At the end of the day, Kane & Clark meet up at Clark’s locker, like they always do. He closes his locker & says, “So, you ready for the club today?”

“I don’t...I don’t really feel like I belong there.”

Clark rolls his eyes & laughs. “Kane, you’re genderqueer you’ll fit right.”

Kane shrugs, “If you say so.”

“Great! Now we just need to find Eryn & then we’ll head off.”

“Where is she anyway?” They both look around for a few seconds. “Oh, there she is. Next to the water fountain.”

“Oooo! Who’s she talking to?”

“Looks like Thomas to me.”

“Guess she’s finally making her move.” They look at each other.

Kane rubs their eyes & sniffles, “Our little girl is getting herself a boyfriend.”

Clark pretends to cry. “Our little girl’s growing up so fast.” They leaned on each other in a sarcastic sobbing fit.

“I hate both of you.”

Clark falls over in surprise & sees Eryn sitting on the locker wall above Clark. “Dude, don’t scare me like that.”

Eryn hops down. “Then don’t be the worst.”

Kane stands up & leans on the locker wall. “So, who’s your little ‘friend.’”

Eryn sighs. “Why are you two like this.”

Clark stands up behind Eryn. “Ah, yes. Care to introduce us to your new boyfriend.” He emphasized boyfriend while raising & lowering his eyebrows

“Both of you know who he is. Clark, you two are in the same homeroom. And Kane, you walked to class on Tuesday. So can you please drop whatever you are...this & go to the club. Please.”

“Fine, but this isn’t over, young lady.” Clark waggles his finger as he speaks. For emphasis.

“Stay safe out there Eryn.” Kane rustles her hair. “And don’t forget. Be home by 11.

“Oh my god, we’re literally going to the same place! Why are you like this!” Eryn stomps off & then quickly turns around. “I was gonna stomp off, but I don’t know where the club is...so we have to go together.” They all break down laughing.

*****

They walk into Mr. Alizar’s classroom, passing under a banner that says, “LGBTQIA+ CLUB: New Members Welcome.”

As Clark walks through the door, he said, “Hey. I brought my daughter & my date mate.”

Clark puts her head in her hands & says, “Clark, I’m three months older than you.”

“You sure don’t act like it.” Clark boops Eryn on the nose. She clenches her fist. “Always sneaking out with boys late at night.”

“Why are you like this. Why are you like this! Clark, I’m gonna hurt you.”

“Ah, the temper on this one. Teenager am I ri-Ow!” Eryn punches Clark in the shoulder. “Okay. Okay. Geez. I’ll stop.”

Molly walks from the corner of the room to the door. She walks up to Clark. “Hey, who’d you bring.”

“Oh yeah, this is my date mate Kane. They’re the best.”

“Hey Kane, I’m Molly.” They shake hands.

“And this is my dau-” Eryn glares at Clark. “friend, Eryn”

Eryn waves & says, “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. Um...this is kind of awkward, but you guys can’t really stay.”

Clark presses his eyebrows together, “What, Why?”

“Mr. Alizar has a doctor’s appointment, so he can’t watch us & no one else can cover for him so we have to end like right now.”

“Oh...o-okay. Um-”

“Sorry, but you guys can come back on Tuesday.” She gives them a thumbs up. “Does that sound okay?”

Eryn turns around & says, “Yeah, sure. We’ll be back.” Kane & Eryn walk out of the door.

Chris sighs. “Alright. I was looking forward to showing them the club...but it’ll have to wait. I’ll see you later though.” Chris follows them.

After a couple of seconds, Kane says, “So, like, y’all wanna go to the park or something?”

“Sure! I’ve gotta use the restroom first though. Hold this.” Eryn hands her purse to Kane & She walks into the bathroom.”

“Now that you mention it, so do I.” Clark puts his bag down at Kane’s feet. They picked it up & moved to the wall across from the bathroom.

As Clark is going into the boys' room, Riley is walking out. He shoves Clark & says, “Wrong bathroom.” He blocks Clark from going in.

“What are you talking about? Get out of the way.”

“This ain’t the right bathroom for you.”

Clark sighs. “I don’t know why you’re deciding to have a stick up your ass about this now but I’ve be-”

“Do you have a dick?” Riley crosses his arms.

“Um...what?”

“Do you have a dick?” Clark’s breath rate picks up & he steps back. He digs his nail into his palms. “Exactly. Now get out of here be-”

“He said get out of the way.” Kane steps in front of Clark.

“Oh, are you protecting your boyfriend.” He put air quotes around the word boyfriend.

“Shut up & move asshole.”

“Oh. So you’re tough now huh.” Riley shoves Kane into the wall. He takes off his jacket & tosses it to the side.

Clark tries to stop Riley from attacking Kane again, but he sweeps his legs. Clark hits the ground & shudders. Kane looks down at Clark & then back up at Riley. They send their fist flying toward his face. It connects with the bridge of his nose & he stumbles into the wall. Once he regains his balance, he says, “Now you done it!”

His fist shoots at Kane. It smashes directly into their stomach. Kane grabs their stomach & kneels. They moan, “Ow.”

“Yeah, not so tough now are you?” He kicks Kane right in the cheek. They spit out blood & fall to the ground. Riley kicks Kane in the stomach. Kane wheezes & closes their eyes.

Kane wakes up floating in a space entirely devoid of color. They looked around, but it stretched on infinitely with the emptiness of the void. Cane tried to swim through it, but there was nothing to push themself forward on. Kane floats there for 10 minutes while whispers steadily crescendo. It was mostly gibberish with the occasional, “Listen,” thrown in.

Finally, Kane couldn’t take it anymore & he yelled, “Fine what!”

“Our power is your power.” Many different voices said the same sentence at the same time.

“What power?”

“Worry not my child. Just say what you need to be done & it will happen.”

“Well, there’s this guy named Riley & he-”

“Say no more child.” The emptiness folded in on itself taking Kane with it. Kane stretches out & twists around. It feels like they are being flushed down a toilet. Or stuck inside a black hole. Either way, it is agonizing. Some of the worst pain Kanes ever felt. They try to scream, but nothing comes out.

And suddenly it stops. Reality comes back. Kane’s one the floor again, gripping their stomach & spitting up blood. They look at Clark, struggling to stand up. They look at Riley ready to walk out the door, just leaving them there on the floor, bleeding. Kane was filled with an unusually large amount of courage. They weren’t gonna take this lying down. Literally.

Kane’s whole body shakes. They press against the & slowly rose, leaving a smear of blood. They shamble forward & say, “Hey Riley! You didn’t finish me off.”

Riley turns around & chuckles, “This one’s got a death wish. Alright, whatever you say.” Riley charges toward Kane & then stops. He tries to move forward, but to no avail. “What are you doing to me frea-” He pauses when he looks up at Kane.

“Who’s not so tough now?” The whispers from the void echo out from Kane’s mouth.

“What are you doing m-” He lurches for a solid 30 seconds before a rabbit, a snake & a mouse all fall out of his mouth in sequence. His picks up & becomes more erratic. “This isn’t funny, what’s happening!”

“Really because I am deriving immense pleasure from this little interaction.” Kane spits out blood onto the floor. “But alas all good things must come to an end.

“What are you gonna do to me?”

“Worry not, Riley. It’ll be...” They pause for a second. “It’ll be fun.” Just then, Kane snaps & reality ripples out from their fingers. Riley is sent flying backward through a wall onto the grass.

“Oh my god. What have I done.” It’s just Kane’s voice again. They look around to see if anyone else is around, but it’s just Clark. Oh my god, Clark! Kane takes off their hoodie & runs up to Clark. They put a hoodie sleeve up to Clark’s nose & pinches his nostrils with it. Their skin felt weird. And dry. They scratched their arm, but it hurt a lot more than usual. They look down at their arm to see it covered in cat eyes all blinking in sequence. “Wh-why am I covered in eyes! Oh my god, what’s happening?!” They frantically look around as they start to hyperventilate. “It’s those whispers isn’t it. Why did I say yes.”

Just then Eryn walked out of the bathroom. “Hey, sorry I took so long. I-” Eryn scans Kane. “Why are you- Why is he...what’s going on here?”

“We had a little altercation. Yeah. An alterca-” All of Kane’s eyes closed at once as he fell to the floor.