In 5^th grade, a young Theo Anderson is sitting on the ground, avoiding attention. He looks up and sees other kids talking, laughing, and just playing around. And he looks down sadly, ‘’It’s alright. I’m an outcast…’’ He mutters to himself, ‘’People try talking to me and I do, I actually do, but…I force a sarcastic and I’m fine tone, which must really annoy them.’’ He sighs, ‘’I wish someone would see me for who I am.’’

The sun shines brightly on the ground, but for Theo it feels like a cloud of darkness is lingering on him. A teacher walks to him, ‘’Theo Anderson. Where’s your power?’’

Theo turns around, ‘’What? My power…’’ He looks at his hands, ‘’I don’t have it.’’ The teacher looks at him sternly, ‘’That’s because you don’t know who you want to be. Our supernatural abilities come from our role identity, what we love, our will. What do you want?’’

Theo feels embarrassed but says it anyway, ‘’I’ve always wanted to be a writer, a person who writes stories for fun, or maybe to get myself validated, I guess. Writers are people who’ve seen too much and don’t know where to put it, I don’t know where to put or ease my racing thoughts, so I write. Though, because of my fragile ego, I can’t handle criticism, and because I can’t handle criticism, I won’t grow.’’

The teacher looks at him and softens, ‘’Criticism is hard, Theo. It hurts, it can make you angry, but if you learn to distance yourself from the work and you as a person then maybe it won’t sting. You’re always aiming for perfection, why don’t you break it down into goals?’’

Theo looks at the teacher and smiles, ‘’Thank you. I…understand.’’ He touches his chest.

‘’And most importantly, what is your goal?’’

The moment Theo hears those, something in him changes, he gets a bit of courage, ‘’I don’t want someone getting hurt. I always want to rescue someone, and that’s who I am training to be with my parkour skills.’’

The teacher looks at him, shocked. ‘’That’s some big ambitions, kid. I’m from Aureole Academy, and that’s the school that will validate your interests.’’

Theo gasps, ‘’Really?’’

‘’Yeah. Look at me, I got my A mark from the school, I was a top student.’’ The teacher clutches his fist, showing the black A mark behind. The teacher then extends his hand to Theo, ‘’So, you have found your will and want, now, your power will be proof of that.’’

Theo clutches the teacher’s hand, anxious.

However, the dream ends when Theo wakes up, panting heavily and sweating. There are a lot of bandages around his head and body. ‘’That memory was from 5^th grade.’’ He thinks to himself.

‘’I never knew I would save someone; I didn’t have the courage to. Maybe I had it and beat myself for being a shy coward? No…my powers. They…activated?’’ He thinks to himself shocked.

He smells the room and it has a lavender scent, a strange one. ‘’This is not a hospital…’’ He mutters silently. The room is comfy, the bed feels soft and the walls feel brown and expensive. ‘’What is this place? Can I use my ability to sense what’s going on?’’

Theo uses his advanced sense of sight to detect. The room looks transparent, like a 3D model of a house in his face. His eyes move forward and he sees people talking, he can’t comprehend because his visual is just showing models, ‘’There are people here.’’

And then his body jolts up again, he hears clicking sounds, and also someone cursing at the television.

‘’Dammit, why won’t you die?!’’

Those words echoed in his ears, ‘’Wait, I know that voice. Is it Charlie?’’

‘’C’mon just die already!’’

He hears more.

‘’A normal person has 5 supernatural abilities, but that’s only for adults. Younger ones have 3, but I only have 2?’’

Or so he thought.

Theo jolts up he hears approaching footsteps, and then the door slams open. A girl appears in front of him, dropping a plate of food on the ground, gasping.

‘’Oh my gosh, our patient has woken up!’’

Theo looks up, confused. Sage blasts in the room in full speed, pushing the bed onto the wall with a large thump. He is muscular and has his hair dyed red, ‘’There you are! I thought you died! You would have been in big trouble, so thank us for saving your precious little life.’’

Theo is confused, ‘’Wait? What’s going on? Why am I here?’’ He asks. Sage punches him, smashing his head on the wall, ‘’Are you dumb? Didn’t I explain it to you 10 minutes ago?!’’

Chloe shouts to Sage, ‘’Hey, that was not a way to welcome our guest. Apologize!’’

Theo feels dizzy, ‘’Today is not my lucky day.’’ He says weakly. Chloe trembles from this action, ‘’You’re terrifying. Not in a good way.’’

‘’I just wanted to test his strength.’’ Sage says, smug.

‘’Sage. He suffered a concussion, let him rest.’’

Theo turns around and already sees Chloe next to him, putting a cloth on his forehead, ‘’Are you alright? Sorry for what happened.’’ She says softly.

Theo gazes on her, ‘’What am I doing here?’’

‘’Well, because we are the protectors of the school. The top group, and when Charlie was in trouble, he was rescued by someone like you. I kinda admire your confidence, it’s so cute. Even James was admired.’’

Theo looks at her, ‘’No, I didn’t intend to save him, it was my— ‘’ Chloe cuts him off and tells him softly, ‘’Thank you, really. Even if it wasn’t on purpose, you were brave and rescued our friend. Keep that victory in your heart.’’

Theo closes his mouth and looks down, but deep down he knows that if it wasn’t for his powers he would have been standing with the crowd, he looks at her, ‘’So, what’s your name?’’

Chloe smiles, ‘’Chloe. Chloe Sunny.’’

‘’Mine’s Theo Anderson.’’ Theo looks at her, smiling. Sage blinks, ‘’Chloe. Is this your new boyfriend?’’

Chloe looks at him instantly, ‘’No! Why would you say something like that?!’’

‘’I dunno. You’re having your rom-com moment?’’ Sage asks, blinking.

‘’No, shut up and mind your own business!’’ She shouts, grabbing the cloth and waving it frantically. Theo flinches, groaning in pain. Chloe turns to him, ‘’Oh, sorry.’’

She puts it back on him, making Theo’s eyes close, ‘’I’m not a fan of the genre to be honest.’’

Chloe is confused, Sage laughs and agrees, ‘’I know right? These kisses and laughter and clumsy moments, I find it boring. It’s like the cast trying to look for new mates because of their destroyed relationship.’’

Theo laughs, ‘’Did you watch How I Met Your Mother?’’

‘’Oh, you bet I did! The finale was horrible.’’ Sage says in disgust.

 Theo nods, ‘It’s like nine seasons of romantic development and then it gets twisted. I feel like It was a ratings boost.’’

They both talk, laughing. Chloe stands, confused, ‘’What are they talking about?’’ She thinks to herself.

Theo then pats her and Chloe looks down. ‘’Chloe. Thanks for the cloth. And making me feel at home, really. ’He says softly.

Chloe smiles, ‘’Don’t mention it.’’

Theo smiles but then hears footsteps, ‘’Someone else is approaching?’’ Vesper walks in the room, with her purple hair and blue sweater.

‘’Oh, so that’s the boy who rescued our stupid friend. His ego must be bruised, and he must feel ashamed.’’

Vesper snaps her fingers and Charlie appear, confused, ‘’Hey, what the hell?’’ He says softly.

‘’You should have let him die. Don’t be kind to people who’ve hurt you, I saw when you were entering that he was bullying you. You should have gouged his eyeballs out.’’

Theo is horrified, ‘’Uh…No.’’ Sage looks at her and laughs, ‘’That’s Vesper. She has eyes and ears everywhere, and is the most powerful.’’

‘’Yeah, and you are what? A weak, tall kid?’’ Vesper looks at him.

‘’Silence!’’

Everyone turns around and sees James, standing with a stern expression. His presence gives Theo chills around his body, making him tremble.

‘’Theo Anderson. Let’s talk about what happened earlier.’’

Charlie sees Theo on the bed, his eyes simmer with anger, ‘’Hey, what the hell?!’’