The house looked like it belonged to a whole different world.  It seemed as if it had been abandoned for several years; like the family that had been living there left in a hurry and never came back.  I stared into the master bedroom for what seemed like hours.  The bed was made up nicely, a thin layer of dust settled onto the furniture, and the carpet had been swept, but was obviously getting dingy.  It was hard to believe that a home could feel so different after only a short while.  To be honest, I wasn't one hundred percent sure how long it had been since I was here last, but I knew that in the time that I was gone, my life had been drastically altered.  I continued staring at the bed and imagined my mother making it after her morning shower, not knowing that it would be for the last time.   

            "He's here. Are you ready, Adam?" I heard from behind me.  I had been so lost in thought that the voice startled me, but it brought me back into the real world.  I turned my back toward the bedroom and walked away.

            "Yeah," I replied, and made my way back to him.

            The reality was my parents were dead, and people kept telling me that I was lucky to be alive.  To be honest, I thought surviving was quite the opposite of being lucky.  I wished I had died.  That way I could be with them, wherever they were now.  At least I wouldn't have to live alone for the rest of my life if I had died.  I might not have felt that way if I had at least somebody to turn to, but there was no one.  The last few days I spent in the hospital I spent wondering what was going to happen.  Finally, Mr. Baker came to me with answers.

            Baker was my case worker.  He was a tall man that was wearing an expression of great regret.  I tried to take little notice of it, not wanting any sympathy.  He told me that normally when a minor's parents die and they have no family to care for them, they get put in the foster care system until they find a permanent home.  However, since I would be eighteen and legally an adult in a little more than a month, he had other plans.  Apparently, there was a boarding school in Nebraska that made contact with Baker and offered me free tuition for the rest of my senior year.  I have to admit, the news of me not having to be put through the foster care system was the first bit of relief I experienced since the car accident.

            When I walked outside of my warm house, the cold air smacked me across the face.  I choked on my first breath, since my throat was still extremely scratchy from a breathing tube being stuck down it just a few days prior.  After the initial shock of the cold, I pushed down the beanie on my head and continued down the front sidewalk toward the gray car in my driveway, lugging my suitcase behind me.

            A muscular man of average height with neat, light brown hair, wearing a tan trench coat and an inviting red scarf stepped out of the silver car and headed up the steps to the porch I stood on with Baker.  He approached us with a friendly smile and extended his hand toward me.

            "You must be Adam Bentley," he said.  I reached out and returned his handshake, reluctantly forcing a friendly smile of my own.

            "Yeah," I answered coolly.  As soon as he released my hand, I looked away and picked up a few of my bags.

            "It's very nice to meet you, Adam," said the man.  I only nodded back.  "My name is David Cadmus, and I'm the principal of Gryphon Academy in Nebraska."  Without quite meaning to, I raised an eyebrow at him and started to grind my teeth.  "Let me help you with some of these."  He then proceeded to help me out with my luggage.  After grabbing two bags, he scuttled down the steps and placed them gently into the trunk of his silver car.  I started to follow him, toting my rather large suitcase behind me.  Mr. Baker stopped me before I could get too far by resting his hand on my shoulder.

            "Good luck, kid," he told me.  "If you need anything or just somebody to talk to, you know how to reach me."  He gave me a reassuring pat and I nodded.

            "Thanks," I replied sincerely.  Mr. Cadmus helped me put the rest of my bags neatly into his car.  Once he closed the trunk and looked at me, he gave me a stupid smile.  When he turned back around to head toward the driver's seat, I rolled my eyes and groaned, unenthusiastically sliding into the passenger's side.  At least he kept the heat running in the car.

            "You take care of him," Mr. Baker smiled toward Cadmus.

            "You won't have to worry about him anymore, Baker," Cadmus replied, closing the door behind him after taking his position behind the wheel of the car.  "I bet you were happy to have left the hospital this morning," he attempted at making conversation as we started heading down the street toward the main road.  I turned my head away from him and looked out my window.

            "Yeah," I replied without much emotion.  The principal simply nodded his head and the car fell silent.  After a moment, I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.  He looked extremely focused on the road, maybe even nervous.  He was probably inspecting every inch to watch out for any place the salt trucks may have missed.

            "I'm sorry about what happened," Cadmus attempted at conversation again.  Great, small talk, that's exactly what I wanted.  Instead of letting him give me sympathy, I completely ignored him.  I glanced at the man out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly felt like an asshole.  He appeared to be a genuinely nice guy, and I was being rude to him.  My parents would not have been pleased with me.  They raised me better than that.

            I peered back out my window, and cringed when I noticed what road we were on.  It was the flashing lights on the construction vehicle that caught my attention.  They were fixing the guard rail.  I closed my eyes and pressed my head up against my palm, fighting back the images that I'd been trying to hold back for the last few weeks.

            I could hear our laughter, along with the sound of cars trudging through inches of slush.

            I continued trying to fight the memory by forcing my eyes open.  My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, I became tremendously dizzy, and my face and hands were numb.  I tried to think of something else, but it wasn't that easy.

            It all happened so fast.  My parents and I were coming home from a nice dinner out.  The roads seemed acceptable to drive on.  There were plenty of other cars plowing through the slush, what would make our car any different?

            I gasped, attempting to settle myself by taking deep breaths.  The only thing that resulted from that decision was hyperventilation.  I noticed the car was suddenly stopped on the side of the road and Cadmus was leaning over toward me.  I'm guessing Mr. Baker told him about my history of panic attacks.

            It all started when the car in front of us started to slide.  The driver lost control of his car and swerved.  My father, who was driving our car, tried to swerve out of the way into the lane just to the right.  Unfortunately, the car behind us was going a little too fast and had the same idea.  It was already in the right lane and slammed into us as we attempted our merge, pushing our car into the first car, which in turn sent both of us tearing through the guard rail and into a ravine separating the highway.  Both our car and the first car were almost intertwined with each other, and it took the Jaws of Life to get us out of the rubble.  I can still hear the sound of my parent's screams.

            "Adam!" is the next thing I heard, at least as far as I can remember.  "Hey!" I felt something tapping the side of my face.  "Come on, Adam, it's alright." I opened my eyes to see Cadmus out the side of my door, kneeling down, trying to get me to snap out of it. I looked out the front windshield and noticed the construction workers putting in the new guard rail. "Nothing's going to happen," Cadmus continued.

            "No," I managed to choke out, not able to take my eyes off the road to look at him.  He turned around to see what was making me so anxious.  Without another word, he understood. "Just drive," I pleaded.  He didn't question me, but instead nodded and got back behind the wheel, continuing down the road.

            It took me a few moments to catch my breath and stop shaking.  To help out, Cadmus started talking.  It wasn't even anything particular either, just senseless talking, but it worked.  Even though I was hardly listening, the sound of something else got my mind off the terrifying images.  I think it was when Cadmus began having a conversation with himself about mashed potatoes that I fell asleep.

            "Adam," I heard Cadmus say, waking me up to the sound of the radio at an extremely soft volume.  I noticed that it was dark outside; the only light was from the dim street lamps and moon trying to shine through thick snow clouds.  The car was slowly creeping along a narrow, winding road with a cliff to the left and forest to the right.  It looked like we were out in the wilderness and I watched as the snow fell heavily onto the ground.

            "Where are we?" I asked, my voice still rough from having just woken up.

            "We're almost there," he answered.  Impossible, I thought, but when I looked at the clock I was surprised.  It was already 9:15 at night.  Had I really slept through the entire car trip?

            "Why didn't you get me up?" I asked.

            "I figured I'd let you sleep," he answered.  Great, I thought, now I won't be able to go to sleep tonight.  I think he recognized my frustration.  "You are still recovering. You need the rest."

            He turned the car around a corner, through a set of gates, and down a long driveway.  My eyes widened curiously as I looked at what was waiting ahead of us.  It wasn't a school.  It was too big and beautiful to be a school.  It looked more like a mansion, or castle even, but definitely not a school.  Cadmus pulled into a spot in the nearest parking lot to the building and turned off the ignition.

            "This is it," he said, his eyes glowing as they peered up at the mansion.  I nodded and began to open my car door.  All I wanted to do was get inside and curl up in a bed.  "Wait," Cadmus stopped me as I grasped the handle.  He looked at his hands on the steering wheel, obviously contemplating something.  I noticed a figure emerge from the building and head toward our silver car.

            "What?" I asked impatiently, focusing back on the principal.  The man took a deep breath and looked at me.

            "The reason we brought you to this particular school is because you're not like everybody else," he began.  I was in positively no mood to deal with any bull-crap from him right at that moment, so I shook my head and began to open my door.  "Just hold on a second," he tried to stop me again.

            "I bet you tell all of your students that.  You can save your breath 'cause I don't particularly care," I snapped back at him, not thinking before I spoke.  If my father had heard me talk like such to an adult, I would have been in big trouble.  I frowned, disappointment with myself.

            "Just, listen to me," Cadmus instructed, dropping his nice-guy tone and replacing it with something more stern.  He didn't appear to be phased by my attitude.  "I know you've had a long day.  You're tired.  You just want to get in there, finish your senior year, and be done with it.  I've heard the same story a million times, but if you would just let me explain to you…" I sat back in my seat, my right leg still hanging out of the car. " All of the students here at Gryphon are special.  Special as in…" He was cut off when I jumped at a red-haired woman who appeared in front of me out of nowhere.  Up close, I recognized her as the woman that had been walking toward us from the school, but there was no way she could have gotten to the parking lot as quickly as she did.  Cadmus pressed his palm to his face.

            "Come on, Cadmus!" she yelled to the principal, looking at him through my open door.  The man looked up and saw my stunned look.

            "Special as in having super powers," he finished explaining.  All I could do was blink.  My brain was split.  Part of it was telling me these people were absolutely, bat-shit insane, while another part was telling me that I was sleeping and this was just a dream, and the last part was trying to make sense of it all.

            "You didn't tell him yet?" the red haired woman asked, surprised.  She grasped my arm and 'helped' me out of the car.  "I bet you're thinking we're crazy, huh?"  I didn't know what to say.  I was so tired and freaked out that I couldn't keep my head on one single train of thought.  It was like an internal battle with myself, half thinking I wanted to go inside and go to bed, then wake up from this dream.  The other half had just seen a woman appear out of nowhere, and wanted to learn more about these 'superpowers'.

            "That's Red.  She has the power of teleportation and phasing," Cadmus explained. "She likes to hop around a lot."

            "That's right," she said, now at the trunk helping Cadmus unload my things.  I slowly made my way back to them, grabbing my rolling suitcase and following along behind as they led me to the school.             "So, tell me, what's his power, Cadmus?" the woman asked.  My attention was now on the principal and I was fully alert.

            "Time control," he stated plainly.

            "Oh, that's rare!" Red happily announced.  "We're going to have fun with you."  It sounded interesting, but I was still skeptical.

            "How do you know that?" I asked Cadmus, pushing my beanie lower on my face due to the cold temperature.

            "It's one of my many talents," he explained, grinning.  I think he noticed that I was extremely frazzled, along with upset and tired.  "You're not dreaming, Adam.  This is real, so you're going to need to trust us.  It's a strange concept to grasp, I know.  It's hard for everybody who steps through these doors, but you'll accept it eventually."  I bit my bottom lip as he escorted me through the double doors and into the school.

            The massive Christmas tree that greeted us as we walked into the entrance hall reminded me that it was the biggest holiday season of the year.  I turned my gaze elsewhere, looking away from the tree.  I wasn't sure if I could handle the merriment of the holidays just yet.  The thought occurred to me that I wouldn't be with my family this Christmas.

            "That's our library," Cadmus stated, refocusing my attention.  He was pointing to a dimly lit room through an archway to our left.  From what I could see, it looked like a typical library.  There were books, and a lot of them, it seemed.  I turned back and looked past the Christmas tree.  There were two sets of stairs leading to a balcony on the second floor.

            I followed Cadmus and Red up the left staircase, and behind the tree I could see another softly lit lobby-like area.  We took a left after we got up the stairs and continued down a long hallway of normal looking classrooms until we reached a lounge.  There was a large television hanging from the wall, and three sofas occupied by a young group of teens, probably 15 or 16 years old.  They were all laughing and having a good time, playing some sort of video game.  A few of them glanced at us when we stopped at a nearby elevator.

            "Hey, Caddy!" one of the boys greeted the principal.  Cadmus grinned and waved at the kids.  The elevator opened and we stepped in, and it carried us to the fourth floor.

            "For our older students," Cadmus began.  "We have a more relaxed environment.  Each floor has a common area, if you will, that has a pool table, television, games, etcetera.  Then the rooms are broken off into units.  Typically units house eight students, where you will have another small common area and kitchen for yourselves."  I nodded and glanced behind me to see Red picking her fingernails.

            "What unit are we putting the boy in, again?" she asked.

            "406," the principal answered. Red smirked.

            The elevator opened to another, bigger, common area.  Like Cadmus had explained, it had a pool table, television, and a number of students gathered around quietly watching a movie.  The sound of the elevator caught their attention and they acknowledged us with a slight wave.

            "Good evening!" Cadmus greeted happily.

            "What's up, kids?" Red also greeted.

            "New kid?" one of the students on the couch asked.  I tried to be polite with a smile-and-nod, but I couldn't bring myself to look them in the eye.

            "Yes, sir," Cadmus responded.  "This is Adam Bentley. He's going to 406."

            "Cool," the kid said before returning to his movie.

            We left the lounge and headed down a hallway.  There were doors every few feet with a label next to them with their individual unit numbers.  The door to unit 406 was cracked open, and we stepped in to the small kitchen area.  It had an L-shaped counter, on top of which sat a little microwave, a few boxes of cereal, a toaster, and a sink.  Below the counter was a small refrigerator.  The five stools at the other side of the counter gave me the assumption that was where they sat to eat.

            "Hello!" Cadmus said eagerly to the students huddled around yet another nice sized television.

            "Hey, they're here!" a voice called out.

            "Hey, kids," Cadmus replied, leading me into the small lounge area.  There were four students, most likely all seventeen or older, sitting on the sofas.  One of the boys stood up and made his way toward us.  He was tall, had spiky, dirty blond hair, and impressive muscles.

            "How are you doing, sir?" he asked with a smirk as he greeted the principal with a handshake.  He turned to me and held out his hand.  I took it and returned the shake half-heartedly.  The boy smirked.

            "Devon, this is Adam Bentley," Cadmus introduced us.  "Devon will be your roommate, Adam." I began to grind my teeth again; it was something of a bad habit.

            "Nice to meet you," the boy said to me smirking.  I could see a playful glint in his eye.  After he broke the uncomfortable eye contact with me, he turned to Red and they fist bumped.  "What up, girl?"  She rolled her eyes and pushed him back playfully.

            "Don't miss class again Monday," she said.  "Or I'm failing you." Devon playfully pouted.

            "Show him around, tell him the rules and whatnot," Cadmus continued, ignoring the two.  "And… maybe you can convince him that we're not all crazy."  The principal winked at the boy, who was now smiling with pleasure, before turning around to leave.  "See you tomorrow, Adam. Have a good night."

            "Thanks," I muttered, probably not loud enough for him to hear.  I was happy to notice the other students had turned back to the TV, except for one brunette girl who had her eyes on Devon and I.

            "So what's your power, newbie?" Devon said, inspecting me.  I turned away, not wanting him to look too hard at the scars on my face.

            "Um, time control, I think he said," I answered quietly.  It felt stupid coming out of my mouth since I didn't wholeheartedly believe it.  I really didn't want to talk anyway.  I just wanted to find my bed and curl up in it.

            "Awesome," Devon said, smiling.  "So, you think we're insane, don't you?"

            "I don't know what to think," I responded.  I wanted to think they were mad, but I couldn't get the images of Red teleporting out of my mind.  There was a blur, and the boy was gone, now sitting beside the brown-haired girl on the couch.

            "We're legit," he continued to say.  "the real deal. You'll come around eventually.  Once you get to your first power lesson and begin your training, you'll realize we're not nut jobs.  Well, most of us at least."  I shrugged and nodded, feeling a breeze blow past my face and Devon was no longer on the couch, but standing beside me.

            "You can teleport too?" I asked, again feeling ridiculous asking such a strange question.

            "Nah," he replied.  "Better. I've got superhuman speed, strength, and heightened senses."

            "Ah," I nodded.  The girl on the couch stood up and approached me.

            "He thinks he's really cool," she said, stopping about a foot away from me.  Devon grinned, not denying the fact.  "I'm Bailey.  I promise Devon's not this big of a pain in the ass all the time.  He likes to show off to the new people."  I was happy when she didn't offer a handshake, but kept her arms crossed.  It was easier for me to look into her eyes for some reason.  They were the deepest shade of chocolate, and were completely inviting.

            "I'm not showing off!" Devon protested, now standing next to a table by a window behind the couches.  Bailey rolled her eyes.

            "WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP?" a voice yelled from the girl's hallway to the left.  Bailey and Devon both cringed, as did a few of the students on the couch.

            "Haha, Nikki," Devon laughed.  "You don't wanna mess with her."

            "Alright, well, I'm gonna hit it," Bailey stated, flashing a smile to me and pushing her curly brown hair over her shoulder, letting it fall down her back.  "Good night!"

            "Night, Bay!" Devon replied.  He walked back to me at a normal speed.  "I'll show you our room."  He picked up a few of my bags and headed down the hallway to the right, which was for the boys.       There was a door on the right side of the hallway, one on the left, and one straight ahead.  The door straight ahead was open and I could see that it was a bathroom.  Devon opened the door to the right and I could see a somewhat decent-sized room.  There were two twin beds, one on the left wall, which I assumed to be Devon's since the covers were ruffled, and one on the right wall that was made up nice and neat.  Next to either bed there was a desk to do homework on.  There were also small dressers at the feet of the beds, and closets to the right or left.

            "This is it," Devon said, opening the door enough for me to step inside.  "It's not too bad; could be worse."

            "It's fine," I said, setting down my suitcase.  Devon placed my other two bags on my bed.  He changed into a pair of sweatpants and removed his shirt completely, then crawled into his bed.  I changed into my pajamas as well.  I figured I'd unpack all of my things tomorrow.  For now, I just wanted to sleep.

            "In all seriousness," Devon began as he turned out his light.  "Me and Bailey will help you out if you need anything. Just ask."

            "Okay," I replied.  I picked up a picture that was lying in my suitcase.  It was me, my mom, and my father sitting in front of a waterfall on our vacation last summer.  After looking at it for a while, I tucked it back into my bag and turned out the light.

            I rolled over and looked at the clock to see that it was just past 11 in the morning.  I sighed after realizing I was in the dorm room, and Devon was there getting dressed.  I hadn't been dreaming about the peculiar school for superheroes.  I rolled out of bed and began to dig through my suitcase for something to wear.

            "Hey, you're up," Devon stated.  I nodded.  He slid on his shirt and made his way to leave the room.  "Once you get dressed we'll take you down for something to eat, and maybe we'll show you around a little bit."

            "Okay," I replied.  He walked out and closed the door.  I got myself dressed into a baggy pair of pants and tight shirt.  I was still wearing my black beanie from last night, and I only took it off for a moment to brush my hair.

            Before meeting the other two in the lounge I went into the bathroom and glanced in the mirror.  The scrapes on my face were healing surprisingly well.  Hopefully some of the scars would go away for good, if I was lucky.  I wanted to get a shower, but my growling stomach urged me to find food.

            There were a few more unfamiliar faces in the unit, eating cereal at the counter or relaxing on the couch.  I spotted Bailey and Devon on the sofa and was extremely shocked when I noticed Devon holding a small baby, dressed in a yellow polka dotted dress.  Devon held the baby's hands and waved them around and she giggled with pleasure.  I really didn't want to intrude on their personal business, but curiosity got the best of me.

            "You guys have  a-" I started.  Before I could finish the question Devon stopped me.

            "Oh, God no," he said.  "I'm just the designated babysitter, it seems."  Devon laughed and smiled at Bailey, who was using a small mirror to help her put on eyeliner.  She snapped the mirror shut and gave Devon a slightly offended look.  Then she shrugged.

            "Normally I would protest to that kind of statement, but Dev's right," she said.  "No way." I nodded, but couldn't help feel a bit of tension between the two as they stood up and Bailey took the baby back into her own arms.   She smiled happily, waving her arms around. Her hair was just beginning to come in, and even though it looks blonde, I could tell it was going to be brown. 

            "She is yours though?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

            "Yeah," she answered.  I could tell she didn't want to go into much detail, so I remained quiet.  "Her name is Lily."

            "So, lunch?" Devon said, rubbing his hands together and heading toward the door of the unit and into the hall.

            "Sure," I replied.  The little girl Bailey was holding started making noises and grabbing at Bailey's shirt happily.

            "How old?" I asked.  I think watching Lily was the first time I smiled since the crash.

            "Seven months," Bailey answered.  

            "How old are you, anyway?"  Bailey asked me.

            "Almost eighteen," I answered.  She nodded.

            "Me too," she replied.  "The end of this month is my birthday."

            "Cool," I said.  "I'm the beginning of January."

            "Hah, I'm older than both of you," I heard Devon say from next to Bailey.

            "He's only twenty," Bailey said, rolling her eyes.

            "Almost twenty one," Devon responded with a wink.

            We took the elevator down to the second floor and then down the flight of steps that led into the main hall with the huge Christmas tree.  I followed Devon and Bailey past the Christmas tree into the back lobby.  I noticed to the left there were entrances to locker rooms, along with a gymnasium.  Straight ahead I spotted the cafeteria.  It was easy to find, since it was almost all windowed and had about four sets of doors leading in.  I saw a great number of students enjoying what appeared to be food worthy enough of a fancy buffet that's food wasn't all that great.  Devon must have noticed my face judging the food.

            "It's not bad, actually," he assured me.  "This school offers some college degrees, and one of them is culinary.  The culinary students prepare the food, so it's good."

            "I'll get us a table," Bailey said, taking her baby back from Devon's arms.

            "Sounds good," Devon said and he led me to the food court area.  "Take your pick."  I looked around and saw a few different stations to choose food from.  One station had the day's specialty.  Another had lunch sandwiches, another had pizza, and there was a station for burgers, and chicken.  I chose a basket of chicken tenders and a cup of French fries, while Devon stacked his plate with two bacon cheeseburgers, french fries, a cookie, and an apple.

            We met up with Bailey, who was talking to faces I recognized from our unit.  There were two boys and one girl.  Devon grinned and did some odd handshake with the boys at the table.

            "Hey guys," he said.  "This is Adam. Adam, that's Jeremy and Nate."  The boys waved.  One had scruffy blonde hair, and the other had unruly brown hair. "That's Natalie." He pointed to the girl with shoulder length dirty-blonde hair.  She smiled and waved as well.

            "Hello," she said kindly.  I sat down between Devon and Bailey and began picking at my food.  Bailey had Lily on her lap and was feeding her a cup of food, along with the crust from Natalie's pizza that she didn't want.  Devon tossed his apple to her.  It was then that I realized something.

            "Hey, Bailey," I said.  She looked shocked that I had made an attempt to start a conversation.

            "What's up?" she replied eagerly.

            "What's your power?" I asked, contemplating whether or not I was going to finally take a bite of chicken.  She was about to answer me when a set of the cafeteria doors slammed open, making most people in the room to look.  A few moments later, five students came walking in.  There were three girls and two guys.  The girl that seemed to be leading them had on black boots with a small heel, black jeans, and a white shirt with a black design in the middle, topped off with a black jean jacket.

            My eyes made their way up to her face.  She had poker straight hair that was amazingly a darker black than mine and it fell a few inches past her shoulders.  Her facial features were perfectly defined and her skin was flawless.  After scoping the room, she stopped when her eyes landed on our table and headed in our direction.  Bailey stopped feeding the toddler and held her close, watching the girl with a vicious scowl.  She and the other girl's eyes were locked on each other.

            "Here we go," Devon muttered as he watched the black-haired girl head toward Bailey with a determined expression.  The group reached our table and the girl leaned against it and put her face close to Bailey's.

            "What was all the noise last night?" the girl asked Bailey.  "I swear to God if I hear it cry one more time I'll have it removed from the building."

            "First of all, she cried for about ten seconds before I got her quiet," Bailey started, sounding just as strong as the other girl.  "Second, Natalie didn't even hear it, so you must have been up anyway, and third, there's no way in hell you can kick her out.  So go crawl in a ditch somewhere and get out of my face."  The black haired girl continued to stare her down.

            "You'd be surprised what I can do," she said before heading away with her posse.  Bailey took a deep breath and grinded her teeth.  

            "That was Nikki," Devon explained.

            "The roommate from Hell," Natalie chimed in.

            "I hate her," Bailey expressed.

            "I see that," I said.  Jeremy and Nate were simply laughing.

            "Force fields," Bailey said.  It took me a second to figure out what she was talking about, until I remembered my question.

            "Oh," I said.  That was awesome, actually.  When I was younger I had a comic book and there was a character that could use force fields.  "Are they like… a shield or a weapon?"

            "Both," she explained.  "But it's pretty boring. I don't really have any use for them.  It's a bummer, really."  I shrugged, finally taking a small bite of my food.  Devon was right, it wasn't half bad.  A smirk then spread across Bailey's face.  She repositioned Lily on her lap, set the apple in front of her on the table, and glanced at Devon.  "Get ready."

            Devon flashed a smile and jumped up from the table, casually walking across the cafeteria.  Once he reached the other side, he put his thumbs up to express his readiness.  Not knowing what to expect, I looked from Bailey to Devon.  I could see their eyes locked on each other.  It was like witnessing an entire conversation without actual spoken words.  Bailey then placed her hand palm-out facing her apple.         I figured I should keep my focus on the fruit.  I barely had time to process what happened when she pushed her hand forward.  There was a slight disturbance in the air between her hand and the apple.  I looked to Devon and he jumped, even though he didn't really need to, and caught the apple that had been launched across the room.  Bailey smiled approvingly.

            I had a grin on my face after watching the two.  It felt good.  I was living in the moment, accepting the fact that this was far beyond normal.  I might have been actually enjoying myself.

            The scene had caught the attention of most of the students in the cafeteria, who gave a round of sarcastic applause.  Devon bowed like he had just won an Oscar.  To show off even more, he decided that he was going to throw it back; full force at Bailey, and that was fast for a guy with superhuman strength.  The apple was halfway back to our table when its path was altered. It made its way into in Nikki's hands. Apparently, she wasn't happy with Devon and Bailey's disturbance.  She stared at Bailey in the eye and took a rather large bite out of the apple.  Bailey's brow furrowed and she sighed with frustration again.

            On the other side of the cafeteria, Devon eyed her angrily.  When Nikki swallowed her bite, she threw the apple back toward our table.  It was as if the apple was being propelled forward by another force, because the way she threw it, it certainly wouldn't have made it back to us.  I guess my depth perception was still a little bit off from the car accident, because I didn't notice that the fruit was coming right toward my face.  Bailey had to deflect it away quickly before it hit me and knocked me out.

            "Nikki!" she yelled, standing up at our table and staring her down with a livid scowl.  Nikki looked as casual as ever.  Nobody had even noticed that the principal had walked in.  When everyone calmed down and people started to notice him, they all straightened up and carried on with lunch as usual.  I slouched over and nibbled a piece of chicken.  Devon rejoined us at our table.

            "You could have stopped that if you wanted to, Adam!" Cadmus said to me, coming over to Bailey and myself.  "How are you all this morning? Hello, Lily."  The principal reached his hand down and touched the little girl's face.

            "Nikki is being a bitch, Caddy!" Bailey complained.  

            "I'll have a talk with Nikki later," the principal ensured Bailey.  He turned to me.  "Adam, if you're finished I'd like to see you in my office."  I looked down at my half eaten plate of food, realizing I had eaten plenty to suit my appetite for a while.

            "Sure," I said, and stood up to follow him out.

            I followed Cadmus out of the cafeteria and into main hall once more, passing the Christmas tree and heading into the library.  I didn't realize the library was so big at a first glance from the night before.  Not only was it the home to thousands of books, but there were also large circular tables with computers and a cozy fireplace with sofas surrounding it.  A small number of students were sitting around the fire talking quietly and reading, while one boy used a computer to watch videos online.

            Cadmus' office was just off of the library.  It was surprisingly quite spacious.  Like any middle aged man's office, it was full of pictures and trinkets, but painted a terrible shade of orange.  Next to his computer screen I noticed a picture of Cadmus with an attractive woman, both holding onto a little girl about 8 years old.  He looked a lot younger in the picture than he did standing before me.

            "How are you doing today, Adam?" he asked me, not sitting down on his chair, but hovering over his desk and shuffling through papers.

            "Alright," I answered.  He nodded, and found the paper that he was looking for.

            "Do you still think we're all crazy?" he laughed.  It was another reminder that I had entered a world similar to one you would find in a comic book.  I actually thought about his question.

            "Oh yeah, you're a bunch of nut jobs," I said.  "But I think I can handle it."  I noticed a look of shock on Cadmus' face and was confused until I realized why.  A hint of my own personality had made a temporary guest appearance, and even I was surprised.  However, I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about it.

            "Good!" Cadmus said, trying to not break the mood, but it was too late.  "Listen, I know you're still adjusting to everything that has happened to you in the past month and everything that's happening here, so I've assigned you a counselor and I expect you to see her once a week at least for the next month."  I grinded my teeth and sighed.  Somehow I always ended up having a counselor, and I hated it.         He handed me a piece of paper with the dates and times he expected me to see the counselor.  I less-than-carefully folded it up and shoved it in my back pocket.  "Also…" he said, picking up one other paper from his desk.  He handed it to me and smiled.

            "My schedule?" I asked him.  He nodded.  My smile attempted to grow, but I'm not sure how successful it was.

            "I think you'll like it considerably more than your high school schedule," he said.  He was right, too.

            The schedule was more like a college schedule, with classes every other day instead of every day.  It also had classes which I assumed to be training classes for my power.  I felt... excited?  The principal cheerfully stepped out from behind his desk and patted me on the back.

            "Don't be a stranger, Adam," he started.  "You'll be here at least until June.  If you need to talk to somebody I'm here, we have a ton of counselors, and I know there's a lot of great staff you'll really like."

            "Okay," I answered, not really paying attention, but consumed with looking at my schedule.

            "That's all. I'll see you later," he ushered me out.

            "You weren't in there very long," I heard Devon say once I stepped back into the front hall from the library.  My eyes peered up from my schedule for the first time and saw him waiting for me by the stairs.  "Is that your schedule?" he asked.  Before allowing me to answer him, he snatched the paper away from me and began to look it over.  "Ew, algebra and physics.  I'm so glad I'm done with that shit," he said.

            "So you go here for college then?" I asked him.

            "Yeah, but I don't have a major or anything," he answered, still scanning my schedule.  "I mainly focus on my power training."  I nodded, and took my schedule back when he handed it to me.  "Bailey went to drop Lily off at daycare.  We can go meet up with her and we'll show you around."

            Devon took me past the cafeteria one more time and through a narrow hallway.  On the other end of the hallway we stepped into another front hall with a similar setup as the other, only it was decorated for kids.  I also looked into their cafeteria and noticed a great deal of adults standing along the walls supervising the much more orderly group of students.

            "This is the kid's wing," he told me.  I nodded and continued to look around.  It was very interesting.  Two little girls around the age of seven ran past us and began to draw on the touch-screen wall.  It was very high-tech.  I have to admit, the children's wing was much more exciting than the adult wing.  "Pretty sweet, isn't it?" Devon asked.

            "Yeah," I said, finding myself smiling at the kids playing and giggling happily.

            "All of the kids on this side are twelve and younger," Devon explained.  "Their wing has the same layout as ours but is just more fun... and orderly"

            He took me down a few hallways full of classrooms with smart-boards and tiny desks.  I felt like I was in an elementary school; a huge, maze-like elementary school.  At the end of one particular hallway I could make out a glass door that led to an outside courtyard.  I followed Devon toward it and we entered the last door to the left.  My mouth came open when I looked inside.

            At the entrance of the preschool was the front counter, where Bailey talked with the woman at the desk, but to the right made me wish I was a toddler just so I could stay there during the day.  It was a room packed with toys, televisions, gaming devices, art tables, blocks, and anything else a child could possibly dream of to keep them busy for days on end.  Behind the desk I could make out even more rooms, but couldn't quite see what they were.

            "I thought you were keeping her on the weekends, Bailey," the woman at the desk said to Bailey as she took Lily into her own arms.  The toddler began to cry.

            "Just take her today, alright?" Bailey said.

            "Of course, Miss Daniels," the woman surrendered and took the screaming child into one of the back rooms to calm down.  Bailey turned and shrugged at Devon who gave her an accusing glance.  She walked past us and out the glass doors into the courtyard.  Devon and I followed her.

            I was extremely glad I had chosen to put on a thick sweatshirt that morning and kept my beanie on, because it was extremely cold outside.  I watched as small flakes of snow settled into our hair, and shivered slightly.  I almost went back inside.  Bailey fumbled around in her back pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.  She struggled to light the cigarette with her trembling hands.

            "Here," Devon said, taking the lighter and helping Bailey out.

            "Thanks," she said, and looked in the opposite direction where a few kids were playing in the snow.

            "Take my jacket," Devon said, beginning to take his arms out of the sleeves of his brown coat.  Bailey shook her head in refusal, and glanced at me.

            "You smoke?" she asked, offering me a cigarette.

            "No," I answered, trying not to cough uncontrollably.  I pushed my beanie lower onto my head and pulled my hood over top of it for extra warmth.  Devon chuckled at me.

            "Hey, Adam," he began. I looked at him.  "Please, stop me if I intrude too much, but I'm a curious guy."  I raised a brow and indicated that he go on.  "Just to point out the obvious, you seem a little depressed." Bailey, mid-puff, began to cough.

            "Devon!" she yelled, smacking Devon in the chest.

            "I'm sorry!" he shouted back.  My eyes hit the pavement below me.  My mind had been so distracted about everything that I had almost forgotten, but I couldn't help but to constantly be saddened by it.  "I am sorry, Adam.  I shouldn't have asked.  You're just so intriguing with the scars and constant air of impending doom."  I chuckled, noticing what he did to lighten the mood.

            "It's alright," I told him.  I knew he didn't mean any harm.  I tried to act as if he hadn't hurt my mood too much, but my heart had fallen back into my stomach.

            "So, what happened? If you want to share, that is," he continued to poke.  I didn't really feel like enlightening them on my recent life drama, but I didn't want to be all mysterious by not telling them.  It could result in an awkward silence.  I hated awkward silences, because I was generally socially awkward to begin with.  Then again, I also realized I would want to tell them sooner or later.  This would be the most opportune moment.

            "It was a car accident," I told them.  It felt strange opening up to people I barely knew.  It wasn't something I was used to.  My old counselor would have been proud.  However, I decided to stay short, quick, and to the point.

            "Oh," Devon said.  "And that led you to end up here?"  I could tell he was disappointed in the lack-of-story.

            "M parents were there too," I continued.  "They died."  Devon pouted, and Bailey took a drag of her cigarette, facing the ground.  She shook her legs anxiously and flipped her hair out of her face.  Devon seemed sympathetic at my story, but Bailey just looked contemplative.  To avoid the oncoming awkward silence, I added a bit more.  "I don't have any family that's able to care for me, and since I'm almost eighteen Cadmus contacted my social worker to prevent me from being placed into the foster system."

            "Well, I bet you're glad to be here instead of in foster care," Devon said.  I nodded.  Bailey flicked her cigarette into the snow and headed back inside.  I gladly followed her back into the warmth.

            The two of them showed me around the rest of the school. It was even bigger than I thought it was. It seemed to take us forever just to circle it once.  It was amazing though.  

            "You know, this is like a weird mix of X-Men and Hogwarts," I stated after thinking about the school.  Devon looked at me, half happily and half amazed. 

            "Hell yeah, man!" he said, raising his hand to offer me a fist-bump.  I returned the bump with whatever enthusiasm I could conjure up.  "That's hilarious, actually the man who came up with the X-Men actually was a graduate from Gryphon."

            "No way," I said, a corner of my lip curling up.

            "Yeah, I'm serious," he replied.

            "So this place has been around for a long time then?"

            "Oh definitely," Devon said.  "I like the touch of Hogwarts you threw in there, that was good."  He and I laughed, but Bailey remained silent.

            They took me to dinner later that evening.  Afterwards, Devon and Bailey met up with some friends to watch a movie out in the living room.  I was invited to join them, but I needed some alone time.  Before coming to Gryphon I spent much of my time tucked away in my room at home.  It felt great to be by myself again, curled up in my bed.  I stared at my end table at the picture of my parents and me.  I felt the need to cry, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  The clock next to the photograph told me it was 7:15 at night, but I welcomed the sleep that took me over.