Unordinary: New Student

28: Old Memory

John's POV

I was walking through the halls while looking down at the papers in my hand when I felt a hard shove from behind. "Hey cripple, get out of the way!" someone yelled as the papers fell out of my hands, scattering around my feet. 

Anger boiled inside me as I gathered up my papers. I was so sick of the intense bullying I had been receiving in Wellston, and now I was steeling myself more than ever to not break under all of it.

Suddenly, some one reached down and grabbed one of my papers, dusting it off before handing it to me. "Here, let me help you." The person said. 

I was flooded with images and memories of a certain green-haired girl. 'Claire!' Something was roaring inside of my head as overwhelming hatred and anger and maybe a bit of fear rose up, clouding my vision and mind. I felt my hand swing reflexively, and my palm slapped the person's hand away before I realized what I was doing. "Get away from me, you bitch!" I roared.

Then I snapped out of the memories to see that the person was not Claire at all. It was a light pink-haired girl, who looked shocked that I had slapped her. Remi, the Queen? Guilt ran through me. 'She was only trying to help!' I thought, dismayed. Then she glared at me through cold amber eyes, dropping my paper and clutching her hand.

"Uh-" I stammered, embarrassed and ashamed. "I- uh- I'm sor-" I broke off and turned my head as a red beam flew through the air directly toward my head.

***

Stephanie's POV

I hurried to my next class, a few thick books clutched to my chest. Then I realized that the halls seemed more crowded than usual, and when I looked around, I saw that everyone was staring at something in the hallway.

I caught sight of John crouched on the floor next to Remi, with Blyke standing off to the side a bit away from them. What was going on? Blyke suddenly activated his ability, stepping forward while shooting a energy beam from his palm. It flew through the air, heading straight for John. Before I knew it, I was moving, and my books crashed to the ground.

"Stop!" I yelled, my ability already activated. I ran forward, making a energy barrier appear in front of John to shield him from Blyke's attack. There was a small bang as the beam crashed into my barrier, not being able to pierce it. 

"Stephanie?" John, Blyke, and Remi said at the same time.

"Look," I said stepping protectively in front of John. "I don't know what's going on, but don't think I'm going to let my friends fight each other. What's wrong?" I glared around at them.

Blyke stepped forward, now face to face with me. "That cripple," he pointed at John. "Slapped Remi!" He growled, while Remi stood up, dusting herself off.

"It's really nothing, Blyke." She said softly, shooting me an apologetic glance. "Let's just go before we cause a bigger scene." With a snort, Blyke let Remi lead him away, still glaring at John.

I watched them go, then helped John gather his papers from the ground. I deactivated my ability, staring into John's eyes as I helped him up. His golden optics held fear, regret, anger, and... well, it was more like a turmoil of darker feelings. I didn't really want to question him about it, so I just did what Remi did. "Come on, we're leaving to our next class." I picked up my books, then pulled him away. John didn't say a single word.