Smoke

5: Oliver

I felt so embarrassed that had happened. I sat on the bus, still thinking about losing control of my breathing again, of my power, no, of the smoke showing through. And at school.

I closed my eyes, feeling my stomach turn, thinking about today. Leaning my head back against the seat, I breathed out in relief that it was over. I could feel something in the back of my throat, tickling it as I breathed, and I opened my eyes. I saw thin streams of smoke exiting my mouth, and began to panic again.

I shut my eyes, trying to focus on the nurses advice. My breaths became shaky and my heart started to beat quicker. I couldn't focus enough on my rational thoughts to think about what the nurse said. Something about slow breathing, but I couldn't catch my breath.

"Can I sit here?" A boy asked.
I looked up, seeing the boy from drama pointing to the seat. My eyebrows raised slightly, and I nodded. He slid into the seat, putting his backpack on his lap, and I turned my head towards the window, freaking out in secret, hoping he couldn't see the smoke.

I could still see a few light strands of smoke exiting my mouth.
"So what brings you to Low Oak?" He asked, turning to me. I closed my mouth nervously. He probably thought I was smoking or something.
"Uh," I swallowed. "my mom." I said simply, but he looked like he wanted more to it. A conversation. "I kept on," I swallowed again, my throat dry. "Freaking out at my old school, so she made me transfer." I nodded along to what I was saying. I turned my head back towards the window, hoping our talk was over.

"Me too." He said, laying his head on the back of the seat. The bus started rumbling, shaking, and started to move.
"You too?" I asked, looking at him. He was always, at least what I saw in drama class, so calm, so social, so everything.

"Yep. My dad." He said, glancing at me. "I kept on spacing out in class, disagreeing with what they were teaching..." he said, starting to drift off before blinking and turning back to me. "I knew they were teaching the wrong stuff. Retrocognition." He nodded at me, putting a hand up to his temple, tapping it, before letting his arm drop to his side again. I furrowed my eyebrows slightly.

"What?" I asked, confused, no idea what he started saying.
"I can see the past." He said. I nodded along, looking back towards the window, totally not believing him.
He went silent, and I stared out the window, believing our conversation to be over. The smoke was gone, thankfully.

"Cecil? What about you?" He asked me. I looked back at him. Apparently I had gotten worse at talking and social cues since transferring, which made sense because I haven't made any new friends yet.

"What about me?" I asked. I felt like I zoned out, missed a part of the conversation, even though I hadn't. Why was he still talking to me?

I glanced out the window, seeing houses and streets go by, hoping I didn't miss my stop, even though it probably wouldn't be for a while.
"What's your power?" He asked me, waiting for a response like it was a normal question. The other groups on the bus, the other voices, swelled. My heart started beating faster.

"Oh, uh," I started. I felt awkward saying it. I didn't even want it. It didn't even feel like a power. "I can, uh," my chest was constricting. It wasn't a power, it was a weakness. A flaw. A curse. I could feel it rising up from my lungs, through my throat. "Breathe smoke." As I said this, a puff of it rose out of my mouth, curling up through the air between us, mixing with the rest of the air.

I closed my mouth, turning back towards the window. My face was red, my heart was beating in my throat. I kept my lips pressed tightly together, afraid another wisp would curl out into the air.
"Like a dragon." He whispered quietly to himself. I glanced at him, embarrassed, seeing a slight smile on his face.

The bus rolled to a rough stop, and I heard kids shifting their backpacks and bodies, shuffling towards the doors. He was one of those kids, getting up, slinging his backpack onto his shoulder.
"Nice meeting you, Cecil. I'm Oliver." He said, glancing at me before he left. Our eyes met briefly and I nodded before turning back towards the window, ashamed, waiting for my stop.