Max's mother dropped him off at school the next morning, as usual. Yes, his parents loved him, but obviously, not enough to let him skip.
"I packed those fudge brownies in your lunch," she told him, "and the last of the cream sodas."
Max hugged his mother goodbye as usual. "Thanks, mom. Love you!" he yelled behind him, while running up the school steps.
"Love you!" she yelled back.
In retrospect, Max had one piece of extraordinary in his life. There was an extraordinary amount of love and closeness between Max and his parents.
Max went to his locker, only to run into...
"Maxwell Everett Ordinary, I have been searching for you," the mysterious girl from the night before said. Where she had appeared from was anyone's guess, but there she was, standing expectantly behind him.
Max sighed and dropped his backpack at his feet. "Seriously, the prank is over. It's not funny anymore."
He spied the twins Dustin and Dwight. Or was it Dwight and Dustin? He never could tell the difference between them all.
"Haha, you guys," he called to them. "Clever prank, but it's going too far."
Dustin and Dwight (Dwight and Dustin?) edged closer. "Dude, what prank?" Dustin asked...or perhaps Dwight.
"The prank you pulled on me last night," Max said impatiently. "Your accomplice here won't leave me alone," he said, waving at the girl. "Call her off, please."
"I don't know her," Dwight said.
"But I want to," Dustin said. He wolf whistled.
The girl just stared at him, unfazed.
"So you don't know her at all then?" Max asked.
"Nope. We were at a bonfire at Vince's last night. Right, Vince?" he said, raising his voice.
Vince corroborated their story.
"Huh," Max said to himself as the twins walked away. He turned back to the girl, who was still waiting for him patiently.
"Are we to challenge and defeat this mighty foe now?"
"What?"
"The School? Grave? Dangerous? Are we to challenge it now, so that we may move on?"
Max face palmed himself. "No! I was being sarcastic. Look, if you aren't part of some prank, then you're clearly just crazy, and I don't hang with crazy people. So, please. Just leave me alone."
She only half understood what he was talking about. But she got that he wanted her to leave. "You do not understand, Maxwell Everett Ordinary. Your life-"
"Yeah, yeah. My life is in grave danger."
"Exactly! You have passed your thirteenth year! In your year of misfortune, your enemies will be seeking to destroy you or turn you while the window of opportunity remains open."
"My enemies," Max repeated slowly. "I have no enemies. As far as I'm concerned, even the bullies don't have anything personal out for me. I mean, sure, I get a few swirlies sometimes, but who doesn't?"
"Everyone has enemies," the girl said. "And you have many, even if you may not know it yet. They are all coming for you now. Your powers are growing, but you are in your thirteenth year. They will strike now. That is why we must leave now. Or after we have defeated this 'school' anyways."
Max stared at her.
She stared back.
He broke contact, shaking his head, and grabbing his books. "You're crazy. Just leave me alone."
"But-!"
"Go to class!" he shouted, making a few people stare at him. "Leave me alone!"
He began running, but sure enough, when he looked behind his shoulder, the girl was running after him. He groaned and ran faster.
He ran so fast that he smacked right into Davy Hines. His head smacked Davy's nose, and Davy fell against the lockers, holding his nose.
"That hurt!" he cried. He glared viciously at Max and put him in a full nelson.
Davy was a state wrestler and one of the few bullies at school. Max hadn't ever had a problem with Davy before, but now, he most certainly did.
Another bully, Seymour Kelski, noticing an open bullying opportunity, joined Davy in tormenting Max.
As the strange girl ran up, Seymour threw a gut punch into Max's stomach, and Max, held up by Davy's arms, doubled over, gasping for air. The punch had winded him, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. No breath came to his lungs.
"Ah, so this is the foe you spoke of," the girl said. "Well then, mighty 'School'! I will not abandon my companion to this fate!"
Both bullies turned towards the girl, and even Max managed to lift his head to stare at her.
"Her ears look funny," Seymour said.
The girl snapped her finger, sending up a shower of golden sparks around her hand. Her eyes, constantly changing color, swirled into pure gold orbs that glowed with power.
"Fly," she said in a voice that was layered with power and authority. It was the voice of a god; a god in the form of a 13-year old girl.
Seymour and Davy gave cries of surprise, then alarm, and then panic. For good reasons, because suddenly, they were floating two feet above the ground.
The girl raised her hand slowly, and as she did, Seymour and Davy rose too. They rose so high that they both both were pinned against the cieling.
"Stay."
And stay, Seymour and Davy did. The girl released her arm, and the light faded from her eyes, but the two bullies stayed on the ceiling, as if glued in place. Both of them were howling and wailing for help.
Max stared at her in shock.
She stared back calmly.
"Shall I finish them off or will you?" she asked seriously.
"Shall I...? You mean kill them? No! Let them go!"
The girl was surprised. "Mercy then...Very well. I am not used to letting enemies go unpunished, but I am not averse to mercy."
Her eyes glowed, and she said, "Release."
Both Seymour and Davy floated back to the ground. They looked at the girl and Max, and both ran down the hallway for their lives.
The girl looked at Max as if nothing had happened. "So now that we have defeated this foe, will you come with me?"
And because Max was scared out of his wits and worried that she would turn her eye-glowing thing on him, he went with her.
