Poseidon's Academy

Chapter 6. Wednesday's Timetable

Hailey felt like she was marching towards a fireball squad the next morning as she headed down the stairs with her friends to Powers: the class where everyone would learn she was a Zeus.

Primary school had been the first place she'd had to tell a classroom about her powers. The other kids had only been six, but they'd known being a Zeus was a rarity as much as any thirteen year old. Her mind drifted back to what had happened during lunch break...

Hailey stood eating a peanut butter sandwich by a vegetable garden-carrots, lettuce, and corn peeking from the composted soil-as she watched the other kids play on the playground, the squeak of swings and laughter filling the air.

Two girls marched up to Hailey from the playground.

'Make the sky pink,' the one wearing pigtails demanded.

'And the clouds purple,' the one wearing plaits ordered.

Hailey gulped down her bite of sandwich. 'I... I don't know how.'

Pigtails shoved her, Hailey's sandwich flying from her hand as she hit the pavement, her knees and hands stinging. 'Do it!'

'Or we'll use our Ares powers on you,' Plaits threatened, balling her hand into a fist.

Tears burned Hailey's throat, but she swallowed them down and got back to her feet. She extended her hands towards the blue sky and wispy white clouds, a trickle of warmth leaking down to her fingertips as she imagined the sky changing to pink and the clouds to purple. Pink sky. Purple clouds. Pink sky. Purple clouds, she repeated in her head over and over, her hands shaking as she poured everything into giving the girls what they wanted, afraid they'd break her bones if she failed.

'Why isn't it pink?' Pigtails demanded, her hands on her hips.

'The clouds are still boring white,' Plaits huffed. 'That's it.' She drew her leg back, and Hailey braced herself for pain.

'Leave her alone!' another girl shouted as Pigtails yelped and smacked to the ground, weeds from the garden having wrapped around her ankles.

'You're dead!' Plaits shouted at the girl, just as the tap next to the vegetable garden spurted to life, shooting a jet of water right into Plaits's face. She screamed, running away, her friend quickly chasing after her.

'Hope I didn't get any water on you,' a boy said, shutting the tap off with a swipe of his hand.

'Thanks,' Hailey said to her rescuers, wiping at a tear leaking down her cheek. 'I'm Hailey.'

'I'm Demi,' the girl who'd controlled the weeds said. 'What's your name?' she asked the boy.

He smiled. 'Jayden.'

The memory churned her stomach. Hailey was pretty sure no one would push her over for not being able to turn the sky pink, but it reminded her how people could react when they found out she was a Zeus. They can't make me do anything, she reminded herself. How interesting can a Zeus be if they can't use their powers?

Hailey reached the second floor and trudged down the hallway their classroom was supposed to be in. She glanced at Alec and Aaron, instantly feeling guilty for being self-absorbed. Poor Alec looked so pale she thought he might vomit, while Aaron was clenching his fists, ready for a fight. 'Don't worry, once you show off your powers no one will care that you're Uniques,' Hailey said in an attempt to ease their nerves.

Alec shook his head, halting outside their Powers classroom. 'I don't know if walking through walls is enough.'

'Only one way to find out.' Demi looped her arms through Alec and Aaron's and escorted them into the classroom.