4 Lessons

"The key to successes when picking a weapon is these three things," The teacher announced, "Shape, weight, Material, and balance." Jenny wrote notes in her journal. Movement caught her eye to the left. She looked up. Jack was making funny faces to his friends behind him and they were giggling like little kids. The teacher turned, "Jack Singleton." He looked up at her and she spoke. "Why do I hear talking?"

"Oh! I know," He announced, "Cause you have ears." He stuck his ears out and the whole class let out a small snicker.

The teacher frowned, "Oh I'm sorry, is your conversation more interesting than my lesson?"

"Finally!" One of Jack's friends says, "Someone says it."

The class erupted with laughter. The teacher's face reddens, "Alright you two, I am sick of your blathering! Brandon, go sit over there! Jack," Her eyes land on the desk next to Jenny, "Sit over there!"

Jack groans as he gets up, so does his friend. His eyes meet Jenny's as he walks over. He grins for a millisecond, then he sits down. "Now let's continue," The teacher turns to the board and begins talking.

Jenny leaned over to Jack, "That was pretty funny, I'll admit."

"Thanks," He said back, "This class has to be the most boring in the world."

For some reason, the word Geometry came into her head.

"Personally, I find it fascinating," Jenny replied, "Learning which tactics are best for which sword, it might come in handy someday." She felt herself breathe deeply when she said that. A hint of sadness was there, but she didn't know why.

"Ph! You sound like Mr. Ford with Algebra," He chuckled, "Name one example."

The name Shaun escaped her lips.

Jack looked up in surprise, "Shhh! We're not supposed to talk about that."

"What, why?"

Jack looked around, "I'll explain after class." He looked back down at his paper before she could reply. Jenny looked back at the teacher.

"Now each sword, depending on the material, can be used in harmony with your power. For example, electricity is great with most swords, but it's best with a silver-edged blade. The best way to discover what weapon works best with your power is research in the science field."

A student raised their hand, "What if your power involves manipulating outside objects, like levitation and barrier?"

"That is a good question, Megan. And to answer your question, that's when you need to think about your technique. Many powers like that use their sword or weapon of choice as an extension of their power, giving them a huge advantage."

The bell rang and the class got up to leave. Brandon, the boy Jack was talking to, walked over to him and begin chatting. Jenny was beginning to think he had forgotten just before he walked over to her.

"Follow us," He told her. Jenny nodded and got up and grabbed her stuff. Brandon was waiting in the doorway for them. Jenny followed Jack outside. "Ok, reason one we are not allowed to talk about that is because many of the kids that come here are because of Shaun's little rampages."

"Who is Shaun?" Jenny asked.

Jack and Brandon exchanged looks. She knew what they were thinking. Brandon looked back at her, "Shaun is the leader of the revolution. I thought everyone knew that?"

"Wait? A revolution?"

"Yeah, it's been going on for about 7 years now. He is fighting for a more organized government."

"Oh," Jenny said, "Why is that bad?"

"Oh, that's right," Jack said, "You lost your memory. Sorry. I'll start from the beginning."

"Ok," Jenny said, trying not to get frustrated.

"So about 7 years ago, there were these two teenagers, one of whom was Shaun. We think the other was his best friend, Tina Pérez. He was picked on a lot in his home town, almost died on multiple occasions because he couldn't use his electricity powers. The others used their powers against him, like setting his pants on fire or smashing him against a wall. Tina was always there to help him, training together and fighting back against the bullies. She was a Crescent power, which lets you form certain objects from nothing. But one day, he… snapped."

"Snapped?" Jenny echoed.

"Yeah," Brandon chirped in, "certain powers are controlled by the wielder's emotions. Electricity is one of those. And with no outlet for all that stress, no pun intended, he kind of… snapped."

"what did he do?" Jenny asked.

"Well," Jack started up again, "He was getting picked on and Tina was there. She was helping fight them off when she got really hurt. Shaun saw that and his powers pushed to the max. He made a giant electricity ball, killing the gang of bullies and cutting off the entire town's power supply. It was record-breaking. Tina somehow survived both. When he was confronted about the killing, he was accused of a murderer by the kid's parents. He and Tina ran away, and he began preaching about how that would never happen if all the powers were completely separate from one another."

"He didn't do anything too serious till he came home and killed his 3-year-old sister, Gwen. He was now a criminal, and he went into hiding. Tina and he rallied an army of followers and begin fighting the government."

Jenny didn't know how to respond. She just sat there with her mouth open for a couple of seconds. What could lead a person to take another's life like that?

"Rough, I know," Brandon said, "We got to get to class. See you later."

"I'll catch up," Jack called to him. When Brandon left, he turned back to Jenny, "If you lost your memory, then how could you recall his name?"

Jenny thought for a second, "I… don't know. When I think of his name, I think of fighting. Maybe I ran into him once?"

"Yeah," Jack said, "Maybe." He paused for a second, "Well, cya around."

He turned around and walked after Brandon. Jenny turned to walk towards her class when she saw someone hide around the corner. After that story, her head was telling her it was Shaun. She shook her head. If a homicidal maniac was in this school, we would have known by now. She walked down the hall and looked around the corner as she passed it. Nothing was there, just her fears. She continued down the hall.