A/N: Here we come back to Alex. See, told you that we would.

Chapter 9/Developments

My first lesson with Violet Walker took place the next day, as soon as the nurse declared me fit for combat. That was comforting (note the sarcasm). I realized that day that this school was different from Sky High also in the way it conducted its classes. Each student took a class that would develop a skill or skills that they needed in order to fight. I wondered who exactly we were training to fight but whenever I asked, I would get an evasive answer or they would just plain ignore me. Well, I was used to that.

The room where I met Violet was also white with a black door. The room tugged at my memory but my brain was still strained from its encounter with Connor's powers so I tried not to think about it. Violet was taller than Magenta, with more Asian in her than whatever their father was. I had only seen Mrs. Walker and knew she was Chinese, but I also knew they were half-and-halfs. As soon as Violet saw me, her expression turned to one of slight disgust.

"I have to train a skinny, little white boy?" She asked, curling her lip faintly.

I felt indignation rising in me. I knew that I needed to gain some weight and that right about now I looked about twelve, but that didn't give her the right to dis me like that.

"I'm fifteen," I said defiantly.

She snorted. "This is a waste of time." She started to leave

I frowned and ran after her, tackling her legs and causing her to fall. She was so surprised she didn't retaliate on time and found herself pinned underneath me. She struggled but like I had been about to tell Megan before we were interrupted, I was stronger than I looked. I held her down by her arms, almost straddling her with my knee on her stomach. She finally calmed down and looked at me with a small bit of respect. Her eyes flashed in amusement.

"I stand corrected. You obviously are stronger than I realized."

Duh, I wanted to say.

"Still," she said, lifting her leg and wrapping it around my chest, flipping me off of her. Now it was her on top of me. "You still have much to learn."

I grinned; glad someone was finally taking me seriously. She got off of me and helped me up. She stepped back and looked me up and down.

"But you're going to have to start eating," she observed. "You're far too skinny to stay unbroken for long."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, smirking slightly. She threw a punch at me which I dodged easily. This time she actually laughed.

"Okay, enough fooling around," she said, her face turning serious but her eyes still twinkling. "If you're going to fight anyone, but especially Adams, here's what you gotta learn . . ."

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When I stumbled into the room later that afternoon, I barely noticed who was there. I hurt all over. That Violet was really tough. She had beaten me up pretty badly. I flopped down on my bunk only to be shoved off onto the floor.

"Watch where you lay yourself Newton," a jovial voice greeted my prone body.

I turned over to look up into the grinning, pointed teeth of Gabriel Rochester. I groaned.

"What's your problem?" Gabe asked, still grinning.

"I had my first lesson with Violet today." He already knew about Connor's attack and what I planned to do about it. . . . He had been in the bed next to me in the hospital wing.

He whistled through those pointed teeth. "Dude, a chick beat you up?"

He then proceeded to laugh hysterically like it was the funniest thing in the world. I remained stoic, only groaning slightly when he laughed so hard he fell off the bunk and onto my stomach. I rolled my dark lined eyes and demonstrated Violet's lesson by lifting my leg and flipping him off of me. I sat up and looked over at where he had risen to his knees. He looked at me in slight surprise for a moment before falling over on his back and cracking up again. I huffed in annoyance and laid down on my bunk, ready for some rest.

My rest was short-lived however, for the next moment Megan came storming into the room, followed closely by an amused looking Chanel. Megan grabbed me by the shirt, lifting me up to meet her face to face. I cringed slightly at her roughness and wondered what the problem was.

"I was just informed that Warren Peace and Lash were asking about me over at my house a while ago." Her voice was low and menacing. Her breath slid across my cheek like mist and I stiffened. "Do you know anything about this?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I've been here this entire time. I have no phone, no way to contact them. How could I know anything about that?"

Megan considered this, and then slowly released her hold on me. I straightened my long sleeved shirt while she studied me for a moment, running her hand down my chest from where it had gripped the shirt (I repressed a shudder), before standing up and whirling around on Gabriel. I noticed that he had gone quite white underneath his usually light brown cheeks. I wondered why as I stood slowly, watching the two as Megan reached down and picked Gabriel up off the ground.

"How's your cousin doing these days, Gabe?" She asked calmly.

I stepped up to Chanel who was chewing loudly on some gum. I was about to ask her what Megan meant but she shushed me with a wave of her hand. Gabe licked his lips nervously, glancing at me and Chanel before muttering, "I don't know, I don't really talk to him much."

Megan regarded him shrewdly, still hanging on to his arm. "But he now has grown this hero complex right?"

Gabriel scowled; an expression I had not seen before on his face. "Correct. Which is why we stopped talking."

She nodded silently, pursing her lips tightly before letting go roughly, making him teeter off balance for a second. She pushed past me, heading for the door with a look on her face that made me apprehensive for a moment. When she left I turned to Gabriel and Chanel.

"What did she mean? Who's your cousin, Gabe?"

Gabriel made a face, his jovial personality returning. "Warren Peace."

My mouth dropped. "Seriously? But your last name is—"

"Rochester, right." Gabe stuck out his tongue. "Which is why I'm his father's sister's son. Hence the different last name but same basic powers. Of course he doesn't need a lighter. Lucky devil."

That made sense. And as I took a closer look at Gabe I noticed that he did have the facial coloring that Warren Peace did. Studying Gabriel's face reminded me of another face. Flinching inwardly, I turned to Chanel who was standing too close for comfort. I backed up slightly.

"Hey Chanel? Why does Adams hate me so much?"

She looked at me then walked over to my bunk. She sat down and then patted the space next to her. I shook my head.

"Just tell me."

Gabriel stretched out on the floor and looked up to the ceiling. Chanel got out a cigarette and gestured to Gabriel who tossed her his lighter without getting up. Apparently he held nothing against her almost killing him in the ring the other day. Strange people. . . . I waited patiently for her to start talking.

She blew smoke at me. "Do you want the long version or the short version?"

I just crossed my arms and continued to look at her. Gabriel sighed.

"Just get it over with Chanel," he said, flinging an arm over his eyes. I remembered how close he and Connor had seemed to be and wondered about that too. But I turned first to Chanel.

"Okay here's it in a nutshell: Connor's brother Jayden died. He was a really hottie too. All the girls liked him, the boy's too 'cause he was funny and a great athlete. So yeah, he's dead now."

I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. "What does this have to do with me?" I asked, thinking I already knew the answer.

Gabriel sat up and looked me straight in the eye, his face serious, which was a scary thing. "Because you killed him, dude."

I froze. It was just as I feared. The face I had seen . . .

"But the kid I remembered looked nothing like Connor," I realized. The kid in my memory had had dark hair and slanted eyes . . . of course his eyes had been very light blue, just like Connor's. "This kid had slanted eyes."

Chanel blew some more smoke at me. I turned my nose and mouth away. "His father knocked up some Asian lady and got dumped with Jayden. So they were really half-brothers."

"But very close," Gabriel stated, he was staring at me. "By the way, how do you remember that? I thought they erased your memory."

I bristled slightly at the reminder. "I saw it in my mind while Connor was using his powers. The last thing I saw before I passed out was Jayden I guess, screaming. He had scratches on his face. . . ." A sudden horror washed over me like blood. "What did I do to him?" I asked in a horse whisper.

Gabriel flinched slightly and looked at Chanel. She was concentrating on her cigarette. I reached over and snatched it from her hands.

"Tell me!" I demanded.

She sighed. "When you came here the first time, you weren't like you are now, all quiet and invisible. You had an attitude, especially when you got in the dome. Jayden thought it would be cool to pick on the new kid. And so he challenged you and you agreed."

She pursed her lips and looked at the cigarette I was still holding. I held it out of her reach. She sighed and continued.

"I'm not exactly sure what happened. Jayden just suddenly began screaming and running around, banging his head on the sides of the dome and tearing at his face with his nails, wailing and crying in agony while you just stood there, watching him. He finally banged his head so hard on the dome walls he died. There, now can you give me back my smoke?"

I handed her the stick without thinking. I was in shock. How could I have done that to someone? The only time I came close to killing someone was at the hospital when they told me they were going to contact my father and I lost it. This was totally different. What had I done?

I sank down to the floor, staring blankly at it. Gabriel came over and raised his hand to my shoulder but stopped before he made contact.

"It's okay dude," he told me quietly. "You weren't yourself."

But I had killed him. No wonder Connor Adams hated me so much. Of all the ways to die . . . I realized I must have put emotions of self-hatred, depression, and angst into Jayden so strongly that he had felt the urge to kill himself and then gave into that urge. I felt a shudder run through my entire body. What I had done filled me with horror and disgust with myself. I suddenly felt the need to throw up. I stumbled to my feet and ran for the bathroom door. Once inside I locked myself in and just stood there against the wall, breathing hard.

Pain exploded in my chest and not from any wounds or injuries physically. I had to get rid of this pain. Frantically I searched the bathroom, under the sink and behind the mirror. I stopped after a while. Nothing. I looked through the trash. There was a used razor, sitting not far from the bottom. I fished it out and sat on the toilet, breathing heavily.

Before I could think twice, I lifted my sleeve and pressed the razor blade across my arm. The sharp sting and gathering blood eased the ache in my chest as I let the physical pain override the one inside. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the panic subsiding. I made another cut in my thin, white arm, parallel to the other. I suppose Chanel and Gabe knew I needed to be alone for no one disturbed me.

I felt bad about returning to my bad habit after Ana Lucia's scolding, but I had to get rid of the hurt somehow. The pain of my new lip ring (which had lessened) was completely gone now. All my brain was registering was the red stripes that continued to be engraved up my left arm.

Finally, after five cuts, I stopped. I felt slightly dizzy from the loss of blood and I cleaned up everything the best I could. When I opened the door, no one was there. I stumbled to my bunk, clutching my throbbing arm which I had wrapped several times in toilet paper to stop the bleeding. I lay there, dark-lined eyelids closed, concentrating on just breathing and the soreness of my arm.

"It's okay, baby brother. We're going to be okay."

Yeah right. I was a murderer now. Tell me David, how can I ever be okay knowing something like that?

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