Life of a Less-Than-Super Human

Chapter One - August 29th

Sweat dripped from my brow as I sat heavily down onto the packed earth, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself. One week after school had started and I was already wishing it was still summer. Probably, I admitted to myself, grimacing, because I haven't tried not to. Band Camp, with the sweltering 80s and 90-something degree temperatures, had prepared me for the marching we were now doing in Band class. Nothing, on the other hand, had prepared me for temperatures over 70s. I'd always had a problem with hot temperatures due to my Power; I was colder than a normal person.

So there I was, greedily swigging some ice-cold water down my throat. It felt like heaven in my mouth and throat, despite probably being close to freezing solid. That's another perk of my Power: the cold doesn't bother me. Never really has. I let out a sigh when the freezing torrent of water ceased to flow into my hungry mouth. I could refill it by condensing a little water vapor (which there was no shortage of, I assure you), but before I got the chance I heard someone call my name.

"Nicholas!" came the energetic voice of our faithful band teacher.

I looked up to see Mrs. D, our band teacher, waving her hand in the air and beckoning me over. She was the new high-school and middle school band teacher, and so far everyone loved her. Her enthusiasm and love of band and music in general was a refresher, not to mention how relatable she was. Fresh off the college chopping block did wonders for student relatability, it seemed. I stood up, idea of refilling the water bottle temporarily forgotten as I jogged over to her. Our marching practice was taking place outside on the practice football field, which happened (and I kid you not) to be located on the edge of two massive cornfields.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked as I reached her. Alice Hammond, a sophomore who I'd made friends with the second day, stood nearby.

"I was just curious, but have you ever heard of the Band Show-Downs?" Mrs. D. asked me. I quirked an eyebrow, curiosity ignited.

"Can't say I've heard the name before. Care to explain what they are?"

"Well you're in Duels, aren't you?" came the instant reply. I nodded. Duels are competitions set up between different schools hosting kids with The Power. Teams of one, two, or three enter the field and face off against a different school's team.

"Yeah..." I trailed off the last part.

"It's like that!" she said cheerily, smiling. I couldn't help but grin as well in the face of such enthusiasm.

"So it's like Dueling...but with Band?" I asked, still not 100% sure what she meant.

"There are no teams, though," she clarified.

"So it's a one-on-one Duel between two different schools? At Band events?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself!"

That might unfortunately be true, I thought, chuckling a bit in my head. For all the enthusiasm and fun Mrs. D. brought to the table, she was like me in the explanation department; sometimes lacking. Not to say that she did it all the time; generally her examples and explanations were spot on and more than perfect. But, like all humans every once and a while (myself more than most), there were times when it was just hard to explain. Nonetheless, I knew more than I had.

"That sounds pretty cool," I admitted. "But why the interest in myself?"

"Well," she said, drawing out the "l" sound, "Alice told me you were a Duelist so I figured I'd ask if you were interested."

I fired Alice a look to which she grinned and turned away. Gaze shifting back to Mrs. D. I let out a deep breath from my nose.

"Is that all she said?" I asked, wanting to know if anything had been blown out of proportion.