Far From Normal, More Than Special

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sitting outside the entrance to my school gym, along with other kids who were also waiting to be tested, I was ready to punch someone. The hallway was a makeshift waiting room for the trial, and we were sitting on those brown folded chairs teachers put out when they need more seats for an assembly. Every where my eyes shifted I met another pair of eyes. I didn’t have to wonder why everyone was staring at me, it was either the fact that I was known in the town as the “Imposter”, the girl that claimed to have powers but obviously didn’t, the Goth girl, or maybe it was the fact that I had on very dark sunglasses.

I was annoyed. Not because no one spoke to me.  Even if they did I wouldn’t have responded. And it wasn’t because I could hear them whispering about me, either.  Nothing that anyone else said or thought about me mattered now. As long as the people I cared about believed in me, was all that was important. It was because the wait was taking so long.

After forty minutes, it was my turn. Once my name was called, I rose up from my seat with no hesitation. I smiled silently to myself as they shook their heads. I would be admitted this time. There was no doubt about it.  The others went silent, and I made my way to the entrance behind the tall woman that had called my name. My feet glided confidently in my pleather boots to the entrance and my black finger nailed hands grasped the handles of the doors.

I can’t wait to see their faces.

Three adults in business attire sat at a small table in front of the bleachers, facing the court. A woman was in the middle and two men were on either of her sides. Thanks to my sunglasses, the bright lights couldn’t bother my eyes as they reflected strongly off the yellow walls and floors of the gym. It smelled like lemons mixed with soap, they had attempted to clean the place for the test.  I walked to the center, about ten feet in front of the judges and folded my arms. They all stared at me with annoyance mixed with curiosity. The thin middle-aged woman in the middle, the one I despised the most, spoke up first. She was a dark haired woman with cold gray eyes.

“Well, if it isn’t the infamous Miss Annabelle Greenfield,” she said as she tapped her pen lightly on a folder. “We’ve been expecting you.”

She paused, waiting for some sort of retort. Honestly, I would have given her one if I wasn’t already tied of the same routine every year. I glanced at my unopened file, wondering if they had even bothered to re-read it.

“Although I have to admit, after two rejections, I highly doubted you would show up for a third time. You either have a lot of guts…or you are just a fool.” Her voice sounded very amused.

“Actually,” I said, “I showed up three times because I have powers.”

A choking sound came from her mouth, the beginnings of a laugh, and she smiled contentedly at me. “You are inside now, girl, don’t you think you should remove your sunglasses?”

I shook my head. “I prefer to wait until the test begins.”

They looked at each other for a few moments before she rolled her eyes. Instead of responding, she and the other judges shifted through what I’m guessing is my file, and said a few things to each other.

“You still claim to have the creation and control of water power?” She asked me, now slightly less amused.

I nodded.

“You are a junior now,” she said regarding my file as if it were some sort of science experiment. “So that makes you…sixteen?”

I nodded.

“You do know that powers showing up after the age of fifteen is rare and very unlikely…correct?”

I nodded.