Lunch

Meeting up with Gregg, Thomas joined the queue at the canteen, his stomach very much ready for the lasagne they were serving. It seemed to be the one dish they could actually get right consistently, and as a result there were twice as many students in line as usual.

Gregg began his usual chatter, relating how some guy in his class accidentally set himself on fire in the middle of a pop quiz, but Thomas's mind was elsewhere. Specifically, on the girl sitting halfway across the hall from them. She was quietly tucking into her meal whilst reading a book; golden hair cascaded down to her shoulders, brushing against her soft cheeks. Her flawless face was usually buried in one book or another, and she had a talent for writing that always took Thomas's breath away. She was perfect from top to bottom - at least in Thomas's eyes.

"Ask her out already, dumb-dumb." Gregg's comment shook Tom from his daydreaming. "Hey, let me portal you over, save you the walk."

"Don't you dare," glowered Tom. His dark eyes had a steely serious glint, that threw Gregg off his beat.

"Alright, man, I'm just messing with you," backtracked the ginger boy. "But seriously, I still can't figure why you haven't asked her out."

"Without knowing what my powers are? Are you insane?"

The real reason Thomas hadn't asked out his crush of three years was that he was certain he would screw it up somehow. So, at first, he had learnt everything he could about her. She had a cute dog named Daisy, a little terrier she often went on walks with. In common with him, she loved philosophy, linguistics, and music. Six months ago she developed the power to create utterly convincing illusions. And her name was Laura Fox.

But now, of course, he probably knew too much about her, and would say something creepy, or be super weird, if he ever spoke to her. So she remained to him a treasure of the mind, forever out of reach.

After a good ten minutes of waiting, Tom and Gregg finally sat down and tucked into their lasagne. As was his habit, Thomas quietly observed the many groups noisily talking, shouting and laughing over their lunch. The jocks occupied several tables - several of them were over nine feet tall, and almost all had super-strength at some level. A blur shot through the room, leaving several people's lunches on their head, before resolving into the boil-covered face of Jake Trott.

"Enjoy your lunch, losers!" he cackled, before disappearing, shattering the glass of the door on his way out. Thomas finally breathed out; it was always scary having a guy around who could - and probably would - **** your own shit down your throat before you could blink. Sometimes - well, all the time - he wished school could be power-free from start to finish, not just during lessons.

Then there was the popular girls. At their head, as always, was Jennifer, a blonde girl with ruby lips and a body to die for. She had risen to queen cat in the past year in no small part thanks to her ability to manipulate the emotions of others. Gregg had once foolishly played a joke on her, and come away with intense disgust at himself that took weeks to dissipate. Meanwhile, her associates got to enjoy frequent bouts of contentedness, ecstasy, and of course, devoted admiration. None more so than her right-hand girl, Kylie Robin, well-known as the biggest slut in the school, with the ability to shapeshift her body to any human form she pleased. So naturally, right now her body was perfectly proportioned, complemented by a perfectly symmetrical face, dazzling violet eyes, and silky chestnut hair flowing to her tight waist. Most of the popular girls had these types of powers - and most guys would kill to just have a conversation with any one of them. But they could also be cruel, and very, very dangerous. Needless to say, Tom kept his distance.

And so school went on. Two weeks of treading lightly, trying to avoid the attention of the bullies, dreaming of being intimate with Kylie, or Izumi, or any of them... or Laura. Especially Laura. Until the day Thomas finally turned eighteen, and gained an ability that would change his life.