Thomas debated with the system until he fell asleep. He slept until he heard a bell ring. He thought it couldn't be Monica. She's a key. Parents? Doubtful. He lazily got out of bed.
"Come on, stop pushing the damn doorbell!"
He went to the door and asked.
"Who's it?" he didn't answer it, not wanting to deal with a salesman or anything. It could be a family friend. In that case, he'd rather deal with a crazy salesperson.
"It's... um... it's me... Clara." he heard a girl's voice. "Thomas, can you please open the doors so we can talk?"
The who? Clara? Who's Clara? Oh, I see. It's that bitch.
"Did your friends ask you to come?" Thomas started laughing. "From what I remember, I left Mark and Jake so traumatized that I doubt they'll ever visit me again themselves. Haha, did they ask you to come and beg my forgiveness?"
'Has he gone insane? Mark? Jake? What about them? They're both top iron mages with C-level talent. You can't hold a candle to them. If they wanted to, they could kick your ass again. If it weren't for my parents, I wouldn't have come here anyway. I couldn't believe that these guys' stupid pranks would drive him to suicide...'
"How are your injuries, do you feel good?" asked Clara.
Thomas opened the doors because he wanted to tell her to fuck off to her face.
"What... What's that all about? Are you into cosplay or something?" Clara was shocked to see his cat ears. "Those ears, what happened to you?"
When she asked about those ears, they twitched. "You mutated? How is that possible?!"
Usually, people lose their chance to awaken after their thirteenth birthday when they mutate or get magical energies. There were only a few cases where someone awakened later. But history could count those on the fingers of one hand.
"Is that all you wanted? As you can see. I'm PERFECT. Go." Thomas frowned as he looked at her.
Wait a minute. Thomas mentioned traumatizing Clara's friends. Oh no. Did he hit her? I need to call Sandra as soon as possible!
"Thomas... What did you mean about traumatizing Mark and Jake?" she asked.
"From what I heard, I sent them to the hospital," Thomas began with a grin. "Don't worry about it. It's not a life-threatening situation. I think?"
"Anyway. My parents asked me to invite you to my birthday party today. Can you come? Can we pretend we're still friends?" she asked, playing with her hair.
"Are you..." Thomas muttered twice, "Are you...."
"Am I? Am I what?"
"Are you out of your mind?" Thomas' red eyes glowed with anger. Even though he liked her parents, he hated her. How dare she come here and pretend they were friends. Her friends almost killed him, and her friends drove him to suicide! He was furious. His black aura began to spread around his body, and it was so thick that Clara's breath caught.
"Thomas... I can't breathe...." Thomas's dark magic's energy turned into a haze, polluting the air around him. Realizing this, he pulled all the power back into his own body.
"Don't make me repeat myself. Get the hell out of my sight," Thomas glared at her. His glowing eyes were terrifying.
She left. After walking a few blocks, she called Sandra.
"Hey, what's up. Where's Jake and Mark?"
When Sandra heard the question, she was startled. Was Thomas asking for her? Was he trying to get even? Oh, my God! I stopped those two idiots from harassing him. I never wanted any of this.
Sandra almost burst into tears, then asked.
"Did Thomas... asked for me by any chance? " Sandra was terrified. She knew Thomas had become a monster, like an awakener. If he wanted to bully her now, there was nothing she could do about it. Sandra almost burst into tears.
"Why do you sound so funny? Did something happen?" asked Clara. But she already had a suspicion. Thomas had done something to her friends.
"Thomas took them both to the hospital. When Thomas mutated, his energy exploded and hurt them both. Mark still hadn't woken up, and Jake could only get him to the hospital on adrenaline. My uncle works at the MMLO, and from what he told me? Thomas is an S-rank awakener.
"You've got to be kidding me! How can that be?" now she remembered the shy little Thomas who always clung to her. A little crybaby. Are you telling me he's an "S" level awakener? No wonder Thomas's personality changed so much. His suicide attempt awakened him. Late awakening wasn't ordinary but not unheard of because sometimes people are awakened after thirteen when they're in danger.
"I'm not. Besides, Thomas can still use magic. The word hasn't gotten out about that yet. But he's the first case where a high-level mutation can use magic. And not only that, high-level magic." Sandra babbled out everything her uncle told her. The man was so shocked that he called all his friends and relatives and spread the news. That's one of the advantages of being in the MMLO: they hear all the information about magicians and mutations first.
"Oh my God." Sandra was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to say. Thomas will probably become a celebrity as long as he wants to be. She'd solve another problem. How should Clara tell her parents what happened? Maybe she could pretend that Thomas had gotten too arrogant and pushed her away? She thought that could work. As long as her parents and Thomas don't meet, neither will they know anything.
"Anyway, Clara... Could you please talk to Thomas so he doesn't bully me? You know I've always defended him. And I've always avoided the places where Jake and Mark could meet him." Sandra was on the verge of tears. She knew Thomas wouldn't believe her. It was her friend who always beat him.
"Yeah, okay. Anyway, I've to go now. I'll call you later," Clara was annoyed by Sandra's last sentence. She hung up the phone.
'So what if she defended him? I was his first friend.'
Slowly, she walked home and was feeling perplexed. She knows what she did was terrible. But in her eyes, Thomas was just as much to blame as her. He was the one who became cold to her. Whenever she tried to invite him or go outside, Thomas always found some stupid excuse not to come. And whenever he came with her. Thomas was so cold that she felt like she was alone. He wasn't the same boy she'd fallen for in their childhood. She wanted her old friend back.
'What's wrong with you, Thomas.'
She knew Thomas may have been shy, but he smiled, cried, and always showed his feelings.
But shortly after his thirteenth birthday, he changed and became numb. He'd never been happy, sad, or angry, no matter what Clara did. She tried everything, but it was all in vain. So she decided not to try any further. Thomas probably wanted to be alone, and he didn't want her around. That's why he was so cold to her. She was lonely, so she soon found new friends. Sandra, Jake, and Mark. Shortly after the argument with Sandra, Mark found out from Sandra's father that Thomas'd ratted her out and even sent Clara's mother a video of Sandra and Clara arguing. Sandra tried to hide the fact, but Mark with Jake started bullying him anyway. When they mocked him, Sandra and Clara wanted to stop them, but Clara finally saw Thomas sad again. He showed his feelings! So she decided. If Thomas wasn't going to show her any emotions, let her see him angry or sad because Jake and Mark were bullying him!
After a while, Clara was near her house. She had mixed feelings about what had happened. Clara was happy that Thomas had woken up, but Clara was also sad because they could not celebrate it together. She leaned against the wall and started to cry. Why did Thomas have to change so much? Why did he reject her? Was she such a bad friend that he could not rely on after his failed awakening? All Clara wanted was for him to show emotion again. When Thomas woke up in the hospital, he was full of emotions. For the past five years, all she had wanted to see him do was smile. And when he woke up, he was smiling! He smiled! But then he got angry at her. And what's worse, she could not blame him.
She sobbed as she had never done before. At the same time, her father went to his car. And then he saw his sweet daughter shedding tears. He was afraid that something might happen. Had that Sandra girl been bullying her again? He ran to her.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Mark Miller hugged his daughter. She hugged him back.
"I... *sob* I am... *sob* *sob*... fine." She could not even speak properly anymore. She had held back her emotions for five years, and now Clara had lost all those pent-up feelings.
"Did someone bully you?" asked Mark Miller.
Finally calming down, she sat down and just stared at the floor. She did not want anything more. She just wanted to be left alone. Birthday? What a joke. Has Thomas ever felt like this before? She was getting depressed.
"It's all right, Dad. I am fine now," she said, staring at the same spot. Her father knew something must have happened. And he did not know what to do. If his daughter did not want to tell him, he could not make her. Her mother was still at work. He helped her get up and took her into the house. She went to her room, and her father made her tea. He brought it to her room and put it on the table. She lay in bed and pressed herself against a pillow.
"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Mark to her. He sat down beside her bed and gently patted her head. Then he heard her start to cry again.
"Dad... I do not know what to do," she began to cry again. Then she buried her face in her pillow again.
"What happened, sweetheart? I am here for you. I'll help you where I can," he assured her.
Finally, she had enough strength to sit up. She wiped away her tears and just stared at the old photo of her and Thomas. This photo was about seven years old. They were still kids and playing near the lake. Thomas' father was the one who had taken this photo. In the photo, Thomas was smiling and, together with Clara, holding hands.
'If only we could go back in time.'
"Did... Did something happen to Thomas? Did he do something to you?" her father became suspicious when he saw her staring at the picture.
"No, father. It was I who wronged him. It was me who did not deserve to have friends. It was I who left him, and it was I who betrayed him and allowed my friends to bully him. ", She began to tremble while trying to hold back her tears. "And because of me and my friends, Thomas became suicidal and spent weeks in a mental hospital."
Mark Miller had run out of words. What had she said? What had she said? Was Thomas in the hospital? Why had his parents never told him? And all because of Clara and her friends? He was getting angry. But he held back and told her calmly.
"From now on. I do not want to see Jake or Mark or Sandra ever again. Do I make myself clear?" he was angry, but he did not raise his voice. Clara looked sad enough already." These kids are a terrible influence on you."
"It was *sob* Sandra... Who always defended Thomas," she said.
"And why did not you?" he seemed calm. But at that moment, his blood boiled. How could his sweet daughter do such a thing to Thomas? Even that thug Sandra defended him, and Clara did not. Mark was speechless. He went out of her room and called her mother.
"Forget the birthday party," he told his wife. "She's grounded.