Edward Lichen walked through the gates of his new school and sighed, doing a slow spin and looking up at the gray, seamless, cloudy sky. The gates of the school were two brick columns with iron gates attached, students flowing through like cattle in a pen. The school building was old weathered red brick that looked more brown that anything else in the light of the day. A warm wind caught the tassels of Ed’s jacket and the dangling straps on his backpack, signaling rain as it playfully poked fun at him. Ed sighed, let his head hang and walked into the school.

He hated moving. It was never a bad thing; he was a good-looking guy, standing six foot even with black hair and green eyes. He was fairly built from all the jobs he’d had around the states. He was an athlete, though not publicly. He made friends easily. All in all, he was pretty average. But when it came down to it, he was the subject of whispers and bad luck more than anything else. After all, there weren’t many kids with his situation.

Ed trudged into the office and stood in front of the secretary’s desk waiting for her to notice him. It gave him time to look around the room: gray carpet, white walls and columns on which various pictures and mementos of the past hung. Several people ran about in the large space, all bustling to finish their jobs for the first day of school. Ed sat quietly until the girl on the phone was done. She looked at him with a frantic expression.

“Edward Lichen?” Ed nodded and rubbed at the back of his neck. The girl was maybe eighteen, long blonde hair and blue eyes and a deer in the headlights expression that meant she was smart but out of her depth. She was senior, most likely; one who didn’t want to work but knew that it was her best bet. This all flashed through Ed’s head and got filed away in less than a second. She smiled and it all went through his head again, this time with an attachment: she’s pretty. “All right, here’s your schedule, here’s your pass book, here’s your pass just in case you get to any classes late and here’s your complementary pencil. She handed him a plastic bag full of paper and a black and white pencil. Then she smiled.

“My name is Amanda; if you have any questions, just ask if you see me around. ‘Kay?” she smiled and waved a little girlish wave as he walked out. Ed saw. He thought about it. She wasn’t ugly. She was a bit high profile for a new kid to go after, but Ed figured he had a shot.

He wound his way through the rush of students, trying not to bump into anyone as he found his first period of the day: study hall, room 201. He found it with little trouble and sat down in the back, setting down his bag gently and sitting back lazily, giving the appearance of being bored. He watched as people entered the room and recorded everything that he saw about them plus his initial observations. Finally everyone sat down and the bell rang. Just a second alter a student, a blonde guy with the devil’s eyes and a troublemaker smile, darted in and headed for the back. Ed sat up and looked around. Silently he screamed. He had re-started at a new school enough to know that this kid was trouble on his first day. The only empty desk left was next to Ed, and the boy promptly filled it. He wasn’t fast enough.

“Mr. James!” the boy’s ears perked up and his smile broadened.

“Yes, Mr. Carrot?” the class laughed and Ed groaned to himself, keeping quiet and looking at the desk in front of him.

“All right, funny man; call me that again and you get lunch detention. Next time it’s In School Suspension for disrespect, and after that…”

“Yes sir. It won’t happen again.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled and you’re marked tardy on my roll sheet, we can get down to business.” The boy next to Ed let out a low, breathy laugh at the teacher’s banter. Ed knew he could care less about a tardy. It would just make him try again. “Mr. Edward Lichen! Front and center please!”

Ed’s blood froze and he stood up. He heard the muttering and sighed, letting his shoulders fall limp for a second before he walked to the front of the room. He knew that he would make a good first impression; a black and brown leather jacket with a few tassels and a fair bit of wear, a black t shirt, a worn pair of jeans and tennis shoes. He was ordinary, but as soon as he reached the front he knew that he was out of place. The rest of the students were dressed in regular clothes, except for two students. T shirts, vans and sneakers, shorts; nothing as rich as Ed’s clothes. They looked at him as an alien. He shoved his fingers in his pockets and looked around, trying to act somewhere between sheepish and brave. The teacher had other ideas.

“Mr. Lichen, tell us three things about yourself: something about your intelligence, something about where you have lived before and what you like to do. And I know all of the skeletons in your closet, so don’t screw with me boy.” The class laughed and Ed felt his heart sink. He decided to go with his usual.

“I’m Edward Lichen. I used to live in Texas, a little all over the place, and before that California. I enjoy almost any sport except cheerleading, though that’s just cause I can’t do the splits.” He got a laugh out of the class on the last note and smiled, tried to walk back to his seat. Then he froze.

“You left something out Mr. Lichen, so I’ll tell the class for you. Class!” Ed’s face grew pale and he rushed back to his seat, hiding his face as the teacher literally barked out the one thing he tried to keep secret from other students. “Mr. Lichen, or Ed as I hear he likes to be called, is you’re worst enemy. His IQ was last measured at 158l; he also has a photographic memory. That makes him smarter than everyone in this room combined.” The class grew quiet and several looks were thrown back at him.