School.
There were a lot of things contained within that single word.
I didn’t know about everyone else, but I actually liked school.
I hadn’t hated it in my previous life, and I certainly didn’t hate it now.
The subjects were easy, my classmates were generally friendly, and the bullies tended to stay away from me.
Naturally, my height and broad shoulders probably had something to do with that.
It was actually amusing to watch how much the other students’ attitudes toward me had changed.
Before, almost nobody noticed me.
I existed, sure, but I was about as memorable as a wall or a piece of furniture.
There were only a handful of people I actually spent time with, people like Chloe, Pete, and Greg.
It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either.
It was simply normal.
And, honestly, normal had been comfortable.
From the moment I’d first awakened in this body, I’d been painfully aware of how different I was from ordinary people.
More than anything, I’d wanted the opposite of attention.
I wanted to disappear into the crowd and become one of them, to experience that comfortable feeling of being ordinary, anonymous, and completely unremarkable.
Even after awakening on the bridge, that desire hadn’t changed as much as one might expect.
Yes, I’d become somewhat more self-centered, and I cared a little less about what other people thought of me.
I’d also gained a certain confidence that had straightened my perpetually hunched shoulders and made me hold my head a little higher.
But overall, I still preferred not to attract attention.
Having people constantly looking at you and whispering behind your back wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed.
Maybe someone born with a certain personality could enjoy that kind of attention, but I wasn’t one of those people.
Not in this life.
Not in my previous one either.
At least I understood one comforting fact: any rumor usually lived for about seventy-two days, and that was only if something newer and more interesting didn’t replace it first.
All I had to do was survive those seventy-two days without getting involved in something else that attracted public attention.
Apparently, I’d tempted fate by thinking that.
Right in the middle of the main hallway, I ran into Fordman.
He greeted me and then held out his hand.
Publicly.
I accepted it.
Well, as they say, apology accepted and peace restored.
It wasn’t exactly a world-shattering event, but it was still an event, which meant I had to start the clock over.
Two days erased.
Seventy-two days again.
Greg didn’t show up at school.
That was both predictable and meaningless.
What mattered was that Sullivan was there, along with Ross.
The two of them were practically overflowing with energy as they bombarded me with their reactions to my “heroic” rescue of Fordman and the morning scene in the hallway.
Apparently, I’d finally been promoted from the “shadows,” the social layer directly above the losers, into the ranks of the “cool kids.”
It was official.
I’d never dreamed of something like that.
Well, that was a lie.
Of course I’d dreamed of it.
Just like every other teenager, I’d imagined what it would be like to receive that kind of attention, and if I was being honest with myself, there was a certain amount of satisfaction in finally getting it.
I liked it.
My rational side understood that remaining invisible would have been much more convenient and considerably safer.
Unfortunately, reason wasn’t always strong enough to overcome emotion.
Besides, it was too late to change things now.
Trying to embarrass myself on purpose wouldn’t return me to the shadows.
If anything, it would only make me even more noticeable.
So there was nothing left to do except keep moving forward while taking the new circumstances into account.
I needed to be more careful, avoid stupid mistakes, and simply keep living my life.
As for studying…
I actually liked it.
To my surprise, my teachers were interesting, and their lessons were enjoyable enough that I genuinely wanted to listen.
And Lana was in most of my classes.
Quietly watching her was pleasant.
More than that, simply being in the same room with her was pleasant.
Even better, she sometimes glanced at me when she thought nobody was looking, and every time she did, her cheeks turned that wonderfully attractive shade of pink.
I had also started catching interested looks from other girls.
That was simply part of being popular, and there wasn’t much I could do about it.
The important thing was to be careful and not trample over anyone’s feelings.
Hurt, insulted, rejected women were dangerous.
Much more dangerous than men.
I shouldn’t forget that.
When classes ended, Nell came to pick Lana up again.
That was good.
I didn’t think Greg would risk attacking two people at once.
Somewhere inside him, there should still have been an instinctive fear of adults.
After all, he hadn’t been a monster for very long.
Even so, I kept an eye on them from a distance as they drove away.
With my speed, it wasn’t difficult.
I simply passed them, found a high vantage point, watched them for a while, then moved ahead and repeated the process.
But once Lana left the house and headed toward the stable alone, the situation changed.
That was dangerous.
I didn’t follow her directly.
Instead, I was already waiting for her at the stable.
There was nothing unusual about me being there.
I’d visited the stable plenty of times before.
Not constantly, but often enough to help take care of the horses.
Lana’s horse wasn’t the only one there.
While I waited, I occupied myself by hauling buckets of water from the well.
“Clark?”
Her voice came from behind me, carrying a hint of surprise.
There was something else in it too.
A little happiness.
“You’re here…”
“Yeah.”
I held up the bucket.
“I figured I’d stop by and work off some energy after school.”
I glanced toward her horse.
“Are you going riding today, or are you going to practice on the course?”
“Probably the course.”
She thought about it for a moment.
“I need to stay in shape.”
“I’ll watch, then, if you don’t mind.”
I smiled as simply and naturally as I could.
Her cheeks turned pink again.
“I don’t mind.”
She hesitated before opening her mouth.
“Clark, I…”
“Lana, I understand.”
I stopped her with a gentle gesture.
“I don’t want to rush you or pressure you.
Take as much time as you need.”
“I…”
“You like me, right?”
I smiled.
“Well, I like you too, Lana.
I’ve always liked you.”
I shrugged, trying to make it sound as casual as possible.
She opened her mouth again.
“Clark, I…”
I hesitated before finally asking, “Friendship?
We’re friends, right, Lana?”
“Clark!”
She suddenly shouted my name.
I didn’t understand what kind of cry it was at first.
It wasn’t anger.
It was a warning.
And I was too slow to realize it.
Something struck the back of my neck.
Hard.
Hard enough to knock me off my feet.
Greg.
That bastard had managed to sneak up on me while I was standing there talking to Lana.
I’d let my guard down.
Unacceptable.
Although, honestly, what else could I have expected?
I’d never been some kind of Rambo or special-forces operator in either of my lives.
Where exactly was I supposed to have developed constant battlefield awareness?
Lana screamed.
Actually, “screamed” was putting it mildly.
She shrieked so loudly that the horses inside the stalls panicked.
Unfortunately, there was nobody else around to hear her.
And Greg wasn’t finished.
He kept attacking me while I was on the ground.
He wasn’t using his fists this time.
He had a crowbar.
And he was swinging it with all the strength his mutated body could produce.
It didn’t exactly hurt, but I stopped moving anyway, pretending to be either dead or unconscious.
That wasn’t difficult since I’d landed face-first and hadn’t bothered turning over.
Greg struck me five more times before finally stopping.
“Hello, Lana.”
He smiled with satisfaction before driving the crowbar into the ground.
“Greg!
You killed him!”
Lana stopped screaming and immediately forced herself to regain control.
Strong nerves.
Very strong nerves.
“What does all this mean?”
She tried to keep her voice calm and authoritative despite her heart hammering wildly in her chest and adrenaline flooding her bloodstream.
“It means the time has come.”
Greg moved toward her.
“What time?”
“Our time.”
He smiled.
Then he opened his mouth and fired a strand of webbing.
It wrapped around Lana within seconds, forming a cocoon before she could scream again.
Greg threw the cocoon over his shoulder and ran toward the woods without looking back.
Now he couldn’t hide from me.
I’d seen him.
And I was faster.
This time, I was the one waiting for the right moment.
A confrontation between mutants and aliens was better handled far away from other people’s eyes and ears.
There was no reason to attract unnecessary attention.
Neither of us was exactly a public figure.
Although…
People.
That was funny.