Archer Warrick February 29th,20XX

“Remember Eva. You can’t use your- Talents at all, okay? If anything happens, anything at all, and you think you have to use your ‘talents’, then call out for me. Keep your phone with you and I’ll text you if I agree.”

I knew how stupid I looked, talking to my little sister who hadn’t said a word back the entire time. I could see that much by the strange looks I got from my new schoolmates and the cautious feelings I could ‘read’ off them.

It was normal to be nervous about attending a new school. It was also normal to be nervous about being separated from my little sister, who had found an appreciation for her powers. Maybe it was because Joyce had given her the verbal equivalent of a slap on the wrist for using them last time? Or because she didn’t have to live in fear anymore?

Either way, I was happy she felt more confident in being herself, but I also couldn’t risk tuning into the news and seeing a brainwashing epidemic in the third grade.

“Now what did I say you should do if you ever want to use your talents?”

She pointed at her temple and scrunched her brow to imply her shouting.

‘I should call out to you’

“Exactly.”

“Uh, Warrick?”

I spun around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and pulled Eva behind me. The sight of an older woman in her thirties flooded my vision, and I felt a sense of repulsion hover around her like a crown as she took the sight of me in.

She had a bright smile on her face and her body language was so relaxed that if not for my powers operating on their own, I would have believed that we had met before.

I was a lot more sensitive than usual, and I could pick up the ‘first layer’ from everyone. At first, I’d thought I was unconsciously doing it on purpose, like one would flex their leg muscles when scared, but I couldn’t turn it off. It would have been burdensome in general, but was exceedingly so now.

I followed her line of vision as she looked the two of us over.

Eva seemed to have passed her check and her mood lightened, but it sank right back down as her eyes settled on me.

I ran a mental image of myself and tried to figure out what might have upset her, but it wasn’t until she lifted a hand to her face and tapped at her cheek that I remembered.

“Did you get hurt recently?”

I’d slapped two bandages on the cuts on my face right before leaving the house. Joyce and Danka had worked hard to lighten the bruises on my face and my body, but the cuts needed to heal naturally.

I’d put on the bandages to avoid having to talk about my uncle, but it looked like she had come to a different conclusion altogether.

“Ah. I got into an accident a few days ago.”

“… Of course. Follow me, please.”

Tillo and Kaja had been led away by a soft-looking student a few minutes ago, so I wondered why we had to get stuck with this lady.

“My name is Mrs. Galla, and I’m the principal of this school. It’s rare for us to have transfer students so late into the school year, so I thought I would come down and help you both adjust.”

There wasn’t much to be said about her words, but the rancid hostility that she felt towards me and Eva by association was difficult to operate under.

“Ah, thank you. Eva, say thank you.”

I don’t want to. I don’t like her.

Eva stuck out her lower lip in a familiar pout and resisted saying thank you. Mrs. Galla’s eyes slightly widened in annoyance and her façade cracked. It was the first time her face had somewhat reflected her feelings, but for that to have happened meant that she was very annoyed.

“Sorry, we homeschooled her for a while, so she’s shy. Eva, Mrs. Galla is a friendly person who’s taking the time out of her day to help us. It would make her happy if you could say thank you.”

I didn’t like her either, but we needed to play nice. This was a new school that Joyce had gone through a lot of trouble to get us into. We couldn’t make things any more difficult for her.

“Thank you.”

Eva’s quiet voice escaped her lips and immediately softened the increasingly angered principal.

“That’s fine, sweetheart. And it’s fine to be shy, but I hope you’ll open up a bit to your classmates. They’re all great children, so I’m sure you’ll get along great.”

I immediately got a feel for what type of person she was and knew how to handle her. But it would be annoying.

She was the type of adult that needed to have control and authority over everything and everyone. In that sense, I didn’t find it surprising that she was a principal, but considering how rowdy kids were, it surprised me she’d chosen a career working with both children and teenagers.

Well, it didn’t matter to me. As long as I could stay out of her way, and placate her whenever we crossed paths, I would be okay.

After walking for much too long for it to be within a single building, we finally arrived in front of a tall and imposing door. She knocked on the door three times and then punched in a code at the speed of light, as if scared I would see it.

Looked like she still didn’t quite like me.

But that much was fine. As long as she didn’t end up taking anything out on Eva, then I would put up with it all.

“Good morning, Mrs. Galla!”

A chorus of high-pitched voices rang out in greeting to the woman that had brought us here, and the self-satisfied expression on her face made it difficult to look straight at her.

“How darling! Quickly settle down. I’ve come to introduce a friend to you all! Eva? Could you tell the class your name, how old you are and one thing you like?”

She pulled Eva in front of herself and waited for the eight-year-old to give a self-introduction.

Eva sent me a baleful look and her mouth set into that same stubborn expression, but I glared at her in response and tilted my head toward the class.

This wasn’t the time or the place for her to discover a sense of rebellion for the sake of itself.

After we finished a glare off, which I won by the way; she brought the whale up to her mouth and mumbled into it.

“Hello, I’m Eva Warrick. I’m eight years old…. I like whales.”

The other kids looked on curiously at the new, pretty classmate.

I scanned over the classmate’s first layers to make sure no one was outright hostile towards her. My first response was one of relief as I felt nothing negative beyond Mrs. Galla, but I felt something else that caught my attention.

A dour-looking kid with a chubby face and an annoying glint in his eyes trained his gaze on Eva, and his feet began to pitter-patter under his desk.

The noise filled the room and drew everyone’s attention towards him. The teacher quickly coughed and started to find a seat for Eva, but I kept my eyes trained on the brat.

He finally noticed my glare and squirmed, but I didn’t let up until I was nudged out of the room by an impatient Mrs. Galla.

My introduction to my class was much less eventful. There were a few people curious about why I had transferred in so late, and others that were slightly hostile towards me, but that much was to be expected.

I wasn’t here to make friends, and I wasn’t particularly willing to try. I’d just keep my head down, do my work, and try my best to graduate out of here.