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Dave Strider always knew that he was a little different from everyone else: Whether it be his ruby red eyes, abnormally warmer body temperature, his sick ass ninja skills, or the fact that he can create small flames by just thinking about it. After one incident in preschool where he accidentally set his craft project on fire, his “Bro” thought that it would be best for him to be homeschooled. Sure, he whined, but year after year, he grew more comfortable in his cozy apartment where Bro never judged him from his talents.
However, all good things must come to an end.
It was just about to be his freshman year, and that means that he and Bro had to have the talk. Of course, Dave had no clue that such talk other than the birds and the bees existed or why he was called down to the living room, but he just accepted it like he normally does and sat in the opposite chair so he could easily face Bro.
“Wussup? This better be good since I was in the middle of a jam out session. You couldn’t let me have my beat drops, no could you?” Dave asked to start this thing off.
“Listen kid. You’ll get to have your beats dropped in just a couple of minutes. For now, I got some important shit to tell ya,” Bro began and adjusted his triangle shaped sunglasses. “You’re fourteen and getting’ ready to start highschool. I say that because you’re not gonna be homeschooled anymore.”
When Bro broke the news, his normally stoic face did break into a slight frown when he was told the news.
“But Bro, dude, I have like no idea how to act with other people. And I don’t want to have to tell them that I’ve been homeschooled since that’s a piss poor excuse. Plus, then I’m gonna get a shit ton of questions about what it’s been like to be homeschooled since kindergarten. I mean, I want to be awesome, but I won’t be known as the cool kid. I’ll just be known as the new kid who used to be homeschooled. Do you want that Bro? Do you really want that?”
“Don’t get your panties in a bundle kid. Where you’re going is a place for of teens like you. They know kinda what you’re going through.”
“Oh please,” the teen rolled his eyes. “What other person besides us can summon fire and have awesome combat skills. Wait….are you sending me off to Professor Xavier’s school for freaks?”
“Nope, but you’re close.”
“So you’re saying that there are others out there who have weird ass powers and aren’t superheroes?”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Can you be any vaguer?”
“Look, you’re going off to this school and you’re gonna fucking like it. You get your own bed and all your meals are free and it’s going to be a motherfuckin’ blast. I would start packing if I were you. We head out tomorrow.” With that being said, Bro stood up and left Dave there as he went off to his room.
“Wait Bro! You just can’t…yeah. You just left me. Thanks man,” Dave sighed and slumped down in his chair. He really can’t believe that he doesn’t have a say in this. Also, there was the shock value that goes along with this. He wasn’t alone. There were others who were also like him. If that was the case, then how did this school he was going to not burned down by now? Surely not everyone has mastered the ability to handle fire like he (not really) has. Or maybe everyone’s gifts were different? Thanks to Bro’s explanation, he was even more clueless. It looks like he’s just going to have to wait and see, but for now, he really should start packing.
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Two weeks later and an extremely boring ride to the middle of nowhere with Bro being as helpful as the day he told Dave that he was being dropped off to a school he’s never heard of, Dave still had no idea what was going on.
“You could at least tell me why we’re all the way out in the middle of fucking nowhere,” he grumbled as he crossed his arms and put his feet up on the dash.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
“See! What the fuck is that shit? ‘You’ll see soon enough.’ What the fuck is that supposed to mean? It’s almost like I’m the protagonist to a videogame with a terrible guide. Fucking Navi is more helpful than you are.”
Bro didn’t say anything else, no matter how many times Dave whined and bitched. However, he gave a small grin when he saw a familiar place. To anyone else, it looked like a regular corn field, but Bro knew that this place was so much more. “Hang onto your ass lil man,” he warned before he steered off of the road.
“Whoa! What the fuck Bro?!” Dave was now certain he was riding with a psychopath. He quickly took his feet off of the dash and held onto the “Oh shit” handle right above his head for dear life as Bro’s truck tramped over poor defenseless corn stalks. He closed his eyes and continued to shout profanities until he felt the truck slow down and stop. He slowly opened his eyes and expected to see either cops, a dead body, or more corn, or maybe all three. The teen did not expect to see a ginormous school out in the middle of nowhere.
The school looked like the result if Hogwarts and the Parthenon had a baby. It was large enough to be considered a small city, it seemed. A beautiful garden filled with so many varieties of flowers covered the front yard and there was a giant-ass fountain of Zeus a few yard in front of where the front doors are. Teens were already loitering the yard along with their parents, hugging and telling each other that they were going to miss them.
“What is this place?” Dave asked with bewilderment in his voice.
“The place where you’re gonna be spending your high school life at,” Bro answered and climbed out of the truck and started to grab some of Dave’s bags. Dave only groaned since he expected so much and then followed suit and took the rest of the bags.
Before he could start his trek, Bro stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder. “Knock ‘em dead lil man. The apartment’s gonna get awful lonely, so be sure to call every now and then. Or send me some sick pics of all the cool shit you’re gonna do.”
“Got it Bro,” he nodded and was stopped once more when a kid with dark, curly hair, brilliant blue eyes covered with glasses and stupid looking bucked teeth with braces over them stood in front of him.
“Hi! I guess that you’re Strider, right? Well I’m John and I’m going to be your guide for the first couple of days until you get used to everything,” he said and stuck out his hand for a shake, which Dave had no choice but to shake. “Want some help with your bags?”
“Yeah, sure,” he shrugged and picked up a couple, leaving a few for him. John took them and then led the way as he explained to Dave the jiff of this place and honestly, he was so much more helpful than Bro has been for the past two weeks.
Bro watched with his arms crossed and a small smile on his face as his boy followed John like a lost puppy.
“So your kid’s finally old enough to come here, huh Hephaestus?” a familiar voice called out and Bro turned around to watch a man in dress clothes and a tie start to walk toward him.
“Yeah. They grow up so fast. Heh. It feels like just yesterday he was making his first fire. So was that your kid, Hermes?”
“Of course,” he said with a small laugh afterwards as her stood beside Bro. “I can already see John freaking out because your kid can start a fire.”
“And I can see Dave freaking out when he sees a flying kid,” Bro laughed and took a final look at the school before telling the fellow god goodbye and climbing back into his truck. These next four years will be one hell of a ride.