Kill them or take off? That was the choice I had to make. In sixteen years I hadn’t taken a life. I didn’t want to hurt them, didn’t want anything to do with them. I hated them all. I wanted to fly away; just leap into the sky and lose myself in the clouds.  I love it up there; no people, no noise, no worries, just freedom. Above I can forget what I am and they are not. I can almost believe I’m normal.  But, what goes up must come down and even my powers have limits.

Two hours, that’s all it took for the Fates to find me. Like a pack of wolves on an innocent rabbit they struck at her. I just wanted to eat my lunch in peace. Make no eye contact, flirt with no girls, never raise my hand, never volunteer for anything, those were my rules. I wished I had just followed them but I messed up. Why didn’t I just walk away? Why did she have to cry? Why did she have to look at me? Those big brown eyes, so beautiful, so sad, so...

“Mind your own business, freak.” The big one noticed me looking at her. I wanted to turn away but her gaze held me; such lonely eyes.

“Hey, Tye, I think the new guy likes her. Maybe we should leave his girlfriend alone?” The tall one was making things worse. He wanted a fight and knew how to push his partner’s buttons.

I wished the bell would ring, but wishes are for fairytales, not real life. They needed to hurt. I could see that in their stupid faces. They were of low intelligence and they knew it. They had no hope of rising, so tried to lower everyone else. The little Asian girl was their first choice, but abusing a female gained them next to nothing in school. I was different.

“Leave him alone. He didn’t do anything to you.” She tried to protect me. No one had ever done that before. Not that I needed it, but just the same.

Unfortunately her pleas only added flavor to their meal. They ran at me in what they thought was a surprise. It wasn’t.

I hated fighting normal people. It’s always like walking on egg shells. I should have fled. I should have called for a teacher, but she was still looking at me. A callused fist came at me in slow motion. God, why must it always be like this? I thought, determining what to do next.

Seeing her run to my aid decided things. I couldn’t be hurt, but Li Ming could. In my mind I pictured both their beating hearts, so full of blood, full of life, and I just …squeezed.

As they spasmed on the floor, she leaned into my ear and whispered, “You’re not like them.” I let go.

In the end she saved me, and now I no longer fly alone.