Aldwynne High: Jamie Cortes

Part 1: Aldwynne High

A loud ringing sound came from somewhere far away.

Huh? Barely conscious, the life form pushed itself awake. They blinked as it all came into focus, a small room decorated with a pale pallet. The tans and soft colors of orange on the walls and furniture seemed to blend into each other. They blinked again. It was all so underwhelming...

As the concept of reality peered back into their mind, they suddenly shouted "School!" jumping up from their bed onto the brown carpet.

They reached for a white, long sleeve, button-up shirt. Slipping it on in a rush, they also grabbed dark blue jeans. They had forgotten that the alarm on their phone was still blaring. Picking up their phone, which was on a white desk, they turned it off. They turned, almost running into the long mirror that hung on their wall. They looked at themself.

Short, loosely curled, light orange hair. Two small fluffy white cat ears poked out the sides of their head. Bright orange eyes lined with the freckles that covered their cheeks and nose with pale skin. He smiled, the long smooth tail of his swaying. He turned to reach for a blue tie. Putting it on, he realized that he still hadn't had breakfast yet.

He looked at the time, "9:00?! I should've been at school by now!" He flung open the floor to his room and ran into the kitchen.

It was a small house, barely enough for him and his parents, but he knew any more than this his mother would be worried about cleaning all the time. There was a small island dividing the kitchen and living room. The kitchen had a counter that lined the back wall with top cabinets and a tile floor. The living room had one three-seater couch in the center and a small, wooden rocking chair, where his mother was sitting in.

"Jamie?" she stood up, looking confused. "I thought you left hours ago. You should be at school."

The soft gold hair running down below her waist seemed hard to manage. Sometimes she'd end up sitting on it. She had the same orange eyes as her son, along with the same skin tone. She was holding their cat, Lucifer, which was a black, short-hair with neon green eyes.

She rushed over to him, "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No, I just slept through my alarm," Jamie reassured her. He was worried that she might think he was trying to avoid school, so he gave her a hug and rushed out the door, saying, "I really shouldn't be late on the first day."

"I'll come by later today with all your stuff!" he heard her call.

When he opened the door, the light blinded him. He held up his hand to block the sun, and the city came into focus. He lived on one of the tallest points there, in Aldwynne. He could see everything from his front porch, including the dirt road and the sad sight of trash everywhere. The old rusty bicycle that leaned up against the shed was the only form of transport he had, sure, there was the city bus, but he never had enough money for it.

"Looks like the tire's flat," he mumbled to himself as he sat on the bike. He sighed and rode it down the hill away, thinking, "I'll have to fill it up later."

The steep hill would lead into the busiest part of town. He had to be careful since he'd pick up speed while riding down it. The flat tired made it harder to control, which worried him.

"I'll be fine, I'll be fine." He chanted, picking up speed.

As he neared closer, he could hear the traffic. As the buildings grew taller and the roads turned to concrete, the bicycle started to swerve. He lost control while heading toward an intersection. It seemed as if the bike flung him off into the crosswalk, which gave him burns on his arms. A car pulled up slowly in front of him, blaring its horn.

"Oh! Are you okay?" A boy rushed over to him, offering his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He replied, taking his hand and standing up. "Thanks."

He had light pink hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing his school uniform, a white button-up shirt with blue jeans.

"Oh, I know that uniform." He said, flashing him a bright smile. "You must be heading to Aldwyne."

Jamie brushed off his shoulders and continued to cross the road with him, walking his bike.

"Um, yeah." He replied.

"Im heading there too!" He said, "I'm Florence, by the way." He held out his hand.

"Jamie." He shook his hand.

"So whats your Spark?" He asked cheerfully.

In this universe, every five generations are born with superpowers or, as we call them, Sparks. They're not the typical powers, though. Sparks like flying or control over different elements usually don't come around unless paired with something else, like being part animal or being a host to a stronger creature. Jamie's power was being able to heal any wound in exchange for energy. He couldn't heal himself though, it would end in an endless loop...Well, I guess it wouldn't end.

"I can heal pretty much and wound." He answered, looking down at his hands.

"Thats nice! Not too effective in battle though." He looked up as if to think, "You probably already know this, but the school isn't too nice to their students. We're outcasts to them...to everyone, and with a spark like that, I imagine it'll be worse for you."

He didn't respond, and he was right. He knew this already. It was made clear that he was neither gifted nor lucky but the opposite. This wasn't where he wanted to be. He looked up at the tall buildings in front of him, Aldwynne High and Throllow High. Aldwynne was an all-boys school for the Sparked. Trollow was for girls. In fact, that was the schools' purpose, to teach the next generation how to use their powers before they got out of control. The students were to hide them and live "normal" lives.

"Yeah...I know."