New starts

Being the son of the city's local politicians shouldn't be a big deal, but in the case of Oliver Burns, his parents' views are a bit… outdated. In fact, their opinions were so unpopular that their recent decision to vote against free healthcare led to Oliver losing most of his friends and social standing at school, and his parents receiving hate mail and threats from the public.

It was those threats that led Oliver to be transferred to a new boarding school outside the city, away from the people who would harass him.

Oliver would have been grateful to get away from the public's eye, but he knew that wasn't the reason his parents shipped him off. The true motivation for their actions was that Oliver was very vocal on both social media and in his school that he was strongly against his parents' choice to stand against free healthcare, and he had even started to rally his classmates in a march against the decision.

Oliver knew that the only reason his parents sent him to the Academy for Growth was to stop the march from happening and save their reputation, as having a son who was so strongly against their policies was giving the news tablets plenty of ammunition.

The Academy for Growth is a place where well-off parents ship their children to get a higher education and better training for their elemental abilities. In other words, pure hell.

The elemental abilities develop during puberty and are usually based on genetics, though there have been cases of people who were born with a different element to their parents or with no element at all. Those born without were usually not allowed to partake in society, as they were considered deformed.

Oliver remembered the time he asked his teacher about mixing elements, wondering why he'd never met someone whose parents were two different elements. She sat him down after class and talked to him about how it was considered taboo or "gross" for elements to mix. When Oliver asked her why, she didn't answer, just told him "That's how things were" before sending him to his next class.

Oliver developed early, his fire element revealing itself at the age of ten, long before his classmates. He would show off tricks and he had a private teacher help him master his skills. His parents bragged for a whole year at every conference they went to about how special their little boy was, and how he would surely grow up and do great things.

Oliver wanted to do great things, but the things he wanted to do were against his parents' beliefs. He wanted to change the rules, to give those outside the norm a chance. His parents wanted to keep things as they were and to make sure those in power stayed in power.

The Academy for Growth was a pristine place that looked like a well-kept castle. Its students were roaming the halls, all dressed in the same uniform and looking bored. Oliver heard whispers as he walked to the secretary's office. It was very easy for him to get lost in the large building, and even with the help of a map and three different students, it still took him twenty minutes to find the place he was looking for.

"Mr. Burns," the secretary said, not looking up from her computer as she pulled up a sheet of paper and a key from her drawer. "This is your schedule and dorm key. Try to make it to classes on time." Oliver suppressed an eye roll and wished the secretary a good day before rushing off to find his dorm.

When he finally found the dorm room, the door was unlocked. Entering the room, Oliver found half the place decorated with band and movie posters, with a guitar leaning against the wall and what looked like half-done homework on the desk. The other half of the room was empty, save for a lamp and bed sheets. Oliver sighed and placed his suitcase on his bed. He didn't bring his things from his old room, so he just shoved his clothes into his closet.

He sat down and took a deep breath. This is his life now. Small dorms with no phones surrounded by bored, wealthy kids. He felt like screaming.

"Hey, you're my new roommate right?" Oliver looked up and saw a boy, about two inches shorter with ginger hair, blue eyes, and freckles. His uniform tie was loose, his shirt was untucked, and he had a belt chain on. He was leaning against the door with his hands crossed.

"Yep," responded Oliver, deciding that he liked the redhead, as he reminded him of his friends from public school.

"Cool," said the kid, and he pulled out a plastic bag from his pocket and tossed it to Oliver. Inside the bag, there were gummy candies. Oliver smiled at the kid and offered him one of the sweets.

"I'm Ethan," he said, popping the gummy into his mouth.

"Oliver. Thanks for the food," Oliver threw a gummy in the air and caught it in his mouth, causing Ethan to clap.

"Oliver Burn? Your parents suck," Ethan said bluntly, laying on the bed, and Oliver burst out laughing.

"I know."

"You're cool though," Ethan continued. "You were going to hold a march against their bullshit until they sent you here."

"Alas, my plans were foiled," Oliver sighed dramatically.

"If it makes you feel better, most of the world is pissed off at your parents for what they did to you."

Oliver wanted the news to cheer him up, but it just reminded him that his parents, who were taking away people's healthcare and silencing him for speaking up about it, sucked.

"Do you play guitar?" Oliver asked in order to change the subject, and pointed at the instrument.

"Oh yeah, I do," Ethan said, looking nervous all of a sudden, the tips of his ears turning pink.

"That's cool. I play the drums."

"We should play together," Ethan said quickly, before realizing what he said. "I mean only if you want to. I totally get if not-"

"Sure, I'd love to play with you," Oliver said, noticing Ethan's nerves around the subject.

"Cool," Ethan sighed and seemed to calm down a bit.

"So what do you usually do around here?" Oliver asked, wondering that ever since the people at the gate took his phone away, saying that he could have it on the weekends.

"Try not to die of boredom usually," Ethan said with a dramatic eye roll. "I personally spend most of my time in my dorm, but some people try socializing, which is gross."

"Not into socializing?" Oliver asked, not relating at all.

"You are?" Ethan asked with mock concern.

"The ADHD makes me talk to people," Oliver shrugged.

"I'll forgive you, you weird extrovert."

Oliver laughed, and he was starting to think that it might not suck here.