The sound of an insistent beeping woke me up. I groaned. My hand touched around the bedside table until it found the rectangular noisemaker. A sweeping motion of my finger shut it up. I groaned again while stretching.

Another day of school. Another day of torture. That's what school was, right? A child and teen torture institution disguised as something helpful? Yes, it must have been. I didn't think anyone would blame me if I stayed in bed all day and ignored the very concept of school even existed. Well, nobody except dad. And once he found out I skipped, he would make my life even more miserable. I wasn't about to let that happen.

So, despite my unwillingness, I sat up with a yawn. Black hair fell into my face. I brushed it away with my fingers and attempted to find the strength to get out of bed. That always took a while. But once I finally did, it got easier. I went to my wardrobe and changed from my pajamas. My outfit of choice included a gray T-shirt, black pants, and a thin black hoodie. Some might have said I wore very depressing colors, but I liked it. To me, black meant emptiness. No noise, nothing interruptions. Just calm, peace, and quiet.

After changing, I headed to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I pulled out some bacon and the last two eggs - I needed to buy more after school - found a frying pan in the cupboards and turned on the stove. As the bacon sizzled, I thought about what awaited me at school this time. Starstorm studies, biology, physics, math, and PE. Yeah, I hated PE. It meant stripping down and changing in front of the guys. It always made me uncomfortable. Especially when someone pointed out me being uncomfortable. It always made my stomach turn.

Starstorm studies, I hated maybe even more than PE. In a very different manner. Studying the very phenomenon that shattered my family and violently rocked my life made me wanna puke. I still couldn't get over it. Not this soon. The wounds were still too raw.

Now, that is not to say I liked the other subjects. I didn't. Unlike PE and SS though, I could at least tolerate them. And biology had the big plus of me sharing the class with Flare. My best friend, my savior, my guardian angel. The only person who supported me after the last starstorm. Honestly, I would have fallen in love with her... if I could fall in love.

Before I realized it, my breakfast was not only done being prepared but also snugly warming the inside of my stomach. I carried the plate to the sink and washed it. I strolled over to the bathroom next. Meticulously avoiding my own gaze in the mirror, I swiftly took care of my morning hygiene. Wash my face, brush my teeth, comb my shoulder-length hair to not look like tumbleweed. Good enough. I went back to my room afterward. Snatched the phone off of the table and put it into my hoodie pocket. Then I grabbed my bag and tossed it over my shoulder. It was time to go to school again. I let out a defeated sigh.

Click went the door. I crawled outside into the hall of the flat complex and headed towards the elevator. I pushed the button to call it and waited while trying to redirect my thoughts to something more positive, as Flare recommended I try to do whenever I feel down. The elevator arrived and opened its doors revealing its very spacious insides. Enough for most people on the top floor to fit inside.

Before the elevator door closed behind me, an elderly lady also made her way in. We have met a handful of times in the past, but didn't really know each other. All our conversations ever consisted of were obligatory greetings and goodbyes.

So, we said our greetings as she joined me in the elevator and I continued trying to catch a positive thought to beat up the negative ones with it. Flare said she would come over this Saturday and join our gaming group. That was nice, I was looking forward to that, but that still meant I had to survive two more days of torture, occasionally called school by some people. Not good, my thoughts went back to school-hating. Something else. Dad said he wouldn't be coming home this weekend due to work. That meant I had the place all for myself and could do whatever I wanted. It also meant I would be alone for the most part. And being alone was... well, lonely. Not good. The harder I tried to think of something positive, the more my negative thoughts pushed back at me.

And so, I gave up. Just as the elevator reached the ground floor and we said our goodbyes with the old lady. The walk to the bus stop didn't help in the slightest. There weren't that many of them, but my brain automatically focused on the thrashed buildings. The pharmacy two blocks down had gotten completely leveled by that dragon monster. This little grocery store had become collateral damage as the heroes had tried to subdue it. More and more, as I looked at the wreckage and the construction workers slowly gathering to begin their workday of fixing them. I remembered what I had seen. Be it with my own eyes or on the TV. My mind showed me vivid pictures of the monsters destroying everything.

I shook my head. This was exactly what I should avoid doing. Just don't look, don't remember, don't think about it. Ignore it, like everyone else.

At last, I arrived at the bus stop. Looking at my phone, I still had a few minutes to spare. And so, I waited, still trying to clear up all the negativity in my thoughts. My eyes wandered over to the 'lake' created back in February. Once again, I began spiraling into negativity when someone greeted me from behind. “Why so grumpy in the morning?”

It made me jump and turn around. My assailant was a girl slightly taller than me with ginger hair tied into a ponytail. The smooth shape of her face framed her brown eyes and a friendly grin. She wore a white tank top, gray shorts, and white sneakers. A bag hung off of her shoulder.

“H-hey Flare. Good morning,” I managed to mumble out.

“Good morning my grumpy little kitten!” Her grin widened.

“Don't call me that,” I whispered as I looked away to hide my reddening cheeks.

“Sorry sorry, just joking.” She walked next to me. “So? Why are you imitating a meme from the old world?”

“I… well... nothing. I just... saw the lake and... uh... remembered... um…” I trailed off.

She briefly glanced at the aforementioned lake before gently wrapping an arm around me, startling me.

“Hey, it's okay. It's fine. Nothing bad will happen. I'm here for you.” She squeezed my shoulder even more. “And like I said, if push comes to shove, I'll use my body to protect you the next starstorm!”

“I... ei... eh…” I could only produce incoherent sounds.

The two of us had been friends since forever, but when she acted like this, I still didn't know what to do. It made me quite embarrassed. But in a way, I liked it when she was so direct. It knocked out all of my negative thoughts and really made me focus on her alone. And despite saying not to call me a kitten, I secretly kind of liked that as well. Although, I would never admit that.

“You're so cute. I wish you were a girl, haha!” She grinned at me.

Me too.

That thought formed as quickly as I shook it off. I realized the ridiculousness of it and how dad would even react when he found out I thought about such things.

“Hey, uh, I didn't mean to say something bad!”

“No... I... it's fine. Just. Look, the bus is here already, let's get on.” I escaped from the topic at hand.

I wrangled myself out of her grip and trotted up to the bus door as it opened. The driver raised an eyebrow at me but I ignored him. I went all the way to the back and seated myself. Flare followed suit and sat right next to me as the bus began to move. She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. A few taps and swipes later, she leaned closer to me and pushed the phone screen in front of my eyes.

The screen read 'Arc Lords Online'.

“Hey, this is the game right?”

“Uh, oh yeah! You said you would join us on Saturday, right?” My eyes lit up.

“Yup! I've been watching some videos on that game and it looks exciting! Can't wait to meet your online friends!” She grinned.

Before I noticed, my sour mood packed its things and left the premises. Only exciting game talk now. Gaming was the other thing able to keep my mood positive besides Flare. And the thought of both of my lights meeting just made me all kinds of happy.

I got very engrossed with my explanation of the advanced tactics our group liked to use. So much so that we almost missed our stop. Luckily, Flare was on the ball and dragged me out of the bus just in time. A few minutes of walking later, we stood in front of the gates of the dreaded building. With a quick glance around the front gates, I found Jasmine and her crew, standing around, chattering. Our eyes met. Her face distorted in a condescending frown. She followed me with her eyes for a few seconds before she turned back to her cronies and continued the chatter.

I hated people like her. She had always acted all high and mighty like she owned the place. Just because her dad was a rich investor and regularly donated to the Neo Wardens to support the heroes didn’t mean she was somehow superior to everyone else.

A pat on my back from Flare made me stop paying any more attention to her, and we entered the school premises. Since we had some time to spare, we stood around for a while as I continued my passionate explanation of the class system in Arc Lords Online. But alas, all nice things must come to an end. We entered the school building, changed our shoes at our lockers, and grabbed the necessary books. With a little wave, we said our goodbyes and headed to our classrooms. Unfortunately, Flare's first period was an art class, while I had to go to the starstorm studies.

Down the corridor, up the stairs, third room to my left. I entered the classroom and found my seat. The classroom walls were littered with cork boards with various pictures and pieces of text. Drawings of the starstorms, photos of famous heroes, theories and general explanations about starstorms and the hybrids. Anything and everything starstorm.

I tried to ignore the fact that everything in this classroom worked together to portray the starstorms as a good thing. I pulled the books out of my bag, plopped down on the chair, and lied down on top of my arms with a sigh. As I waited for the class to start, I thought about Arc Lords Online again. About my online friends and how I would introduce them to Flare. It made me a little nervous. What if they didn't like each other? Once again, the lack of Flare's presence made my mind slowly descend into the negative space.

The bell brought me back from my dark thoughts. My classmates scrambled to get back to their seats just as our teacher entered. Ms. Folly, a young woman with white semi-transparent hair. Her sky blue eyes matched her dress. She was one of the hybrids. Not a hero, nor a villain. Just a teacher, who kept teaching even after the starstorm changed her body and gave her powers. Part of me admired that dedication. Not many people would keep on doing what they were doing after getting powers. Or at least I wouldn’t.

“Alright class, time for the roll call!” She addressed us with a smile and began shooting off names as she got responses.

In due time, she called my name.

“Dash, Christopher!”

“Here!”

I never understood why she needed to say the first name as well. At least she could have said Chris and not Christopher. I hated the name Christopher.

The roll call ended as Ms. folly wrote down the absence for the day. Then she turned to the class with a smile.

“Well then, let's begin now. I expect everyone has done their homework?” Her eyes wandered to Josh and Marty. The delinquent duo who never bother with homework.

As for me, I have of course done the homework she assigned. Pick a reasonably known hybrid and write a short essay about them. I picked Bubbles, a relatively new hero in the Neo Wardens, who already got somewhat of a cult following due to the ridiculous potential of her power. Personally, I picked her not because of her power, but because she seemed like a nice person. A little shy and with a distinct lack of arrogance for how powerful she was.

Ms. Folly collected my essay as she passed by, and as expected, stopped by Josh and Marty. Their excuse this time was that their dog turned into a fire breathing monster during the last starstorm and burnt their assignment to ashes. Of course, the last starstorm was three and a half months ago, so one would have to wonder why they would keep a monster like that for so long. And also, it was forbidden to own dogs young enough to get struck by a star.

“Again? Alright, you two are staying here after the class. I'm gonna have a word with you.” Ms. Folly was usually nice, but she showed no mercy to slackers.

Annoyed groans came from the duo and as soon as Ms. Folly turned her back on them, Marty stuck out his tongue and Josh gave her the finger.

As she returned to her desk and opened her mouth to address the class again, it happened.

“ATTENTION CITIZENS. A STARSTORM IS DUE TO HAPPEN IN ABOUT SEVEN MINUTES, SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. I REPEAT, A STARSTORM IS DUE TO HAPPEN IN ABOUT SEVEN MINUTES, SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.”

The voice echoed through the city, inside the school, in our classroom. My blood ran cold.

A starstorm was due to happen soon, but most experts predicted tomorrow to be the day. Not today already. It was the reason why I felt so nervous lately. It could have hit us at any moment, I thought. But now that it was actually about to hit, I couldn't help but have an anxiety attack. 

Scared, angry, nervous. The surrounding students adopted various reactions. Some were swearing under their breath, a few were frozen in fear, some just looked annoyed as if a mosquito bit them. Josh and Marty were grinning as if something exciting was about to take place.

“Alright, class! Don't panic! Gather yourself and calmly exit the classroom one by one,” Ms. Folly commanded, her atmosphere changing completely.

I did as she said and lined up for the exit. But the students weren't as calm as Ms. Folly wanted them to be. And since I didn't want to join the pushing and shoving, I ended up being the last to exit. Except for Josh and Marty, that is. Those two seemed to be taking this with a stride. Ms. Folly shot them an angry glare and dragged them outside by their hands.

Once outside, I noticed other classrooms emptying in a similar manner. I didn't wait around and headed straight for the stairwell along with everyone else. As I snuck a glance outside the hallway window, I noticed something was wrong. The sky has already dyed magenta. I saw the first star flicker in and out of existence near the clouds. Just a small ball of green light, moving along an erratic path like lightning, leaving light behind as it vanished again. And then another one, red this time, crossing the path of the first as it faded. And then another, and another, in all sorts of colors. Before long, other students noticed as well and fell into a panic.

“That wasn't seven minutes!” “It's coming!” “We're all gonna die!” “Why is the shelter so far away!” “Oh god, oh god!”

The flickering arcs of light kept getting more numerous, appearing lower and lower, snaking through the sky. Just as I reached the stairs, I saw a star zip through the building, just below the ceiling, phasing through the walls, barely showing any signs of being hindered by them. I rushed down, doing my best to not trip in the mass of bodies, but the imminent doom was getting closer and closer.

“Chris!” Someone calling my name from the crowd almost made me jump out of my skin.

Before I even turned to see her, Flare grabbed my hand and we continued to sprint together. Our destination wasn't too far away now. I could see the shelter door wide open with a downward staircase behind it. The walls inside were padded with a rubbery black substance, supposedly capable of dampening the passing stars. Coupled with being underground, no stars should penetrate through.

But the starstorm has already descended enough to reach halfway through the ground floor. Students were ducking and covering their heads as if that would help. As we approached the shelter entrance, we heard screams behind us. They quickly turned from a human scream into a monstrous roar. A quick glance behind told me everything I needed. Josh and Marty were hit. Because they were slacking, because they didn't take it seriously. I saw black leather gradually cover Josh's skin while Marty became transparent like a ghost and floated off the ground. Ms. Folly stood by the two, ready to contain the threat should they lose control.

And lose control, they did.

“FOOOOLLIIIIIEEEEE!”

A monstrous roar only mildly reminiscent of Josh's voice thundered through the hallways. I snuck another glance back and saw his full transformation. Skin turned to black leather, while his hands grew long and sharp claws ready to impale. He also had two spike-like horns slanted backward protruding from the side of his head. His eyes seethed with pure anger directed at Ms. Folly. Marty, on the other hand, simply floated about absently in his transparent ethereal form, looking out into space.

Flare tugged at my arm, forcing me to tear my eyes away from the scene, and we kept on advancing. A second later, another roar accompanied by a pressure wave brushed past us. We screamed as we got knocked on the ground, bruises appearing all over our backs and legs, where the pressure wave hit us. The starstorm crept closer and closer and we could only manage to crawl forward with our legs injured. We were going to get hit, it was inevitable.

“You wanna get hit?! Stop lying around!” An oddly familiar voice reached my ears.

Turning around, my eyes caught the glimpse of Threadmaker. She had long ginger hair whipping around like tentacles, some of them coiling around her body and face, concealing her identity.

“Stop staring and move!” shouted the young heroine.

“Our legs got injured!” Flare shouted back at her.

“Oh, for fuck's sake!”

Her hair snaked in our direction and wrapped around our bodies. She lifted us up, jumped in front of the shelter's entrance, and readied herself to toss us down. Just before she did though, I saw it. A star. The yellow speck of light appeared just behind Threadmaker and flashed through space, right into Flare. I wanted to scream in horror but didn't get the chance. The hair tentacles flung us downward. Luckily for us, a group of teachers stood at the bottom of the staircase and caught us.

But we weren't safe yet. As soon as I got my bearings, I looked at Flare. She was glowing orange, groaning. The teachers pulled me back. Everyone kept their distance from Flare. But my legs still hurt and I felt sick as well. As if someone was taking apart my internal organs and then putting them back together like a 3D puzzle. I clutched my belly as I lied on my knees, watching my best friend potentially turn into a monster.

Two streams of fire burst out of her back and she screamed. They eventually dropped to the side and formed into wings made out of pure fire. Her hair also gained a fiery look to it. She lit up as sparks of fire floated around her. The surrounding air distorted as if she was putting out extreme heat. But I didn't feel any heat, despite being a few meters away from her. The area around Flare filled with ash and the ground below seemed to bubble as it melted.

As Flare struggled, two more star hybrids emerged from the crowd. Heroes.

A boy with brown hair. His skin covered in brown scales. Arms, legs, his reptilian tail, and even his face acting as a mask to conceal his identity. Crust.

Then, a girl with shoulder-length cyan hair and tiny wings of the same color. A cyan mask with an intricate crystalline design covered her face, the rest of her body clad in a blue dress with snowflake ornaments. She stared at Flare with her glowing eyes, using her power to cool her down. Frostfeather.

As the apparent heat and sparks began to die out, a crash resounded from upstairs along with a roar. That had probably been Ms. Folly and Threadmaker trying to contain Josh's monstrous form.

Bit by bit, Flare's glow subsided and the air distortion disappeared. Eventually, Flare's wings were reduced to small flames and the surrounding sparks died out. Crust stepped forward.

“Are you still human or are you a monster?!” He shouted at Flare. I wanted to punch him. What kind of questions was that? Of course, she was still human!

“Ye-yesh... eh... ah…” Flare managed to answer between her breaths.

The two heroes nodded to each other and Crust moved in to help Flare stand up. Seeing that, my internal pain faded away as well. I let out a sigh of relief. My best friend didn't turn into a complete monster.

“Hey, what about you? Were you hit?” I realized Frostfeather was addressing me. She must have noticed I was in pain a second ago.

“Uh, no. Just had a rough landing.” I stood up from my kneeling position.

Frostfeather nodded and fixated her eyes back on Flare, who walked being supported by Crust. I walked closer, but Frostfeather stopped me with a hand motion.

“Don't get close to her. She can still be dangerous.” Her statement made me frown.

I understood that a freshly merged star hybrid won't have their abilities under control even if they didn't turn into a monster, but it still irked me that I couldn't even come close to her now. So much so, that my spleen began reconstructing itself. Or at least that's what it felt like.

Frostfeather didn't bother with me anymore and rushed upstairs, presumably to help Threadmaker and Ms. Folly, while Crust dragged Flare into a specialized room for the new star hybrids. The teachers split the rest of us into groups of ten and ushered us into safe rooms.

The room was just a table, several chairs, two couches, and a cabinet. As well as a door to a sub-room with a toilet. One of the guys opened the cabinet revealing a few bottles of water, and a first aid kit. Everyone else spread around the room, claiming a chair or a spot on one of the couches.

I myself grabbed a chair and sat on it. I thought about the implications of Flare becoming a hybrid. Would we still be friends? Being struck not only gave you powers and changed your physiology, but it could also affect your mind. Josh had shown that off magnificently. He’d gone from a rebellious kid straight into a murderous monster set on attacking his teacher just because, what, she’d reprimanded him for not having done his homework? Well, there was probably more to it. But the point stood. Josh was a jerk, but he wouldn't outright kill or maim others.

And it was my fault Flare had ended up like this. If I hadn’t turned around like an idiot. If I hadn’t frozen up at that sight, we would have gotten to the shelter in time before the star hit her.

I could feel my intestines making knots and my liver spinning.

I slumped into my chair as the others cheerfully discussed the handsomeness of Crust or the cool beauty of Frostfeather. I didn't understand. We had just barely brushed with death or possibly something even worse. Anyone could be hit and turn into a monster. And yet, these people didn't give a damn. They acted completely carefree. Was that escapism? Should I do it too? Pretend everything is fine and smile like an idiot?

I spiraled deeper and deeper into my negative thoughts, staring at the floor. Then, I looked at my hands, wondering what I could have done better.

But as soon as I took a look at my palms, my heart stopped. Something was wrong, very wrong. Black lines spread throughout my hands. Like roots of a tree or the hairs of a nervous system. Only black, and moving around, growing. They looked alive.

Only then have I realized I could feel them. I could feel the black roots lightly pushing at the insides of my hands. But what truly unnerved me, was that I could also feel the insides of my hands through the black roots. As if they were part of my body. No different from touching one hand with the other.

I had a mini-panic attack in that second, but took Flare's advice and took a deep breath while closing my eyes. In and out, in and out. After three, I opened my eyes and looked at the black roots again. They were still there, still moving, but less erratically now. They seemed to have calmed down as I did. As if they really were part of me.

I willed them to move back, to disappear. And they did. It was as if I was watching some footage of a plant growing in reverse. In but a few seconds, I no longer felt my intestines making knots, my liver stopped spinning, my spleen finalized its reconstruction and my heart began pumping blood again.

They weren't just metaphors for feeling like crap. I’d gotten struck by a star too.