Acceleration

Chapter 1: New Day

Erin dove to the floor as fast as he could. A bullet of crimson rubber streaked by his ear at mach whatever-a-linebacker-could-throw. The squeaking of shoes on wood crescendoed throughout the room.

"DUDE GET UP!" Tom yelled. Erin's best friend grabbed him by the hood and yanked him to his feet.

"I really don't need your help man."

Tommy lowered his voice to a whisper,, "Just because you move really fast doesn't mean I can!"

Erin slapped his hand over his best friend's mouth, glancing around to make sure nobody had heard him.

"I told you not to talk about it at school!" Erin hissed. Tommy grabbed his hood and dropped to the floor. Another ball missed Erin by a hair.

Whenever Mr. Sheen didn't want to make his miserable P.E. students do anything, he'd bring out a bunch of dodgeballs and let kids go crazy. Today Erin had found himself on the receiving end of the Football team's sights. One specific linebacker, Charles, was particularly fond of hitting Erin with a round red wad of rubber. Tommy grabbed Erin again, practically sobbing.

"PLEASE man, our whole team is out!" Erin looked around. Sure enough, the only two people left were him and Tom.

"All you have to do is speed up a teensy bit."

Erin sighed, "One, that's cheating. Not cool. Two, STOP BRINGING IT UP WHILE WE'RE AT SCHOOL!"

"HEY EVIDRONE! YOUR NEW HAIR COLOR SUCKS!" Charles screamed and he prepared to fire another ball, "MAYBE A LITTLE RED WILL HELP!"

Erin looked back down at his companion.

"Yeah, he insulted the hair. I'll do it." Erin muttered. Tom's eyes lit up. Erin turned back toward the ball approaching his face, taking a deep breath. The blood flowing through his veins began to pump faster. An electric current swarmed his hairs, making them stand on end. In an instant, the ball that was a foot from his face froze mid air. Erin looked at his body. Small blue sparks jumped from his shirt and skin. Everyone around the room was frozen in place. A small haze covered the edges of Erin's vision. He reached out and placed his hand on the ball, sinking his fingers into the rubber. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, letting his body relax. His body began to slow, and the world around him resumed pace.

The players on the other team looked horrified at the impossible catch Erin had performed. In an instant, he'd pulled his arm back and fired it directly at Charles' head. The ball slammed into his eye, bouncing into the three people next to him like a pinball machine. Before the rest of them could see what had happened, Erin had launched four more balls at the rest of the football team. Four Balls, Four Whistles, Four outs. Tommy leapt from the floor and hugged Erin.

"I knew you could do it!" Erin grabbed his friend by the face and pushed him away.

"Quit it, that's the last time I'm using my tricks in front of you if you're going to ball your eyes out in amazement every time I do it."

The bell rang and the group of kids on the court made their way to the locker rooms. Erin and Tom simply grabbed their bags and left. Both of them refused to change inside school.

The duo moved to the parking lot as every teenager in the building made their way home.

"Sooooo are you going to do it today?" Tom pulled Erin from his thoughts.

Erin shrugged, "I'm pretty sure Elizabeth doesn't know I exist. I'm not going to ask-"

"No you idiot," Tommy interrupted, "Are you gonna go..." He checked to make sure nobody was nearby, "Fight crime?"