Alice Wreath
She pulled her car to the side of the road, just outside of the primary school. The day was barely halfway through, and already her son had gotten into another fight. She wondered what had riled him up this time, before switching off the ignition, undoing her seatbelt, stepping out of the car and locking it behind her.
She knew the way to the head master's office, she had been there enough times to remember it with ease. As she walked down the colourful hallway she passed a crowd of upset children heading in the other direction, led by a pair of angry teachers. Alice averted her eyes awkwardly, not wanting to catch their judgmental glares. She and the school knew each other all too well, and not for the best of reasons.
She reached the large, windowed door to the headmaster's office and peered inside. There was her son, Jared, sat with his arms folded in a rebellious slump against the desk. Opposite to him was the headmaster of the school, Cedric Underwood; a small, wiry man with pale green hair that folded into curling spirals and a nose like a blushing doorknob. As Alice pushed the door open, he turned his keen gaze towards her, his brows narrowing to a thin point.
"Thank you for coming at such short notice, Mrs Wreath." He said, his tongue within his mouth after every K sound.
Alice looked at her son, who turned away with obvious shame. To his left was a window, which looked out upon the small football field at the back of the school. A small class of children in sports clothing were kicking a ball around. Alice Wreath sat down upon the chair next to Jared.
"I was in the middle of a meeting. I had to rush to get here." She apologised in a voice that was unquestionably rehearsed. "What has he done this time?"
Mr Underwood leaned forwards on his desk, his spiralling hair twisting into thicker, tighter spirals of its own occurred, like cobras coiling to attack.
"Your son deliberately and viciously assaulted another child this morning, Mrs Wreath." He said with a deliberate, unamused tone.
Alice gasped with shock, though her expression betrayed her knowledge that this was not a first offence. She looked at her son, who continued to stare out of the window, slumped back into his seat, his blue hoodie hanging on his small body, which was a few sizes too small for it.
"Jared…" Alice muttered with disappointed. Her son did not respond, though he gave her a small glance back. Even though he was trying to hide it, she could see the small twinges of guilt upon his expression. "What did he do exactly?" She asked, having been through this process multiple times before.
Mr Underwood scratched his bulbous nose with a thin, wrinkled finger. "Jared was seen, during class, visibly and without provocation, punching Anthony Francis in the face, all the while calling him a 'Blue-faced Prat'." He said, the fingers of his other hand shuffling a few papers at the edge of his desk. "As I'm sure you understand, we cannot have behaviour like this within the classroom."
Alice sighed. The same boys, every time, with the same insults.
"He started it." Jared snapped suddenly. "He called me Quirkless!"
"I'm afraid that is no excuse for your actions, young man." Mr Underwood responded sharply. "Even if they said something that hurt your feelings, that gives you no right to go around punching people, nor mocking them for their appearance."
"But he does have a blue face!" Jared argued. "Just like you have green hair and a large nose!"
Mr Underwood stared at him, shocked. Alice quickly put a hand on her son's shoulder, trying to silence him.
"Jared, not now." His mother hissed. Jared looked at her, his anger not subsiding.
"I didn't hurt him that badly!" He continued to complain. "His inflation Quirk protected him. He barely felt it."
Mr Underwood glared down at Jared, sitting straight in his chair and reaching a full inch higher than he had before. His hair was rearing like a nest of snakes, quivering at the tips, which unfolded into thin yet sharpened points.
"That still does not make it right!" Mr Underwood bellowed. He sat back, breathing out, calming himself down. He turned back to the mother of his student, now composed. "If you wouldn't mind, Mrs Wreath, I would prefer to continue this conversation without Jared's presence."
Alice gave her son a small glance, and Jared, still stroppy and angry, got up from his seat and stomped out of the room.
"Wait outside the door. I won't be five minutes." Alice told him. Jared gave her a look, before slamming the door behind him.
Mr Underwood let out an exhausted sigh, and he slumped further back into his chair. Alice also let go of her more parental demeanour now that her son was out of the room.
"This is the fourth time your son has been sent to see me this month, Mrs Wreath." Stated Mr Underwood with a grim frown. His hair began to unwind slowly, falling across his face in long, twitching strands. "I'm afraid we can't keep allowing this to happen. I've had complaints from several parents about foul language and violence, all involving your son."
"It's just a phase he's going through." Alice tried to argue, wanting to reassure the teacher that this behaviour was not a normality. "Give us some time, we'll sort it out."
"I would like to believe you, Mrs Wreath…" Mr Underwood continued. "…but as I said, four times Jared has acted out this month alone, and we're receiving too many complaints from the parents of other children. Your son is continuously disturbing the class with his outbursts and shouting, his angry words, his flying fists. If these aggressive bouts do not stop then I'm afraid you will have to search for another school."
Alice put a clenched hand to her chin, hiding her quivering lip. Jared was only seven years old. Far too young to be getting violent with other children. All this aggression was making her sick with worry.
"I'm sorry that we must continue to meet this way, Mrs Wreath." Mr Underwood said quietly. "I have much respect for your husband. Our school doesn't usually take in Quirkless students, though for the countries number one hero we are prepared to make a few exceptions. Yet, when it comes to student safety, we cannot make any acceptations. If Jared continues to behave in this manner then I'm afraid we will have to consider expulsion."
Alice closed her eyes. Those were the words she had been dreading to hear.
"I understand." She stood up from her seat. "This will not happen again… I promise you."
"You said that the last time we met." Retorted the headmaster, his tongue prodding the innards of his upper lip. "Yet here we are again."
Alice nodded solemnly. As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew how likely it was that she and Jared would be coming back to the headmasters office.
Jared waited exactly where his mother had said. When Alice left the office, she found him standing opposite the doorway, leaning against a wall display of children's biology sketches with his arms crossed. He looked at her, angry and upset, and she could only stare back with disappointment, then look away with sadness.
"Let's go home." She said quietly. She reached out a hand, and Jared took it, and together they walked out of the building.
As they left the school and returned to the car, Alice placed her keys in the ignition, but hesitated before turning it on. As Jared fastened his seatbelt in the passenger's seat beside her, she turned and looked at him. She was not at all happy. Jared looked back, with his angry, hateful eyes. She was always surprised by just how much he looked like his father. The same green eyes, the same black hair, the same determined personality.
"The fourth time in a month." She said, her voice stern, unimpressed and, above all, disappointed. "Four times in one month. This cannot keep happening, Jared. You can't keep taking out your anger on other people when they upset you. You'll never make friends that way."
"I don't need friends." Grumbled Jared, folding his arms angrily as he leaned back into the soft seat.
"Everyone needs friends, Jared." His mother told him, her stern tone fading quickly. "Those boys pick on you because you're an easy target, but that doesn't mean you have to retaliate."
Jared didn't respond immediately. After a few seconds he asked…
"Why is it wrong for me to call Tony Francis a Blue-faced Prat?" Jared asked.
Alice sighed deeply. This was a question that was tough to answer, especially in a way that would appease the anger of a young, bullied, prejudiced child.
"Mocking a person for their Quirk is just something we don't do, Jared." She tried to explain. "He can't help the Quirk he was born with any more than I can or Mr Underwood can. We're all born different."
"He's allowed to call me Quirkless, though." Jared argued.
"I know." Alice agreed, her voice betraying the deep empathy and sadness in her heart. These situations were tricky to resolve, and she knew better than most that the way Jared was treated by the school was unfair. She looked at him, and tried to give him a more cheerful, hopeful smile. "But who cares if you don't have a Quirk yet? I don't care. You're still Jared, my little boy."
"Dad cares." Jared said quietly.
His mother looked at him sadly. "Your father is just upset, that's all. He had big hopes of training you to become a hero, like he is. He's not angry at you. If anything he's angriest at himself." And at me she thought to herself.
Jared curled up into a ball on his seat, wrapping his small arms around his small legs, pressing his head against his knees. His oversized hoodie consumed him like a blue blanket. Alice put a hand on her son's shoulder and tried to comfort him.
"There's always the possibility that you're a late bloomer." She suggested "That happens. Sometimes a Quirk doesn't manifest early on, and takes another year or two to develop. Maybe this time next year you'll have a Quirk like mine, or like your fathers."
"Alexis already has her Quirk, and she's five." Jared continued to mope. "And Julian will probably get his in a few years."
"You don't know that for sure. Julian might end up being just like you."
"He won't, though." Muttered Jared.
Alice fell quiet, not sure what she could say to cheer her son up. Then slowly she smiled and turned to him.
"I know what you need right now." She said with a wry grin. "You need a visit from the Silly Police."
At that name Jared shrunk into his seat, his arms folding tight around his body, his expression anxious yet stifling a smile. Alice grinned, and she flexed the muscles in her cheeks, taking in a large breath of air.
"'Ere, Sergeant, I think we've got a sad li'l boy over 'ere." She said in a high pitched cockney voice that sounded nothing like her own.
Jared held in a fierce chuckle. Alice lowered her chin and puffed out her cheeks, and spoke once more in a much lower, pudgier sounding tone.
"It seems that's what we 'ave, Constable. I think he needs a tickle to cheer 'im up."
Jared squealed as his mother began to tickle his ribs and armpits. He kicked and flailed and laughed uncontrollable.
"Stop it." He complained, trying not to burst out laughing.
His mother smiled at him. This was the one thing she could do for him at this time. Using her Quirk, which was called Parroting, she could perfectly mimic any sound which she heard to the exact pitch and volume. The Silly Police was a sketch involving two fat and thin puppets in blue police uniforms being outwitted by the same criminal over and over. Alice remembered learning later on that the actor who played all three roles was born with a Quirk which made his hands leathery like that of a puppet. It aired on a show called Pip's Multiverse, which she had watched as a child. That show had long since gone off air, yet she remembered it fondly, and now she used it as a way to cheer up her children whenever they were upset.
Alice hugged her son tightly, embracing him in her warm arms. Jared hugged her back, his smaller arms barely reaching around her thin body.
"Just because you're Quirkless doesn't mean you're not important." She whispered to him. "Even if you never develop a Quirk, you'll always be my son, and you'll always be important to me."
"I know, mum." Jared whispered back. "I love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart." She kissed her child on the forehead, and smiled kindly down at him. "Don't worry about school. If it's really that bad then maybe we should consider home-schooling you. It's not worth wasting your father's money if you don't learn anything."
Jared looked at her. Obviously the idea had never crossed his mind.
"Maybe..." he muttered. His mother smiled at him. With the both of them belted in, Alice Wreath started the ignition and began reversing the car onto the empty road.
"We should have a discussion about what possibilities are available to you in the future. That might help you feel better about not having a Quirk" She added.
"Okay." Said Jared.
"Things will get better in time." Said told him comfortingly. "They always do."
With those last word, the car halted, and began driving forwards at a slow pace down the urban road, away from the primary school.
Jared didn't remember much about that part of his life, nor much about his mother's suggestions. He barely even remembered what she looked like.
Because one week later... Alice Wreath died!