Haresa

There was almost nothing I couldn’t do.

At least… that was how it felt when I was a child.

“Haresa Saenin, why are you late this morning?”

Nowadays, I couldn’t run to class without getting in trouble.

“Principal Morgan…” I slowly said as I retracted my stretched-out leg. “Lovely morning, isn’t it?”

The stern principal had her glasses perched high on her nose. Her coiled hair was neatly braided and gathered into a bun on top of her head. Her dark eyes darted to my wrist before her eyebrow twitched in disappointment.

“Yes, do you have your bracelet on?”

“Oh, I was just going to find the teacher–”

“Right after you used your super speed to get to class a millisecond before the bell rings while destroying the hallways in the process?”

My face froze and I sucked the air from between my teeth.

“Oh, noooo. Neveeer. Not again.”

“Mmhm.” Ms. Morgan gave a curt nod. “Well lucky for you, I have to actually speak to you this morning. Don’t worry about being marked late.”

“Yes!” My hands came down as quickly as I had thrown them over my head. “I mean, what’s up? Anything I can do for my fellow peers and greatly respected mentors.”

Last time that I was asked for a favour, I had to retrieve several basketballs from the gym ceiling.

Ms. Morgan gestured to me to follow her and I leisurely strolled beside her. We began walking into the school building and then into the empty hallways. Most people seemed to have already got to their classrooms but there was one student speed walking to class despite being late.

“Well, we have a new student enrolling today and we require the assistance from our local hero.”

“Oh, I thought we had a committee for that. Wait, a student coming in at the end of the semester? I didn’t think we accepted students that late.” I swung my arms and let them clap in front of me rhythmically. I’m not sure if I like the sound of this conversation so far.

“Well, this is a very special student. He’ll be enrolling for the next semester and he can’t exactly be handled by regular students.”

“Oh? Another kid with powers?” It wasn’t uncommon but it was always a surprise when there was a new student. “I mean, we have the bracelets, it shouldn’t be that hard–”

Ms. Morgan stopped abruptly in front of her office.

“Mx. Saenin. This is no ordinary kid with powers.”

The door opened and at first, I didn’t realize the kid was sitting quietly in front of the principal’s desk. That was when the kid turned around.

“So, I understand that you may have a history with Shelly–”

The kid raised a hand. “I go by Sheldon now.”

“So sorry about that, do you want that to be your preferred name on the class attendance?”

“Yes, that would be preferred.”

My eyes widened. Memories flooded through my mind and I stared at the boy in the muddy green turtleneck. His features definitely weren’t similar to the twelve-year-old girl I saw all those years ago. Sure, he was looked like that person but there was no way he was her. He was wearing glasses too, that kid never had glasses.

“You mean… the g–kid that I fought with a lot?”

“Yes, I’m very glad you remember. Since Mr. Phan is considered a registered villain, I’m very sure you’re familiar with the laws.”

I pressed my lips together and could only stare at the ground. “…I am the only registered hero around here and villains can only enroll in schools where other heroes attend.”

“Correct,” Ms. Morgan replied grimly. “I hope you’ll be able to give our new student a very warm Parker High welcome.”

I’ll have to scream angrily about this when I get home.

“So um, does that mean that he’ll have to be in every one of my classes?” I jutted my head towards him. He seemed mildly annoyed by me and I attempted to make as little eye contact as possible.

Ms. Morgan cleared her throat. “Well… just the mandatory courses. But don’t worry, there are other precautions put in place so you’re not the only one with this burden.”

“Oh, okay, that’s good. I guess. But uh… Sheldon…?”

“Yes, hare?”

Yep, it was definitely the tortoise.

“Why did you… come back to high school? I haven’t seen you in years. I thought you fled to another country or… I don’t know, married someone and started the life of a civilian or something like that.”

“Well, funny story,” Sheldon said flatly. “It’s frankly none of your business.”

“Well, thank you. That gives me a lot of information. Just don’t destroy the school, alright?” I attempted to humour the guy but his face stayed neutral.

“Haven’t you already destroyed it once before I came?”

The corner of my mouth twitched but I remained calm. At least on the outside.

I don’t know if I could handle this for the rest of the semester.