3 First Day of Defense Class

As normal as my school is, the size of the building is larger than most. There are three large gymnasiums at my school. The largest one is where my UNIQUE defense class will be. I had been there once before as a preliminary introduction to the vast enclosure before the new semester started.

I entered the gymnasium. The sights were just as I remembered. It was like a large obstacle course. There were walls to climb, stairs to ascend, monkey bars... It was a simple and boring playground for large kids. I was not shown before, but there were supposedly special areas for people with more destructive powers.

I found a crowd of students waiting for the teacher to arrive. They were hanging around a crowded bench and talking. I parked my back against the nearby wall. The next bell had rung. the teacher was late. We waited for another five minutes until we heard the door open.

In walked a young, tall and, dare I say it? A BEAUTIFUL woman of about 25 years of age. If I'm guessing right.

"Holy shit! Please be our teacher!"

I heard one of the male students say behind me. I can't say that I don't share the sentiment. Her black heels were clacking as she took her steps toward the group. She wore a black business suit with a skirt. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She carried a clipboard with some paperwork on it. All eyes were on her. When she stopped, she looked down at her paperwork before speaking.

"I am Vice Principal Kyung. Adress me as such, if you need to speak to me. I am here to... Where is Mr. Halloway? He should be here."

I've never seen the entire class so speechless. I decided to try telling her myself.

"He hasn..."

"Not here. We've been waiting. You're the first person to show up after the bell."

I was interrupted. Stephanie took the reigns on answering the question. Kyung had a look of distaste on her face as she clicked her tongue. She mumbled something under her breath.

"Well, I will wait here with you until he arrives. In the meantime, Is there a... Henry Bazee, here?"

As expected, no one had any clue who she was talking about. Raising my hand would be entirely useless. I began walking toward her as I spoke to see if she would respond.

"That's me."

She didn't hear me. I gently patted her right shoulder. She took a step back and looked at me like a mouse had just shown its existence.

"Sorry, my power is..."

"So you are the one... I need to speak with you in private. Follow me."

She turned and began to walk away. She only took a few steps before the door to the gym had opened for the second time since the bell rang. It was a blonde haired man with stubble. He was hunched over with a bored look on his face. He held another clipboard as well as a steaming mug. He took a sip before looking in this direction. He showed an annoyed look when he saw Ms. Kyung.

"I don't need your help." He simply blurted out at the VP.

"Clearly you do." Kyung looked at her wristwatch. "Seven minutes late? We have other teachers that are qualified for this position. You should keep that in mind."

"Qualified? I would gladly volunteer as the T.A. to watch my replacement fumble over and over before they quit. Try me." The man casually took another sip from his mug before approaching the group of students. I could smell the coffee as he passed Kyung and me.

"Now, what was I doing?" I heard from the woman in front of me. I tapped her shoulder again. "OH!" She was more startled than before.

"Is everything okay, Miss V.P.?" Mr. Halloway asked.

"I'm fine. Do your job."

Since she answered the teacher, I was expecting her to forget about me again. I was about to reach out when she actually looked me in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to someone with this kind of power. You may well be the one person in the world that can sneak up on me."

I was impressed. Aside from the Principal, she is the only person at school that can remember me after her attention had been shifted.

"Since that deadbea... I mean, your teacher showed up, you should get to class. If you don't mind, please come see me after class. If you have something you need to do after class is over, it can wait till tomorrow morning. Come see me before homeroom if that's the case."

"Okay."

I was too distracted by how polite she was to give a proper answer. Her demeanor led me to believe she would be a total bitch. I was pleasantly surprised.

"Go on. I will see you later."

Her smile was amazing. I couldn't turn around until her smile was no longer in view. I let out a sigh. That was the most interaction I've had with someone in a while. I let out a smirk as I walked back to the group. The teacher was in the middle of attendance. My name was already called and marked absent. I walked up and stood next to the teacher to find my name on the sheet. I was going to wait for him to drop his guard so that I could change the mark.

"Stephan..."

"Here!" Stephanie answered before he could finish.

...

"What are you doing, kid?"

...

*Thwack*

A hard surface hit my head. He hit me on the head with his clipboard. I wasn't paying attention.

"I asked you a question. What are you doing?"

He was looking right at me. I hadn't done anything to get his attention. How could he see me?

"Uh.. I..."

"Spit it out."

"My attendance. I'm here. You marked me absent."

"Name?"

He looked over the previous names he called out and found the only absent name. He pointed at mine.

"Excuse me, sir? Who are you talking to?"

He looked up in surprise at the female student's question. His gaze returned to me.

"Henry?"

I nodded my head.

"Who is Henry? I'm next on the roster."

Called out another student. The teacher seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Uh... Give me a moment, please."

He leaned in close and began whispering while pretending to look at papers under the attendance sheet.

"What is your power?"

"I was told that I emanate an aura that causes people to involuntarily ignore my presence. I can stand in front of someone and they don't seem to notice me unless I go out of my way to catch their attention. I was going to change my absent mark. I do that every day in all of my classes so I thought today would be no different."

He stared at me like I was spouting a bunch of bull.

"Hmmm..."

He lowered the attendance page and changed my absent mark himself. Two more firsts today.

"Go sit somewhere. I need to think about some things."

I left and returned to my spot against the wall next to my backpack. He continued his calling of names until the roster was fully accounted for.

"Okay, first..."

He stopped himself and wrote something down before continuing.

"Everyone come to me, one at a time. I don't care about the order. Give me your name and your power. I need to know who can do what so that we can personalize training."

"Didn't you just call our names?"

"Yes, and it's still only the first day. I already forgot most of your names. Just do as I say..."

He mumbled something under his breath.

The day was continuing regularly. The last three students were waiting to approach the teacher.

The bell began to ring. I didn't think the day was over yet...

Uh... Why Is the bell still ringing?

"Everyone! Take cover. Hide. This is an emergency! Don't leave this building." Mr. Halloway shouted.

What is going on?