PART 5

Tim just stood there in shock. The hole in the wall was smoking slightly and a faint smell of burnt plastic hung in the air. He blinked and licked his lips cautiously as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened. Equally shocked were the fifty or so students in the hallway, along with the astonished teacher in the classroom with the smouldering hole in its wall.

Jack, the school bully and the meanest boy Tim knew, was slowly backing away with his hands slightly raised muttering something. The other kids were beginning to whisper to each other quietly and staring at Tim in the scared, shocked manner which he’d seen just once before. It was the kind of look that could make you feel like either a monster or just about the coolest guy in the world. (line 19) Right now, however, Tim was too bewildered to worry too much about his new image. He awkwardly stammered an apology, and rushed along the corridor. The crowd fell silent and parted leaving a wide path for him.

“What have I done?” Tim said to himself as he quickly walked along Oak Street towards the neighbourhood where he lived. He’d had no particular destination in mind when he fled the school, but his feet seemed to have decided that home was the safest place to be right now. Tim knew he needed to calm down and get a grip on things.

Somehow, it was all connected to the fire and how he’d rescued his sister, Emily. That had been impossible too, but he’d done it. That had also been the first time he’d seen that scared, shocked look. On that occasion, it had been a firefighter who had glanced at him that way. In the confusion and rush to get Emily to hospital, it had been easy to forget about the craziest parts of that day, and his mum had certainly covered them up when she spoke to the police officers afterwards. But now it was all coming back to Tim …

“No,” he shook his head and muttered to himself, “this can’t be happening.” He kept going, almost running and trying to force himself to believe that it was all just a dream. However, as he reached the driveway, his mum rushed out of the house. It was clear that she had got the call from the school. “What on earth happened, Timothy?” She exclaimed, running over to him.

“I don’t know, Mum, honestly I have no idea!” He replied, as suddenly the shock of it all hit him like a train. Tears started to run down his cheeks and he bit his lip.

“They’re saying you punched a hole through a wall, but that can’t be what really happened.” His mother took his hands, checking for cuts or bruises, but she couldn’t see anything.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, Mum. I don’t know how to explain it, really,” he said, his voice starting to shake slightly as he tried to control his emotions. “I think I blew the hole in the wall with my mind,” he said in a whisper.

His mum breathed out slowly, looking at him. “Come inside,” she said. “We need to talk.” Tim swallowed and shifted his backpack on his shoulder as he followed his mother up the driveway and into the house. “Sit down,” she said, pointing to a dining room chair. “I knew this would happen one day, but I never expected it to be so soon.

“W-what?” Tim stammered. He was taken aback by his mother’s composed, matter-offact reaction and her words.

“You see, Timothy,” she continued, “your father had the same powers that you do. His developed when he was much older, but yours must have been triggered early when you had to save Emily’s life. Now, there are a lot of things we need to discuss.” Tim sat back and his mouth opened and closed like a fish. His head suddenly hurt and he felt very confused.