Hero Academy

Chapter 2 ♫

The man, who later introduced himself as Mr. Smith, arranged for me, and just me, to come for a visit that next Sunday. Apparently, he was worried about family members influencing my decision, and making me say no. Jane and Mark dropped me off at the front gate, with worried looks on their faces as they hugged me goodbye for the day. I was immediately met by three students, a shirt blonde girl named Christa, a Hispanic kid, named Marco, and the boy who had bumped into me at the bookstore. His name was Braden, and he barely said anything when I met them, making me wonder why he, of all people, was on the welcome committee, as Christa called herself and the two others. At first it was the usual, until it got REALLY interesting.

Christa was just finishing up showing me the outside when it started.

She said, in her squeaky voice, "When we say our school is for the gifted, Marissa, we mean the gifted. All young people with superpowers come to this school."

I giggled a bit, thinking they were joking, but then Marco gave me a dirty look and Christa got back to talking.

"We think its best if we showed you how everything worked. Marco, would you get the student council rounded while I take her to the gym? Jason, you go get the contract."

They both nodded, and before I knew what was happening, it was just me and Christa, who for some reason couldn't stop talking.

"Our school is in fact for the government, but we aren't rude, and we don't have to wear these hideous uniforms. This is just so that the only people who come here are those who we want to come. Like you, and any other supers who don't know their heritage. Ah, here we are! We're going to give you the full view of the school, seeing as how you don't believe us......"

She led me to some bleachers in the gym, and I sat down, while she ran into some hallway, leaving me on my own. Suddenly, all of these kids came out, with my "welcome committee" in the lead. There were about twelve kids in all, and they all had these weird jumpsuits on they were charcoal gray, and tight fitting. They looked as though they were made for the exact curves of each body. When she saw me, Christa started talking again. "These are our gym uniforms; you have to wear them, because of all of the...um.... unique things that happen during our P.E." One kid rolled his eyes, and made his hands move, to show that she never shut up. I stifled a laugh, and got back to listening. Christa had beckoned one kid onto the basketball court in front of me, and was arranging the rest into a line. Just when I looked back, I realized I KNEW the kid in the basketball court. It was Millie, a girl who had been in a foster home with me, when we were about five. I was an orphan, and she practically was one. Her dad had split before she was born, and her mom was dead, from a car accident.. Her hair was still the same striking raven black, making her skin seem even paler, bringing out her violet eyes. She had gotten contacts since I had last seen her, because she used to have these big glasses. I had always defended her when the boys called her four-eyes, or made fun of her, because she always was with animals. It was almost as though she could talk to them. She calmed them down, and sometimes, when she thought nobody could see her, I would find her outside, nodding and being silent next to a dog, or some stray cat that wandered in, as though she could hear them. When I got over my shock, I noticed a mirrored look of surprise on Millie's face. Christa, still not noticing a thing, started to talk again.

"We do a lot of different exercises for P.E. depending on our specific skill levels. Since you're not sure about you're power, you'll be doing classes with other undecided kids, and the kids with the minor gifts, like Millie here, until you do. She can speak with animals, and although it isn't minor, it isn't a physical power, either."

So that explained why she was always with the animals, when I lived with her. I smiled at her, and sort of gave a questioning wave. She smiled back and shrugged back, as if she were saying, who knew? Then, I realized that Christa's mouth was still going a mile a minute, so I started listening again, hoping she would be quiet soon, so that I could maybe talk to some of the kids who weren't trying to get me to go here so badly it hurt, and see what the school was really like. So when I tuned back in to what Christa was saying, she was explaining the rules to some form of hockey.