"You are dismissed. Fix that shoe. You can't go around like that all term. They look nice on you."
"Thanks." I replied, "Thank you very much."
My group of friends and I hurried out of the training room, leaving Cole deep in thought.

Chapter Five – The Dent in the Wall

When we entered the canteen, everyone stopped talking at once. At a group of Asian-vamps, a girl was pushed outwards, towards me and she struggled to get back into the group. Eventually she stopped struggling and walked towards me, "Hi. I'm Lin. Nice to meet you."

"Umm... nice to meet you too Lin. I'm Anni." I said, extending a hand.

The girl shifted slightly to the left and gingerly took my hand, "I know you're Anni. Everyone knows you're Anni." she paused, not meaning it to have come out so weirdly, and amended, "What I mean is, because you're new, everyone knows who you are."

"Oh... okay... I thought it was probably coz of what happened in NT." I replied smoothly.

"U-umm... yeah... everyone thinks that was really cool, what you did." she stuttered, taking a step back and letting go of my hand.

"I can see that." I said to myself, but as it was so quiet, everyone heard me, "Oh... I'm sorry... No offense or anything... Wait... I'm the one who the offense is directed at... Oh whatever!"

"So... I really do think you're cool Anni." Lin fumbled around in her bag, "Can I have your autograph?" she extended a Hello Kitty notepad towards me.

I took the notepad and scribbled a note:

Hey Lin,

Hope we can hang out sometime when this whole thing blows over...

Lotsa luv

Anni

xox

I handed it back and she read it. I saw tears welling up in her eyes as she turned and walked quickly back to her place with her Asian group. I noticed that everyone was still staring at me so I said loudly to my friends, "Look at the time, it's almost past dinner-time. I'm starved." and everyone slowly turned back to their own conversations.

We sat down at our usual table and ate our lasagne in silence. Suddenly, Lin popped up from out of nowhere. She passed me a note and then walked quickly back to her table. I unfolded the piece of paper. It read:
Thank you very much Anni

I really do hope we can hang out sometime.

Just in case, my mobile number's 0498-366-588.

Thanks again

Hearts

Lin

I read it and was touched by what this girl my age wrote. It was only thanking me and asking me to hang out with her, but deep down, I felt like I fitted in. That I wasn't a freak.

I walked back to my dorm in the light rain to change into some comfortable clothes. I threw on my black slacks and a purple t-shirt. I took off my boots and grabbed the heel from my shoulder-bag. There was super-glue already on the table so I sat down and glued it back on. As I waited for the glue to dry, I thought about what Cole had said... They look nice on you... I wonder what he meant by that. The glue was dry, so I tried on my boots. I had to agree with him, the boots looked great... but not with slacks on. Maybe they didn't look so great on me. Mel was in the shower so I waited for her to come out before asking her if she would try on my boots.

"But I'm in my pyjamas!" she said.

"Well I tried them on in these." I said, indicating the slacks.

"Okay, fine." she took the boots from my outstretched arms.

After she had zipped and buckled them, she stood up and strutted around the room. Even in pyjamas she looked good in them. 'So they didn't look nice on me coz they look nicer on Mel.' I thought, 'Then what could Cole have meant?'

"Honey, they look fine on you. I know... you think they look better on me coz I can carry them off in pyjamas and you can't carry them off in slacks, right? Well darling, if Cole says you look nice in them, he means that they look okay on you but you look nice. Get it?" Mel said, again reading my mind. It was like we were made to be best friends.

"Oh... yeah I get it... sorta... which reminds me, I have to go meet Cole in the training room for my practice." I replied, "You have to tell me everything you know about Cole when I come back okay? It'll be my first night so we have to stay up heaps late." I looked at my timetable. Friday it was two sessions of study first and I was wondering if I was allowed to sleep through that.

"Well that's what best friends are for! Reading your mind and telling great gossip!" she replied, "Oh... we can miss session one and two tomorrow. They're study slots so we can stay up late and sleep in!!!" she glanced at her watch, "Oh shit... you're late for first practice! Throw on your black sneakers and jump there. It'll take less time and there are heaps of trees for you to hide in, plus it's night outside."

"Kay... see ya... get some snacks for later!" I said.

Our room was on the top floor of the building. We had a set of stairs that wound up to the roof, but because I was late, I jumped out of the window into a nearby tree. I leapt from roof to tree to finally, ground. By the time I got there, I was only two minutes late. I walked into the training room but no one was there. Then I remembered that Mel said Cole was always three minutes late. I waited for a minute and sure enough, he showed up.

"Come with me please Miss Stoker." said Cole in his stiff teacher voice.

"Yes, sir." I replied, trying unsuccessfully to hide my laughter. His voice sounded funny when he was a 'teacher' but I suppose I hadn't really heard what it was like when he wasn't a teacher. My mind started to wander aimlessly when Cole stopped and I walked into him.

"Keep your mind on track Miss Stoker." he said, "Tonight we'll be doing some basic training to see how far you can take your... gift."

"Sure." I replied, "What can I do?"
"I need to test your strength first so I'm going to throw different objects at you and you must deflect them like this." he showed me a movement as if I was pushing something away from me.

Cole threw the first object, a beanbag. I deflected it easily. He then threw a set of scales. I deflected that too. After, he threw things much faster; an encyclopaedia, a sack of flour, a sink, a bathtub, and an anvil, all of which I deflected as easily as if it were a feather. Finally, Cole was out of objects. He looked around to see if he had any more anywhere but he couldn't find any. Cole sighed and said, "I'm going to have to throw myself at you."

"WHAT?!?" I shrieked.

"I will throw myself at you as vampires are always heavier than ordinary objects. Try to deflect me."

"O-okay." I stammered. I got in a ready position, composed myself so there were no outside feelings intruding on my training, and nodded to signal that I was ready.

Cole launched himself at me and I was ready to deflect him. It worked. He flew backwards until he hit the wall and slid down it. I rushed towards him, "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." he choked out.

I grabbed his arm, pulled him out of the dent he had made in the wall, and dusted the cement rubble off of his back. Suddenly I sensed him looking at me so I looked up to meet his eyes. Immediately I got lost in them and, although it was difficult, I turned away, turning my thoughts back to ones of concern and worry, not ones of love and passion.

"Do you need to go to the nurses' wing?" I asked.

"No. No. I'm fine, really." he paused, turning to face the wall to study the dent, then studying the room where many objects had splintered or cracked. His eyes travelled towards the door, "You have an audience." he whispered to me and I looked up.

Lilli, Jessica, Liam, Jesse and Lin were the first people I saw. I smiled at them until I realised that there were teachers hovering behind them.

"U-umm... what is everyone doing here?" I whispered to Cole.

"Your friends came to collect you and the teachers came to see if you were really what I told them you were... Really good." he replied casually, "You should go now. I have some cleaning up to do. Please grab some broken items and throw them in the bin on your way out."
"Sure thing." I replied, "Thank you for doing this. I'm sorry for throwing you into a wall."

Cole laughed a hearty laugh, "It's okay. I learnt to never underestimate you again. And also to never throw myself at anyone again."

I laughed too and walked away from him with a wave. I could still hear him chuckling as I bent to pick up a couple of pieces of bathtub and the now dented anvil. I loaded them out of the door, into the already waiting dustbin. The teachers all stared at me as all the children had stared at me in the canteen this afternoon. I walked back inside, collected another load and threw that outside too. After another two loads, I was done and the only thing out of the ordinary in the training room now, was the giant Cole-shaped dent in the wall.

"You are a very strong girl Miss Stoker." said Cole as we walked back to the entrance where my friends and teachers still waited, "I went to the outside of the wall and there is now a giant crack down most of it. That cement is extra strong cement too, because vampires are a lot stronger than humans, so we make it thicker and at least seventeen times stronger."

"Woah." I said, "That's amazing!"

"Yeah. Pretty cool. That's what I said the first time I was told too."

We both laughed until we reached the entrance and everyone crowded around us. Cole and I exchanged a here-we-go-again-glance, suppressed our laughter, and I said, "Fire away."

"How do you do that? A male teenager is the heaviest known thing in the world!" said Walter.

"Well... I guess I was reborn this way." I replied.

"Yes... Most likely; but how do you explain how you concealed the truth from me in your mind at the nurses' wing today?"

"Well that was easy. I just thought of something else and visualised putting what I was thinking about in a box at the back of my mind."

Immediately murmurs of excitement broke out and I caught snippets of "...should move her up..." "dangerous to younger ones..." from the teachers.

"Umm... excuse me, but can I stay in all the same classes? I would rather not be more of a freak than I already am. At least I'll be with people of my own age and learn what I need to know as the basics. I'll do extra study if I have to but I really need my friends in my classes." I said.

"I understand." said Walter, "Of course you may stay in the same classes but a timetable will be made up for your extra classes and study times."
"Yes, sir." I replied hastily, "May I please go to bed? I am dreadfully exhausted, you know, after throwing heavy objects into walls, and all."

Cole chuckled and said, "She could really do with the rest, sir. She's had a hard practice."
"Okay then. Off you go to bed. But make sure you sleep!" said Walter.

My group and I walked off to the dorms as the teachers huddled in deep conversation... about me.

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