As I walked around the corner, I failed to stop a groan from leaving my mouth at the sight of large group of people lounging around my locker.

Unlike the other groups which were tense and jumpy, this group was seemingly carefree and they were loudly bickering with each other.

As I walked up to the group, I stood there for a second as I got a view of the person sitting on my locker.

His dirty blond hair a clear differentiation between the dark tones of the rest of his group. His well-kept uniform along with his posture also caused him to standout from his laid back friends. He was talking intently to the person next to him while motioning to his arms and chest while a relived look plastered on his face.

A person on the end saw me and informed the group of my presence. They all quickly looked at me as they a couple of them shakily stood up straight.

As I glanced at each of them, I failed to recognise any of their generic faces. Each of them had small indications of their attitude with lose ties and untucked shirts or even a barely visible tattoo on one of their wrists. The only one who looked somewhat presentable was the sitting on my locker talking to the guy with the tattoo.

The guy sitting on my locker gave me a glance and shook his head slightly. He slowly cracked his knuckles before jumped off my locker. Pushing his way through the group he walked up to me before tilting his head down to look at me.

“What do you want” he said as I took a small step back to avoid being crushed under his hulking mass.

“Do I k-know you” I muttered as I took another small step backwards. “I-I just want get my stuff out of my L-L-Locker” I stuttered as I craned my head upwards to look at him. “Is that going to be a problem”

A look of realisation crossed his face as he saw I was carrying my bag. “Oh” he muttered as he glanced back at the group sitting around my locker. “I’ll try to get them to move” he said as a look of pity crossed his face.

As he walked back to the group they groaned as they grabbed their stuff while muttering. The kid with a tattoo glanced at his blond-haired friend loudly asked “Shifted?” as the entire group became tense.

He shrugged his shoulders before subtly shaking his head without saying a word. The rest of the group glanced at me quickly as they clearly relaxed as they walked around the corner I had just walked around.

Ignoring the nagging questions in the back of my head I threw my stuff into the locker before grabbing my bag and headed off to class. Like how bad could homeroom be compared to the approaching Swimming class?

But as I walked into my classroom, I realised I might be wrong. Our normally chill teacher who would joke around with us was sitting at his desk sternly looking at everyone. As the bell this tense mood only became clearer as he stood up and turned the projector on.

As the projector flickered on it was clear this wasn’t a normal period. The only thing what was on it was the Australian coat of arms on a black screen with a little play button in the corner.

At the sight of this the class went dead silent as the teacher stood up. “This is serious period” he said as he glanced at the class clown, “It shouldn’t affect any of you but treat it seriously.”

After he said that he clicked on the small button and the Australian coat of arms faded into the black background. After a second of empty silence it slowly faded into a familiar person standing at a podium.

His uncut white beard and bags under his eyes showed he hadn’t had much sleep over the past couple of days. He looked down at the speech in front of him and flipped through a couple of pages. After a second, he said something to someone off to the side of the stage before throwing the script off the stage.

Captain White looked towards the camera as he took a deep breath. “As of Friday last week the government has been struggling with a new unknown problem”. He stared at the camera for a second before continuing. “It has been found that a small percentage of high school aged kids have somehow been developing supernatural abilities.”

At that he paused for a second as he waited for the words to settle. A couple of shaky laughs echoed through the class as they glanced at each other. “This is a joke, right?” the class clown said as he looked at the teacher who subtly shook his head. Before the class could erupt into chaos the captain continued speaking.

“These abilities are followed by a change in the hosts body which loosely relates to the powers they have gained. Due to the way these changes mess with and change your DNA and bodies, people affected by these changes are called Shifted.”

After a second, I felt my heart start to speed up as I realised, he was referring to me. A panicked look around the room showed that everyone was confused and surprised leaving me as the only one who was visibly worried.

“So far from our testing we think these shifts have been perfecting any issues with the hosts body, for instance we had a paraplegic girl regain control of her legs along with gaining superspeed.”

The camera quickly transitioned to a video of a blur speeding around a 800 metre track before slowing down to show a girl in a red suit. It quickly transitioned to a black screen.

“From our observations most of the Shifted individuals are unaware of their developing powers and this makes them incredibly dangerous.” As he said this the screen faded into a video of a dark alley with an ambulance at its entrance.

Instantly I recognised the alley from the previous night and as it played you could see me barge through the officers and run into the alley before being shot, turning into my metal form and falling through the grate. This short video left the class stunned as it faded back to the stage.  

“As you can imagine incidents like this has caused a couple of problems for us over here. While it is in its infancy, we are trying to create facilities where these kids can attend to gain control over their new abilities.”

A mutter came from the back of the class as someone recognised the alleyway but before they could comment further captain white continued speaking.

“If you or your friends develop these abilities, please report to your local precinct for you and your powers to be documented” Captain white paused for a second as his eyes darkened, “This is not a request, if you fail to do so you will be fined. Any unlawful use of your powers will result in your detainment” 

“Those of you who are documented will be required to attend a regular class to help control your abilities. Those who’s powers are considered useful to society will be offered a chance to legally use them to help the community.”

He took a deep breath before waiting and looking at the camera.

 “Our encounter with a shifted last night caused officer Jerome to be put into intensive care. We are currently attempting to locate the perpetrator, if you recognise the women in this photo please come forwards”

A gritty picture of me in the dark alley flickered onto the screen as it slowly faded to black as the session ended.

As the class divulged into chaos, I felt a pit open in my chest. Our teacher closed his computer slowly before glancing around the classroom before settling his eyes on me and after a second, he motioned me to come to come forwards.

Slowly I stood up and glanced at my watch to see we still had 10 minutes left. I slowly made my way towards my teacher as I felt a subtly pop in my groin as suddenly, I felt the strain on my body lessen.

Panicking for a second, I glanced down to see nothing visible had changed but as I walked it was clear something was different.

Quickening my pace I rushed to the teacher as he looked at me in confusion.

“Are you ok Jon… is there anything you want to tell me?”

“I think I’m going to be sick” I lied as I looked downwards at my feet to hide the guilt on my face.

“Just don’t vomit in my room” he said quickly as a look of realisation crossed his face. “Grab your bags and head up to the nurse”

Quickly I grabbed my bags and rushed the steps to the health center as I could hear loud arguments and discussions echoing throughout the school. As I made my way to the health center, I slowly opened the door and wandered into the room to see the two nurses arguing.

“What do you mean they want to take a sample of his blood; he is a minor!” the nurse at the desk argued not noticing my presence.

“Do you think they care, even if its sketchy his parents already consented to the trials”

“Surely we can do something, has he been told what they want to do”

“There is nothing you can do. As you said he is a minor and his parents made a decision. Just get him up here and do your job”

As they glared at each other I awkwardly coughed and broke the tense silence. In an instant the mood in the room changed as they both put a smile as they realised they weren’t alone.

“How can we help you”

“Umm… I… uh have a headache” I stuttered, “I was wondering if I could get some Panadol?”

“Of course” the nurse laughed as she grabbed a small box and out the silver sheets of medicine. Quickly filling a plastic cup with water she passed me the pill and watched me swallow it before she seemed satisfied.

“Can you just lie down for a couple of minutes” she said as she motioned towards a bed, “Once we know you’re feeling better you can leave.”

Feeling sweat slowly build on my brow, I felt my body slowly begin to tense.

“Can I just go to the toilet quickly”

“Of course” she laughed as she watched me squirm, “just don’t take too long”

Before she could even reply the door was closed and I felt my skin begin shift. Letting out a pained sigh I tried to ignore the pins and needles spreading over my body. I had barely made it through the first class, sure I felt my control getting stronger. And I was lasting longer before the pain started to build. But that was only with a large portion of my focus keeping me normal.

How was I going to make it through the rest of the day.

Killjoejeff1

I did say I wasn't dropping this story didn't I?