“You what?!” Ireland gasped, sitting up. 

“I got superpowers” Derek repeated. Ireland rubbed her head a few times in complete disbelief. 

“Did you get hit on the head, or is that the pain meds talking?” She asked, still not believing him. Derek sighed. 

“Let me just show you,” he said, inching closer to her. Ireland rolled her eyes as he stretched his hand out, she expected nothing but a joke. However, what she saw was not a joke. 

Derek’s hand pulsed with bright green energy that reminded Ireland of an emerald star. Veins of fiery light resembling solar flares emerged from him shining hand, and the veins leading up to his hand radiated green. It almost looked like his veins were made of glow sticks. Ireland gasped.

“You! You do have superpowers!” She exclaimed. Derek half smiled at her shock. 

“That plasma stuff isn’t it either, I also ran us here within seconds, and my wound doesn’t hurt as bad,” Derek explained. Ireland would have asked more question had she been able to think. She was so dumbstruck that for several seconds, she just sat there, staring at him with wide eyes. She shook her head. 

“Ireland, I know it’s crazy and we almost died, but we need to go somewhere safe. Do you recognize this place?” Derek asked, bringing Ireland back into reality. Ireland put aside her shock and looked around. To her surprise, she actually recognized a few of the houses. After looking around a little bit more, her eyes lit up in realization. 

“This is my step-dad’s neighborhood! How did you?“

“I don’t know, honestly. I just ran and stopped when I realized I didn’t know where I was,” Derek explained, silently happy that luck had smiled upon him. 

Ireland stood up quickly, faltering as her head was still light. Derek quickly shot up and steadied her before she fell back down. She stumbled backwards slightly into his arms and stuttered a thanks before standing back up on her own. 

“Hey, are okay?” Derek asked Ireland as she held her head. 

“Yeah, I just feel funny, that’s all,” she said, partially distracted as she observed a few houses she recognized. 

“I think it’s this way to his house, come on!” She said before Derek could say any more. She swiftly walked down the sidewalk, tripping every few steps. It actually was kind of cute, Derek thought, but he couldn’t help but think something wasn’t right. He jogged up to her, with a bit of difficulty as his injury still plagued him. He put a hand on her shoulder and slowed her down a bit. 

“Hey, slow down a bit, girl! You got hit with my shockwave back there, you might not be up for a lot of activity!” Derek said as she nearly fell again. She looked up at him for a moment before walking off again. 

“I’m fine, I promise. I’m not a damsel in distress or anything! Let’s just keep going,” she said, picking up the pace. Derek shook his head in confusion for a moment before catching up with her again. 

“Hey I’m sorry, I just want to make sure you’re okay,” Derek said, slightly confused as to why what he said offended her. She looked up at him sadly. 

“I’m sorry, I’m just used to being made fun of all the time. I didn’t mean to freak out or anything, I’m just stressed,” she apologized. Derek felt a twinge if guilt as she spoke. 

“Hey, if you want to talk about it, you can,” Derek offered, hoping to help. She shook a hand. 

“Let’s not talk about me right now, let’s just get to the house,” she dismissed. Derek, himself also not in great emotional state, chose not to argue. 

They walked for only about fifteen minutes, but to Derek, it felt like an hour. Though his injury was healed on the outside, there were still internal consequences, but it wasn’t anything Derek couldn’t handle. There were a few times they had to slow down for his sake, but eventually they made it the house Ireland said belonged to her step-dad. 

It was a small ranch-style house with a large tree in the yard and a nice little patio leading up to the front door. The colors were simple shades of tan and mahogany, and there were red bricks underneath the wood panels. It was rather cute, kind of homie looking, Derek thought. 

Ireland reached out and rang the doorbell, waiting for an answer. As things usually went when arriving unannounced, there was no answer. Ireland rang once more and heard footsteps from the inside. She backed away from the door and made room for the soon-to-open door. 

“Hello?” A man in his late thirties to early forties peeked his head outside the door. Ireland raised her hand in greeting. 

“Hey Adrian,” she said, “we need help. Can you let us in?” She asked, quickly. Adrian furrowed his brow and looked us over. He gasped when he saw Derek’s blood-covered shirt and tired stance. 

“Good heavens, what happened?! Ireland, who is he?” Adrian frantically asked as he opened the door even wider. 

“Calm down, I’ll explain in a second, just please help us inside,” Ireland requested as she pushed through the door. Adrian, still in a daze, stepped aside and let Derek in as well, although, not without hesitation. Derek winced slightly as he finally took a moment to rest after the trek there. He was healed partially, but he didn’t know how his new powers worked yet, and wasn’t sure how soon he’d be 100% again. 

“Alright, let me see,” Ireland said, referring to his injury. Derek sighed and sat down on an ottoman, pulling his shirt up enough so the bandages could be seen. Adrian gasped loudly at the sight of the bloodstained bandages and placed his hand over his mouth. 

Ireland asked Adrian to get the first aid kit as she began undoing the bandages. Adrian wanted to ask questions, but he pushed those aside to help whoever this boy in his house was. In the living room, Ireland finished pulling the bandages off and began looking over his wound. 

“Wow, whatever powers you gained healed the outside of the wound completely!Even the stitches burned off! This is remarkable!” Ireland gawked as she looked at Derek’s fresh, but fully healed, scar. She poked at it, surprised when he yelped quietly. 

“Does it still hurt? It looks fine,” Ireland asked as Derek grimaced. 

“Y-yeah, I think it hasn’t finished healing internally, it still hurts like crazy, just not as bad as before,” Derek explained, squinting as she touched it yet again. 

“Can you please tell me what happened now?!” Adrian asked from behind Ireland. She took out a wet rag that Adrian provided and began dabbing the excess blood away from Derek’s abdomen. Derek cringed as she proceeded cleaning. 

“He showed up my door with a gunshot wound, and I helped him. Then uh... some bad guys showed up to kill him or whatever, so we escaped and now he’s a superhero,” Ireland explained matter-of-factly. Adrian raised his eyebrow in confusion and his jaw his the floor. 

“What?!”

“I’m not joking,” Ireland said, still not really helping Adrian understand. Derek, seeing that this poor man was trying very hard to understand an absurd story, decided to volunteer a better explanation. 

“Uhh she’s not entirely wrong, but she left out a bunch of important details out,” Derek began. It took him about a minute and a half to explain everything in a summed up way. He made sure to mention some important details (like the serum, which started all this chaos) and do his best to make things make sense. Adrian was still in shock, but he seemed to be a bit more informed. 

“...okay so I believe the part about the gunshot... but seriously? Superpowers? You kids, I just... I don’t know,” he stuttered, trying to take it all in. Derek let his shirt fall back down to his waist as Ireland finished cleaning him up before standing up. 

“Okay, let me just show you then,” Derek said, stretching his arms out a little. Just like before with Ireland, his hands glowed a bright emerald green and pulses of energy emitted from his arms. Adrian gasped and stepped back, completely disbelieving what he was seeing. 

“Oh my— you really! He! Superhero?!” He sputtered out a bunch of unfinished sentences as he tried sorting through his thoughts. Derek powered down and watched yet another person freak out over him. Had circumstances been different, he would have chuckled, but in his emotional state, all he could manage was a small half smile. Ireland noticed Derek’s discomfort and spoke up.

“Hey, Adrian, I love that you’re all excited and stuff, but it’s been a long day for both him and me and I would love it if we could just rest. Could we?” She asked, slowly walking towards a hallway but waiting for permission still. 

“Uh... sure, yeah okay,” Adrian said, still trying to take it in. Ireland thanked him and beckoned Derek to follow her. Derek went along with her but was kind of confused. 

“Wait, you want me to—“

“Stay in my step-brother’s room. Yeah, let me show you where it is,” Ireland interrupted his thought and stopped in front of a plain white door. Derek stopped. 

“After all that you... you still want to help me? I mean, do you really think it’s good to keep me here? They could find you again and hurt you! Why... why are you helping me?” He asked as tears began brimming at his eyes. Ireland stopped and gave him a sympathetic look. 

“Because it’s the right thing to do. You have no where to go, and I can help. You’ve already lost so much, I don’t want to force you to find someplace to stay. Come on, this will be your room,” she said, opening the door. Derek felt a wave of appreciation for this girl wash over him as she spoke. He walked into the room as she asked and looked around. 

It was a small room, mostly cleared out, it seemed, but a few old posters littered the floor and a messy bed lay in the middle of the room. The closet was empty but there was a dresser that appeared full. Derek looked down at his shirt. Blood everywhere. Yeah, he’d need to change if he was going anywhere. Ireland decided to ask another question. 

“So, do you have a school you go to?” Ireland asked. Derek closed his eyes sadly, trying very hard not to cry. 

“My dad homeschooled me so... no,” Derek answered, though it felt like he was stabbing himself in the heart every tine he mentioned his father. 

“Oh... I’m sorry. You can come to my school, if you want,” she offered. 

“Really? You’d bring trouble like me with you to school?” He asked, his eyes lighting up a little. 

“Sure, but you’ll need new clothes. My step-brother moved out but left some of his clothes here. You can borrow them for tomorrow,” she said, pointing to the dresser. Derek nodded. 

“Thanks so much. And once again I’m sorr—“ Ireland put her hand up go silence Derek’s apology. 

“Don’t apologize, please. Just get some rest, okay?” She said, heading towards the door. 

“Thanks, I’ll try,” he said, forcing a half smile. Ireland left and closed the door behind her. Not a moment sooner than the door was closed, he gasped and collapsed to his knees. 

He lay of the ground sobbing tears of anguish, and his whole body shook. With each choked sob he felt a twinge of pain shoot up his side, but he didn’t care; he’d lost the light in his life, and he couldn’t get it back. Rivers of tears streamed from his swollen eyes and his futile attempt at stifling the sounds were in vain. But right now, he didn’t care. He was tired of holding back. He hadn’t been able to let out his sorrow for the whole day, and he needed to release. He pounded the ground with his fist repeatedly in anger. Anger at the killers. Anger at the serum. Anger at himself. It was his fault, he had told him to keep the serum, that stupid stupid serum. And now he was dead. Because of him his father lay dead on the floor of the house he would never be able to call home again, because his dad was his home. 

“My fault!” He cried aloud to himself. 

“It’s all... my... fault!!! He’s never— cough— coming back!” He weeped. He raised his shaking hands to his head and clawed at his hair. He didn’t know what to do with himself. There were so many things he’d have to know without his father. He’d be alone at his graduation, he’d be on his own for his first date, his dad wouldn’t see his wedding. It was too much for Derek to handle. 

“I can’t do this....” he whispered in dismay. He slowed down his violent sobs to quiet whimpering and lowered himself all the way to the floor. He hugged himself and drew his knees inward as he sniffled silently. 

Outside his door Ireland heard his cries. She leaned against the door and listened to him mourning, wishing so badly that she could help him in some way. But she just met him, and he needed his time. So she just listened, her own heart breaking at the sound of utter defeat coming from his room. She placed a hand on the door, as if it would bring him any comfort, and left him finally to give him the solitude he sorely needed. 

Derek continued to cradle himself in the room he’d been given, just rocking back and forth as he drained himself of tears. His head ached from the emotional drain, so he just closed his eyes and lay still for a while. He felt drowsy, exhausted really, but he didn’t want to sleep. With sleep came nightmares, and he didn’t think he could face another one. But despite that, he just couldn’t keep awake. He didn’t even feel up to moving to the bed that night, he was just so tired. 

His sleep was full of nightmares and startled awakenings, and he barely slept a wink.  By the next morning, he wasn’t even sure he could go to school. But then he heard a gentle knocking on his door and decided to compose himself a little. He stood up from the ground and was surprised at the progress his wound made, it hurt even less than before! He ran a hand through his hair and tried wiping away some of his left over tears as he went to the door. When he opened it, Ireland stood on the other end playing bashfully with her hair. 

“Hey, sorry, I didn’t know when I was supposed to be up,” Derek apologized before she could speak. She shook her hands. 

“No it’s fine! I just wanted to let you know that school starts in like thirty minutes and you can have whatever you like for breakfast,” she explained quickly, almost tripping over her words. Derek smiled slightly. 

“Thanks, I’ll be out in a bit,” he said before closing the door. He looked at himself in the small mirror that was hung on his wall. He looked so sick. His eyes were puffy, his hair was matted and sticking out everywhere, and his face was stained from the incessant crying he did the night before. He looked down at the dresser and decided to find some clothes that would fit him. He pulled out a black shirt with long white sleeves and tried it on. It was really tight, and he was afraid that if he moved his arms too forward that the sleeves would rip at the seem. But, he noticed, all the shirts were that size, so he just dealt with it. At least it was long enough! 

He exited the room and walked towards the kitchen (he was thankful he remembered where it was). He saw Ireland eating cereal while reading a book at the same time. He smiled softly at the sight; it was good to know she was a bookworm just like him. She put her spoon down and looked his way when she noticed he was there. 

“Hey, the cereal is in the pantry right there, and there’s fruit and stuff in the fridge. Help yourself,” she said, pointing to each place she mentioned to make things easy for Derek to find. He awkwardly smiled and thanked her as he opened the fridge. He simply grabbed an apple and sat down in front of her. She smiled and put her book down. 

“How’d you sleep?” She asked him. Derek looked down sadly and tried to figure out how to answer her without worrying her. Ireland noticed this and tried saying something else. 

“Never mind, I think we both struggled sleeping. Anyway, uh... how was the bed? I hope it wasn’t too hard or anything,” she rambled slightly. Derek tried to smile, but it was weak. 

“Actually I Uh... fell asleep on the floor. But I’m sure the bed is nice, I’ll sleep there tonight. That is, if you want me to stay...” Derek said, realizing he was being a bit presumptuous. Ireland frowned. 

“Hey, enough of that, okay? You’re staying until things calm down. We already called the police to let them know about the bad guys. We didn’t tell them about your powers though, so you’re safe. Adrian said that you could stay for a few weeks, but since he doesn’t know you, he doesn’t want you to stay for too long. I tried convincing him otherwise, but he can be stubborn. Sorry,” Ireland explained. Derek furrowed his brow. 

“A few weeks? Are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden.”

“It’s fine, Derek. You need to get that in your head, because I’m not changing my mind about helping you,” Ireland said, finishing her cereal. She stood up and emptied her bowl, putting it in the dishwasher. Derek sat where he was in disbelief. ‘She still wants to help, after all this?’ He thought to himself. He’d never met someone like her before. He finished his apple and threw the core away. Ireland grabbed her backpack and put her books in it. 

“Come on, let’s go! The bus is here!” she called as she hopped up and down trying to to put on her shoes before going outside. Derek smiled at the funny display, but quickly followed her out the door. She started running towards the bus stop which was conveniently close by and Derek followed after her. He tried not to go too fast in case his super speed would kick in and settled with a jog. Ireland was slower than him even still, and the bus was about ready to leave. Instinctively, Derek grabbed Ireland’s hand and pulled her along with him and helped her onto the bus just as it was about to leave without them. She stumbled as the momentum picked up, but he steadied her before they went to find some seats. 

There weren’t a lot of open seats, but the ones that were had bags on them from students who hogged everything. He walked up to one of those rows and moved the bags away, putting them beside the people he assumed they belonged to and motioned Ireland to sit with him. The pair got some weird glances from other students, but Derek didn’t really notice. The ride wasn’t too long as they were dropped off a few minutes later. 

Derek looked around at the school before him. It was pretty large, or at least compared to what Derek had ever seen, which wasn’t a lot honestly. There was a large area of green grass and a few trees where a bunch of students gathered. There was a sidewalk in the middle of the field that led to the entrance and he could see that there was a field behind the school. Ireland walked past him and started walking up to a lonely tree. Derek followed her like a lost puppy and looked around curiously. Ireland leaned against the tree and pulled out her book again, starting to read where she left off. Derek hated to interrupt her, but he needed to know what he was getting into. 

“What do we do now?” He asked awkwardly. Ireland didn’t respond initially because she was very immersed in her book. Derek let out a puff of air and put his hands in his pockets. 

“Do we just wait?” He asked another question, hoping she’d answer this time. Her eyes lit up with realization. 

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t hear you. Yeah, we just wait until the school bell rings,” she said, before returning back to her book. Derek fidgeted where he was standing. He placed a hand tenderly on his wound and was surprised that it had healed even more. It still hurt terribly, especially when pressure was applied, but it wasn’t nearly as terrible as the night before. His head hurt, though. Crying all night long had it’s consequences on his body. 

Derek looked around at the group of mingling students. He was a little confused when a group of girls wearing name brands and strong perfumes walked up to them. 

“Hey shortie, who’s this guy?” The girl in the front asked Ireland, taking her book from her. 

“Hey! Give it back!” Ireland said as she reached for her book. The girl just lifted the book high as her arm could go so Ireland couldn’t reach it. 

“Answer my question, halfling,” the blondie said standing on her tiptoes. Derek sighed and easily grabbed the book from the girl, who turned to look at him. 

“This guy is Ireland’s friend, and I would appreciate it if you would quit teasing her,” Derek said as he handed the book back to Ireland. Ireland thanked him and hugged the book close to her chest. The blonde smirked at Derek. 

“Oh I’m sorry, I meant no harm. She’s my good friend too, right Ireland?” She said that last part in an almost threatening tone. Ireland rolled her eyes. 

“Actually, if I recall, you told me you would never want to ruin your reputation by hanging out with me, Mackenzie,” Ireland shot back fearlessly. Derek widened his eyes in amusement at her feisty comeback. The girl he now knew as Mackenzie faked a girly laugh and looked nervously at him. 

“You’re so funny, Scotland! She’s always making these funny jokes,” Mackenzie said, clearly trying to impress Derek. Derek was unamused. 

“Her name is Ireland,” Derek said almost monotone. 

“Right,” she said, playing the dumb blonde. Just then the school bell rung. Derek put his hand up in a goodbye gesture. 

“Have a nice day,” he said politely before leaving with Ireland. Ireland groaned under her breath. 

“You okay?” he asked his seemingly annoyed companion. She grumbled again. 

“Just tired of her lies and jokes, that’s all. Thanks for the help back there, though,” she said, leading him to the class. Once they got in the room, Ireland took a seat near the back of the class. The few students that sat there moved their seats as she sat down. Derek furrowed his brow at the odd behavior of the other students. He sat down next to Ireland, and in response some students came back to those seats. Derek frowned. What was so special about him that they would want to sit next to him? And why was it the opposite for Ireland? She was so nice and pretty and, from what he could tell, intelligent; what wasn’t to like?

The teacher walked into the room and told everyone to be quiet. It took a while to silence all the talkative students, but the deep, intimidating voice of the teacher eventually reigned supreme. There was a role call, something Derek had never experienced. Everyone was called on except him, for obvious reasons, since he hadn’t been registered. The teacher looked at him puzzled for a moment. 

“Hey, blonde boy,” he addressed, pointing at Derek. Derek stiffened. 

“Me?”

“Yeah, what’s your name?” The teacher asked. 

“Uh... Derek. This is my first day here,” he said, suddenly feeling all the eyes in the room stare through him. The teacher raised an eyebrow. 

“I wasn’t notified. Oh well, I suppose we’ll dismiss it until later,” the teacher said. Derek let out a sigh of relief. He’d never actually been in a real classroom before, and he’d never actually been in a room with so many kids his age in there at once before. His dad was always so busy that Derek didn’t get to go out a lot. He only had a few online friends and the neighbors he occasionally talked to. But this... this was a lot. 

Derek’s hand glowed a subtle green for a moment, causing his heart to skip a beat. He looked around anxiously, hoping no one saw. He started breathing a little faster as he hid his hand under the desk. It was still pulsing, he couldn’t will it to stop. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He hoped that it would just go away if he mentally forced it to. He opened his eyes again and saw that it was only growing stronger. He could feel a burning sensation in his eyes and panicked. In a mirror in the back of the room he could see the sides of his eyes glowing green, and small veins of energy were flying by his eyes like smell green flames. He gasped as quietly as he could and ducked his head behind his desk. 

Ireland looked over and shot Derek a concerned look. He simply looked at her with his glowing, fear stricken eyes. Ireland put a hand over her mouth to suppress her gasp. She began whispering as quietly as she could. 

“What...what’s going on?!” She practically mouthed. 

“I don’t know, I can’t make it stop!” He whispered frantically. They started flailing their arms around nervously as they silently tried to figure out what to do. The teacher noticed this and spoke up. 

“Ireland, Darren, are you listening?” The teacher asked. Derek ignored the fact that he misspoke his name and quickly responded. 

“Yeah, Yeah, Sorry, I was just confused,” Derek said. The teacher raised an eyebrow. 

“Confused about what?” He asked. Derek shoved his hands in his pockets to hide the glow and hid his eyes beneath his hair. 

“Just the schedule, sorry for interrupting,” Derek said, trying to get the teacher off his case. The teacher nodded. 

“Okay, you can talk about it after class,” he said, finally returning to the lesson. Derek sighed. He took his hands out of his pockets to see that his hands were still glowing and his eyes still stung. Why couldn’t he control it? It began to intensify and his resistance made it hurt, but he couldn’t blow up in class, literally. He grunted silently as an energy began emerging from his hands. He tried reigning it in but it just wouldn’t stop. 

Suddenly a blast shot out from his hands and blew his desk over a few feet, slamming into the person in front of him. Everyone in the classroom screamed. Derek’s hands glowed no longer. He curled into a defensive position to act like he was just as surprised as anyone. Everyone just stood in shock as they stared at the mess before them. The teacher stood up and threw his pencil down on the desk angrily. 

“Darren! What was that all about!” He asked angrily. Derek shriveled back defensively. 

“That wasn’t me! The desk just exploded!” Derek spoke as truthfully as he could without spoiling his secret. The class laughed suddenly, thinking that it had all been a prank. 

“Yeah sure, kid. Since this is your first day I won’t send you to the principals, but pull something like this again and you won’t get off so easily,” the teacher said, slowly sitting back down. Derek blushed in embarrassment as everyone stared at him. So much for first impressions. 

After class a bunch of girls came up to talk to him and repeatedly told him how funny he was and junk like that. Derek was only half listening to the girls. He was feeling very anxious about the lack of control he had over his powers. Not to mention that Ireland was standing all by herself looking as lonely as ever. Once it wasn’t impolite to leave the conversation, he made his way back over to Ireland. 

“Hey are you okay?” He asked as she looked up at him. She nodded. 

“I’m fine, this is normal. What isn’t normal is what happened in class today. What was happening?” She asked as she lowered her voice a little. Derek looked around to see if anyone was listening. 

“I don’t know, I couldn’t control it,” he said warily. Ireland hugged herself for comfort. 

“Okay just... try to keep it down, I don’t want unnecessary attention coming to either of us,” she said before motioning him to come to the next class. It was English this time, and they were reviewing Hamlet, which he had actually read (he was bored and read literally every book in his dad’s book collection). The class was quite simple and he was thankful that he knew what they were discussing. 

After class he walked outside and followed Ireland to her locker. After she put her things away she closed her locker door. Ethan had been waiting behind her locker and slammed his fist into the locker next to her, earning a surprised squeak from Ireland. Derek watched carefully. 

“Hey, shortie. What nerdy friend did you make today? Or is this guy even your friend?” Ethan teased her harshly. Derek took a step forward. 

“Yes, I am her friend, and what’s wrong with being a nerd?” Derek said in a passive aggressive tone. Ethan smirked and walked closer to Derek. 

“Why, are you a nerd?” Ethan asked, inching closer. 

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Derek returned back. Ethan cocked his head to the side a bit. 

“You don’t look like a nerd.”

“What’s a nerd supposed to look like?”

“I don’t know, pathetic, annoying, weak,” Ethan said before shoving Derek. Derek stumbled back a few steps before glaring back up at Ethan. Ethan chuckled. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re a nerd then. Names Ethan, by the way,” he said looking down at Derek deviously. 

“Derek,” he replied. Ireland watched as the two stared each other down for a moment. 

“See you around nerd,” Ethan said before walking away. Derek sighed when he left and turned back towards Ireland. 

“Why do people treat you like that?” He asked her as she fiddled with her hair. She sighed. 

“It’s the law of the land. Jocks pick on nerds, popular girls bully unpopular girls, people ignore wallflowers, it’s just the way it is. I’m used to it by now,” she explained. Derek growled under his breath. 

“That doesn’t mean it’s right,” he practically whispered. She nodded. 

“Yeah well it happens, we just need to get used to it. And a tip: don’t mess with Ethan, okay? He’ll make your life miserable,” she said before heading towards a door. 

“We have lunch now, so let’s head to the cafeteria,” she smiled. 

When they made it to the cafeteria, Derek was shocked at just how many kids there were there. There were even more people in here than he saw outside earlier in the day. This was a big school. Ireland led him to a line where the food was being served, and the food didn’t exactly look very appetizing to him. Before him were nachos with cheap cheese on top, as well as some packaged deserts and some apples off to the side. Derek didn’t mind though, he didn’t have any dinner last night, so he was happy to get some more food in his belly. 

Once they both had their meals on trays, they walked over to an empty table and sat down. Derek was thinking about the earlier events in the day. Ireland was treated like a mistake, like a mere nuisance in the lives of others. Derek furrowed his brow as he tried to understand why it was that way. He clenched his fist just thinking about the unfair treatment she received. Ireland noticed his change in body language and raised an eyebrow. 

“You okay? You look tense,” she asked. He looked over at her and softened his facial expression, showing her that he was in no way upset at her. 

“I’m fine, just confused. Why do people treat you like dirt around here? I mean, you’re such a wonderful, smart and pretty girl,” Derek said, suddenly pausing as he realized he just called her pretty. I mean, he was right, Ireland was quite a pretty girl, but he hadn’t said it out loud before. Would this make things awkward? Ireland blushed a little, tucking her hair behind her ear. 

“You really think so?” she asked bashfully, biting her lip in anticipation. Derek’s heart fluttered for a brief moment at seeing just how cute she looked. 

“Of course! You’re a wonderful girl. Even I can tell, even though I’ve only known you for two days,” he said, smiling the half smile he often did.

“Thank you,” Ireland said softly. 

“So if an idiot like me can figure out just how wonderful you are, than just how stupid do the people who mistreat you have to be not to see that? I mean, seriously, the people here are so shallow!” Derek said, raising his hands slightly in a frustrated gesture. Ireland giggled a little. 

“The only thing that makes you an idiot is how quickly you sacrifice yourself sometimes! I mean when that bad guy had a gun pointed at my head, you didn’t hesitate to offer your life instead. I mean, you’re crazy! No one I know would have done that,” Ireland said, reminding him of the prior day’s events. Derek’s smile softened. 

“What kind of a person would I be if I let those people hurt you? Or anyone for that matter? No matter how scary it was, I would have done it, for anyone, because I would never be able to free my conscience of the guilt if I didn’t,” he said, feeling almost cheesy as he spoke like a noble hero from a movie. Ireland, however, didn’t think it was cheesy.

“Wow. The world needs more people like you, Derek. I don’t think I could do that, I get scared too easily,” she said, averting her gaze in shame. 

“I think you could. Given the chance, I think you would do the right thing, even if you’re terrified. I was, but I went anyway, cause it’s what’s right,” Derek encouraged, hoping to reassure her of her strength. She smiled. 

“You’re a great guy, Derek,” she said before returning to her meal. Derek finished eating his meal as well and soon found himself wondering what time lunch period was over. He turned to Ireland. 

“What now? When’s the next class?” he asked. Ireland took one last bite of her food before answering. 

“Uh we still have like fifteen minutes before the next class, so I don’t know, I usually go to the library. You can do whatever you want, you don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to,” Ireland explained, throwing her food away in the trash. 

“I’d love to go to the library with you, you know, if you don’t mind hanging out with a dork like me for a bit longer,” he playfully said, secretly hoping she wanted him to come. Ireland laughed. 

“I’d love to,” she said with her smiley voice. Derek grinned and stood up, ready to follow her to the library. From behind they both heard a group of jocks cheering a battle cry as they ran past. One of them laughed before shoving Ireland straight into Derek, both of them tumbling to the ground upon the impact. 

Ireland squeaked in embarrassment and tried scrambling off of him, only slipping and falling back down on top of him. She blushed beet red as Derek stared up at her with a gentle blush of his own. 

“S-sorry!” she stuttered in her flustered state. She finally got off of him and sat up, covering her face in embarrassment. 

“It’s okay, really,” Derek reassured, still trying to keep his fluttering heart under control. He stood up and offered a hand to help her up. She lifted a shaky hand up to his and he pulled her up to her feet. From behind the jocks were laughing. Derek turned around to see Ethan and his friends taunting them. 

“Better wash off the nerd, Derek! She’s contagious,” Ethan said. Derek clenched his fist. 

“Hey, cut that out. It’s not nice,” Derek said, taking a step closer to the group. The group all “oohed” at his comment, finding it funny. Ethan smirked. 

“Yeah? What are you going to do about it?” Ethan confronted. Derek let out a frustrated breath as he tried to keep his cool. 

“Hey, if you’ve got a quarrel with me, just leave her out of it, okay? Bullying is not okay,” Derek said, but secretly fearing that he was being too bold, especially for being the new guy. Ethan lowered his brow. 

“Wow. That’s the most a new guy or let alone any nerd has ever done to stand up against me. Brave. Or stupid, maybe?” He said, getting manly cheers from his peers. 

“Come on man, just leave us alone,” Derek said, getting tired of this. Ethan scowled, before a devious grin crept across his face. He walked closer to Derek, Derek taking a few involuntary steps back in anticipation. 

“What would you do, if I just...” Ethan said before shoving Derek. Derek stumbled slightly, but didn’t lose eye contact. 

“Or maybe this?” He said as he gripped Derek’s hair and swiftly pulled him over to the trash can, causing Derek to grimace at the pain. 

“Stop, come on, there’s no point to this,” Derek said as he pried Ethan’s hand from his hair. Ethan laughed and ruffled Derek’s hair, acting as if he’d meant it in fun. 

“What’s the matter, buddy?” Ethan asked in a passive aggressive tone. Derek sighed. 

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Derek asked, hoping this wouldn’t turn into a fist fight like in some of the movies he’d watched. Ethan shook his head. 

“Nope. I still have seven minutes. Why? You scared or something?” 

“Not scared, just annoyed. Could you please leave me alone now?” Derek asked, pushing past Ethan and walking over to Ireland. 

“Sure, I’ll leave you alone,” Ethan said. One of his friends came up from behind Ireland and stole her bag from her. 

“Hey!” Ireland shouted as she tried to get it back. Derek walked up to him and tried to take the bag back, but before he could, the guy threw the bag over to Ethan, who caught it with ease. Derek growled. 

“Guys! Stop!” Derek angrily growled. They all laughed. 

“Come get it, nerd!” 

Derek was so tired of this. He went up to Ethan and tried taking the bag, and not to his surprise, the bag was moved out of the way. Derek lunged for it again, only for it to be swung into Derek’s torso, making its mark on his almost healed, but still tender wound. Derek gasped loudly and held his side, moaning for a moment. Ethan furrowed his brow for a moment. 

“Weak,” He said before walking away, Ireland’s bag still in hand. Derek shook away the pain and chased after them again. 

“Guys, give it back!” Derek yelled after them. Ethan swiveled around and slugged Derek right in the face, knocking him over. Derek held his lip, which was bleeding, and whimpered. Ethan chuckled before tossing the bag back at Derek. 

“Here you go.” They walked away, leaving Derek and Ireland alone. Ireland rushed to Derek’s side apologizing repeatedly as she looked him over. 

“I’m fine, it’ll heal soon, powers, remember?” He reassured as he stood up. Ireland hugged him as he stood up. 

“What was that for?” Derek asked as she pulled away. 

“For looking out for me so much. You’re so nice and selfless, always protecting people. Thanks so much,” she smiled before grabbing her bag. 

“We should go to the next class now, we basically wasted the rest of our free time, come on,” she beckoned with a grin. Derek followed Ireland to the lockers and watched her grab some clothes from inside her locker.

“It’s P.E. now so grab your gym clothes and.... wait you don’t have any. Never mind, just go inside, I’ll meet you in there,” she said pointing to the door. Derek shrugged and walked in. The floor was hardwood with white lines painted on it for boundaries. There were mats on the side walls and hooks for ropes. There were some bleachers off on the right and left walls and there were already several students getting ready for gym class. Derek sat down and waited for Ireland. 

A few minutes later Ireland came in right as the teacher called everyone to attention. The gym teacher (who looked way too old to even be a gym teacher) announced that we’d just play dodgeball today, and Derek was good with that. Ireland, however, didn’t feel like getting a bunch of balls thrown at her face. She groaned. Derek looked down at her. 

“You okay?” He asked her. She groaned again. He nodded in understanding. 

“I get it, don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” he smiled, playfully nudging her arm with his elbow. She blushed subconsciously before getting over to the wall. The teacher blew the whistle and every ambitious student sprinted towards the middle to get a ball. Derek was one of those students, secretly wanting an excuse to throw something at Ethan. As he reached the center where the balls were at, he ducked down and quickly snatched a ball off the ground. A few balls whizzed past his face as he backed away from the line, narrowly escaping the blows. He was about to throw the ball when he heard Ireland’s frightened squeak a few feet back. He saw that she was being overwhelmed at the many balls being thrust at her, and stepped in front of her, using his ball as a shield. Ireland smiled. 

“Thanks,” She practically whispered. Derek grinned in determination as he fended off a few more balls. He didn’t even notice when his super speed began kicking in. His hand was buzzing by quicker than a normal person’s deflecting and even catching balls. People on the opposing team started to notice this and began aiming for the threat. Derek realized quickly that he was starting to use his speed and toned it down, knowing it would be a bad idea to make people suspicious. Derek moved away from Ireland momentarily to catch a ball and get a ponytailed girl out of the game. Ethan threw a ball as hard as he could at Ireland, seeing how Derek spent most of his time protecting her. He hit her square in the face and watched as she tumbled to the ground with a gasp. When Derek saw this he rushed to her side, ball still in hand and deflected a few balls. 

“Are you okay?” He asked as she sat up. She held her nose and nodded, whispering an “It’s fine,” as she left the court, clearly being out. There were only three people left on Derek’s team, and he was mad. Ethan hurt Ireland, even if it wasn’t too bad, and that made Derek want to get the guy back. Derek began throwing balls at people on rapid fire, getting out at least three people, until he saw his chance at hitting Ethan. He ducked down low, grabbed a ball, and stood in a readied position. When he felt the time was right, he launched the ball with all his might at Ethan. 

It was like slow motion watching that ball, Derek quickly realizing he had made a mistake. That ball was moving at a force that could be deadly if it made its mark, and it was so close to Ethan. Ethan saw and dodged in the nick of time, the ball flying straight past him and colliding with the back wall. It, however, didn’t stop there. The sheer force the ball was thrown at caused the ball to crash straight through the wall and leave a gaping hole in the back wall. 

Everyone gasped as a loud crash resounded in their ears. Drywall, concrete, and even some wood lay shattered around the ball and under the hole in the wall. As the shock finally began to settle down, people slowly started turning their heads to look at Derek, who was wide eyed and shaking. In the moment, he’d forgotten about his powers, simply wrapped up in the game. Now he was terrified. He saw everyone’s horrified faces as they stared at him, not sure wether they should be scared or amazed. It was dead silent in the room, until Ethan decided to break that silence. 

“What the heck was that, you freak?!” He yelled, drawing Derek’s attention back on him. Derek was too shocked to answer, he was scared. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, and he almost did. He put his hands up as everyone awaited an answer. How had he done that? 

“I-I....” he stuttered. His tongue was tied and his heart was in his throat. 

“Were you trying to kill me?! How did you even do that?” Ethan confronted again. Derek just shivered, afraid of what he’d become. He couldn’t take it anymore. His first day of school and already everybody was afraid of him. He shook his head as tears made their way to his eyes. No. He wouldn’t cry again, not here, not now. He did the only thing he could think of in the moment. He ran. 

He ran as fast as his legs would allow without accidentally going into super speed. He ran past the several shocked students and the protesting teachers and made his way to the school exit. 

Ireland shot after him, calling after him several times, but he didn’t hear her, and she couldn’t catch up to him fast enough. She was concerned for him among other things. She was shocked and surprised when the ball blew through the wall, but when she gathered her bearing she only wanted to help her new friend. She almost ran in to several people, and tripped a few times in her haste, but she was determined. 

Outside Derek ran to a nearby tree and collapsed to his knees. He shook in trepidation as he noticed his hands pulsing its energy uncontrollably again. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know where to go. He needed help, he needed guidance, but where could he find it? He wanted to go to his dad, he always knew what to do in crazy situations like these. He choked down the tears forcing their way up at the thought, remembering the sick truth that his dad was in fact gone. He was alone. He had no one to help him. This was his battle now, and he didn’t think he’d make it. With that, he broke down. 

Tears cascaded down his face as he battled with his loneliness and the loss of his father. He hugged himself and rubbed his hands up and down his arms in comfort. He shook his head, wanting desperately to stop crying, it made him feel weak. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his arm and tried to steady his breathing. He looked down at his hand which was only getting worse at repressing the raw energy. He began to panic. He didn’t want to blow up again. He didn’t want to ruin everything, he didn’t want to hurt anyone, he didn’t—

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder that disrupted his thoughts. He gasped and looked up to see the concerned face of Ireland looking down at him. He wiped away the remainder of his tears away as she sat down next to him. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” she said softly, seeing his anxious shaking. He didn’t say anything, so Ireland spoke again. 

“You didn’t mean to, it’s okay, you’re okay,” she said, trying to calm his nerves. Derek looked up at her abruptly, almost startling Ireland by his wide eyed expression. 

“B-But I could have killed someone! In the classroom with the accidental blast and then this...” he trailed off. Ireland shuffled so she was more in front of him. 

“It’s okay, it’s not the first time something weird has happened here. It’s okay, everyone is fine and you are doing the best you can,” she comforted. Derek looked at her with an unsure expression, wanting so badly to believe her, but still so terrified that she was wrong. 

“R-Really?” He asked, his eyes lighting up for a moment. Ireland’s heart practically melted upon seeing his child-like innocence and hope. She nodded. 

“Yeah, Derek, you’re doing fine, people will get used to you, and you will get used to your powers. You’ve got this,” she encouraged, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

Suddenly an image of Derek strapped to a table screaming flashed through her head. She saw him thrashing violently and crying in pain. Suddenly her vision went back and she saw Derek looking at her once again in the field outside the school. She breathed rapidly in anxiety as she tried understanding what just happened. 

“Whoa, are you okay?” Derek asked as she pulled away. She made no response, just staring at him with wide, horrified eyes. Derek’s expression was immediately filled with worry as she sat fear-stricken in front of him. Ireland shook her head frantically. 

“I-I-I saw something! I-I saw you. In pain. I... I have to protect you!” She stammered. Derek froze. 

“What? You saw something?” He asked confusedly. 

“Y-yeah like a vision, it’s all I could see. It was so... terrifying,” she struggled to say, still a little shaken. Derek placed a hand on her shoulder and attempted to comfort her, but she only pulled away from him as fast as she could. He was put off by the strange reaction, and it felt like a stab to his heart. 

“Don’t,” she said firmly, “touch me, please,” she tried to soften it up at the end, realizing just how cold she sounded. The dagger in Derek’s heart was twisted at these words, but he repressed it internally in order to help her. 

“Sorry,” He weakly whispered, backing away from her. Ireland was filled with regret as she saw him shriveling back into himself in doubt. She wanted to remedy it. 

“Don’t be, I’m sorry, I just— when you touched me I saw it again. I didn’t... I didn’t want to see that again. Sorry for freaking out,” she apologized, forcing a smile. Derek blinked in uncertainty, but slowly nodded his acceptance and turned away. 

“What exactly did you see?” Derek asked, wanting to know more. Ireland let out a shaky breath of air. 

“I watched you die.”