His Smile

Prologue: On The Ice

Shhhhk-
Shhhhhhhhhk-
Thud.

   "Tch!" I hissed as I fell onto the ice, sliding about a foot across the slippery rink. "Dammit..." I muttered in Korean, my parent's native language. As I picked myself up off of the ice in a simple and swift jerk of my body, I began to reflect on the ups and downs of my life.

   My name is Korain, and this is my life. I know it's really cliche that I have this strange superpower in a world full of "normal" people, but here I am. No, my ability isn't crazy, like being able to shoot lasers out of my eyes, or lift things with my mind. No, mine is much more subtle. I can make people fall for me with just a smile. Sure, that might happen anyways, if I were hot. I'm at least decent looking, but I'm no Chris Hemsworth.
   I first found out about my ability when I was around nine years old. I was in the third grade, and I smiled at this girl I had really liked. I remember how she had always run away from me when I was near her on the playground, and giggled and talked about me behind my back to her friends, but suddenly she was asking me to borrow pencils and trying to sit near me wherever I was. It's strange, I know. How can I be so sure it was just the smile, you might ask? Because the same thing was happening with other girls as well. I would smile at them, and suddenly I'd be getting asked out left and right. At first it was awesome, like, who wouldn't want that, right? But then something started to feel... Wrong. I felt like I was manipulating these girls, and in a way, I was. In fact, for almost the entirety of middle school, I used this power to my advantage to climb higher and higher in the stupid school "hierarchy" that the popular kids had set up.
   At one point in 8th grade, which was only last year, I had used my power to get with the most popular girl in school. What an idiot I was, right? She was vile in every way, other than looks. I don't even wanna give her name, just in case she comes back to haunt me, but this girl was terrible. I remember the words she said to me before leaving me in the dirt...

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   "Ugh!! You're so disgusting, you know that!? I don't even know why I'm dating you! You're such a lowlife. AND you're Asian!! If my parents saw me with you, I can guarantee that they'd hate you. What are you, Chinese? The Chinese are the worst."

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   As you can see, after the effect of my power had eventually worn off, she showed her true colors. An obvious racist, and a snob. Anyways, ever since then I vowed to never smile at anybody anymore, since I didn't wanna be humiliated like that again.
   Wanna know something funny? I'm actually really shy. I don't like it when popular kids talk to me, since I feel unworthy in their presence. I don't know what had gotten into me in 8th grade. I was desperate to be cool. To be liked. But now I don't know what I really want.

   I glided over the ice with ease, the dim lights above casting a shadow behind me, which made me feel less alone. I did a jump, and landed it, a quick smile crossing my face.
   I felt comfortable smiling when I was alone, but at this point, I was scared of what might happen if I smiled at someone at school again. You might think I'm being a bit dramatic, when all that happened was a harsh breakup, but when you're as antisocial and anxious as I am, and this breakup happened in front of half the school, I think you'd never wanna smile again, either. Who knows, maybe my power will disappear over time and I can live a normal, adult life.

   I stepped off of the ice, a cold breath escaping my lips. I sat down in a chair and took my skates off, moving my feet around to warm them up. I took my skates back to the shoe room, and grabbed my own shoes. Oh, did I mention that I'm allowed inside this rink after hours? Irrelevant, but just a reminder that I'm alone here. I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my gym bag, then headed out. I slid into my mom's car and stuck the key in the ignition. As my favorite song came on over the radio, I found myself grinning to myself as I drove home, ready to face the teens at school in the morning.