Math, English, Physics, biology, and finally break.

The clock moves slowly, the needles pushed toward the 12’o clock and finally, they meet at the top. The bell rings and everyone’s on their feet. Feet shuffle in the corridor, causing a pitter-patter louder than the cacophony of falling rain.

“There will be a test tomorrow! So don’t forget to study everything we have done this week.” Our teacher, Mrs. Jamison, yells at the wave of students rushing toward the door. Her work is done, and she gets busy collecting her books.

Everyone is too busy trying to get to the cafeteria before it’s too late and the lines grow so long they could cover the city twice over.

“Are you free tonight?” I ask Emily as she packs her bag.
She stands up, and slings her bag over her shoulder. “No,” She says firmly at me and then starts walking toward the door. She doesn’t meet my eyes. Why doesn’t she meet my eyes? Is she angry? Is she perhaps afraid?

She walks away leaving an aromatic odor of her favorite perfume behind. I can recall her scent in a crowd, but don’t ask me to name her perfume. I don’t have the hobby of remembering stuff. When you can take whatever you like you tend to grow lucid about the rules that govern normal people. I don’t follow her. I don’t call her. I sit back in my seat with my arms crossed because I know she will look back. she does stop at the door and does exactly that. She looks back.

Our eyes meet and she asks, “What do you want to do?”

She holds the doors with a hand and the other tightly grabs the strap of her bag. No one is stealing her bag, it’s just a mental suggestion implying her expectations, her yearning.
 
“I was thinking we could go out someplace. Maybe watch a movie or just hang around the mall or something?”
“Just the two of us?” She says raising her eyebrows, but she’s not rejecting my suggestion. There’s a smile on her face. A seductive, suggestive smile that makes me want to do things. Well, not today. Not now. Perhaps, someday I will when she’s not so apprehensive of me. When she doesn’t think of me as a magician with a magical hat.

I just smile. Moments like this are what make me believe in the world a little, believe I am not completely broken. It would have been perfect if a roach hadn’t jumped in between us.

“I’ll join you,” Sky says putting his arm around my neck. I can hear his grin in my ears. I sigh and get up, push my bag at him and follow Em out of the class.

“We will not get cake again,” Sky says. I look at him up and down. He used to be a skinny kid. Now his neck has a neck, and chin has a chin, but his stomach is still flat as a road. It’s like all the fat is accumulating on his face. Genetics is mysterious. Even I can’t help him.

“I’ll get you your cake. Just carry the bag… will you?” I almost commanded him. That was quite a save.
I don’t want a slave. It’s good to command a few unrelated people, but to do it to the people I know… It doesn’t end well for anyone. I don’t worry about Sky. I worry about myself. I don’t want to live a life where I don’t care about anything. That road only leads to hell.

We go after Em to the lockers to stash our stuff, and you can’t imagine what I see. I see Jade, Spencer, and Samantha there. I don’t have any holiday with them, but Em does.

Em ignores them like usual and they don’t take it too kindly. Jade slams her locker shut with a slap, almost catching Em’s hand. I don’t hear anything of what she says afterward but I know a threat when I see one and Jade did threaten Em.

They are cheerleaders, the three of them. Em was friends with them once, or a part of the common group. I’m not up to date with the lingo. Anyways, then one of the boys Jade, a sophomore from the baseball club confessed to Em and the rest is the same old revenge story. Even though Em refused the boy, Jade decided to punish her. Well, Em didn’t fight back. She simply ignored them like they didn’t matter to her. She didn’t cry about it and neither did she say anything. Maybe that was what set off jade in the first place.

That’s where I enter the story to save her.

Well, Em didn’t need much saving, but I did get annoyed one day while putting my things in the locker and ended up commanding the girls to back the fuck up. They did. That day Em thanked me with a can of cold coffee. I don’t like coffee, but I drank the whole can. I don’t know if it was the coffee or her, but something short-circuited some of the neurons in my brain and here we are now.

The girls return from time to time to mess with Em when I’m not around, or their boyfriends do it, or the friends of their boyfriends. It is a social circle. There is nothing one can do when one becomes the butt of the joke.

Now the girls are here again. Samantha sees me and tells her friends in a hurry. Spencer steals a glance and takes a step away from Em. Jade is prideful. She doesn’t look at me, but she ends the conversation and backs off. She points her finger at Em and blurts something at her before leaving with the tick-tock of her heels.

Perhaps, I should command them to stay clear of Em. I slap that thought out of my mind as soon as it comes. The command is too strong for such a simple purpose. The girls would have left the school. It is possible they would have left town. It is not something I wanted to do.

I stop next to Em. My locker is right next to hers. Do I need to say how I made that happen? I think not. Anyways, I open the locker and put my things inside while she waits for me.

“Are you going to tell me what happened or should I go ask them?” This was not a command. It is a sensible, responsible, caring question. It also tells Emily that I care about her and she can tell me her problems and I can solve them if she wants me to.

I feel her frustration. I hold her hand and she doesn’t pull back. She leans her back on the steel lockers that groan with her weight.

She looks at me. I can see that she wants to tell me, but she doesn’t. As for why I have no idea. Maybe I’ll ask her one of these days.

“When will we meet?”
“How about six?” I tell her and she nods.
“Hey, Em, can you bring June with you because I don’t want to be the third wheel between the two of you?”
“Go away,” I tell him and Sky does exactly that. It makes Em flinch. Unfortunately, she will never figure out how I do it and what happens, because deniability is one of the perks of my power.

We go to the cafeteria and have lunch.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Em says and stands up.
“Do you want me to accompany you?” I smirk.
She snorts and leaves.

Sky whistles. “What’s going on between you two? Is she your girlfriend or not? I’m confused.”

I push his head away and see Rachel looking at me. The three stooges sitting on the same bench as her. She’s not friends with them.

I wave a hand at her and she grunts loud enough to make one of the passing boys drop his tray in fright. Thank god, he didn’t drop it on her head. It would have been a sight to see.

 “Have you seen the Ruffus brothers today?” I ask Sky who I find was staring at June three rows away.

Now June is from the same year as us but is in a different class. She minors in biology and has a head in books. Her specs are not the only thing huge about her. She’s a babe. Small top but a voluptuous bottom. She’s a pear and my friend wants to take a bite of her. She and Em are elementary friends. That’s why the fool keeps poking my bee.

“Why don’t you go and talk to her? I’m sure she won’t slap you. She will ignore you at most. Perhaps, ask you if you have any interest in the theory of genes”
“Her? NO way. She’s into Einstein and I’m bucket head. We don’t fit together.” Sky shakes his head.

I leave him be. I don’t want to correct his misunderstanding about him being a bucket head. A garbage bucket maybe. At least he’s right to believe that they don’t fit together.

“What do you want with the Ruffuses? Do you want to—” Sky mimics smoking pot and exhales a mouthful of bad breath at my face. It makes me want to punch him in the face, but I hold myself back and only slap him on the head.

Well, if his stare hadn’t alerted the guard behind the CCTV looking at the cafeteria, then his action definitely should have. I should remove the bag of weed from my locker. You never know what might happen. I can deal with it, but why cause trouble for myself. Besides, prevention is better than cure.

“I have something to do with them,” I tell Sky and he doesn’t believe it. He smirks at me knowingly and mimics smoking pot again. He’s such a fool.

“Have you seen them or not?” I ask, firmly. Sometimes a hard voice works better than a steel command.

Sky slips out everything he knows. “They haven’t been to school in the last two days. I hear they were being robbed in the school and have lost a lot of money and stuff.  And now their supplier is angry.”
“Oh…” I might have done something I shouldn’t have done.
“Well, if you want to know where to find them go talk to Simmons from the arts. He knows them.”
“And where might I find him?”
“In the court. He’s a basketball player. They all were at one point. The Ruffus brothers were great shooters… I guess they picked up the occupation they were best at.” Sky grins.

I stand up to leave.

“Where are you going?”
“—to the basketball court. Where else am I going to find Simmons.”
“You want to go now? What about Em?”
I stop and flick his head.
Sky cries aloud. I didn’t flick him that hard. He’s an attention seeker. He has always been one.

“What was that for?” Sky looks at me with puckered lips like he’s going to cry.
“Firstly, get this into your mind,” I knock on his head, “Only I can call her Em. You call her Emily or you can call her Mrs. Adams.”
“And secondly my gracious lord?”
“Do you want me to give you a sermon?  Keep her company until I come back.”
“What if the three bitches come back to harass her?”
“Tell them to fuck off,” I tell him.

Sky sits stunned. Well, fuck. I gave a command. It’s kinda funny. I really want to see what happens if they do come to taunt Em. But I better take care of the Ruffuses or they might end up dead or beaten or dead. Well if they are not dead then all’s good. Can’t have other people’s lives on my conscience.