Disclaimer: M. Night Shyamlan owns all characters you recognise.
AN: A plot bunny who refused to die.
Even the Scary Ones.
Chapter One- The Gift
Natural Resources, fifth period, with Ms. Cindi Walds, was bad enough in the classroom. Cole Sear wasn't sure, but he had a hunch that the computer designated to perform the task of classroom placement had it in for poor Walds. She was a good teacher with a merry laugh and a friendly smile, but throw in twenty eight raucous idiots and it went downhill from there.
Said raucous idiots were in all forms of idiot:
1. Snob Idiots: spoke loudly on cell phones while they were supposed to be learning about turkeys and drank five dollar mocha frappawhattas in a class that was food and drink free
2. Drug Idiots: were so burned out that they spent the entire hour laughing about the pronunciation of 'estuaries' (?)
3. Never There Idiots: No Information.
There were other types of idiots at Johnson High school, of course, but the afore mentioned categories were the greatest population in Room 304.
Cole and his one companion Francie Ents spent the class time rolling their eyes at the idiots and attempting to do their homework while dodging insults. Francie was the class Goth, therefore was laughed at for being too pale by the white guys blasting "Wankster" from their walk-man CD players. Cole was ridiculed for being odd. No one really knew why they made fun of him, but he was used to it by now, and it did not bother him anymore.
You see, Cole had a very special ability. He had the power to see ghosts- a sixth sense, if you will. He'd had it ever since he could remember, and it used to scare him horribly. The ghosts came to him looking and acting they did as they died. At a very young age, he had seen some of the most grotesque ways to be killed right in front of his eyes. In elementary school, he was an introvert and an oddity. He was teased and manipulated. But after an encounter with a caring and sensitive ghost named Doctor Malcolm Crowe in his eighth year, Cole gained control of his gift. He used it to help those who came to him, because as Crowe had told him, "even the scary ones" needed assistance.
Over the years, Cole had helped many ghosts. Some just wanted to talk, others needed messages carried to their loved ones, and many looked for advice. There were only a distinct few who were truly evil, and Cole did his best to avoid these spirits.
Only two people knew of his sixth sense: his mother and Francie. It had taken his mother a long time to understand it, but she now had a reason for certain mood swings and strange behaviors of Cole's, though she did catch on quite quickly when he began to tell her that ghosts were responsible for him not getting his homework done. Francie was fascinated with this talent, and often requested to perform rituals to speak to the dead at Cole's apartment. Lynn Sear was fond of Francie, but not fond of that.
School was so much better now, since Cole had met Malcolm Crowe. It was still school, but Cole was receiving fairly good marks and he was no longer depressed.
Except on occasion, and today was one of those occasions. It was fifth period. It was fifth period and Francie was absent. It was fifth period, on a bus, on the way to the Walker Environmental Preserve.
A nice quiet day observing wildlife with this crew?
Cole begged to differ.