Finding II: White Dove Academy

February 26th, 2077

It’s been a couple days since I was beaten and I can’t even walk down the halls without some dick throwing something at me. I already had a orange, a slushie, and a brick thrown at me today. I wonder, if I didn’t bully all those people, would they be doing this to me? I know I can probably pummel all of them with my power. Shit, even they know that too, but for some reason, I just don’t care anymore. It’s my fault I lost, and I shouldn’t take it out on other people. Wow, Zero is right, what happened to me? I go to the lunch room after class, and I sit alone as usual. That is, until Zero comes and sits with me. Then his two friends follow him and they sit down as well. They really are nice people. Even after everything that's happened, they still agreed to sit with me. This has been going on for about two weeks. We always sit and talk at the lunch table about our day and what not.

I used to think small talk was boring, but they somehow make it pretty fun. Not to mention the fact that Zero and I are now...friends? It's a bit weird to think about but, he's not as bad as I thought. Oh God, I can’t believe I’m saying all this sappy shit. “Reese, you good? You look lost in thought.” Ryder asked me. “Ah..yeah, I’m good. I’ve just, never really done this before.” “What? Talk with people who actually listen to you?” Henry asks while eating a piece of chicken. Ryder hits him on the arm and I said, “It’s okay, he’s somewhat right. None of my guys from my group ever ‘truly’ listened to me.” “Damn, that sucks,” Zero says while eating some chicken as well. “I’m sorry, these guys are shitheads.” Ryder said trying to reassure me.

I smiled and said “You know what, it’s fine, the shit they say doesn’t matter at the end of the day.” Both Zero and Henry looked at me in shock. “Hahaa! Preach!” Ryder yells out before giving me a high five. Ryder sighed in relief and said, “I’m so glad I have a sane person to talk to.” “I take offense to that,” Henry said. “Same,” Zero added. ”Students, the dean has a few words to say to you all. Please make your way to the auditorium." “That sounds like that principal chick we met.” I said while looking at Zero. “Yeah, that’s because it is dummy,” He responds. I hit his arm before getting up to throw away my food and I could hear him say "Ow." “Welcome to my world,” Henry says, and Ryder hits him again, before getting up as well. “Ow,” Henry says while rubbing his arm. After we throw away our trash, all the students make their way to the auditorium.

This shit was huge! I can't believe I forgot how big the auditorium was. We all follow Henry to a specific row. He sits down, and Ryder sits next to him, then Zero, and then me. I asked Zero to switch with me, because I wanted to talk to Ryder about something. “Get up then,” He tells me. “What?” “Get up and walk past me so I can scoot over to the seat where you sat in.” He said. “What sense does that make? I can just get up and you can scoot down, and then I can-” “Then I won’t do it,” He said while looking away. “You little...ugh” I sighed and shook my head. He looks at me and smirks. “Fine, asshole,” I said before getting up and walking in front of him. He pushes me and scoots to the other seat. “Don’t touch me you dick.” He laughs and I sat down next to Ryder.

“Ryder, can I ask you something?” “Sure Reese, what’s up?” “I heard you used to bully people in the past..." Ryder quickly glared at Henry who looked away. "Don't be mad, I just wanted to know...how did you deal with the backlash after changing so much?” He sighed and said, “To be honest, I still receive backlash. It’s hard, but frankly, I just stopped caring.” “So, I should just...stop caring?” I asked. “Hell yeah!” He yelled out. “Okay...” I said while looking down at my hands. “It’ll be okay, I’m just glad you're not a dick anymore. I needed someone normal to talk to.” He said before looking at Henry. “Thanks?” I said to myself. Was that a compliment? Ryder laughs and we both look towards the front. “Hey babe look, it’s Marcus!” I heard Ryder yell out pointing at a guy. “Yeah! Hey Marcus!!” Henry yells out loudly. Everyone turns to look at him and the guy they’re talking about waves back at them. Then the Dean of the whole school finally comes out. I’ve never seen him before, hell, I’ve never even seen the principal till I got in trouble with Zero.

"Students, I have a important announcement and It’s not a very good one, in this case you could say I have some very bad news." Oh no, this can’t be good. ”As you all know by now, we are not only at war with the demons, but Moonbeam as well. Moonbeam has become a thorn in my side and they are getting stronger by the day. Which is why I want the students help to track them all down. I want you all, Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors, to form a group of six. That group I will assign a specific region. That is where you will find a Moonbeam member we have tracked down. It will take all six of you to defeat them. They are much stronger and faster than most of you combined. That is why we want six people to go. It will be hard, but this is what we trained you for. We will give you three months to get stronger. Please, help us on this dangerous and incomplete journey. " I looked at Zero, Ryder, and then Henry. They all looked just as shocked as I did. Group of six? Moonbeam? Stronger than most of us combined?! I really don’t know what to make of this news, no one does.

The dean dismisses us and we go back to the cafeteria to talk. Everyone is whispering and chatting at this point. I’m guessing they're forming their groups already. “This is crazy, I can’t believe the time has really come.” Ryder says looking worried. “Yeah, it came earlier than I thought.” Henry said in response “What do you mean?” I asked them confused. “Yeah, what do you mean?” Zero asks, with much emphasis on the ‘do’. “We’ll tell you guys later, for right now, let’s find some more people, we only have four." We all looked around to find someone. “Can I join y'all?” I hear a guy say from behind me and Zero. I turned around to see Marc. “Oh, uhh, Marc right?” Ryder asks him. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” He replied trying to be funny but failing badly.

“Okaaay, maybe we shouldn’t let him join.” Ryder said regretfully. “I’m kidding! Please let me join y'all! As far as I know, you four are the strongest in our grade!" "I'm flattered," Zero said running his hands through his hair. As soon as he did that, I could hear a couple girls screaming in the distance; Ugh. "What's your power again?" Henry asks him with a suspicious face. "I can make holes in the ground and trap people in them and they can't get out without my permission. Plus, the hole is endless, so they'll just keep falling and never hit the ground." "Damn, I feel bad for whoever has acrophobia." I add on. "Acra-what?" Zero asks thoroughly confused. "Look it up," I said to him.

We have five now, and we just need one more.” Ryder says looking around. “Oh! There’s Mary Jane, she can seduce people, that's a pretty good one right? I'll go talk to he-” “I’ll kill you.” Ryder says glaring at Marc cutting him off completely. He immediately sits back down. I guess Ryder doesn't like Mary Jane. “How about Momo?” Henry says looking at all of us. “Perfect!” Ryder yells out before getting up and running to the boys dorms. We go to follow him, and upon arriving, we see a lot of guys surrounding her already. I guess they had the same idea as us. “Momo!!” Ryder calls her name, which gets her attention. She pushes the guys out the way and goes towards us. “Hey guys! I’m guessing you wanna ask me to join your group?” "Is that okay?" I asked her nervously. "Hell yeah! I know y'all better than most guys here anyway." "Awesome! Now we have six!" Ryder yells out. "Now...what do we do?" Marc asks, but no one says anything...