“Woah.” came a whisper as I sat down in my usual seat by the window. I didn't even know that kid. We had never spoken before.

I couldn't tell if I liked being this noticed, but I liked seeing this side of the students. I was used to being ignored and shunned, but now I was giving them something to look at. I was shoving my new self at their faces and forcing them to recognize it- recognize me. They couldn't ignore me now.

And when I thought this day couldn't get better, I saw a face I recognized.

“Luhan!”

He smiled at me before glaring at the poor kid sitting to my right. They fled their seat for a safer one and Luhan took it up.

“He's one of those kids.” I heard from somewhere behind me. I didn't understand what they meant and it didn't matter. I was just glad to have a friend in my class.

“I didn't think you'd transfer so early. Is Sehun coming?” I asked. Luhan rode the same bus as Sehun to school each morning. I was glad that he was transferring too. He was a lot smarter than I thought he'd be and was even in advanced classes for all his subjects. Asking the teachers to put him in a grade above what he already took had been a piece of cake.

“He's late, but he'll be here. Nice hair by the way, though I'm not sure if the other students like it.” he said looking around the room and meeting a lot of stares.

“That's their problem.” I shrugged.

He cracked into a grin. “That's the spirit.”

“Oh, my!” I looked up and saw that I had startled our teacher, a fragile-hearted older woman who had fought hard to keep that rule banning hair-dye.

This was fun. I wondered what she'd do if I came to school with piercings or a tattoo...

God, what was wrong with me? Why was I thinking like this? My mom would have a heart attack if she saw me with a tattoo.

“What are you doing in this classroom?” the teacher asked Sehun as he stepped in. “I don't have you until 3^rd period Mr. Oh.”

“I just switched class times. I'm supposed to be here.” he responded.

“Now, hold on.” She went through the many sticky notes pasted all over the edges of her computer and desk before finding the one she wanted and scrutinizing it with the reading glasses hanging at her neck. “Right, okay. Seems like you're right. I have two students transferring, not one. Go find a seat.”

He walked over to us and I quickly tapped the guy in front of me on the shoulder, jerking my thumb to indicate he should move. This student fought me a little bit, but giving him a good glare made him leave with nostrils flaring. I patted the back of the chair, hoping Sehun would sit. He just looked at me and copied the thumb-jerking motion.

Right. He wanted my seat. Brat.

I got up and took the spot that guy just moved out of and watched Sehun take mine. This could work too. I had to turn around to see Luhan and Sehun, but at least this way I could focus more on studying.

“Your hair is a chemical nightmare. You look like a radioactive blueberry.” Sehun whispered in my ears. His whispers carried more air than I liked, causing me to shudder at the cold breeze.

I raised an eyebrow at him before turning and smiling where he couldn't see. I turned towards my backpack on the floor, fishing out a pencil to take notes. A radioactive blueberry? That was new. It was a really bright turquoise though. I didn't think it would be this bright even looking at the box, but the color clung to my hair well.

“I like it.” he continued in his breathy whisper when I had straightened up again.

He- what? Liked it?

“It suits you.”

Ah, there was the insult I was looking for. Subtle work there, Oh Sehun.

Rubbing the feeling of the wind off the back of my neck, I settled back comfortably and poised my pencil upright on my notebook, waiting for the teacher to begin her lecture.

Ten minutes into my note-taking and a mysterious gust of wind knocked over a sleeping student with pink hair behind me and to my right. About five minutes after that, a strange force shoved another student sitting next to this pink-haired boy into the window on his left.

Class was never going to be the same again.

It was better. Much better.

I almost wished the bell would never ring.

And then I realized that the room had turned really quiet. Looking up, the whole class was frozen in place. Our teacher had open in explanation of the travels of the very first people of Africa and great migrations through the years. Students all around were stopped in their texting, side conversations, note-passing, and the odd two or three who actually listened were caught with ears perked and backs straight.

“Ugh,” grunted Sehun. “This is what I get for following you into your classes? More class time?”

I turned around in my seat to face him. “I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.”

He only rolled his eyes and looked at the snoring boy on his right. “And look, sleeping beauty is enjoying the extra time in dreamland.”

Getting a small, yet evil idea, I winked at him. “Seems a little unfair, don't you think?”

Sehun hummed in agreement and threw him from his desk again, blowing away a number of papers and small things like pens off of the surrounding desks.

“Ah... I can't sleep through class in peace?” Luhan whispered, picking himself up and stopping when he realized the situation in his sleep-haze.

“Not when I have to suffer being stuck in a frozen classroom.” answered Sehun.

“There was only five minutes left of class too.” I whined, collapsing into my arms on my desk in frustration.

“Let's just ditch.” suggested Luhan.

“What?” I snapped back up. “Won't they notice us suddenly disappearing?”

Sehun shrugged. “People are pretty stupid. They forget things like this easily. I once caused a small tornado to tear up an empty classroom and the whole school blamed it on some guy who left the window open.”

“You're kidding.”

“Actually no,” he chuckled. “They even found me in the room with the wind blowing everywhere and still couldn't believe what was right in front of their eyes.”

“So let's ditch already. It's boring being in a room full of statues.” said Luhan, already packing up.

“Alright.” I gave in.

***

During lunchtime, Luhan became extra interested in my hair. He kept wanting to mess with it and even tried his best to shape it into a mohawk. As long as I could fix it back to the way it was, I didn't mind. Kris was very shy about wanting to touch it though. It was interesting. He was very like the old me that I was trying so hard to throw away, only bigger in size and more awkward.

Getting frustrated with being unable to keep my hair up with only his hands, Luhan began using his power to gel it in place. It was difficult for him to keep so many strands staying up, but he was able to keep them there long enough to take a picture with his cellphone.

“Zitao, you need to teach me your secret with the lunch ladies soon!” whined Chanyeol as he walked into the gym. “She just gave me more vegetables again.”

“It's probably thanks to them that your so tall.” I commented, laughing at the new photo Luhan took as my hair fell back down.

“Get a school lunch tomorrow with me!” he begged, sitting in front of me so I could see his best puppy eyes. “Why do you only like Luhan?”

“He likes Sehun too.” said Luhan, shaping my hair a different way for another picture. "We even switched into some of his classes."

“That's not fair. I found him first.”

“I was there too.” Sehun reminded him. “But before you get any ideas, just because he can't resist me, doesn't mean I like him back.”

I scoffed. “Brat.”

“Chemical plant.”

“Narcissist.” I shot back.

“Hey, I am awesome. If you can't see it, you can kiss my-” his phone vibrated against the floor. He took a quick glance at the screen. “Incoming.” he sighed, rolling his eyes.

So Jongin was coming. But yet again, the shadows never appeared and Sehun's phone buzzed with a new message.

“He's still a bit drained; he was stopped short again. Looks like he's two blocks away by the art supply store.” Sehun snorted. “He's gonna have a hell of a time getting back to his own school, if he ever bothers to.”

I wasn't looking forward to seeing him. Jongin scared me. He was far too comfortable in his own skin and it was like he assumed everyone else was the same way. I didn't want him to question me again, not so soon after throwing away my old self, because how was I supposed to answer him? I still didn't further my “curiosity” and wasn't comfortable talking about it like the kind of person I was striving to be. I didn't want to be shy and alone anymore, but I just could not approach that kind of subject with another person.

Should I just leave before he gets here?

“Hey, where are you going?” asked Chanyeol as I stood up. “Lunch just started.”

“I'm not hungry. I want to go outside more before we start getting rain again. Luhan, go ahead and eat what you want and bring the box to me in class, okay?”

“If you see Yixing out there, can you tell him he forgot his phone at my house again?” Kris asked me.

“Sure," I agreed, dawdling in the direction of the door. "But should I tell him to come find you and get it?”

“Ah, actually I forgot to bring it with me,” he admitted, pulling at his sleeves. “I think his forgetfulness is rubbing off on me.”

“There are worse habits to pick up.” I shrugged, leaving the dark gym for the sunlight.

There are worse habits to pick up? Wow. I surprised myself with my own stupidity. I had literally no social skills.

I set off for the isolated, dead garden that was my comfort zone. Maybe I needed a new one though, because Yixing was here again.

“Are you practicing?” I asked coming to sit on the bench.

The boy was crouching over the dry dirt, just like last time. He nodded where he sat, focusing on a single daisy bud, slowly twisting it's way up and finally unfurling it's small petals. Yixing had beads of sweat on his forehead when he straightened up and joined me.

“I still can't do much. It just takes so much concentration.”

“At least you're improving.” I said, noting the three new daisies next to yesterday's two. “Oh, Kris said you left your phone at his house. You'll have to stop by or wait 'til tomorrow to get it though.”

He nodded and let out a tired sigh. “I'm always trying to study and learn more about how the body works and how to heal it as well as plants and how they grow. I keep forgetting things because of it. I want my power to grow quickly so I can do great things with it, but I don't think I'll ever be good enough to be of actual use.”

Nudging him, I directed his attention to the daisies. “You brought life into this mini-desert. Now every time I will come here to meditate, there will be something to remind me that good exists even in the most barren places. How is that not useful?"

Yixing chuckled. “That's rather poetic.”

“I may have had too many fortune cookies as a kid; they were my favorite.” I closed my eyes and brought up my legs. There was a small creak of wood as Yixing sat up from the bench. “I can meditate whether you are here or not." I told him, otherwise not moving. "You don't have to leave.” I didn't hear any steps or rustling leaves, so I assumed he was thinking if he should still go or not. “Go ahead and keep practicing.”

He sat down close by and I could hear his breathing as he concentrated again. Every once in a while there would be a soft exhalation of annoyance or frustration. It sounded difficult. Using his breathing as a tool to calm my own, I could eventually tune him out and the whole world with it. When I felt everything let go, I slowly brought the world back into focus again, but with a wider range than before. I was listening for the sound of birds far off in the tall trees and flies that buzzed in and out of my perception. There were laughing students and an irritated teacher scolding a poor soul somewhere far off. Amongst all the noise, I heard something soft that sounded like a quiet lilt of music. It tingled in the air in short pulses. What was this sound? I had never heard it before.

Keeping this music in my line of concentration was difficult. It's pulses were irregular and sometimes impossible to trace, but it was beautiful and made me feel safe even though I couldn't tell where it came from.

A crash and sudden displacement of air in front of me caused my eyelids to shock open.

“I found him.” said Jongin, talking into a phone, shadows still curling in his hair. “He's in some dead garden. No, the one with the bench.” he hung up and smirked up at me. “How's it going, Innocence? Who's this?”

“Jongin, this is Yixing. Yixing, Jongin.” I said, annoyed, but still going back to my meditation. I wanted to find that source of music.

“You work with plants?”

“And heal.”

“Neat. How much can you do?”

“Not a whole lot, only small cuts and bruises, a couple singular flowers...”

“Well, that's not very useful is it?”

What? How could he say that to Yixing, especially after I had just assured him he was useful? Yixing's power was the one I envied most of all. Nothing bad could come of it, only healing.

I couldn't stay here, I decided. Jongin had given my location away too. Soon, there could be a whole host of people crashing into my one happy place here in this school.

I faked an excuse of having to go to my locker and left Jongin and Yixing behind, but ended up running into Luhan on the way out.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I'm just going to my locker.”

Well, now I had to go to my locker.

Luhan followed me there, still asking why I had left so suddenly, swinging my lunchbox at his side.

“It was nothing. I just wanted to meditate is all-” I opened my locker and stopped as I saw what was inside.

I didn't put those there. God, that was disgusting! Who would do such a thing?

There a were dead crickets lining the bottom of my locker, covering my books in a lining of little brown legs. I jumped back as a single live one hopped out the door, nearly landing on me. Luhan stood right behind me, equally taken aback.

The sound of snickering reached my ears and it grew until the hallway all knew that Zitao's locker had been vandalized with dead crickets from the biology room.

There was a single note laying on top of them all, reading “Leave this school now while you can, FREAK”.

***

Author Note:

So yeah... Not a very good surprise, but his hair now is the same bright nearly turquoise-ish blue in this new growl era (even though now it isn't like that). I just really liked the idea of him trying to become someone else, and what better way to do that than to change your hair, right?