Retribution

[WP] You are the sole normal, unpowered student at a School for the Supernaturally Gifted. You were bullied once. Once.

*****

I am considered "normal" by the whole student body. And not in a good way. From my perspective all these so-called "gifted" people have a limited definition of what it means to have a superpower. I have one and I exercise it every day.

Three years ago I arrived at the academy with my mother, a shape shifter who was just hired as accountant for the SFSG. Part of the deal was that we would get an apartment at the school and I would be accepted as a student.

From the moment I arrived I got the feeling I was not welcome. Not by the students or the teachers. The condescending tone in which teachers answer my questions. The way they preface certain lessons with "most of you understand..." Even classes like Literature and Math seem to be taught from a supernatural perspective that shuts me out of the conversation.

But I'm not the kind of kid who keeps her head down and tries to disappear. I'm generally protected from any real abuse from teachers. So my hand goes up every day and every day teachers have to deal with me. I think by now I've even earned some respect for my academic prowess. But that first day they were definitely not happy to have me in class.

Students were another matter entirely. On my first day in first period I got a new name. "Corn." It means I'm not a unicorn, not special, not unique. Just corn. It's weird how an ordinary word coming from the mouths of a gaggle of mean kids can sound just s bad as the worst insulting swear word. In every class, several students called me "Corn" and used whatever superpower they had to pull my chair from underneath me, erase the answers on my papers, and generally give me a hard time.

Because of my mom, this isn't my first time at a Superpower school. In elementary school, kids have fun with it and are still amazed by each other. Since I grew up with those kids from Kindergarten they just accepted me for who I am. I wasn't prepared for this. I could blame my mom but she's just not the sort of person who would expect this either. She's all numbers and order. She Shape shifts to help people.

At lunch I was showered with pellets of corn. Which may not seem so bad until you consider that these projectiles are coming from someone with superpowers. One kid with object manipulation powers tried to do kinky things to me with ears of corn in the lunchroom. A teacher shut that one down and hauled the kid off to the headmaster.

A group of girls cornered me in the bathroom after lunch. I found myself suspended head down over the toilet.

One of the girls squatted down and got in my face, "That was my boyfriend."

"Are you okay with what he tried to do to me?" I tried to keep a calm voice.

"You don't belong here," another girl said.

My head hurt. I felt words pouring into my head that didn't originate in my brain. "You are trash. Kill yourself. Kill yourself. Kill yourself."

"I'm supposed to be impressed because one of you has telepathy? I'm actually unimpressed because you have this gift and use it so uncreatively. That' really the best you can do?"

A girl standing outside the stall stamps her foot and the thoughts inside my head stop.

"If you drop me into the toilet there is no way you won't leave a mark," I say.

I'm lowered slowly. My hair gets wet but I manage to bend and get my feet to the ground.

I dry my hair as best I can and go to Music. At least I'll excel there unless someone messes with my vocal chords. I resolve that for the rest of the afternoon I'm taking names.

I do mean literally. By the time school is over I have the first and last name of every kid who harassed me. Next stop the library where I check yearbooks and look up parents and families in the wealth of documents available. I am careful to avoid leaving any digital fingerprints regarding my research.

My lovely mother always uses my birthday as a password so getting into student accounts is easy as well. I'm careful to scan lists rather than looking up any particular name. This way she won't get in trouble either.

That evening I ask if we can check out the nearby town. I tell her my day was okay but that it will take awhile for me to fit in here. It's truthful. I know my mom feels guilty about moving me so she agrees to drop me off in the town square and pick me up in three hours. She has a lot of beginning of school-type work and promises Saturday we'll do town together. It's fine. All I need is an internet cafe.

The next morning every student who harassed me wakes up a little bit poorer.

I realize I don't need to tell every kid, just Little Miss Telekenesis. She's in my first period. I sit next to her, keeping my voice friendly and conversational.

"The thing is, I don't get scared. I get mad. Injustice makes me mad. Being the object of injustice empowers me. Maybe not in the way the rest of you have powers, but check your account.

I think you are going to be on pretty strict budget this semester. And mommy and daddy aren't going to be able to help you out. Nobody's going bankrupt. Yet. But things might get really ugly for you if you attack me again.

Use your cute little trick to pass that along. Maybe instead of Corn you can all just call me Karma.

Oh, and there is no way anybody is going to believe I'm responsible. I don't have any kind of superpower."

I walk away feeling a little bit lighter. Like Eliot Ness getting Al Capone on tax evasion. Superheros still have to pay for things.

I still don't have any friends at school. My mom bought me a Moped so I can go into town after school. I'm in a band and otherwise hang out with my boyfriend at the internet cafe. He's a home schooled day trader. College is going to be fun. And paid for.

*****

THE END.