Here at Coalesce Prep students strive for excellence through their studies and their extra curricular activies. Faculty and students supports each other in the search for truth, thoughtful innovation, care of the environment, community service, and most of all: their true connection. This is the spiel they give to any incoming students. The institution is an extended learning required by law. We graduate from high school and then we get sent off to two more years of extensive learning and honing of our powers at pre-college academies. The orientation process is mostly just for show and the "truth" is revealed right after the parents abandon their offspring to rid themselves of the responsibility.
The ecosystem is pretty much the same as when we were in high school. That fact that this was basically college didn't change anything. Each clique and cliche created by media is more than obvious. There are the theatre geeks who spend long hours after school preparing flashy production that don't even fill half the house, the band nerds who eat their lunches in the band hall and spit food into their mouthpiece, the e-kids who mostly keep to themselves, the nerds, the TikTok stars, the jocks, and then there is me. I live on the outside, mostly just trying to not call any attention to myself. Within each of these groups there is a deeper hierarchy. The Possessors and the Possessions. The Possessions are vessels in which the Possessors can control from within their bodies and since the beginning of time society has split itself down the middle. Of course, the outliers are the Vacants. They are regular humans and when a Possessor tries to slip inside they are driven to insanity. Where I find myself situated is in my second year of this hellscape and the first year we are officially allowed to use our powers under supervision.
"Ball!" I heard someone screaming as I walked into Skills I, the first class session were Possessors can practice with Possessions. This is the discovery class where we will find out if we are Possessors or Possessions if we haven't discovered it already. It's a lab credit and required for graduation which means I have to take it to get the diploma. The unfortunate thing about the location of the classroom is that I have to go around the soccer field to get there.
"Sorry about that." The first thing I noticed after the ball his my head was the arm that helped me up. My eyes blinked at the bulging veins and followed the musculature up to the face I recognized as Shane's.
"No worries." I looked down at his chest and then quickly averted my eyes even though I was certain he noticed.
"Grayson, right?" Shane picked up the ball and held it against his hip as he covered his eyes from the sun. I met Shane in middle school. I was being bullied while I was in the library and Shane noticed that I was cornered. He came to my rescue just when I built up the courage to stand up for myself. The combination of events led me to tripping over my tormentors shoe and landing directly inside of Shane. The bullies went to get help right when I rolled out and everyone has pretty much left me alone since. Once we got to high school everything changed. He started to gain muscles and play sports while I got taller and a little chubbier. He also managed to get himself a girlfriend.
"Yeah, sorry, I was just heading to class. I didn't mean to disrupt your practice." I picked up my bag and threw it over my shoulder.
"I should be the one apologizing to you. Sorry for interrupting your walk to class." His chuckle made me blush and his eyes sparkled as I smiled. I had a crush on him ever since I merged into him in the library. When they asked me to do it again there was a crowd of teachers and administration and I looked at him with worried eyes as I slipped inside of him one more time. We were told that no one had merged this early in a long time.
"Well, I should get going." I started walking away.
"You going to Skills? I'll be heading that way soon, just got to change out of this and put on som deodorant. See you in class?" He was walking backwards, making sure I responded.
"Yeah, definitely." I nodded my head awkwardly and turned towards the small building situated at the back of the property. It was two stories and housed all of the Skills and Development classes. It was nestled intot he trees and didn't match any of the other architecture on campus. Large windows made up a whole wall facing the fields and it looked like a yoga instructor's dream. As I walked inside, I turned to see Shane picking up his stuff and going to change with his jersey hanging around his neck.
"Alright everyone," Mrs. Sheer started, "I want to welcome you all to your first day of the year. Thank you all for showing up. I'm going to skip the whole syllabus and course outline because it is online and you can all access it through the school portal. So, let's dive right in." Shane was sitting in front of me, his legs extending in front of him as I sat cross-legged. "You'll notice there are no desks, which means no assigned seating. This will allow us to have full use of the space. Some of you will need it." She rolled a chalkboard away from the wall and wiped it clean.
"What do you mean some of us will need it?" One of my peers asked.
"Well, some of you are not going to be very good at this." Mrs. Sheer picked up a piece of chalk.
"Sounds like Grayson." Max coughed as he said this and caused some giggling from the others. I rolled my eyes. Max was one of the ones who cornered me in the library and even though I kept to myself after that he still found ways to torment me.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Max." Shane shook his head.
"Enough of that, can anyone tell me what a Possession is?" Mrs. Sheer scraped the piece of white chalk along the green board spelling out Possession and Possessor. These two words I knew very well.
"An object that belongs to a person." Someone said.
"Not quite what I mean in this context, but good try. I'm talking about the being." The teacher looked down at her roster and scanned the names on the page. She stopped at mine. "Grayson?"
"Um, it's a person without the ability to possess who is a vessel for the Possessor. They can merge to become one with the Possessor controlling the body of the Possession." I knew I was right, but my face still flushed red.
"Good. Nice to know somone came to class prepared." She smiled and turned back to the board, drawing an arros between the two words. "A Possessor can do more than possess, though. If they find their connection, which is the person that was destined to be their vessel, then they can make them stronger."
"What about telekinesis? My dad told me a special few could do that shit." Max yet again got scattered giggles.
"Watch your language, Max. But, yes, there are a few Possessor who gain special abilities. This is rare, however. Very rare. The reason they gain an ability is because the merged being has access to both minds as opposed to just their own. This is a pure connection which, again, is vey rare. Now, pair up and lets see what you all can do." She waved at us to being and then wiped her hands of the chalk residue. Shane turned around almost immediately and smiled.
"Do you want to be mine?" He was already reaching out and helping me up. That would be twice in the span of an hour and the second time I caught myself staring at his bicep.
"Of course. I mean, yeah." I tried to play it off, but it was just another awkward moment. He stood with his back to me without any sort of instruction like he knew just what to do.
"Now if you don't know if you are a Possession or a Possessor do not worry, this is where we find out. Partner one will place their hands on your partner's back and press slowly. Empty your mind of everything, no more worrying about homework or what you're going to have for lunch, just keep it blank and let your partner's form appear. Once you're ready, push." Mrs. Sheer was walking around us and waiting for one of us to succeed. Everyone was trying, pushing intently, some of them barely moved under the surface and other's didn't budge at all.
"If you want I can take my shirt off. I know I just got out of practice, but I promise I don't smell that bad. My dad said it helps if your touching skin, especially for the first time." He widened his eyes, caught on his words. "I mean, well, you know what I mean." He was blushing which caught me off guard. Without getting approval, he removed his shirt. His toned back was still slightly damp from the running and I didn't mind. His skin was soft as I placed my palm on his shoulder, feeling his breath slow down as I concentrated. I did as instructed, emptied out my mind and thought only of Shane's form. I took a deep breath in and then it all went black. It felt like I was falling but the darkness kept me from seeing where. For a moment, I was lost, but then I could feel the cold air hitting my back and sound of my whispering peers surroundng me when I opened my eyes. Mrs. Sheer was in awe as I looked around the room and everyone was staring. Max had his hand lodged into his partner's back and tore it out with a huff making his partner wince in pain. This went unnoticed by all except for me.
"Good job, Grayson and Shane. That was incredible." She laughed and patted us on the shoulder. Her touch felt strange and unknown while also feeling normal. She turned towards the class as they continued to try as hard as they could to continue the exercise. My reflection in the window distracted me for a moment and as I felt the blood rush somewhere I didn't want it to, I pulled myself out of Shane, landing behind him.
"So what are we learning?" Mrs. Sheer addressed the class from in front of the chalkboard.
"This is hard."
"Not for Grayson."
"Fucking nerd."
"Alright, keep your rude comments to yourself. We're going to cut class short today. Grayson and Shane could you stay for a second?" Mrs. Sheer wiped the chalkboard as we gathered our things, the rest of the class filed out and I watched Max leave with hatred on his face.
"What's up?" Shane initiated the conversation.
"Have you two been practicing? It's not often we get two students to just walk into their first day of skills and be able to do what you two did. In fact, it's almost impossible." She pushed the chalkboard away and turned towards us. We couldn't tell if she was upset.
"No. We've just done it once before on accident." Shane smiled as he recalled the memory, his hands holding onto the straps of his bag. I noticed he had moved it in front of his pelvis.
"Ah, yes, I remember recieving a report about two special cases. I'm glad you are in my class and I'm honored to be given the chance to help you hone in on whatever this may be. Watch out for each other, what you two have is special." She dismissed us and I went to grab my bag, letting Shane walk ahead of me. By the time I caught up, Shane was being pulled into a kiss by his girlfriend.
I sighed, looking down and walked in a different direction. This year was going to be the longest year of my life.
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