"Bro, you aren't a mind reader right? You said you didn't know what your power did." Art was much more surprised than anyone should have been by Asher's guess.
Art soon recovered his shock and tossed the idea that Asher could read minds to the side. "The metal I can control can be liquid at a higher temperature. But it's low enough that if I get a good gear I can carry around molten lead to use against super tough villains or to temporarily fix structures," For someone who seemed like they lacked brain cells the idea was not too bad.
"Wait, so does that mean you have figured out how to manipulate it? That's awesome, show me what you can do!" Asher was desperate to see how the power would work. He had never seen someone bending metal to their will in this world of his previous. It was a rare super power that was often shared in a family.
"Well...All I can do is this." Art pulled a handful of lead pencils from the bag in his hands and looked at them as if in a staring contest. The points on the pencils slowly started to look more and more dull.
Crack
The soft crack sound was barely audible but it was easier to see. The tips of one of the pencils fell off and on to the floor. "Ha! Yes that was faster than last time! Now all I need to do is break them all at once!" Art proudly displayed this power but at the end of the day all he had done was break the tip of a pencil.
"I hate to rain on your parade, but wasn't that what you said you could do yesterday?" "
'Why is he so excited?' Asher spoke but also wondered just why.
"Well...yea but now I know that I should be able to use it in different forms. My brother can only move solid metals. He can bend it but as soon as it starts to melt he can't move it anymore." This made more sense to why he was so happy.
"So when you get home you get to one up you big brother huh? I wonder if I will be able to beat my older sister…" Asher was trying to imagine a situation in which he would ever beat a super power like his sisters. She could manipulate the sounds she made which was really hard to beat.
In his memories of this world Asher could vaguely remember that when Cara had gotten her powers she had nearly caused the entire family to go deaf. Their mother was the worst off with her super hearing, she needed to wear ear plugs around the house for months.
"Your sister? What powers does she have? What class?" Art had not known that Asher had a sister.
"Senior class two, she has the super power to control the sounds she makes. Pretty much she is loud." Ashe laughed it off with a joke.
"Your sister is Cara the deafening!? She literally makes everyone she fights deaf for weeks after the fight. She is favored to take one of the top five spots in the senior combat tournament! My brother even said if he fought against her when he was in school then he would have lost. I guess sound travels through metal weird."
"Is she really known like that?" Asher was equally in the dark when it came to his sister's nickname and reputation. "I guess I never really asked around about her at school…"
"Found you! I was wondering If you had both had left me waiting here and gone home!" Jane was waiting by the school's entrance.
"What did you do to your hands!?" Asher was looking at the ten or so bandages wrapped around Jane's fingers.
"Well it's kind of hard you use a needle...But I can use the electric sewing machine just fine!" Jane started soft but spoke up just as she spoke on the electric sewing machine. "I learned about how to design and chart out what I want to make but it will take a lot more than I expected. The teacher gave us a needle and thread to practice. She said if we can't use it safely then there was no point in making something ourselves." She was not deterred by her rough start at all and instead was looking forward to the future lessons she would learn when it came to sewing.
With Jane joining them Art and Asher both looked at her humming as they left school. They both could not understand how someone was so happy when they had just pricked themselves so many times in the last hour.
"Art, don't you need to head that way?" Asher realized that Art was sticking with them and not heading the same way home he had the day before.
"Ahh well I figure taking the long way around is a nice change." Art looked unsettled but Asher decided not to push him. "Hey Jane, did you know that Asher's sister is the deafen-er Cara?"
"Really? She is? You have a sister that is one of the best in her class. So that's why you want to be a hero, so you can keep up your rivalry with your sister. Having a sibling must be so much fun." Jane was an only child and had never thought she would have a sibling in her life.
"Pssh you don't know anything, having a brother is the worst sometimes." Art spoke before he even thought. Upon realizing what he had said he picked up his pace getting ahead of the other two.
"Well, a sibling may not always be the best...they can be cruel and spiteful…" Asher instantly remembered his sister before the world he was in had changed. Those memories would still come to him first. The new ones were still foggy and they were not nearly as strong.
"Oh, I guess it is something only you guys would know since I don't have one. Maybe I should head back home faster." Jane grew soft, she was a bit put out with the two responses she had received.
"Sorry, sometimes siblings can fight, but some of us…" Art stopped and wrapped his arm over Asher's shoulders, "Have cool siblings that stand at the top of their classes. They will also want to meet their younger brother's friends so it would make sense that we go there for dinner. Right Jane?" This worked like a charm to cheer up Jane.
"That sounds exactly like what a role model in the school would want." Asher was pressured by the two of them. Their joyful smiles showing no room for negotiation.
"I don't even know when she will get home." He grumbled defeated.
"Jane, did you hear what I heard?"
"Art, I did hear. He said he would love to have us at dinner!"
Jane took the lead showing them the way to Asher's house since she had stopped there on the way to school in the morning. They were a short walk from Asher's house and before they knew it they had made it to the front door.
"Mom!? I'm home!" Asher yelled secretly hoping that there was no one home at all. But he was not that lucky.
""You brought friends home? Are you two staying for dinner?" She was visibly excited that her son had finally brought home friends for the first time in his life.
'I still can't find a memory with friends. I guess the me from this world had been a loner too. Just without the bullies…' Asher would have stayed in this train of thought but Art and Jane had started to make their introduction.
"I am Art Mathews, I can control lead and I'm Asher's desk neighbor."
"I am Jane Fields, I'm still learning about my powers. I'm going to be a hero with Asher and Art!" She had much more energy than Art. Jane had lost all hope of being able to visit a friends house after she had gotten her powers. Now she was not only doing this but was being welcomed in with a smile.
"Well how polite, you two can head on up to Asher's room with him and study or work on homework. When everyone is home we will eat, I am making spaghetti tonight so be ready to eat!" She went off to the kitchen where the smell of homemade tomato sauce was already on the rise.
"Ugh I forgot about home work, I have so much from my last class. Chemistry might be the end of all my free time." Art dramatically raised his arms pretending to curse the heavens.
"I have a lot too, I need to get started on that essay for Mr. Richards so I don't get behind." Jane was already planning ahead. Her motto was work hard now so she could relax later.
"I got assigned home work by my classmate...It was really weird."
"Bro, you win. I've never heard of the classmates assigning the home work." Art rested a hand on Asher's shoulder consoling him.