Day One: Ice Breath

I woke up to the alarm the next morning, achy and sore, with my earbuds still shoved into my eardrums playing some kind of music that I couldn’t immediately recognize. It took me a minute to figure out what it was; it was “Remembering Sunday” by All Time Low. I groaned, trying to shove the bad memories away from my mind so early in the morning, and ripped the earbuds out of my ears. I looked over at the clock and thought I was going crazy when I saw that it read 6:30. Then I realized it was right; today was the first day of school.

I rubbed the sleepies out of my eyes and glanced down into my garbage can. The journal and pocket watch came into view, and I scoffed. I couldn’t believe that I had fallen for something that stupid. Superpowers, I thought. As if I would actually get something. How could I have been so gullible? So stupid… Like there’s any way that that would even be possible. I got out of bed and headed for the bathroom, only to see that it was still occupied. I continued over to the kitchen table, hoping it was my mom in the bathroom, and not Cheryl. If there was one thing that I didn’t need then, it was to have a confrontation with my mom about our argument the night before. Thankfully, Cheryl was still eating her bagel and flipping through the student handbook for Sacred Infant.

“Hey, loser,” she greeted me still wearing her koala pajamas.

I walked over to the refrigerator, found the orange juice, and poured myself a tall glass. “I’m the loser? Which one of us is reading the student handbook?”

“Hey, I just want to make sure I don’t get a detention on the first day of school. You know how pissed Mom would be if that happened?”

I smiled. “Yeah, but she’d be twice as pissed if it happened, because it would be the second time a kid of hers came home on the first day with a detention.”

She laughed. “Oh, yeah, I forgot, you did that, too. What was it for, again? I forgot.”

“I didn’t have an acceptable haircut or whatever. Something stupid like that.”

“Really? I thought it was because you ended up punching a kid in the face.”

I pointed to the handbook. “Hey, nowhere in that book does it say that it’s illegal to punch a kid. Technically, I did nothing wrong.”

“It does mention something about not causing great bodily harm to other students, though.”

“Ha! That’s where you’re wrong, sis,” I said as I took a large gulp of juice. “I only punched him. Great bodily harm would’ve been breaking a bone, and then locking him in a locker that was full of One Direction porn… or would that be great mental harm…?” I finished my juice in another large swig. “Whatever. The guy deserved it.”

“What did he even do? I don’t think you ever told Mom the truth.” she said, laughing really hard. She, too, listened to music similar to what Ray and I did, so she understood what I meant. She wasn’t really into the mainstream pop crap. Sure, she did once in a while, but a lot less often than most kids her age.

“He-” I was about to tell her, but just then my mom came out of the bathroom with her bathrobe on and a magazine in her hand. Things got awkward really fast, since we were all silently staring at each other, seeing who would make the first move and speak first. I really didn’t want to be put into an awkward situation with my mom asking me a ton of questions I didn’t feel like answering, so I scooted past her and made my way into the bathroom. “I’m taking my shower. I’ll be out in a few.”

I shut the bathroom door before my mom was able to get out a question and quickly got into the shower. Now, my mom usually used all the hot water when she took a shower, so I usually turned the hot water dial all the way to the left if I take a shower after her, so my water would be at least slightly warm. I hopped in, turned the water on, turning the dial all the way to the left, as per usual. However, this time �" for whatever reason �" my mom didn’t use all the hot water. So in a matter of seconds, my entire body was covered in scalding hot water, and my body couldn’t react fast enough.

“HOLY S**T!” I screamed. I shut the water off as fast as I could and started blowing on my skin, which was red and burning.

But the weirdest thing happened. It fricken scared me. It still scares me to even think about it, to this day, because that’s really what kind of started everything.

I blew on my skin, and the nerves in my arms went from extremely hot and overly-cooked to freezing and frosty so fast, the change in temperature overwhelmed my skin and I got shivers going up my arms and along my entire body.

Wait, I thought. Why am I so cold all of a sudden?

I looked down at my arms… and saw… icicles… forming on my arms.

What the hell??  I thought. This is SO not fricken normal.  By now I was starting to feel the frostbite on my arms, so I wiped them off with a towel and tried to calm myself down. What the hell just happened? I thought. That shouldn’t be possible. Breathing… Breathing ice? How does that even happen? How… how the hell did that happen?

I heard a knock on the door. “Drew?” my mom called through the door. “Drew, you have forty-five minutes until you and Cheryl need to go to school.”

“Okay, Mom,” I said through deep, uneasy breaths. “Fine.”

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

I started to calm down a little bit. Maybe I’m just hallucinating… yeah, that’s it. I’ve been so stressed out with Ray’s funeral and the shop and school and everything that I’m just going completely nuts. Okay. I slowly and cautiously turned the water back on and finished taking my shower. I got out a few minutes later and crept back into my room, careful not to catch the attention of my mom or Cheryl. I was positive that they heard me scream bloody murder when my skin was scorched, and I really didn’t want to have to explain that I was losing my mind.

I got to my room and shut the door. I was almost positive it was just hallucinations from stress. But still… I wanted to make sure. I held my hand up to my mouth and softly blew into it. My palm felt cold for a few seconds, and then slowly melted and turned back to its normal temperature.

I was freaking out by this point. I ran my hands through my hair, trying to figure out what the hell was happening to me. I wasn’t going crazy if it had happened twice. I didn’t know what to do. I looked around my room, trying to find something that would help me or help explain what was going on.

Then I looked to my garbage can. I pulled out the journal and the pocket watch. I flipped the empty journal to the first page, and almost passed out when I saw that there was an entry, almost like a diary.

It read:

 

Friday, August  22, 2012

 

Andrew

I see you’ve actually figured out I wasn’t lying to you yesterday.

Took you long enough.

 

DAY ONE:

ICE BREATH:

            This power gives you the ability to breath, cough, sneeze, and spit ice.

            ACTIVATION:

Simply exhale sharply, cough, sneeze, or spit, and there will be some kind of ice exerted out of your system.

 

Glad to see you’ve finally come to your senses, Andrew.

Just don’t do anything completely stupid.

 

Signed,

33

 

 I sighed deeply, put the journal down, and rubbed my face. Damn, I thought. This is really happening. He’s not lying to me. But how… how the hell is any of this possible? Superpowers? I had absolutely no idea if I was really going crazy or not, but all I knew was that I needed to get ready for school. I put on my uniform and picked out a tie �" one of Ray’s old ones that he wore all the time �" and grabbed my backpack. At the last second, before shutting off my light, I grabbed the journal, stuffed it into my backpack, grabbed the pocket watch, and shoved it into my pocket with my keys and phone.

I walked out into the kitchen where Cheryl was waiting for me in her skirt and blouse. I still couldn’t believe she was starting high school �" my mind flashed quickly to that picture of my mom, my dad, and me, when Cheryl wasn’t even born yet -  but she had really grown up well, and I wasn’t really worried about her much. She’d be fine for her first day.

            “Ready, Squirt?” I asked.

She glared at me. “You’d better not call me that at school, Drew.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t even recognize you as my sister.”

My mom came running in from the living room with her camera in hand. “Wait!” she yelled. “I need a picture; my little baby is starting high school, and I need a picture for her first day.”

“But, Mom, Drew’s not starting high school today; he’s a senior.”

I shoved Cheryl’s shoulder and picked up my backpack. “Come on, we have to leave, or we’re gonna be late, and that’ll definitely get us detentions. See ya later, Mom.” Cheryl and I shuffled out the door and into my car. I glared at Cheryl. “Seriously? That was the best you could come up with?”

“Hey, anything to get out of there without a picture. I don’t really care if it was good or not.”

I grinned. “Well, in that case, it was a pretty damn good move, sis.” I put the key into the ignition and drove out of the driveway to school.

 

I hate Michigan weather. I really do.

For anyone who has experienced Michigan weather, you know what I mean when I say that there is no predicting it.

For those who haven’t, consider yourselves lucky.

The only real way to describe it is by saying the weather is bipolar: early in the morning it could be cloudy and freezing, but then be 85 degrees by early afternoon, rain by midday, and then be cloudy and chilly for the whole night. Sometimes, it really does change that fast. That day, however, it was comfortable, the clouds lingering over the horizon, a deep, bright red shining through them. I recalled an old saying Ray used to tell me about being able to somewhat predict the weather that sailors used to use: Red sky at night, sailors’ delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.

Sacred Infant’s property took up half of the whole block. The only things on the block that weren’t part of the property were a couple of houses and one of the public schools in Dearborn. There was the elementary school on one side; the church next to that; the parish offices and rectory across the parking lot; the high school, track, and football field on the other side of the parking lot; a parking lot on the other side of the high school; and the soccer fields on the other side of that parking lot. It is kind of confusing, but basically everything is in a straight line right next to each other from the elementary school to the soccer fields. I pulled into the parking spot that I usually took when Ray would let me drive to school �" in the parking lot between the high school and the soccer fields �" and took the key out of the ignition. I heard Cheryl let out a deep sigh.

“What’s up, sis?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing, it’s just… I’m kind of nervous.”

I smirked and rubbed her head. “Don’t worry, Squirt, you’ll be fine. I survived, didn’t I?”
            “Well, yeah, but the year’s still young. You could get kicked out yet.”

            I smiled. “You see? Keep talking like that and you’ll be fine. Just… don’t do anything stupid. Okay?” I asked, remembering what 33 had told me �" or written me �" earlier that morning. “Just be yourself. You’ll be fine, trust me.”

She took another breath and nodded.

“You ready?”

She nodded again, grabbed her backpack, and opened the door. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

I grabbed my backpack and got out of the car. There were tons of other teens, ranging from all different grades, walking into the same set of double doors. Many I recognized; at least half of them were in my grade, others were kids in grades behind me who were smart enough to get into higher-level classes and had been in classes of mine before. We all rushed through the doors, trying to get to our homerooms before the late bell.

“You know where your homeroom is, sis?” I asked. I was pretty sure she did by now, but I thought I’d make sure anyway. You know, being that protective big brother that I was.

“Yeah. I’m in 106.”

“Okay. You know how to get there?”

“I’ve got a map, Drew.”

“Fine, fine. See ya later. Good luck.”

“Thanks, you too.”

I heard the first bell and started on the way to my homeroom �" 125 �" when I heard an announcement over the P.A. system.

“Please excuse the interruption; can I have all seniors report to the auditorium before homeroom for a quick assembly, please? Once again, can I have all seniors report to the auditorium before homeroom, please? Thank you.”

I sighed because the auditorium was in the opposite direction of my homeroom, so I turned around and headed down there. I walked into the auditorium after pushing and shoving my way through the crowd of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. I looked around for an empty seat when I saw a familiar hand waving me over towards the back, to a seat next to him.

“Hey, Drew!” Dirk called. “Over here, dude!”

I smiled and sat down next to him. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

“Not a lot. Mom’s pissed that I didn’t finish reading ‘Catcher in the Rye’ before the summer was over. What are you gonna do, right?”

“Right…”

“How were things at the shop after we left?”

“Um…” I wanted to tell him about Rachel and about 33, but I couldn’t do either. He’d think I was nuts for any of the stuff I was thinking about Rachel, and 33 told me I couldn’t tell anyone about what had happened at the cemetery. “It was okay. I stopped by the cemetery after work.”

“Yeah? Is he still there?”

I glanced at him and laughed; he was giving me that devilish grin he was known for. “Yeah, he’s still there, bro.  I almost left one of his guitars there, but I thought someone would take it so I didn’t.”

“Good idea, bro.”

The doors shut and the principal, Mr. Hale, got up to the microphone. He tapped it a couple of times and everyone quieted down. He was wearing a dark blue dress shirt with khakis and a green puppy-dog tie. Yes, puppy-dogs; our principal had a slight obsession with puppies. No one knew why, really; it was just kind of something we lived with.

“Good morning, class of 2013,” he said in his deep voice. “I hope your summer has been more than satisfactory. Now that the school year has started, the faculty and I would just like to set the stage for you as you make your way through your final year at Sacred Infant.”

I scoffed and leaned towards Dirk. “He’s just gonna tell us the usual stuff; I thought this assembly was important.”

“I know, right?”

“As your senior year progresses, I encourage all of you to take advantage of things you have not ventured into yet. Join clubs, play sports, get involved; make a difference…”

I would’ve paid more attention to what Mr. Hale was saying, but I was getting distracted. I kept hearing noises a few rows in front of me, so I glanced down to see something that made my blood boil and my stomach churn.

I saw… Chloe… and Brendan… making out in a seat on the end of the row. As much as it hurt to watch them, I couldn’t seem to pull myself away from them.

Dirk must’ve seen it, too, because he loudly whispered, “Hey, we didn’t come here to see porno; pay attention to the principal, would ya?”

I saw Brendan pull away and look back at us. He flipped us off and Dirk returned the gesture. Chloe glanced up and made eye contact with me, and it made my head hurt and all the bad memories flood back. She looked back down and pulled Brendan back into a deep kiss as his hands drifted up her �"

“Therefore, we need all of you to be on your best behavior, because you not only represent Sacred Infant, but you also represent whichever college you have been accepted to. Now, that’s all. Please go on to your homerooms. Thank you.”

The whole auditorium stood up. I was starting to walk down my row when something caught my eye.

A head of dark blonde hair, and haunting bluish-grey eyes.

I immediately started pushing my way through the crowd away from Dirk and towards her. What the hell, she goes here? I thought. I wasn’t expecting that one. I assumed she’d be going to public school, not here. Who would even want to go here? How did I not ask her that yesterday?  I heard Dirk calling behind me, but I didn’t pay any attention. There was only one person I wanted to see.

Rachel.

I reached her just as we got to the doorway. I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to face me. She was wearing the school uniform, but still had on that All Time Low hoodie. Immediately when she looked me in the eyes, I froze; it was those damn eyes, they made me forget what the hell I wanted to do or say. I could barely say, “Hey… Rachel, right?”

She smiled at me. “Yeah… Drew?”

I smiled. She remembers my name? Wow. “Yeah, hi… I didn’t know you went here. I haven’t seen you around before.”

“I didn’t know you went here, either… Yeah, my family just moved here a few weeks ago. Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know where” - she looked down at a piece of paper in her hands, which contained her homeroom number and schedule �" “room 132 is, do you? It’s my homeroom and I don’t know how to get there.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I do. Come on, I’ll take you there.”

She smiled back at me. “Thanks, Drew.” There went that smile again, making me lose my mind. I was going to be late for my homeroom and miss all the important paperwork and stuff. But I didn’t care. I was taking her to her homeroom. I was being nice; so sue me if I’m late.

“No problem.” I shoved a few idiots out of our way and made sure she was right with me, so I wouldn’t lose her. My hands were starting to sweat again. Really? Now?  I walked a little slower while everyone else cleared the halls, so it was just Rachel and me walking down the long hallway together.

“So… you’re new in town?” I asked, trying to break the ice.

“Yeah, my dad and brother and I moved from Connecticut about a month or two ago.”

“Really? That’s cool,” I said.

“Yeah… I guess so… I mean, there’s really nothing eventful going on in Connecticut these days… we moved here because of my dad’s job.”

I nodded. I knew what that was like. That’s how my mom and Ray met; he had moved here from Colorado looking for work and ended up starting his own business. “What does your dad do, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s fine; he’s a lawyer.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

We approached 132 and I slowed down a little bit. “Well, here it is.”

“Thanks, Drew… for… for everything.”

I smiled. “No problem Rachel. Let me know if you need anything else.”

She smiled back. “Okay. See you later.”

“Bye.”

 I watched her walk into 132 and shut the door just as the late bell rang. I peeked in and realized that was Dirk’s homeroom, because he made eye contact with me and then flipped me off. Duh, I thought. Hopkins and Fischer are close enough in the alphabet; it makes sense they’re in the same homeroom. He looked over to Rachel, looked back at me, and raised his eyebrows. He mouthed the word ‘Spit!’ and grinned. I gave him the bird and continued on to 125.

Spit, I thought. Whoever came up with that one is the dumbest person on the planet. Really, kids at Sacred Infant were the only ones who used it or knew what it meant, so I guess explanations are in order. ‘Spit’, in the slang definition, meant, in a sense, two people flirting. I guess it started because you trade spit when you French kiss or something really stupid like that… Whatever it was, the point was, I wasn’t spitting with Rachel.

Or… Was I? I mean… I kinda got all nervous when I was talking to her… and my hands got all sweaty again…  I stopped thinking about her and opened the door to my homeroom, where everyone, including our teacher, Mrs. Boyco, stared daggers at me.

“Ah, Mr. Tuller,” Mrs. Boyco said. “Late on the first day, as you have been since freshman year.”

I shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to carry on the tradition, Mrs. Boyco. I didn’t want to let anyone down.”

She looked at me. “Just sit down, Mr. Tuller, so I can finish taking attendance.”

I walked to the back of the room and chose a seat two rows away from the back door. Suddenly, I hear a loud BANG against the back door and see the back of a familiar head pressed against the window. I rolled my eyes and looked away, trying to ignore the fact that Brendan and Chloe were messing around against our homeroom door. Yes, Chloe and I were in the same homeroom. It really sucks that Santos and Tuller are so close together in the alphabet, doesn’t it? Damn, it was hard to ignore them. I couldn’t resist taking glances out of the corner of my eye and seeing them making out. I couldn’t help imagining what they were doing, praying someone would catch them and suspend them for PDA or something.

Just then, the back door opened and Chloe walked in, her straight black hair tangled in the back. “Sorry I’m late, Mrs. Boyco. I got held up in the bathroom.”

“Yeah, checking to make sure Brendan’s condom held up,” I mumbled to myself as Chloe took the seat closest to the door and, unfortunately, closest to me.

“Hey, Drew,” she said in her usually seductive tone. I knew what she was doing; she was making sure that the knife she and Brendan had stabbed me with was not only still there, but she was also twisting it, making every single memory come back in full color. One memory in particular came back �" the one when I went up north with her and her family that past January… Her family had gone out for ice cream after dinner, so she and I went back to her cabin… and …

The song played through my head.

 

Forgive me, I’m trying to find

My calling, I’m calling at night

 I don’t mean to be a bother, but

Have you seen this girl?

 

I shook my head to clear it slightly. “Hey, Chloe,” I mumbled.

“How was your summer?”

I glanced over to her stubbornly. “Ray died.”

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “What? What happened?”

“He got shot,” I replied coldly.

“Oh, my God… Drew, I am so sorry…” she said as she touched my arm. Normally something like that would send shivers up my spine, but she had turned my heart cold towards any warm gesture she would ever try to give me. I wasn’t going to be completely bitter towards her; but I wasn’t going to fall for anything she tried to do.

I half-smiled at her. “Yeah, I know. Thanks, Chloe.”

“Alright, class,” Mrs. Boyco called out over the soft roar of the kids. “Let’s get situated.” She passed out our schedules for first semester and a few other things for our parents to sign. She gave us our locker assignments by last name right before the bell.

“…Sanchez, 497; Santos, 498; Tuller, 499; Turner, 500,” she finished. “Go to your lockers and then head off to first hour.”

I rubbed my face. Seriously? She has to have the locker right next to mine? I went up to the front to talk to Mrs. Boyco. “Excuse me, Mrs. Boyco?”

She turned. “Yes? How can I help you, Mr. Tuller?”

“Do you think I can switch lockers with someone?”

“What, you have a problem with Steven Turner?”

“No… I just don’t want to be annoyed by Chloe Santos.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Tuller; the locker assignments are chosen ahead of time, and there’s nothing I can do to change them. You and Ms. Santos will have to figure out how to get along.”

I sighed and left the room. This year is starting to suck. Epically.

 

I found locker 499; it was kinda close to my first hour, so it wasn’t that bad of a walk. The door jammed the first time I opened it and I had to use all my strength to open it. Awesome, I thought. I’m gonna have to deal with this for the whole year?

Chloe came up next to me and opened hers, putting her stuff inside. She shut her locker while I was still putting my books away, and turned to face me.

“I, uh… I hope we can work something out, Drew… I mean, we are right next to each other… there’s not going to be much avoiding each other, so…”

I glanced over to her, not turning my head, and finished putting my books in my locker. “Yeah. I guess so.”

“Hey, there, beautiful,” crooned the worst excuse for a douchebag, Brendan Okrent, hugging Chloe behind her back and kissing her neck. His sloppy blonde hair contrasted sharply against Chloe’s black hair, just as her slightly darker skin contrasted against his pale white skin.

“Hey, dickwad,” I said, gaining a glare from both Chloe and Brendan. Brendan looked up, let go of Chloe, and stared at me.

“What did you just call me?” he said, trying too hard to be intimidating.

“Only what your mom should’ve named you.”

He slammed me against my locker and put his face centimeters from mine. “You’d better shut your mouth, Tuller. We’re gonna be seein’ an awful lot of each other, so you’d better learn your place, and learn it fast. Got it?”

Chloe tried to help me out. “Brendan… leave him alone, would you? Come on, let’s at least try to get along… please?”

I shoved him out of my face, and then looked at Chloe. “I’ll start when he does.” I grabbed my books and headed to first hour.

 

My first hour for first semester of senior year was American Literature. I had Dirk in my first hour, so I went down to 118 and chose a seat. Mr. Bennett had been my teacher before in freshman year, so I kind of knew what to expect: short, black hair, beard, glasses, tall, thin figure. I took a seat in the middle of the room while everyone else filed in before the bell. Dirk, as usual, made it with literally two seconds to spare before the bell. He grabbed the seat next to me.

“Hey, Drew,” he said, out of breath.

“Hey.”

Mr. Bennett closed the door, and brushed the chalk dust off his hands. “Good morning, class. As most of you know, I’m Mr. Bennett, and I’m your teacher.”

“Obviously,” Dirk joked.

He looked over at Dirk. “Ah, Mr. Fischer… I forgot I had you in my class again. We should have some, uh…” he cleared his throat and half-smiled. “Some good times, huh?”

Dirk smirked. “Yes, sir, of course. How could I deliver anything less?”

Just then, there was another loud BANG against the door. I didn’t even have to look to know who it was. Oh, no… I thought. Don’t tell me she’s in here, too… no… please…

Sadly, Chloe opened the door a few minutes later, her hair messed up more than it was before. “Good morning, Mr. Bennett. Sorry I’m late, I was held up in the bathroom.”

“Yeah, making sure Brendan’s condom held up,” Dirk whispered to me.

I chuckled and smiled wide. That’s why he was my best friend. He knew exactly what I was thinking when it came to things like this. Best friends think alike, you know.

“It’s fine, Ms. Santos. Please find a seat so I can begin class,” said Mr. Bennett.

She sat down on the other side of me, and Dirk groaned. He leaned over to me. “Should be fun, huh?”

I nodded. “It doesn’t help that her locker is next to mine.”

He shook his head. “Nice way to start senior year, huh?”

“Definitely.”

Mr. Bennett continued on for the next half hour, basically giving us the syllabus for his class and laying down the class rules. When the bell rang, I was more than eager to leave. Not that I didn’t like American Lit; I just didn’t want to sit next to Chloe any longer than I had to. Anatomy went basically the same way; Ms. Franco gave us a syllabus and stuff. After Anatomy, I had World Religions. I walked in, and saw two faces that made my insides churn twice as bad as they had before.

I saw Chloe… again… and I saw…

“Rachel,” I said, getting her attention. A big grin came across her face when she lifted her head from her textbook.

“Drew,” she said.

“I didn’t know you were in my World Religions class,” I said, smiling.

“I didn’t know I was in here with you, either.”

I took a seat next to her. “Well, I guess it’s a surprise to both of us.”

She nodded, smiling. “A pleasant surprise.”

I grinned like an idiot, and I thought I felt my hands get sweaty again and my face heat up. What the hell is wrong with me…?  

Mr. Calahan gave us a syllabus, too, but I didn’t hear anything that he said. I was too focused on Rachel. She was so intent on listening to him; it was almost as if nothing else in the world mattered to her, just what Mr. Calahan was saying. I didn’t want to interrupt her train of thought; I didn’t want to say anything… but I still couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Amazingly, now that I think back on it, I didn’t even think about Chloe at all that hour.

Halfway through the class, Rachel whispered over to me. “Do you think it’s hot in here?”

I had to admit; it was kinda hot in there. I don’t know if it was me… or if it was her… or if the room temperature was just going nuts. I nodded. “Yeah, it does seem kind of warm in here.”

“It’s almost unbearable,” she said as she pulled at the collar of her shirt.

I kinda felt bad; I don’t know why, but it didn’t seem fair that Rachel was uncomfortable on her first day of a new school. I just wanted to make her feel better. But I didn’t know how.

Then I remembered. My power.

When no one was looking, I looked over at Rachel’s neck and gently blew on it, so there was a slight breeze, just for her.

“Ooh…” she said. “That feels good… do you feel that?”

I shook my head. “No… should I…?”

“No… I guess not…”

When the bell rang, I stood up and looked over at Rachel. “So, who do you have next hour?”

“Umm…” she looked down at her schedule. “I have Econ with Mr. Maddux.” I smiled wide this time. She looked at me kind of weird. “What?”

I shook my head. “Nothing, I just… I’ve got Maddux next hour, too.”

She smiled. “Really?” She looked down, bit her lip, and then looked back up at me. “Walk me to class?”

I smiled, and my stomach flipped over itself. What the hell? “Sure,” I answered.

We walked down the hall, and I made sure that I didn’t lose her at all. It would be my luck that I would lose her the first day of school. We made it to the room, and I saw Dirk there. There was only one empty seat next to Dirk, and the other was on the other side of the room. I let Rachel choose where to sit; she chose the seat on the other side. I sat next to Dirk, who gave me a note that read ‘Spit!’.

I crumpled up his note and threw it at him. “Screw you and your spit, Dirk.”

He shrugged. “Fine. I’m saving my spit for someone else, anyway.”

“Do you even have any classes with her this semester?”  We were talking about Amanda Thompson, Dirk’s crush that he’d had for at least a year.

“Nope. But the day’s still young.”

Same as usual; Mr. Maddux gave us the syllabus and talked the whole time, filling the whole class period. Then we all went to lunch. I didn’t see Rachel during lunch, and as much as I tried to forget about it, no matter how many times Dirk tried to get me to talk about anything, I couldn’t stop thinking about where she was.

After lunch was a senior privilege: Free Period. It was basically a study hall, but we could do really whatever we wanted. Dirk and I had it together, so we walked over to the library to hang out. When we walked in, we both froze.

Amanda and Rachel were both in there.

We tried our best to keep our cool. However, it was obvious that we were epically failing at that; I knew that Amanda made Dirk melt, and Rachel… well, I wasn’t sure what Rachel was doing to me, but I sure as hell didn’t mind it.

We sat down, Dirk staring at Amanda from across the room, me staring at Rachel a couple tables over. She was looking through a stack of books, most of them labeled with two letters: AP. AP Literature; AP Chemistry; AP Calculus; AP Spanish 4.

AP? I thought. Damn, she must be a fricken genius.  She was still pulling on her collar, so I figured she must still be warm. So, I did what I thought I should.

I went to the school heater �" yes, I knew where it was, and don’t ask why �" and blew on it really hard, so it would cool off, and not make everything as warm. I returned to Free Period with plenty of time left in class; no one even noticed I was gone. When I got back, Rachel had stopped pulling at her collar, and looked a lot more comfortable than she did before.

What better way to utilize a superpower?

The rest of the period was mostly Mr. Preston, the Free Period supervisor, telling us how things were going to go during that period; no leaving the building, no doing stupid stuff, and other rules like that.

The next two hours were Pre-Calculus with Mrs. Donovan and Spanish 3 with Mrs. Hernandez. They did basically the same things everyone else did; give us a syllabus and told us what we were expected to do. After the last bell, I went to my locker and grabbed my books and backpack, narrowly avoiding Chloe and Brendan. Around 2:45, I met Cheryl after school at my car with a huge smile on her face.

“What are you so happy about, sis?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

I shrugged. “Okay.” We got in the car and I handed her all of my syllabi. “Give these to Mom and have her sign them. I’m dropping you off at home and then going to work.”

“Okay.”

We went home, and I dropped Cheryl off at home, but before I could leave, my mom came running out of the house. “Drew!”

I sighed and stopped the car. “Yeah?”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to work, Mom,” I yelled as I pulled away without another word.

God, I thought. When was she going to take a hint?

 

 

I pulled into work a few minutes after four, and it was pretty quiet for the rest of the day. For some reason I had this really bad cough, and every time I would cough, instead of phlegm, I would get this cold sensation coming up my throat, and I would cough up ice cubes. It had me worried there for a little while. One time it got so bad I had to cough it up in the sink, hearing a clinking sound instead of an expected SPLAT.

Dirk actually came in to check on me one time. “You okay, buddy?”

I nodded, still bent over the sink. “Yeah, man, I’m fine.”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

We closed up around seven, and once I got home, I grabbed a snack and locked myself in my room, listening to music again. I got my journal and watch out of my backpack, and handled the watch in my hands. I really didn’t think I wanted ice breath that much as a super power, so I left the buttons alone.

I finally started feeling sleepy around ten, so I went to bed early.

It was weird; I had only learned a few new things that day, but I could still not get my mind off of Rachel.

What the hell is she doing to me? She’s making me feel ways that no one ever has… not even Chloe…

What the hell…?