It's our favourite traumatised boi!

Yay!

Sometimes it's the most obvious statements that make you the most unhappy. 

'Impulse, it's morning.' 

'Yeah... great.' I reply, and instantly regret it when Skizz goes silent. I roll out of bed, fighting free of my duvet and standing up. I grab whatever's still on the floor, making sure it has sleeves and a hood before leaving the room. Skizz is there, midway through eating breakfast. Pancakes. 

'Grab some before Tango eats them all.' He signals to the pile in the middle of the table and I sit down. They look great, and covering them in syrup and sugar make them even better. 

I manage to get through several before I realize.

I don't normally eat this much any more. 

'How you doing, buddy?' Skizz asks, just as Tango appears, yawning and noticing the diminished pile of pancakes. 

'You made pancakes?!' 

'Yeah, thought it might tempt some kind of appetite. You're lucky Impulse didn't eat all of them.'

'I'm hungry!' I protest through a mouthful of food.

'That's new... you... improving?' 

I nod, and I don't think I'm lying. 

'What's the first lesson today?' 

'Magic class. Sorry.'

I sink further into my seat. Of course. I shove away the plate of food in front of me, leaving the table.

'Tell me when it's over.' 

'Impulse, please.' 

Skizz follows me, and I turn to face him.

'I don't want to be reminded of what I've done!'

'Hey, don't worry. We can skip class together.' Tango offers.

'We need to... get over everything. And going to lessons is a good way to do that.'

Ever since that damned meeting the two went to, Skizz has been acting like a therapist. Which I wish I felt less guilty about.

'Shut up, I'm going back to sleep.'

Actually, I'm going to lie awake for the rest of the day trying not to think about everything I've done, but I'd rather not tell Skizz that.

'Impy...'

'Go to class. Tell me if it's interesting.'

'Impulse, you need to start coming back to lessons!' 

I slap him. Literally slap him. Skizz freezes. 

'Impulse, listen to me.' 

'No!' 

'You were alright five minutes ago, and now you're back to being miserable! What happened?!'

'I don't know. Maybe I was reminded about killing so many friends?' I walk away, back into my room. Skizz follows.

'Impulse, I can't let you do this any more.' His honesty makes me turn around. 'I want you to be ok and... hiding isn't the way to recover.'

'I don't want to go to class, because I'm scared everyone's going to ask me what happened, or be reminded of what happened. Or have EX force me to tell on more people...'

'I'm here to protect you if that happens. Come on. Just... give it a go.' 

'Fine.' I don't know why I'm doing this. 'I'll come.' I shove a whole lot of stuff onto the ground, grabbing my magic book and shoving it deep into my bag, joined by my pencil-case. I sling it over my shoulder and leave the room. 'What class is it? I forgot?'

'I... 4th on the right. Come on... Tango, you coming too?'

'Wait... Impulse is actually going?' He looks up from his half-finished plate of pancakes.

'Yeah.' I catch some non verbal signal between the pair. 'So if you don't want to be alone...'

'Fine! Let me grab enough stuff to doodle with, and I'll come.'

We wait, and all too soon we're leaving the dormitory. It's surprisingly good to have friends there with me, even though I'm still aware of the stares from others. 

'Hey! Impulse! You're back outside again.' Scott's voice rings along the stairwell and I walk faster. 

'Hey Scott!' Too late. Skizz invites him and Jimmy over. It's impossible to hide.

'How's everything going?' No one answers, and I realise too late that Scott was talking to me. I shrug.

'Fine I guess.' We continue on walking, with further awkward conversation to join it until we reach the classroom, where it gets even harder to hide. EX calls us in, and we sit down for the lesson. 

It's long, dull, and I listen absentmindedly as we're talked at about dealing with magic. Tango's doodling somewhere across the room, and I decide to do the same. 

Until the classroom goes silent. 

I look up, and directly catch the glance of EX. He's asked a question. No, he's asked ME a question.

'Uhh... yes?' 

'I asked you what materials can stop magic powers, and you reply with 'yes'?'

'Yes?' My face burns bright red and it's almost impossible to fight the urge to walk out.  

'For your information, the correct answer is bedrock. Now, would you like to pay attention?'

I nod, and write down whatever he's just said as the lesson continues. It ends hours later, and I stuff my things back into my bag as fast as I can, joining the diminished number of students in leaving the class until...

My back hits the wall and I trip, landing on the ground. I catch a glance of Iskall's face, smirking, before he leaves the classroom with the others. 

Before I know it I'm crying, ignoring the pain as I just sit there. This was a bad idea. 

'Hey, are you alright?' 

A hand appears in front of me, and I look up. EX is standing there, a look of genuine empathy on his face. He pulls me to my feet, and I mumble thanks. 

'I know what you're going through.' He continues speaking. 'If you... want to talk to anyone, I'm here.' 

'It's fine.' I excuse myself.

'No, I... want... to talk to you.' He's sat half on the front desk, arms crossed and a slight frown on his face. 'You've been out of class for a while. I wanted to see how everything was going.'

'Bad.' Why am I still speaking to him? Why am I still speaking to him? Why am I still speaking to him?

'The other students shouldn't be hurting you for what you did. It was the right thing. If you hadn't done it... who knows what those freaks would've done?'

'It's not right.'

'They're not right... do you think people are supposed to be able to walk through walls and summon fire or ice or plants or control nature in that kind of way? You did the right thing.'

You did the right thing.

'I don't believe you.' 

'Oh, Impulse. You remind me of myself when I was your age. You'll figure out the truth in your own time.' 

Xisuma steps into the classroom before I can answer. I stand up, unable to speak.

'Hi.' is all I can say.

'I want to talk to you.' Xisuma turns to EX instead. 

'What about? I was just speaking with Impulse.' His expression seems innocent.

'You're dismissed.' Xisuma explains. No, orders. I don't need to be asked twice and leave the classroom, about to close the door behind me when-

'-I'm not going to let that happen again, brother.' 

They're siblings. 

'They're freaks. They deserve it.'

'Oh, yeah. Of course they do. They're children. They're INNOCENT. They haven't done anything!'

'They're freaks! They have magic! They deserve it as much as the others did!'

'What, like Biffa? And GenerikB? And Jessassin?' 

There's no reply. I think EX is changing his mind, until I look over. 

He's staring at me. 

 Xisuma turns around too, and his hands drop to his side. 

I don't give them a chance to react before I run.