Lucien gave the lunch area a once-over with discerning eyes, his enhanced mind cataloguing each individual present like a file in a cabinet. He’d found his memories returning more vividly since his manifestation, and he and Ty had dug around on the internet until they found cases of supers with eidetic memory. Based on the way that he could pull up things from his past with greater and greater accuracy, down to being able to use his new senses to detect things that had escaped him in the memories themselves, both had concluded that his mind was developing an eidetic recall on its own.

That didn’t mean it was perfect; details could slip through the proverbial cracks if he didn’t focus, and it wasn’t a guarantee that he’d be able to correctly identify something solely because the memory was accessible. It seemed like less of a passive thing and more of an ability he had to intentionally tap into. A pseudo-eidetic memory, then? Thinking about it too much, ironically, started to give him something of a headache.

Lucien’s feet carried him across the lunching area towards the table that held Tiberius and his regular popular company. Hailey, Carmine, Taylor, Jessica, and Harper were present from The Squad as per normal, with several fringe element girls hovering here and there in the hopes of joining the prestigious clique of First High mean girls. Eduardo and Samuelle were present as well, joined by Travis Miller — or Trigger, as the massive black linebacker liked to be called — and the football twins John and James O’Hare. Both boys were brown-haired and light skinned, built lithe and fast. Wide receivers.

None of the swim team or other footballers were present, but that didn’t overly surprise Lucien. Ty’s daily group was only consistent regarding Jessica, Eddie, and Sam. The rest often shifted or changed according to social cues or the internal hierarchy among them. When Lucien approached, several casual conversations ceased as the table and the people at other tables started to notice his approach. Chatter turned to excited whispers, and more than a few teenagers edged forwards. Either they wanted to know if he really was who rumours said he was, or they wanted to see what happened when he interacted with Harper again.

“Luc!” Tiberius said with a grin as he approached, rising to meet him. “Took you long enough, dude.”

The two clasped hands, bumping shoulders with a one-armed hug in the way Ty had insisted they do during their ‘strategy’ meeting that morning. Lucien found the entire thing mildly absurd, but his god-brother insisted it was ‘how things were done’ and he wasn’t about to denigrate Ty’s knowledge on the fickle minds of popular kids. “Just held up by the crowd.” He said easily, letting the strength of his new baritone carry his voice. “No biggie.”

Whispers ran wild at Tiberius’ confirmation of his identity and the pair of them studiously ignored the gossiping voices, moving easily towards the table. With two bolted down benches and a large table proper in the centre, the entire thing could fit twelve people with six comfortably on each side. A moment of tension followed as the pair approached the group and looks were exchanged. Eddie and Sam glanced at the twins, who glanced at each other, and then all of them glanced at Trigger, who looked at Harper. A moment of decision passed, and then the five boys turned back to look at Tiberius.

His expectant raised eyebrow seemed to decide it for them, and the entire lot rose from their seats to saunter over. A moment of consideration followed as the four boys eyed Lucien like a strange new animal, and he eyed them back calmly, remembering Ty’s words about eye contact and remaining aloof. About ten seconds passed before something seemed to shift, and John O’Hare stepped forwards with an extended hand. Swallowing a sudden and definitely unexpected surge of relief, Lucien clasped hands with the shorter teen and offered him a bump-and-hug. “Welcome.” John said simply, understanding glimmering in his brown eyes.

That seemed to signal the others, and the other three stepped forwards as well, clapping him on the shoulder and exchanging one-armed hugs with Lucien as they shared casual greetings and started talking about their summer adventures.

Meanwhile at the table, Lucien’s sensitive hearing picked up a much more hectic conversation between The Squad while he was talking to the boys.

“What do we do?” Taylor asked as she looked between her friends, gnawing her lip.

“What do you mean, ‘what do we do’?” Hailey asked in a hiss. “Open your eyes TayTay, Ty’s boy just got certifiable babe status.”

“Super babe status.” Carmine agreed, her blue eyes focussed on Lucien hungrily. “Wouldn’t mind making him my prince charming.”

“You mean your Prince One-Night-Stand, Snow.” Jessica sniped with a sneer.

“Whatever bitch, I have needs.” Carmine responded with a flip of her black hair, unruffled by Jessica’s comment.”

“It’s Queenie’s call, right?” Taylor said, using Harper’s nickname. The correlation between ‘Keen’ and ‘Queen’ had evolved into a very apt moniker for the leader of First High’s mean girl squad. “She’s the one he attacked.”

“Slayed, more like.” Hailey muttered, drawing a withering look from Harper, to which she rolled her eyes. The black cheerleader had been nicknamed ‘Little Beyonce’ by First High, though she apparently hated the name. She was also the unofficial rival for Harper’s proverbial crown. “Whatever Queenie, he had you goldfishing.” A slang term for being open-mouthed in shock, as Lucien understood it.

“I mean… I don’t really think we have a choice.” Piped up one of the girls in the group’s orbit, a gorgeous Latina named Alize. She barely topped 5’2, but had made waves after a dramatic body change during the summer after Freshman year. “I mean… He’s Ty’s best friend, right?”

Hailey, Carmine, and Taylor all gave her withering looks for interjecting, and doing so with a presumption of inclusion. It was very likely the ‘we’ was the most offensive part of her statement to them, though Jessica and Harper both only looked thoughtful.

“The ovaries on this bitch.” Hailey said, raising an impeccable eyebrow at Alize.

“Since when were you part of ‘we’, Mariano?” Taylor asked flatly, tossing her red hair imperiously.

“She’s right.” Harper said abruptly, silencing both Hailey and Taylor, whose reactions were a visceral head jerk. “Ty’s never reacted well to suggestions of dropping Lucien, and we have no excuses anymore. The power dynamic has shifted. The boys will follow Ty’s lead and accept him now, and he’s Ty’s ride or die. That means if we try to reject him…”

“… we end up at odds with King T and the Titans.” Carmine finished with a sigh. “Oh well!”

“Snow?” Taylor and Hailey asked in unison as Carmine rose, watching her sashay over towards Lucien with wide eyes.

Lucien reeled in his super hearing as Carmine approached, drawing the attention of the other boys as his eyes locked onto hers. “Snow.” He greeted casually, taking the initiative and simply presuming the use of her nickname. A look of surprise fluttered across her pale features, before she smiled almost hungrily after processing what he’d done.

“Luc.” She greeted demurely, her voice honeyed as she took her time eyeing him up and down. “You got hot.”

“I know.” He responded with an edge of cockiness he had to force, per Ty’s training. His heart was thundering in his chest in spite of his supposed preparedness, but the risk seemed to pay off a moment later, because Carmine’s eyes glittered with amusement as she snaked her arms around one of his.

“I like this new attitude. It suits you.”

And like that, he knew he’d won over Snow White.

He approached the table with Carmine on his arm and took a seat next to Tiberius, eyes landing on Harper across the table and scanning her gaze quietly. He didn’t find hostility there, per se, but nor did he find welcome. There was a kind of tense acceptance of his presence that didn’t translate into full comfort, and she tore her azure gaze away after a few moments of prolonged contact.

“So, Pendragon.” Hailey cut in, fixing her molten chocolate gaze on Lucien. “How’d you do it?”

“Do what, Williams?” Lucien asked, glancing at Carmine as she not-so-subtly probed the firmness of his biceps with her slender fingers.

“Go from zero to hero.” Hailey said flatly, a look of challenge flashing on her face. “You left school a skinny nerd and came back looking like Hercules. Care to explain?”

“Hailey!” Taylor hissed, her face flushed red at the other girl’s incendiary comments. The Squad was all bitchy remarks and passive aggressive stabs. Direct confrontation was rarely their modus operandi. In spite of this Lucien could tell that the cheerleader’s words had landed not just with the other girls present, but the guys too. They’d talked about their summers, but Lucien had never really discussed how he’d achieved his new figure.

It wasn’t as if he could announce he’d gotten super powers.

“Turns out I was lacking a lot of essential vitamins and my testosterone levels were being impeded. Not sure what the exact medical definitions are, but it basically ended with me receiving the boosters I’d needed most of my life. The rest was just calories and hard work. The miracle of modern medicine, huh?”

Hailey stared at him for a long moment, before her features twisted into a scowl. “You actually expect us to believe that bulls—?”

“It’s true.” Ty put in easily, cutting Hailey off with a cool, but focused gaze. “I was there for all of it. We live together, remember? Luc’s being one hundred. He’s been deficient his whole life; Summer was the first time he tapped into the shit his body really needed.”

“That’s wild, dude. So all that acne and stuff was just a chemical imbalance?” Trigger asked, seated down the table between Eddie and John.

“Seems so.” Lucien replied casually, suppressing a flash of annoyance at the reminder of his acne-riddled face. Confident as he’d become, the memories of his acne and the self-esteem issues his condition had caused remained raw for him.

“So now that you’re, like, the new hotness—” Carmine purred beside him “—are you going to go out for the Titans and play with Ty?”

All eyes locked in on Lucien again, including Harper — though her expression seemed more tense than anything — as he considered Carmine’s question. Football with Tiberius? In truth it was something he’d considered several times over the summer, but it wasn’t an idea that held an overwhelming level of appeal to him. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to play or that he didn’t want to be with the team: In fact, he loved football. It was one of the things Ty and he bonded over in their youth, and it had been a big part of why he and Leonidas had been close even before his godfather had become his legal guardian.

No, it was a more sombre truth that dictated his answer.

“Nah, I don’t think so. I love football and it’d be awesome to play with Ty, but I was thinking of starting up some self-defense classes and I can’t do that and play football.” He shrugged at the disappointed sighs from the twins and Trigger. Very likely they’d been hoping for the addition of a powerful left tackle. “Besides, that’s Ty’s thing. I’m happy cheering my brother on from the stands.”

“Maybe you could join the cheer squad, then.” Hailey said too-sweetly, affecting an innocent face as the boys’ eyes widened, and Carmine shot her a venomous look. Strange how quickly she’d become defensive of him.

“Not a bad idea, Williams.” Lucien responded conversationally, taking on a casual and aloof demeanour. “Lots of girls and no guys? Freshman me would be green with envy.”

The table went silent at his words, before James reached over and tapped Lucien’s bicep. “Take me with you.” He said in a stage whisper. “Best idea ever.”

The other boys seemed to realise the joke then and all started guffawing, with Taylor, Carmine, Jessica and several of the satellite girls including Alize joining in. Even Ty snorted, shaking his head at Lucien in disbelief.

Only Hailey and Harper, he noticed, didn’t laugh. Hailey looked annoyed, while Harper’s face had paled slightly when he’d mentioned joining the cheer squad. Very likely the idea of him being anywhere near her in that capacity was highly unappealing. He didn’t care, really, but it was probably best he clarified his intent.

“All joking aside, I think I’m good. The Martial Arts will be enough for me.”

“Which discipline?” Alize asked abruptly, leaning forwards from the edges of the group despite the withering looks Taylor and Carmine threw at her.

“For the Martial Arts?” Lucien asked as he looked at her, seeking confirmation before answering.

“Yeah. I did Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for eight years.”

“Cool.” He said with legitimate feeling, impressed by the revelation. “My godfather — Ty’s dad — knows a private instructor from way back that he said he could hook me up with.”

“Talking about Malachi?” Tiberius asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“Good luck dude. That’s gonna be intense.”

“Um, Luc?” Alize asked, drawing his attention back. “The discipline?”

He smiled at her. “Krav Maga.”

“Woah.” The twins said together.

“Sick.” Trigger said with approval.

“That’s pretty cool.” Sam admitted, nodding to Lucien with respect.

“Yeah I’m lost.” Eddie said, looking around the table for help.

“Yup.” Agreed Taylor, looking towards Hailey in question.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know shit about that stuff.” Hailey huffed.

“I’m lost too.” Jessica admitted. “What is—?”

“It’s the discipline used by the Israeli Military.” Harper cut in, her voice level and cool, expression unreadable. “Arguably the most brutal, vicious form of trained combat in the world. It’s mostly taught in a diluted and watered down version, but based on what Ty said, Luc probably has an instructor that is former Israeli Military; that means the real version.”

The boys that had understood nodded, agreeing with her assessment as Eddie made an ‘O’ face.

“Wow.” Alize said with a sound of envy. “That’s so intense. Unfiltered KMG is going to make you a weapon.” She said with what Lucien was reasonably sure seemed to be more than friendly interest. “I feel bad for anyone who fucks with you after you learn that.”

“Is it really that big of a deal?” Hailey asked with a pronounced eyeroll. “He’ll learn to hit people, so what?”

“You don’t learn to hit people in real Krav Maga, Bey.” Harper said with an annoyed glance. “You learn to put them down as brutally and as quickly as possible. It’s one of the only forms of combat completely banned even in underground fighting.”

“Huh.” Hailey said, still affecting a disinterested attitude. “Whatever.”

Lucien glanced at Harper in surprise, recognising very clearly that she’d publicly, even if subtly, reprimanded her simultaneous second-in-command and rival on his behalf. The look she gave him, however, was anything but friendly — and so Lucien chose to take his attention elsewhere. A glance from Tiberius reminded him of something they’d come up with together earlier, and he decided to execute the final part of their strategy: Controlling the social program, and adjusting people to Lucien being a leader within the group. This, more than anything else, was a risk. If it paid off though, his status would be much more fully cemented.

“So.” He said with an easy smile, ignoring his racing heart. “Who wants to join me and Ty at Benny’s after school?”

“I will.” Alize said immediately, drawing more surprised glances.

“Ditto.” Jessica said, almost as if realising that she had somehow slipped up.

“We’re in.” John said simply, which opened the floodgates.

The entire table, in different ways, committed to being there.

Lucien glanced at Ty, and saw his god-brother’s eyes gleaming.

Mission Successful.