One
Back in the old days, I was as average as average gets. Besides being a total genius and being friends with my science teacher, Garrison Wright, I was an ordinary sixteen-year-old boy. I was also a grade ahead, making me a common target for bullies, and Henry and Matthew were constantly cleaning up my messes.
Besides my three brothers, I only had two best friends. Dexter Marian was the sporty jock. He was on the football team and close to joining the police academy, following in his dad's and two older brothers' footsteps. However, my brilliant mind fascinated him, and science and biology were his most vital subjects. He didn't give a shit what his friends thought about his friendship with Danielle Scott and me, two of the biggest high school nerds. We just got lucky.
Danielle Scott was the gorgeous girl next door type. She was intelligent, pretty, athletic, and different from the other girls I obsessed with my brothers during boring classroom discussions. We only kissed once, but it was enough to turn our friendship into something romantic. I honestly blamed Dexter for it, too.
The day I got my superpowers was when Jack McCoy tried to beat me to a pulp. If it weren't for Mr. Wright, he would have killed me. I raced to a boys' locker room, half-naked in my boxers because the football team had stolen my clothes. I dodged open lockers and water from the showers. I quickly lost my footing as I turned the corner and smacked my head against frigid concrete. My eyes fluttered, and all I could see were the football boys' outlines hooting and hollering while I tried to sustain consciousness.
"Where's Dex-boy or your big brothers now, Sammie?" Jack growled, stepping forward under the locker room lights.
"They, uh, they're—" I hesitated, looking around for something to defend myself with as he moved closer, his eyes locked on mine. Warm red blood oozed from my head, and the room spun. The heart in my chest sank. Was I destined to die in high school because of these punks?
"They're not here," Jack finished. I was not expecting this to be how I died, but it was a close second. Tinnitus, nausea, and vertigo kicked in as my eyes fluttered. Then, the door swung open, and what I hoped was my brawny brother Matthew turned out to be Mr. Wright, saving the day. Little did I know he would be the reason I gained superpowers.
"Back off," Mr. Wright roared at Jack. Jack's breath grew heavy as he turned on his feet. "Go home before I call your father, McCoy," he demanded.
"You're full of shit if you think you can tell me what to fucking do, Garrison. My dad will have you fired in a split second."
"Do you think I'm afraid of brats like you? Your dad may be a high-ranking school board member, but you're a nobody. So I'm ordering you to back off now." He argued back.
"I don't take orders from anyone but my dad."
"You're a sick and twisted son of a bitch. What did Sam do to you?" Mr. Wright snapped.
"Sam is at the top of the food chain. He breathes. That's what he did," Jack snarled, his foot now hovering right above my groin.
My vision blurred. "You are a selfish son of a bitch," Garrison snapped at Jack again. Blood smeared on the concrete as I slowly lost consciousness, but there was silence until Mr. Wright slugged his fist into Jack's face. He was for sure getting fired, but he did this for me. Then, as my heart hammered slowly, the world faded, and I was out faster than a light switch.
∆∆∆
"The next time Jack does that shit to you, call me, okay, Sam," Mr. Wright said, wrapping his broken fist in a long piece of gauze. I pressed a cold bean bag to my jawline, watching Mr. Wright scribble down something on a blank notepad at his desk with his injured hand.
"Jack's dad is going to cremate your ass. You'll get fired, and Jack will kick my ass even harder. What the fuck were you thinking?" I rambled on, my voice cracking like I was still going through puberty.
"Don't worry about me, Samual," Garrison said. "Can you close up the lab for me today?"
"Sure," I replied.
Garrison rubbed his palms together. His eyes focused on the computer. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Knight." He shut down his laptop, stuffed it in his bag, and wandered out of the classroom.
He left me with rows full of toxic-smelling chemical experiments lining the off-white tables. I was sixteen. This is the first time I've done this. I could barely care for myself, and he trusted me with experiments. Where was I supposed to put them?
Later, as I recovered, Mr. Wright advised me to contact him if Jack threatened me again. Concerned about the potential consequences of his actions, I questioned his decision to confront Jack. Nonetheless, he entrusted me with closing the lab, a responsibility I felt unprepared for.
Searching for a solution, I recalled a secret safe room behind one of the walls, known only to me, Dexter, and Danielle. Trusting them implicitly, I hesitated but eventually found the hidden button, triggering the transformation of the wall into an entrance to a small, pristine, white, safe room.
Inside, I discovered rows of experiments and shelves filled with countless test tubes. Among them was a futuristic chrome laser, a device Mr. Wright had mentioned before but believed to be fictional. Dexter and Danielle joined me, excited by the unexpected discovery. They explored the room cautiously, taking pictures and examining various experiments, while I urged them to be careful.
Dexter and Danielle rounded the corner, bursting through the doorway. "Holy shit! You're in Garrison's layer!" Dexter exclaimed. "What did Garrison say he did again?"
"He's a..." I thought, "Don't touch anything," I instructed. We all split up. Dexter flicked a beaker full of liquid on the left side of the room. The awful stink made Danielle's nostrils pucker as she stared inside a filthy rat cage full of dirty, dead rats.
We wandered around the room, looking for something more exciting than creepy. Dexter started taking pictures using his phone. He backed up into the laser, which hummed to life next to him. He threw his hands in the air and didn't move a muscle.
In a moment of misfortune, I tripped over an extension cord, causing me to crash into a table full of experimental vials. Glass shattered, and the resulting cuts on my body exposed me to experimental fluids that seeped into my wounds.
I was almost lifeless on the ground. My eyes weren't closed, but the liquids paralyzed me while my body turned a shade of pastel blue. "Sam!" Danielle screamed, rushing to my aid with Dexter.
"What did you do, Sammie?" Dexter roared, yanking a large chunk of Glass from my calf, leaving cuts along his palm and my leg, squirting blood all over the floor as I groaned.
"Don't do that. Sam will bleed out," Danielle ordered Dexter. Dani and Dex pushed a pile of Glass away from my limp body, working together to get as much of the oozing mess away from me. They cut themselves on Glass, paralyzing themselves as whatever experiments Garrison worked on trickled into their wounds, leaving them frozen on the floor.
Amid the chaos, the laser hummed to life, emitting a bright beam that struck all of us. Darkness descended as our pulses slowed, and we lay unconscious and half-dead in a pool of blood and shattered experiments.
