inhuman

prologue

clay's pov

"I'm a very lucky person. This is understandable, considering that I am the greatest. At least compared to everyone at school anyway. If people went around and asked, 'Who's the best person at this school?' Everyone would immediately point to me, Clay Richardson. I'm successful, pretty good-looking, athletic, rugged, rich, hot, motivated, sexy, inspirational, and some might say, attractive guy. I also play baseball and a lot of girls dig that stuff, ya know? Anyways peace out there's only 1 minute left on the timer. Miss Thompson, you're my favorite teacher ever." I read out to the class and take a confident bow at the end. Everyone confusedly looks around and claps as Miss Thompson crosses her arms at me with a smirk. "I told you to write a paragraph about who inspires you and you give me this to work with." She states and I hit her with a signature smile of mine, "Uhh well that's what I did. I wrote about myself because I'm my own inspiration. C'mon Miss Thompson, get with the program." I hand my paper to her but she denies it, "I can't grade a paper about you talking about your looks, do you know how suspicious that will look for me?" "It might be, but you know it's right," I say to her and she rolls her eyes, a smirk still staying on her face. Being an athlete and having a young English teacher is always a bullseye. "I can't accept it. Write another one. Seriously-!" "But-!" "NEXT UP WE HAVEEEE!" She yells, interrupting me and my shoulders sag as I stomp back to my seat where I wallow in pity. Damn, I thought that would work. Especially since it's just the beginning of the year and according to Hunter, she was into him. Maybe I'm just not her type. That seems impossible though, but it is likely. So, it seems like I actually have to write about someone who inspires me. Of course, I could always write my go-to, who's my dad, and since he's the mayor and everyone loves him, it'll probably get hung up somewhere, but it's always the same thing. He takes care of the city, makes it a better place for everyone, and has all these responsibilities while also considering families and feeling empathy blah blah blah. Frankly, I'd be lying if I said he's inspirational to me because of how many times I've had to do a fucking paper about him being an inspiration. But it's not like anyone else comes to mind. I admire my family and my friends, but none of them inspire me. I lean back in my chair as I gaze up to the ceiling and sigh. What's so wrong with me being my own inspiration anyway? I thought she would be touched by that fact-! "Okkkaaayy, Kate Mathis, you're up next." Miss Thompson yells out and I hold my breath as I hear the name. Oh god- not Kate-! "HII EVERYONE!" Kate enthusiastically screams while she smacks her lips because of the gum she's chewing, "TODAY, I'm gonna read my paragraph or whatever- JAMIE STOP LAUGHING AT ME OH MY GOD!" I see Miss Thompson's expression and I can't help but feel the same way as Kate laughs in front of the class. Kate's a girl I've known for a long time and every time I see her, I want to jump off a bridge. Which actually makes me suicidal by how many times she comes up to me in a day. I'm actually surprised she hasn't even said anything to me this class. "Okay, for MY inspiration. I uh..," She lets out an annoying giggle before proceeding, "I actually did my inspiration piece on...Clay." My eyes widen and my heart drops as everyone around the class looks at me. Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me. "Clay...Richardson? The one who just did his reading that's in this class?" Miss Thompson clarifies and Kate nods her head, making me want to disappear. "Yeah. Um...I just want to say that he's my inspiration because we've been friends for a long time and...I don't know- it just seems like he's so set on life. Like he knows what he wants and he just goes for it. It's kind of admirable. And it's something I think a lot of us want to have, but something we don't think we can have because we're too scared," The weight off my shoulders lightens as I look at her in a new light, "maybe it's confidence or maybe it's just no fear- I don't know what it is. But, it's something that's kept me going for longer than I think he's realized. So, this one goes out to him." I can't help but smile at her and she brightly smiles back. Damn, that was really hot. "Well, that's...surprisingly sweet of you, Katelyn. Can I have your paragraph please?" Miss Thompson asks and Kate starts smacking on her gum again, "Wait..we were supposed to write it?! I JUST IMPROVISED HAHAHAHA!" My shoulders immediately sag down as I take back the compliment I said about her. Before anything else can happen, the bell rings and everyone gets packed up. "Alright, just because we didn't get to everyone DOESN'T mean that some people will get out of presenting! We'll also do presentations next class so until then!" Miss Thompson yells and everyone starts to leave when I grab my paper and bookbag, approaching her desk. "Hey, so uh-!" I start to say and she smirks at me like she knows what I'm going to say. "I will accept rewrites until the end of the day. If you don't give me one by then, then it counts as a 0, got it?" She enforces and I regrettably nod my head. I guess I'm gonna have to write another stupid one about my dad then, so my first grade here isn't an F. "Oh, by the way," She yells to me as I start to walk away, "can you get me more paper in the paper copier room?" I raise my eyebrow in suspicion as I smirk, "What's in it for me?" She laughs, "There has to be something in it for you to be generous?" "Yes, there is." I respond with no shame and she sighs, "I'll give you a late pass to your next class- BUT IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU FOOLED AROUND IN THE HALLS-!" "I won't, I won't! Jeez, do you have any faith in me?" I ask her and she sighs, "You have your brother's tricks, so no. But you should thank that Kate girl. She saved your reputation for me." I roll my eyes as Miss Thompson hands me the key to the room, "Yeah well it won't take you long to realize that she's a bit crazy." She tilts her head and gives me a stern mom look, "She cares about you. And it seemed like what she said about you was genuine. So, I'm sure a thank you to her would be nice. Saying things like that goes a long way. Even you just being YOU went a long way for her. Think about it." I swing the key loop around my finger, "Sure thing. I'll be back with your papers." "YOU BETTER!" She yells to me outside of the classroom and I quickly get consumed by students out in the busy halls. I always forget every year how different the first week of school is compared to the rest of the school year. This is the prime moment where everyone is actually happy to be here with their friends instead of stressing about homework and exams. It's rare to feel the way you do during the first week of school. But, it all seemed the same to me. Just another couple of days to power through. I guess that's one of the reasons why I'm Kate's inspiration. "Yo, what's good Richardson." "Sup bro." I mumble to Tamir with a dap up as we keep walking our separate ways. Dang, that man grew. I swear to god, I was taller than him last time we hung out. "Hey Clay!" A familiar brunette girl greets me and I give Anna a friendly wave back. "Sup Clay." "Hey bro." I mutter with another dap up and I give another acknowledgment before finally leaving the crowded hallway. Noww, where exactly is the printing room? This probably should've been something I asked earlier about to Miss Thompson before I left, but in my defense, I never said I was smart when I did the inspiration piece about me. I glance around until my eyes widen. "Mr. Tracey!" I yell and his eyes slightly widen as he smiles when I walk over to him. "How was your summer, Clay?" "Boring as usual." I lie and he nods his head, knowing damn well I was lying. "Look, I'm just gonna cut straight to the chase-!" "I was waiting for you to." He responds and I nervously chuckle as I rub the nape of my neck, "Do you know where the paper copier printing room is? I forgot to ask Miss Thompson before I left with the key." Mr. Tracey laughs at my statement, "So, you still didn't get any smarter over the summer, huh?" I shockingly look over at him, "Uhhh OUCH! I thought I was your favorite student!" "You ARE, which is why I'm being honest with you by saying that." He defends and I pout as I cross my arms. "No, you're just mean and I demand an apology." "Oh, don't be such a baby." Mr. Tracey mutters with an eye roll and I smugly smirk as I nod my head at a familiar girl, "It works for more than you think it does." "Like for your parents?" He asks and my eyes slightly widen before I force myself to become comfortable again, "Look, their attachment to me being a little kid is NOT my fault-! They just don't want me to grow up at all." "And that probably stems from you needing them more than you think you do." He talks back and I glare at him, "So, are you gonna tell me where the room is, or am I just wasting my time?" He gives me a hard stare back, "You know I'm right and that's why you want to avoid the confrontation," Just as I'm about to snap back, "it's the door near the office, room 154. Don't make a mess." Before I can say anything else, he leaves me in the hallway and I sigh before walking towards the room. Do people really think I'm dependent on my family to do everything for me? Or that I'm not trustworthy? I admit that I have done some shit in the past, but I didn't think I was BAD-! I thought I was GREAT-! I thought everyone felt that way about me too. I shake the thoughts away from my head. Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm just gonna get these papers and then move on with the day like nothing ever happened. And it's totally NOT gonna be in the back of my mind, gnawing at my brain. I scoff as I stomp towards the door with ease, because of the lack of students in the hallway now. People don't think that I'm trustworthy and that I rely on everyone else-! I'll show them just like I did last year and the year before that and the year before THAT-! I swing the door open with full force and aggressively look up to immediately freeze up in the doorway. Papers. Papers flying around like a calm tornado in the room along with subtle music playing in the background. I can't help but be frightened. The last time I checked, I didn't smoke anything weird so this isn't my imagination playing tricks on me. But if it truly isn't my imagination, then what the actual FUCK is making this happen? I carefully walk to get closer and try to grab a paper until my eyes widen again when I see a shorter, black-haired boy in the middle of the chaos. Spinning around and listening to music as his hands flawlessly move around, almost like controlling where the papers go. I look around the room, trying to find a fan or an AC to make this make sense- but nothing did. I stare back at the boy, who still had no idea I was there. And to be honest, I'm kind of glad he didn't because of the way I haven't kept my eyes off of him. But, this needs some explanation. Fuck the papers, fuck being late, fuck the mess, fuck the other thoughts I had before- I needed to know about this moment right here right now. Of course, I should probably wait before I charge into the paper tornado and get paper cuts all over me but AFTER THAT- will be SERIOUS business. So...yeah...just...gotta wait-! Fuck, I'm already sick of waiting. HOW LONG IS THAT SONG?! "Hey! Excuse me?" I try to speak up and he doesn't seem to pay attention, his eyes closed as he sways to the music. "Hello?" I ask again a little louder and he seems to peer open his eyes, wondering if he heard a voice or not. "Hey." I say again and he turns in the direction of me, his eyes widening in fright as he sees me standing there. The papers flying around him suddenly stop and all fall to the floor as our eyes meet. "Hi." I whisper, almost like I'm meeting a timid cat for the first time. I expect him to say a friendly response back, but he just stands there and looks at me while he shakes, like he couldn't believe I was there. "Are you okay?" I ask him while he takes his earbuds out of his ears and he turns to me, "How much did you see?" My eyes widen as I hear his voice and I shrug my shoulders, scoffing, "I like just came in ten seconds ago-!" "You're lying to me." "Pft, and how do you know that-?" "Because you're a bad liar." He says with his arms crossed. I slit my eyes at him, "Fine. Maybe I was here for like 3 minutes give or take-! But it's not my fault, I just saw you fucking control a PAPERS INTO A TORNADO-!" He immediately rushes to cover my mouth with his hand, "Shush UP! You don't just go around yelling that type of stuff-!" "Well in my defense, you don't go around DOING that kind of stuff!" I muffle back and he sighs, removing his hand from my mouth. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I think you're crazy if you were seeing a paper tornado or whatever you were talking about." He says and my eyes widen in surprise as I realize what he's doing. "Uh- are- are you trying to GASLIGHT ME?! What the hell, man?! I saw that shit you did with my own TWO EYES!" I yell and his shoulders sag as he realizes the trick isn't gonna work on me. "What do you think it was then?" He asks me and I stare at him, crazily, "I don't KNOW and frankly, I don't CARE about what I THINK it was! I want to know what it is and how the fuck you did it! Because last time I checked, that's like...not normal!" He gazes up at me and gets close to my face, making my eyes soften. "Promise me...you're not gonna scream." He whispers and a smirk grows on my face, "Depends on what you're gonna do to me-!" Before I can finish my dirty joke, he raises his arm towards the door and swats the air, making the door close, and twists his wrist to make it lock. I lose all words as I stare at the now-closed door. "You-you-that-I-that was like an invisible string that you pulled, right? Is this some kind of prank because I did something dirty to one of your friends or something? Because you're putting a LOT of budget into this thing and I'm not even scared-!" "I can sense that you are and it's okay. Something like this happening to someone would be a normal reaction." He says while he simply looks at the fallen papers to collect them all from the floor to put them in a neat stack, "Sorry about the papers by the way. I did make a mess of your teacher's- I swear I didn't mean to! It just happened and-!" "What the hell are you?" I ask, interrupting him and he turns to me with a smirk, "I'm not sure if I should tell you. After all, we did just meet five minutes or so..give or take." I can't help but smirk at his response. "I see what you did there with the tease at me, but seriously- like...if this isn't a prank being pulled on me then how did you do that? Why the hell are you HERE-? I don't even know your name." I mumble and he gives me a small smirk. "Well, I did that because I'm a psychic, I'm here because I need to get some form of education and my name is Miles Robinson," He explains and he holds out his hand, "nice to meet you."