Chapter Five
Knock 'em Dead
The next day after coming back from the doctor's, I was anxious to meet Sonja at the train station. Half because I'd never met up with a girl outside of school and half because I was about to apply to the biggest school in my state. Sonja texted me before I left to bring a backpack with some gym clothes in them for the practical part of the exam, so I just threw on a t-shirt and basketball shorts before saying bye to my mom.
"Are you sure you're okay with me doing this?" I asked with my hand on the doorknob. My mom paused before answering.
"Yes. Now go before I change my mind." She smiled as she said it. "And wear a jacket, it's getting chilly."
I made sure to grab a zip up hoodie and smiled back as I slipped out the door to walk to the station a few blocks away. I listened to some music in my earbuds to calm my nerves on the way, but I was still jumpy and distracted, evident by the fact that I was manually walking and making sure to look as normal as possible when I passed people.
Earlier today Sonja told me she forgot to say that in order to apply to Imperium, you had to submit a picture of your photo ID and write a three page essay on what you thought it meant to be a hero. So basically from the time I woke up to the time I went to the doctor's office today, I was busy writing that paper. Lucky for me, I'd spent basically my entire life doing essays at the last possible second. Technically I didn't have to do that, per se, but I was anxious to apply. I could've easily applied next week, but heroes are something I could talk about for hours, a three page essay was nothing.
I eventually made it and texted Sonja that I had made it and she let me know she was too. After a few minutes, she came walking up to me with a smile on her face.
"Hey!" I greeted her as I pulled out my earbuds and stuffed them in my pocket.
"Hey!" She leaned against the wall next to me. "Are you feeling okay?"
She gestured to my face. I still had a few faint bruises, but the doctor said they should be gone by tonight.
"Oh, yeah. This was nothing. You should've seen him when I was done with him if you think this is bad." I joked. She laughed, full well knowing what had happened.
"I'm sorry that happened. If I had been there, I would have-" I cut her off.
"Listen, it's really okay. I really don't wanna talk about it, is that okay?" I asked. Sonja nodded.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I know everyone is always picking on you." Sonja apologized. "You know, I think it's really brave what you did for your neighbor."
I smiled sheepishly.
"Thanks." I said.
"Do you know why you did it?" Sonja asked. I paused, thinking, but I couldn't really think of a reason. I just remember walking in before I could think of anything else to do and getting scared shitless when I finally realized what I was doing.
"I don't know. I was scared and I guess I thought if I could help for even a second I could stop something bad from happening? I'm not sure. My legs moved before I could think." I explained best I could.
Sonja gave me a little half smile.
"You know, that's what most-" Sonja got cut off by the PA system announcing the next train was coming into the station, followed by the hustle and bustle of people getting ready to board. I wanted to know what she was gonna say, but I forgot to ask because it finally set in for real I was on track to train to become a hero.
Sonja and I filed onto the train and took our seats and my heart started racing, but I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
"Listen, Emmet, I think you're gonna get in." Sonja told me. "Test scores are like seventy five percent of the challenge because even if you do fail the physical exam or anything to do with the practical part, they know they can train you."
She put her hand on my leg and squeezed it, causing me to jolt. She immediately took her hand off.
"You okay?" Sonja asked.
"Y-yeah." I stuttered, my cheeks going beet red. I leaned my head against the window of the subway and stared at the ceiling.
I spaced out for the rest of the ride and fiddled with my earbuds for the remainder of it. The ride was only about fifteen minutes, but it felt like forever because I couldn't calm down. The beat down I got yesterday replayed in my mind as I thought about what I could have done differently to win. I could have side stepped him and tripped him, I could have stood my ground and ripped my backpack from his arms, I could have done this weird judo thingie I saw in a movie once. Okay, that last one I'm pretty incapable of doing, but maybe I could pick things up by being at this school.
"Next stop, Prince Station." I heard the conductor say over the loudspeaker some time later. That's our stop, the station across the street from the biggest high school on the west coast. Sonja jumped to her feet, giddy we were finally here.
"Come on, come on, come on, come on!" Sonja pulled my hand and basically dragged me off the train and onto the platform, stringing me along in between messes of people, mostly students it looked like. She pulled me up the stairs and we finally stopped when we got outside, met with the enormous main building of Imperium Academy. Sonja started bouncing on her feet, smiling as she looked up at the tall building. I looked at how excited she was and tried to reciprocate, but I was still terrified and felt dwarfed by the school.
I smiled weakly and when she looked at me, I suddenly realized I was still holding her hand. Quickly, I pulled my hand away and blushed, but she didn't think anything of it and just started walking across the street towards the front door. I quickly followed, making extra sure not to embarrass myself in front of any of the students in or outside the building, which looked like hundreds to me but probably wasn't nearly as many. A few of them had interesting mutation quirks, some not even looking human. They didn't pay me any mind but in my head, everyone was staring at me.
Sonja opened the door and held it open for me and when I stepped in the first thing I noticed was the huge banner above the main office not far from the entrance reading "Apply now!". Exams were every Friday and Sunday, so I wasn't the first one to show up, but at the moment no one was there.
I walked up to the desk with Sonja in tow, but before I was even able to talk, the receptionist lady - who had a lizard head - handed me a clipboard and pen with a photocopy of my driver's license picture from when I submitted it. I looked at Sonja, confused and she just motioned to the seats next to the desk.
"Thanks…" I said to the lady and took a seat as I looked over the paper on the clipboard. It seemed like pretty standard stuff, name, age, quirk. I filled it out and Sonja sat next to me on her phone, texting someone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her raise her phone up and take a selfie with me, which bothered me, but I didn't wanna say anything. After a few more minutes, I walked back to the receptionist and handed her the form.
"Head down the hall and to the right and there's a conference room with a teacher outside the door, that's where you'll be doing the written portion of the exam." She explained, sounding exhausted. "After that, a member of the faculty will take you to the training grounds where you'll take part in the practical portion of the exam."
"Ohhhkay." I said nervously, walking with Sonja down to the conference room, but we were stopped by the receptionist.
"She's gotta stay here, son." The lady said as she took a phone call.
"Emmet, you got this." Sonja said as she grabbed my shoulder, turning me around. I smiled a half smile and nodded, starting to believe her.
"Thanks."
"Knock 'em dead."
I turned around and walked to the room, feeling like every single eye was on me and immediately feeling less secure. When I reached the room, I saw two men, in a neatly ironed shirt and tie, and then a scruffy guy wearing a haphazardly tied tie and untucked dress shirt. He was sitting in a chair with his hands in his pockets while the neater, more professional looking man was standing up and ready to greet me. He held out his hand so I shook it.
"You must be Emmet, hello!" He said, excitedly. "I read the paper you submitted earlier today and was very excited to meet you."
I took a deep breath and smiled.
"Thanks." I managed to get out. The man pulled out a chair and motioned for me to sit at the conference rooms table.
"My name is Eric Calder, but you can call me Mr. Calder, I'm a teacher here at Imperium." He told me, pulling out a small notebook from his pocket. "And this… gentleman is a representative from another school, Pathfinder High School."
"Never heard of it." I said flatly.
"Yeah, it's new." The man piped up, his voice sounding like his throat was full of gravel. I shrugged, even though he looked more like some guy that wandered in here by accident.
"Now before we get started, I will have to ask you a few questions, really just a few things regarding your quirk. On your submission from earlier today your particular photo ID, your school ID, didn't have a section listing your quirk so I need to fill that in here as I don't have access to the form you filled at the front desk." Mr. Calder explained, getting his pen to write.
"I'm actually… I'm quirkless." I said quietly, barely audible.
"Speak up, son." The man in the back barked, causing me to flinch in my chair.
"I'm quirkless." I said louder. The guy scoffed and Mr. Calder wrote it down after a brief hesitation.
"Alright, I would have had other questions, but you would not be able to answer." Mr. Calder said as he pulled a stack of papers from under the table, giving me about ten sheets. I looked over them and saw the written exam Sonja told me about. "Actually, I do have one more question."
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Why do you want to apply to Imperium?" Calder asked. I sat back in my chair.
"To become a hero." I said simply.
"Why do you want to be a hero, Emmet?"
I sat for a second, thinking about it.
"Because people need help, and if I could help but I don't then anything bad that happens happens because of me, and I don't want that. I don't just want to sit around and wait for someone with a quirk to show up, I want to be the one who goes in and does their best. I know a lot of people hate me for even thinking like that, and even you two were surprised that I'm just a kid with no powers and I want to be a hero, and that's exactly why I need to become a hero. Something needs to change so people realize being quirkless doesn't mean being useless." I rambled, not even sure if what I was saying made sense. The man in the back stood up and tapped Calder on the shoulder as he walked out of the room, taking his tie off and throwing it in the trash on his way out. I scoffed, thinking he hated even the idea of me trying so much he didn't even want to hear it anymore.
"I see." Calder told me as he started a timer for one hour and twenty minutes. And just like I thought, he left the room without even trying to say anything else. I grabbed a pencil from a cup on the table and got to work on the test.
And here's another chapter! I know I don't have a ton of people reading this story but thank you to those who do and once again, if you enjoyed this chapter drop a review and remember to follow and favorite it. There might even be another chapter up today! Peace.
