A/N: Hello, good people! You may recognize this story as I had published it before, but since it had some fixing and dusting to do, I took it down. So here's the renewed version! Hope you will enjoy reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it!

DISCLAIMER: Characters belong to Mrs. Veronica Roth.

Part I: Spark

Tris

My locker is at the end of the hallway, near the window. Out of all possible places, all gloomy corners of this school, I consider this place to be the most unfortunate one. For me, that is.

As always, there's a pack of Freshman hanging near the open window. They're loudly chattering and laughing with one another but when they notice me approaching, they suddenly silence. One of the guys nudges his other pal in the ribs and whispers him something.

I lower my eyes and keep moving, already preparing myself for what's about to come. Even though I'm year older, I know that it doesn't matter- I look small and weak. In other words - an easy target.

''Hey, ugly!'' one of the guys shouts, obviously pointing at me. I know that Freshman boys can be really cruel therefore I immediately begin to search for the janitor. But of course, when you need him the most, he's just not there.

''Yeah, I'm talking to you, pale face!'' a guy with a Mohawk repeats. The rest of the pack laughs. He's probably the leader of the group.

I turn away, perfectly knowing how foolish it'd be to give into their stupid games. I can't give them that satisfaction.

I quickly work my locker code and I'm about to open it when a mixture of ice and snow hits me in the head. Some of the snow falls under the collar of my sweater, making me shiver. I feel burning pain in places where it touches me and I have to clench the sides of my locker to keep myself from crying out loud.

Behind me, boys roar with laughter.

I clench my jaw. A tingling sensation appears in my stomach, I feel my body heating up and I know that this is a safe sign that I have to be careful now. I have to control myself.

I close my eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out.

''Hey, pale face! What happened?'' Mohawk still doesn't shut up. ''Why'd you freeze?'' Again I hear laughter though this time it doesn't come only from his friends.

I can do it. Tris, you can do this, I chant to myself, as I slowly brush off the snow from my head- just in case it starts vaporizing.

The Freshman want to keep on taunting me but they're cut off by a masculine voice, coming somewhere behind us. ''What is happening here?'' Of course, it's him, I think. My brother Caleb.

None of the Freshman answer. I watch how they're standing there looking petrified. There's a reason behind that: as a member of the Student Council, Caleb's kind of popular here. No one in their right mind would dare to mess with him.

He stops next to me and puts his hand on my shoulder and I almost shake it off. I'm grateful to him for showing up but there's also a part of me that's ashamed I couldn't handle the situation myself. Again.

''What are you looking at? Begone!'' Caleb says in a slightly raised voice. His command is immediately followed by hurried footsteps and then the Freshman are gone.

Caleb turns me around. ''This isn't normal, Tris,'' he says in a soft voice.

Stubbornly, I turn around again, pretending to focus on my locker. I haven't even fully opened it when I notice a pink sticky note pinned on the inside of my locker doors. I already know what it is but Caleb can't see it, therefore I quickly take the note and put it in my pocket.

''What are you talking about, Caleb?'' I say and look at him, just because I want to make sure he hasn't noticed anything. He hasn't.

''You know what I'm talking about,'' he answers, rubbing his forehead. ''Ever since we moved here, you've been constantly picked on. Bullying was supposed to stop in the middle school.''

I frown. Something in the way he said didn't sound right. Like he's so tired of rescuing me. Like I'm a burden to him.

''They're just stupid boys,'' I shrug, trying to shake off these feelings. He didn't mean it like that. ''They'll grow up eventually.''

Caleb looks at me, his eyes sad. ''I just want to protect you, Tris. You do understand that, right?''

I force myself to nod even though it's hard to bare his gaze. If only he knew that they are the ones who need protection, not me...

''It's all right,'' I whisper. ''You don't have to worry about me.''

Caleb opens his mouth for an answer but he's interrupted by the bell. Relieved, I quickly take my books and push them into my backpack.

''Go, Caleb, you'll be late for your class,'' I say shutting my locker and turning back to my brother. In an attempt to ease some of his worry, I press a smile.

''Okay, but this conversation isn't over yet,'' he announces and clasps me on the shoulder again. ''Stay safe, Bea.'' With that, he leaves to rush off to his class.

I don't stay on the spot either. I race up the stairs and I'm happy to see that the classroom doors are still open, which means that the teacher isn't there yet.

I quickly slip into the class, trying to sneak to my desk unnoticed, but halfway there I trip over something. With a loud 'bang' I land face first on the ground.

''What are you doing here, Freshman?!'' I hear an irritated voice. I look up and see Tobias Eaton's cold eyes glaring at me. I squeeze my eyes shut. Out of all the backpacks I could've tripped over... No, this certainly isn't my luckiest day.

The thing with Tobias Eaton- he's almost like a celebrity in this school. Because of his wealthiness and good looks people basically worship him. All of the boys want to be him and all of the girls want to date him, even if it means tolerating his horrible, spoiled personality.

Other students have now gathered around to look at me, the loser who dared to trip over their king's backpack.

''Didn't you hear what I said? What are you doing here?'' Eaton repeats, not looking at me anymore. I have a strong desire to shoot him back something but then it clicks to me– really, what am I doing here? This class is filled with Seniors, which means that the chances I'm in the right class, are really slim.

I feel heat rush to my cheeks, only this time it has nothing to do with my powers. I'm about to stand up when I notice that the sticky note has fallen out of my pocket, under Tobias's foot.

I widen my eyes at the realization. I can't let him read it.

''Lift your foot,'' I say to him. Tobias slowly turns his head. He looks at me blankly.

''Lift your foot,'' I repeat, louder this time, and point to the ground where my note has fallen. Tobias looks down and for a second I think I see something flash in his eyes. For a second he stares at the note but when he looks back at me his expression is as blank as always.

''Take it,'' he says with a shrug and turns away. I kneel to take it but stop when I see that his foot hasn't moved an inch. His classmates laugh.

I start to feel the tingling sensation again, as the anger overwhelms me. No, I won't be made fun of anymore. Not by him.

I don't think twice, I gather all my strength and push Tobias Eaton off of the chair. With a desperate attempt to regain his balance, he grabs onto his desk but it's no help- as he falls, he takes the desk with him.

There's a complete silence; everyone stares at me. But I don't care, I use their bewilderment to quickly grab my note and storm out of the class.

I clench the note in my hand. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know that what I did was very foolish. After all, my life's already difficult enough and the last thing I need is a new enemy, especially if it's the oh-so-beloved Tobias Eaton. On the other hand, the satisfaction of remembering his facial expression as he fell down, makes it all kind of worth it.

A smell of burning paper suddenly pulls me out of my thoughts and I look down to see that smoke is coming from my clenched fist. The corners of the sticky-note have started to smolder.

Scared that the fire alarms might go off, I run to the nearest bathroom and close the door behind me. I unfold the note and read what's written on it. The same text as usual and even though I have memorized it word by word, I read it nevertheless:

Human Torch!

Tonight, 8 p.m., Hancock's building.

Don't you want to know more about your powers?

I squeeze the small paper again and concentrate on creating fire. Almost immediately, the fire appears.

In the matter of seconds, there's no sign that the note ever existed.

A/N: Thank you for reading this! If you liked this, please leave a comment, it does not cost a thing. Your thoughts, dear Reader, as always will be greatly appreciated!

Till later, alligators

MC

P.S. I just found out that Kelly Clarkson has a song named ''People like us'' and it actually kind of nicely sums up this story. So if you don't mind Kelly Clarkson, I recommend you listening to it. :D