Samuel sat in the backseat of his mom’s car with his mom sat at the wheel and his dad sat in the passenger seat. They all sat silently in the school parking lot, Samuel’s face no longer swollen, but the bruise was still prominent. He stared out the window at the large building. Ok. He was officially nervous. Just then Lucy turned around in her seat to face him, Tanner following soon after.

    “You’ll be ok. You’re smart. You’re tough. You got this.” Lucy smiled, her pep talk sucked, but it was the best she could muster. She was terrified. Samuel spent lots of time around the gym patrons and was very friendly with them as they were with him, but that was their turf. No one could hurt him there, whereas this was uncharted territory. High schoolers can be overly cruel, and one small slip of Samuel could have him exposed.

    Samuel took his parents’ hands. They had been so kind to him, and they were always there for him, but it was time to do something by himself and for his people. He nodded to them, before exiting the car and walking into the building.

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Samuel stepped into his classroom, only to immediately be called over to the teacher.

    “Hello. My name is Ms. Gionna, what’s your name?” The teacher was a pretty woman. She had a dark brown pixie cut, hazel eyes, and a bronze skin tone. She was much shorter than Samuel and had to crane her neck to see him.

    “Hello ma’am,” Samuel bowed politely, “my name is Samuel Wilson.”

    “Well hello Samuel, do you have a nickname that you would prefer?”

    “No, Samuel is fine, thank you.” 

Ms. Gionna continued to explain the way classes worked. She was the school’s biology and chemistry teacher along with his homeroom teacher. He and his class would have biology first thing after homeroom, and then chemistry would be their last class, that way they would start and end their day in the same place. 

As she talked, Samuel scanned the room. There were 4 rows of 4 lab tables, each with two seats. There were sixteen people in his class and therefore everybody would have a desk mate. Samuel looked around, trying to find the perfect seat. If he sat in the back, he might be more inclined to get distracted and fall behind, so that was a no. If he sat in the front Ms. Gionna was more likely to call on him, which would bring him attention, something he did not want. Therefore, he would sit in the middle two rows. Near the window, was a large swarm of people around a particular desk. They were very loud, and frankly obnoxious. Whoever was sitting at that table was the leader of that group, and someone he would want to stay away from. 

His eyes quickly began their search again. Before settling on one table in the center of the room. One seat had already been claimed by a small girl. She had long hair so blonde it was almost white. Her green eyes were enlarged by her oversized round glasses that sat gently on her nose. Her face, although mainly hidden by a book, was pale and fragile. “She is perfect,” Samuel thought to himself. He had chosen his seat, but he would have to wait to claim it, as Ms. Gionna was still talking.

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Austin Mayor had begged his parents to allow him to attend a “normal” school, one that wasn’t just filled with spoiled rich kids. It took a lot of groveling but eventually, they settled on an elite public school. He had only just arrived and yet he already had a group of followers. He wasn’t surprised, who wouldn’t want to be friends with him. People had two different reactions to him. They either tried immediately to be his friend, or they tried to avoid him completely. He didn’t blame those who chose the latter, his dad was a powerful man, he would most likely also choose that route if he was in their position.

    His ears were being talked off by the people around him. He had become bored of talking so he had taken to listening, but this wasn’t too much fun either. He almost dozed off when the door of the classroom opened, and in stepped a teenage boy that immediately stole his attention. He waved his hand so some of his classmates would remove themselves from obstructing his view. 

    The boy was tall. His jaw was sharp, and his skin a warm honey color. His eyes were like milk chocolate swirled with caramel. His thick coffee hair swooped to the left, perfectly styled. His face was covered in freckles. Freckles and a bruise. A very large bruise. Who was this guy? Austin needed to know. He was infatuated. The bell rang and he watched the boy’s eyes dart to an empty seat next to a blonde girl. Austin looked at his desk mate as the rest of his group started to disperse to the empty seats around his table. He quickly and quietly ordered the guy to move to the empty seat next to the book girl, which he did with no protest. He just made it before the tall stranger, which was met with a sudden confused look on the teenager’s face.

    Austin smiled. The only open seat was the one next to him. The now frowning stranger had no choice. So over he came, placing his books down with a sigh, not even making eye contact with Austin. 

    “Hello.” Austin felt no need to introduce himself, “What’s your name?”

    The stranger didn’t even turn to look at him as he mumbled, “Samuel.”

 ---------------

As class started, Samuel finally took a look at his new desk mate, while the teacher announced that the seats they chose will remain their seats until further notice. The boy had hair the color of charcoal, which directly contrasted his ivory skin. His eyes were slightly almond-shaped, and the irises were a deep sapphire. His jaw, like the rest of his features, was soft. He looked familiar but Samuel couldn’t place his face. His desk mate turned to look at him. Quickly his eyes darted back to his paper hoping the stranger didn’t catch him staring. 

    Austin grinned. Samuel had been studying him, no matter how he tried to hide it, he caught him staring. This teenager was truly fascinating, but he didn’t know why. He wanted Samuel’s attention again. He needed it. He slowly reached out his hand to poke him in the shoulder. Just as he made contact, his finger was grasped, hard, and he let out a small yelp.

Everyone went silent. They were all staring at the son of the Mayor being assaulted. No one moved. 

Austin looked at Samuel, whose eyes had glossed over with anger. His finger pulsated with pain as his hand started to shake. The boy’s grip was strong, any struggle, and his finger would snap. This was not the attention he wanted. A loud cracking noise echoed through the room. Everyone automatically assumed that Austin’s finger had officially broken, but it was just his knuckles cracking from the pressure. Didn’t mean it felt good though. 

“Please, Samuel, I’m sorry,” Austin winced. At the sound of his name, Samuel’s eyes softened. Austin watched as the anger turned to fear. His finger was quickly released from its prison. It had gone completely purple.

“I-I,” Samuel stuttered, his eyes filling with tears. He jumped from his seat and ran out the door covering his face with his elbow. Austin watched with concern, before standing up for himself, and being dismissed for the nurse.

Samuel ran into the bathroom and slammed the stall shut before collapsing on the ground. He pulled his knees to his chest, as his eyes overflowed. He didn’t know what had come over him. He wasn’t used to people touching him without his knowledge. When the boy had poked him, his mind had gone dark. But that boy wasn’t trying to hurt him. Most likely. His head sunk into his knees he had just attacked some innocent teenager. He had become the violent and deranged animal they all thought Xs were. He hated himself. 

Samuel closed his eyes, but all he was met with was a face full of pain, the face of his victim. The face that looked so familiar. The face he had seen before. The face from the news. The face of Austin Mayor. 

Samuel couldn’t breathe, he kept trying but his lungs refused to take the air. He not only assaulted some innocent guy, but he also assaulted the son of the very man who could save Xs. He had doomed his entire species and it wasn’t even lunch yet. All he had wanted to do was keep his head down and study, but instead, he had managed to fuck things up faster than you could say oops. His brain felt heavy. He was no longer crying, but he was not breathing either. His chest was pounding. His hands curled into fists, his nails pushing into his palm. His face slowly turned purple. He needed to breathe. Why couldn’t his lungs remember how to do so? The rims of his vision started to darken, and it was spreading fast. He needed to take a breath, but he couldn’t remember how. His nails pressed harder into his skin. X's skin was thicker than humans so cuts and scratches were very rare for him, and they seldom drew blood, yet his palms started to leak. And as everything started to fade away, the stall door swung open.