The Flip Side

No Name

     "Artemis and Jason Stewart, please report to the office immediately."  Great. I pick up my backpack, Mrs. Watson hands me the homework, and I walk out. Walking down the hallway, I pull out my phone. One new message. It's from No Name. 'Hope you don't get sent home.' I reply, 'I hope I don't get sent to jail.' The three dots show up indicating him typing. His message pops up moments later: 'LOL, I don't think Jason will let you.' I laugh, and slide my phone back into my pocket.
     Jay walks out of the hallway to the left, and storms towards me. "We better not get fined. You know nobody in the remains of our family has that kinda money." He says, pointing at me. We walk the rest of the way to the office, and step inside.
     At the front desk, Jay gives the woman our names, and she directs us down the hallway to the principal's office. I slowly open the door and step in. The office is fairly large, and has five chairs sitting in a semicircle in front of the principal's desk. The principal, Mr. Waters, a tall, bald-headed man, sits upright in his chair, and motions for us to sit down. We obey, me sitting in the far left chair, Jay in the far right.
     "So, Artemis. This is the second time in two days that you've had an... accident. Is there any particular reason behind these things happening?" Mr. Waters asks, folding his hands together on the desk. I shake my head. If there's anything I've learned about talking to adults, especially about my ability, it's that it's better to say nothing than to tell the truth. He nods slowly, turning to Jay. "And you, Jason, you have only had 4 accidents in you're two years here at Bloomstown County High. Does it have anything to do with, self control? Or perhaps these accidents are driven by anger?"
     Mr. Waters grins widely, showing a few caps on his back teeth. That grin. I can't stop thinking about it. They all have the same insane grin on their face. Surely he wasn't... no. He can't be. Star's Reflection said that only Gifted could cross over, since their Reflections aren't synchronized. And there's no way any Gifted could get any authority as high as the principal. Or perhaps they couldn't tell when he was hired?
     Jay's voice snaps me back to reality. "Sir, these things are just an extra bodily function. It's just our bodies' way of releasing energy." I look at him, trying to motion for him to stop. He's said too much. Mr. Waters stands up, and both of us look at him. My heart is pounding, but I hold back my flames. Don't waste your energy. He still has that sick grin on his face. He turns around, places his hands in his pocket, and admired himself in the standing mirror behind his desk. Even if I hadn't had my encounter with the Reflections, this guy would honestly be scaring the crap out of me.
     Jay suddenly goes pale. His eyes go blank. I look back at the principal. "He doesn't need to hear the rest of our little chat." He says, grinning even wider. I grab Jay's shoulders and shake him violently. "He's unconscious. He won't be rejoining us for a while. Now, you'll tell me exactly what I want to hear, or the same thing happens to you, and I don't wake either of you up. Sit down."
     I ignite my flames on command, keeping them just on my hands for now. Mr. Waters' Reflection puts his middle finger and thumb together, ready to snap. That's it. There's the soft spot. I lunge across the desk for his hand, barely grazing his thumb and falling to the floor. I fling my right arm towards him, shooting a small burst of fire at his right shoulder. He stumbles back, clutching his shoulder. I take advantage of the moment and jump to my feet. His right arm is limp, and he's slowly backing up. I ignite my entire arm on both sides, stepping closer.
     I can see the bright blue flames reflecting in his eyes. I point a fiery finger at him. "Wake him up. NOW!!" He nods and raises his right arm. "Nope, other hand. I'm not stupid." He lowers his right arm, and snaps with his left hand. Jay blinks a few times, and his eyes go straight to me. He stands up, beginning to spark.
     "This guy a Reflection too?" Jay asks, without any sort of sarcasm in his voice. He seems to actually believe me.
     "Yeah, and he's being a bit of a problem." I reply, looking back at Mr. Waters' Reflection. I put out the flames on my right arm and grab him by the collar. "I don't wanna see your ugly face again, you got me?" I say. He nods. I drag him by the collar and step through the standing mirror behind the desk. The room looks more like the throne room of a castle, but with a solid metal desk and mechanical door. I throw Mr. Waters' Reflection down on the desk, and walk over to Mr. Waters, who's tied up in the corner.
     I reach down, beginning to untie him. I hear someone behind me, and turn around to see who it is. It's just Jay. He looks like he just stepped into a picture book. His eyes are wide, and his jaw is hanging wide open. "What the hell is this?" He asks.
     "Welcome to... Reflecto-Land!!" I say, half-enthusiastically.
     "Reflecto-Land? Seriously?" We both laugh. I grab the ropes and ignite a small flame in my palm, burning through them. Mr. Waters stands up, brushes himself off, and looks at me and Jay. I motion for him to step through the mirror, and Jay walks through. Mr. Waters follows, cautious at first. And finally, I step in. We're back in the normal office, and we all take our normal seats.
     "I believe I owe you two a great deal. I'll have a talk with the school board, and see if maybe I can remove the discipline for use of abilities." Me and Jay nod, and Jay speaks up.
     "Thank you sir, but it's really no big deal. Just please give us pardon for any damage done, and I think we'll be fine." He says. I nod.
     "Of course! I would never charge you for self defense." Mr Waters replies. He dismisses us, and we get up, thank him for his time, and leave. As we walk out, the woman from the front desk walks in to check on Mr. Waters.
    
     After school, I walk out to the front entrance to the school and wait for No Name. He comes out after most students have left, and walks slowly up to me. I told Jay to wait in the car, and I can see him tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
     "Hey No Name." He nods. "So, uh, about these, things..." he holds up a finger to silence me. I obey. I stand patiently for a second, wondering if he just might say something for once. He doesn't. Rather, he pulls out his phone. He types something, sends it, and puts his phone back. He looks over my shoulder. I follow his gaze, and see Jay. He suddenly stops tapping his fingers, and pulls out his phone. He reads something, and starts to open the door. Before he can get out, No Name grabs my hand and everything goes black.
     Moments later, my vision returns, and I find myself in the corner of the biology room. No Name is still holding my hand. His hand feels cold. He lets go, and walks up to the front of the room. The room is mostly dark other than the light coming in from the window on the right side of the room. When he gets to the front of the room, he turns around. I can only assume he's looking at me. His smile is still visible, as usual. But, to my relief, it's not as aggressive as the Reflections. With the lighting of the room, his jacket makes it look like only half of him is there.
    I walk up and sit down in the desk in the front center of the class. No Name nods, as if that's what he had wanted me to do all along. He turns around, picks up a piece of chalk, and begins writing. He's half drawing, half writing. He draws a diagram first. It looks like a large square with a line down the center. On the left side, he writes, 'HERE' and on the right he writes, 'FLIP SIDE'. He then draws a little stick figure on the left side. It lacks any features, as if to emphasize that they were normal. He then goes to the right side, and draws the same stick figure. But on this one he draws a huge smile. The Reflections. He draws a line between the two, and puts an X where the line intercepts the line separating the two sides. Normal people can't cross over.
     He goes back to the left side and draws a flame. Above it he writes, 'ART'. Me. He goes to the right side, and draws the same flame backwards. Above it, he writes, 'REFLECTION'. He draws a line between the two. I can cross over. He then goes back to the left, and draws a circle with the design from his sweatshirt on it. Above it he writes, 'ME'. Then he turns around. He doesn't draw anything on the right. But there's something else i notice. His smile. It's gone. His face is dark. I stand up, and walk up to him.
     He sets down the chalk and stands there, his head down. I put a hand on his back. He slowly walks over and sits down on the teacher's desk.
     "You ok?" I ask. I can't think of anything else to say. He just sits there. After a second, he checks his watch, and grabs my hand. My vision goes black again, and when it returns, I'm back in the parking lot. No Name is gone. I walk to the car, and get in.
     "What was that about? Where'd he go?" Jay asks. I shrug. My mind is rushing with thoughts and questions. I can barely think straight. Why didn't he draw his Reflection? Did something happen? I just sit there, spaced out completely. "O...kay..." Jay says, starting the car and driving out of the parking lot.
    
     When we get back to Cass' house, she greets us as the door as usual. "So after two days of getting home early, you decided to come home late?" I laugh. Even in the most confusing times, Cass always knows how to make me laugh. We eat dinner, and I wash up for bed. As I'm brushing my teeth, (which I do in the kitchen sink, since there's no mirror) I check the burns on my upper arm. They've gotten a bit better, but igniting them definitely didn't help. I ask Cass for some gauze tape to wrap them in, and put some treatment on them before wrapping from my elbow to my shoulder.
     I lay down for the night, thinking about No Name's presentation. The Flip Side. I like that name a lot more than Reflecto-Land. But I can't stop thinking about him not drawing anything for himself on the Flip Side. Maybe he was from the Flip Side. But even if he was, he didn't seem to enjoy the idea.