CHAPTER 2: THE DAY THEY FIRST MET
1162 Words
"Be careful going to school," Althea said to Zane. "Make sure you listen to your teacher and don't cause any trouble."
"Yes, Mom," he replied. He exhaled deeply before leaving their house. It has been three years since the car accident happened. His mother was fine and was able to go back to work after a week. His father returned to work after a month. He hit his head a little hard but it was not life threatening. Wane is perfectly fine, but Anne's spine is fractured, which affects her mobility. She is paralyzed from the waist down. She needed to undergo major surgeries and continuous physical therapy afterwards, and he heard from his parents that those would cost a lot of money. She has been sitting in her wheelchair for three years now. He partially blames himself for allowing his sister not to wear her seat belt.
He stepped out of the house and went to the school bus stop. He waited for five more minutes before it arrived.
The yellow bus stopped in front of him. He hopped in and walked towards the empty seat at the back. He sat beside the window and stared outside. He still can't explain what happened that time, when he killed weird scary men and released unknown powers. He was aware at that time, but he could not control his emotions. All he wanted was to protect his family and make those scary men disappear. The bus stopped a few blocks past their house. Three familiar kids hopped on the bus.
"Here we go again," he whispered. He wore his black hoodie and lowered his head to avoid being seen. The three kids sat in the front row of the bus. He let out a deep sigh of relief.
His school trip went smoothly. The three bullies in their school did not notice him since he was smaller than the back of the seat in front of him, and the male student sitting beside him was older and looked scary, too.
He let the other students leave the school bus first before going out. He walked quietly; he lowered his head while holding the straps of his backpack, and the hoodie almost covered his face.
"Wimp!" someone said from the side. He quickly glanced at them, but he immediately averted his gaze. Winsor is a tall, chubby ten-year-old kid, bigger than him. He is with his two friends, Cullen is smaller than him, and the other one is Alfred, who is thin but taller than Winsor. He continued walking towards the school building and ignored them. "Ignoring me?"
Zane ignored him again. He made it faster to reach the building and to avoid their group. He ran faster going into their classroom. They are classmates but they cannot bully him inside while their teacher is around. He sighed. "Good morning, Teacher Dess." He sighed before sitting on his armchair.
"Good morning, Zane. You're early," his teacher greeted back. She's in her mid-twenties. She is petite and slim and even looks younger than her age.
Winsor and his two friends come into their classroom. He saw their tiger eye look. "I need to hide later and avoid them or I will be in big trouble," he said to himself.
"All right, class. The weekend is just a few days away. Our school trip to the zoo is exciting, right? Make sure you bring a guardian with you to supervise you, okay? I will be handling these waivers and have them signed by your guardian. The details are stated on it." She handed the waivers to her students.
"Yes, Ma'am," everyone responded.
"We will see your relatives there," Winsor whispered, but he heard it. Zane saw in his peripheral view that he was referring to him with a grin. They are seated in the same row, but Zane is near the window, and Winsor is at the other end of the row. He ignored him again.
The ring alarmed me. It's lunchtime. Their teacher already left the room. His classmates started leaving to take their lunch. He quickly grabbed his bag with his lunch box inside and planned to storm out of the room. He wanted to avoid Winsor's group, but Cullen blocked the door.
"What do you want?" he asked. He raises his chin to show he is not scared of them.
"Give me your lunch box," Winsor said. He opened his palm, asking for Zane's food.
"Why don't you bring your food? My lunch box is mine." He tried to escape but Winsor grabbed his collar. He signalled Alfred to take his bag. He did what he was told, then he opened the bag and pulled out Zane's lunch box. He also pulled out his coin purse and took his coins.
"You're trash." Winsor pushed him to the floor; then he threw his bag at him.
His face wrinkled while rubbing his butt cheeks. "That's painful!" he complained.
"You can't do anything. You're a wimp." The three of them laughed while walking away from him.
He went furious. His knuckles clenched as his eyes changed colour from grey to icy blue. The surroundings are shaking, and the kids and teachers outside the classroom panicked. The three bullies almost lost their balance because of the ground shaking.
He tried to calm himself. He does not want to hurt anyone. He is aware of his power at a very young age, and he knows it is dangerous. The shaking stopped. His eyes went back to normal. He sighed heavily.
"What just happened?" Winsor asked. "What was that?!"
"It's an earthquake! Let's go and hide!" Cullen said. The three bullies ran fast out of the room. They screamed so loud while running.
He stood up and picked up his bag. He will go home hungry again after school. This has been the scenario since he entered this school. That group has been targeting him for bullying. They always take his lunch box and his money. Sometimes they hurt him physically. He never reported it to his parents nor to his teacher to avoid more trouble with that group. He always remembers what his father said, that being strong does not mean hurting, defeating or even taking revenge on other people. He believes him, and he admires his father so much.
The classes the whole day ended up like nothing happened. He was hungry and shaking while hopping onto the school bus. He wants to go home and eat the food his mother cooked for dinner. He became more hungry after thinking of it. His stomach grows. He lowered his head.
A sandwich suddenly appeared in front of his face. "Are you hungry? Here."
He looked up and saw a pretty girl with mid-brown hair and blue eyes. He thinks they are the same age. She was handing him a sandwich wrapped in a paper napkin. She was the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life.
- Writer
