The Library of Powers

Chapter 2 - Part 4

His last class was with Melanie, which basically resulted in awkward stares and her trying to apologize. Jackson distinctly remembered one moment where he caught her glancing at him while they were doing some writing assignment, her mouth downturned and her brow furled. In fact, Melanie had been unusually quiet today, opting not to chat with her friends. Jackson wasn't making an effort exactly to figure this out, it was hard to not pay close attention when you sit directly across from someone. Hard not to interact, but if there was one thing Jackson prided himself in, it was avoiding conflict. Of course, he assumed that would get much harder to do in the coming months. Just finish the year, he told himself, that's all you have to do. When the bell rang, Jackson knew where to head.

The alley behind the gym was the byproduct of placing a high school on the edge of a metropolitan area. On one side, Takeshi High, on the other, various highrises. Jackson could have sworn he had seen someone climb the cast iron fire escapes and slip through a window one day while heading home, but he had only caught glimpses. You don't stop and gawk in Vera City, leave that for the tourists and idiots.

Ivory was already in the alley when Jackson approached; she had traded her jacket for a larger raincoat, suitable for the January weather. Crossing her arms, she watched Jackson near, analyzing his movements in a way not exactly clinical, but instead curious. "Got your note," Jackson said, leaning against the brick school wall. Ivory unfolded her arms and grabbed the glass pen from her pocket.

"Do you know how dangerous this is? You could have destroyed the entire school!" she yelled, thrusting the pen into his face. "No, never mind, I know you wouldn't have known about the pen, but..."

Ivory hesitated, unsure of how to proceed. Jackson tried to help, suggesting "I should have known better then use some strange looking object in Vera City? Yeah, I realized that just a moment too late. I really am sorry, for using your crazy fire pen. I don't know what the point of a pen that sets paper ablaze is though."

"It's not supposed to. You weren't using it right. It only works on a special kind of paper." Ivory explained, pocketing the pen again.

"But then why bring it to..." Jackson started but trailed off. "Never mind. I hope you didn't just come here to chastise me?"

Ivory's eyes brightened at Jackson's remark, and she took a step closer. "I overheard your conversation with Gonners. You can slow down time, right? You go to a clockwork shop?" She asked him.

"Uh, yep," Jackson answered, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Then you must have spent a lot of time with clockwork, right?" She continued, "All that time surrounded by gears, you gotta know a thing or two."

Jackson stayed silent. His face contorted with shock and disappointment, his lie lasting not even the whole day. Ivory did not let up. "Thought so. So the question is, what are you hiding? I know you have some sort of time-related power, but why hide it? Could your real power be even better? So good, that you hide it from everyone?"

While Ivory was hitting far more of the truth than Jackson was comfortable with, he still managed to muster a hearty laugh. His usual nonconfrontational demeanor obviously wasn't working, so he attempted to put on a more confident one like he used with Jennifer and Lillian. "Or maybe my power is too dangerous," He said, "Or maybe I just want to be left alone. Why do you even care anyway? You get your thrills outing others' secrets, like Melanie?"

Ivory stumbled backward a few steps, but then her eyes narrowed, and she stepped towards him again. Jabbing a finger at his chest, she shouted "A tough guy facade can't fool me. I'm not going to tell anyone. I wanted to ask to team up with you. I could use someone with your abilities. Your secret's already out, why not make the most of it, training to be a hero?"

It was at that moment that the pieces fell into place. Ivory was just another student with delusions of grandeur. Jackson turned around and started walking away. He dropped all his disguises, both his demure and his brazen. He spoke to her as Jackson Riel, the boy who enters the library of powers every single night. "Alright, whatever. I'll drop the act. But if you wanted a hero partner, maybe don't start by calling them a liar. Have you ever thought," Jackson said while turning his head to look into her eyes, "That maybe some people don't want to be heroes?"