by C. Louis S.
“Leon James Torvell, what did you do to your sister? And why aren’t any of your chores done? And why did you break the shed?” Mother barraged Leon with questions as soon as the porch door was closed behind him.
“It’s Kali’s fault. And Randall made me break the shed,” said Leon. The surging dark energy from the fight was waning and embarrassment swept over him.
“Is not,” Kali yelled from the living room. Leon hadn’t realized she was listening. “He threw me into the air. He’s lucky I can fly.”
“Don’t exaggerate, Kali,” said Mother.
“I’m not, Mom! Something weird’s going on with him lately. He was mindbending me.”
Fear struck Leon’s heart. What have I done? I wasn’t thinking. Now she knows about my other powers. What is she going to tell Mom? Or worse, what is she going to tell Dad?
“Kali! Go to your room and let me talk to Leon.”
Mother turned back to Leon with a look that sent shivers down his spine. “What were you thinking doing that to Kali? You’re not a little kid. Now get your chores done, right now. Do you hear me?”
Leon nodded in fear.
“And just wait until your Father sees what you did to the shed.”
At dinner, Leon waited nervously for Mother to tell Father about the shed. Dinner was almost over and she hadn’t said a word, or made eye contact with Leon. He planned to dash downstairs to the basement the second he was excused from the table. Unfortunately, Kali had to open her big mouth.
“Mom, aren’t you forgetting to tell Dad something?”
Leon froze. His fork full of food was half-way to his mouth. Here it comes. How long am I going to be grounded for this time? How many months of allowance is it going to take to fix the shed door?
“I think it can wait until after dinner,” said Mother.
“Well I think we should talk about it now. Leon is doing weird things lately. Today he was mindbending me. And I saw a video of his fight at the shadowball field the other day. He’s was doing something weird that I’ve never seen before.”
“You saw a video of that?” Leon sputtered. Oh no, the videos. Everyone at school is probably laughing at me. ‘Look at the dorky red-head getting beat up by a senior.’
“Like thousands of people have seen it Leon. Now fess up,” said Kali.
Leon gave Kali an icy glare. How dare she do this in front of Dad. Just wait until dinner is over. Then she’s going to get it.
Kali made a face at Leon with her eyes bugged out and a triumphant smile.
“What’s all this about, Leon?” Father asked.
“I—” Leon started. He looked at Aidan who gave a sympathetic look, but then looked down at his food to avoid eye contact.
“Now that he has this weird green power, he thinks he’s something because now he’s fighting Randall and breaking the shed.”
“Why did you fight with Randall?” Mother asked.
“You broke the shed?” Father asked with a disappointed sigh.
In that moment of embarrassment and loss for words, Leon felt a coldness fill his body. It started as just coldness, but then turned into indignation and anger. He knew what it was. It was the dark energy and it was comforting. It made him want to just throw the table with his mind and watch the food splatter all over their faces. It made him want to just walk away from the table and go into the basement and keep training. It made him want to yell at Mother and Father so that they would leave him alone.
With anger in his voice, Leon explained that Randall had betrayed him, that Randall had left him to fend for himself against a hulk and then went off to play shadowball with that very same bully. They were no longer friends.
He then explained that he had discovered some new ability with his lantern powers. He left out using dark energy and only explained what he was capable of with green light.
Father seemed proud of Leon’s new abilities, but he still told him that he was going to fix the shed with his own money. Mother made him clean up the whole kitchen after dinner for what he did to Kali.
Leon used the time to brood over his loss to Randall. I can’t believe he still beat me. I’m stronger than him. I know I am. But he’s got three powers now. Three powers! By the next time I face him, I’m going to be able to teleport too.
And I didn’t even do anything to Kali. I just pushed her a little. She can fly. It’s not like she was going to get hurt.
And it’s not like the shed door costs that much. And I didn’t even break it. It was Randall. He should have to pay for it, not me.
I’ve got this amazing new power and Father still isn’t happy with me. Well, I’ll show him. I’ll show everyone. When I master all the powers, they’ll see how great I am. I’m not just a lantern anymore. I’m the most amazing lantern there ever was, plus I’m practically as good as Kaz Warwick. Pretty soon I’m going to have all the powers and then people will see.
Yeah, then I’ll take down Randall and Tommy at the same time and that fat plastic kid too. When people see a video of that online then everyone will want to know me. I’ll be able to play shadowball with the Firebolts themselves. Just you wait!
chapter 10
Ten to One
