7

Sarah hung up the phone and lay it down on the table. Travis picked up his home phone and began to dial the number of Blake’s cell. Before he finished, the doorbell rang. Him and Sarah got up and went to answer the door. Travis opened the door and there stood Joel, looking giant as ever, still wearing his football jacket from today.

“Woah...that was fast, are you like my neighbour or something?” Travis asked him. Joel stepped in through the open door. He looked at Sarah and asked,

“What’s wrong, you sounded so urgent on the phone and why the hell are you covered in blood?”

“I’ve found two more, I think. Travis here and his brother.” Sarah answered.

“Can someone PLEASE tell me what’s going on?” Travis interrupted. Sarah and Joel both looked at him.

“Well, I’ve already told you what I can do, and I see that you saw Wes in action. We each have...abilities. I’ve known Wes for a long time and we met Joel a couple of weeks ago. Joel here, is fast. Really fast.” Travis just stared at the two of them in shock.

“Ok, so what does this have to do with me and Blake?” he asked.

“Well, one thing Joel, Wes, and I have in common is that we each have that tiny scar somewhere on our bodies. You saw mine, and Wes has a small one on his palm” Sarah said. Joel removed his jacket and pulled back the sleeves on his t-shirt. He raised his arms and showed Travis the tiny scar just above his elbow. “You have one too, am I right?”

“Yeah, but I can’t do anything special...I’m just a normal kid. Besides, Blake doesn’t even have a scar” Travis frowned.

“I have a theory about your brother that I will test when he arrives here, as for you, I don’t know what your ability is or whether you will have one. All I know is that you bear the same markings as the rest of us, it can’t be a coincidence.” Sarah said.

“Well, my friend Parker has a scar like that too. So does this girl I talked to today. Steph, I think her name was?” Travis remembered.

“What, there are more? Holy shit Sarah how did you not find these people?” Joel said, astonished.

“Joel, it’s not like I go around searching people’s minds to see if they have scars or not. We’ll worry about Steph and Parker later. Right now, I need to talk to Blake.” Travis dialled Blake’s number and Blake came home from his friend’s house down the road.

Blake walked in the house and shut the door behind him. “You better have called me home for a good reason Trav!” he called. He walked into the living room and looked at the people there. Sarah and Joel were sitting on the couch and Travis was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace.

“Now what, he’s here isn’t he?” Travis asked Sarah.

“Wow, I was right. When Blake is close by me, I can’t hear any of your thoughts. This has never happened to me before, that’s why I fainted, it's going to take some getting used to.” Sarah remarked

“Let’s test him out” Joel said as he rose from the couch. As soon as he rose he wobbled over and stumbled over his own feet. “Wow, this kid is like the anti-ability” Joel said disappointed. Blake had a puzzled look on his face.

“So you’re telling me, that you two have abilities when I’m not around?” he said in disbelief.

“Well, it’s not like we can prove it to you is it?” Joel replied.

“She can do it Blake, she can actually read my mind when you aren’t here. I didn’t believe them either but she showed me. Joel showed up here literally five seconds after she called him, no normal person can do that” Travis reassured his brother.

“Ok, say I believe you freaks. Now what? We start a ‘superpower’ club?” Blake asked sarcastically.

“Well, if someone were to find out about us we’d be put in some insane asylum” Sarah responded. “I want to find all the kids with powers like us and just you know, protect ourselves. I’ve already had a few close encounters. There are people out there who refuse to accept people like us, Blake. The more of us we round up, the better a chance we have at survival.”

“You only have three people, that’s not really what I’d call an ‘army’” Blake snorted.

“We’ve only just begun Blake, and it’s a good thing you don’t go to our school because I have a feeling Parker and Steph won’t take this too lightly without being shown.”

6

Travis snapped out of his stupor at seeing this random girl collapse right in front of him. He looked at Blake and the two of them picked her up and carried her into their living room where they lay her on the sofa. Blake went to get tissues and a glass of water and when he returned, Sarah was just waking up.
‘Wh-What? Where am I?” she panicked.

“Don’t worry, you just passed out. I think you’re going to be okay” Travis reassured her.

“No, no! Something is wrong. What is happening?” she started to raise her voice.

“Okay okay, calm down. Can you please explain to me what’s going on?” Travis asked.

“Think of a number, any number. Hurry up!” Sarah yelled at him.

“What? Uhhh ok. Now what?” Travis said, confused.

“I don’t know it! Why don’t I know it?” Sarah yelled in frustration. Blake and Travis exchanged anxious looks and Blake shrugged.

“I’m going to Mike’s house, she better clean up before mom gets home.” Blake left the house and Travis and Sarah sat together in silence. There were tears pouring down Sarah’s face and she was holding her head down. All of a sudden, she looked up into Travis’ eyes,

‘529’ she said. Travis’ eyes narrowed as she guessed the correct answer.

“That’s right, how did you do that?” Travis said, astonished.

“I guess I have no choice but to tell you. But let me ask you something first. Does your brother have a scar like the one we both have?” she questioned him.

“Not that I know of, but how did you know about my scar?” Travis asked confusedly.

“Hmm. This is going to sound crazy. But I can hear your thoughts.” She said slowly. Travis chuckled and said,

“My thoughts? Like in the movies? I don’t believe you” Sarah sighed and said in one long breath,

“Your name is Travis Vance, you were born on May 29, 1991. You have one brother, Blake Vance who is-“ she stopped. “Him” she whispered.

“That’s nothing, you could have found all that stuff on my Facebook profile” Travis shrugged.

“Your brother, he’s 16 right?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah...he is, why?” Travis responded.

“Call him back here, now.” She said as she picked up her cell phone and dialled a number. She held the phone to her ear and after a few seconds she said “Joel, I need you here now. 632 Wilkins Place. Run.”

5

Travis waited at his locker for Parker after school like they had arranged the period before. He was eager to ask Parker about the two students in Chemistry. He was leaning against his locker when he saw Parker come around the corner. He straightened up and walked forward to meet him. Parker lived in the area near Travis’ house so they had agreed to walk home together.

As they were just leaving the school Travis asked ‘Hey, do you know a girl in our grade named Sarah? This one doesn’t have blonde hair’

‘Sarah? Yeah, what about her?’ Parker asked.

‘Well, I just thought it was really weird how she had the scar that you have on your wrist and that I have on my foot. Do you know her boyfriend’s name?’

‘Oh, that’s Wes, they’re never seen without each other. She says her scar was from when she got burnt as a baby’ Parker answered. Travis contemplated about whether or not he should bring up what he had seen in his Chemistry class. He decided against it and remained silent for the remainder of the walk home. About ten minutes later, Parker took a side road towards his house and said goodbye to Travis.

Travis’ house was another ten minute walk so he turned around to remove his bag and take out his iPod. He turned around and saw Sarah walking along the sidewalk alone behind him, without Wes. She was looking directly at him when he turned back around and started to continue walking. He turned around again to see if she was still walking behind him and came face to face with her. He fell back onto the pavement in shock.

‘What did you see?’ she demanded

‘Wha...What?’ Travis stuttered as he rubbed his scraped elbows.

‘In Chemistry class, what did you see?’ Sarah asked again.

‘Nothing, I didn’t see anything. You’re in my Chem class?’ Travis quickly lied.

‘You’re lying, tell me what you saw’ she asked more aggressively.

‘I didn’t see anything, I already told you’ Travis said. Sarah paused for a minute and stared at Travis’ face. Then, a look of surprise came across her face.

‘You’re still lying, come with me” she beckoned to him to follow. Travis sat on the ground and didn’t follow her. She turned around and whispered ‘Don’t you want to know what these scars mean?" Travis frowned and got up to follow her. Suddenly, she stopped walking, She turned down Travis’ street and led him right to his own front door.

“How did you know where my house was?” Travis asked her.

“Are you going to let me in or not?” she asked hurriedly. Travis shrugged and unlocked the door. As they stepped inside, Travis’ younger brother stepped down the stairs.

“Blake, this is Sarah, Sarah, Blake” he introduced them to each other. Travis looked at Sarah and his mouth dropped in surprise. Sarah's nose was bleeding and she was holding her head in her hands as her face screwed up in pain. She fell to her knees and fainted across the welcoming carpet in front of Travis’ door.

4

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, at around 1 o’clock Travis was eagerly awaiting the ringing of the school bell, sitting in Chemistry class. He has already dozed off once and was having trouble paying any attention to the teacher. He was doing anything to keep himself awake and he started to look around the classroom. He was sitting near the middle of the class in between two other students. There were students sitting behind him and in front of him. Two of the students sitting in front of him caught his eye.

A sandy-haired boy with a piercing on the top of his ear held the hand of the girl beside him as the girl giggled uncontrollably. The girl had skin as white as snow, with hair darker than charcoal. The two students had their bags propped up in front of them and the teacher didn’t seem to notice the flirting going on right in front of her and continued to teach the lesson.
Travis couldn’t see the hands of the two students in front of them but he assumed the boy was tickling the girl’s hand by the way she was laughing.

Just then, the boy shifted his weight so Travis could see their intertwined hands. The boys hand lay underneath the girls and they were both motionless. However, the girl started giggling again. Travis was puzzled, why was this girl giggling for no reason? The boy wasn’t moving, so she wasn’t being tickled.

Then, he saw what it was that made her laugh. Dancing across the boys fingertips was a tiny blue spark, almost invisible except to those close enough to see. Travis understood why the girl was laughing, but not how the spark was being created. He continued to stare in awe as the boy shocked the girl ever so slightly over and over again.

‘Travis, is it? Do you know the answer?’ the teacher barked.

‘Uhhh no, sorry miss I don’t’ Travis stuttered. The teacher looked around and sighed,

‘How about you, Sarah?’ she asked the girl who was giggling not moments before.

’16.’ Sarah said without hesitation.

‘Good, correct’ the teacher continued on with her lesson. Travis looked back at the pair seated in front of him, but they were no longer holding hands, they were paying attention to the teacher, or so it seemed. Travis shook his head and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. The other students sat there, completely oblivious to what had just happened in front of them. The bell rung and the teacher assigned the students their homework to complete for the following day.

Travis continued to watch the girl Sarah and her friend, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. The two of them left the classroom together as Travis watched. When Sarah moved her head, her ponytail moved back and forth like a pendulum. The hair wasn’t what interested Travis, but concealed underneath her ponytail on the back of her neck, as small as a dime was a marking, identical to that of Parker, himself and either Lindsay or Steph, in the shape of an S.

3

Travis stared down at the sheet of paper in his hands, it read:
Calculus: Rm. 206
Biology: Rm. 300
Lunch
Physics: Rm. 302
Chemistry: Rm. 318

Of course, his mother had forced him to jam-pack his schedule with all of the hardest courses possible available at the school. It wasn’t that they were too hard, it was the fact that they took away from his social life and forced him to choose either good grades, or good friends.

Travis followed the numbers on the doors in the now empty hallway until he reached room 206. Calculus. Travis knocked on the door and was let in by what he assumed was his teacher, a balding man with horn-rimmed glasses. He handed the man his sheet of paper and the man announced “Class, we have a new student with us, this is Travis Vance, Travis take a seat wherever you wish.” The teacher was obviously saying this out of courtesy because there was only one seat available in the class, right at the back. Travis walked to the back of the classroom and could feel all eyes on him as he took his seat. He noticed Trish, from the bus sitting in a desk near the window chatting non-stop to another boy in the seat behind her.

Travis was at the end of his row, but to his left sat a well-built boy, who hadn’t seemed to notice Travis’ arrival. The boy was busy doodling on his sheet, and obviously hadn’t been paying any attention to what the teacher was saying. Feeling friendly Travis introduced himself,
‘Hi, I’m Travis’ he said as he stuck out his hand. The other boy looked up and gave Travis a calculating stare.

‘Parker’ the boy said as he took Travis’ hand and shook it. As it was his first class, Travis figured he would have lots of time to catch up later on in the semester so he talked with Parker for the majority of the class. Parker had lived in the surrounding area for his entire life and he knew most of the kids in the school if not by face then at least by name. Turns out, Parkers schedule was almost identical to that of Travis except for his last period, Chemistry.

During Biology, Travis spent most of the class learning the names of the other students and their social status courtesy of Parker. Over the frog they were supposed to be dissecting, Travis discovered the names of the only other students he had made any contact with. The jock from the bus stop was named Joel and from the way Parker explained him, he could tell that there was some unexplained tension between him and the football player. Travis didn’t push for further information but instead described the girl who had showed him where the office was.

‘Skinny, blonde, blue eyes?’ Travis remembered

‘Dude, you’re gonna have to be more specific, if you haven’t noticed that barely narrows it down’ Parker pointed out.

‘Kinda bitchy?’

‘That’s either Lindsay or Steph, they’re twins.’ Parker said

‘Well, this one had a scar on her thumb, looked sort of like an ‘S’’ Travis remembered the scar when the girl had pointed him in the direction of the main office.

‘On her thumb? Did it look like this?’ Parker rolled up the sleeves of his sweater and showed Travis a thin line on the inside of his wrist.

‘Yeah! What the hell?! You have one too? That’s really weird, I have a birthmark like that underneath my foot.’ Travis said in a low voice as the teacher passed by, inspecting their dead frog.

‘Well, this has been here ever since I can remember, my mom says her brothers have it too so its probably some genetics thing.’ Parker said as he pushed his sleeves back down.

2

As he sat down, he wondered how long the bus ride would take. The bus doors closed and the bus started to move but stopped just as quickly as it had started. The doors opened and Travis craned his neck to see the late-comer. A short girl, about the same age as Travis climbed the steps of the bus and apologized to the driver for being late. She quickly walked the length of the bus and sat in the only available seat on the bus right next to Travis. She put her legs up on the seat in front of her and started to chat animatedly with another girl on the seat across from them. The girl sitting beside Travis was short, with long dark hair and dark eyes and throughout the bus ride Travis could judge her bubbly personality through the conversation she was having with the other girl. Pretending not to listen to the conversation, he picked up the girl’s name.

“Trish, you’re always late for the bus, don’t you learn?” the girl in the other seat whined.

“Sorry sorry, I was up late talking to Brad last night again” Trish giggled. The other girl’s eyes opened wide and Travis could tell where the conversation was headed. He turned the music up on his iPod and drowned out the gossiping girls beside him.

As the bus drove along, Travis judged the kids around him. Almost every student wore a brand-name sweater, including himself. If he knew one thing, it was to wear your nicest clothes on your first day at a new school, make a good first impression. Judging by the clothes the other kids wore, Travis figured the school would be a pretty rich one. Well, at least he wouldn’t be going to another poor school again.

The bus only made one more stop before it pulled up in front of the school twenty minutes after Travis got on. The students filed off the bus and Travis had his first glimpse of his new school. It was way larger than what he expected, he counted three wings just in the front of the school attached to the main building. In the background, he could make out a track surrounding a football field on which early morning runners were already practicing.

Travis followed the crowd of students flowing towards the school in search of the main office. As he entered the school he heard snatches of conversation from the students around him. He knew he would never be able to find the main office unless he asked someone. However, everyone was already in the midst of a conversation, who was he supposed to ask? He glanced around quickly and spotted a girl who was alone, but staring at her cell phone in her hand, not talking to anyone else. This girl was obviously very pretty and he knew that if he didn’t talk to her now, someone else would. He ran up to her and quickly took in her appearance before he spoke. The girl was tall, with blonde hair down to her shoulders. She wore a short skirt and a tight white sweater with the words ‘Abercrombie & Fitch’ written across the front. When he approached she lifted her head and he saw that she had shining blue eyes and freckles dotted her cheeks before she lowered her head again to stare back at her cell phone.

“Hi, my names Travis uh I’m new here and uh...” Travis stuttered, nervous.

“No.” The girl answered sharply, without looking at him. Travis frowned and politely continued,

“I need to know where the main office is, I need to—“ The girl cut him short,

“No.” Becoming upset at her rudeness, Travis raised his voice

“Look, I need to get my schedule and it would really help if—“ The girl looked up from her cell phone,

“Third door on the right” and pointed in the general direction of the main office. On her hand he noticed a thin scar in the shape of an S that ran the length of her thumb. Funnily enough, he had a birthmark on the bottom of his foot just like it. He didn’t stare too long in fear that she would bite his head off.

“Thank you, bye” Travis breathed out and walked quickly in the direction of her pointing finger. He took the third door on the right, just like the girl had told him.

1

What was this, the fourth school in just over a year? Every other month it seemed like his family would move somewhere far enough away that he had to switch schools every time. His mother would get sick of one place and drag the rest of her family along with her to a new one. He had just started making friends in the last school too, but then of course she had to end it again.

Travis walked down the street to the bus stop on the corner, thinking about his past school and how this one would probably be the same thing; the kids in the cafeteria, separated by cliques, not daring to step out of the one they 'belonged to'. He would probably have to spend lunch in the library today, maybe by the end of the week he’d build up the courage to sit in the cafeteria with the other students.

He had never gotten close to anyone before now. He never had enough time to make best friends; he barely had enough time to even make acquaintances.Already at the bus stop was another boy who obviously went to the same school as Travis would soon be attending. He wore a team jacket with the words ‘West High Football’ embroidered across the back. All Travis could see of the boy was his back, but the boy was noticeably taller than him. From the back he could see that the boy had short black spiked hair, and that he was listening to music judging by the headphones stuck in his ears.

As Travis approached, he could hear the music from the other kid’s earphones blasting through the warm air. Travis noticed the warmth because in the last place they lived, it was cold now, as New York was almost in winter already. Here, in Florida, it was summer all year round, even in the middle of November.The other boy turned his head as Travis walked up beside him but didn’t say anything to him. The boy had dark round eyes and an olive complexion. His broad shoulders gave him a demeaning stature and even through the thick football jacket his biceps were noticeable. Travis politely nodded a greeting, and the other boy nodded back, still without speaking. From where he was standing, Travis could see something embroidered on the side of the boy’s sweater. ‘Quarterback’ it read. From what Travis could tell, this kid would definitely fit the definition of jock.

As the two boys waited, Travis looked up and down the street for any sign of the bus approaching. It was early in the morning, almost 8 o’clock so there were barely any cars on the road in front of them. Just as Travis was reaching into his bag to retrieve his iPod, he caught sight of the bus rounding the corner before it pulled up in front of him and the other boy. The doors squng open and Travis got on the bus after the boy and looked for a seat alone. A girl in the third seat from the front beckoned to the football player and he sat down in the seat next to her. Travis moved to find a seat two seats behind the girl and the huge football player.