his friends from school.
Ethan got on with everyone who could talk tech, Ty was alright with the others on the track team and Caleb got along with all the fourth graders: the only ones besides Jack, his brothers and Bella who understood and laughed at his jokes.
Bella had it tougher than the boys, though. All the girls would invite her to sleepover parties, and every single time she would have to decline the invitation, knowing that if she went, her power would be revealed the very moment the lights went out.
She couldn't understand why some dumb sleepover was the only way to be someone's friend.
Eventually, no one bothered to invite her.
She hoped that coming to Hero High would put an end to her feelings of being left out.
Lunch only managed to make her feel like a freak amongst freaks, though.
Balancing their trays in their arms, the five searched the cafeteria for a table they could join.
Eventually, they spotted a table occupied with only three other students: two boys and a girl, chatting happily.
"Hi!" Caleb said, enthusiastically, as he set his tray down and scooted along the bench to make room for his brothers.
"Bye," the girl with black and blue hair said, rudely getting up, the boys following her as she left for another table... on the other side of the vast cafeteria.
Feeling stung, Caleb bowed his head and poked his sloppy Joe, glumly.
Caleb was the youngest of the triplets and acted like it, too. It wasn't easy to make him sad, but when you did, then he was sad.
"Probably afraid she'd catch cool germs," Ethan commented, an attempt to make his friends feel better. "You know: the ones that transform you from a loser into a really cool person."
"Maybe they like being losers," Bella muttered.
Caleb still looked sullen. He glanced around. "No one likes us," he pointed out. "Can't you see the way they look at us?"
It was true: cruel glares burned at the teens from all around.
The only thing that made the feeling worse was knowing that looks really could kill in this school... if the student had lazer vision. Bella sat as close to Jack as possible, for protection.
"Maybe this is how they react to all new students," Jack said, following Ethan's tactic.
Bella played with her plastic fork. "No, this is the way they react to gamma accidents," she corrected, icily.
It wasn't like Bella to be put off by people so easily. She tried lifting her head, but every face her eyes fell on glared back at her. Her eyes stung with threatening tears.
Just as she was about to get up and storm out the cafeteria, two girls came and sat down, wedging Jack aside so there was one on either side of her.
They were the flying twin girls from earlier.
They were tall, a good head taller than Bella who was slightly on the short side, and slender. They wore fashionable clothes, identically matching each other.
The only difference you could see in one glance was their hair. Both had shiny, white blonde hair that looked dyed; but the one girl wore her hair curly and the other had hers straightened.
"I'm Janie Cover," the curly-haired girl introduced herself with a sweet smile. "This is my twin sister, Sara."
Sara waved her hand.
"We saw you this morning," Bella commented, her voice bordering on a grumble. "You blew my wrist-watch off."
"Sorry about that," Janie said, sounding overly sincere. "We weren't expecting new students."
Jack looked from Janie to Bella. Janie was smiling, but Bella didn't seem so impressed. He decided to step in before Bella did or said anything more. "I'm Jack," he said. "This is Bella and these are the triplets: Ethan, Ty and Caleb."
"You guys must be the gamma accidents," Sara said. "We heard the rumours."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Bella mumbled but everyone pretended they hadn't heard it.
"Let's explain something first-off," said Janie, her tone slightly more serious. "There are some... shall we say, social distinctions, in this school, in case you haven't noticed."
"We noticed," Ty informed the girl.
"The distinctions go according to how you got your power as well as what power you have," Sara continued for her sister.
"There are many categories: gadgeteers, pilots, inventors and, of course, the heroes with actual powers. First off, there are the Toxic Waste Punks," Janie took over. She pointed to a table across the open room occupied by the bunch of teenagers with weird coloured hair and outrageous clothing. "They ventured too close to toxic waste and subsequently got superpowers. They're weird and they like it."
"Then there are the alien hybrids," Sara jumped in. "Sometimes, they look human, other times they have blue or green or purple skin: but they could look like anything. One of their parents is human, and the other is an alien."
"Then there are mutants," Janie said. "These kids are genetic anomalies who are born with powers. Sometimes, their powers disappear, other times their powers grow stronger. Sometimes they're outcasts."
"And a group that you don't see very much of anymore," Sara took over the explanation. "Genetic experiments. Either by the government, the military, a secret organization or by aliens, these kids escape and join the real world, but with superpowers."
"Top of the charts, though," Janie said, her tone shifting to one of admiration, "are the kids who inherit their powers from either their parents or grandparents. These guys rule the social scene in every Hero High School across the planet."
"Why?" Bella asked, her eyes briefly darting over Jack.
"They're practically blue-bloods," Sara answered. "It's like they deserve their powers. They come from heroes, so it's almost guaranteed that they will be the next generation of superheroes, protecting the planet and whatever."
Bella wanted to say something very sarcastic just then but, thank goodness, didn't get the chance.
"Where do gamma accidents fall?" Caleb blurted.
Janie and Sara faltered, bit their lips and exchanged a glance. Unspoken words passed between them as they contemplated the situation as if pulling a band-aid off a particularly hairy arm.
"On a scale from one to ten, ten being hereditary heroes... you guys are probably a negative number," Janie said.
The statement was said as gently as possible, but it still stung.
"Thanks," Jack said, his way of ending the conversation.
Janie and Sara got up to leave, sensing they had done their part in informing the newbies about the social food chain. "But don't worry, we like you."
Bella couldn't help but notice they didn't say this while looking her in the eye...
7
The last class of the day was Hero Training.
Jack, Bella, Ty, Ethan and Caleb had been waiting for this class all day.
Frankly, they had been waiting for this class their whole lives.
An image of an ex-military officer flashed through the gamma accidents' minds when they entered the gymnasium.
Pictures of fading scars, buzz-cuts, and bulging muscles ended when a tall and lanky, African American man with an afro and a moustache entered the gym. He was wearing short neon blue shorts, white socks pulled up high on his stick-like legs, squeaky sneakers that announced every step he took, a simple white T-shirt with a bright red whistle hanging around his neck.
"What's up?" he said, cheerfully.
Caleb couldn't help himself: he burst out in a fit of laughter. His brothers, cousin and Bella turned around to glare at him.
"I'm sorry," he said, wiping a tear of laughter out his eye. "But his shorts are glowing like Bella!"
To Jack, Ethan, Ty and Bella's surprise, Mr Hilton, as the schedule had named him, grinned. He turned to Bella. "Do you glow?" he asked.
Bella nodded in response.
"Cool," he said, nodding his head slowly in approval. "I haven't seen a glower since 1995."
Bella blushed, grateful the lights were on or else everyone would have seen a very bright, embarrassed magenta glow.
"Let me explain how Hero Training works," Mr Hilton declared, kindly, taking into account the new arrivals. "It's the one thing that sets Hero High apart from the rest of the world."
"Besides the mad scientist in the lab," Ethan whispered to Ty.
Mr Hilton didn't hear them snickering. "This class stands in the place of regular gym class. Instead of training your physical abilities, we will be focussing on your super physical and/or mental abilities.
"We do this by setting up obstacle courses, simulations and scenarios that you are most likely going to come across in your time as a superhero.
"We do not focus on team-building exercises as most of you will not ever form a team. Most of these courses and scenarios will be done individually, but at the same time. You are allowed to use the powers of someone else, but directly cooperating is not encouraged.
"At times, however, we do what we call 'Crossover Training.' This exercise will take you out of your comfort zone a bit. It's where we randomly team students together in groups of two or three. We do this to simulate when you're saving a city or town with another hero. It will help you to understand how to work with other powers and... temperaments.
"Today, we will be doing a Crossover. I'm going to team you up with someone random. And, no, standing as close to a person as you possibly can does not change the selection," he added as he noticed the Cover twins hug each other in the hopes of being called together. "Unlike in times past, I am not going to pair you with the person you stand closest to. Don't hate me; this is all a bunch of new directions from our new Global Director."
Janie and Sara pouted as Mr Hilton began randomly pairing kids together.
It was an