Alex's eyes slowly open. He's breathing heavily, his vision blurry, and his body weak. A faint voice calls out to him.
"Alex, Alex, are you okay?" his mom, Trisha, asks, her voice laced with worry.
Alex's eyes slowly focus on his mom's tear-stained face. "What...what happened?" Trisha asks, her voice cracking.
Alex takes a deep breath, trying to recall the events that led him to the hospital.
*2 hours earlier*
Alex and his friends Trevor and Nisha are sitting in the cafeteria. Trevor excitedly shows them his new drawing. "I spent four hours on this!" he says, beaming with pride.
Alex remembers he needs to return their math teacher's note. "Oh, I forgot to give Mr. Daniel his note," he says, getting up from the table, he hurriedly stepped out of the school cafeteria.
As Alex steps out of the cafeteria, Derrick, a senior and football team member popularly known as the school bully, approaches their table with his friends. "Hey, look who's here," Derrick sneers, throwing his ball at the back of Trevor's head.
Trevor frowns, trying to ignore Derrick. But Derrick continues to taunt him. "Hey, Shitface, your head was in the way of my ball," he says, slamming his hand on the table.
Trevor turns away, but Derrick gets angrier. "Are you ignoring me?" he asks, his voice dripping with malice.
Nisha tries to intervene, but Derrick ignores her. He takes Trevor's spaghetti and pours it on his head and drawing. Trevor shouts in dismay as his precious drawing got destroyed by spaghetti sauce.
Alex returns to the cafeteria, unaware of the situation. "What's going on?" he asks, confusion etched on his face.
Derrick turns to Alex, mocking him. "Oh, if it isn't the freak with the 'powers,'" he says, his friends laughing.
Alex tries to stay calm. "Leave us alone, Derrick. We don't want trouble."
But Derrick pushes Alex down. "Stay down, freak," he sneers.
A strange sensation took over Alex body, his eyes start glowing with a light blue color. His fists clench, anger written on his face. Derrick takes a step back, fear flickering in his eyes.
"Oh, I'm so scared. Your eyes are glowing. What are you going to do? Stare me to death?" Derrick mocks, trying to hide his fear.
Alex's anger boils over. The building starts shaking heavily. Derrick stumbles back, terrified.
"Stop what you're doing, freak! Stop this!" Derrick shouts.
But Alex can't control himself. Derrick moves closer, about to punch him. Alex shouts, "Leave us alone!"
Blue waves burst from Alex's body, pushing everyone and everything away. Derrick crashes into a table, landing hard.
As Alex's eyes return to normal, he looks around, taking in the destruction. Students stare at him, some injured, school properties damaged. Alex felt weak, his sight was going dim, the last thing he remembers before closing his eyes was Nisha and Trevor running towards him concerningly, he could hear their voices faintly shouting his name, Alex, Alex...
While narrating what happened to his mother, Alex's dad walks into the hospital room. "Hey, bud, how you doing? Heard what happened," he says, concern etched on his face.
Alex's mom explains what happened, her voice shaking. Alex's dad listens intently.
After a short while, Alex's parents take him home. As they drive, Alex replays the events in his head.
None of his parents brought up the incident that occurred in school on their way home.
As they arrive home, Alex goes straight to his room, exhausted. He hears his parents discussing something in the living room.
"We'll have to contact Professor Starkov," his dad says. "We can't keep pretending like we can help him."
Alex's eyes grow heavy, the conversation lingering in his mind, and he drifted off to sleep.