By the next day, everyone knew I didn’t have a power, but nobody cared. What they did care about were my stat cards, and they hated me for those instead.
How’s that for a kick in the teeth?
Students picked on me the whole time, never letting up, during every class, every break and every meal – picking apart my weaknesses loud enough for the whole world to hear.
I went from rock star to weirdo-eating-a-giant-tub-of-peanut-butter-alone-in-a-stairwell-after-school, waiting for the hallways to empty out so I could get back to my room without being seen.
But it was all my fault.
If my parents could see me now, right?
The door was cracked open when I got back to my room.
‘Hello?’ I said, pushing it open, thinking maybe Noah or Jordan just forgot to shut it, but they weren’t there.
Someone else had been there.
All my stuff was missing.
My clothes, my books, my comics.
Everything.
And the window was open.
I looked outside and saw my things in the grass three storeys down.
Above my bed, there was writing on the wall.
‘Ben Braver’s weakness: judgemental jerk.’
It was about 9 p.m., and I was sitting outside with Brock and all my stuff. Noah, Penny and Jordan were with me, too.
The sky was all clouds. Good, because I didn’t need the North Star to see me like this.
My friends had spent their night getting all my stuff off the grass and into neat piles next to the statue.
‘Kids can be twerps,’ Penny said, trying to get me to talk.
‘I bet it was Dexter,’ Jordan said.
‘It could’ve been anyone,’ Noah said.
‘It wasn’t me!’ Jordan said.
‘Of course it wasn’t you! It wasn’t any of us!’ Penny said.
‘Just sayin’,’ Jordan said.
It was like that all night.
Quiet, and then some yelling, and then quiet again.
They just didn’t know what to say.
‘I never should’ve made stat cards,’ I said.
‘Stat cards are fine,’ Penny said. ‘I just don’t think you understand what a weakness is.’
‘I wasn’t trying to judge them.’
‘I know you didn’t mean to,’ Penny said, ‘but you kind of did.’
Coach Lindsay walked up with an old hotel dolly from when the school was still a ski lodge.
‘Kids, can I have a moment with Ben?’ he asked.
I had been avoiding Coach since getting scolded tag team–style in the headmaster’s office.
‘Sure,’ Penny said. ‘I need to check my mail anyway.’
Noah and Jordan loaded my things onto the dolly and headed inside with Penny.
Coach sat next to me, and we both looked at the cloudy sky.
‘Jennifer says hi,’ Coach said, handing me a hefty red envelope. ‘She wanted me to give you that.’
The last time I had seen Jennifer was on Christmas Eve.
I took the envelope. ‘Is she okay? Is she still in the city?’
He chuckled. ‘Yes, she’s okay, and yes, she’s still there.’
It was the first bit of joy I felt that day.
‘She was heartbroken when I told her what happened to you,’ Coach said. ‘I think she feels partially responsible. Anyway, she gave me that and said it was for your eyes only.’
I set the envelope next to me.
‘I’m sorry I wasn’t out there yesterday,’ Coach said. ‘It’s a rotten thing that happened to you. Stat cards or not. Powers or not.’
‘… But I deserved it.’
‘Nah. You made a mistake. I look at you, and all I see is a kid trying to keep up with everyone else, trying to fit in.’
Coach got me.
‘The only boy at the academy without a power. What was Donald thinking?’
I shrugged.
Coach took a deep breath. ‘I’ve been here a long time, son. Seen a lot of kids come and go. Some good. Some bad. The students here – they’re born with powers, so they don’t get it.’
He stood, putting his hand on my shoulder, and looked me right in the eye.
‘But I genuinely believe you’re the first person who actually deserves one. You’ve earned the right.’
Coach nodded once and went on his way.
I opened Jennifer’s envelope.
A package of peanut butter cups slid out. I stuffed them into my back pocket, saving them for later. I don’t know – I just wasn’t in the mood for peanut butter cups.
She also included a card, and what she wrote got my hands shaking.
Project Blackwood was the Magic Lamp?
I knew exactly where that was!
I had even held it in my hands!
‘Brock, old buddy?’ I said. ‘I think I know how to fix all this.’
