𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 (𝙗𝙭𝙗)

Chapter One

Cody P.O.V

I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if everything was normal. I think about it a lot, and I think I've come to the conclusion that I'd like it, if not prefer it over the life I'm living now. The world thinks money equals happiness, and with that mindset, you'd think I'd be the happiest I could ever be. But money doesn't equal happiness, and I don't think it ever has.

Even though the world we live in is advanced enough to have people with super abilities, a modernized hierarchy system still exists, evolving with time, but ensuring the rich their place at the top. It was a corrupt and harsh system, and the only people who benefited from it were the rich, and the whole world knew it.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?!" Hannah snapped at me. When my attention returned to the real world, I wasn't that shocked to find my best friend leaning across the table, her face mere centimeters away from my own. I didn't hesitate to shove her away from me, watching as she lost her balance, only managing to catch herself last second. "You know, you are so freaking rude," Hannah groaned, pouting slightly as she sat back down. "I don't know why I put up with your shit. I deserve to be treated like a princess," Hannah fake sniffled, acting as dramatic as she usually did. When I didn't give her the reaction she wanted, she frowned, leaning her head onto one of her hands. "Boring," She mumbled, looking down at her lunch.

I rolled my eyes at her. She knew I wasn't going to give her the reaction she wanted, so why does she bother trying? She was a determined soul; I'll give her that.

Before me was my best friend, Hannah. We met at the beginning of freshman year. We both stood out in different ways. Hannah wasn't into the shopping and money wasting that most of the kids here seemed to enjoy, and I wasn't into social interaction. We didn't have a lot in common, but it was our differences that made us friends. An introvert-extrovert duo that no one asked for, but exists.

"If you're bored, you can always leave," I mumbled back, picking my fork up to mess with the noodles the school provided for today's meal. Considering the school was filled with students from rich families, the meals weren't low-quality. In fact, they were close to something you'd eat at an expensive restaurant. The quality had to be high, considering the yearly-tuition fee was extremely out of pocket. There was a reason people from the middle class and lower struggled to get their children into this school because scholarships are rarely handed out by the board.

"PFF! As if. Then you'd be lonely and even more depressed," Hannah protested. I know she won't leave, where would she go? Unless she's been making friends without me knowing, which wasn't that unlikely. She had a personality that drew people in, but she tended to scare them away with her loud voice and over-reactiveness.

"Ha-ha," I mocked, not wanting to admit that she was right. Without her, attending school would go from bad to worse. The kids who go here are going to be the next generation of hand me down CEO's and politicians. Models and actors. Positions they'd receive simply because their parents had a hand in those occupations already.

"I don't need your pity laugh," Hannah mumbled, looking at me with slitted eyes. "I'm worth more than that," I couldn't help but not take her seriously. A small smile spread across my face as she began to rant about something unimportant, not asking for my input or opinion on the topic. It was pretty obvious which one of us kept the conversations going, though.

"Did you see it?" This question stood out from her ranting, the question sounding more serious and less playful. I looked at her with questioning eyes, but she was looking down at her tray.

"See what?" I asked, wishing she had just elaborated because she had to know I wasn't paying a lot of attention to what she had been saying. It was too easy for me to get lost in my thoughts, so many things keep my brain whirring.

"You know, the video from yesterday?" She asked, only making sense when the sentence was finished. Of course, I had seen the video. I had been watching the news live.

"Hard not too," I mumbled, looking away from Hannah. I didn't feel like talking about the supers right now. There was so much I knew, but couldn't mention. It was hard, keeping such a big secret from my best friend, but this secret wasn't entirely mine to spread, not when my parents were the focus.

"Smart-ass," Hannah mumbled before her face brightened drastically. "How long do you think it will be before they finally manage to catch him?" She asked, looking at my curiously. I didn't like this conversation either. It was often brought up when mentioning a villain. How long until so-and-so is caught and detained? Unlike almost everyone in this city, I didn't want Nihilo to get arrested. Did my father deserve it for his crimes? Most definitely, but it was different when the villain is your father.

"Who knows," I said, hoping she would take the answer without pushing me on it. I hated talking about this. I hated it when people talk about supers in general. I would have been completely fine with a normal life if my parents didn't have super-abilities.

"You are seriously no fun. You need to lighten up," Hannah advised, before grabbing her nearly cleaned tray. "I'll be right back," She said as she headed over to where we dispose of our dirty trays.

Unfortunately, maybe fortunate in my favor, the bell rang before she could return to the table, giving me a temporary escape from all this talk about supers. Aside from Hannah, no one will talk to me about it, heck, no one will talk to me in general. A perk and flaw of being seen as a weirdo throughout the posh school of bratty spoilt children. I didn't exactly make the best reputation for myself when I first started attending here.

At first, people had flocked to me when they discovered who my parents were, the girls, in particular, were very interested when they discovered who my mother was. I think they just wanted discounts or free make-up and thought that getting close to me would get them just that. I wasn't the most sociable person, so a lot of my quirky interests didn't suit their tastes, which ultimately drove everyone but Hannah away.

I thought going to class would be the thing I needed, but soon after, my eyes began to hurt from the lights and the windows having the blinds undrawn to let in natural light. My teachers don't tend to take my photophobia very seriously, thinking it was all in my head and that I would be fine for an hour in the light. The school nurse knew about it, but I don't complain about it enough for them to care. I don't think they understand that I can very easily get migraines from this type of light exposure.

Eventually, the teacher dismissed us to work on our computers, which didn't help my head either. It only made things worse. I turned down the brightness of my screen till it was just barely visible. I squinted at the little clock in the corner, thinking about the time mom usually got off on Thursdays.

Knowing she'd still be at work, but not for much longer, I lean down slightly, moving my smartwatch to my face. "Liam, email mom and ask her to pick me up from school, my head hurts," That was all I had to say. Liam didn't reply with confirmation, knowing I was in a learning setting, he wouldn't verbally reply unless asked until after school was over.

It wasn't even thirty minutes before I was called to be checked out. It sure did get whispers though, most of the kids mocking that I always left early. Well, try constant migraines, this school is lucky I even work up the will to attend school. I had my own little pile of absences from the days that my head hurt so badly that I couldn't leave my room, let alone my bed.

I was lucky that mom was getting off today. Otherwise, I would have had to tough it out.

I don't like having to deal with head-pains and my school mates. It was a deadly combination.