“Excellent. This is going to be fun,” Dr. Floros enthused before clapping his hands together. Adara snorted loudly, and Tray shook his head at her with disgust. “There is simply so much to cover—more than the public is aware of, you see. Affinities have been around for centuries, but the world is only now being informed of them…and not in a good way. Wackos is what they call us now. The Reggs have had their fair share of crude nicknames for us, but Wackos… I digress. I should begin with a bit about myself, I suppose.”
Adara flipped her notebook onto the floor and then began etching words into the desk with her pen. Ackerly wrote down every word the man said, while Tray, though attentive, was a bit irritated with the teacher’s lack of subject structure.
“Well, ah, I was born in 1717 in southern Greece, only a few months prior to the Battle of Matapan,” Dr. Floros began, squinting his brown eyes and staring up at the ceiling as he tried to recall. “I don’t remember it, of course, but—”
“Hold up,” Adara interjected, and Tray, for once, was grateful she had the indecency to interrupt him. “What did you just say?”
The teacher turned to her quizzically. “Oh, uh, the Battle of Matapan, yes. It’s not very important to our curriculum, but if you are interested, I can go into deeper detail.”
“I don’t care about your freakin’ Mat-pan Battle—”
“She’s confused because you said you were born in 1717,” Tray said, “as am I and everyone else in this room.”
“You two are such dumb losers,” Kiki scoffed. “He obviously has an Affinity for being eternally young—and hot, if you don’t mind me adding.”
“I do mind a bit,” Dr. Floros said uneasily, “but you aren’t far from the truth. I was born, you see, with a disease that should have killed me within a day. Medicine was not so finely developed in the seventeen hundreds—especially not for a poor family, as mine was. I would and should have died, but I had been gifted, or perhaps cursed, with the Affinity chromosome. The science is still astonishing to me, all of this technology we have now… I would have to say my favorite advancement has been—”
“Condoms?” Adara suggested, eliciting snickers among the other students.
“Ignore Stromer,” Tray advised Dr. Floros, who was visibly bemused. “She’s notoriously vulgar.”
“I was actually going to say the blender is my favorite advancement,” Dr. Floros said pensively. “Smoothies are superb. Birth control, however, is certainly useful…for others. Romantic love is an impossibility for me, you can imagine. My lover would die of old age but I would live on hollowly…”
Eagerly, Kiki inclined in her chair, wiggling her eyebrows. “But doesn’t the fact that it’s forbidden make it sexier?”
“Can we please just get back to the topic of the class?” Tray complained as he tapped his bare notebook.
“Yeah, I wanna know how this dude got the power of living forever,” Seth agreed feverishly.
“Well, I won’t live forever,” Than explained, “but I will live for quite some time. You see, when I was born, I had a disease that should have killed me within a day—”
“God, shoot me,” Adara moaned loudly enough to cause half of the class to chortle.
“If there were a god, he wouldn’t shoot you—and not now,” Tray snapped as his hand clenched his pen. “He would have probably struck you dead by lightning a long time ago.”
“Don’t get all science-atheist on us here, Nerdworm. You’re offending the religious people in the room.”
“It might interest you to know,” Dr. Floros started with a hint of excitement, “that I’ve switched religions approximately seventeen times in the past three hundred years—well, almost three hundred years. I’ve been going through another period of confusion, but I believe I’m getting close to choosing—”
“Oh, your three-hundred-year-long life is just so interesting,” Adara derided. “Please, tell us more.”
“Are you guys sure she was the victim at your old school?” Hartman asked as he peeked around to look toward Tray, Seth, and Kiki. “She seems more like a bully to me.”
“Oh yeah, she was a total loser,” Seth confirmed with a laugh. When he glanced over at Adara and saw her poisonous scowl, he added, “What? You were—but you’re gaining some popularity here.”
Kiki rolled her eyes ostentatiously. “Or she’s gaining a reputation for being extremely annoying.”
“You were trying to tell us how you acquired your Affinity,” Lavisa told Dr. Floros before Adara could make a snide comeback at Kiki. Their teacher was trying to process the direction this conversation had strayed and was having a difficult time producing words.
“Ah—well, yes, my Affinity… You see, since I was born with a disease that should have killed me, my chromosomes adapted to give me the ability to survive and live a long life. Dr. Wright knows all of the details, of course, but I believe my body heals incredibly quickly or my growing was slowed—or both, perhaps. Either way, I age ten times slower than the average human. It took me twenty years to learn how to walk and talk—my sister had to raise me, poor girl. I never knew her, really, but she must have had a brutal time. Imagine a twenty-year-old toddler…”
“You were cursed, my friend,” Adara concluded in a voice of false sympathy. “My question now is: how, in the past three hundred years, have you not managed to get rid of your Greek accent?”
“I like the Greek accent,” Kiki countered before Dr. Floros could speak up. “Accents increase attractiveness.”
“I can do a mean British accent,” Seth proclaimed. After clearing his throat, he said, “Aye, care for some, uh, crumplers?”
“Crumpets,” Tray corrected, rubbing his forehead with impatience. “Now can you all just shut up so the man can speak?”
“Oh yes, because he is so entertaining,” Adara droned as she began to drum her fingers on the armrest of her chair.
“I was an entertainer once, in England, actually,” Dr. Floros informed them listlessly, “and in France, if I recall. I was only a child then—about a hundred years old.”
“Mm, brag a little more about how you’ll live forever while some of us wonder what our Affinity even is.”
“It takes time for some, Miss…uh…Stromer,” Dr. Floros finished after scanning his clipboard. Upon saying her name, his brown eyes lit up. “Avner’s sister?”
Adara rubbed her temples. “Let’s not get into this.”
“No, let’s,” Tray encouraged, allowing a smug smirk to spread across his lips. “Why don’t you spend the rest of the class, in fact, talking about how great Avner is and how his little sister is a disgrace?”
“Well, I do not know that I can call Miss Stromer a disgrace—I do not know her well enough—but she certainly has a…different temperament than her brother. Ah, Avner…so many wonderful things to say…”
“You little sack of shit,” were the words Seth heard upon exiting the Mentals Building. Walking out of the first enjoyable class of his life with his girl on his arm, he was convinced that Periculand was its own sort of heaven—well, until he found Adara pinning Tray to the outer wall of the building, snarling in his face.
Surely, in heaven, his two closest homies would finally get along. After provoking that teacher, Than, to rant about his love for Avner for the entirety of their history class, Tray had hurried out of the lecture hall, only to fall prey to Adara’s wrath in the same way he always had throughout their youth.
“Do you think I like listening to all of my perfect brother’s accomplishments? Do you think I like hearing how great his life has been here without me?” she questioned as she pressed Seth’s twin harder into the wall.
“No,” he grunted, clearly finding it difficult to breathe with the pressure on his chest. “That’s why I made it happen.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? We used to be on the same side…in school, at least—”
“That was before we came here. Now you think you’re cool—being as mean as everyone else always
was to you…”
“I have never been a nice person, Stark.”
Tray let out a long breath when she finally released her grasp on him. “Obviously not.” He massaged his sternum. “But you used to be quiet.”
“Really?” the kid with the glasses, Ackerly, asked in a high-pitched tone of surprise. He stood behind them with his notebooks in his arms, observing their conversation in the same calm fashion as Seth. “I can’t see Adara being quiet.”
“She was at our old school,” Seth confirmed. “She didn’t say much, kinda like my weird roommate—creepy but quiet.”
“Let’s not talk about the past, okay?” she snapped, sending an acidic scowl in Kiki’s direction. Seth felt his girlfriend tense at his side. “Things are going to be different here. You’re either prey or predator, and I will not become prey again.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Tray groaned. Adara ignored him as she spun on her heel and strutted away. After gathering his frayed notebooks, he dashed at what was probably his swiftest pace to catch up with her. “We are at a school—this is about learning, not social hierarchy. You either succeed or fail, and you are definitely going to fail!”
With a weak smile, Ackerly followed after them, leaving Seth alone with Kiki. As much as he wanted to hear the rest of the argument, his girlfriend was glaring at him in a way that scared him into staying at her side.
“I don’t like Adara’s new attitude,” she said as the two of them strolled slowly down the path toward the Naturals Building. Students poured in through the glass double-doors, all eager for the lunch buffet, and Seth was practically salivating at the thought of it, but he had to please his lady.
“I kinda like it,” he said, staring off at Adara as she screamed at his twin. “I mean, she’s always been like this…at home, at least. She’s just letting loose. It’s probably good for her.”
“I don’t care about what’s good for her,” Kiki scoffed, clinging tighter to his arm. “I care about what’s good for us. We were top tier at our old school—we cannot sink into…nothingness here. We need to assert ourselves as dominant, and we can’t do that if everyone fears her instead.”
“Relax—this place is different from high school. There are no cliques or popularity; it’s just a bunch of people with powers, all hanging out. It’s pretty chill, actually. Don’t you think it’d be nice—I dunno—to just hang out, the two of us, and not worry about who’s popular and who’s not?”
“No. I think that sounds horrible,” she said, flipping her long, blonde hair. “We need to form a posse. We need to find people who think like us.”
“I think Adara’s thinking just like you right now,” Seth cut in, raising his eyebrows knowingly at her. “I mean, she wants to be popular, just like you. Why don’t the both of you rise to power together?”
“I will never associate with her. She is a loser—” Kiki’s voice halted immediately upon entering the cafeteria. The volume of chatter within was elevated, but that was not what had shocked her: her blue eyes, now wide and incredulous, stared at a girl who stood across the room, surrounded by a group of fawning boys—a girl Seth barely recognized. “Orla?”
“Holy crap in my pants,” Seth blabbered at the sight of Orla Belven. Just her pearly white smile seemed to radiate attractiveness. Her very presence was sedating, and Seth couldn’t seem to pry his eyes from her. With shimmering gold hair that flowed past her waist and dazzling gold irises that sparkled beneath her batting eyelashes, she was like a queen among lowly, dirty peasants. She was not much taller than Kiki, but her curves were magnificent, even in the plain t-shirt and cargo pants—
Kiki snapped her fingers in his face. “Seth. Seth!” He blinked, languidly glancing over at her and then hastily wiping the drool from his lip when he saw her furious expression.
“Sorry, uh, I haven’t seen your sister in a while,” he commented as he resisted the urge to look at Orla again.
“Neither have I,” Kiki huffed as her eyebrows creased with loathing, “and I’ve certainly never seen her looking like that.”
“I mean, she was always pretty—”
“Never this pretty! And she never had gold hair…”
“Or eyes,” Seth cooed as he allowed his vision to focus on her again. “Oh, those eyes.”
“Shut up,” Kiki grumbled as she squared her shoulders and marched toward her sister. Without question, Seth trailed behind her, mostly because he was being drawn to Orla like a magnet. The moment her melodic voice penetrated his ears, his brain liquefied. He stopped seeing the group of ogling boys huddled around her until only her exquisite golden gleam permeated his view.
“Oh, you are too cute.”
“Orla,” Kiki greeted coldly, her voice drawing Seth back into the dull reality of the cafeteria. They both stood behind the cluster of boys, none of whom had noticed their approach. Orla had, though, and as soon as her smile drooped, the boys snapped out of their trances.
“Kiki, I was wondering if you’d show up,” the older girl replied with equal hostility. “I was convinced you didn’t have any talents.”
“Yeah, well, you were wrong,” Kiki retorted as she puffed up her chest. The other boys slowly dispersed, and even though Seth had a clear image of Orla now, he kept his attention on his girlfriend to maintain his lucidity. “I have an Affinity, so I’m just like you—or better, maybe.”
“Please. You are nothing like me. It’s clear by just looking at you that you don’t have what I have. Go back home, Sis. I’m sure Mom and Dad don’t miss you as much as me, but no one wants you here.”
“Seth does!” Kiki exclaimed shrilly enough to turn a few heads. At the sound of his name, Seth straightened his posture and flashed a suave grin that didn’t seem to impress his girlfriend’s sister in the slightest. “I’m going to be amazing here—I know it!”
“You always think you know it. And I’m not surprised to see your little boyfriend’s here.”
“Little?”
Orla appraised him like a rotting piece of meat but disregarded his outburst, saying, “I am surprised he’s still dating you after all these years. There may not be many Reggs better than you, but I can assure you he’ll find someone more suitable here, where most girls are more talented than you. No one really stands a chance when I’m around, though. Now, why don’t you and Seth scurry off before I decide to have a chat with him?” With a malicious wink, Orla sauntered off to join a table of primary boys that instantaneously dropped their jaws at the sight of her.
Infuriated, Kiki stomped across the cafeteria; Seth couldn’t decide if he was more baffled because Orla had managed to fluster his girlfriend or because his girlfriend was retreating to where Tray and Adara were eating with Ackerly.
“I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!” Kiki fumed as she plopped down in an empty seat and crossed her arms.
“Are you talking about yourself?” Adara asked as she chewed a sandwich. “If you are, then I agree. I hate her, too.”
“Don’t talk to me!” Kiki wailed before burying her face in her hands. Seth tentatively slipped into the chair beside her, shooting the others a grimace.
“Huh, Stromer, you made Kiki cry,” Tray observed as he shoveled pasta into his mouth. “That’s a first.”
“I’ve never cried because of Kiki—or at all,” Adara assured him briskly. “And I wouldn’t call what she’s doing crying; it’s more of a self-pity-fit.”
Seth tried to pat his girlfriend on the shoulder, but she violently shrugged him off. “She’s the worst when she’s like this,” he whispered to the others.
“I CAN HEAR YOU!”
“I think she’s the worst always,” Adara said flatly. After taking another bite of her sandwich, she turned to Ackerly and asked, “What’s our next exciting class, Greenie?”
“Uh,” Ackerly sang as he fumbled to pull the schedule from his pocket, “we have…training…in the Physicals Building.”
“What the hell is training?” Adara questioned as she re
sted her chin on the boy’s shoulder to scan the paper.
“I’m not sure,” he said as he inched away from her, “but it’s for the rest of the afternoon. No more classes today, I guess.”
“Hey, Adara,” an amiable voice greeted, and all five of them twisted their heads around to see Avner Stromer had appeared behind them. His white t-shirt and green cargo pants were as worn as some of Seth’s old football jerseys, and his hair was no longer the same black as Adara’s but neon yellow, like a highlighter.
“Hello, person I don’t know and don’t want to talk to,” Adara said before gnashing her teeth into her sandwich like a ravenous carnivore.
“Are you, uh, excited for training?” he asked as he scratched the back of his head.
“Are you excited for me to punch you in the face?” she replied with fake enthusiasm. It had taken Seth a few years to catch on to its duplicity, but now it was a voice he knew well. “Because I will if you keep pretending you’re not a despicable human being.”
Avner cleared his throat and winced. “Okay then.”
“What, exactly, does this training entail?” Tray asked Avner. “Is it like gym class?”
“Well,” he began, but he paused instantly upon glancing down to see who had spoken to him. “Oh—Tray, hey—and Seth! Man, I figured you’d both be here. I always thought you had an Affinity for agility or strength, Seth.”
“I do, dude,” he confirmed as he gave Avner a low five. “Do we get to use our powers at training? I wanna try out my super strength.”
Tray appeared unamused. “You don’t even know if that’s your ability. You could have any other power.”
“Any other power in the Physical class,” Avner corrected with an affable laugh. “And Adara, I see you’re in the Natural class, like me.”
“Yeah, and I’m Mental!” Kiki howled before jumping up from her seat. “Come on, babe. We need to get out of here.”
“Uh—oh, okay,” Seth stammered before shoving a handful of French fries into his mouth. “See you guys later,” he attempted to say through the food as Kiki dragged him out of the cafeteria. As much as he would have liked to stick around and chat with Avner, who he’d been close with in their younger years, he knew his girlfriend well enough to know that her demands were not to be refused.
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