The low hum of classroom chatter evaporated the moment the bell rang. "Alright, settle down everyone," a deep, authoritative voice commanded. A tall man with a neatly trimmed beard and a scar that cut through one eyebrow stood at the front of the room. This was Mr. Graves, their Combat Theory instructor. "Today we have a transfer student joining us from out of district."
A wave of whispers and curious glances washed over the room. Edwin felt the weight of fifty pairs of eyes like a physical pressure. *Oh, shit. I hate attention,* he thought, his palms growing damp as he hunched lower in his seat.
"Edwin Walter?" Mr. Graves called out, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on Edwin. "Can you come up here and introduce yourself?"
*Oh, God. Here goes nothing.* Edwin's legs felt like lead as he pushed himself out of his chair. The journey to the front of the classroom felt like a mile-long walk of shame, every footstep echoing in the sudden silence. He kept his gaze fixed on the worn floorboards, refusing to meet anyone's stare.
He finally reached the teacher's desk and turned to face the class. His own face felt hot, and his heart hammered a frantic rhythm against his ribs. "Hello everyone," he managed, his voice coming out smaller than he'd intended. "I'm Edwin Walter." He stopped, his mind a complete blank. What was he supposed to say next? His eyes darted around the room and landed on Meca, who was watching him with an encouraging smile. She made a subtle, circular gesture with her hand, as if to say, *keep going*.
He took a shaky breath. "Umm... I can't wait to get along with y'all." The words felt clumsy and foreign on his tongue.
He turned to retreat to the safety of the empty desk beside Meca, but a voice from the middle of the room stopped him cold. "What's your superpower?"
The question hung in the air, sharp and demanding. Edwin froze, his back to the class. This was it. The moment of truth. He slowly turned back around, his mind racing. He glanced at Meca, who gave him a subtle, almost imperceptible thumbs-up and a quick, reassuring wink.
"Superspeed," Edwin said, the word feeling both heavy and weightless on his tongue.
A ripple of murmurs went through the students. "Wow, just like Meca?" someone called out.
"We have two speedsters in our class now!" another student exclaimed, a lanky boy with silver hair leaning forward to get a better look.
Mr. Graves cleared his throat, silencing the chatter. "Thank you, Edwin. You can take your seat."
As Edwin walked back, he felt a shift in the atmosphere. The suspicion had been replaced by a new kind of curiosity. He wasn't just the new kid anymore; he was a novelty, a mirror image of one of their own. He slid into the seat next to Meca, who leaned over with a wide grin.
"Told you it'd work," she whispered. "Welcome to Class A."
Edwin had barely settled into his seat when a shadow fell over his desk. He looked up to see a girl with sharp, intelligent blue eyes and a cascade of blonde hair tied back in a severe, efficient ponytail. Her gaze was fixed on Meca, not him, but he felt the chill of it all the same.
"Who's he?" she asked, her voice low and cutting through the classroom's residual noise like a blade.
"Umm, not now, Sophia," Meca whispered back, her usual cheerful energy dimming slightly. "He's Edwin." She leaned in closer, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial hush. "He's in our team."
Sophia's head snapped back, her eyes widening in disbelief. "What?!" she hissed, the sound sharp enough to make a few students in front of them glance back. "You can't do that." Her voice was a stern, low growl, laced with accusation. "We have a system. We have a trust."
"You'll like him, Sophia," Meca said, turning her attention pointedly back to the front where Mr. Graves was beginning his lecture on energy transference. The conversation was clearly over, as far as she was concerned.
But Sophia wasn't finished. She shot a furious look past Edwin to a boy sitting on his other side—a tall, lanky guy with dark, shaggy hair who looked like he hadn't quite woken up yet. "Gunn," she whispered urgently. "Can you believe this? She just got him in our team? Without even talking to us."
Gunn blinked slowly, his gaze shifting from Sophia's furious face to Edwin's tense profile. "She must have a reason, yeah?" he mumbled, his voice a low rumble.
"I don't know," Sophia shot back, her frustration barely contained. "We're supposed to be three and only three. He can't just put a stranger in our team. We don't know anything about him!" Her voice was rising, drawing more attention.
"Can you two keep it down?" Mr. Graves' voice boomed from the front, his eyes fixed on them. "Or would you like to demonstrate today's topic on energy transference by volunteering for the combat simulator?"
Sophia immediately snapped her mouth shut, her face flushing with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. She shot one last, venomous glare at Edwin before turning to face the board, her posture rigid.
Edwin sat frozen between them, a storm brewing over his head. He was an intruder, a complication, a secret weapon dropped into the middle of a tight-knit unit. The weight of Sophia's distrust was almost as suffocating as the guilt he already carried. He looked at Meca, who gave him a small, reassuring smile, but it did little to calm the churning in his gut. He had wanted to hide, but Meca had just placed him under the brightest spotlight in the room, right next to a girl who clearly wanted him gone.
The bell shrieked, signaling the end of Combat Theory. Edwin felt a knot of relief in his stomach, which immediately tightened again as chairs scraped back and the classroom erupted with the noise of students heading to breakfast. He began gathering his things slowly, hoping to slip away in the crowd.
"Hey, I don't think it's a good idea to tag along, don't you think..." Edwin started, his eyes flicking toward Sophia, who was stuffing her notebook into her bag with sharp, angry movements.
Before he could finish, Meca cut in, linking her arm through his. "Don't worry about Sophia," she said brightly, pulling him toward the door. "She's like that sometimes. All bark and very little bite. Come on, let's go."
"Umm, okay," Edwin mumbled, allowing himself to be dragged along. Gunn fell into step behind them, offering Edwin a sleepy, indifferent shrug.
The cafeteria was a sensory assault. The air was thick with the smell of frying food and the clamor of a hundred conversations. Above the noise, Edwin could hear the sizzle of a student controlling a grill with his bare hands and the faint hum of a girl floating a few inches off the ground to see over the crowd. He kept his head down, focusing on Meca's back as they navigated the food line. He could feel Sophia's glare on him like a physical touch, a prickling heat on the back of his neck. Every time he risked a glance, her eyes were locked on him, her expression a mixture of suspicion and pure disdain.
They grabbed trays of food—mystery meat sandwiches, lumpy mashed potatoes, and cartons of juice—and Meca led them away from the main seating area. "We don't eat in here," she explained. "Too loud."
As they pushed through the heavy rear doors, the noise of the cafeteria faded behind them, replaced by the peaceful quiet of the school's back garden. The dappled sunlight and the scent of jasmine were a welcome relief. They settled on the ground beneath the sprawling tree, the cool grass a stark contrast to the sterile classroom floor.
Edwin finally felt himself relax, taking a bite of his sandwich. But the momentary peace was shattered by Sophia's pointed voice.
"So," she said, her eyes fixed on Edwin. "Superspeed. That's convenient."
He paused mid-chew. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," she continued, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "that it's the perfect cover. Easy to fake, hard to disprove if you're not pushing yourself." She took a deliberate bite of her own food, her glare never wavering. "And it just so happens to be the exact same power as our resident team captain. How... coincidental."
"Sophia," Gunn mumbled around a mouthful of potatoes. "Lay off."
"I'm just curious," she said, her voice sharp as glass. "A new transfer shows up, gets put straight into Class A, and immediately gets a spot on our three-person team. And his power is... blank. Then, suddenly, it's superspeed. It doesn't add up."
Edwin's appetite vanished. He could feel the old familiar fear creeping back in, the fear of being discovered, of being seen as the fraud he was. He looked to Meca for help, but she just sighed, her cheerful demeanor finally faltering under the weight of her friend's relentless suspicion.