Chapter One: Arrival Day

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The bus was a boisterous cacophony as it hurtled down the road. Dozens of teenagers, forty-three in all, mingled and interacted, much to the disinterest of the driver. A younger group of girls shrieked and laughed at something that was evidently highly amusing in seat twenty-three. Insinuations and other such comments rang through the air. One of the boys, Christian, could be heard above the others.

“Be more aggressive,” he shouted.

Laughs rang out and Aaron started to cheer, complete with claps, “Be aggressive! B-E aggressive!”

A few of the others knew the cheer and joined for the last portion.

“B-E A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E! Aggressive!”

I twisted in my seat and looked back. I maneuvered to a position where I was on my knees to see over the heads that blocked my view. It didn’t take long to see what they were ogling at. A pair of them were in a rather intense session of, as my friend who had sat with them, eloquently decides to call it, “swapping spit.” The girl was seated on the object of her affection, and my friend, Axel, was squished into the seat, providing a footrest for her.

I sighed and twisted back around, returning to a normal seated position. One of the girls on the seat across from me made eye contact and pointed at my seat. Very quietly, she inquired, “Can I sit there?”

I suppressed the urge to say 'I don't know, can you?' Instead, I shrugged and moved over to sit beside the window. She gently moved away from her seatmate, who had been sleeping on her shoulder. The sleeping girl slumped over as the new one sat beside me. She offered a small smile and thanks as she fixed her hair. We sat in silence for a bit as I read the book I had brought along. It was rather hard to get lost in a fictional world when everyone was yelling around you and a good portion of it was merely staring at the page.

“Isis,” she said, quickly.

I looked up from my book, “What?”

She reddened slightly. “Isis. It’s my name. I just thought maybe you should know.”

“Oh.”

She looked expectantly at me. Realizing why, I responded, “Jake.”

She nodded but proceeded to say nothing. More distinct yells came from the rear of the bus. I rolled my eyes and shut my book, deciding that I may as well give up on my hopes of making decent headway in it. Isis turned to look at the scene and I followed suit, twisting onto my knees again. The girl was screaming, “Oh my God. You’re so hot.”

 “This really isn’t the time for that,” someone yelled.

 “No, he’s literally burning!”

 The girl jumped into the aisle, landing on the lap of the boy who had led the cheer previously. A burn mark was etched across her cheek, outlining a hand.

  “Dude, you do that too?” Christian exclaimed. “Well, I don’t burn chicks but. . .”

   He looked at one of the girls further up in the bus and her cell phone flew through the air into his hand.

   Responses passed through the bus of jealousy, excitement, and more importantly, competition. Abnormal abilities, what one may even call “superpowers” were being compared throughout the vehicle. Isis looked at me, “What about you?”

 “Enhanced strength,” I replied.

 “Brains and brawn, “she commented.

 “What would you know about my intelligence?” I said.

 She quirked her head and looked at me as she spoke, “You’re relaxed but stiff, a very thin boundary. You seem to be withdrawn but you’re interested in the people around you. The maturity level usually tends to rise with intellect, usually. It’s just an observation. Plus most idiots don’t choose to read.”

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⏰ Last updated: Dec 12, 2014 ⏰

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