Chapter 5

James P.O.V.

My eyes are white.

My eyes are plain white.

What the hell??

"What the..?" Alex says quietly. "Why? Why? Why? Why???" I exclaim and slide my hands down my face. "Does my mind just like to torture me? I get it! I don't have powers and my powers are broken! You don't have to keep reminding me!" I yell at myself in an act of frustration. "James calm down, can you even see?" Herc asks looking at me. "Yes I can see." I say slightly angry. I run my temples, "Let's just keep walking, it will wear out eventually." I tell them. They look at each other, John nods, and we keep walking. Once we get to our dorms, I unlock the dorm I share with Thomas, and go in. I throw my bag onto the couch. Thomas closes the door behind us. I hate myself. I really do... I think to myself... well I thought I said that in my mind.. Thomas stares at me shocked. "I just said that out loud didn't I?" I ask him. He nods looking down at his feet. "Your eye color is back by the way.." he mumbles quietly, almost too quiet for me to hear. I sigh, now I made him feel bad. An awkward silence hung in the air. I bite my lip, he was still looking down at his feet frowning. I do my instinct, I get up and hug him. I mumble an apology into his chest. He was surprised at first but hugs me back. "It's okay... just please don't say it again.." he says quietly and I nod. We stay like that for awhile, I smile. It was nice... Thomas pulled away and smiled at me. I kinda missed the warmth of his body. "What do you want to do flower boy?" He asks me. I feel my ears and face go hot. I shrug, afraid if I open my mouth nothing would come out. "Watch a movie?" He asks me, still smiling. I nod, my voice still caught in my throat. Thomas went to the TV and grabbed a disk and put it in, then sat on the couch. I grabbed my sketchbook from my bag and sit down on the other side of the couch. I wasn't paying attention to the movie that movie that much to be honest. I was drawing a rose. I love roses, even though it's on my tattoo, they're very pretty. I didn't notice Thomas looking over my shoulder, "How are you so good at drawing?" He asks me, making me flinch and instinctively put my hand over my drawing. He chuckles, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya." I take a deep breath, "I-it's okay.." I stutter out. "What else can you draw?" He asks me. I flip through my sketchbook hesitantly. I get to a page with the 3 sisters sitting down at a table laughing. I look up at Thomas and see his eyes go wide. I smile, and turn the page, showing a picture of just Peggy laying upside down from the couch. "What the..." He looks amazed and confused. I giggle at his behavior, and close my sketchbook. I tap my fingers on it for a second, thinking of what to draw next. I know.. I open my sketchbook once again, and turn my body a little towards Thomas. Making sure he doesn't notice that I'm looking at him for reference. After 23 minutes, I finish. I drew Thomas with several little flowers in his hair. I wrote next to it 'flower boy~'. I place it down on the seat in between us. He looks down at it and smiles, he grabs the notebook and chuckles when he sees the flowers in his hair. I grin and put my attention back on the TV. "Hey, Laf sent me a text about a paint gun fight tomorrow after school. Do you want to come?" Thomas asks suddenly, still admiring the drawing. "S-sure.." I say, stuttering again. He closes my sketch pad and smiles at me, "I'm going to make dinner." He says before going into the kitchen. I wasn't hungry, I never was. That always caused people to worry about me. Just another thing to hate about me. A couple minutes later, Thomas comes in with a bowl of mac and cheese. "Do you want some?" He asks. "No. Thank you for the offer though." I tell him, he raises his eyebrow at me. "You really should eat, have you eaten today?" He asks me. I was dreading that question. One time I didn't eat for so long, I was hospitalized because I would get so dizzy I couldn't stand. I shrug in response. Thomas' eyes fill with worry. "When was the last time you ate?" He asks me, worry now lacing his voice. I think for a second, when did I eat last? I just shrug again. "I dunno, but I'm not hungry." I say to him. He sets his bowl down and goes back into the kitchen, he brings back toast for me. He hands it to me. "It's something at it won't affect you since it's bread. I'd rather you eat at least a little bit than nothing." He tells me, I hesitate, but take it. I mumble a thank you and he smiles brightly.

The Next Day.

"Alright class, we will be making a power enhancing potion today." Mrs. Martha announces. "Make sure to follow the recipe very carefully." She warns, while giving the directions on a piece of paper. I flipped the paper over, not needing it. "Which one do we need?" Thomas asks me. "Do the orange vile first." I direct him, he does as told. "Then yellow, then put the purple liquid into a dropper and do 2 drops." I tell him. He follows my direction. I mix them together and a puff of white smoke comes up. "If you want the potion to last longer add gunpowder." I tell him a fun fact. He smiles at me and so does the teacher. I pour the liquid into a container, and hand it to the teacher. She takes it and marks us both for an A for the assignment. I high five Thomas and the bell rings. I clean up the station and walk out behind Thomas.

(Trigger warning [not that intense])

"Well if it isn't my favorite nerd!" I hear a familiar voice say, as I stop in my tracks. I roll my eyes and try to catch up to Thomas. "Hey Jamey, stop. No one can protect you now." He says pulling me back by my backpack. "Go away Reynolds." I demand. "Oh, little Jamey has a voice. I really thought you would've killed yourself by now." He tells me, while dragging me to the bathroom. "How about we add a few more scars to your wrist huh?" He asks while he's smirking evilly. That's it. I kick his legs and trip him. He gasps as he falls, he gets up quickly. "You're going to regret that you little.." he starts, but I cut him off. "Why do you only pick on me?" I ask, almost in tears. He lifts me from the collar of my shirt, and pins me against the wall, me being shorter and lighter allows him to do that. "Because you're a faggot, you're useless, you're nothing. All of your friends just pity you because you don't have powers." He spits in my face and drops me. The bell rings. "Whatcha gonna do now huh? No one to protect you." He says laughing at me. "I can protect myself!" I yell back, making him laugh harder. He kicks me and then walks off, leaving me on the ground. I don't cry, as much as I want to.. I don't. I'm so weak... I get up from the ground and wince. There had to be marks on my neck. Good thing I don't have anymore classes with my friends...

Lunch Time

The lunch bell rang, and I hurry out of my classroom and pray no one will see me. I put my bag away, "Hey James!" I hear someone yell for me. Crap... I don't turn around. "Are you going to lunch?" I hear the voice ask. Peggy... I don't respond and just stare at my locker. "James?" She tries again, sounding worried now. I feel my arm burn, and I groan in annoyance. "Hey Pegs! What's the hold up?" I hear Alex say from behind me now. "L-listen Jem... I don't feel like talking right now.." I say, in a quiet tone. "James turn around." Peggy demands. I sigh and turn around. I see everyone standing there and they gasp. Purple marks were spread across my neck. I had a black eye too, I'm sure there was more bruising under my shirt too. "James! Why didn't you tell us??" Angie asks me. "I don't want your pity. I want to be able to protect myself.." I say in almost a whisper. "Guys, where did Thomas go?" Laf asks, looking around for his brother. Oh no....

Jefferson's P.O.V.

I see Reynolds walking down the hall. He's talking to Aaron Burr and Charles Lee. He notices me and smirks. "Well well Well-!" I cut him off by vines coming from my back and hands and pinning him to the wall. I punch him in the gut and slap him, my thorns digging into his skin. His nose starts to bleed from my punch. "Next time, I won't go so easy." I growl at him. My black tattoo glows brightly. I drop him to the floor violently and retract my vines and walk off. Somebody had to do it. I see the rest of my gang coming through the lunch doors. "Thomas!" Laf screams at me. I shrug and wipe my hand on my jeans. I see James behind everyone looking down. "James are you okay?" I ask him. He looks up for a second then back down and nods. "Thomas, we talked about this..." Lafayette says in a hushed voice. "So what?? I'm supposed to do nothing?! I'm taking a stand Marquis! I don't understand how you stand to the side!" I slightly yell at him. Lafayette looked terrified, I was sure my eyes went black again. I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. "I'm sorry..." I apologize in a hushed voice. Lafayette gives me a sad smile and nods. We all get lunch (except James) and sit down at our table. James kept looking behind him, to see if Reynolds was there. I send a tiny black silhouette onto his shoulder. He turns his head and sees it and smiles then looks at me. The silhouette taps his nose and James giggles. Cute... wait... what did I just say?

Alexander's P.O.V.

I observe James and Thomas' behavior. They would make such a good couple. Laf and John were also staring at them. I send a text to the gc-

I look at John, who wipes his nose of blood. I smile at him, I've had a crush on him for such a long time now! Ugh... he'll never feel the same... plus Eliza is always busy swooning over me. I'm Bi, but most of the time I lean towards guys. Angie always swoons over me too. Ugh. I will never be satisfied.

After School

James' P.O.V.

"Alright teams! Pick a corner! We will begin the paint gun fight once the whistle is blown! And no powers!" Alex yells. Everyone picks a corner. I'm on a team with Laf, Alex, Herc, and Thomas. We named our team the revolutionaries, and had blue paint. The next team was The Girls that had yellow paint. team that consisted of some girls Angie made friends with, their names were Theodosia and Maria. Then there was Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy in that team too. The last team, which they just invited themselves, was the redcoats. That consisted of Charles Lee, Samuel Seabury, Aaron Burr, John Adams, and, you guessed it, James Reynolds. They had red paint. Angie invited Aaron because Aaron is an okay guy but he hangs out with jerks. "Alright, we'll spread out. Stay hidden and when the time is right, fire your weapon." Alex directed to the group earning a nod from all of us. I found a small spot in some large trees and I decided to stay there. The whistle blew. I watched people get our one by one. Alex was out first on our team, Aaron shot him in between his ribs on Weehawken Hill.

I watched everyone slowly get out. Alex, Eliza, Theo, Charles, Herc, Samuel, John, Laf, Adams, Aaron, Maria, Angie, and Peggy. They were all out and cheering from the benches. I watch Reynolds sneak behind Thomas and hit him in the back. I glare from where I am, I begin to walk down the hill from behind the trees where I was hiding. "Haha! I win!" Reynolds shouts smirking as people groan in annoyance and disgust. His teammates cheer for him. "Wait, wasn't there 5 people per team?" Maria asks the group confused. Everyone counts the people over. "What??" Reynolds shouts in shock. I stand behind him and shoot him in the back of the head. "I guess being forgotten has it's benefits." I say smirking at Reynolds. He just glares at me and grumbles to himself while stomping away. The girls and my team cheer. "Where were you??" Thomas asks me. I shrug, "Being small and short also has its benefits. I was behind the tree." I tell him while giggling. All of a sudden Thomas picks me up by my waist and spins me around. I squeal in surprise as he laughs and puts me down. My face goes red as I laugh at him and the rest of the gang comes up to us. "That was great!" Alex yells excited. I giggle again and return my paint gun to John, who had a smile plastered on his face. "Good job James." He says quietly and I smile at him. I haven't been this happy in a long time. "It's only 7 o'clock! What do you guys wanna do?" Herc asks looking at his watch. Everyone besides me shrugs. "I have something we can do!" I say running off after, the others yelling at me to slow down after I start running. I lead them to a nearby park, with a massive garden. I stop, catching my breath while smiling. "Woah..." Alex says out of breath and amazed. I smile and walk to the garden, Herc, Laf, John, and Alex all go off to the park and I go to the garden. I look at the roses, lilacs, daisies, lilies, and other flowers. "You really are a flower boy." I hear a voice from behind me say. I flinch at the sound and snap my head back, only to see Thomas there smiling. I playfully punch him in the arm as my face flushes, "You scared me!" I yell at him playfully. He chuckles and looks at the flowers. "They really are pretty though." He admires the flowers I was looking at. I sigh contently and nod at his statement. I sit in the taller grass next to some rose bushes, looking at the thorns and red roses. Thomas sits down next to me looking at a pink flower. After a few seconds, I feel something behind my ear. I look over at Thomas, who has his phone out taking a picture of me. I give him a confused look, he turns the picture to me. It's me, with the pink flower he was looking at behind my ear. I smile and giggle, feeling my cheeks heat up a little bit. Thomas puts his phone down smiling, and he holds out his hand to create the black silhouette. I look at the little silhouette on his hand, it went to the edge of his hand again, and sat there. Thomas frowns and sighs, seeming disappointed. I tilt my head and hold my finger out, in front of Thomas' hand. The black silhouette gets up and jumps onto my finger, Thomas smiles at this. I hold my hand out so it has more room to walk. It walks to the palm of my hand, and sits down on its knees. I tilt my head in confusion and look up at Thomas, he just shrugs. I watch for awhile, it just sits there. I was about to hand I back to Thomas but a white spark comes from my hand. I flinch at this and shake my hand out of instinct. I back away and my heart race increases. A tense silence fills the air, both mine and Thomas' eyes were wide. "What was that..?" Thomas asks quietly, almost fearing being too loud. "I-I d-don't know..." I admit, still shocked. We sit in silence, my eyes still wide, trying process what just happened.

"T-try it again." Thomas tells me, creating another black silhouette. I shakily hold out my hand, and let it walk on to my hand. It does the same thing, walks to the palm of my hand and sits on its knees, seemingly concentrated. A white light comes from my hand, circling around the black silhouette. My breaths come out heavy, as my tattoo starts to glow, but the glow wasn't flickering, like it usually does. Thomas stares at my hand. The light grows, reflecting off the darkening sky. The light dims down a bit and the black silhouette can be seen again. Next to it, forms a light silhouette... with long hair. I gasp and Thomas mouth gapes open. The black silhouette gets up and walks over to the white one, and holds its hand out to the white silhouette. They shake hands...

"Wh-What?" Thomas questions amazed and confused. A smile grows on my face.

I-... I have powers??!

"James! Are you okay? John said he saw something in the future and it—... woah.." Alex yells for us, then sees my hand. All of them gasp, and slowly walk over to me, as if they were too loud it would disappear. My smile grew, as I stared in amazement at what was happening. The white silhouette takes the black ones hand and shakes it. It looked as though they were introducing each other. John sits next to me, the Laf sits next to each him, then Thomas is next to him, then Herc, then Alex. The silhouettes talk to each other, at least that's what it looks like. "How did you activate it?" Alex whispers to me. "I don't know..."

"But what power is it..?" Laf asks, observing the silhouettes. Everyone looks towards John, who looks like he's concentrated thinking. I looks back toward the silhouettes. "I can't say." He tells us, leaving Alex with a confused look.

"For as long as I've known you, you would always tell us. What makes a difference now?" Alex asks him, wanting an answer from him.

"You think I tell you everything? Nope, not at all. If I say some things it can effect the future harshly. I had to take special classes for that one," He rolls his eyes, his face flushing for some reason. "You have to figure this one out on your own." He tells me, with a smile. The two silhouettes bow to each and the white one lays down on my hand and disappears. The black one walks back to Thomas' hand, and disappears.

"Mon ami, are you okay?" Laf asks me, I hadn't said anything. I felt frozen. John grins at me, wipes the blood from his nose, and plugs his ears. I squeal loudly.

"I have powers! And they worked! And I might be good at something!" I scream, making Alex roll his eyes and cover his ears. I see yellow paint like substance run down his face. Thomas and Herc laugh at me.

"Alright, Alright! Calm down James." Laf tells me and giggles.

"Calm down? Calm down??!" I say while jumping up. "I just found out I have powers!!" I scream at him. They all laugh at me once again at my excitement. Thomas gets up, "Alright flower boy, chill out." He says, making my cheeks flush. Everyone else gets up. "We should head back to the dorms, it's getting late." Alex tells us, looking at his watch. We all nod and head off to the dorms, a little skip in my step. "You guys go ahead, I need to talk to John." Alex tells us, wiping his face. Herc and Laf smirk at him, Thomas as well. I give them a confused look as we keep walking. "What was that about?" I ask them, while their smirking and chuckling. "Alex and John like each other but their so oblivious to it it's annoying." Thomas explains.

"I hope they get together! They're so perfect for each other!" Laf gushes, causing Herc to roll his eyes. "Says the person who has the biggest crush in the world..." Thomas mumbles under his breath. Laf gasps and I see his face darken,

"Tu as dit que tu ne parlerais plus de ça!" He yells at Thomas in French, making Thomas laugh.

"ç'est marrant de te taquiner mon frère!" He yells in between laughs. Herc rolls his eyes and has a look of confusion plastered on his face.

Laf lightly punches his brother in the arm.

"WellJamesandIaregoingtogoaheadbye!" Thomas says too quickly for my to process. Before I know it he's pulling my arm. We get ahead of the rest of the group.

"What was that about?" I ask him, fixing the pink flower behind my ear.