All eyes turned to him, and all the idle chatter came to a stop. The resounding echo from Henry’s words still vibrated throughout the room.

Amanda’s smile was wiped off her face, and he can’t help the guilt that settled in his stomach for erasing it. She shifted in her spot. “What do you mean, no?”

He swallowed, eyes darting, every spot his eyes landed on there’s contempt. “I don’t want to be a part of your story.” The bravado from earlier was gone, replaced with his quiet tone. Unable to stand anymore, he darted away to the stairs. No one called after him.

He’s sure to lock his door before he landed on his bed. What was he thinking? He started shaking. What the Oracle showed him, standing up for himself at the party, it all was too much. The tidal wave of emotions washed over him, and he broke down sobbing.

He curled up on his side and let everything go.

Being a main character had always been his dream. From the moment he understood what his mark meant, he didn’t want to be a part of it. He and his sister had always been twins but from the rest of the world’s view, they couldn’t have been more different. Chasing your dreams wasn’t as simple as wishing it into being. You had to deal with the consequences.

Throughout all the years that he knew he was different, there was never a moment before where he felt more alone.

He looked at the picture on his nightstand. It was his favorite one. He and his sister were five, and they both dressed up as superheroes. They were both smiling up at their dad, striking poses as he took the picture. That was the last time they were both able to dress up like that. His mom came home and was furious. She made sure that he knew he would never be a superhero.

He sniffled and sat up. His whole life he was told that he would never be a main character, and he still believed that he could be one. What’s one more person? The Oracle could be wrong. She could have lied. He wouldn’t lay down and accept his fate.

He grabbed his laptop and brought up Circumlocution to search if there had ever been any evidence of someone like him before. He typed in multiple searches, ‘is it normal to not like your label?’, ‘has the oracle ever been wrong?’, ‘can you change your label?’. All of the searches came up with nothing but conspiracy websites and even someone’s apocalypse novel. He shivered. No thanks.

If the internet couldn’t tell him if there were other people like him, he’d have to try and be the first. He searched again, this time, ‘Qualities of a main character’.

The search came up positive, listing: fearless, reliable, tough, brave—

Henry flinched from a knock on his door: three knocks, a pause, one knock. He let his computer shut off as he crept over to the door, not opening it.

“Henry, I know you’re in there.” Amanda paused, then continued. “Open the door, okay? I just wanna talk.”

Henry frowned, and stayed silent. He didn’t know if he could face her after ruining her party. Did the guests leave? Or were they all down there, gossiping about what happened?

Her sigh was barely heard through the door. “I’m just gonna go. Hopefully I’ll talk to you later. Who knows, maybe you’re sleeping and you’re not actually mad at me and I’m just being an idiot.” She laughed softly, but it sounded more like a choke. She knocked twice on the door, and her footsteps receded.

He hesitated before laying back in bed, pulling the sheets over his entire body. He could be strong later, right then, he needed to hide from his shame.

He woke up to the gross taste of his own mouth and dried tears on his cheeks. He took his blanket off and cringed. Although it was practically winter temperatures outside, inside his parents liked to keep it hot. So hot, that Henry now sat in a bed of his own sweat. Gross.

He needed a shower. He started taking off his cuff to do just that when a slip of paper fell out of it and onto the floor. He furrowed his brow, picking it up.

Folded impossibly small, it took him a few minutes before he could actually read it. In scratchy handwriting was a note that said:

Meet me in the young adult section at 10:02. Come alone. Make sure no one follows you.

P.S. This note will self destruct.

Henry looked the scrap of paper over, waiting. How was it supposed to self destruct?

As if waiting for him to think that, the paper sparked, and burst into flames. He dropped it quickly before he could get burned. When he looked for it on the floor, all traces of it ever existing were gone.

It was almost nine. A bus stop was about a fifteen minute walk from his house, and the library another fifteen minute drive from there. Henry looked up the bus schedule and thankfully there was a bus that headed that way in half an hour.

Now the only thing left to do was to sneak out.

With no time to shower, the best he could do was change out of his sweaty clothes and brush his teeth. He stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“Fearless, reliable, tough, brave…” he whispered to his reflection.

He stood up straighter and marched out of the bathroom and down the hallway. He gathered up his things before he lost his bravado and then left his room.

He crept down the stairs. Light came from the kitchen doorway, as well as the sound of his family. The only issue with that was that the view from the kitchen could see the doorway perfectly. He had to gamble on whether or not everyone faced the opposite direction.

Avoiding the creaky floorboards, he took a deep breath before darting to the door. He opened it and went through, but not before he made eye contact with his sister.

He shut the door as quiet as he could before he ran. There was no time to take a breather and congratulate himself. He wasn’t sure if his sister would tell their parents or not.

If he was in her position, he probably would.

He made it to the bus stop earlier than if he had walked, and so he sat on the cold bench to catch his breath. His breath fogged up the air, and there was still muddled snow piles shoved haphazardly everywhere. There was a streetlight at the corner, and it changed for no one.

His leg shook as he looked down the street. He checked the time on his phone. It’s only been two minutes. He huffed. Now that the adrenaline of sneaking out had worn off, and the chill had begun to set in, Henry could finally admit it.

He was terrified.

He was terrified that what he was doing would come back to hit him in the face. That his dreams would never come true. That he would have to live the rest of his life as some write off. That he’d be another insignificant figure throughout history. He was terrified that all his fears would be true.

Everything seemed to be pointing in the opposite direction for where he wanted to go, and every time he took a step in the direction he wanted to be, there was something that pulled him back.

“Hey, kid!” Henry blinked. The bus doors were open in front of him, and a middle aged man stared at him. “Are you getting in or what?”

“Uh, yeah,” he shook his head and walked into the bus. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

The man shrugged him off and Henry scanned his phone before heading to the back.

There were only two people on the bus besides him. A woman closer to the driver’s age, and a boy about his own.

I was riding the bus on my way home from work. You could say fate brought us together or something. I didn’t know what he was doing on the bus that night, although I never could have guessed by far. If I had the money, I probably would have stayed on the bus longer to follow him. That would have been an interesting turn of events. But no, I got off my stop without Henry giving me a second glance.

The other two people got off the next stop and the bus continued on its way. It’s 9:37. He’d make it to the library in time. Then the bus made a left turn instead of a right and Henry furrowed his brows. He wobbled up from his seat, gripping the other seats as he walked down the aisle to the driver.

“The library is the other way.”

“Yeah, and?”

Henry bit his lip. “The bus is going to the library, right?”

“I’ve got other stops to make; a route.”

“Can’t you… just go to the library?”

The man curled his lip. “No.”

“There’s not even anyone on—”

“Kid, go sit down. This ain’t a taxi. Either be quiet or get off.”

Henry frowned, but complied. He made his way back to his seat, making sure to still sit in the back to stay as far away as possible from the bitter man.

As the minutes passed, it seemed as though they were only getting further and further away from the library. At every stop, the driver stopped and waited for a couple of minutes even though no one was there. Henry swore it was on purpose. He checked his phone at every light and watched as the clock crept closer to the deadline.

When the bus stopped again, Henry stood up. He marched up the aisle, being sure to glare at the man as he scanned his phone and then got off. The library was around ten minutes from where he was, the clock said it was 9:53. If he ran he should be able to make it.

Henry sighed but didn’t take much more time to dwell on it as he started running. It was honestly a miracle he made it there in one piece. He took shortcuts through alleyways, crossed streets without looking, and disobeyed traffic lights. But he made it.

He slowed to a stop at the steps of the library with only a few minutes to spare. He leaned against a bus shelter to catch his breath, closing his eyes. A creak and the sound of air being released came from the street beside him.

“You need a lift?”

It was the voice of the bus driver from before. Even with his stupid route, he made it at the same time as Henry. Henry gave him a one fingered salute before he sauntered into the library.

Although the library was open at all hours, he’d never been that late at night. The person at the front desk was asleep, and there were no sounds of anyone else in the place. His footsteps echoed as he made his way upstairs.

He didn’t have to waste time asking for help at the front desk as he used to always spend his free time in the young adult section of the library. Although it was not so much a section, as an entire floor.

While most stories started when the main character turned eighteen, they can’t always find a story, and so they disband until one found them. The young adult section was the largest section of the library, but it wasn’t the only one.

The section was on the second floor. The note didn’t say to go to any specific area of the floor, so he made his way to an area of bean bag chairs. He was a little late, by a minute, but it couldn’t be that bad. Besides, no one was around.

“Didn’t I say to be here at 10:02?”

He whirled around, falling back into a bean bag chair. The Oracle stood above him, her arms crossed. She didn’t look too different from last time. She was still barefoot, her hair done up in a braid and the faint smell of the room they had met in clung to her.

“You gave me that note?”

“Duh, who else?” She plopped down in a bean bag across from him.

“I thought you—”

“Couldn’t get out? Yeah, I sneak out.” He opened his mouth but she held up a hand. “Yes, I lied about you being the only person I’ve ever seen. They can hear in there. Yes, that’s why we’re meeting here and not in the attic. Can you stop asking all of the stupid questions and ask me why I wanted you here?”

Henry stared dumbfounded. The Oracle wasn’t necessarily a guarded secret, but the government liked to keep a lot of what was known about them close to their chest. He knew that they could see people’s stories, but could they read minds?

“No, I can’t read minds.”

She smirked and he narrowed his eyes. “Why did you bring me here?”

She perked up. “I’m glad you asked!” She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “I have a proposition for you.”

“A proposition?”

“A way we can all get what we want.”

He straightened. “And what’s that?”

“You want to be a main character, and I want some more freedom.”

“How am I supposed to help you with that?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Just leave it up to me. Do we have a deal?” She held out her hand.

Henry nodded and clasped his right hand with hers. They both brought up their left hands and did the same, then shook once before letting go.

He stood up. “Is there anything I need to know? Is there really nothing I need to do?”

She smiled. “Hold out your hand.” He did, and she placed a coin in it. There was a face on one side, and a pair of wings on the other. “You’ll know what to do when the time comes. And if you don’t know, the coin will.”

The coin was just that; a coin. But the way she made it sound was as if it has the key to unlocking worlds. He shoved in his pocket and turned to leave.

She grabbed his wrist. “And one more thing.” He turned his head. “Good luck.”

He shivered and she let go. He left the library, unsure if he made the right decision. The person at the front desk who was sleeping woke up as Henry walked past, no longer caring about being silent. He burst outside, and the air chilled his core.

He couldn’t help it. Every time he saw her, he gets worked up. Were they all like that? He felt buzzed as he sat down at the bench of the bus shelter and pulled out his phone.

There was a text from Amanda and his dad, as well as a bunch of missed calls from both of his parents. All of which were only from a couple of minutes ago. Neither of them left voicemails, although the text from his dad said, “Come home now” and Amanda sent, “What did you do???”

He tried to call his dad but no one picked up. He looked up the bus schedule on his phone and cursed. The last one stopped by a few minutes ago. He’d have to go by foot.

It took him nearly two hours to get home. While cardio was a part of the curriculum at school, he’d never done so much at once, not to mention the fact that he’d already ran twice that day. He had to take breaks on the way unless he wanted to keel over and die.

His limbs were heavy as he approached his house, but they were nothing compared to the weight that dropped in his stomach. The lights were on, which meant they’d been waiting for him to come home.

The front door was unlocked and he walked inside, only to immediately be confronted by his mom screaming. “What did you do?”

He held his hands up. “I didn’t do anything! All I did was sneak out.” She paced in front of him, not keeping her eyes off of him, like a lion about to tear apart its prey. But in this case, it was a mother with her own son.

“Give me your hand.”

He didn’t move, his eyes darting to the other two in the room. His sister didn’t look at him from her place on the couch, his dad next to her.

Nothing showed on his face. “Just do it, Henry.”

He hesitated, enough so that his mom made the decision for him and snatched his hand. He lurched forward, and she tore at the string holding the cuff together and his eyes welled up with tears.

But when she tore off the cuff, where there should have been a shield, two swords held their place instead.