A few weeks later...

I fell on my face again, for the hundredth time. "Again!" Fohst commanded. All I could do was groan and stand up again. "You're not trying," Fohst said, visibly bored. 

I struggled to my feet and glared at him. "I AM trying," I grumbled. 

"Again!"

I stood up and closed my eyes, concentrating. "What are you doing?" asked Fohst, picking at his claws. 

"I saw this in a movie once. Just let me try this." I started to think flying thoughts. "I'm soaring through the clouds," I thought. "I'm like....like Superman!" I opened my eyes and saw I was levitating a couple feet off the floor. 

"About time," Fohst said. "Now let's move on to your protective covering." I nodded and prepared myself. Fohst's tests haven't been easy, each teaching me about my increased strength and agility, one day after the next. It truly was a brutal training regimen. 

"Prepare yourself. You will call upon your protective covering, and it shall appear."

I grit my teeth and got ready. "Ok, ok, ok. I'm the boss, I'm the boss," I whispered. "I got this!"

Fohst raised his hands and his eyes glowed red. I saw he was gathering a cloud of small stones, probably to be thrown at me. 

"Let's uh, start it slowly..." I said nervously, slowly backing up. Fohst did nothing to suggest he heard me and begun flinging stones, one by one at me. 

"Oh shit!" I put my arms up in front of me and tried to cover my face. I heard the stones bouncing off of what sounded like metal, so I moved my hands away from my face to get a better look. I looked down at my hands to see them covered in some sort of gray material. "What is this?" I said in wonder.

"It is the skin of my people," Fohst replied, dropping the stones. "They retain an ability to harden upon physical trauma, but otherwise keep a flexible and soft rubber-like feel."

"Cool... But, where does it go when I'm not using it?"

"When I gave you your powers, I embedded some of my species DNA within yours, giving you these abilities. Now you share some of the power I possess as well," Fohst explained. 

I nodded on wonder. "This is awesome!" I yelled, throwing my hands in the air. 

I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my shoulders, arms, and legs; the stones slamming into me. I crumpled to the ground in pain, groaning. "What the hell Fohst..."

Fohst gave a small chuckle. "Also, learn to never let your guard down. I will see you tomorrow."

I couldn't do much except groan and accept my pain. "Suckered again," I thought.

---

I showed up to school the next day, covered in bruises and miserable at the fact that Fohst has refused to train me until I could call upon my covering on command. 

I walked into the library and collapsed on a nearby chair, both in exhaustion and in pain." This sucks...." I groaned, putting my head on the table. 

"Hey buddy, you alright?" I looked to see Shaun standing above me, a random girl hanging on his arm. 

I raised myself with my hands and leaned back on the chair. "Just peachy," I grumbled. "What about you?" 

Shaun grinned and bopped me on the head. "What you forget already? Today is Buffet Day in the cafeteria! You know? When they bring all sorts of food and only Honor Roll students can eat there?"

I winced and slowly stood up. "Aw man, is that today? I didn't bring any cash." I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. 

Shaun smiled and reached into his pocket. "I knew you'd forget, so I brought enough for the three of us," he presented. He handed out the money to each of us and reminded us not to forget again next time. The girl then reached up and kissed my best friend in the face, creating an awkward atmosphere. 

I looked up and away, whistling. When the girl finished, she and Shaun exchanged a few words before she departed the library. "So, who was that?" I inquired. 

"Oh? Sarah? We met last weekend and we've been going out ever since."

"What about Carly?"

 "What about her?"

"I dunno, I thought you said she was the 'one'. " 

Shaun shrugged and put his hands in his pockets, a gesture that ended the conversation. "It just didn't work out I guess..."

I decided not to keep pressing on the matter and let it go. "I'll see you at lunch then," I mumbled. I grabbed my bag and trudged off in pain, wondering if Shaun was hiding something.

As I left the library, I bumped into a short and stout kid, knocking him to the ground.

"Whoa, you okay?" I asked, offering a hand. I saw that he was wearing a loosely fitting green jacket and cargo shorts, pockets packed full of something.

He rubbed his nose and looked up at me. "What....what did you say?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He took my hand and I helped him to his feet.

"I asked if you were okay," I repeated. I looked him up and down, rubbing my sore shoulder, now in even more pain from bumping into this kid.

"Wow... That's the first time anyone's ever nice to me," he said. He took off his backpack from his shoulders and began digging through it. "I'm Ethan," he said, straightening his glasses. "What lunch do you have?"

I wasn't sure where he was going with this, but I answered him nonetheless. "Well, Ethan, I have the second lunch of the day. Why?"

He withdrew a bright orange hoodie and handed it to me. "Okay. Make sure you're wearing this during lunch today." 

I took the hoodie, holding it out at arm's length, trying to see what was wrong with it. "Are you messing with me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

His eyes changed from lighthearted to a surprisingly serious look. "Promise me," he said roughly. "Make sure you're wearing it!" He pulled out two more extra jackets and thrust them into my arms. "Also, give these to anyone you care about. Make sure they're wearing it all day today."

I also accepted these clothes reluctantly. "Okay, Ethan. I'll make sure my friends and I wear the hoodies today."

He breathed a sigh of relief and picked up his backpack, replacing it back onto his shoulders. "Thanks. Also, I'd like to apologize ahead of time."

"For what?"

"You'll see..." he said eerily. 

A shiver went up my spine as I watched him walk away, disappearing into the crowd of dismissed students. "What was that about?" I thought. But I decided not to think too much about it, and went off to my next class.

---

"Be sure to read chapters three through six for homework tonight," my teacher droned. "It is key that you understand the principles and blah, blah, blah, blah...."

I stopped listening to my English teacher and stared longingly off at the most beautiful girl in my class, Susan Perth. I watched as her gorgeous hair washed over her shoulders as she writing down notes. 

"Whoa, I'm being a creep," I thought, catching myself before I began drooling. "Maybe this is why I'm not cool." I groaned and rested my face on my arm.

"Mr. Wilkins, can you repeat what I just said?" my teacher 

My head slipped off my hand and my head hit the table. "Oww..." I groaned as the entire class snickered. I sat up slowly and looked sheepishly at the teacher. "Uh...... 24?" I mumbled, rubbing my sore arms. 

The whole class burst into laughter as my teacher looked disapprovingly at me. "That would probably be a viable answer, but this is an English class, NOT a math class."

I put my head back down on the desk and closed my eyes. "Can this day get any worse?"

---

After being embarrassed in class, the bell released us for lunch, a sense of dread hovering over my entire demeanor. "Hey Bryan, you okay?" I looked to see Shaun examining me with a concerned look.

I nodded my head and pulled out my I.D. badge from my bag. "Yeah, totally okay...." I said offhandedly. "But to be totally honest, I could have done without the humiliation, much less in front of Susan...." 

Shaun smiled sadly. "That bad huh?" I shrugged and shuffled into a lunch line, fiddling with my lanyard. 

I felt a poke and half-heartedly turned around, expecting Shaun trying to make me feel better again. My eyes widened in surprise to be greeted by Susan's pleasant smile. "Bryan...right?" My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, my face the epitome of stupid. 

Shaun bumped my shoulder, shocking me back to life. "Oh...yeah! Bryan, that's me." I shoved my hands into my pocket in fear that she would see how sweaty they had become.

She fingered a strand of her hair and smiled again. "Well, I know we don't talk much, but are you okay? Mrs. Strake's disapproving comments seem to have hit you pretty hard." 

I smiled, going red in the face. "Really? I mean, her statements are totally justified. Like really? Who nods off in English class?" 

Susan laughed, the sound soft and tender. "Well, it's good to know you aren't down! I'll see you later." She spun on her feet and walked off, disappearing into the crowd in the cafeteria. 

Shaun leaned in close and whispered, "Bro, she knows you exist!" I shoved him off of me and tried not to smile like an idiot. 

We grabbed lunch and seated ourselves at a small table near the end of the lunchroom, located by two enormous windows where sunlight shone through. "Anything interesting happening today?" Shaun asked, his mouth full with a chicken sandwich.

His question reminded me of what Ethan said earlier about wearing the hoodies. I pulled out the three hoodies and handed one to my friend. "Here, wear this." He looked at me funny but accepted the jacket. 

"What you handing out Wilkins?" I saw that the other guys sitting at our table were also expecting some sort of gift. 

"Sorry, these are for the Gay-Straight Alliance," I blurted. "What a lame ass excuse..." I thought. I looked to see that Shaun had spit out his sandwich in surprise.

They all either wrinkled their nose or raised an eyebrow. "Psh, whatever man. Keep your Gay hoodies for yourself." They all turned away and continued their own various conversations.

I looked to see Shaun examining the hoodie. "Look, Bryan, I have nothing against this organization, but people might think I'm gay," he explained.  "And I'm not." He held out the jacket for me to take back. 

I gave a dry smile and slugged him in the shoulder. "They're not for the GSA, dummy. I just made that up so I wouldn't have to give them out." 

Shaun nodded his head in understanding and pointed finger guns at me. "Damn dude. Smooth. Kind of." He slipped the neon orange over his head and examined himself. "Bro, these are comfy AF!" 

I wrapped my hoodie around my waist and looked at the third one. "Here Shaun." I tossed the clothing over to him. "Give this one to your girlfriend." 

Shaun smiled and gave me a thumbs up. "Thanks, Bryan!" he scarfed down the rest of his meal and went off to find his girlfriend, leaving me at the table with the rest of the guys. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Ethan stand up from his lunch table with his backpack, flip up his camouflage hoodie and shuffle slowly to the emergency exit doors. 

"What's he doing?" I thought. Ethan procured a metal chain from his backpack and wrapped it around the handles of the doors, locking it in place with a steel lock.

"Yo, retard! What do you think you're doing?!" A jock had noticed what Ethan was doing, and had called him out. "You jerking yourself off over there?!" His friends laughed and took out their phones to take photos, presumably to post on Instagram or Snapchat.

Ethan dropped his backpack from his shoulders and pulled out a small cylindric device from one of the pockets and pointed it at the jock. "What I'm doing? I'm making you guys pay." 

A loud pop was heard and a red hole appeared in the jock's forehead, his body falling from where he stood. People started to scream and run for the exits, but Ethan pulled out a small ball and threw it into the crowd. The ball landed deep inside the mass of people and exploded, shaking the entire school and launching body parts all around the cafeteria. 

"Holy fuck! Let's get the hell out of here!" The guys sitting at my table also made a beeline for the exit, disappearing into the hysterical crowd. 

"No! Come back!" I balled my fists in frustration. "Why are you doing this Ethan?!" I tipped the lunch table over on its side and ducked behind it, scanning the cafeteria for Shaun and his girlfriend or anyone I knew. A bright neon color caught my eye, half hidden behind a fallen trash can, its contents spilled all over the floor mixing with the blood of my fellow students. The firing and explosions continued, students struggling to exit the cafeteria. 

"This is what you did to me!!!" screamed Ethan. "YOU did this!!! Not me!!!!" He dropped the little cylinder and pulled out two handguns, firing them both into the crowd. Ethan started to move away from the emergency exit and walked closer to the crowd, reloading. 

I stood up. "Ethan! Stop!" 

He stopped firing and looked at me. "Bryan, don't do this. You're the one person that was ever truly nice to me. Don't make me hurt you," he warned. 

Suddenly, Susan also stood up from behind a table. "Ethan, please stop. We can help you!" Without hesitation, Ethan turned and fired a single bullet, sending Susan's body to the ground. 

"Ethan! NO!" I called upon my powers, my gray protective layer covering my skin and enveloping my body. There were gasps of surprise and some cheers as I made my over to Ethan. "This ends NOW!" I boomed. He growled and opened fire, the bullets slamming into my chest and falling harmlessly to the ground. 

"You'll regret doing that," he warned. He pulled out a small dark square, pressing it to my chest. "Boom," he whispered, grinning like a maniac. I barely had any time to react before a small explosion sent me flying into the air and away from Ethan. 

"What the hell....?" I groaned. I rose to my feet, surprised that the explosion didn't even make a dent in my armor. "No way," I chuckled. "This is awesome!" I slowly advanced on Ethan, forcing him to empty the guns' magazines. 

"N-no! St-stay back!" He dropped his guns and stepped backward, tripping over his own feet. "No! St-top!" He scrambled backward to where Susan's body lay and picked her up, holding a knife to her throat. "I'll do it! I swear!" he yelled. 

I stopped in my tracks, holding up my hands. "I don't doubt you will, but please, put down the knife," I said gently, my voice echoing and resonating. "Don't do this."

Ethan held Susan even tighter and rapidly shook his head. "You don't get it, Bryan!" He sucked a breath and tears rolled down his eyes. "They will never learn! Not if they don't ever pay! Don't you get it?!" he cried. "I'm doing this so no one else will ever have to go through what I went through. Never again!" 

I felt anger rising in my chest, but I resisted it, forcing myself to calm down. "Ethan....just listen. It doesn't have to go down like this. I can help you."

I suddenly was overcome with a wave of nausea, but it left as soon as it came. "Having trouble are we?" I turned to see my mentor, Fohst, standing beside me with a disapproving look on his face. 

Ethan gasped and dropped his knife. "W-wh-what the hell is that thing?!" He let go of Susan and turned to run, but Fohst raised an open palm, stopping him in his tracks. 

"Scum like you cannot be permitted to exist any further." Fohst judged. "The punishment is death." 

Ethan screamed as he rose into the air, grabbing at his neck as if something was choking him. "BRYAN! HELP ME!" 

Fohst's eyes flared red and he closed his palm, summoning a purple flame that enveloped Ethan and incinerated him, leaving nothing but dust. The onlooker gasped, unsure whether to cheer or to scream.

Fohst turned a glaring red eye to me, his expression that of pure disappointment. "You are my student. Never let me catch you struggling again filth like that ever again." He disappeared in a flash of light, leaving me speechless. 

"Ethan..... I'm so sorry," I whispered. My gray skin retracted itself and I fell to my knees. 

"I'm no hero."