Chemical X

He sits among the playground, behind a piece of equipment. The sun blazes, warming his face, the air thick and humid. Some of the students talk nearby. He pulls out an ancient console from his pants, browsing the modified device for "Xenet", a digital place where Xeno-beings could chat.

Now, you may be wondering, "What the fuck is a Xeno-being?"

It's just a fancy word for anything not human. By "not human" I mean aliens, werewolves, super-humans, monsters, demons - you name it (there's gorgons, dragon-shifters, nymphs... "monsters" like those are more hidden, since they're considered, well, monsters - I'm not too sure if they even exist anymore). There's probably a manticore or other legendary, supposedly mythological beasts out there too, somewhere. Any being that is not human, essentially, would be classified as a Xeno-being (psst, I'M a Xeno-being! Neat, right? Just kidding. As a Xeno-being, I'm very oppressed, as you would guess). Though, "Xeno" is more of a slur than anything. I guess it's an identifier to some.

He presses the keys on the device as he texted with Harley, his friend. His text was black, while his friend's text appeared as a deep blue.

He presses enter. "Are you ready for the dance?"

After they send the message, he reads, "yes, i cant wait!! :o"

He smiles to himself.

He and his friend had met in a chatroom on Xenet, with the handy-dandy usage of the device he held. He used to hack the wi-fi, all of the kids did - (but when one of the students tried to call Protective Services, they notified the "school" and failed to find any evidence to support the kid's claim. They, the students, were all punished, and the Feds never investigated further nor returned. The "school" had covered it up good) the wi-fi is monitored now, so only very few kids in the "school" can get on it, those kids being the ones that are able to hack past the barrier without being detected. Which would be, like, one or two of the thirty-three students here.

The mostly Xeno populated public high school his friend goes to is miles away from his "school". During his free time at the residential "school" he attends, he uses the bulky device for the chatroom, keeping the device in his pants when he wasn't using it, or wedged tightly under his mattress.

The orderlies wouldn't mind reaching down there for more than his device, he thinks. At one point, he dislocated one of the orderlies shoulders when they tried to pull that shit on one of the students there, on the playground. He was thrown into solitary confinement for (what, a week?)... yeah, probably a week. He didn't mind what the cost was for pummeling the "authority", as long as no one else had to pay for it.

***

7:05 AM

His wristwatch beeped, the beep-beep... beep-beep... breaking into the enigma that was his thoughts.

Quickly, the boy's eyes scanned over Xenet, his orbs then intent on a fluffy, fat bird that sat just outside the window.

His goal was clear: he'd leave this school and most of all, help every other student there get the fuck out. He just, uh, didn't exactly know how he'd propose or execute such a plan.

He decided that he wouldn't tell what his super power was just yet.

Tired, he yawns, gawking at the world outside the window. The darkness of the night is no longer cast upon the Earth, the half-moon still visibly sitting in the sky. Holy shit-fuck! It's that early? Sunlight hits his face as the burning orb rose from beyond the horizon.

Beside the window sat his shitty bed and the backpack that accompanied it on the stone-cold, tiled floor. He wore the male student uniform, which he changed into moments after he'd awoke.

In the room which he stood was a little over two dozen shitty beds, with the same basic, thin covers and one white-yellow pillow. In this room was where the students would sleep and otherwise stay in when they weren't at an assembly, in solitary confinement, in one of their classes, in some other room, serving detention, eating breakfast/lunch or if they didn't have their own room given by the Headmaster. In the entire school there were almost no doors; no privacy whatsoever.

Glancing down at his Sailor Moon wristwatch that was hidden under his uniform's sleeve, the time slapped his face.

7:07? The Assembly started at 7:05. His heart jumped at the sight. He could hear his friend's Canadian scorn already.

He surveyed the room, his eyes revealing said friend, she being the only other one there. She was on her bed, jumping in and out of sleep in her uniform. She must've allowed herself to fall back asleep, as it was 7:07 AM. He wasted time narrating, so now it was probably 7:08 AM.

As she slept, water floated steadily above her head, her absent mind causing the water to dance. He saw that the water came from a water bottle that sat beside her bed, on the floor.

Hurriedly, he rushed to his pal/chum/buddy/friend/amigo, shaking her to wake. Her eyes opened lazily, the water above her faltering. Her eyes shot open as she stabilized the water, her hand cutting through the air. She sat up, guiding the water back into its bungalow-bottle.

She sighed. "Why am I awake, Arley?"

"We're late for the Assembly."

"Wh- Man, why didn't you say so?"

"I just did, so let's go," Arley told her.

I just might throw that weasel off his game today, Arley thought.

Throwing her dirty-blonde hair into a ponytail, she and Arley speed-walked out of the room and down the hallway, curving a right into the Assembly. Their pace slowed as they walked down the runway; the Headmaster's lecture halted. Arley was confident as he and said chum/buddy/pal searched for a chair to sit in, the friend/amigo/homie bothered by the attention that was held on them. Half of the students fearful to look in the two's direction, very few held their gaze upon them. The silence was almost deafening as they cut into the left half of the room, Arley sitting in the front row and his amigo accepting a seat one row behind him; orderlies stood by the walls of the room, eyeing their every move.

Arley breathed, making immediate eye contact with the Headmaster who stood at the front of the room. Beside him a kid sat, strapped down into a chair. She seemed to be eleven or twelve years old (by the least). One of the Headmaster's orderlies cupped his hands around a bulbous device he held, another orderly standing beside the Headmaster. A collar sat around the kid's neck, tight. Her sides heaved, pain in her eyes. If Arley's eyes were of fire, he'd burn them right through the Headmaster's skull. Sadly, that was one of the only things he couldn't do.

The Headmaster, a man reminiscent of the villain from The Little Mermaid, eyed both her and Arley for a moment.

Arley stared back. Are you gonna do sum'n or...?

"Detention for two, please." Maybe that'll get his attention.

The Headmaster didn't react to Arley's request. "Do you take this as a joke, Arley? Delta?"

Delta and Arley remained silent, waiting for what the Headmaster would say next.

"Many of you, if not every single student that sits before me," continued the fruit-nut, "have a promising place in the pits of hell, and this is how you respond to a chance at redemption? No matter how badly you try to deny it, your soul is unclean. Conversion is your only option in this matter, and that will be at any cost, for as long as you live here. No matter how badly you want to get out of here, for as long as you are here, I intend to do just that. Cooperate and you'll do fine. The path to redemption is not an easy one, it never will be, especially for unclean Xeno-things such as the ones that sit before me... It was God's will that every single Xeno-creature in this room was set to attend this school. Whether or not you choose to convert, I intend to make the lives of those that don't take the chance for redemption a living hell. And because of that..."

Arley stopped listening at that point. The weasel-boy went on, babbling about hell, horrible Xeno-beings and the "road to redemption". The same bigoted mindset, the same bullshit lecture. Still, Arley couldn't help but look at the newcomer who was in that chair, restrained by straps that tightened around her arms. The kid closed her eyes, her breathing shallow. Her eyes revealed a blue flame. She blinked and the fire vanquished.

"I would go to hell, but I'm all out of vacation days," said Arley. One or two of the students chortled, others simply smiled. The Headmaster ignored them.

"Do you think that you are above consequence, Arley and Miss Delta?"

"No, I don't," Delta said, her voice stern.

"Serve your detentions within the next hour. Dismissed."

Arley and Delta ventured down the hallway, to detention. As they reached the room's entrance, the intercom had boomed. "Arley Arriaga to the Headmaster's office."

Delta and Arley stopped at the doorway. Two orderlies marched down the hallway, heading toward Arley, to escort him to the office.

"You should've kept quiet, Goldie." That was his nickname. Why? Because his hair was golden, and so was he, technically. Not literally golden, because it was physically impossible to actually be golden.

"What's the fun in that?" Arley questioned, or more so told her.

"He's gonna hurt you now, you dumbass."

"Well, he can't kill me. And I've got my luck on my side, remember?"

"You say that." The two orderlies approached Arley.

"You'll see. I'll see you in detention."