Psionic Academy

Chapter Three: A Long Drive

Outside, in his house's driveway, was a gleaming silver truck. Lorelei opened the door and Shane jumped inside. In a minute, they were driving out of the street where Shane's house was and onto the main road, the street he had seen every day of his life.

Now that he was inside the car, he noticed that there was a girl who looked the same age as Shane, sitting across from him. From her tan skin and long, wavy brown hair, Shane could tell she was Lorelei's daughter. She also had bright hazel eyes. Probing. Curious.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi."

"What's your name?"

"Shane. What's yours?"

"Luciana. So... are you going to the entry exam for Psionic Academy?"

Shane suddenly felt sick. There was an entry exam? From his human school experience, he was good at taking tests, but he had no idea what was on an exam for people with superhuman powers!

"What?" he exclaimed, surprised.

Luciana laughed.

"What did you expect? It's the most prestigious high school in all of the Psionic world. You really don't know much, do you?"

Her voice was curious, not malicious, but the question still stung.

"Luciana," Lorelei scolded, "don't be so rude. Shane just realised Psionics even existed today."

"Wow. Really?" Luciana asked.

Shane nodded.

"Oh. I'm sorry..."

"That's OK," Shane said. The apology had sounded genuine.

"Well, I'll tell you about the test, then. You don't need to worry much about the entry exam. It's on topics present in the human world, like biology and chemistry and physics and statistics and algebra and writing. So anyone with half a brain and the drive to study can make it," Luciana explained.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Shane said, remembering his math homework. Even though it was just a few hours ago, the world he had lived in then felt so far away to where he was now, and homework was such a miniscule problem to the things he had to deal with in the present.

"Where they kick out people for failure in Psionic, ability-based subjects is the mid-year exams. If you aren't able to form an Affinity by then, you're out of Psionic Academy. Forever."

Shane blanched. Where would he go? He hoped there was another school that was acceptable and could keep him safe from the looming threat of the Onyx League, but the way his father had talked about Psionic Academy made it seem like the only real option for Psionic high school.

"Have you formed an... Affinity, or whatever you called it?" he asked Luciana, "do you have powers?"

Luciana laughed.

"No, of course not. We gain our powers through training at Psionic Academy. No-one in our class will have already got their abilities."

That made Shane feel a bit better. He wouldn't be behind anyone his age for his abilities, at least.

"Don't worry," Luciana added hastily, "according to the Psionic Academy guide book, the teachers will be training you on how to form an Affinity and join a Psychokinetic Discipline."

The long, nonsensical words didn't make Shane feel any better. He was still worried, but he was grateful Luciana was helping him.

"What do all these things mean?" he asked.