The Library of Powers

Chapter 2 - Part 3

Later that day, while in his 5th period, Jackson made a mistake. As if there wasn't already enough eyes on him, as his Physics teacher Mr.Merril was describing a paper he wanted by Monday, Jackson realized he had lost his last pen. He knew this day would come eventually, he had been slowly losing pens since the beginning of the year, his 12-pack bought at Staples eventually becoming a singular pen, and now none at all. He couldn't for the life of him remember where he left it. Was it in English? Either way, he had a distinct lack of writing instruments.

It was then, digging around in his pockets, that his hand fell upon the pen he had found in the main office after his encounter with Principal Gonners. He debated whether to use it for a moment. For one, it wasn't his, and it was such a nice pen, he was afraid he might break it. But then again, he had no idea whose it was, and pens were meant to write. He took it from his pocket, trying to figure out how it opened. Twisting it, a needle coated in ink appeared from the tip. As pens normally do. Then he started writing his notes on the paper, as pens normally do. Then his paper caught on fire, as pens normally do.

It was not the moment he saw the fire that Jackson slipped into the library. No, at that moment Jackson was still in shock, unable to determine a course of action. It was when someone started screaming that he decided slowing things down might help. Phasing halfway into the library, Jackson considered the situation. The paper was on fire. Not a big fire, just a few small flames, dancing around his written word like moths to a... well, you get the point. Jackson did not want the fire to spread, or the fire alarm to go off. If he ended up in Gonners office again today, the man just might murder him. So Jackson quickly took off his coat and smothered the flame. He then threw away the still smoldering paper, grabbed a new sheet, and stole one of Mr. Merrils normal pens, which he kept behind his desk. Returning to his seat, he set time back to normal.

The entire class was staring at him, but at least the screaming stopped. Mr.Merril, a young man with large round glasses and an overeager demeanor not broken yet by the public school system, stood dumbfounded. "Ja- Jackson." He stammered, "What was that?"

Not wanting to reveal the strange fire starting pen in his pocket, Jackson dug down into yet another hole of lies. "A magic trick," He said with an uneasy smirk.

"Well, please practice outside of class. I realize you finally revealed your powers, but you don't have to flaunt them." Mr.Merril warned, and went back to teaching. Great, Jackson thought, now not only has the story spread to the entire school, but they think I want to show my powers off. All he wanted was to be ignored, and luckily, eyes slowly drifted away from Jackson. Five minutes later, the students were focused back on the lesson (or more accurately, their phones). All except one, from one of the back rows, her eyes remaining trained on Jackson. By the time he noticed her, he knew why.

It was the girl from the main office. It must have been her pen left there. He mouthed sorry to her and took the pen out of his pocket once again, this time setting it on his desk near the edge, looking away. After a few minutes, she stood up and walked over to the door, grabbing a tissue from the top of a file cabinet and blowing her nose. On her way back, passing by his desk, she covertly grabbed the pen and left a note.

Jackson knew her vaguely. She had been in a class of his freshman year, health he thought. Her name was Ivory. Apart from that, he knew nothing of her, not even which circles she hung out in. From how quiet she had been in Mr.Merril's so far it probably wasn't any group in here. Everything about Ivory was short, but not small. She was a good foot shorter than him, and Jackson was not a very tall man. She had hair even shorter then his, cut in a fashion that he couldn't tell if it was stylish or deliberately not so. She wore a grey shirt and green jacket, a singular patch applied to the breast pocket. The Calypsos, a Vera City superhero team from the 90s. Local heroes of a sort, but embroiled in so much controversy it eventually drowned them. Her jeans looked well worn, and her shoes had seen their fair share of dirt, a strange amount actually. What was she doing wearing white shoes in some sort of dirty environment? Jackson wondered what her deal was, so to speak. Why did she have such a strange pen? It was then that he remembered the note she left for him. Uneventfully, he opened it.

"I know you're lying. Meet me after school behind the gym. Come alone. -Ivory Coldstone" it read. Internet companies should hire high schoolers as telephone poles, Jackson thought, because information in this school travels faster than electricity. Jackson considered ignoring the note, but his curiosity got the better of him. How much did this Ivory Coldstone know? And how did she know it? As the bell rung to sixth period, Jackson had some million more questions, but they honestly seemed trivial now. Well, nothing he could do, so why not see what Ivory had to say.