Oliver stood outside Campbell Junior High.The playground was as noisy as ever,filled with kids running,shouting,and throwing balls like grenades.
Oliver felt a knot of anguish in his stomach.It wasn't that he was scared of the kids--or of crossing the playground filled with flying basketballs--it was because he would soon be seeing Ms.Belfry again.
As far as his favorite teacher was concerned,he'd been sitting in her class just yesterday.But for Oliver,it felt like a lifetime ago.He'd been on a whole,tumultuous adventure back in time.It had changed him,matured him.He wondered if she'd notice the changes in him when they came face to face.
He crossed the playground,ducking beneath the flying balls,then headed straight up the corridor to Ms.Belfry's science class.It was empty,with no one inside.He'd hoped Ms.Belfry would be there early so he could talk to her.But soon,his classmates started to file in.There was no sign of Ms.Belfry yet,so Oliver had no choice but to take a seat.He went for one at the front beside the window.
Oliver looked out at the playing fields,at all the kids playing different sports.He marveled at how odd it felt to pretend to be a normal student again,to be around normal people rather than seers with extraordinary powers.
More kids entered the classroom.Amongst them was Samantha,the girl who'd mocked Oliver every time he'd answered one of Ms.Belfry's questions.She took a seat at the back of the class.Then Paul came in.He was the one who'd thrown screwed up paper at the back of Oliver's head.
Seeing the kids that teased him again made Oliver feel uncomfortable.But the memories of them bullying him were already fading,the sting of their words holding much less power over him.Thanks to the School for Seers and the friends he'd made there,Oliver felt like those old wounds had healed.He'd moved on.His bullies could no longer hurt him.
The class filled up and everyone laughed and chatted loudly until the moment Ms.Belfry hurried through the door.She looked flustered.
"Sorry,I was running late."She dumped her teaching materials onto the table.Amongst them was a shiny red apple."Today we're discussing forces."She picked up the apple and dropped it to the floor."Who can guess what we're learning about today?"
Oliver immediately put his hand up.Ms.Belfry nodded at him.
"Gravity,"he said.
Right away,Oliver heard Samantha's mimicking voice coming from behind him.It was swiftly followed by the smattering of laughter from her friends.
Oliver decided it was time to get some revenge.Nothing too mean,just a little bit of payback for her actions.
He glanced behind,making direct eye contact with her,then used his powers to waft a jet of dust straight up her nose.
Immediately,Samantha sneezed.A huge booger exploded from her nose.All the kids around her burst out laughing and pointing.
Ms.Belfry shoved a tissue in Samantha's direction.Samantha quickly cleaned up her mess.Her cheeks had gone bright red.
Oliver smiled at her then turned back to face the front.
Ms.Belfry clapped her hands to get everyone's attention."Gravity.The force that keeps our feet on the ground.The force that makes all things fall toward the earth.Tell me,Oliver,how did you know that we were discussing gravity today?"
Oliver spoke in a strong,confident voice."Because Sir Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity when he saw an apple fall.Not on his head,mind you.That's a common mistake."
Just then,Oliver felt something hit him in the head.A pencil clattered to the floor beside him.He didn't even need to look behind him to know the missile had come from Paul.
Try throwing pencils with no hands,Oliver thought.
He turned around and locked eyes with Paul.Then he used his powers to stick Paul's hands to the desk.
Paul immediately looked down at his hands.He tried to move them.They were stuck fast.
"What's going on?"he yelled.
Everyone turned around and saw Paul's hands stuck to the table.They began to laugh,clearly thinking he was joking around.But Oliver knew the look of panic in Paul's eyes was real.
Ms.Belfry looked unimpressed."Paul.Gluing your hands to the desk isn't the most sensible idea you've ever had."
The class descended into raucous laughter.
"I didn't,Ms.Belfry!"Paul cried."Something weird is happening to me!"
Just then,Samantha let out another huge sneeze.
Smiling to himself,Oliver turned back to the front of the class.
Ms.Belfry clapped her hands."Everyone pay attention.Sir Isaac Newton was an English mathematician and physicist.Does anyone know when he founded the law of gravity?"
Oliver's hand went confidently into the air again.It was the only one.Ms.Belfry looked at him and nodded.She looked pleased that he was no longer reticent to raise his hand.Before,she'd had to coax the answers out of him.
"Yes,Oliver?"
"1687."
She beamed."That's correct."
Just then Oliver heard Paul mock him again.Clearly sticking his hands to the table wasn't enough to stop him.Oliver needed to close his mouth too.
He turned and narrowed his eyes at Paul.In his mind,he visualized a zip closing Paul's lips.Then he pushed out the image.And just like that,Paul's mouth zipped closed.
Paul started to make a muffled,panicked noise.Students turned around and started to squeal at the strange sight.Ms.Belfry looked alarmed.
Immediately,Oliver knew he'd gone too far.He quickly reversed what he'd done to Paul,freeing his mouth and hands.But it was too late.Paul glared at him and raised a finger.
"You! You're a freak! You made that happen!"
As the children began to hurl insults at Oliver,he looked to Ms.Belfry.There was a strange look of confusion behind her eyes,as if she were asking a silent question.
As a chorus of"Freak!"rang out behind him,Ms.Belfry clapped her hands.
"Everyone quiet down! Quiet down!"
But Oliver's classmates were in a frenzy.They were all crowding around Oliver,pointing and shouting,calling him names.He felt hounded,belittled.It was awful.
He wanted them away from him.He closed his eyes and pushed out with his powers.Suddenly,everything went silent.
Oliver opened his eyes again and saw kids grabbing their throats and mouths.They were still shouting at him but there was no noise coming out.It was as if Oliver had simply turned off their voice-boxes.
People started to stagger back from him,toward the door.Soon,they were running out of the room.But Oliver wasn't done.They needed to learn not to bully people,not to call people names or point in their faces.They needed to really learn their lesson.
So as they hurried into the corridor,Oliver conjured a storm cloud.It rained down on the kids as they went,soaking them as thoroughly as the sprinkler system.
The final child ran out of the room.Then it was just Oliver and Ms.Belfry.
He looked at her and gulped.There was no doubt now.Oliver had revealed his powers to her.
Ms.Belfry ran to the door and closed it firmly.She turned to look at Oliver.There was a deep furrow between her eyebrows."Who are you?"
Oliver felt a tightness in his chest.What would Ms.Belfry think of him? If she was scared or thought him a freak like his classmates,he'd feel crushed.
She paced toward him."How did you do that?"
But as she came closer,Oliver realized that her expression was not one of shock or fear.It was a look of wonder.A look of awe.
She pulled up a chair beside him and sank into it,looking at him intently.Her eyes sparkled with intrigue."Who are you,Oliver Blue?"
Oliver remembered the compass.It had directed him here,to Ms.Belfry.It was a sign from the universe that she was someone he could trust.Someone who would help him on his quest.
He swallowed his nerves and began to speak.
"I have powers.Power over the elements and the forces of nature.I can travel through time and change history."
Ms.Belfry was completely silent.She stared at him and blinked several times.Finally,she spoke.
"I always suspected there was something different about you."The tone in her voice was one of awe.
Oliver was shocked.Ms.Belfry didn't think he was a freak at all.His heart leapt with joy.
"You believe me?"he asked.
She nodded."Yes.I do."Then she shuffled a little closer in her seat and looked at him intently."Now.Tell me everything."
So Oliver did.He started right at the beginning,from the day of the storm.For Ms.Belfry,it had been last night,but for Oliver days and days had passed.
He told her about Armando Illstrom and Lucas.About his meeting with Ralph Black and their journey to the School for Seers.About how the school itself sat between dimensions and could only be accessed through a special portal in 1944.He told her about the classes,Doctor Ziblatt,and the interdimensional portals.He told her about the food court and the rising table,about Hazel Kerr,Simon Cavendish,and Walter Stroud the amazing switchit player.He told her about the Orb of Kandra and Professor Amethyst's office with zero gravity,the sleep pods and the test that determined his seer type.Then he told her about his date with Esther Valentini and the attack on the school.He talked her through the events in Nazi Germany with Lucas's bomb.He showed her the amulet Professor Amethyst had gifted him,the one that would warm up if he were ever near a portal that could lead him back to the School for Seers.And finally,he told her about his parents,about how the Blues were not his real family and how he wanted to find his real mom and dad,the people in his visions.
Finally,his story complete,Oliver stopped talking.
Ms.Belfry looked stunned.She just slowly nodded as her eyes scanned back and forth.It looked as if she were trying to process everything he had just told her.It was a lot to take in all in one go,Oliver thought.He hoped her brain wouldn't explode from it all.
"Fascinating,"she said finally.
She leaned back in her seat,her eyes on him.They were filled with curiosity and wonder.
Oliver waited,his stomach squirming with anticipation.
Finally,Ms.Belfry tapped her chin."May I see this compass of yours?"
He took it from his bag and handed it to her.She examined it very slowly.Then she became suddenly very animated.
"I've seen one like this,once before…"
"You have?"
"Yes.It belonged to Professor Nightingale,of Harvard.An old teacher of mine.The most brilliant man I've ever met."
Her excitement was palpable.Oliver watched as she leapt out of her seat and hurried to the bookcase.She pulled down a textbook and handed it to him.
Curiously,Oliver looked at the book.He read from the front cover."The Theory of Time Travel."He gasped and his gaze snapped up to meet hers."I… I don't understand."
Ms.Belfry took her seat again."Professor Nightingale's specialty was physics--with an emphasis on time travel."
Oliver's head spun."Do you think he could be a seer? Like me?"
He'd thought there were no other seers in his timeline.But perhaps this Professor Nightingale was one.Perhaps that was why the compass had guided him to Ms.Belfry in the first place.
"Whenever he taught me about a new inventor,he talked as if knew them personally."She held a hand to her mouth and shook her head in disbelief."But now I realize he actually did.He must have traveled through time to meet them!"
Oliver felt overwhelmed.His heart began to beat wildly.But Ms.Belfry rested a hand on his,giving him comfort.
"Oliver,"she said gently,"I think you are supposed to meet him.I think the way to your parents,and to your destiny,lies through him."
No sooner had she said it than Ms.Belfry gasped.
"Oliver,look."
Just then,Oliver saw the dials on his compass were moving.One pointed to the symbol of an elm leaf.The second pointed to a symbol that resembled a bird.The third remained on the image of a graduation cap.
Oliver's eyes widened with surprise.
He pointed to the elm leaf."Boston."Then to the bird."Nightingale."And finally to the cap."Professor."He felt a huge surge of excitement in his chest."You're right.I have to go to Boston.Meet Professor Nightingale.He has the next clue."
Ms.Belfry quickly scribbled something into her notebook and then tore the page out."Here.This is where he lives."
Oliver took the paper and looked down at the Boston address.Was this the next piece of the puzzle in his quest? Was Professor Nightingale another seer?
He folded the paper carefully and placed it in his pocket,suddenly eager to begin his journey.He jumped up.
"Wait,"Ms.Belfry said."Oliver.The book."Professor Nightingale's time travel book was lying on her desk."Take it,"she added."I want you to have it."
"Thank you,"Oliver said,feeling touched and grateful.Ms.Belfry really was the best non-seer teacher he'd ever had.
He picked up the book and headed to the door.But when he reached it,he heard Ms.Belfry call out.
"Will you ever come back?"
He paused and looked at her."I don't know."
She gave him a sad nod."Well,if this is goodbye,then all that's left to say is good luck.I hope you find what you're looking for,Oliver Blue."
Oliver felt a deep sense of gratitude in his heart.Without Ms.Belfry,he'd probably not have survived those miserable first few days in New Jersey."Thank you,Ms.Belfry.Thank you for everything."
Oliver ran out of the classroom,eager to get the first train to Boston to meet Professor Nightingale.But if he was leaving New Jersey forever there was one thing he needed to do first.
The bullies.
It was lunchtime.
And he had one more wrong to right in the world.
*
He hurried down the steps,the smell of greasy fries wafting up from the lunch room.He and Ms.Belfry had been speaking so long,it was now lunchtime.
Perfect,Oliver thought.
He headed to the lunchroom.It was full of students and extremely noisy.He saw Paul and Samantha,his tormentors from science class.They looked over at him and started pointing and whispering.Other kids turned too,all laughing at Oliver.He saw the kids who threw balls at him in the playground.The kids from Mr.Portendorfer's class who reveled in the grouchy old teacher's insistence on calling him Oscar.
Oliver scanned with his eyes until he found his target: Chris and his friends.These were the kids who'd hounded him during the storm.Who'd chased him into a garbage can.Who'd called him a freak and a weirdo and all number of horrible names.
They noticed him,too.The mean girl who wore her hair in severe braids started to smile.She nudged the lanky,freckled boy who'd watched with glee as Chris had Oliver in a headlock.As far as they knew,yesterday they'd chased Oliver through a storm,forcing him to hide in a trash can.Seeing them grin at him made him grit his teeth with a sudden wave of anger.
Chris looked up,too.Any hint of the fear he'd shown toward Oliver back in their living room had disappeared,now that he was surrounded by his bully friends.
Even from across the lunchroom,Oliver could lipread Chris's words as he said to his friends,"Oh look,it's the drowned rat."
Oliver focused all his attention on their table.Then he tapped into his seer powers.
Their trays began to float up off the table.The girl jumped back in her seat,completely terrified.
"What's going on?"
The freckled boy and the chubby boy leapt up too,looking just as fearful,making scared noises.Chris jumped out of his chair.But he didn't look scared.He looked furious.
All around the table,other students started to turn to see what the commotion was about.When they saw the trays rising into the air as if by magic,they all began to panic.
Oliver moved the trays higher and higher and higher.Then,when they were about head height,he tipped them.
Their contents came raining down on top of the bullies' heads.
See how you like to be covered in garbage,Oliver thought.
The lunch hall erupted into pandemonium.Kids started screaming,running all over the place,shoving each other in their haste to get to the exit.One of Oliver's tormentors--covered head to toe in mashed potato--slipped in the beans that had been spilled.He skidded to the floor,tripping another as they ran.
Through the chaos,Oliver saw Chris standing at the other end of the hall,his narrowed eyes locked on Oliver.His face turned red with anger.He puffed out his huge bulking frame to make himself look more threatening.
But Oliver did not feel threatened at all.Not even slightly.
"You!"Chris bellowed."I know it's you! I always have! You have weird powers,don't you? You're a freak!"
He barreled toward Oliver.
But Oliver was already two steps ahead.He pushed outward with his powers,covering the floor beneath Chris's feet with thick,slippery oil.Chris started to wobble,then stagger,then slide.He couldn't keep his balance and fell flat on his butt.He slid across the floor,careening toward Oliver as if he were on a water slide.
Oliver pushed open the exit door.Chris slid straight past him and straight through it,screaming the whole way.He slid into the courtyard then onward,riding Oliver's invisible slide of oil,until he disappeared into the distance.
"Bye!"Oliver called,waving.
Hopefully,that would be the last he'd ever see of Christopher Blue.
He slammed the doors shut and turned on his heel.
Head held high,Oliver picked his way through the messy lunch hall and strolled confidently through the corridors of Campbell Junior High.He'd never felt better.Nothing could top this feeling.
When he reached the exit,he pushed the double main doors open with both hands.A gust of clean,cold air hit him.He took a deep breath in,feeling rejuvenated.
And that's when he saw her.
Standing at the bottom of the steps looking up,stood a solitary figure.Black hair.Emerald green eyes.
Oliver couldn't believe it.His heart leapt,suddenly beating a mile a minute in his chest.His brain began to spin as it desperately tried to work out how… why…
His palms became clammy.His throat turned dry.A shiver of excitement ran up his spine.
Because standing there before him was a vision of beauty.
It was none other than Esther Valentini.
