Ani carefully rolled her way up to the school. She was quite underwhelmed when she first looked at it, but her parents insisted that this was the place where she was enrolled in. Her first challenge was getting through the door without an automatic opener. “Whatever,” she muttered as she put one hand to the door and made it liquify. She went through and returned it to its normal solid form. She massaged her hand gently and saw a rash forming. “Whelp,” she whispered. “Better start getting used to it now.”

Taylor was glad to see someone else who looked as lost as he was. I mean, he did not want to see someone uncomfortable, but it beat being the only kid who was totally out of their depth.

He did not see why he had to be at this place anyway. Sure, he had “abilities”, if you could call it that, but he could figure that out himself and go to a regular school.

He wandered over to the new girl.

“Hi, I’m Taylor. It’s my first day here.”

Kaito was awoken by the icy feeling of the cold water his uncle threw on his face making him practically jump out of the bed. “Get up you lazy boy you’re aunt isn’t going to get your stuff ready for you and hurry up with your chores.” His uncle then left him alone. He quickly did his chores before he got ready to go grabbing his bag.

It took kaito about 30 minutes to get to the school he sat on the ground in an attempt to get his breathing more normal before going into the school. After a few minutes he went into the school. Once he got into the hallway his body started fazing making him put his hand on the wall as his body fazed making it look like his body was dematerializating then returning to normal.

Waking up was a drag, that’s why Lucius only left his bed after his grandpa hit him with his cane. After a shower and getting into his clothes, he grabbed his bag and walked down to the kitchen, where he grabbed the sandwich and the flask with coffee in it that the old geezer had prepared. “Bye, Gramps, thanks for the coffee.” he yelled into the house as Lucius stepped outside.

20 minutes later Lucius stumbled over the schoolyard to the door, the sandwich between his teeth and his hands knotting his hair into a messy bun. He pushed the door open with his shoulder and instantly walked into a guy he could swear wasn’t there a second ago. “Sorry, man, I didn’t see you there. Are you alright?” he apologized while sadly looking at the sandwich he just dropped.

After the first chirp of a bird at dawn, Louzia was already awake. Who wouldn’t be this excited?! Her caretakers made sure she had everything she needed: noise-cancelling headphones and a notebook to write in. After she grabbed her bag and bagged lunch, she made her way to school by car.

It took about.. 10-15 minutes to reach the entrance of the school. Louzia had already gotten car sick, yuck. Nonetheless, she was still super excited which hid her nervousness. She entered the school which was awesome! There were so many people she could talk to and become friends with. She couldn’t trust anyone right away.. but at least she can get to know others.

Getting up early was never a problem as Mike wanted to pretend he was going to be a professional athlete but deep down he knew that was not going to happen. He likes to jog in the mornings and do sprints to build up his speed and push his body.
This morning was another year but the final year. Maybe he could make it a great one. stuffing books from his summer courses into his backpack, some new kid just walks into him smearing a part of his sandwich on his brand new white shirt.
“Sorry, man, I didn’t see you there. Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m okay,” he says looking at the stain on his shirt “It’s no problem. You look new here? C’monn, I’ll show you the cafeteria and get you a new sandwich.”He says to the guy while picking up the sandwich from off the floor and dropping it in the trash.
He then notices a very attractive blond girl walk in. She seems energetic and sparkling in the sunlight. He wanted to walk over and say something but he just made a commitment to walk this guy to get a new sandwich.
Waving the new guy to follow, he says “Oh, I am Mike by the way.” Hoisting his backpack up on his shoulder. “I would shake your hand but I got stuff on it.” He starts walking towards the cafe.

While he followed Mike, Lucius pulled out a tissue from his bag and gave it to him. “I’m Lucius, and yes, I just got accepted here.” He checked his phone, it seemed he still had a few minutes. “Sorry again, I overslept and was in a hurry,” he explains while opening the door to the cafeteria and letting him go ahead again. “So I guess it’s not your first year here?” he continues the conversation.

While wiping his hands on the tissue, Lucius introduced himself and held the door open. “Thanks for the tissue, Lucius. And again, don’t worry about it as these things happen.” Mike smiles and adjusts his backpack. “Fortunately for you, I am a Senior and know which line is the quickest. And here’s $5 that will get you a sandwich and a drink or two.” Mike says stuffing money in Lucius’ hand. “I gotta see if I can find someone to get this off my shirt” Mike smiles and pats Lucius on the shoulder “Have fun today Bro I’ll catch you later.” Mike hurries off to find one of his friends who can help his shirt.

“Huh … I mean hi! I’m Ani. It’s my first day too,” she said trying to sound as friendly as possible. She held out her hand without a rash, but when she realized it was her left hand quickly switched hands. “Sorry, I had to find some way to open the door, the rash isn’t contagious,” as she waited for Taylor to accept her handshake.

Taylor took the offered hand, though his shake was a little limp, as he was more focused on the rash.

“Hey, that looks bad - you want me to come with you to the medical bay? You need some ointment on that. But … what do you mean, you had to find a way to open the door?!”

Ohh, there were so many things to see and do! Louzia couldn’t pick what to do first. A lot of people were chatting away, finding classes, going to the cafeteria. She couldn’t pick one! It was quite loud but not to loud…

Louzia begins walking again because she was blocking the traffic behind her. Traffic being the people. Oops. She clutched her bookbags straps as she walked past many classrooms. She hums to herself, walking on by different classes and people. She supposes she’d wait for school to begin.

“Oh, it’s alright, I have my own, I couldn’t find the handicap opening so I ‘phased’ the door. That’s my ‘power’ to get into the school, what’s yours?” she said kind of embarrassed to use the word her parents had used when she was younger and couldn’t control her powers.

When kaito’s body stopped he stood there for few minutes seemingly like his thoughts was somewhere else. He then went into the cafeteria to get something to eat.

After Lucius got a new sandwich, he bumped into another person, this time without losing his Sandwich or ruining a T-shirt. “Shit, I’m so sorry. I’m not used to so many people… yet.” He apologized and realized that this student seemed way younger than Mike and smaller as well. “You are okay, right?” he asked, while hearing his grandpa’s voice in his head telling him to be more careful and so on.

Kaito looked at the boy who bumped into him slightly surprised. “sorry…. My powers are from an accedent… From 30 minutes to 3 hours apart the atoms of my body pull apart from each other…. Normally doesn’t last longer than 5 minutes….”

“So you are okay, or at least will be okay?” he asked unsurely, not knowing what else he could respond to the whole the atoms pull apart- thingy. “Anyway, if everything is fine, I would take off, I have to find my dorm room and settle in.” he said while he pointed to the exit of the cafeteria. “Newbie,” he labeled himself with a quick smile.

“my aunt and uncle send me here so they don’t have to deal with me and normal schools don’t know what to do with me…. I’ve gotten used to in but it’s still painful.. why seem like only half here just happened…”

Naylor was pretty confused about Ani “phasing” a door - and getting a rash from doing it! He guessed his “powers” were not so bad compared to that. At least they did not cause him a problem.

He stretched out his hand to show his fingers. His nails were kind of sharp.

He pointed at the door, and a little bit of metal flew out of his nail and sunk into the wooden frame of the door.

“I can make metal appear. It’s strong and slightly magnetic. I can change it if I concentrate. I can make it different shapes. But, basically I’m just a human stapler! Hey, do you want to go to the canteen? Sorry to ask, but should I push you, or do you prefer to wheel yourself?”

“Hey, heads up, you are here now, and maybe that can be a new start for you.” This guy seemed a little bit off, totally talking past Lucius questions. “Just a well-intentioned piece of advice, maybe try not to overshare with every guy you bump into, and you will do fine.” Lucius gave a weak smile. “So I guess I’m on my way, good luck to you, and sorry again,” he took off towards the exit.

Walking fast and looking for his friend Rico, he decides it is probably better to change shirts. changing direction he spins around and walks quickly the other way. Coming around the corner he almost runs into the cute girl with the blond hair.
“Oh, Shit!” he exclaims. It wasn’t really because he almost bumped into her but he didn’t really want to meet her this way. He had not really had time to daydream of the perfect way to meet but this definitely wasn’t it. Taking a step back to create a comfortable space he looks into the girl’s eyes and says “Hello there..” Sensing that she doesn’t look comfortable he quickly says “I’m Mike and do you need any help finding your class? OR the auditorium? Or anything?” he says hoping to get a response.
Some of the kids walking by snicker at the situation and out of the background Derekshouts “You Get her Mikie!!”
“Damn You Derek” Mike thinks to himself and he blushes which makes him feel awkward. It feels like an eternity as things seem to move in slow motion for Mike. He soothes himself by running his hand over his hair.

Some whooshing sound made Louiza stop in her tracks. “Oh, hello!” She smiled, releasing her backpacks straps once she saw who it was. That was a close one! She really didn’t want to be knocked over today, hah. “I’m Louiza and I’m alright! Just looking around and stuff.. You can tag along if you would like.” She offered.

The person who snickered, who she assumes is now Derek, made her wince. “Is that your friend?“ She asked Mike nonchalantly. She fiddled with her bags straps while waiting for an answer from him. “He is a very.. hmm.. loud type of person.”

“maybe I could help you? This is my second year actually…. I just never make friends so I really don’t care anymore about what people think after episode stops and I’m “normal” it’s kinda like I’m in a daze not really here.” Kaito looked at Lucius trying his best to pay attention but was still having trouble.

Mike exhaled a sigh of relief. “Louiza,” he thought to himself “that’s cool. I at least got a name to go with the pretty face he thinks to himself.

He looks over his shoulder and says “Oh yeah, the joker who yelled? Yeah, that is a Derek.” Mike leans in close and Whispers “He knows that I usually am very nervous around pretty girls.”. He straightens up “So, I am going to be bold and just confess it upfront. So, if I act weird you will know what’s going on AND I Can Not believe I’m saying this to you.” Mike’s face turns bright red from embarrassment. He rubs the back of his neck and says “Want to walk towards the assembly Hall, that’s usually where they give the welcome speech?” Mike shows a shy smile.

“Oohh, alright. Coolio!” Louiza responds to Mike. Maybe everyone is nice around here? She hopes that’s the case…

When he leaned in close and whispered, she flinched and stepped back a little. “Sorry! It’s just whispers sound like normal talking and it’s a bit loud when people are very close to my ear…” She chuckles lightly, rubbing at her ear.

Nonetheless, she managed to hear the rest of the sentence in which she smiles in response. “It’s alright. I—“

The announcements cut her off. But she wasn’t mad. In fact, she was a bit nervous of who her dorm partner would be. She didn’t know who it was nor who they even were as a person. Louiza just let out a deep breath and smiled to conceal her nervousness. “Well, I guess now we can go to the Announcement Board!”

Mike can feel the anxiety melt away. This is the first time he’s opened up to a pretty girl as it usually takes weeks or months before he says hi. What a confidence booster this was. It’s going to be a good year a chapter to remember before SuperHero tryouts.

“Yeah, awesome, It’s not far at all,” Mike says smiling happily. Some younger kids go running by and hours of excitement can be heard as well as “Slow down!” or “NO Running!”. Mike attempts to make small talk over the noisy hallway. “I hope this isn’t too loud for you ? We can wait in a classroom until this settles down?” he says pointing at a closed door to Ms. April’s room.

The conversation was interrupted by the announcements which made Ani jump a little. “It would be nice, but we should probably head to the announcement board instead. Maybe we can go later,” Ani replied.
She rolled past other excited kids; some were running to their next class, others making small talk in the hallway, either way Ani was filled with both excitement and nerves.
The announcement board said that she would be roommates with Louiza Starr. The first thing she noticed was how cool it would be to have a name of “Starr” but then got really nervous, how well would they be around her medical stuff. Also what sort of power do they have? What if complements Ani’s, but what if it is the complete opposite? Questions kept pouring into her mind, but she decided to silence them. She was determined to be at peace with whoever she was put with and try to be as friendly and open as possible.

With all the other students running to and fro, it was getting quite loud. Louiza could swear with every yell her ears were ringing. “Oh, no. We can go to the Announcement Board now! I’ve got my handy dandy headphones to help.” Louiza grinned and pat her backpack.

Still, that feeling of uneasiness sat in her stomach. She hated not knowing right away. She was eager to get to the board and see. Louiza unzipped her bag and took out her black noise cancelling headphones. They helped some but it was better than nothing. She adjusted them on her head and let out a sigh. “Let’s keep going.” She gestured to Mike for him to follow her through the chaotic hallway.

Walking with a pep in his step Mike happily walks beside Louiza . Mike begins to think “So far things have been going pretty well. Louiza seems pretty cool and she is not intimidated by his height or age. OHH! “ Mike takes another look at Louiza. “Oh man, I will be graduating soon and if I get involved, would she want a guy attending the university?”. Mike lets out a heavy sigh.
Mike takes another look and he feels like he is about to explode. He is getting stressed, so he takes in a deep breath trying to calm himself down. He continues his thoughts “WHY are you so stressed? It’s not that big of a deal as you are getting WAY ahead of yourself my man. now stop being all whiny and relax and let things be what they are.” Mike snorts a quiet laugh at how silly he is being.
Upon reaching the boar Mike states the obvious “Ahh, here we go. Hrmmh I don’t recognize these names, I mean your cellmate’s names.” he blurts out. “And I’ve never heard of mine either, usually they try to put seniors with seniors.”. Mike watches for a reaction from Louiza as he says the next part “Because I am a Senior and will be leaving in nine months to go to the university and all, so… yeah.”

Before Lucius could answer, an announcement was made. After it, Lucius shrugged. “It seems like you could show me the announcement board as soon as you feel normal, roomie.” He looked at Kaito. Lucius couldn’t imagine how he felt. Sure, his parents put his grandpa in charge of raising him, which was similar to what Kaito’s aunt and uncle did. But he was never alone because of his powers. “Just tell me when you are feeling good enough to go.”

When they reached the Announcement Board, Louiza read through the list twice. “Looks like I’m paired with… Anitun-Tabu! That’s a pretty name.” She hummed and spun around to face Mike. “Oh, you’re a Senior? That’s cool! You get to escape school sooner than I do.” She laughed softly.

Now, back to her dormmate. Louiza looks around for whomever her dorm partner is. She doesn’t know what they look like so.. a tad bit difficult. “So I’m guessing yours is a freshman?” She asks. “Maybe they didn’t have enough Seniors or something.” She shrugged.

After few minutes kaito was fine grabbing your hand. “Ok ok let’s go!” His personality seemingly the polar opposite of the one you saw after you bumped him. The young male practically drug Lucius to the announcement board in his excitement to see the board. When he got to the board he gasped. “We are roommates! Last year I didn’t have a roommate…. I think though everyone was scared of me though…. I can understand if you are too… that’s why I have things help me though so nothing happens…”

The sudden personality change was unexpected, but it gave Lucius a greater understanding of how much Kaito seems to suffer from his ability and some kind of relief that he felt better. “No, I’m not afraid.” Lucius responded. He looked at the cheerful person Kaito was right now, while sadness overcame Lucius that nobody was able to help him, at least so it seemed. “Let’s get to the room right now, maybe I can catch some shut-eye before orientation.” He was finally able to take a bite of his sandwich. After he swallowed, he continued, “Maybe I’ll even skip orientation if you show me the ropes here.”

Mike is relieved a little by the comment from LLouiza. After she turns around he looks around and tries to get out of the way. “Hey Louiza, maybe, well,” he wanted to say that he wanted to hang out with her but didn’t want to push things. So, he settled for some lame excuse, and because he was embarrassed about not saying what he felt so he tells a lie instead of the truth, “I’d better go and make sure my roommate doesn’t get my bed.”. Instantly he thinks “What the heck was that… Roomie getting your bed? You just said hi I am a moron. That would have been better. “.Louiza says something but he is not focused and doesn’t really hear it.
Turning around to walk away he greets Kaito and Lucius. “Hey guys. I saw that you two were going to be roommates, that’s pretty cool. Kaito got lucky last year and got a room by himself. I’ve gotta run but I’ll catch up with you later and nice sandwich by the way.” Mike chuckles and quickly walks to his room, shuts the door, and takes off his shirt. He digs in his closet for a new shirt his stomach begins to growl. Having such a high regenerative metabolism means high maintenance. He grabs a couple of protein bars from the closet and throws them on the bed. Then picks out a nice red button-down shirt that’s starting to get too small through the chest and arms even though he just got it 3 months ago. He starts to button it up and hopes it does not rip during class as that would also be embarrassing. “What a first day,” he says grabbing a protein bar.

Bella woke up kind of late in her dorm room the same lonely one she had lived in since she was 7. Various band posters and concert ticket stubs decorated the walls along with beautiful hand-drawn pictures that she made. The bed had a black metal frame with a worn-out mattress and lumpy pillows all covered with various shades of a pastel pink cotton cloth. The room was lit by the glow of various electronics being plugged in and a pink and red lava lamp glows radiantly on the nightstand.

Bella has always had a room to herself because when she sleeps darkness occasionally will creep out of her and consume anyone nearby. This is too dangerous of a situation to place another student in.

Being a student here for so long, Bella has mastered her powers and now just needs to finish up her formal education and graduate. This was the only facility within the area with the proper housing and facilities to handle her. Bella has seen people “friends” come and go and the majority of them don’t stay in touch because of her age and that has made her kind of cold to become friendly with anyone; however, this was a new year, and in a few month’s she will be 17. “Maybe it’s time to make a friend or even two. Whoa, don’t get carried away.” Bella thought to herself as she stretched out under the sheets.

Laying there in her panties and a baggy T-shirt she hears the announcement play. With a soft voice, she says “Well Bell time to go save the world by learning Trigonometry, ya.”. Bella gets up and scratches her boobs and then brushes her hair back out of her face. “Why couldn’t I have magic powers like Doc Strangers and just wave a hand and make the bed, fold laundry, or something?” Bella remarked looking at the bed and the pile of clothes in the basket. “I’ll do it later.” she says stripping down and stepping into the bathroom. Pulling her long blond hair back, she turns on the shower, and then she checks her face for blemishes as the water heats up in the shower.

She washes herself with a strawberry soap that she got in Nice, France she loves the way it makes her smell. She finishes up showering and dries off. She brushes her teeth and hair then heads over to the closet and reaches through the wall of love beads grabbing her clothes. She typically wears dark clothing and a black cat-eared hoodie and a massive cloak that can encapsulate her body more than once this helps her to maintain control of the darkness within her.

She doesn’t need to look at the announcement board and after she is all dolled up with her make-up she teleports out of her room and appears in the cafeteria. Bella looks around and sees she’s not going to appear inside anyone or anything and becomes tangible. Then proceeds to buy breakfast consisting of pancakes with strawberries and OJ. “Thanks, Mrs. Shelley.” Bella says to the chef.
“Any time Bels” Mrs. Shelley replies as Bella finds a seat and starts to eat.

Ani decided that the best way to figure out who was her roommate was to actually go to her dorm. She headed to the first floor dorms like she requested and opened the door.
Her parents had already moved most of her stuff in earlier, she just needed to unpack. She put some bright green ointment onto her rash which was slowly calming as she rubbed the almost magical cream in.
After taking a deep breath she put her headphones on to start unpacking her things. Next she slid her wheelchair into a corner and began slowly walking around, putting things in their place. She could feel sharp pains up and down her legs but while Elton John kept singing “I’m still standing” in her ear she was determined to keep going. Besides, what superhero quit after a little leg pain?
After about 15 minutes she started to get a bit cold and put on the shawl her grandmother gave to her before coming to the school. She was able to reminisce on the tender memories she had of her younger years right after the blank space of time when she was in the hands of scientists who gave her, a seemingly random girl, random powers. She couldn’t tell whether or not she was grateful that they blocked her memory of the lab, but there were always the nagging questions. Who? Where? Why? Nagging questions that she might never know the answers to. She always had that fear … that she would never truly know herself because she can’t remember one of the most important times in her life.

The hallways were getting crowded now. “Hope ya get the bed you want!” Louiza called out to him as he left. She tugged on her backpacks straps and skimmed over the sheet of paper again, just to make sure she had the name in her head. Anitun-Tabu. Got it.

The ringing in her ears got worse and worse from the sounds and crowd around her. Her senses felt like they were freaking out. She dug through her bag and placed her noise-cancelling headphones on. At least they help some. It’s better than nothing. She let out a relieved sigh and hastily left the Announcement Board area.

By the time she made her way to the dorms, it was quiet enough for her to take off the headphones. As she stood in front of her dormroom’s door, she felt uneasy. What was behind this door? Was it something bad? Good? Both? She stood outside for a few min then took a deep breath and walked in. The room was awesome! It was small, yes, but it still fit two people inside. She spotted a girl unpacking things on one side of the room. That must be her! She smiled brightly and walked over to her, tapping her shoulder gently to draw her attention. “Hello! I’m Louiza and you must be Anitun-Tabu?” She played with the strands of her own hair. “I’m excited to get to know you better!”

Louiza should probably unpack the boxes she had. It was only two medium sized boxes. She didn’t have that much stuff to bring, nothing to important either. She was to busy introducing herself first though. Always want to introduce yourself before doing anything else! It made the uneasiness in her stomach slowly melt away.

“You sure your not scared? I basically could eventually end up exploding….” Kaito then looked at Lucius confused why he suddenly looked sad. “Why are you sad and sure I can take you to our room.” The teen was looking at the other while he bit into his sandwich reminding him he hadn’t eaten yet. “I mean I could but they probably would be mad at you for skipping ? Do you mind if I get something to eat before going to our room? I’ve not eaten anything yet…..”

Mike grabs both protein bars and places them back in the closet. He then takes off his button-down shirt and throws it on his bed. Mike says in a low voice “What to wear… What to wear…”. Seeing his Old black Texas Longhorns T-shirt he grabs that and slips it on. “Not a great outfit but it will do . Better than walking around with a stained shirt I reckon.” he says and heads out of the room.
Mike is a little hungry so he heads off to the cafe. He stands in line and gets a couple of breakfast burritos with double meat. Mike walks out of the kitchen area with his plate of burritos and walks up to Bella and asks her”Hey, uhm, mind if I sit with you?”

Bella was taken a little off guard by Mike’s sudden appearance AND the fact that he wanted to sit with her. She had been daydreaming about the future and what she wanted. All while enjoying the delicious fluffy pancakes that Mrs. Shelley made for her. Now she was faced with a choice.

“It’s too fucking early for this shit!” she thought to herself. Typically she would have said sure sit down and as he sat she would make a gulping noise and say I was done any ways then leave his ass sitting alone. ohh the temptation Everything screamed in her body urging her to do it.

A long time ago, in a hallway not far from here, she had her first kiss. It was going to be magical and one that she would remember. As she was about to be kissed her face got so hot, her hands and fingers intertwined together frantically like snakes trying to form a ball. Her legs and knees shook out of both excitement and fear. What if she didn’t do it right or she did it wrong? Other kids had gathered and were gasping and saying oohhh. But she knew she wanted this she was in love and this moment was coming true.

Bella looked up from her plate and casually leaned back making eye contact with Mike’s dark brown eyes. She took the napkin from her lap and wiped the corners of her mouth. She really didn’t need to do this but it gave her time to think. Time to think, to remember that day of her first kiss. The one that had made such an impact on not only her life but her psyche. To her that day shaped her life.

The boy leaned in for the kiss and her nervousness caused her to giggle a little. This startled the boy and he hesitated. Fearing he was not going to kiss her she grabbed sweaty hands with her trembling hands and leaned forward pulling him into her lips. It was a fleeting moment in heaven . She pressed her lips harder into his out of passion. Was this how love felt her heart grew 10 times bigger, NO! 100 times bigger! Just like the Grinch’s heart did on that cliff. What a wonderful day!

Her eyes narrowed as she put the napkin back on her lap. With a nonchalant voice, she says “No.”. Mike takes a look around as if to find another table. There were plenty of small round tables with orange plastic chairs to sit at. But this table was different. It was different because it had someone sitting at it and not empty like the rest. Mike really didn’t need a table he could have finished the burritos in a few bites. This was an obvious attempt to be social.

The kiss ended and the boy looked surprised, probably because she had kissed him. Bella didn’t even notice his reaction as young Bella had closed her eyes remembering and living in this moment. She was glowing brightly and her smile wrapped around her head. This was definitely love. She swooned back and forth her hands clasped together and held tightly to her chest. Her pink cashmere sweater was soft and her pink cotton sundress swayed effortlessly. There seemed to be no one else but her and him.

Bella has lived with the consequences of that day, the day she kissed that boy. It all flooded back to her with one simple word “Hey”. She wanted to be mean, scornful, and simply say “Fuck off Mike” but she didn’t. She was trying to be a better person. So she put a half smile on her face and repeated herself “No… I don’t mind if you sit down Mike.”.

The boy had pulled away from the love stricken Bella. He coughed and gagged making a big production out of the kiss. He was spitting profusely and wiping his mouth with his hands. Bella opened her eyes and stepped towards him with concern in her heart. “What’s wrong?” she asks. In her mind a cascade of reasons for possibilities of what she did wrong races through her panicked mind. “Did kiss too hard? Did I hurt you? Did I?” she is interrupted by the young man.

“EEWWW!” he exclaims. Then says, in front of the gathering crowd of all ages “ It was like kissing a corpse, all cold and slimy!” he says again wiping his mouth.
“Wh-what?” Bella stutters out with tears swelling in her eyes. “Dead? Slimy?”
“GROSS!” the boy shouts. “Get away from me dead girl.” he says then runs through the crowd and down the hall.
“Wha-What?” is all Bella can mumble out. Her hands fly up to her eyes as she starts crying just wishing to die. She stumbles backward and slides down the wall. She feels like throwing up. She feels like her head is spinning. She slumps over.

“I see her underwear !” someone shouts and everyone erupts in laughter “Hey! Dead girl shit herself!” someone else made up and shouts. Bella curled up into a ball, a trembling ball of tears and snot. A teacher came and broke up the scene. She scooped up Bella and took her to the nurse’s station. There she was cleaned up and spent the rest of the day being cuddled.

After that kids started calling her “DOOC” short for Deadgirl-on-crap”. That continued until one day she erupted and the darkness lept from her body and consumed a kid making fun of her. That didn’t stop the kids from making fun of her but now they did it in secret.

Staring into Mike’s pretty brown eyes she asks “So, what can I do for you, Michael?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not sad, just tired,” he yawned demonstratively, “and I’m not afraid either.” There are only two things I’m afraid of, training with my grandpa and children in horror movies.” Lucius was shivering just at the thought of both. He took the last bite of his Sandwich. “You are right, I probably shouldn’t skip on my first day.” this part, he said more to himself than to Kaito. Lucius started thinking about what he should do. Should he skip, or should he not? But orientation sounded like a drag and too much work. On the other hand, if he doesn’t show up, the teachers here would be really mad, and maybe he would have to do some extra work. So going to the orientation would be the lesser of the two evils.

“I guess I can find our room, you should get something to eat.” He put the rest of the money Mike gave him in Kaito’s hand. “It’s on Mike. “See ya, roomie.” With those words, Lucius walked off, looking for his room.

Kaito looked at Lucius surprised being unbothered by the potential risk due to his powers even more surprised when he handed him the money. “T-thank you I do have some money though…” kaito then realized in his surprise the older had already left so kaito went to the cafeteria getting himself two Onigiri wondering who mike was desiring to take his food to his and Lucius’es room. He sat on his bed with his Onigiri leaving the second seaweed wrapped rice ball on the plate.

Mike sat down his plate on the table across from Bella and then sat down. “I don’t need anything and I just wanted to say something or two. you see, I’ve sorta been on this tell how you feel trip since I took that empathy class over the summer,, but I’m rambling on. I know you’ve had it pretty tough here and I’m sorry for that. I just wanted to say that and see if there is any way for us to be friends?”