Aiden opened his locker to put a book away. His fingers slipped, and the book dropped with a thud.
“Let me get that.”
He turned to see a brown-haired girl lean down to retrieve the book.
“Here.”
She was pretty, and he couldn’t help a smile as he took it from her. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” She smiled back and joined the flow of students in the hall.
Aiden stared after her, noticing how nice her butt looked in those jeans.
Something slammed into the locker just above his head. Aiden jumped and looked up to see a tall boy with broad shoulders, his hand pressed against Aiden’s locker.
“Don’t even think about it,” the kid said, a gleam of yellow in his eyes.
“What?”
“That’s my girl. I saw the way you were looking at her.”
“I didn’t—” His heart raced.
“Stay away from her. Don’t talk to her. Don’t even look at her, or I’ll make you sorry.” The boy glared down at him, and his expression was so much like Billy Hughes’s that day. The locker room, the threats, the fear.
Something shifted inside Aiden while he thought of how much he wanted this boy to go away. The air between them shimmered with a greenish-gold light and the boy went flying. He hit the lockers on the far side of the hall, making a huge dent.
Everyone stopped, staring. The boy slowly got to his feet, groaning.
“Break it up! Break it up!” A teacher pushed through the crowd and stood between Aiden and the boy he’d thrown.
“I—I didn’t…” A different kind of fear filled Aiden. All of them staring, just like the locker room, like they were wondering what he’d do next. If he was going to hurt them.
“All right. You”—the teacher pointed at the boy—“go to the nurse. And you”—he turned to Aiden—“principal’s office, now.”
“Yes, sir.” Aiden’s voice was barely above a whisper. He was in trouble, big trouble. Would they call his parents? They’d be so disappointed. He’d put them through so much already, and now this.
The teacher escorted him down the hall, saving him from the further embarrassment of having to ask where the principal’s office was. Aiden slunk into a chair and sat there, feeling sick. He could hardly bring himself to look at the principal.
“So what’s this all about?” she asked.
“I didn’t mean to. I swear I didn’t mean to.” He glanced up at the woman, who had her hair pulled back and wore a dark suit. “He was threatening me and I just got so scared.” The locker room all over again, except he hadn’t gotten in trouble for that because no one had talked about it.
“Why did he threaten you?”
He explained what had happened in as much detail as he could remember. “Will he be okay? He hit the lockers hard enough to dent them.” He’d been able to get up, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt. The boy might have a concussion or internal bleeding.
“I think I know who you’re talking about, but I’ll call the nurse to make sure.” She picked up the phone and dialed. “Yes, I’m checking on the boy who just came in… Conner Mays, okay.” The principal gave Aiden a look, eyebrows raised. Was that name supposed to mean something? “How is he doing? … Good. … Okay.” A slight smile. “You can ease his ego a bit by telling him it was Aiden Spencer, the new changeling boy. … Uh-huh. And tell him to come see me when you’re done. Bye.”
Aiden swallowed and waited for her to speak.
“The boy you hurt is Conner Mays. He’s a werewolf. They’re fairly durable, and they heal fast. You didn’t do much more than bruise him a bit and hurt his ego.”
He let out a breath. “Good. I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
She held up a hand. “I know. You recently found out about your powers, and you haven’t had training since childhood like most of the other students here. And Conner already has a reputation as a troublemaker. I believe your claim that he started it.”
What if it had been worse? What if he’d attacked someone who couldn’t take as much damage as a werewolf? It hit Aiden like a punch, the realization that he could seriously injure or even kill someone. A lump formed in his throat, and he was afraid he might cry.
“Aiden… I hope this made you realize how careful you need to be. You’re more powerful than most of the other students here. You need to be the responsible one and not get into any fights, for their sake more than yours.”
“I know. I’m so sorry.” His vision blurred and a wet drop ran down his cheek. “I don’t know how to control it. I wish I could, but I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know anything.” Even in a school full of monsters, he was the dangerous one.
The principal walked around the desk to put a hand on his shoulder. “We’re here to help you. I’ll look for a tutor to help you get some basic control of your magic. And of course you need to do your best in Minor and Major Magical Control.”
“I am doing my best.” He thought about the candle he’d incinerated. He couldn’t do anything right.
She patted his shoulder. “Then keep doing it. This won’t be easy, but as long as you try, that’s all I’m asking of you.” She pulled a small green pad from her desk and started writing. “I’m going to give you a pass. I want you go outside for a while and try to relax. Sit somewhere quiet and take slow breaths.” She tore off the top sheet and gave it to him.
“For how long?”
“Until you feel like you can handle school again.”
Honestly, that might be never. “Okay. Thank you.” He looked at the scrawled note giving him permission to be out of class. “Is that it? I’m not in trouble?” He’d expected detention or suspension for fighting in school.
“Consider this your warning. Good luck, Aiden.”
* * *
“Want to eat outside again?”
“Sure,” Dylan said.
Aiden was looking a little weird, glancing around the lunchroom like he was afraid of something. Had someone picked on him?
They picked up their trays and headed out to the square. All the tables were occupied, but Dylan headed for one with a pair of sophomores. They looked at him like Please don’t come over here. Dylan reached the table and said, “Move.”
They grabbed their lunches and scrambled away.
“That was mean,” Aiden said.
“So?” Dylan sat and started eating his pizza. If anything, it was even nicer tonight, warmer.
Aiden stared at his food, a little wrinkle between his eyebrows.
Finally Dylan couldn’t take it. “What happened? Was someone mean to you? Do I have to kick someone’s ass?” He hoped so. Not that he wanted Aiden to get picked on, but he’d love an excuse for a fight.
“I used my magic to throw a boy across the hallway today.”
Dylan arched an eyebrow. “Impressive.”
“No it’s not. It’s awful. I could’ve seriously hurt him, maybe even killed him.” He clutched his head, fingers digging into his hair.
“So why’d you throw him?”
“I didn’t mean to. He scared me, threatened me, and I panicked. And it just… happened.”
He might get to kick some ass after all. “Who was it?”
“Conner Mays. He thought I was flirting with his girlfriend or something.” Aiden picked up his fork and poked at his noodles.
Dylan snorted. “He deserves being thrown across the hall. Repeatedly.” Guy was an asshole.
“He was being a jerk, but he didn’t deserve it.” He shifted noodles around. “I should apologize.”
“To him? Dude, no. I should go beat him up to make sure he gets the message to never pick on you again.” Dylan pictured slamming his fist into Conner’s face and how good it would feel.
Aiden’s eyes went wide. “No! Please don’t. I feel bad enough about hurting him.”
“He threatened you. You shouldn’t feel bad about defending yourself.”
“It was just words. He didn’t attack me.” He put his head in his hands. “I can’t control my power. What if it happens again? What if I hurt somebody else?”
“Well, sometimes shit happens.”
Aiden dropped his hands and glared at him. “That’s not funny. Are you really this much of a jerk or is it an act?”
Aiden was the closest thing he had to a friend and those words actually stung. “A little of both, I guess.”
They were quiet for a while.
“You might enjoy people being afraid of you, but I don’t,” Aiden said. “I don’t want people staring at me like I’m a freak. I had enough of that at the end of last year.” He finally took a bite of his food.
“What happened last year?”
Aiden told him about being bullied in the locker room at his old school and having his magic lash out, making all the locker doors slam over and over. Back then he hadn’t even been aware he was different. It was as shocking to him as it had been to the other kids.
And then, suddenly, Aiden started to cry. Not just tears running down his face but actual sobbing. Dylan leaned back on the bench, fighting the urge to run away. He didn’t know how to deal with this, and it was making him incredibly uncomfortable.
“I’m a freak and a monster and I hurt people,” Aiden wailed. “I don’t know what to do. I’m horrible.”
Dylan swallowed. “You’re… not horrible. We’re all monsters here.”
“But I even scare them!” Another sob as Aiden mopped his face with his sleeve.
“You don’t scare me.” Please stop crying. Please, please, please.
“What if I hu—hu—hurt you?”
“I’d like to see you try.”
A long, watery sniffle. “You’re not afraid of anything, are you?”
“Nope.”
Aiden kept crying, but his sobs had become soft hitches. “Doesn’t it bother you that you can hurt people with your magic?” He wiped at his eyes again. “That a school full of monsters is afraid of you?”
That I like it so much? Yes. “No, not really. Who wouldn’t want to be the toughest kid in school?”
“Me.”
“You’d rather get picked on?”
“No. I’d rather be normal.”
Dylan couldn’t help a laugh. “I think you need to adjust your idea of normal, dude.”
“I’m trying.” Aiden sighed, then looked up at him, hope lighting his eyes. “Will you help me?”
“What?”
“With my powers. Can you help me control them?”
He’d never considered teaching anyone. “Well I… I guess I can try. But shouldn’t you be asking teachers that?”
“I will, but I need all the help I can get.”
A little spark of fear lit inside Dylan. Aiden already knew he liked using his powers, but he didn’t know how much or how dark his desires really were. If he helped Aiden learn control, would his own slip? Would Aiden find out just how bad Dylan really was?