The Talents of the Fallen - 7. Part Seven: Birthday Boy

Chapter Seven: Birthday Boy

“Balloons, check”

“Party hats, check”

“Piñata in the tree, check.”

“Candles, check”

“Chocolate cake with raspberry crème, check.”

“Sushi platter, check.”

“Birthday boy, check.”

Though Aaron had not been thrilled by the idea of inviting so many people Mary had taken a shotgun view of the situation. Send out enough invitation and at least a few would show up.

In the end only three people showed up. One was Shelly and her son Frankie who had Downs Syndrome. The third was Aaron’s teacher April Summers.

With the piñata unbroken and the cake mostly untouched Shelly and Frankie had left. April stayed to help Mary clean up. Seeing Mary was upset she placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Sorry about the party. I really thought more kids would show up.”

“Be honest… I’m trying too hard, eh?”

“Aaron is a very shy boy?”

“He saw his father kill himself.”

“So I understand. I know we’ve had this discussion before but I do think therapy would do him a world of good.”

Mary stiffened up. “I don’t think he’s ready.”

April wanted to pull out her hair and scream. Ever since Aaron had become one of her students she had butted heads with the stubborn woman. “When will he? He’s fifteen Mary… soon he will be all grownup. What will you do if he is still unable to cope with the real world? You can’t baby him forever.” April saw she wasn’t getting through so she played her trump card. “Look if you let Aaron get the help he needs I will do whatever I can to get him into a school for the gifted school.”

To be honest Mary had no idea how old Aaron was. When she signed him up for school she had put him down as being seven. “A school for the gifted?”

“Yes, it’s a joint project between the school and Northwestern University.”

“Do you think Aaron is gifted?” She had heard her grandson being referred to in the ugliest of terms. Positive comments were so rare that she needed to make sure she heard right.

“Do you doubt that he’s not?”

“No…” Mary knew Aaron was smart. After being raised with no schooling he had not just caught up with the regular kids and would be considered the brightest of the honors students if not for his emotional issues. As a freshman he was already going to be taking the school’s AP courses. If he just wasn’t so shy he could have been placed in regular classrooms with the other students.

“Look, I’m going to leave you the number to the head of the program. His name is Dr. Balthazar. I already told him about Aaron so he knows you might call.”

“Do you think therapy will do him some good?”

“It can’t hurt.” April went to where Aaron was sitting alone on the porch. “It was nice seeing you again.”

“Nice.” Whenever he could get away with it, Aaron limited himself to one word responses.

She ruffled his silver hair and left.

When Mary had gotten Aaron his first haircut the barber remark how the boy’s hair was turning gray. He had joked that the boy must have gotten the fright of his life but Mary wasn’t amused. As soon as they got home she had forced him to dye his hair. He had squirmed and cried while she shampooed and washed out the dye. He had refused to speak to her for a week afterwards. She never tired dying his hair again.

With his hair, pale skin, and tinted goggles it was no surprise that all the kids saw him as a freak. It pained Mary to admit it but if things didn’t change she would be forced to place Aaron in a place worse than boarding school.

After all she had given up to raise him, she wasn’t about to hand over the task to a bunch of strangers. Looking down at the card she knew what she had to do. She went back to the house to the kitchen. Lighting up the gas stove she placed the card near the flame and watched as it burned.

When the smoke set off the fire alarm he heard Aaron started screaming. She cursed to herself. One of Aaron’s other quirks was his fear of fire. Oh why didn’t I just throw it in the trash like a normal person?

After calming Aaron down she busied herself cleaning what was left of the party. Later, as the sun began to set, she found Aaron was still outside. He had his sketch pad out so Mary went over to see what he was drawing. To her relief it was the donkey piñata. This one she would hang on the fridge. The disturbing ones she kept in a locked box under her bed.

It had been eight years since she and Aaron had settled their roots in one the northern Chicago suburbs. Along the way she had cut and dyed her hair, changed her identity and bribed an immigration official for a work visa. After getting a job at an emergency clinic she was able to obtain permanent residence cards. “Ready for your first day of school as a big freshman.”

“Do I have to?” He didn’t look up from his sketching.

“Yes.”

“Ms. Summers?”

“She won’t be your teacher this year. She thinks you deserve an even better one. Once we meet with him I’ll take you to the natural history museum. You’ll always say how much you love science.” Now that Aaron was moving up to high school he would have a new set of teachers and another several hard months adjusting.

“Okay.” He turned his head and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Bed now.”

“Be sure to take a shower and wash under your eyes my birthday boy.”

The next morning she got Aaron up earlier than she usually did. With all the cruel bullying he had endured over the years she tried to get him to school before the rest of the students arrived. When it came time for her to pick Aaron up she would intentionally be late.

Five years ago Aaron’s school and set up a uniform policy. It made dressing him quite easy. Before the policy was enacted she had a doozy of a time trying to figure out what he was willing to wear. Having only three different style uniforms to choose from it made things so easy that he even wore them when school was out for the summer.

By 5:00 AM breakfast was ready and Aaron was at the table eating Quaker Oats Squares and an apple. He was dressed in a white shirt and maroon bow tie, navy blue blazer and pants. On the left pocket of the coat was the maroon outline of an owl the school’s mascot. To top it off he wore a cap. It reached to two inches above his ears and it too was maroon. Mary thought he looked adorable in it. Aaron never said if he liked it but nor did he complain. It was a cute uniform for a cute boy as far as she was concerned.

At 5:30 they left for school. They arrived thirty minutes later. The sun had already risen, but except for the teacher’s parking lot, the school looked empty.

As had been arranged, Aaron’s new homeroom teacher was waiting for them in the main hall. He was a man, appearing no older than 30, and the newest teacher. Mary thought he was quite handsome. As a bad habit she checked his left hand. There was what looked like a class ring but no wedding band. Too bad she was still married or her old cougar instincts might get the better of her.

He didn’t come alone. Standing next to him was a towering youth just as attractive if even more so. Looking at Aaron she saw he was blushing.

“Hello Dr. Harris, I’m Dr. Mays. This here is my grandson Aaron.”

“Dr. Mays. it’s finally nice to put a face to a name.” The teacher went over to Aaron. “It is nice to meet you too Aaron.” He offered his hand. Aaron looked at the hand as if it would bite him.

“Don’t be so rude Aaron. I’m sorry Dr. Harris.” Mary should not have been surprised by Aaron’s rudeness but it always did disturb her.

“Do not worry Dr. Mays. I haven’t done anything to earn his trust. But I will, you’ll see. Andrew how about you take Aaron to the classroom? Ms. Mays and I have some details to go over.”

“Yes sir. Come along…” Andrew went over to Aaron, wrapped an arm around his shoulders and led him down the hall.

Mary watched the two walk away with amazement. This Andrew fellow was the first boy that hadn’t caused Aaron to flinch when touched. This led to all sorts of questions. “Who is that boy?”

“Just a new student. He’ll be taking classes with Aaron.”

“Classes with him?”

“He is quite a bright boy. I thought you wanted you son to socialize more.”

“Well…” Mary had always had an itching feeling her grandson might be gay. Hal had never hid the fact he fancied boys and had suffered for it. She didn’t want Aaron to go through the same. What she had seen of Andrew had not shown the slightest sign he might swing that way. If anything he exuded the charisma of an all American jock… just the sort who bullied her son.

“Your grandson is in good hands. Now if you follow me I’ll take you to my office so we can discuss how things will work this year”

Following him Mary began to wonder if the good teacher swung the same way.

Aaron sat across Andrew and did his best not to stare. Still he could not help but take furtive glances in his direction. Each time he did look he saw Jon looking back at him wearing a mysterious smile. “So tell me Aaron. What do you like to do for fun?”

“Draw.”

“Really… well I like sports… love footballs, soccer, wrestling, and even gymnastics. You will have to show me some of your pictures one day.”

Aaron reached into his backpack and took out his drawing pad. He nervously handed it over to Andrew. He prayed he wouldn’t be disappointed by them. Aaron didn’t think he could survive the other boy not liking him.

“Wow… you did these?”

“Uhm… yes.”

Andrew turned the pad around to show Aaron one of the one’s he had been looking at. “Well I’m impressed.” It was a picture of the street Aaron lived one. Though it was only done in pencil it showed every detail down to the shape of the maple leaves. Andrew went through a few more. “You think I can keep one?”

“Uhmmm.” Aaron didn’t mind giving one away. He just wanted it to be one of his better ones.

Andrew tore one out but didn’t show Aaron which one he took. He then handed the pad back to Aaron. “Thanks… I’ll cherish it forever.” He let the tips of his fingers brush against the top of Aaron’s left hand. The slight touch sent Aaron’s pulse racing.

“Look, I have a gymnastics competition next week. It would be great if you were there to cheer me on.”

“I’ve… I’ve never been.”

“Really? You guys won the regional championship last year and you didn’t go to any of the games?”

“Uhmmm, no.” Aaron felt like he had just disappointed the entire world.

“You will be coming to them this year to at least the football games. I plan on competing for the quarterback position and I’m quite certain I’ll get it.”

“Good?”

Andrew leaned over and let their foreheads touched. “The best babe.”

Aaron couldn’t believe it. He, one of the most hated people in school, was being called babe by a student who could easily break him in two.

“Come… there’s something I want to show you.” He offered a hand and without hesitation Aaron took it. He led him to the back of the classroom to a windowless revolving door. “I’ll go first then you follow. Aaron did as he was asked and found himself in a darkroom lit up by dim red lights. “This was the photo lab but they stopped using it when digital cameras became cheap. I brought you here so you could take off your glasses.”

“Safe?”

“It’s about as safe as you’re ever going to get.”

Aaron slowly removed his goggles and saw that the red light didn’t hurt him.

“Wow you have prettiest eyes. They’re like a pair of silver mirror that show the depths of a man’s soul. Care to see mine.”

“See?”

“Not without my contacts.” He pinched each out and put them back into their case. He then gave Aaron a good look at them. “See, mine aren’t all that different from yours.” His eyes shimmered in the red light.

“Me? You?” He pointed at himself then Andrew.

“Maybe… We haven’t figured that part out yet.” Reaching out with his kinetic Talent he brought Aaron goggles from the table to his hands.

Aaron didn’t know what was going on and it scared him. He backed away from him until his back was against a wall of cabinets.

“You have nothing to be scared of. You’re just new to this is all.” Using his telekinetic Talent he placed the goggles in his own hands.

Aaron put his hands over his ears. “Stop! Go away!” He curled into a tight ball and started to cry.

That’s how Dr. Harris found him. When Andrew hadn’t been able to calm Aaron, he had gone to fetch him. “What did you do? Didn’t I tell you not to do anything that might upset him?”

“Yes but… I didn’t think a little use of Talent would cause him to freak out.”

“That is the whole reason why we’re here. People like him are not supposed to exist in the outside world. We don’t even know his bloodline. Without a heraldic record there is no telling what his Talent might be. Did it ever occur to you he might be a supersensitive.”

“Sorry I let things get out of hand sir. I’ve just never been around someone like him.”

“That is exactly why we must be extra careful. Now where are his glasses?”

“Here they are sir.” Andrew handed them over.

“Good. I suggest you leave while I clean up this mess.”

“Where would you like me to go?”

“To class of course. By the end of the six weeks I want you to have figured out if there are any others like Aaron in the school.”

“If you say so.” Andrew couldn’t hide his disappointment. He hadn’t meant any harm.

“I do say so.”

Andrew grudgingly left Aaron alone with the teacher. Theodor Harris sat on the floor next to Aaron and waited for his sobbing to die down. “Sorry about that Mr. Mays. Andrew can be a little too overconfident than for his own good. Just be glad it wasn’t Jon or he wouldn’t have waited to pounce. Teenagers and their crazy hormones.”