Chapter Four:

Melissa blindly walked down the school hallway, Rex guiding her by the elbow. The maelstrom raging from the combined minds of all middle scholars pulsed inside her skull, threatening to drive her into insanity. With her eyes closed she found it was much easier to concentrate on the metal hissing in her ears. The metal drowned out some of the less felt emotions and thoughts.

Melissa sighed. Why had she been made this way? It would be so much easier to be Rex. All he had was screwed up eyes.

Melissa and Re pushed their way to the 7th grade hallway of the school, where their lockers were.

Unfortunately, they had to pass through the 6th grade hallway to get there.

Out of all the grades, 6th graders were the worst. Being young meant that their thoughts were juvenile, but they tried to be older. It wasn't a pretty match.

As they neared the end of the dreaded 6th grade hallway, Melissa felt something. Something…different.

Her eyes snapped open and she tasted the air. A new strong taste filled her mouth. Unlike the taste of the masses, this one had flavor and sharpness instead of a bland, bile taste.

The taste was sharp, but not bitter, and it had the feeling of a computer chip, a fast, hard-working computer chip. And it was all radiating from a 6th grade girl walking by them. Melissa stopped to stare and Rex looked at her, confused, before following her gaze. He gasped.

"Melissa." He whispered after a moment, "She has the Focus."

He took his glasses off and put them back on again a few times, checking. He nodded with finality. "She's got the Focus."

The Focus, plus the strange, powerful taste on the girl was putting Melissa's mind in frenzy. The girl certainly didn't look Midnighter.

She was plain for one thing, didn't stand out among the crowds like she and Rex, but rather blended in. Her blonde hair hung long down her back and she wore simple jeans and a Mathcounts! T-shirt.

The only thing remarkable about her was her piercing grey eyes that flashed from one thing to the next with a curious, intelligent gaze.

Melissa reached out her mind and felt the girl's whirring with thoughts and ideas. The girl, who Melissa found out, was named Dess, felt smart.

Rex was still staring, open-mouthed.

"Melissa could she be one of us?" he asked, barely hiding the excitement in his voice.

Melissa shook her head and looked at the girl again. "No Rex, she isn't. She can't be. She blends in with the crowd. She's like everyone else, unlike us." She explained, believing herself more and more with each word uttered.

Rex's face fell slightly. "But, what about the Focus?" he asked.

"She probably was touched last night. It'll wear off." Melissa sighed. There was no way another Midnighter could be in town. No way.

"But I could have sworn…The Focus…" Rex mumbled.

"The Focus?" yelped a voice behind them. "The Focus!"

Melissa and Rex whirled around to find Timmy Hudson standing behind them. Melissa could feel fear rising in Rex's mind. She remembered the bruise one his face and wondered, once more, if it had been the handiwork of Timmy.

"Did you hear that?" Timmy hooted to his cronies. "Rexy here has "the Focus."

Rex was in total shock right now, petrified by fear. Melissa could feel her anger building.

Timmy Hudson suddenly reached out and snatched Rex's spectacles off his face.

"Oooooooh. Rexy can't Focus now!!" he mocked, throwing the glasses to the ground.

"Give them back!" Rex feebly demanded in a weak voice. Hearing Rex in such a pitiful way made Melissa's chest swell with fury. Nobody hurt Rex!

"I don't think I will." Timmy sneered and he slowly lifted his foot over the glasses as if daring Rex to do anything about him smashing them. Melissa boiled over.

She reached out and smacked Timmy across the face, all her restraint letting go. Nobody hurt Rex!

Unfortunately for her, though, Timmy wasn't fussy about hitting girls.

He turned to her and slapped her back, rage showing on his face at the thought of a girl touching him.

At the quick second of contact Melissa could feel his insecurity about himself and how he wanted to be dominant over Rex. To crush him. Melissa cried out and slammed back against the lockers, the force of gravity pushed her to the ground.

Rex looked at her, his eyes filled with pain and fright and he looked back to Timmy.

"Stop it!" he pleaded.

Timmy Hudson's reply was to take Rex by the collar and push him up aganist the lockers next to her.

"Don't ever tell me what to do, got it?!" Timmy snarled meanly.

The scared look on Rex's face was so sad it frightened Melissa.

Rex nodded, looking about to cry.

Timmy's eyes narrowed and he slapped Rex on the cheek with the bruise. Rex winced in pain.

"Are you sure?" Timmy growled.

Rex nodded weakly, defeated.

Timmy let go of Rex and wiped his hands on his jeans as if Rex were disgusting. As he walked away he grinned demonically at Rex and Melissa.

Melissa bottled up her rage, feeling it slip away, and helped her and Rex to their feet. She picked up Rex's glasses and handed them to him.

"You Okay?" she asked.

Rex nodded as he put his glasses on.

Melissa could feel her muscles straining to rise, to shake sense into him, but instead she forced them down and growled, "Say something you loser! Don't just nod." In an undertone she added, "It shows fear."

Rex stared funnily at her for a few seconds before clearing his throat and weakly mumbling, "I'm fine."

"You Sure?"

Rex began to nod before stopping himself and murmuring, "I'm sure."

Melissa nodded, satisfied. As she and Rex began to walk down the hallway to their lockers she muttered, "That looked like it hurt.", while pointing to his cheek.

Rex glanced at her suspiciously for a second before laughing wryly, "I'm used to worse."

That didn't particularly brighten Melissa's day, thinking about what else Timmy did to Rex, but Rex hadn't been crying like last night so she guessed this hadn't been so painful.

Come to think of it, it wasn't very pleasant knowing that you hurt your best friend more then a bully did. But for now things were alright and Rex and Melissa walked down the hallway all thoughts of the strange girl out of their heads.