Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (12 page)

Without
his
brother
around
Lee no longer had someone to keep an eye on him, to watch over his actions from a distance and, if need be, to come to his aid. But Lee proved himself as capable and self-reliant as he had when he came to his brothers’ aid from the bear. Lee had never taken Tom’s efforts to conceal his lack of ability for granted. It was above and beyond the call of duty, and without these little tricks Lee would have been left exposed to the reality of the world that he just didn’t quite fit into. He was strong willed and determined to be able to protect his own secret without the help of any other person, so he actively resolved to spend the rest of his school life going unnoticed.

Never
meeting
his
potential
as
a
student
or
as
an
athlete,
Lee
remained
under
the
radar
for
the
rest
of
his
school
life.
In a world with no powers, Lee would have excelled, with his keen intellect and observational skills, but in this world he had no choice but to keep to himself, maintaining the relationship with his family and choosing not to connect with others for fear of being exposed.
Other
kids
involved
in
sports
weren’t
allowed
to
use
their
power
as
it
was
seen
as
an
unfair
advantage
and
it
also
taught
kids
that
relying
on
your
capabilities
wasn’t
advisable
to
get
ahead
in
life. Given
this
restriction
on
sporting
prowess
Lee
had
a
natural
advantage
as
his
father
raised
him
as
an
athlete. But he never used this advantage,
never
finishing
last
in
a
race
and
never
finishing
first.
Lee
went
unseen
throughout
the
rest
of
his
schooling
life.

Without
his
brother
in
the
school
to
support
him
he reverted
inwardly
with
the
burden
of
the
secret
he
had
to carry. He
felt
like
he
was
lying
to
both
himself
and
the
world, as if he was being untrue to his character and his inner self, holding back and being false to the world.

It
seemed
to
weigh
on
him,
a
fact
that
was
not
lost
on
Philip
who
always
kept
a
watchful
eye
over
his
son.
He
grasped
that
this
was
a
burden
his
son
would
have
to
carry
for
all
his
days
and
that
it
was
something
he
would
have
to
learn
to
deal
with
himself.
For
this
reason
he
was
reluctant
to
intervene and
hoped
that
his
son
would
be
strong
enough
to
face
the
challenges
that
lay
ahead
of
him. Despite the heavy weight of this burden, Philip saw his son growing into a man with strong principles and an objective view of the world around him, his heart filling with pride for the son he had dedicated his life to raising. He knew that his wife would be proud of the man Lee was growing up to be, regardless of whether he had a power or not.

Every
so
often
Lee
found
the
tediousness
of
school
getting
to
him. He struggled with hiding his intellect and often found himself bored in class learning things that were unchallenging to him. He’d find himself sitting there, looking around at his classmates who he neither knew well nor cared about, refusing to get caught up in their childish games and bullying. He would always finish the work set for them in record time, leaving him with nothing to do but wait for the others, while he became lost in his head, dreaming of a time when he was his own man and could do what he wanted with his time.

When the tediousness and boredom became too much to handle he would skip class.
Leaving
for
school
like
normal
in
the
morning,
then
waiting
for
his
father
to
leave
for
work
, Lee would
sneak
back
into
the
house
and
spend
the
day
on
the
couch
watching
old
films.
He knew that if he was caught out, the disappointment in his father’s eyes would cut right through him, but sometimes the thought of walking into that school, totally invisible to those around him, was just too much to bear. Whereas, the comfort of his own home and the pull of a lazy day on the sofa felt like a more constructive use of his time.

The days of skipping school became a bad habit that crept into Lee’s week. On one such day after
exhausting
his
collection
of
movies
and
resigning
himself
to
channel
-
hoping,
he
sat
mindlessly
flicking
through
the
stations
looking
at
what
passed
as
entertainment. Boredom
had set
in.

Not
wanting
to
watch
another
show
in
which
people
aired
their
dirty
laundry
for
all
to
see,
he turned
off
the
television
and
glanced
around
the
room
for
something
to
keep
himself
entertained
with.
His
eye
was
drawn
to
his
father’s
old
mahogany
writing
desk
that
sat
in
the
corner
of
the
room,
propped
up
against
the
wall
as
one
of
its
legs
was
missing.

Looking
at
the
desk
he
knew
that
this
was
where
his
father
kept
all
his
old
music
books.
Recalling
a
song
about
a
jail
in
Birmingham that
his
father
used
to
sing
to
him
and
his
brother
on
road
trips
up
to
the
cabin,
Lee
thought
he
would
like
to
learn
it.

He
wandered
over
to the bench,
sat
himself
in
front
of
the
desk
and
started
to
look
through
the
song
books
.
After
searching
for
a
while
and
finding
the
song
he
wanted,
he
sat
there
trying
to
memorise
the
lyrics.

Growing
bored
of
the
monotony
of
learning
just
one
set
of
lyrics
, he
scanned
his
eye
across
the
desk.
Seeing
an
old
photo
album
at
the
bottom
of
a
pile
of
books,
sliding
the
album
out,
he took
it
in
his
hands
and
began
to
examine
it.
While
looking
at
it,
it
was
obvious
it
hadn’t
been
opened
in
a
long
time,
as
there
was
a
fine
layer
of
dust.
Blowing
off
the
top
layer,
any
residual
dust
that
was
left
he
wiped
away
with
his
fingers.
Upon
opening
the
album
the
spine
cracked
as
if
to
verify
that
it
hadn’t
been
looked
at
in
an
age. He peeled back each page and was greeted with
pictures
of
his
father
when
he
was
young,
accompanied
by
his
mother.