I woke up to a loud alarm that jolted me out of bed. I looked to my side to see if Liam was in his bed; of course, he wasn't. He must have had a long night if he was still with his father. 

When I got out of bed, I went to the restroom to find Liam showering. The steam coming off must have meant the shower was scorching. 

“Good morning,” I said as I went to my toothbrush.

A quick “Morning” was all he replied with.

As I brushed my teeth, I saw Liam finishing washing his hair.

He looked in my direction, and I put my head back down.

“So, how did your talk go with your father? I asked as I finished rinsing my mouth. 

“Fine,” again, another short response.

He turned off the shower, wrapped his lower half in a towel, and headed toward me. I was standing before the wardrobe, wondering what he had in mind. 

He had a dark, angry look on his face. He came close and pushed me against the wardrobe. One hand above me and one finger on my lower chin to bring my gaze with his.

“I think it's best we keep our distance, Phen.” He growled.

As I looked into his eyes, I wondered why he had to say my name like that.

My gaze intensified, “I thought I finally would have someone to understand me and be someone I could care about if that's what you want. Fine by me.”

I pushed him off me, and I could see he was hurt. Why would he be hurt? He wanted the distance, so I gave him his distance.

Something is going on here.

I walked back to the bedroom to make my bed, and to my surprise, it was made. I looked back at Liam and asked, “Is everything always done for you?”

Liam nodded, again giving a short, simple answer. He went to the sink to brush his teeth and snapped his fingers. The bathroom doors slammed shut.

I roll my eyes again and head to the doors to walk to class. 

As I am about to open up the doors, Liam grabs my arm tightly.

“Word of advice. Don't let anyone see you use your full powers,” Liam said sternly.

Although the distance he has placed between us, I believed him.

I nodded, and then my watch ding-dong, alerting me to the location of my class and how to get there; after my watch dinged, Liam's watch followed.

I looked at his watch, and then he moved toward my face.

“Trust me, I will tell you everything in time,” Liam said, whispering and looking around. Let's get to class.”

We both walk down the halls as we make our way to class. Liam is about five steps ahead of me the whole time. 

This building is massive. I'm glad they have a GPS for this building; we arrived at class after an hour of walking. 

Liam opened the door for me. All the students were in their seats by power ranking: lower levels in the back and higher levels in the front.

Liam led me to the front of the class, where there were only two seats, one for me and one for Liam.

I feel like an imposter, not someone who should be sitting in the front row. Everyone keeps telling me I am strong, but I don't feel like it. What makes me unique? 

I look up and see the teacher is Henly, Lance's right-hand man.

“Hello, class, and welcome back to the first day,” Henly said sternly. He had a powerful British accent and what they would call “posh.”

The class was silent, paying attention to every word that he said. He was a man to pay attention to.

“All of you are returning students except one. Phen.” He said as he extended my arm in my direction.

Everyone gasped and looked at me. Yet again, what makes me so unique?

“We are going to review everyone's aura to see how far they've progressed,” Henly stated.

He went on to explain the different levels of Aura.

Rank Lowest to highest, lime green, light blue, pink, red, purple, and when you get to the multi-colors, they're in a rank of their own. The only multi-color recorded has been Liam. The brightness of the individual's aura determines how strong they are. So let's say someone who is a lime green is the vibrant aura they can get, could beat a low aura light blue, etc. 

“So, class, we will start with the lowest level last year and work our way up to you, Phen.”

So, everyone activated their aura one by one. 

Everyone cheered when their auras had grown brighter than last year. Some people's auras even changed color, which was rare but possible.

Then it was Liam's turn. As did the rest, he went up to the front of the class, concentrated, and activated his. His feet started to lift off the ground. It was the most beautiful array of colors: purple, red, gold, and white. Everyone was mesmerized by the colors flowing around him. As he closed off his aura, he slowly lowered, and everyone clapped.

“That was amazing, Liam,” Henly said, “And for the rest of you all. You all have improved so much over the summer. Congrats.”

Henly stood up and said, “Class, now is what we all have been waiting for. Phen, please come up.”

I stood up, pushed my seat back in, and turned back to see the class; all eyes were on me. I could feel the anticipation.

I walked up and turned around, “I'm sorry, Henly. I don't know how to activate it.”

“That is quite alright. Stand there and focus on your core, build up that energy, and release it.”

As did the other students, I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but nothing happened.

Everyone in the class started chuckling; yeah fucking thanks, everyone. It's not like you've been doing it for years.

“Class, quiet down,” Henly exclaimed. Everyone stopped. “It's okay, Phen. No one has even gotten within the first 30 tries.”

I nodded.

“I can induce it if you'd like. To get a small glimpse of what it may look like.” Henly offered.

I looked at Liam, and he gave me a reassuring look. 

I looked back at Liam and then to Henly, “Do it.”

Henly grabbed something from his desk and pressed my temple, and the reaction happened; all I could remember before passing out was an audible gasp by everyone in the classroom.