The Matters of Power

Chapter 24- Different Kind of Break

There's too much time on my hands. It's exhausting just thinking about how much time they give us in West Anton High when normally I was more focused on recovering my mental health. I would wish to stay in my house and play video games for the rest of the break, but the weather has been better lately and I couldn't let such a good environment go to waste now that Dad is working less hours because of company holiday preparations and Mom being ever so busy with the decorations and having more time to her television streams. I have yet to hear from Carl or any other classmates so it's basically another lonely break for me, but now I have the chance to enjoy myself unlike before. There has been no news coverage since that raid on the gang hideout a while back but there have been some rumors floating around social media about him not showing up at West Anton High and his supposed victims being free or something like that. Still, I couldn't figure out who that Pot fella is since he doesn't appear to be a known celebrity or even someone who stands out.

After a light breakfast, I put on some casual clothes and decide to head into San Anton for the day. Since school is over, I find a lot more people of my age roaming about than just the adults. I thought walking around and getting some fresh air would be simple enough but the amount of people that recognize me and start to invade my personal space gets more and more troubling to avoid. I decide to switch to my original body to get more personal time to myself so I walk over to a nearby alley and make sure that no one is watching, my mind feeling slightly numb in the process. It feels so foreign being in a body type that hasn't been used since weeks ago, but I doubt everyone else has the ability to morph their body while having supernatural psychic powers. Just like I expected, nobody bats an eye to my presence except for an awkward glance that some give me because of my appearance. It gives me some time to think on a park bench and take in the nature around me as some school groups and athlete elderly pass by. I haven't thought too much about the origins of my powers since last summer but it never occurred to me until now that I might not keep these powers for the rest of my life or at least until the end of high school. If watching those shows have taught me something is that supernatural powers are manifested in our teenage years and are only a threat to us and everyone else until we turn into adults or waste away. It's terrifying to think how these psychic powers will develop pass my freshman year but I can't rely on what those plot stories say since this is reality.

If I am going to lose these powers sooner or later, I am going to have to train my original body while I still can with its help. No time to waste, I get off the bench and motivate myself to start doing pushups one at a time. I actually manage to get above the count of ten before I lose my strength and collapse on the grass, but I quickly get back up and try to do them again. I think I go by half an hour trying to do pushups before my fatigue gets the better of me and decide to take a break. The grass and the lack of insects make me feel like I'm going to doze off here peacefully but my sixth senses pick up someone approaching me. As I lift my body up into a sitting position, a woman walks up to me and waves her hand. "Uh, hello? Excuse me." She looks around my age, no doubt she is one of those big businessman's daughters that have come here with them to capitalize on the growing size of San Anton. "Sorry to bother you, but I couldn't help but notice how hard you were exercising there. You are doing a good job, but don't push yourself too hard, okay?" I nod silently, not sure what to make of her being nice to me, a stranger to her. She clears her throat, "Oh, sorry. I was wondering if you could help me find this place I need to go to. It's my first time in this area and I'm not familiar with the routes, since my phone's gps app isn't working right now." So, she's a tourist and needs my help for directions? I look around if anyone else is remotely interested in helping her, but they seem to have magically gone away or are busy with other tasks at hand.

"Alright then, I'll help you." I stand up and brush dirt off my pants. "I got time to help, just tell me where it is that you need to go." If she's making an attempt to lure me away and beat me up with her friends, she's doing a good job. She opens her purse and pulls out a piece of paper and reads a location out loud. "San Anton... High. That's where I need to go. Is it nearby?" I would like to think what her purpose is to go to the school that I attend, but it's rude to make assumptions at this point. "Sure thing," I motion for her to follow me, "if you will follow me, San Anton High will be this way." She gladly follows me closely to my side and we walk the streets that I know will get us there in the shortest time in about twenty minutes. Looking at her closer, she has a slightly tan skin tone that fits well with her dark hair fit into a ponytail. If she has any hint of showing of a lax nature, she doesn't show it as every step and motion she makes almost makes it as if she was naturally graceful. Even the people that are on the streets with us look in awe at her and don't pay much mind to me. She tries to make small talk with me about various things, but I stay reserved in my wording since I hardly know her and don't want to say anything that might compromise my hidden psychic powers. Thankfully, she doesn't seem that upset or concerned about it. Finally, we arrive to the entrance of San Anton High where she thanks me for my guidance and I wave goodbye. Even as I walk away and decide to head on home, I find myself intrigue with her as if she had something unique compared to others.

*The next day...*

Another day, another session of grueling short exercises that I must persevere in order to improve my original body's condition. I finally had the idea to prepare lunch and plenty of energy drinks to stay out in the park so that I don't quit so early. About half an hour later I actually manage to get past fifteen pushups before hitting the ground in exhaustion, feeling proud that some progress has been made. "Oh, hey there." I look in front of me to see that woman from yesterday standing on the park's paved road. She approaches me, "Remember me from yesterday? The one who asked for your help in directions?" "Yeah." I quickly state, not sure what she is trying to say. "Do you mind if I sit with ya for a bit? I just want to talk, that's all." Despite my suspicions, I reluctantly agree and she plops on the grass. Awkward silence fills the air as I'm not sure to what to say at this point and I don't want to continue my exercise routine in case I offend her. "...Julieta." "Huh?" She extends her hand for a handshake, "I didn't introduce myself properly, the name's Julieta." "Marcus," I reply back while returning the handshake, "I'm Marcus." She looks pleased by my response. "Once again, thanks Marcus for helping me out yesterday with directions. I was trying to get someone to help me out but they were all too busy with their own thing or were in a hurry to pay attention to me." Man, if only she had paid better attention to the people we passed by yesterday, I'm sure they would have dropped everything and help a woman like her in a heartbeat. "Anyway, I was wondering. Do you go to San Anton High by any chance? I would like to know if we have any classes together and see if you could help me get acquainted with the school."

"Yeah, I-" I quickly cut that sentence off before I realize the mistake I was about to make. I don't go to school with my original body and I can't have her asking questions about me if she'll be able to piece together my powers. I have to use my character story that I've been using for my original body again. "Y-yeah, about that. I don't go to San Anton High. I'm homeschooled." Julieta looks surprised by that. "Wow. Uh, sorry for asking, Marcus. I mean, I hope I'm not prying too much with this, but did something happen to you that made you decide to be homeschooled?" She really is trying to strike a nerve with that sympathy questioning that I always get. Still, she seems genuine with asking that I can't get mad at her for asking but I don't want to tarnish San Anton High's reputation before she even starts the 2nd semester. I fiddle with my fingers as I try to make a convincing story. "Uh... well you see, my parents and I have seen that I do better with my studies at home rather than going to a public school. I may be a freshman in correlation to the public school system, but I do just as well as anybody else. Well, except for the physical education part, that's I've been trying to do for Winter Break." If she seems unconvinced by my answer, she doesn't it. Even then I can't seem to reach into her thoughts to know what she is thinking... is there a limit to my abilities of Telepathy? Julieta claps her hands together, "It's good to know that you are doing well, Marcus. You're doing a great job with your exercises. I can tell that you have made improvements, I hope you keep working hard on those pushups and situps. We should go to-"

Suddenly, her phone goes off and she takes it out, then sighs. "Sorry Marcus, but I gotta get going now. My dad's trying to call me back for something, so I guess I'll see ya some other time... maybe tomorrow." With that, she waves goodbye and leaves the park to go see her father. I think about taking my leave and returning home but I have my lunch to eat and the spare energy drinks to think about, so I continue my mediocre exercise session. For the next few days, I continue to take attempts at exercising with my original body and find myself encountering Julieta where we talk for a bit and herself even offering to help me exercise, but an old man one day started to chew me out for 'public indecency' when I had Julieta sit down on top of my back for extreme measures with pushups. Besides that, we start to get along just fine other than the fact that I actively try to hide any mention of my psychic powers and my perfect body being used to attend San Anton High. Before I knew it, Christmas Eve and New Year's Day had gone by with my family having a good time with what little moments we had together because of work and the 2nd semester of school was just around the corner.

Looking into the mirror of my original body without my parents noticing, I find that my body mass hadn't gotten down to any noticeable changes and I assume that I'm doing something wrong with those exercise routines.

Still, I got Julieta to count on when we get back to school since I know she is a good person.