School for Assassins (Rewritten) - Complete

Chapter 4 - New Friendships

I lied. Apparently not ALL my chapters are named for their abilities. X_x

Enjoy and comment!

Jordan:

I followed Mrs. Smithinson up a large flight of stairs. We ended up on the third floor of the large, brick building. Mrs. Smithinson had said we were headed to the science lab, and I could only hope that I wouldn't get made fun of for being here.

Mrs. Smithinson opened a door that led to a brightly lit room. "Mr. Hanover, I have your new pupil." She stated as she stood aside to let me through the door. I stepped past her and she moved into the room behind me.

A young man stepped into the room from another doorway. His chin length dark hair was pulled away from his face, although a few strands had escaped. I wondered how he could stand long hair like that. He smiled at Mrs. Smithinson, and then glanced at me. "You must be Jordan. I heard that you'd be coming. Come in, we'll make ourselves comfortable in my back room." He held a hand out to me and I took it cautiously. "Let's get to work, young man." He stated.

My eyes widened at the sight before me. There were chemicals lining the shelves on all four walls, and in the middle of the room sat a large, metal table. "What is all this?" I asked, hoping that it was something I'd be allowed to play with.

"It's what we're playing with today. I need to see what sort of knowledge you have about this sort of thing." Mr. Hanover replied. I just nodded. I could barely contain my excitement. I'd get to play with all this stuff? Mr. Hanover handed me a long, white coat and a pair of clear goggles. "Put these on, please." He said. I took the items and he pulled a pair of goggles over his own eyes.

I quickly put the lab coat and goggles on and waited for my next set of instructions. Mr. Hanover gave me a small smile, "I give you free reign, Jordan. I am merely going to make sure you don't kill us with noxious fumes. Just make sure you okay each ingredient with me before you start mixing." I nodded, my excitement growing even further.

I scanned the shelves, pulling various items down. I used the step stool as needed to reach the items that were too high up for me to reach, and several times I had to ask for help getting some of them down. He nodded in approval as I showed him which ingredients I had pulled out. He smiled, "Those are good selections. Let's see what you do with them now." He said.

I quickly started putting drips and drops of various liquids into a beaker. As soon as I was done, I handed the beaker to Mr. Hanover. He chuckled. "I'm impressed. Now, do you know what this'll do?"

I nodded. Of course I knew what it would do. I wouldn't create something that I didn't understand. He raised a brow, waiting for my answer. I sighed, "It's a stink bomb." I replied.

He patted me on the head, "Well done, Jordan. I'm impressed with your knowledge at such a young age. I'll recommend you for the accelerated learning, and you're welcome to work in the lab with me whenever you want... as long as I'm here." He gave me a stern look and I nodded eagerly. "Good. Now, let's see if we can teach you something new."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

I hefted my bag onto my shoulder as I headed for the library. I hated these stupid projects. They took precious time away from the lab. I heaved a sigh and continued on my way. As I started to push open the heavy doors, I heard shouting coming from the side of the building. I started to ignore it as I pushed through the doors, but before the doors could shut behind me, I whirled around and stepped back outside.

I dashed around the corner of the building to see a bunch of kids around my age crowded around something on the ground. After a moment of focusing on the ground, I realized that they were kicking and taunting some kid. "Knock it off, assholes!" I shouted as I jumped into the mass of bullies.

One kid shoved me, "Mind your own business." He said, getting up close and personal.

I shoved him back, "Knock it off, or you'll be sorry." I said, glaring at him.

He chuckled, "I doubt a scrawny kid like you could make the six of us sorry." He replied with a roll of his eyes.

I glared at him and pulled a glass vial out of my pocket. Before he could even realize what I had done, I tossed it at my feet and stepped on it. The glass shattered and a horrible odor wafted up. The other five boys immediately stopped what they were doing to cover their noses. "God, what is that awful smell?!" One of them shouted.

"This isn't over, Dick!" The guy who had shoved me announced. I shook my head and as soon as they were gone, I dropped to my knees by the other kid. I checked for a pulse, and was happy that it was strong.

The boy finally unwound himself and stood up. "Thank you." He murmured as he coughed.

"Let's get you to the nurse." I said softly. He groaned and nodded. "What did you do to piss them off anyways?"

"I was just being me." He replied as I helped him walk towards the medical building. The kid was several inches taller than me, and one of his eyes had already swollen shut. His lip was split and bleeding. I cringed. "I'm Dominic, by the way. And seriously, thank you for coming to my aid." He said.

I smiled, "I'm Jordan. And it was no problem. This is as good of an excuse as any for procrastinating on my history project."

He let out a bark of surprised laughter that ended on a groan and I helped him walk the rest of the way to the med building.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Ely:

I scratched at my leg and moved the strap on my leg that held two small knives. I sat on the railing of my balcony and read a book. It was Sunday, so we were free to do as we pleased the whole day. The other girls thought I was a freak because I had no interest in hanging out with them.

I sighed. Concentrating on my book was proving difficult when what I really wanted to do was spend time in the training arena. Unfortunately, someone else was using it today, and I didn't really want to attempt socializing with them. I usually failed when it came to social interactions, so I had quit trying.

About an hour later, a black limo arrived at the front of the school. Once it had pulled to a stop, Mrs. Smithinson stepped out of the back. The slacks and long sleeve shirt she was wearing looked warm, but it was what she usually wore lately, so I was used to it.

Moments later, a young boy around my age stepped out of the car. He had dark, short hair and haunted looking eyes. I watched him walk to the front door with Mrs. Smithinson and sighed. I doubt he'd want to be friends with someone as messed up as I was.