Imperial High

THE BEGINNING

My name is Zachary Black. I'm the Storm and Leader of The Seven. I've faced evil witches, ninja goats (not a joke), skeleton pirates, an Infernal Dragon and way worse stuff. I've been to the Seventh Layer of Hell and back. I've been on the brink of death way more times than I care to count. I've lost to my enemies and lost my friends. I've been broken, battered and bruised. But I made it through. This is the story of how my friends and I saved the world from utter destruction and became some of the most powerful people in the world.

It all started with The Letter.

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Georgia, 1981

"Zachary! Get downstairs and eat your breakfast before it gets cold!"

I groaned. "Coming mom! I'm getting ready!"

I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my hair. I headed downstairs and into the dining room. My dad was at his usual seat at the head of the table, the morning paper in his right hand and a cup of steaming coffee in his left.

"Morning, Dad."

He looked up at me and smiled. That's what I liked about my dad. He's never anything but happy. My mom used to say that his best feature was his smile and I agree. I'm not sure who exactly I look like. I'm not as dark as my dad but certainly darker than my mom. She used to say that I was the chocolate-vanilla mix. I got my hazel eyes and long hair from my mom. I have my dad's smile, I guess.

"Morning, bud. Sleep well?"

I nodded. "Dreamt I was being hunted by a dragon or something though."

He laughed. "No more D&D for you, I guess."

My mom walked through the kitchen with a plate of food and one of her Looks on her face. My dad and I tease my mom that the reason she's so bad at charades is because she's so easy to read. We even have a scrapbook filled with pictures of her different looks so we can easily identify them. I didn't need the book for this one though. This was the 'time to do the birds and bees talk' look. She dropped the plate before me.

"So, Zach." She coughed awkwardly. "Now that you've turned 13, there are some things we need to discuss with you." She blushed. "Your body will be going through some changes- "

I choked on my eggs and coughed. Oh, God! I had misread her look. This wasn't the 'birds and bees' talk. This was way worse. Mom was talking to me about puberty! As if I didn't know everything there was to know, thanks to the magazines Mitchell Thompson used to bring for us to look through behind the school shed after school.

She shot a look at my dad, who was staring intensely at his cup of coffee and trying to hide his smile behind his newspaper, before continuing.

"Your body will be going through some changes and as your parents- "

"-Mom! I'm not a baby! You don't have to mince words with me. Plus, I already know everything there is to know."

Her eyes narrowed and I mentally slapped myself.

"Oh, really? And how exactly do you know what there is to know about puberty?"

Curse my big mouth. There was no clean way out of this. All I could do was try and minimize the damage.

"Just some magazines Mitchell Thompson brought to school before" I mumbled.

My dad snorted into his coffee. My mom shot him a disgruntled look. "I always knew that Thompson boy was a bad influence but imagine! Bringing such material to school!" She went to the telephone and began to turn the rotary dial. "This is the reason the world's going to shambles!"

I looked at her in horror. "Who are you calling?"

"I'm calling Mrs. Thompson! She needs to know what exactly her son gets up to in school."

I saw my whole world go up in flames in front of me. I couldn't ever go back to that school. My life would be ruined. I shot Dad a frantic look. Only he could prevent this life-ruining call from taking place. He caught my eye and nodded.

"Um...dear? I thought we were going to talk to Zachary about schools?"

I relaxed. Schools? Nice diversion. Mom would drop anything once it came to academic-related subjects.

She turned around and dropped the phone. "Oh yes. Zachary dear, your father and I wanted to discuss something with you. Now that you've turned 13, it's time to decide whether you're staying at Hopeside Elementary or whether to move you to another school."

I looked at them. "You're joking right?"

They exchanged looks.

"I don't want to leave Hopeside! I've been at Hopeside since preschool! That's where I've made all my friends! I don't want to leave, Mom!"

She shook her head. "I'm not comfortable with you staying, especially now that we know exactly what you and your friends get up to! I'm not going to change my mind on this. You're leaving Hopeside whether you like it or not."

I shot another desperate look at my dad. I would rather have a thousand puberty talks than leave Hopeside. He caught my eye and sighed.

"Okay. How about this? Zach, your mother isn't going to budge. So how about you look for  reasonable alternatives and then your mother and I will review them. Is that okay?"

I looked at him in frustration. Either way, I was still leaving Hopeside! He shrugged.

I groaned. "Okay."

My mom sighed. "Fine. Tomorrow. Not a day after. Now, back to this matter on Mitchell Thompson."

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