realized he didn’t even ask her name.
‘Well I can always ask her later.’ Max thought.
Walking down to the first floor he found the directions to the gymnasium. Today was the first day so he wasn’t sure what he’d be doing but he figured any exercise here would pale in comparison to what Vilhei was training him to do. The coach of the gymnasium came through and told everyone where to get the gym uniforms which were basically shorts and a jersey. As Max went up to get one he was told by the desk manager that he had to pay to get the set. Pulling out his wallet and paying in cash was normal but what Max didn’t know was paying with a hundred in an inner city high school was a bad idea.
After buying the uniforms the coach led all the boys to the locker room and meet outside in five minutes. Quickly taking off his shirt and pants to change, he stuffed his clothes into his bag and then putting it into a locker. Max felt something was off as he turned around to see a few of the other guys giving him weird looks. Brushing it off as first day jitters he left the locker room and waited in the gym. Slowly the other male students came out one by one talking and chatting to each other. Staying at the edge of the room.
The gym he was standing it was the best of the best in the city, it was equipped with the newest facilities. The coached stepped into the room and called both the boys and girls to stand together.
“Today is the first day of Gym and all of you should know me but some of you don't so I’ll introduce myself to those of you who are new. I am Coach Wilburn of the track and football team, anyone who wished to join we will have tryouts next week. Track and field is for both you young men and young women, so please do your best.” He said to them.
“Now then for this class, in order to pass you have to actively participate in; the weight room, the basketball court, the P.A.D which stands for physical activity of the day, or whatever I decide we need to do for the day.” Coach Wilburn explained.
After his short explanation it became obvious that it was going to be a relatively easy class to pass. Sitting alone on the bleachers however wasn’t a good way to pass a class so Max decided to go to the weight room and lift. There was only one other student there, he was almost 5’9 although being in the sophomore class. He had short brown hair and a thin muscular build. Looking around to see Max he asked him. “Can you spot me?”
Max looking at the bench the boy was sitting on and saw him benching two forty-five pounds on his bar. “Sure, how many reps you doing?” Max said as he walked around to the other side to help the guy out.
Max helped the boy for a few minutes as he finished another two sets. Finishing his workout the boy finally introduced himself.
“Thanks for that. My name’s Brian. Your new here right?” he asked.
“Yeah just moved here from Washington. I’m Max.”
“Nice to meet ya, if you need help just let me know.” Brian told him.
“Sure” Max said as he got on the treadmill to start running. Recalling the last few hours as he ran Max made mental notes on the humans so far. Some were pretty good while others were either naive, misguided or troubled.
“Hey man you getting ready for the track team or what?” Brian asked as he started his leg workouts.
“Nah, just trying to stay in shape. What about you?” Max asked.
“Football man. I’m trying to make varsity this year.” He grunted as he pushed out his last squat.
“Oh, alright.” Max said.
“Yeah, trying to get a scholarship for college.” Brian said as he drank from his water bottle.
“Wow college? Isn’t that a bit early?” Max asked.
“No such thing as too early man. Why wait when you can start preparing now?” Brian asked
Smiling Max agreed and they continued to chat and by the time the class ended, Max has made a new friend. Walking with Brian into the changing room Max immediately noticed something was off. His bag and clothes were on the floor and his wallet was next to it, empty. Someone had taken all the money he had inside, almost eighty dollars. Looking through his things Max cursed when he saw that his phone was gone as well.
Brian looked at his things and told him, “Shit man sorry. Look meet me after school in the parking lot. Ok?”
“Yeah whatever.” Max said pissed off, not that the money was stolen but because he know how annoying it was to print fake documents and to always wait in line at the DMV to issue new ID’s.
Outside Brian had reported his stolen things to the teacher and was told that from now on he should use a lock on his locker. Writing a note for his lateness Max left and headed off for his next class. The rest of the day went off without incident although Max was still a little pissed off there wasn’t anything he could do about it. After his last class as he was heading down stairs he ran into two girls. The blondes who were hanging out with the redhead girl from his chemistry class at the start of the day.
They looked at him and squealed as he walked by. The sudden noise combined with their reaction to seeing him sparked the age old question. “Did I miss something?” he asked them
They just stared at him like he was a piece of chocolate before saying, “Oh nothing just Esme’s been talking about you all day. She’s been texting us about you and how cool you were and how you two talked for about three hours. How you walked her to each class, how your handwriting was so pretty for a guy. All the little things, that's all.” Replied the blonde on the left. She was about 5’3 and average body type.
“So her name is Esme? Why’s she telling you two things between the two of us?” he asked feeling like his privacy was being invaded.
“Oh between the two of you? I have to text her this!” The blonde on the right said as she whipped out her phone and started texting away.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs he heard a telepathic message.
(Parking lot, waiting) Takol said.
Sighing Max just responded ok, knowing it was time for him to go home. Heading through the hallways he aimed for the front doors of the school to make his way to the parking lot. Along the way he heard his name yelled out. Snapping his head around he saw Brian running up to catch up to him but having difficulty with the thickness of the crowd being a problem. Max yelled back, “I’ll wait for you at the door!”
Brian nodded his head and stopped rushing. Outside the main entrance Max waited a minute for his classmate.
“Max! Thanks for waiting. I’m glad I got a chance to grab you before you went home. I have something for you.” He said as he pulled his backpack in front of him and handed it to Max.
“I found this. Don’t ask where but next time carry a lock for gym. This isn’t the first time this has happened here.” Brian said with a smile.
“Wow, thank you Brian. I went around the whole time after really pissed off.” Max said.
“Hey no worries, what are friends for?” Brian said as he wacked Max in the arm.
“Hey man don’t look so stiff… also since were friends I could use a favor.” He said with a smile.
“A favor?” Max asked.
“Yeah, you see I need someone who can keep up with me for training. You’re the first one who’s ever come to the weight room and kept up with me in training or helped me out. Granted you only ran but you ran five miles today in a fifty minute class and that’s impressive.” Brian said.
Letting this question sink in Max decided it was better to consult his brothers at home first.
“I’ll get back to you and let you know tomorrow.” Max said.
Slightly disheartened just nodded his head and said, “Yeah, sure.” As he turned away to walk down the main path.
Max watched his new ‘friend’ walk away and he felt for the first time that he wanted to help someone other than his brothers. Eager to get their approval and return with good news tomorrow he hurried to the parking lot to see Takol waiting next to his motorcycle with a helmet in his hand.
“Let’s go home.” Max said as he grabbed an extra helmet from him.
Takol nodded and took them home, there Max went through the events of the day as he was telling his point of views on little things. How he met a girl who made him smile, how he made a friend who helped him out and wanted a friend to train with, and how he learned what friendship meant to humans. On the other hand he hadn’t forgotten what had also been said to him about how some would pick on others for being different or how his things were stolen during one of his classes. All in all Max was starting to learn what humanity was all about.
The brothers looked to each other and agreed to Max’s request to help his friend. Everyday Max would spend extra time with Brian to help him train and push him to improve. With him he also was able to learn more and more what it meant to become human.