The Matters of Power

Chapter 2- New Day, New You

Weeks later, passing by to the first day of school...

I finally survived summer vacation to reach the goal of another miserable school year. So much has happened with my powers that I finally have a reason to track something worthwhile for myself and plot down intricate notes. I reflect a bit in bed over what I have done: lying to my parents about my powers and keeping them in the dark for their own safety and sanity, returning to the tomb area every so often to find it there still intact and empty with no clues to help know its origins, and getting accustomed to the small town of San Anton that I will staying in. With my psychic powers, I found other potentials and abilities that have unique drawbacks/limitations with what I can at my level.

The abilities that I found that I could correlate to Moodle searches were:

-Levitation, the first one that can let me lift objects and let them float. I can so far be able to lift objects with lower or similar weight/size of sturdy metal beams in comparison.

-Telepathy, an odd one that can let me literally hear other people's thoughts. I can zone some out or concentrate on specific thoughts, but I don't bother with sending thoughts to others since that tends to make things complicated with one's thinking and it violates my no-abuse policy.

-Psychometry, a rare case that doesn't come through passive means and have to manually activate. I accidentally discovered this while being curious about a beggar's history as he grabbed my hand in thanks for my spare $5. Tragic story he had, but it means I won't be bombarded with flashbacks for every accidental bump.

Abilities that I discovered that couldn't be found on the Web and found other means of explanation:

-Sixth Sense View, my favorite most useful power. If I can't see through walls or what's not in front of my eyes, I can sense anything around me in a rough estimate view that otherwise can be similar like X-Ray vision. I don't have to be paranoid about anything I can't see, yet this ability seems to perform worse used over-time.

-Body Transformation, the life-changing ability for me. The image shown when I first had experienced the crystal revealed two drastically different forms of someone: overweight and unattractive versus the embodiment of beauty and fitness for a human being. Through several weeks of transforming my body to look similar to it under the disguise of heavy "exercising". By the time the last week of summer vacation came along, I viewed a different person in a mirror that my parents were overjoyed to see my physical improvement. They were initially concerned of my excuse of the heavy exercising to think that I was pushing myself to the brink of bodily collapse, but those thoughts were washed away by my final form and now I have to live with the new body on a daily basis.

I use my new body on the walk since we live closer to the high school and to save on gas, getting accustomed to the vast improvements of my stamina and body power. It seems that a new day has given me the chance to show my literal new me to the world. I'm still nervous by the time I get to the school main entrance, I'm not sure what the reception will be given on my first day of school, normally everyone but the similarly social outcast avoid me on the first day every year. Did this even work to what I want it to do? To not be constantly distant from others and somehow live a life that I can not be put down? I suck it up regardless and brace through the school and open the doors to the foyer.

Nobody immediately notices me, good for my self-esteem. This school is one of the best in the districts outside of Austin and somehow my father had miraculously been selected for a program from his company that pays their children for most of all costs for a school near their residence and they suggested to him that I register for San Anton High. It's no mistake why it would be considered one of the best: plenty of space with different programs, students that look like they have some form of wealthy background in the states, even optional uniforms to wear with the school symbol (that I clearly couldn't afford- they weren't part of the deal)! I look at my school schedule that I report to Mathematics for 1st period, next to Biology, World History, Introductions to Engineering, Lunch, English II, then Business Basics for my last (6th) period.

Walking through the hallway to math, I can hear subtle conversations and thoughts that can be expected from a typical first day, "Wish that I got a better teacher." , "I wonder if Hendricks is in my class" , "Now where is that spot I nee-" before I can process that person's thoughts I unknowingly collide with another student head-to-head, knocking us back on the ground with headaches. "Hey, what gives!?" they ask. I barely rub off the pain on the forehead and get up to find a guy that clearly reveals levels of elite class. He stands up and wipes off a bit of dust off the floor from his uniform, clearly annoyed of this incident. I can hear his thoughts, "Gollee, what a way to start my day. Can't wait to know who this clumsy dummy is so I can get onto him." Everyone nearby is observing us in hesitation as if I just committed a crime, but the rich man speaks up with, "Watch where you're going, huh? (He looks at me up and down) I have never seen you before, clearly you're new blood. Stay away from me if you don't want the wrath of Zeke on your face." They just walks past me in a hurried passion where I can clearly hear him mutter on about my looks and his "ruined" uniform.

Unfortunately the morning warning bell rings before much can happen but I find my classroom on time and sit on an unoccupied desk that I take towards the edge of class. I close my eyes to get a feeling of my Sixth Sense View in the classroom, but I find myself hearing people muttering about a strange student in the class with a few of them thinking, "Who is that guy? Never seen him before and I already like him." , "...A new pretty guy came to this school?" , "Hold on, he's not one I've seen before. The man a celebrity?" I doubt that they would be talking about me, I've already seen enough people that could trump my old looks any day of the week. I sense someone coming towards me, so I open my eyes to meet who it is before they try to pull a prank on me thinking I'm asleep.

Fortunately, they stop directly in front of me and I come face to face with a female student, "Hi there," she says, "Are you new around here? My name's Alicia.(She extends a small wave) Nice to meet you." This is quite frankly the first time any girl has willingly come up to me and make classic conversations, so I'm quite skeptical that they she would be talking to me and look back to find nobody else on the desks behind me. She giggles a bit that puts me on edge, "Of course I'm talking to you, who else would be in your seat?" From the small interaction with Alicia, I can already hear questionable thoughts about her, "Damn, she's at it again with another guy." , "Already? Is this a new record for picking up the cute ones?". I gotta do something to start a good year right, so I keep a straight face and nod towards her, "Nice to meet you too, Alicia. Please, let me get ready for class."

She looks conflicted and sounds frustrated in her mind, but some of the students seem surprised by my response. The bell finally rings and the teacher comes in the classroom with the other students quickly returning to some seats. The math teacher seems pretty relaxed for his first day here and not constantly looking my way (when I was the only considerably ugly one is class). Everyone else sometimes glances at me and give me unique thoughts to listen to for passing some free time.

Was this body "upgrade" a bad idea or am I missing something?