Unordinary: New Student

Arlo's "Kindness"

John's POV

Even with Seraphina gone and my phone broken, I was still moving on with my life. Most things were the same, boring haul, like the excruciatingly slow classes and the bullying from the other students. Actually, the bullying was getting worse now that Sera was suspended. Even some low tiers were out for my neck!

I still hung out with Stephanie like we usually did: eating lunch together on the school roof, going to Woaba Boba after school, hanging out at each other's houses. But it felt like a part of me was missing without Sera. I could tell Stephanie was doing her best to cheer me up and look out for me, but I still missed Sera so much. Especially when Sera went MIA online for a while.

That day, I sat on the roof as usual with Stephanie, eating a sandwich. I glanced at Stephanie's lunch tray. She hadn't touched her food at all. She sat quietly, leaning against the wall(?) of the roof with her eyes closed. "Hey, you alright?" I asked her, wondering what could be wrong.

She opened her eyes for a moment before closing them again. "I'm fine. Never felt better." she said very unconvincingly. "Just... my head hurts a little."

"Your head?" I placed my hand on Stephanie's forehead, gasping when I felt the heat pulsing off of her. "You have a fever! Did you catch a cold or something?"

"Maybe..."

"Come on," I said, rising to my feet in a hurry. "We're going to get you to the infirmary. Doc will heal you up." With a sigh, she allowed me to pull her downstairs to the infirmary.

Doc had his usual friendly frown on his face that deepened when he saw us. "Don't tell me you got hurt again. I've had enough of you two coming in here every other period!" He growled.

"Uh," I gave him my best smile. "Stephanie has a fever. Could you check it out, please?"

Grumbling, Doc moved toward the medicine cabinet, taking out a few bottles and mixing a bit of each into a small cup. Stephanie sank on to one of the beds, letting out a tired sigh. Doc gave her the small cup filled with a deep purple liquid, and after drinking it, her head sank back onto her pillow and her breathing evened out.

"The medicine I gave her will make her sleep for a while." Doc said, putting the bottles back into the cabinet. "Her headache and fever will be mostly gone when she wakes up. Check on her after school." I nodded. The bell rang, and I headed to class, still worried about my friend.

***

After my last class had ended, I hurried toward the infirmary to check on Stephanie when suddenly, I felt hands grab me. I struggled, but the people who had grabbed me dragged me to back corner of the school. A guy with blue hair, a guy with green hair, a girl with long blonde hair, and a girl with short maroon hair.

The blue hair stepped up to me, pushing me against the wall while he sneered at me. I glared back. He was hindering me from checking on Stephanie! "What do you think you're glaring at?" The blue hair sneered.

"Don't touch me." I growled.

"Don't touch me, he says." The annoying blue hair laughed, while the others grinned behind him. "Don't forget who the strongest one here is." He suddenly lunged toward me, his fist shooting out toward my face. "I call the shots! And I'll do whatever I want!"

'Disgusting!' I thought, grabbing his arm and slamming him down to the ground by using his momentum. I twisted his arm backwards, making him yell in pain. I glared down at him, pulling his arm back even more. "I said- Don't touch me! You piece of sh*t!" 

Then his three goons launched into action, all rushing toward me with their abilities activated. As they rushed at me, I almost lost control, my eyes glinting a brilliant gold for a second. But a horrible flashback from New Bostin came to me, and I instantly deactivated my ability. 'Monster.' Claire's words came back to me, and I shook my head to clear it.

First, the maroon haired girl came at me, swinging her fists at my head. I blocked it, only for my arm to throb right after. 'If she hits me directly, I'm finished!' I quickly counter-attacked by slamming my fist into her stomach. But I had to draw back as the green haired boy launched two projectiles at me. As I was thinking about how to take him down, the blonde hair suddenly appeared behind me. "Better watch your back." She grinned as she rammed her elbow into my neck, making me gasp and lose my balance.

Then the blue haired guy punched me in the face, yelling, "Surprise, motherf*cker!" As I fell onto my knees, I was shocked to see that his arm was completely fine now! Then the maroon hair smashed her fists onto my back, and I coughed out blood. My strength was ebbing away, and I collapsed onto the ground.

The maroon haired girl grabbed me by my hair, lifting my head up. The blue haired guy was sneering in front of me, ready to punch me in the face again. "Not so tough now, are we?" 

As he talked, I could see darkness eating away at the corners of my vision. 'I can't focus.' His words felt muffled and distant as I fought to stay conscious.

"Hey cripple, he asked you a question!" The maroon haired girl yelled, moving to smack my head with her fists.

As her fist flew toward me, a yellow barrier appeared around me, and the girl screamed, dropping me to the ground. I looked up weakly to see Arlo approaching us, then I blacked out.

Arlo's POV

I made my way over to the infirmary with John's arm around my neck as I supported him. As we moved slowly, I thought about what I had seen before. I had seen John's eyes glowing before the four students had attacked. After he passed out, I took care of the bullies and now was taking him to the infirmary. 'Your eyes were just glowing.' I thought, glancing at the 'cripple'. 'You have the power to fight back. But why would you rather beaten to this extent?'

I reached the infirmary, opening the door quietly and walking in. As I closed the door behind me, I noticed that Doc wasn't here. 'He must have stepped outside for a bit.' I helped John into one of the beds, letting out a breath of relief as I stretched my shoulders, which had been getting stiff.

Then I saw that someone was already in one of the beds. Carefully, I moved over to see Stephanie in the bed. She was asleep, her blue hair spread out on the pillow. Her phone caught my eyes. It had been placed on the table next to the bed, and I reached out and picked it up. 'What a pleasant surprise,' I smirked, smashing the phone against the corner of the table. The screen cracked, and I was satisfied to see that it wouldn't turn on. Now she couldn't contact Seraphina, like John.

I placed it back on the table, then sat down on a chair by John's bed, picking up the school newspaper as I waited for him to wake.