Whitmore Prep

Chapter 11

          Parker walks with me to our last period gym class, which all of the Honors kids share. He jokes about the lesson in Pre-Calculus as we weave past the other students in Commons.

            "Where's Honors gym?" I ask when I notice we're walking away from the soccer field where normal gym is held.

            "We have a-" Parker looks around us, then leans in closer, "special facility for us."

            "Yes, because we don't have enough special in our lives."

            "Of course not, we could always use more razzle-dazzle!" Parker leads the way past the Dining Hall and into the forest. Once, he's sure we are not surrounded by normal kids, he does jazz hands, small sparks flying from his fingers.

            "Sparks?" I try to focus on the beaten path in front of us, "What's your power? A child's magician?"

            "No..." Parker chuckles as he holds a branch out of our way, "I'm electrifying!" More sparks come from his hands.

            "Parker, leave that poor girl alone with all of your electrifying bull." A girl saunters past us, easily dodging the murderous tree branches.

            "Aw, Faye, you're just jealous that no one can remember your power." Parker pouts mockingly as we enter a field.

            "What was that?" Faye asks as Parker's eyes glaze over. He stops moving suddenly, frozen to the spot.

            "That's right, Parker." Faye laughs, "Give 'em the ol' razzle-dazzle!"

            "See? Told you I was electrifying." Parker smiles at me, then looks around us, "Damn it, Faye!"

            "What did you do?" I move in closer to the girl.

            "Wiped his memory." She shrugged. Her long, straight, light brown hair is loosely held back in a braid. Her fair skin is riddled with both freckles and an amused look. She wears the uniform casually, as if she chose to wear it herself. Her ears are more metal than skin, and match the stud in her nose. I take in this new girl with interest.

            "Faye." Her voice is rough, yet feminine at the same time. I shake the hand she holds out to me.

            "Tine."

            "Oh, are you the one that crushed Anthony's car?" Faye smiles, pointing at me.

            "The one and only." Delilah comes us beside me and places an arm around my shoulder.

            "He deserved it." Adrian voice floats from the other side of Delilah.

            "I think it was bad-ass." Parker nods, looking at me with respect.

            "Good job grabbing this one." Faye turns and starts to move towards the building in the field.

            "You guys can thank me," Ash scoffs, appearing on my other side, "Tine's my roommate."

            Ash, Delilah, Adrian, Parker, and I turn to the building Faye went to. It's almost like a barn, two stories high but hollow within, large windows letting the mid-day light stream in. We walk with the other Honors students into the barn, where there is an array of areas, from targets to dummies to a large mat in the middle of everything.

            A middle aged man stands in the middle of the room, waiting for us to gather around him. He wears gray shorts and a white tee-shirt with the school emblem on its chest, the regulated school gym outfit.