“No, Claire. It’s fine, really. I can walk there. If you don’t feel well, just stay home. It’s only a mile and a half. I can run that in like eight minutes or something,” I pleaded with her. 

Ever since Father left yesterday, Claire was acting weird. She would spend a lot of time locked up in her room, not bothering to check on me or anything. I wasn’t complaining though, since it meant I got to roam outside freely. 

As I left the house, a group of students wearing the Cypress Private Academy uniform caught my eye. The dark blue blazers were noticeable even from a distance. At the front of the group, a tall, blonde guy with dreads was sauntering ahead, not paying attention to the group clamoring to follow him. Tall was an understatement, to be honest. He was slouched over lazily, yet he still was more than a full head taller than everyone else in the group. 

There was also a green haired boy trailing behind the group, staring at the ground. It seemed like he was trying to make his presence unknown. He was also slouched, but carried a completely different vibe from the boy in front. The blonde boy held his gaze high, as if he wanted to look down on the entire world, but the green-haired boy’s neck was positioned almost looking down ninety degrees.

The tall guy must have caught me staring at him, because he waved at me and beckoned me over in the same way that a kindergarten teacher would call their students back to the classroom. I joined up with the group, nervously introducing myself. 

“Hey, do you guys go to Cypress? I’m Atlas. Nice to meet you guys.”

“Do we go to Cypress?” the tall boy snorted mockingly. “Kid, I own Cypress. Do you even know who I am?”

“Yeah! Do you even know who he is?” one of the boys in the group sneered. He was pretty short, around the same height as me, if not a little smaller. Because of the whisker markings on his cheeks, he reminded me of a hamster. “He’s the one and only Garrett Radian!” 

“S-sorry. I’ve never heard of you, Gary.” I mumbled, staring at the ground.

“What did you just call me, dork?” Garrett said as he shoved me to the ground. He leaned in close, grabbing the back of my head to try to intimidate me. “Who gave you the privilege of being able to utter my name, huh?” 

“Leave him alone, Gary!” the green-haired boy that was slinking behind the group protested as he shoved him. 

Garrett barely budged, grabbing the green-haired boy’s collar without even looking in his direction. His caramel skin began to glow with a slight golden aura, warming the air around us slightly. With just one hand, he tossed the green-haired boy into a nearby bush. 

“Looks like Exodus wants to volunteer to be a demonstration of my greatness.” He flashed me a smile. I wanted nothing more than to punch him in his perfect teeth. 

“Garrett~” one of the girls in the group cooed, tugging on his arm. “We’ll be late to school if you waste your precious time on this loser.”

“She’s right, sir,” the hamster boy said, checking his watch. 

Garrett scoffed as he walked over and kicked the green-haired boy, still lying in the bush. The girls in the group clamored after him, fighting over who got to hold his arms as they walked. The boys in the group, however, formed a circle around them as they walked, like Garrett was some sort of a VIP.

I dusted myself off and slung my backpack over my shoulder. The green-haired boy was flailing his arms around, trying to sit up in the bush. Reaching my hand out to pull him to his feet, I thanked him.

“Thanks for sticking up for me, I appreciate it.”

He twitched nervously as he quickly wiped his glasses. Without making eye contact, he grabbed his backpack, which had fallen next to the bush. There were leaves and twigs stuck to the bag, but he didn’t seem to care. When I reached towards it to try to clean the debris off, he flinched backwards.

“T-thanks, but I don’t need to brush my bag off. Gary’s going to blast me with his gift if he sees that I cleaned it up.” he stammered, hiccupping as he spoke. 

“So, what’s your name?” I asked.

He hiccuped again, flinching at the question. “My— hic! name— hic! is— hic! hic! Exodus.” He rubbed the back of his head nervously as he continued hiccupping. 

“Uh, are you okay? I have water if you—” I began to say, reaching into my backpack for my water bottle.

“No! hic! It’s just a nervous tic I have. It’s really fine.” 

I walked with him up the mountain to the school grounds, asking him about various things along the way. I learned that his full name was Exodus Greenvalley, the son of the CEO of an international green energy company. The blonde boy was apparently his childhood friend, named Garrett Radian, the only son of the Radian Group, a multinational conglomerate family. I wasn’t sure if Exodus had a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome or not, but because Akari would also hit me pretty often, I wasn’t in a position to question him. 

Garrett was aiming to gain admission to the Novaforge International Academy, the premier Canadian hero academy, and he apparently wanted to be the only one from our graduating class to do so. His gift was Radiance, which allowed him to absorb energy from the sun to repurpose for energy blasts or to make himself stronger. Because of his strong gift and natural charisma, he was always at the center of attention, according to Exodus.

“If I could also get in, that would be nice,” Exodus mumbled wistfully, his hands gripping the straps of his backpack. 

“I think you can do it,” I told him. “What’s your gift?” 

He cracked a small smile, although there was no hint of happiness in his eyes, only apprehension. I recognized his expression. It was the same one I had whenever people asked me that question. 

“I’m giftless.” he whispered, biting his lip. His head hung in shame as he stared at the ground, seemingly afraid of my reaction.

“Ah, is that so? My opinion remains unchanged.” 

His head twisted to face me so quickly I thought it would pop off. A look of utter confusion was displayed on his face, as his mouth moved without a word. It was like watching a robot malfunction.

“I’ll let you in on a secret, Exodus. Don’t tell anyone, but before I came to Canada, I was going to the American Hero Academy.” 

“What?” Exodus screamed. “No way! You were in their selection program? The one that Edgewing’s kid was rumored to go to? That’s amazing! Did you know him? Are the rumors true? What kind of gift does he have? What were the other kids like? Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!”

Exodus rattled off questions without even stuttering. His nervous disposition was nowhere to be found, replaced with a childlike joy-filled curiosity. I could have sworn his eyes were literally sparkling as he waited for me to answer his questions.

“Yeah, I know Edgewing’s kid. Don’t tell anyone this. My full name is Atlas Obsidian.”

Exodus’ jaw dropped to the floor. His glasses slipped off his face and hit the ground, causing the lenses to come out. I bent down to pick them up as he was processing what I just told him. 

“So what’s your gift then? Did you get your dad’s gift? Or maybe you inherited your mom’s gift? Did you get a mix of both? Something like a phoenix, maybe? Oh—”

His voice trailed off as he clicked his tongue awkwardly. As I handed his glasses back, he got on his knees and bowed his head to the floor.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize I was being insensitive! Please feel free to beat me to your heart’s content! I wasn’t thinking before I commented about your mom!” 

“No, it’s alright. I’m not gonna hit you. I’ve come to terms with Mother’s passing, more or less. More importantly, why would I hurt you?” 

Exodus scratched his head sheepishly. “Oh, you know… Giftless people are nuisances and all that jazz, ha-ha… I’m sure you must be tired of me.”

“Exodus,” I said firmly. “I’m giftless. That’s why I’m telling you that you can get into Novaforge. I was able to compete with my peers even without a gift, so you can too.”

“Hey! It’s the Null and the new kid!” Garrett yelled, flying over and slapping Exodus in the face. 

One of my eyes twitched with anger as I tried to process what I was feeling. Null was a term that I didn’t hear often, since I spent most of my time in the dorms of the Academy, where most people knew what I could do to them one-on-one, but on the off-chance that they didn’t, Akari would shut them up for me. There was only one time in my life that someone referred to me with that term and Father nearly killed them for it. Regardless, the word was a disgusting slur that I was fortunate to hear less than other giftless individuals.

All of Exodus’ mannerisms began to make sense now. I originally assumed he was just a nervous guy with little confidence, but no. Garrett bullied him badly. It was so bad that he automatically assumed that I was going to assault him solely on the basis of his gift. Remembering how he refused to pick the leaves out of his bag only made me more angry. Garrett was putting the poor guy through humiliation rituals on the daily, and thinking about how it was like second nature for Exodus to prostrate himself was enough to make my rage boil over.

“What did you just call him?” I seethed.