Chapter Three

Knock knock knock!

I moaned and rolled over. Someone was knocking on my door, and interrupted my sleep. It was a beautiful sleep too. I don't think I've ever slept better in my life. "Who is it?" I yelled sleepily.

Someone laughed from the other side of the door, "Sage, it's me Alexsandra! You need to wake up! You don't want to waste your free day do you?"

Free day? I thought to myself, "Alright, let me get dressed! I'll be out in a minute!"

I heard footsteps going back down the hall and rolled out of bed. I reached for the spot where I put my clothes from yesterday, but they were gone! First of all, what am I gonna wear now? Second of all, someone was in here while I was sleeping! I shivered at the thought.

"Now what?" I asked myself. After a bit of looking around and deciding that I had nothing better to do, I walked over to the dresser sitting on the other side of the room, and opened it. It was full of some of the most fancy clothes I had ever seen. It also all looked like something I would wear. I pulled out some blue jeans that didn't even have holes in the knees, and a T-shirt that wasn't coated in dirt. After slipping them on, I stepped out of my room and to the dining hall.

"There you are!" Alexsandra said as I joined her at a table.

"Here I am." I said around a mouthful of pancakes that I just got from the waiter.

"We have so much we have to do today! We have to go shopping, as well as give each other makeovers! Oh! I also have to show you this awesome picnic spot that is outside and--"

"Actually, Alexsandra," I interrupted, "I was wondering if you hoverboard?"

"Oh, well I guess I've never tried it. It looks scary."

"Well do you want to learn with me?"

"We'll be your teacher." Came a voice from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Dario, Aiden, and Jace walking our way, all three carrying hoverboards.

"You know what?" Alexsandra said, "There's no shame in trying! Except I'm not going fast. I will fall off and break my nose." We all laughed. Aiden, Alexsandra, and Jace got into an argument about following "Better safe than sorry," or "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" while I finished my pancakes.

"All done?" Dario asked, "Great, let's get going." We all headed for the outside, joking and laughing all the way. As we were passing the front doors, we stopped at this machine that I've only seen in the movies.

"Two HB 2000s and two pairs of hover bands." Jace said to the machine. Two HB 2000s and two pairs of hover bands appeared on the screen on the front of the machine, and it started to make a soft humming sound. I stared in wonder as two slick metal boards and four shiny metal rings came from a hole in the side.

I must've been making a stupid face, because Dario and Aiden both laughed. "It's a mothic." Aiden said, "A machine that creates almost anything you want. Dr. Morsie got it for us two years ago."

"Anyway, let's go!" Jace said, grabbing the boards and bands and heading outside. We followed him out to a giant courtyard where Jace was already boarding his hoverboard. He hopped on the board and floated up into the air where Aiden soon followed him.

"Slip these bands over your wrist like this." Dario explained, showing with his own hover bands. I slipped my band over my wrist and the metal adjusted to fit me. Alexsandra did the same, and she shot me a nervous smile.

"Now, just hop on your board and--"

I didn't wait for further instructions. I jumped on the board which swayed slightly with the sudden change of weight. I figured that this board would work like one of those old fashion boards on wheels, so I leaned forward. To my surprise, the board actually started moving forward. I couldn't help but laugh at my success.

"Sage, wait for me!" I heard Alexsandra yell from behind me, but I didn't wait. I zoomed on ahead and between Jace and Aiden so fast that they swerved to the side. I laughed and tried to swerve my board around, but lost my balance and went tumbling off the board.

I yelled as I fell off the board. I thought that I was a goner, but right before I hit the ground the metal bands on my wrists pulled upward and yanked my arms very painfully.

"Sage! What the flip!?" Alexsandra came running over to me and started yelling at me, but the boys were just laughing their heads off in the background. I pulled my arms down and fell the rest of the way to the ground.

"You are so lucky you wear those bands!" Alexsandra was telling me, "They saved your life! You should've waited for me!"

"It takes a while for your board to learn your movements." Jace said, hovering over Alexsandra, "You're gonna have to use the board a little more before you go swerving like that."

"Well gee, thanks for the warning." I said, rubbing my wrists.

"Maybe we should be done for the day." Alexsandra said.

"What? No!" I argued, "I want to try again! And this time you have to do it with me. Hoverboarding is so fun!"

Alexsandra seemed torn, "Alright." she said after a while, "But no more trying to kill yourself alright?"

"Deal." I said.

We rode hoverboards for a good portion of the day. I actually got really good at it! Alexsandra got good at it too. We did a race and Dario won, but I got second place. Bailey and Olwyn joined us too. Also, for some weird reason, someone would disappear for a small period of time. Everyone disappeared once. When Alexsandra left, I just rode around in circles. About halfway through the day a car pulled up and Ugine came running out of it. It was a pretty awesome reunion, and apparently I'm the only one with a dog. At the end of the day we went to get dinner.

"Guess what's for dinner today?" Alexsandra said as we were walking to the dining hall.

"Um… meatloaf?" I tried, naming the first food that came to my mind.

"Ew, no!" Alexsandra replied, "We're having sushi! I love sushi! Dr. Morsie always has professional sushi makers come and make it!"

We arrived at the dining hall where Cathleen was waiting for us. "Good, good. Let's eat now, shall we?" We all nodded and stepped into the hall. The sushi actually was really good. I sat next to Alexsandra again, and we talked about hoverboarding and sushi the entire time.

The next day I figured out why everyone disappeared yesterday. I also figured out why Alexsandra said that I didn't want to waste my free day.

I was on my way to the library with Alexsandra when some weird guy dressed in all black came up to me. At first I thought that I did something wrong, because he just asked me to follow him, and started walking towards Cathleen's office. But after I went there I found out that I definitely was not in trouble.

"Come in Sage!" Cathleen said when I arrived at her office.

I walked into her office which was as white as everything else she owned. Cathleen was sitting behind a white desk, her hands folded in front of her. On her desk were a few vials of different colored liquids. I walked in the room and closed the door behind me.

"You may sit down." Cathleen said, gesturing towards a plushy white chair in front of her. I walked over and sat down on the chair. "In case you were wondering, you are not in trouble." Cathleen assured me, "You are just here for your first lesson." I wanted to ask her what she meant by lesson, but she started talking again. "Now, to give a bit of background, in order to get your power, you need to know how to control it. In this situation, you will have a simple power, telekinesis. Use that power to survive the situation, got it?"

I did not get it, but Cathleen just grabbed a vial and placed it in my hand. "I drink it?" I asked. She nodded, so I popped off the lid, and stared at the liquid. It was amber with swirls of bright green. It smelled like old tuna. I definitely did not want to consume that.

"Go on." Cathleen said, putting on a pair of dark glasses, "Drink it."

I decided then and there that if I didn't want to see Professor Hoolay again, I'd have to do what Cathleen says. I plugged my nose, took a deep breath, and gulped down the liquid. It tasted moldy and bitter and burned my throat as it went down. I strongly resisted the urge to cough.

"Well done." Cathleen said, typing something on a holograph. I tried to read what was on the screen, but I can't read backwards well. "Now, I'm gonna start the simulation. Ready?" Cathleen didn't wait for my reply, she just tapped a button on the holograph.

My body convulsed, and everything went black. I felt like I was being pushed through a funnel. I wasn't unconscious, my thoughts were still rushing through my head. After a while of sitting there in silence, I realized that my eyes were just closed. I opened them, expecting to see Cathleen sitting in her desk, but instead I saw the assembly room back at my old school.

Oh no! I thought to myself, I must've passed out and Cathleen saw my weakness so she took me back here!

The principal was talking, "And now, without further ado…." he said, "I would like to invite Sage Cordell to the stand to explain why she failed and why Cathleen Morsie sent her back here."

I swallowed. This wasn't good. I stood up and slowly made my way to the front of the room, feeling the eyes of everyone around me locked on me. Coming to the conclusion that I might as well rock my humiliation, I stepped up to the podium.

"Um, hello?" I said into the microphone, "As you all probably know I am Sage Cordell and--"

"How did you get sent away from Cathleen already?" a kid from the dense crowd of students yelled.

"Well, um--"

"Did you get in trouble?" A girl asked.

"Er, no I don't think so, I--"

"Why are you back here?" a girl sitting in the front row asked, "What if we didn't want you back?"

Suddenly the whole auditorium burst into an uproar. Kids were yelling and screaming, and they all were standing up and running towards me. I backed up to the wall to evade advancing enemies. Suddenly, there was a cracking noise, and the light fixture broke off the ceiling. Metal and glass came tumbling down onto the students. It almost moved in slow motion. Some strange sensation came over me and a voice whispered in my head, "In this situation, you will have a simple power, telekinesis. Use that power to survive the situation, got it?"

I knew what I had to do. I threw out my hand and forced all of my will towards the light fixture. To my great surprise, there was a tingling feeling in my fingers, and the light fixture stopped falling.

It was dead silent. The students standing under the fixture stared wide-eyed at the hovering fixture above them. I moved my hand and the fixture moved with it, over to the back of the gym where no one was.

"Good job Sage." Cathleen's voice said from seemingly nowhere, "You may come back." And then again, I doubled over and it went dark. I could feel myself sitting in the chair in Cathleen's office. Slowly, I sat up and opened my eyes. Cathleen was tapping on her holograph again. Her face was twisted into something that looked like a mix of pride and surprise.

"Well done." Cathleen said, "You did surprisingly good for someone with your level of…. your level of confidence." It took all of my power not to snort. She was talking about my pride. "But anyway," Cathleen continued, "We have some extra time, so I think we'll do one more. Here is this." Cathleen handed me a vial containing grey liquid, "You should know the procedure by now. Your power will be teleportation. Good luck."

I popped the lid of the vial and didn't waste a second before I plugged my nose and choked down the liquid. It tasted like mud and sweat and was hard to swallow. Cathleen seemed pleased by my lack of hesitation. She smirked slightly as she pressed the button on her holograph. That was the last thing I saw before everything went dark again.

I opened my eyes. I was in a deserted street. It was mid day and the sunlight was reflecting into my eyes from a nearby window. I couldn't remember how I got here, so I decided to just walk down the street and see what I found. It's peaceful here, I thought, all deserted and quiet. Just then, a giant clock at the end of the street rang. It banged so loud that the houses shook and my teeth ground together.

Then, to my great horror, every door in the street flew open, and a giant stream of people started flooding into the street. I pressed myself against the nearest wall and watched as the street quickly filled up with chatting people.

"This is overwhelming." I muttered to myself as the crowds got closer and closer to me. Soon enough, there were so many people that they were grazing the walls. I cleared my throat at no one in particular, "Excuse me, can you not--"

Someone bumped me with their elbow and pushed me into the stream of people. I tried to run back to the wall, but there were no gaps in the crowd. I could feel my heart hammering in me ribs like a bird trying to get out of a cage. My breaths were coming in fast rasps. Don't you dare hyperventilate. I commanded myself, trying to calm my lungs despite the many bodies pushing me around.

Just then, I remembered something. I thought of a quiet field, absent of any humans, and turned on the spot. There was a cracking noise and everything went black. I couldn't feel anyone pushing against me any more, and it was quiet. I opened my eyes and there I was in the field I was thinking about before. The sound of birds filled the air and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Well done." Cathleen's voice said, "Come back."

This time I was expecting it. I held myself straight even though I felt like I was being squished through a tube, and opened my eyes right away when I stopped. Cathleen was smirking at me, even though she tried to hide it by taking off her glasses.

"That simulation you just did is called Fear One. There are three kinds of simulations. Humiliation, rage, and fear. There are also three severities of each category. You just took the mildest version of fear. I believe that very soon, you will have them all mastered. We are out of time today, however. You may go."

I nodded and stood up. I could feel Cathleen staring at me as I made my way to the door. It was about nine o' clock, but I decided I was going to go to bed. Even though the simulation was over, the illusion of fear and humiliation still lingered.