“No, she’s too powerful, Kaden. I can siphon off some of her powers, but certainly not all of them, and if she has her polarity with her, I can’t overcome her skills.”
“Then stick close to me. I can tell when she’s needling in my mind. I can disorganize her atoms if she pushes too far.”
That did cause me to laugh. “What would you put them back as?” I asked, feeling more at ease about things.
“Oh, let’s see, what about a worm?”
“A worm with mind-melding skills? That sounds scary. What about a blade of grass?”
“Oh,” Kaden said, “I like that. Then we can mow her when she starts getting too feisty.”
Dr. Aynesworth’s concerns seemed to have been unfounded. Weeks turned into months, and Bisbee never showed up. If she was targeting the school, it was unlikely anything would happen before the summer break.
Like everything else, Erudo College did graduation differently from other schools. Graduation night was a huge event, and the mountainside around the school was transformed into what looked a lot like a Greek amphitheater.
The rest of the grounds contained great tents, making the entire area look like a giant circus. Terrestrials covered the grounds with summer-like weather, although it was still snowing everywhere else along the Continental Divide where our school sat. Magic was in the air, and even I got excited by all the events, which was weird, since I tended to hate everything Terrestrial powers did.
Instead of long, boring, never-ending speeches, the event was a bonanza of acts put on by the graduating seniors. Most of Erudo’s senior year students were creating their final projects. They had to display the extreme abilities they could perform without causing potential danger to the attendees.
Nosupes attended the events along with Supes. Families of the seniors were welcome and encouraged to attend whether they had powers or not. The rest of the student body was required to attend as many events as possible; not only to support the graduating seniors, but to ensure each senior had a crowd of observers to support them on their final day of school.
Kaden came over and took my hand. “You seem happy,” he said as I scanned the crowds.
I laughed. “I’ve always been a carnival geek. I used to dream of being one of the musclemen inCirque du Soleil.What?” I asked, surprised at his confused expression. “Have you never seen it?” He shook his head. “I’ll show you tonight when we get back to the dorm. I think the first time I watched them perform was when I figured out I was gay.”
“Okay,” Kaden said, and chuckled. Oh, this would be fun. No gay man could watch the musclemen crawl over one another in those performances and not want to rip the clothes off their boyfriend afterward.
As we went through the different events, I was surprised to see people I’d eaten with, hung out with, and gotten to know, perform some of the most amazing, mind-blowing things imaginable.
Most people would be surprised to learn how little we did with our powers outside the classroom. Usually, our instructors challenged us so hard during class that we didn’t have any desire to use them when we were hanging out. I guessed that was one of the good things about the school.
However, not seeing these individuals’ powers meant I didn’t know all they were capable of. Not until now. I ooohed and aahed as much as the Nosupes. My classmates were intensely talented, remarkable human beings.
That evening I went to bed, cuddled firmly in my space next to my boyfriend, and thought happily of how proud I was to be at Erudo College. I honestly didn’t know much about the other superhero schools. But to be honest, I always figured they’d be sort of hierarchical—one power seen as greater than the other. Here, that wasn’t the case. I would probably be the lowest on the totem pole at other schools.
Our second semester Basic Powers and Abilities class had focused entirely on understanding exothermic versus endothermic abilities. That was the only time I’d heard a discussion of sidekicks and superheroes.
At Erudo’s, those terms were almost taboo. For that reason, my very passive endothermic abilities were regarded as just as significant as Kaden’s intense Exothermic ones. That made me feel, well, equal, I guessed.
I walked through the exhibits, and yes, clearly, some students had flashier skills than others, but that didn’t seem to discourage the onlookers from oohing and aahing as much for both. The entire event was a celebration of Supes, no matter what or how powerful their powers may be.
Chapter thirty-two
Kaden
“So,canyoucome?”the young woman with a strong foreign accent on the other end of the line asked me again.
“Like I said,” I responded with a chuckle, “I’ll ask my boyfriend. If he comes with me, I’d be happy to join you.”
She squealed with delight. Not unlike earlier when she’d done the very same thing. “Miss Banuve, I’m going to have to let you go. But I’ll let you know what Lysander says.”
“Thank you, Gedi,” she said.
Before she hung up, I added, “I’m sorry, but Gedi is the name of someone very important to your people. I don’t feel comfortable with it. I’d prefer you just call me Kaden.”
She paused for a moment, then said, “Okay, I will speak to my people about it.”
“What was that all about?” Lysander asked when I put the phone down.
