Chapter 7

“No sir,” she finally answered. Regardless of how frustrated Nel was with Leana, she would not disobey her mother’s wishes simply because a few peers were curious to see what the Undecided could do.

A burst of murmuring followed Nel’s answer; she was used to this. Glancing at Manari, she acknowledged her best friend’s sympathetic gaze before returning hers to Professor Wilde. It seemed that the PA teacher harbored more disappointment than in recent classes.

“If you say so.” He murmured in a disconcerting sort of way. “Alright, young Alpha Stone,” he said, skipping to the back of the line. “You ready to show everyone how it’s done?” he asked.

“I’d rather not, professor,” remarked Colsin. “Unless you want your dummies destroyed.”

“Well,” said Professor Wilde, “You’ll just put them back together again, won’t you?” Of course, it was evident that this was not a question more of a statement for the young alpha.

Without another word, Colsin stepped forward and glanced at Nel as he did. Shortly after, everyone turned their attention toward the young alpha. When Colsin Stone was at the center of any room, all eyes were on him. This time would be no different.

There were three large dummies standing before the class in the middle of the almost arena-style gymnasium. They’d no doubt seen better days but were still very sturdy. After all the damage that they’d already withstood, Nel found it hard to believe that even someone as powerful as the young alpha could actually destroy it. Especially, since the large fighting dolls were specifically made to withstand damage. They were even enchanted to heal themselves.

Nel stood there wondering what powerful ability Colsin Stone possessed that would destroy the class test dummies. She didn’t realize that her best friend had snuck up on her from behind.

“You alright?” Manari asked.

“Fine,” countered Nel. By this time, she had completely disregarded the ordeal of being called out beforehand. She was just intrigued by what power the alpha had possessed. She’d noticed hints of telekinesis in earlier classes but nothing that would destroy the practicing dummies. “What does he mean by destroy the dummies?” she asked curiously.

“Colsin is what’s known as a peculiar,” she said. Nel looked at her best friend in wait for her to respond, but only for a moment as she feared that a second of distraction would cause her to miss whatever it was that Colsin Stone was about to do.

“A peculiar. Mom told me about them, but her information was vague…hardly useful,” mentioned Nel as she watched Colsin lift his hand slightly. He was quite haphazard in his motion.

“Peculiars usually carry particularly rare traits when it comes to their abilities. Usually, inhumans don’t have more than one ability. Colsin is one of the few-and when I say few, I do not use the term lightly, who has not only more than one ability, but a range of one and a rarity of the other.”

“Which means?” asked Nel.

“Which means…” Manari started to further explain when suddenly all three dummies swiftly lifted in the air with hardly any effort. “not only does he have the ability of telekinesis,” she said and hardly seconds after they were levitated off of the ground, the metal dummies swiftly exploded, sending shards of metal shooting across the classroom. Fortunately, those who harbored the ability to protect did so. “he can explode things,” she finished.

“Isn’t that…some variation of telekinesis?” asked Nel.

“It’s unknown. Some think that it’s actually a manipulation of time,”

“Time?” Nel doubled back at her friend. “How?” And as she asked this question, Nel realized that the shards of metal did indeed shoot out everywhere-some towards the class, but they never made impact with anything or anyone.

They were frozen in mid-air. And as suddenly as the dummies exploded, they were almost instantly returning to rights, the swiftness of the shards whipping through the air, making a sharp sound until everything was as it was. It was only at that moment that Nel realized why these professors that Manari had mentioned hypothesized that t he young some of the young alpha’s abilities were not simply rooted in telekinetic abilities.

“Time,” she reiterated in sudden realization and silent amazement.

As the young alpha took his confident stride back to his spot in the corner, Nel found him watching her again, but only for a moment. This time, she did not avert her gaze, however, as admittedly Colsin Stone was chalking up to be more interesting than she had previously thought. Not curious enough not to stay out of his path, however. As far as Nel was concerned, curious eye-contact was the extent of her need to know more about Colsin Stone. Ultimately, she knew that he was better off a mystery.

“Alright class,” Professor Wilde announced to the class. “Next session will be outside. Sparring practice!” he said excitedly. “I want to see what you all can do when it comes time to defend yourselves.”

The class was split in terms of how they felt about this prospect. Some were excited and others were understandably frightened; they were all afraid to be paired with the young alpha or his girlfriend, Sara Slate. Apparently, she was considered a Peculiar as well, containing the ability to use herself as a conduit for electricity. Nel had to admit that it was a pretty cool power to have. Of course, she wouldn’t admit this to Sara as the girl already displayed a large sense of arrogance in the first place.

“I’m hoping I can try out the new girl,” she said after everyone had gone into the locker rooms to change and then return to the bleachers to wait for the bell to ring. “What do you think, girls?” she asked her little group of friends.

Girls like Sara Slate didn’t have many real friends. She intimidated people into being her friends. Nel was starting to wonder if Guinevere was actually the queen of the clique or Sara. The more she observed Sara’s vainglorious and obnoxious demeanor, the more Nel began to realize that the alpha’s girlfriend was the head honcho. Next to Sara, Guinevere was a mouse.

Everyone seemed to find amusement in the head mean girl’s comment. Nel displayed hardly any concern, however. It was to be expected as far as she was concerned.

“Come on new girl,” she said, boldly approaching Nel. “You have a comeback? You certainly had one earlier today.” She spoke. “Guinevere told me that you were particularly spicy toward her.”