• I’ve been having these weird dreams lately. I’m almost too scared to sleep, but not willing enough to try to stay awake. Each night it’s the same, but it always continues the next night too, fitting together piece-by-piece until it makes one whole story.
    I don’t want to continue my dream, but know I have to sooner or later. So I cautiously fall asleep by telling myself it’s just a dream, it’s just a dream. I gently doze off, only to find myself blinded by a bright light. I know the routine. Soon I would hear someone scream, I’d run off to see what it was, and get lost.
    The scream came like a dagger this time, much more life-like than it had been in the past. This only wanted to make me search harder, trying not to go to places I’ve already been. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck with that. No matter which direction I headed in, I always ended up in the same place, like it was meant to happen.
    I eventually slowed around the familiar rock that I always paused at when I became tired. I took a few seconds to rest, only to be disturbed by a rustle in the bushes. I darted off again, not knowing what would happen next.
    I occasionally looked back as I ran. My heart was now pounding and my breathing had greatly increased. I felt as if something was following me. No, I heard it too. The footsteps were faster than I was. I wasn’t sure if I could make it. I once again glanced back to see what was following me. Nothing. I squinted just to make sure my pursuer wasn’t further back than I thought, and even though I didn’t see anything, I kept running just in case. Suddenly, my foot caught on something and I tripped, landing face first. I decided to stay there awhile. What the heck, I was doomed anyway!
    Once I’d lain there long enough, I rolled over and looked up. It was that bright light again. Eventually, I could make a shape out of it, a girl. She was beautiful, with bleach blonde hair. I quickly stood up, admiring her beauty. She looked familiar, as if I’ve seen her before. Not in real life, I definitely would have remembered her, but in a dream.
    “Your time is coming Cody.” I flinched as she said my name. How could she have known my name? I’ve never met her before. And she’d said that my time was coming- time for what?
    “Excuse me? What are you talking…”
    “I’ve created a new world, Cody. And you’re not in it.” I started to feel weak, my legs couldn’t hold me and I collapsed to my knees, not knowing what was happening. Slowly, the weakness grew into pain, and I screamed for help. I felt like I was being stabbed in the gut over and over again. Why wasn’t she helping me? I tried to get up and run away, but I couldn’t. I was too weak. Struggling for one last breath, I collapsed, too numb to feel the pain anymore. Blackout.

    * * *
    Beep, beep, beep, beep. The sound of my alarm clock assured me that I was at home again. I rubbed the sand out of my eyes like I do every morning, getting a clearer picture of everything around me. It was six a.m. Why did school have to start so early? I turned the alarm off, and started to get ready for a day full of exams.
    I thought I should wear something comfortable, so I could easily focus on the test. I went with a pair of khaki pants and my lucky T-shirt, which was plain and red, nothing much to it. It was lucky because, well I don’t exactly know. All I knew was that every time I wore it, I was always in a good mood.
    Fully dressed, I went down stairs for breakfast. My mom gave me a weird look as I walked into the kitchen.
    “What?”
    She giggled and said, “You always wear that shirt.” A mad rush went through me. I’m not the type of person that takes an insult easily.
    “This is my lucky shirt, and besides, I don’t always wear it.”
    “Well, you wear it enough.” She then looked down at my feet and back up again at my face. “At least put on some shoes.” I looked down, noticing I only had my socks on.
    “Oh, right!”
    I raced up stairs and pulled on my crossword puzzle Vans. I smiled when I saw the spot where I had marked my name when I first got these shoes. Cody Banks.
    “Cody! You done yet? You don’t want to be late for testing!” I had gotten lost in time thinking about my shoes.
    “Coming Mom!”
    This morning my mom had made me a special breakfast of waffles, eggs, and bacon (my favorite). I shoved everything in my mouth, eager to get out of the house.
    “You seem to be in a hurry today.”
    I finished the last of my breakfast and rushed out the door, food still in my mouth. “Yep, don’t want to be late for exams. Bye Mom!”
    “Bye swee…” The door slammed shut before she could finish speaking. I wasn’t really in a hurry. I just couldn’t see my mom like this. She gets depressed being so alone and starts cooking like there’s no tomorrow. Usually, I didn’t have to worry about it though because my sister, Jenny was around too. She could easily stop the quiet.
    Unfortunately, this whole week my sister was gone at sixth grade camp, and I’d be stuck with my nosy mom always asking stuff like, So how was your day today? Did you have fun? Have you been maintaining your nutrition balance?
    Sometimes, I wish she could just find a boyfriend and get off my back. I know she’s still trying to get over dad, but come on, that was nine years ago!
    When I was five, my dad had this bad drinking problem. I could hear my parents fight in the middle of the night, and one day, he just left. I haven’t seen him since. I don’t even know if he’s alive or not because when he left, he changed his number so there was no way of contacting him. I always dreamt of finding him again and sharing that father and son relationship I wished I had. But it’s too late for that now, of course.
    The bus pulled up in front of my house a few minutes later. It seemed like everyone there was on a sugar high. You could actually hear people screaming before the bus turned round the corner.
    When I got on, I saw my nerdy friend, Mark, saving a seat for me. It looked a bit strange because while everyone else on the bus was screaming and throwing sandwiches, he was sitting calmly, waiting for me to arrive.
    “Sup Cody?” We did the secret handshake we had made up when we were ten. “You ready for the big test today?”
    “I guess so.”
    “Well, if you change your mind, I got a backup plan.”
    Technically, “nerdy” wasn’t the right word for him. He tries to be a teacher’s pet but nobody likes a suck up. He’s really only like that in class though. Outside of class, he’s the coolest person ever. No other friend I’ve had liked to talk about girls, make fun of old horror movies, or liked to wrestle with me. He’s such a good friend that when last year, he found out the girl that he liked had a crush on him, he refused to ask her out so he could spend more time with me. I never would have done that.
    The bus arrived in front of La Jolla High School at around seven a.m. The parking lot was full of jocks, cheerleaders, and skater boys. When we walked by, I noticed Mark staring at one of the cheerleaders.
    “Alright Mark, which one is it?”
    “What?” He looked confused, not knowing what I was talking about. I gave him one look, and he knew I figured it out. “It’s Katee Parker.”
    “She is pretty cute, I guess.”
    “If by cute you mean hot! I wish I could just reach over in math class, and grab her beautiful hair. I wonder what shampoo she uses?”
    “That’s a little weird, dude.” With that, he sighed and we walked to our first period of exams.

    My math and history exams flew by. I was probably the first one done in both of those classes. English was the one I worried about. There is never an exact answer like in math, 2+2=4, simple. When I got there I saw my friend Mark. English and PE are the only classes I have with him this year. He looked prepared for class as usual; ready to put up a fight if anything didn’t go his way.
    “Class, answer all the questions until you reach the stop sign, then you may sit quietly at your desk or you may read a book. If you have any trouble on the questions you may skip it and return to it later. If your pencil breaks, raise your hand and I’ll bring you a new one. Any questions?”
    “Mr. Ward, I have one.” Typical Mark, always asking questions.
    “Yes Mark?”
    “Let’s say, during the test my nose starts to run. Would you let me get up from my seat, walk over to your desk, grab a tissue, and blow my nose?”
    “If you need a tissue you may ask and I will bring you one.”
    “But would you really want to touch my tissue after I blew my nose in it?”
    “I will not have to touch it because I will simply bring the trash can over with me.”
    “Alright Mr. Ward, I’ll let it go this time. But remember, next time I won’t be so courteous.”
    The test began and I found myself wondering how letters were created. Why make the A like an upside down V, and why have a line go through it? I was so confused; I wasn’t even bothering with the questions anymore. How was I supposed to remember Mark Twain’s first book. His work didn’t interest me.
    Then I noticed a student councilor had entered the room. This was my chance, if this note was for me, I’d be able to skip class and have an extra day of studying. Come on lucky shirt, work.
    “Cody Banks. Umm…go to the Counselors office right away.”
    I slowly stood up. It worked! My lucky shirt had spared me an extra day. I grabbed the note from the student counselor, and strangely he rushed out of the classroom. I guess he’s had Mr. Ward before. No one ever could stand his ancient glares. After you’ve had a class with him, there’s something you learn in his class that you never forget. Looks really can kill.
    I looked at my friend, giving him a silent farewell. He looked back at me, then he raised his hand and stood up.
    “Mr. Ward? I must object to this rude interruption. Now let me get this straight, you wouldn’t let me get up to get a tissue because you thought I would cheat. But then why did you let Cody get up from his seat?”
    “He had a note, Mark.”
    “So, if I brought a note from my parents saying I could get a tissue by myself, would you let me?”
    “No.”
    “But if I had a note, that would be completely unfair. What happened to equal rights in this country? I still don’t see why you should let him get up, and not me. He paid you didn’t he? Mr. Ward, I would like to speak to the principle about this. I need to inform her about the equal rights in this country. I need to tell her that by law, we are all equal.”
    “Mark, sit down. Cody, you may go.” I headed towards the door, still hearing Mark trying to object.
    “I will tell my parents about this! Mark my words, I will!” he promised.
    Then all was silent as I walked down the never-ending hallway. To be honest, I was scared. This was the first time I’ve ever been called out of class before. Was I in trouble? I don’t remember ever doing anything bad. Could someone have died? No, this was my lucky shirt I was wearing, whatever it was; it had to be on the positive side.
    I stopped in front of a door marked Councilor. I took a deep breath and knocked.
    “Come in.” I didn’t recognize the voice. It sounded soft and gentle, which made me relieved. I slowly turned the handle of the doorknob and entered.
    Sitting inside was a man about the age of sixty. His blond hair was just starting to get gray streaks in it. Sitting in front of him was a familiar girl, Katee Parker. I wondered why both of us were in here. We had nothing in common with each other. She was popular, I was not. We come from completely different worlds. This is actually the first time I’ve ever been in the same room with her.
    “My name is Brad”, I gave him a weird look. Old people don’t usually have names like Brad. Usually they have names like Ronald, or Fred, or even Winston. “And I know what you guys are thinking. Your thinking why would someone like me, have a name like Brad. It’s really simple, my parents were always ahead of things, and usually started new trends. That is not what I have come to tell you though. Do you guys believe in super powers?”
    “You mean like, flying and stuff?” It was the first time I had heard Katee talk.
    “Yes! That’s exactly what I mean.” Seeing him cheer up like that was nice to see. For some reason, his kind smile could warm me up any day.
    “No.” Katee sounded so positive when she said this, and I couldn’t blame her. Even though I didn’t want to disappoint this nice man, it still sounded insane. I mean super heroes? We were a bit old to be talking about stuff like that. I shook my head agreeing to what Katee had said.
    “Good, then you’re not crazy. But I’m here to tell you, that super powers are real.”
    “Wait a second, do you actually expect us to believe this stuff?” The comment was rude, but I couldn’t help agreeing with her.
    “No, no, no. But do let me explain first. The government has chosen you two and four other people in the county of San Diego to train under the command of my workings. I will guide you along the path and teach you all that I know.”
    “Umm… I’m not sure what you’re talking about?” It was the first thing I had said to this strange little man. I didn’t want to get myself involved in anything without knowing about it first.
    “Listen, every human being is capable of having superpowers. Some people can find them quicker than others. We believe that you two are capable of that.”
    “Well, why us?”
    “Why you, you ask young man? The government believes that you two never give up in what you believe in. We believe you two have strong hearts. How do we know that you ask? We’ve been testing you for many years. Where do you think these exams go after you’re done with them, in the garbage? No. We have many ways of knowing your true heart.”
    “So, what do we do now?”
    “Tomorrow you will report to the Central Library. You shall go to the second floor, and enter the door on the left.”
    “What about school?” Katee had a worried look on her face. She really cared for her popularity.
    “You will not go to this school anymore. Starting tomorrow, I will be your new instructor.”
    “But, I’m a cheerleader. I have friends, a boyfriend. I had a life already planned out for me. Once I finished high school I would audition for a professional cheerleader, so I could be with Nick more. I have a life, unlike some people here.”
    “Hey!” That was very rude of here. My life is just as good as hers. She knows nothing about me, so she can’t judge whether my life is good or not.
    “Well it’s true. Only blondes have fun.” That is not true. I have brown hair, and I have fun every single day! This girl was really starting to get on my nerves. I honestly don’t know what Mark sees in her.
    “Break it up, break it up. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I’m only giving you the option. We sure could need you though. But if you don’t go we can live.”
    “Why what’s going on? Why ask us now?”
    “I will tell you that at the meeting, young man. For now I will leave you to make your own decision. Goodbye Cody, Katee.” And he left, leaving us only with our thoughts.