Pushing open the doors, Hunter sighed at the familiar sight. The large, high ceilinged room hadn’t changed one bit since she’d entered the school two years prior. And she would know. The best table was still the one furthest from the doors, in the back corner where no one would notice a boy suddenly appearing.

As she walked to the table, she noticed movement beneath it and stopped. A boy was cowering under the plastic tabletop, his hands covering his ears. Hunter smiled and walked over.

“New kid alert.” She said softly, kneeling to look eye to eye with the boy. “What’s wrong?”

The boy turned to look at her and Hunter saw a flash of orange hair under his fingers. She frowned, looking at the chocolatey-brown hair that covered the rest of his head. It was a common effect transformative abilities had. One of her friends’ abilities was all about changing his hair colour.

“If you’re having ability troubles, you really shouldn’t be skipping this period.” She advised. “It sucks, but it does help in the long run.”

“I can’t.” The boy shook his head. “It’ll go away once I calm down.” He whimpered and drew his legs in closer to his chest.

Hunter pulled up a chair and sat, enough distance between them so she could still see him clearly under the table. She remembered what Lucas had said about a transfer student from a normal school. The kid had probably trained himself to hide when things started popping out.

After about ten minutes, the boy emerged. Hunter pulled another chair up for him and he sat down. “It’s not the same as other places.” She assured him, gesturing around the room. “People won’t laugh. Aside from me.” She added with a smile. “But never in a mean way.”

Because of her ability, Hunter could remember every mean thing anyone had ever said about her. She was always conscious of what she said, lest someone had the same ability.

“I know it’s different.” The boy whispered. “But it’s still the same to me. People will laugh. Kids don’t show up to math class with cat ears.”

“I do.” Hunter chuckled. “I have clip-on ears. In five different colours. And matching tails, too.”

The kid gave a small smile. “Bet they don’t move.”

“One pair does.” She held up her hands and flapped her fingers. “Happy. Sad. Happy. Sad.”

The boy laughed this time. He ran his hands through his hair before picking up his bag. “Thanks.”

“Any time.” Hunter waved as he walked away. “And tell Dan to be on time today! For realsies this time!”

The boy stopped with his hand on the door and glanced back at her, a puzzled look on his face. He nodded slowly before pushing open the door and walking off to class.

Finally alone, Hunter scooched up to her perfect table and pulled a book from her bag. She still had an hour to kill and decided to do so with a lovable dog named Bailey.