Becoming- Everhart High Book one

Detention

The next hour he showed up as usual. I couldn't help but wonder where he went. I pretended not to notice him sitting right next to me. I doodled on my desk out of boredom as Mrs. Bannon talked about Mr. Drake Sr, the founder of our school.

 
When I looked up I was surprised to see Kyle staring attentively forward. Leaning in as if to hear every word Mrs. Bannon said.

"When the school was first created there was a group of elite heroes, known as the A-team. They were the first line of defense against anyone who used their powers for evil. Sort of the superheroes for superheroes. But, the group became corrupt. They began using their position of power to take advantage of the school and other heroes."

I idly compared the thought to Ryan's abuse of power. But when I looked at Kyle he had clamped his hands on the desk, shaking with rage. Sparks ran across his fingers and I imagined touching him would be like grabbing an electric fence.

"They ruined lives, controlled the school under a tight grasp, and forced students to recruit," Mrs. Bannon continued.

Kyle stood up swiftly and I saw deep singed gouges in the wood, the same as a bare wire might have done. I watched as he stalked quickly out of the room without saying a word.

Mrs. Bannon hesitated and bit her lip. "Well, class, sometimes topics such as betrayal can be hard to hear about. We have to remember we don't know everyone's story." Mrs. Bannon said, while watching the door. The class murmured, everyone was talking about Kyle's sudden exit. I pretended to ignore them, but I was just as curious as everyone else. Who was Kyle Adams? The question seemed to bother me more by the day.

Detention. Everything about it was wrong. I don't belong here. I walked up to the front to hand my detention slip to Mr. Degal, a massive man with enough beard and muscle for three men. I remembered he taught shop, Katie had told me about him when she took it last year. He towered over his desk. "Emma?" The giant asked.

"Yes sir," I whispered, I let my gaze be drawn to the floor and I felt my face flame red.

"First time kiddo?" he asked, his voice seemed more gentle than I expected.

"Yes sir,"

He chuckled, "No need to call me sir. It's really too tight-collar sounding. Call me Andy. And a word of advice," He put his hand to his mouth and theatrically whispered  "sit in the back, I make the kids who belong here sit up front."

I slid into a seat in the back row just as Kyle walked in. He waved to Mr. Degal then sat down, right next to me.

I resisted the urge to ask him why he walked out of History. Reminding myself I didn't care was getting harder. He turned to me and grinned, his easy smile returning. "Are you going to ask or just sit there and think about it?"

"Think what?" My face flushed and I glanced away.

"Come on, it doesn't take a mind reader to know every kid in that class wants to know why I left."

"Well? Why did you leave?" I conceded.

The grin left his face. "Because it's all a lie. The A-team was never corrupt. It was the old principal. Drakes Grandad. But the story got changed because it sure wasn't good for Ol Drake's popularity. The only ones who know the truth are dead."

"Then how do you know?" I asked

He stopped and licked his lips. "I don't know, I just do," He turned away. I shut up and turned away, clearly something was going on there. Maybe he was as volatile as Ryan. I didn't do anything I told myself.

I glanced back, he looked at me, opened his mouth slightly as if to say something then closed it and shook his head. He stood up and walked away. He was talking to Mr. Degal, but whatever Mr. Degal said, he didn't like. He stalked back to his seat. I looked away pointedly. He never said anything. Finally, I glanced in his direction. Kyle was gone. I looked around to see if he had moved seats.

The rest of the class was focused on Mr. Degal, he had started talking right after Kyle had talked to him. Kyle was nowhere to be found. I looked back at his seat to see a small lever on the bottom of his chair flip forward.

I found myself sliding into Kyle's seat. In a few seconds I found the switch.

At that moment too many things happened. I saw the look of horror on Mr. Degals face as he saw me. The chair pulled back into the wall, and I fell. I fell maybe six feet and when I looked up the chair was just clicking silently into place, the same way as it had behind Kyle.

I looked around, I was in a dark hall, lined with stone and lit only with torches. I questioned my decision for a moment before giving up on logic. It was far too late to remind myself I didn't care. I followed the dark tunnel deeper into the unknown. A few turns and many spider webs later and I found myself at the bottom of a ladder. I hesitated, I shouldn't have come here. But Kyle had gone this way. So what. I don't care. It sounded more like a lie every time I said it. My curiosity was finally getting the best of me.

When I opened the trapdoor the first thing I saw was stone walls, torches on the walls and lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Shop class. Why did he come here? I smelled the metal and fresh wood, a perfume of smoke filled the room. I thought I saw him before he saw me. But before I could move he spoke.

"My parents. They were on the A-Team."

"That's why you said Mrs. Bannon lied?" I asked.

He turned. "No, it's all a big lie. Mrs. Bannon was telling what she has been told her entire life. Same with everyone else. It's the leaders that lie." He walked around a table full of machinery, "why did you follow me?"

I hesitated, unsure what my story was. "Um, I don't know,"

"Okay," He said, more than a hint of doubt in his voice, "Well, once you're here. Why do you hate me?"

It took me a minute to process what he asked, then another to decide what to tell him. "I don't like very many people."

"That's not true, I've noticed. What's wrong with me?" He cocked his head slightly to the side and leaned against the table. I noticed he was taller than I had thought, and he had a long scar on his forearm.

I sighed and conceded, " You're friends with the Sisu team. And the Sisu team is the worst part of this school."

"Why?" His brows furrowed and he stopped playing with a tool to listen.

"Ryan. We used to date."

"Ryans a jerk, but most of the crew doesn't support anything he does. There's a few who do but most of them are just too scared of Ryan to say anything to him."

"But you still hang out with Ryan and his cronies." I argued.

"I have to. I'm on the team,"

"You are? How? The team was full, and you got here like three days ago."

"Jason lost his spot. Ryan hated to let go of one of his lap dogs but they needed me," His smirk was back. They looked up to see the door creak as the doorknob was turned. Kyle shot a tendril of golden silk toward the door, the deadbolt locked immediately. We headed toward the door trying not to step on the scattered tools.

"Kyle! It's Andy! Let me in my classroom boy." The door shook but the deadbolt held fast. Kyle laughed and released the energy. The door burst open. "You have got some serious powers my boy. That bolt would have held a train."

He looked at me "So, you did get here. You caused me quite the scare young lady. It's pretty rare that someone knows about my little passage."

"Yeah sorry about that, she's with me now," Kyle said quickly. I kept my mouth shut not wanting to get into more trouble.

"Girlfriend?" Andy punched Kyle lightly in the arm. I giggled when his face got red.

"No she's spoken for, Ryan's girl. " He said, it was my turn to turn red.