Magicae

Chapter 13: Roommates (Part 1)

As the girls entered their room, Jen turned to Alex. "Right. Now that there's just you, I can take you directly  to your room. Well, the hall outside it. Girls and boys aren't allowed in each other's rooms." She held out her hand.

Alex stared at it. "Uh..."

Jen sighed something that sounded suspiciously like boys. "Listen, it isn't going to hurt you. Just take it."

Alex tentatively took her hand, holding it between his index finger and thumb.

Jen rolled her eyes. "That'll work. Now, don't freak out."

"Freak out about wh--" Alex was cut off by an odd feeling. His body felt almost like it was... dissolving. Or maybe the world was dissolving around him. Everything was turning into light, all different colors, and then everything became a brilliant, blinding white.

Alex blinked. Suddenly everything was back to normal. They didn't even seem to have moved. Except... before, the sun had been streaming in through a window on his left. Now the sun was coming in through the right window.

"I couldn't do that earlier because there were three of you. I'm only able to teleport one other person besides myself," Jen explained. "We're in the boy's wing. That's your room." She pointed to the second door on the right.

Alex nodded. "Thanks. So, um, do I just go inside?"

Jen nodded. "Bye. Oh, and... good luck."

Alex blinked. "Good luck?"

Before he could ask what she meant, Jen was already shimmering out of existence as she teleported away.

Hand on the doorknob, Alex tentatively eased it open. All was quiet inside. Too quiet.

Alex reached for the light switch, which was off. The moment he flipped it on, something came hurtling at him from the ceiling.

Before Alex could think about what he was doing, he jumped out of the way. Whatever it was landed right in front of him.

"HiI'mJustinwhoareyouareyoumynewroomateifyouarethat'sawesomeIjustgothereafewweeksagoandihaven'thadaroomateyet!"

"What?" Alex took a step back to look at the speaker. It was a boy his age with sandy blond hair and blue eyes, and a few scars on his arms and forehead. He was wearing blue jeans  and a red t-shirt.

He was also very figdgety, constantly in motion, whether he was drumming his fingers on his thighs or scratching itches in his arms.

The boy spoke again, this time slow enough to understand, but still a faster than normal rate of speech. "Sorry. I talk fast when I'm excited. And I'm really excited right now because I finally get to have a roommate!"

"Why haven't you had a roommate before?" Alex asked.

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. Well, I did have one for a while. Like one night. His name was Cale. He didn't seem to like me very much or something. He asked to be transferred the morning after. No one has come since so I haven't had a roommate since. Oh, by the way, I'm Justin. Justin Anderson."

Alex nodded slowly. "Alex Dragoni. Were you... on the ceiling when I came in?"

Justin laughed. "No way! That would be cool, though, if I had that power. To be able to stick to the ceiling. No, I was just jumping."

"That high?" Alex was shocked. The ceiling was a good 9 feet off the ground.

"Yeah, I do track. That's my 'specialty subject.' But I can jump that high because of my power." Justin sighed.

"I can draw the energy out of the air around me and use it for myself, so I can like run really fast and jump really high. I mean, not as fast as someone whose actual power was superspeed, but just really fast for a normal person. I do better outside, because then I can just use the the sun unlimitedly. Inside I have to be more careful, because I can only use things like the lights or air conditioning. And if I use too much of them, then the teachers get mad at me. But I don't want to practice outside all the time! It's hot out there!"

Justin seemed to be getting a little off topic, so Alex tried to steer him back. "So you're just constantly sucking the energy out of stuff?"

"Not sucking. Absorbing. And sorta. I'm always really fidgety because I do absorb some energy all the time, but I can intentionally absorb a lot at once so I can jump or run."

"You don't sound like you like your power very much," Alex observed.

Justin shrugged. "It's ok, I guess. I mean, I can jump and run really well. And some of my teachers think that eventually I'll be able to transfer some of the energy into others, which would be kinda cool too. It's just... a lot of people think I'm really weird because I'm so fidgety all the time and  I talk so fast. That's what Cale, my old roommate, thought."

Alex shook his head. "You seem fine to me."

Justin grinned. "Thanks. So, what's your power?"

"Uh..." Alex forgot for a second which power he was supposed to tell others about. "Flying."

"Cool, man! That an awesome power. I've always wanted to fly. Jumping is the next best thing." Justin seemed genuinely happy now, his bad mood gone.

An idea hit Alex. "Hey, so what if after you figure out how to transfer energy to someone else and I actually learn how to fly, you could give me enough energy for me to carry you."

Justin laughed. "I don't know if I want to test transferring energy while in midair, but thanks!"

Alex was relieved. Finally, here was someone who he could talk to that wasn't a girl, and wasn't flammable or bossy.

Finally, here was a friend.