Luca woke up the next day feeling fresh. He began to go through his morning routine, first heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After cleaning himself, he took a moment to style his hair and admire how good he looked. Then he went back to his bedroom, put on a clean set of his school uniform, and tossed his dirty clothing from the day before into the laundry. Next, Luca crept past the lounge where his father was still asleep, into the kitchen to make himself two sandwiches for breakfast. After eating those, Luca went back to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Only then did he remember about the strange evening he had the night before.
Closing his eyes, Luca held out his arms and once again floated softly into the air. He breathed heavily in excitement as he watched himself rise gently in the bathroom mirror, before landing again like a feather. "So awesome" he whispered to himself, before diligently brushing his already-perfectly-healthy teeth.
There was little time for exploring his powers then and there, however, as Luca knew the school bus wouldn't be far away. With some urgency now, Luca packed his school bag, and left the apartment quietly enough to allow his father some quality sleeping time. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long at the bus stop down the street - Luca had something of a sixth sense concerning how far away the bus was from his home.
First period - writing. Luca knew just what he wanted to write about today - superheroes. Excitedly he jotted down page after page of stories about famous heroes, while at the back of the class, Macie just stared at him enraged.
Second period - physical education. The PE teacher took the students to the hall to practice juggling. Within minutes Luca was happily juggling a large assortment of sharpened knives, while Macie huffed beside him, unable to keep more than three balloons in the air simultaneously.
"Urgh, I'm having a bad day" sighed Macie as she headed out for recess.
"Would you like me to get you a drink of water?" asked one of her hangers-on.
"Yes please - I think I might be sick" replied Macie.
Luca exited the class after her, surrounded by a mob of admirers. In the distance, Caleb caught his eye. Thanking those around them, Luca rushed over to talk to his swim-team friend.
"Hey Caleb - you won't believe what happened to me after your party last night!" said Luca.
"Did you find $50 on the ground or something?" asked Caleb.
"Nope" smiled Luca "Much better. Come on, I'll show you."
Luca led Caleb around the back of the school to where the rubbish was dumped. "You know this is out of bounds right?" whispered Caleb "We could get in big trouble if we're caught here!"
"That's not important right now - I need you to keep this a secret, okay?"
"What could possibly be so important? You're always a goody-good."
"Watch this"
Luca closed his eyes, and Caleb couldn't believe his! Right in front of him, Luca was really floating up into the air. Caleb walked around him, crouched down to get a better view, and held his mouth agape in astonishment.
"Pretty cool, huh?" said Luca softly. He was trying to make himself move forwards to impress his friend, but so far had only mastered a soft up-and-down motion. With some experimentation, he was able to gently "pull" himself forward with his arms up. He rolled around and found it quite comfortable to do so lying flat, although it was a bit awkward at first.
Caleb watched his friend figure out the mechanics of his flying power in awe. "What ... how are you doing that!?" he said, only slightly mindful of avoiding making noise.
"I don't know" replied Luca honestly, softly lowering himself back to ground level "It doesn't make any sense to me either". He had been almost two meters off the ground, barely even realizing how high he had gone.
"Does this make you kind of like a superhero?" asked Caleb.
"I guess so" shrugged Luca "It makes me wonder if I have any other powers, and why I have these powers in the first place."
"Maybe you should ask your dad" replied Caleb "I mean, it does kind of make sense ... you are good at everything after all."
Luca brushed it off "Come on now ... you're an awesome swimmer."
"Yeah and you've got every single school swimming record to your name" retorted Caleb "You've gotta admit, that's superhero-esque."
"Alright fine, but ... I still couldn't do it without all of you."
Next period - maths. Once again the tension in the room was palpable. Macie rushed through a page of her middle school grade mathematics textbook, glancing up in hopes of having beaten Luca for once. In the time it took her to do just one page, however, Luca had gone though an entire advanced university-level calculus textbook without making a single error on any of the exercises. Macie wanted to scream in agony.
Fourth period - science. While the other students made simple rockets out of balloons, Macie and Luca (being advanced students) were allowed to work on their own air-powered rocket designs. Macie worked really hard on hers, both to make the design look awesome and to make sure it could fly at a great distance. As she was about to present her cute little rocket to the teacher, she saw Luca had already completed his. Macie launched her rocket out of the sky and was proud that it made it all the way across the school courtyard. "Beat that!" she taunted Luca. Shyly, Luca launched his own rocket out the window, which promptly blasted off into the sky and disappeared with a little twinkle.
"Urgh, I've had it!" yelled Macie as she stormed out of the classroom. A few other students rushed after her, asking if she was alright.
During the lunchtime break, Luca locked himself into a bathroom cubicle and thought about his schedule. Writing up a brief plan on a sheet of paper, he began adding times for superpower practice. He needed time, he reasoned, to develop and hone his powers before he could be a true superhero ... the awkward flying he had demonstrated to Caleb during interval just wouldn't cut it.
After finishing that, Luca had to go to a student council meeting. Macie, he noticed, wasn't there at her usual seat. He hoped she'd be alright. The meeting itself went fairly smoothly ... mostly the teachers just wished to know whether students liked the design of a proposed new playground, and everyone agreed that they did.
Fifth period - reading. Luca headed for the library, found himself some superhero comics, and read them with newfound enthusiasm. He imagined himself in each of the stories, and began to wonder what sort of a moral code he would have as a hero. Would he ever kill a bad guy? Luca thought probably not, but what if it was by accident? He reasoned that he'd really have to learn to control his powers. He couldn't wait to explore whether it was just flying he could do, or other things as well. Across the room, Macie spent the whole period glaring at him through bloodshot, tear-stained eyes.
Final period - music. Here Macie pretended to compose her own music on the computer, but was constantly distracted by Luca improvising some insanely good piano music.
"Uhm ... if you want us to tell him you like him, you know we're there for you, right?" asked one of Macie's friends gently.
"I do NOT like him!" huffed Macie.
"Oh ... I just thought since you keep gazing in his direction, maybe..."
"Don't you dare get me started" replied Macie "I'm the pretty and talented one here, not you and certainly not him. I'd rather die than have to date the likes of him!"
"If you say so" said her friend tauntingly.
After school, Macie was one of the first to leave. Immediately she speed-dialed a number on her phone. "Mother, you won't believe what happened to me in school today!"
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