|
"Hey, Zane! Wait up!" Zane Warren turned to see Jacob Longacre, a guy from his English class, coming towards him down the hall. While they weren’t exactly best buddies, Jacob was friendly and energetic, and Zane liked him. Jacob was overweight, and therefore not on the social A-list. This suited Zane just fine. The distinction of an in-crowd was highly overrated. "What’s up?" he asked the out-of-breath Jacob. "I was wondering if you were going to the football game on Friday night. I thought we might hook up and sit together." "I forgot about the game." Jacob stared at Zane like as if he were speaking a foreign language. "This game’s against the Griffins! They’re our biggest rivals! Everybody’s going." "My father’s not exactly happy with me right now," Zane admitted lamely. "I’m kinda grounded for the week." In fact, Zane had been grounded for almost two weeks now, but his father had been unbending. This is just great, he thought wryly. Telling my friends that I, a 19-year-old and a repeater, am still getting childish stuff such as grounding. "I see." Jacob’s brown eyes filled with curiosity. "What happened?" Zane swallowed. He wasn’t exactly ready to tell people how he had somehow smashed Dave Simmons’ face with his own football by just thinking it. The ball had just somehow jumped out of the school’s football star’s hands, bounced off the opposite wall, and flew directly back, colliding against the guy’s face. "It’s nothing, really. As for the game, I’ll let you know if I decide to go… that is, if I can manage to get myself ungrounded." Jacob looked pleased. "It’s not just because everybody’s going that I want to go," he confided. "It’s because of Sherry Simmons." His eyes took on a longing look. "I think she’s so gorgeous." Sherry was Dave Simmons’ younger sister. Zane thought that she was conceited, vain and even cruel. One girl had to be sent to the hospital after having a fight with Sherry during a cheerleading practice. The next day, Sherry had actually bragged about it. "You really like her?" Zane asked. Jacob nodded. "Of course, she’ll never notice me, but it’s nice to dream." "I know what you mean," Zane said, absently fingering the moon-shaped charm that hung loosely around his neck on a chain. "You’ve got a girl?" Zane snapped out of his reverie. "Huh? Oh, no. I was just… pondering about something else." When Jacob gave him a quizzical look, Zane realized that he was probably going to say more than he’d meant to. "Listen, I’ve gotta go." He waved goodbye and hurried out to his car – a classic Mercedes Benz – in the student parking lot. The air smelled crisp and clean, and the sky was a brilliant blue. Yet he felt inexplicably sad and lonely. Why am I suddenly feeling like this? Zane gripped his necklace. I’ve never felt like this before. What’s happening to me?
"I can see you’re having a wild Saturday night," the scruffy teen behind the counter of the minimart said. He dropped the bottle of vanilla essence into a little brown bag and handed Zane his change. Oh, great, he thought. You know your life has hit a new low when the younger-than-you minimart guy finds you pathetic. "I’m just about to head over to the pub. They’re having a party tonight," Zane lied. "Right," The guy gave him a knowing smile, and Zane felt his face get hot. He didn’t think he could sink any lower, but it turned out there was – trying to convince the minimart guy that you have a life. And failing. "Thanks," he muttered. He snatched up the paper bag and got of the wretched place as fast as he could. But as soon as he was clear out of the guy’s sight, he slowed down. He was in no hurry to get home. Sigh… It’s a sad, sad world out there, Zane thought sadly. Zane knew that he had entered the self-pity zone, but he didn’t care. He figured that he should just move in – like pitch a tent or something. It wasn’t like his life was going to get better anytime soon. He turned onto his street. When he saw the porch light on at his house, he tried to remember if he’d switched on the light when he left. He didn’t think so. Just as Zane reached the sidewalk, his front door swung open. His father stood there, glaring at him. His arms were folded across his chest. Zane stared hard at the pavement. Just looking - even thinking - about his father made his blood boil. "You were told not to leave the house," his father said even before he was halfway across the lawn. White-hot anger erupted inside Zane. He strode up to his father and thrust the paper bag into his hands so hard that he almost dropped it. "I was out scoring some drugs," he told him bitterly. He’d never said anything like that to his father before, but it just came spewing out. And he was glad that it did. His father took a quick look into the bag. His grim expression didn’t soften. "This isn’t funny," he snapped. "You know what else isn’t funny?" Zane demanded, taking a step closer so he was right in front of his father’s face. "It isn’t funny that a father doesn’t trust his own son enough to let him leave the house."
Julie began to turn away but stopped, her mouth dropping like someone in Acting 101 doing ‘dumbstruck’. Marie turned and followed her gaze and saw a boy coming up the steps into the hall. It was like in a movie when everything goes into soft focus, everyone becomes silent, and time slows down while you figure out what you’re looking at, Marie thought. It was just like that, watching the boy come up the broad, worn front steps of Mutant High. Julie turned back towards Marie, her eyes wide. "Who is that?" she mouthed. Marie shook her head. The guy walked up to them with a calm confidence as heads turned. He smiled at Marie and Julie. It was like the sun coming out from the clouds. "Is this the way to the classrooms?" he asked. Marie had seen good-looking guys before. Her cousin, Zack, in fact, is really good-looking. But this guy was… breathtaking. Soft, brown hair looked like it belongs to a superstar. He had a perfect, hawkish nose, beautiful olive skin, and riveting, ageless, blue-colored eyes. It took Marie a second to realize he was speaking to them. Marie gazed at him stupidly, but Julie sparkled. "Right through there and to the left," she pointed to the nearest door. "Rough day?" she asked sympathetically. The guy nodded somewhat sadly. "Try week." He gave a half smile. "I’m Zane. Zane Warren. Just discovered my…uh…" "Powers?" Julie smiled. "That’s okay. It took me some time to accept reality too. But don’t worry. We’ll make you feel at home here. I’m Jubilation Lee, but just call me Julie." Julie gestured to Marie. "And this is Marie Laveau." Marie didn’t move. She had been deep in thought. Another Warren, she thought. Zack’s first name is Warren, too. Marie blinked a couple of times and tried to smile. "Hi," she finally said in a near whisper, feeling like a five-year-old. She had always been good at talking to guys, but this time she felt so overwhelmed and shy that she couldn’t function at all. "Are you seniors?" Zane asked. "Juniors," Julie said apologetically. "Too bad," Zane said. "Guess we won’t have classes together." "Actually, Marie’s a senior," Julie said with a cute, self-deprecating laugh. "She’s taking physics, English literature and math." "Cool," Zane said, smiling at Marie. "I better check in. Nice meeting you. Thanks for your help." He turned and strode to the door. "Bye!" Julie said brightly. As soon as Zane passed through the wooden parlor doors into the office, Julie grabbed Marie’s arm. "Marie, that guy is a god!" she squealed. "He’s going to stay here! He’s gonna be studying here!" The next moment found us surrounded by their friends. "Who is he?" Shannon asked eagerly, her dark hair brushing her shoulders. Suzanne Herbert jostled her, trying to get closer to them.
Just then, the door open and a man carrying a sack of groceries entered the room. "Hey, Marie," the blond-haired guy greeted. He stopped abruptly when he saw Zane and Scott. "Scott? What are you doing here?" he asked. "Zack," Scott said, "I would like you to meet Zane." Seeing Zack’s confused look, Scott added, "You know, the guy I talked to you about? The one with telekinetic powers?" Zack allowed the grocery sack to slide to the floor, his expression wary. "Hello," he said. "Scott’s mentioned you." Zane watched Zack as Scott explained what was going on. It was pretty obvious that Zack wasn’t thrilled to see him. He was a well-built man with striking features – flaxen hair with streaks of dark blond and piercing gray-blue eyes that look startlingly like his. The girl, Marie, who had been rummaging through the forgotten sack of groceries, turned to Zane and gushed, "You must stay for supper." "Yes, that would be nice." Zack added in a tone that told Zane otherwise. "You could also spend the night here," Scott said. "Or at least for a few days until we clear out some of the other rooms for you. Maybe you could share a room with Zack." "Sure," Zack said tersely. "Okay," Zane added, after a moment of hesitation. "Well," Marie continued cheerfully. "That said, let’s help unload the groceries here, okay?" As they helped put groceries into the refrigerator. Zane caught a look that Zack had passed to Scott. He’d seen his parents pass enough such looks as he was growing up and read it instantly. It said: Why did you do that? I don’t want him here. Zane felt instant rejection.
|
