Learning Control

Chapter 3: First Day

Remus took a look around the hallway, looking up from the school map in his hands. He folded it up and put it away in his pocket as he walked into his biology class.

Plenty of students were already inside, talking to friends and choosing their seats. However, there was a kid in the back in the corner who was just reading by himself.

At least, that's what it seemed like at first glance, but Remus caught the soft blue glow coming from the book. He knew that trick all too well, the kid brought his phone!

Remus didn't know how he had a phone, since both Roman and Remus were thoroughly checked before they boarded the plane. Maybe he had a special reason for having a phone? Maybe it was a special phone that didn't reach outside of campus and he was someone that stayed all year round? Remus heard some students, most often the orphans did that.

Either way, the kid had piqued his interest, so Remus walked over and sat down next to him. The second the kid noticed him walking over, the soft glow disappeared and the phone seemed to completely vanish. Just gone, into thin air. It probably had something to do with his power.

"Hi, my name's Remus," he introduced himself. "I'm new here."

"Janus," the kid said, closing his book. He wore a yellow hoodie and shirt with a black jacket on. He had dark skin, but his hands and the left side of his face had pale spots.

"Oh that's cool, you have vitiligo!"

"Yeah but it isn't all that cool since it's caused by an autoimmune disorder."

"Well that sucks, but it still looks cool. Anyway, how'd you do that little trick with the thing we aren't supposed to have?"

Janus glared slightly at Remus. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Convincing, but I'm not dumb. I promise I'm no snitch, I know the rules. Snitches end up in ditches."

"As long as you're not a loud mouth, fine. I have the power of illusions. I can make people see or hear things that aren't there."

"That's so cool! Everyone here has great powers, I wish I came here sooner!"

"What's your power?"

"I can create ice! My brother can create fire."

"Then why are you a new student now? With powers like those, you should have been able to come here sooner. Were you a late bloomer or something?"

"Not really, my brother and I hid our powers from our parents for a while. My dad's a rich man and we really didn't want any attention from the press so we agreed not to say anything to our parents. Until we were caught practicing our powers."

"Well, bet you regret hiding your powers now."

"Yeah, kinda. But public schools were always fun, I got away with so many pranks. It's probably gonna be hard to do that here, but I'm determined."

"Ah, a fellow trouble maker. Well, I know all the ways to not get caught."

"Alright class has started," the teacher called out. "Everyone take their seats and listen up.

Remus flashed Janus a smile before turning to face the teacher. He had a feeling it would be a really good day.

~~~

Roman sat down and pulled out a pencil, fiddling with it as he looked around. Students were still filling into the room, and he wondered if he could make friends with any of them.

It didn't take long for Patton and Logan to walk into the room and Roman sat up with a smile.

"Hey, Patton, Logan!" he called, waving over to them.

"Roman! How have you been?" Patton asked, sitting down next to him, Logan sitting next to Patton.

"I'm doing good. The campus is huge though, I tried walking around yesterday but I didn't get far. I'm not sure where we're allowed to go yet."

"The only place that's off limits outside is the training grounds. You're allowed to walk in parts of the forests that aren't fenced off, and you're allowed to go to the beach and swim in the water."

"Oh yeah, I was wondering about that!"

"I personally don't like the beach too much," Logan commented. "There's too much sand, and it gets everywhere."

"Yeah but you'll never turn down stargazing there," Patton said.

"I'll stargaze anywhere, you know this."

"Hey, as long as you get a proper amount of sleep I'm fine with that."

"You must know all the best places to stargaze then, huh?" Roman asked.

"Indeed, on top of the dorm rooms or school building, the beach, and a few other places. Patton and our other friends got me a telescope one year."

"We scraped up enough power points to find a really good one in the mall! And I baked a birthday cake for him with little stars on blue frosting!"

"That's awesome!" Roman said with a smile. "Now I want cake."

"I can bake some for you too!"

"Yes! I will forever be loyal to you."

"We should introduce you and your brother to our other friends! Janus and Virgil!"

"You better hope Virgil is in a mood to be making friends then," Logan told Patton. "You know how antisocial he is, he's an introvert, he doesn't talk a lot."

"Yeah but that's mostly because other people don't want to talk to him. They think he's scary, when really he's a big sweetheart!"

"Don't let him hear you say that."

"It's true! You'll be able to see, Roman, he shows his love differently."

"Sounds like an interesting guy, I'd love to meet him."

The teacher walked to the front and everyone's conversations quieted down. "Okay, class has started. Say 'here' when you hear your name."