“I’m Emil, by the way,” he said as we walked out of Cane Hall.

He led me over to an alcove that had what looked like an oversized stove hood that you might find in a restaurant kitchen. He flicked a switch and the fan in the hood turned on. A picnic table was set up beneath the hood and he sat down, motioning for me to sit opposite him.

With a heavy sigh of relief, Emil removed his mask and set it aside. The skin around his face here the mask pressed against him was red and looked uncomfortable. He took a few moments to massage his face and then began eating.

“There used to be another poison breather here,” he said between bites, “but they got to go home a couple days ago. Before then, we had to take turns using this space since we weren’t immune to each other’s poisons.”

I paused in my eating. Something about the way he said that stood out to me as being unsettling.

“Why couldn’t you eat together?” I asked. “We are.”

“I know,” he grinned and blew a mouthful of hazy breath across the table at me.

The small cloud took me full in the face and I recoiled at once, breaking my bench and falling to the ground.

“What are you doing?” I cried, waiting for the poison to take effect.

“Hmm,” Emil said, peaking over the table at me. “Looks like you’re immune.”

He looked and sounded disappointed.

“What’s wrong with you?” I demanded as I got to my feet.

“They would have healed you,” he shrugged and returned to his lunch.

“Yeah, well, I still don’t think I’d enjoy gagging on poison while I waited for them to get here.”

“Calm down, you’re fine.”

I grabbed my lunch and was in the process of turning to leave when I saw Director March approaching with one of the healers. Emil looked up and saw them too and the slight grin on his face vanished.

“I’m afraid that’s your last chance spent and wasted,” Director March said.

“Oh darn,” Emil scoffed and not looking at Director March.

“Please put your mask back on and come with me,” Director March said.

“I’m eating.”

“I don’t care, Emil, you’ve lost the privilege of being able to finish it.”

Emil took a swig of his drink, swished it around in his mouth for a moment, and then sprayed it at Director March and the healer, striking them both. Each of them cried out as their skin began to bubble from the effects of the poison. Emil leapt over the table, flicking the fan off on his way, and landed right in front of them both. He took in a deep breath and was about to exhale all over them when I lashed out and smacked him on the side of the head. I tried not to hit him too hard but he still went tumbling and crashed into the wall.

Light flashed and both the healer and Director March were healed of their sores. A pair of guards approached soon after, both of them wearing respirators, and they bound Emil’s hands and feet after putting his mask back on. Once he was secure, Emil was healed and he jerked awake. He glared daggers at Director March and then me before he was carried away.

“Sorry about that,” Director March said, patting me on the shoulder. “He’s been using his powers against others here intentionally more frequently. I’d hoped he would have stopped after the last incident but obviously not. At least you were unaffected by his poison.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “What’s going to happen to him?”

“He’ll be prosecuted for assault with a deadly super power.”

“Are there prisons for supers?” I asked, having never heard of such a thing before.

“There are places where supers who misuse their powers are kept,” Director March replied.

I wondered where such a place might be and whether or not it could hold me. Then again, If they just put it in the middle of the ocean then I’d be stuck. Strength was useless if there was nowhere to go.

“What happens to supers who can’t control their powers?” I asked.

“We have yet to find a super that couldn’t return to regular life,” Director March replied, holding my gaze.

I nodded and looked back at the broken bench and then to the small pool of blood left behind by Emil.

“Sorry about the mess,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Director March waved casually. “You broke the bench because you were under attack. As for the rest of it, you were defending myself and Corrine. Personally I think you acted with admirable control, especially considering how briefly you’ve had your powers.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll leave you to finish your lunch,” Director March said. “I need to finish the paperwork for transferring Emil.”

With that she left. I looked down at my food tray and was disgusted to find it covered in Emil’s spit. No way I was going to eat that. I picked up the tray and carried it back inside where I dumped it into the trash, got a new tray, and rejoined the line for food.

“Weren’t you already through here?” one of the servers asked.

“My tray got spit on with poison spray.”

The server nodded and placed a fresh serving of lasagna on my tray.

“Better luck with this one,” they said with a smile.

This time, I found a seat by myself and hunkered down. Today was not a good day and I just wanted to eat and get back to my room. I saw Hector and the other strong supers gathered together but they were too boisterous for me today. Already they were heading out of the cafeteria, no doubt to go play some game or other before their next class.

As if on cue, a girl about my age sat down opposite me and flashed me a huge grin.

“Hi, you look like you could use a friend,” she beamed.

“I killed my class earlier today,” I stated in a flat monotone, “wrecked the Seymore building, and then one of my classmates tried to poison me a few minutes ago. But there’s healers and everyone’s fine now so I’m supposed to go on acting like everything’s fine. How are you?”

The girl sat there stunned for a moment, her smile slipping, but she recovered quickly.

“That is…a lot,” she admitted after a moment. “I’m Esmey, by the way.”

She held out her hand.

“I’m Misha,” I replied and gave her a limp hand to shake.

“Oh come on, you can do better than that,” Esmey said in response to the metaphorical limp fish I’d given her.

“I’d literally crush your hand into paste if I did.”

“Ah, you’re one of the strong ones, eh?”

I nodded, taking a bite of my food.

“I release pheromones that make people and animals go crazy and start attacking everything in sight.”

“You seem to have it under control,” I said, noting how I wasn’t going crazy.

“They’ve manufactured a neutralizing spray I use,” she held up a small perfume bottle and then tucked it back into her pocket. “Lasts a few hours and then I have to reapply.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I said.

“It’s not, now that there’s a solution. Before it was pretty lonely, having to live in a bubble, basically.”

“You going home soon?” I asked.

“Tomorrow,” she nodded

“Well, here’s to you,” I lifted my milk carton and toasted her.

“Thank you, I’m looking forward to seeing my family again, and my boyfriend. You have anyone back home you’re missing?”

“Just my dad,” I replied.

“What? No boyfriend?” she sounded shocked but I couldn’t tell if she was being serious or just teasing.

I just shook my head. I really wasn’t in the mood for company or conversation and the fact that Esmey was going home tomorrow wasn’t exactly helping my mood. In an effort to get out of there sooner rather than latter, I began eating faster.

“Slow down,” Esmey said. “You don’t want to choke.”

I ignored her and the silence between us grew. Normally I wouldn’t be this rude, and a part of me did want to engage, but I was too overwhelmed by everything else that had been going on to change my behavior. Esmey only lingered for a short while after that and then excused herself, wishing me luck with my powers. I nodded again and waved her good bye.

As soon as I was finished eating, I headed straight back to my dorm where I collapsed onto my bed and, even though it was the middle of the day, fell asleep.