Disaster (Gene)

[James Lawrence]

Carrying a file folder underneath his arm, James entered the school building after taking a quick smoke break. He double checked the contents and the name stamped across the top, nodding to himself after ensuring that it was for the right student. It was hard to keep track of all his students these days; the longer he worked here, James found that more students were being added to his roster. It was stressful enough keeping track of his regulars but also the students who were assigned to him at first then traded to a trainer who had a better understanding of their power.

Today, he was to meet with a new student, Gene. His old trainer had retired, at the most inconvenient time. Christmas break was fast approaching and it meant that James had a short amount of time to work with Gene. Upon further glancing at the file, he noticed the power, visible aura. He supposed that was close enough to his speciality that the student would be with him until graduation. Which could be a good or bad thing; James supposed he'd find out soon enough.

He flipped through the contents of the file briefly, to try and get an idea where Gene stood in regards to his power. Brief notes here and there but nothing that stood out to the trainer. James figured they'd get acquainted on the first day and work from there after seeing how in control Gene was with his ability. Opening the door to one of the assigned training rooms, James entered the empty room and turned on the lights. There were still a few minutes until the designated meeting time, but it never reflected well on a trainer to be late. He continued looking at past training regimes, back to the door. as he waited.

[Deleted]

Gene didn’t like his last trainer. Nor the one before that. Or before that. It seemed that Hammel cycled through trainers a lot, forcing the urban boy to change his every year or so. That may have been an exaggeration, but that’s certainly what it felt like. That could not be healthy, he thought. How did they expect him to make any progress if he always had to start over from the beginning as soon as he started getting somewhere?

Not that he’d been getting anywhere in the first place. Then agin, what the hell was so hard about controlling his power? It literally didn’t do anything. The most Gene ever wanted to do with it was make it disappear entirely. Maybe he should hire himself a bodyguard with power suppression? That was an idea, but the tradeoff would be never having a single moment of private time ever. And it would probably just turn into another situation like with Aggie, and they would end up telling him everything he was allowed and not allowed to do. No, Gene enjoyed being able to do what he wanted, go where he wanted when he wanted, etc etc. He liked that freedom. Kodi was an idiot, saying the ‘rich brat’ wasn’t independent.

He was half thinking about exercising this ‘independence’ of his by simply walking out on this training session before it began. It wasn’t going to go anywhere, why should he have to suffer through a waste of his time? The trainer probably had better things to do as well. Then again, the only other thing he had to do today was…the same thing he did every day; comics at the bookstore, video games when he got home. Maybe showing up to this session would bring some color to his life, so to speak. Or not. Gene stood in the doorway to the training room, clad top to bottom in black slacks, a black dress shirt, and an open blazer. He took one look at the trainer waiting inside for him and he instantly hated him, twisting his face into one of utter disgust. “I’m leaving,” he announced, having not even stepped over the threshold into the training room. Gene took a tentative step back, as though to test the old man to see if he would try to stop the disagreeable boy.

[James Lawrence]

It seemed like almost each sheet of paper had a different handwriting on it. James always felt for the students who rotated through trainers and never really found one to settle down with and establish a meaningful connection with. Although it didn't appear that way, he really did care for all his students, even the ones with a tendency to act out. Sure they were frustrating to deal with and pushed James to his limits, but he had also been a student once too; he knew he was anything but easy to handle in high school. Arguably now too, with the reputation that his name carried.

After getting an idea of what Gene's power entailed from previous notes, James figured that control was still a key area of development, but not in the traditional sense. His ability didn't have severe consequences as one would expect from a pyrokinetic, where loss of control equated to damage in various degrees. Control in Gene's case would be simply working on making his aura appear brighter or learning how to make it more subtle instead of being susceptible to his emotions and feelings.

James had heard the student approach, his footsteps reverberating in the back of his mind. He turned around before Gene had the chance to say anything, eyes landing on the figure in the doorway. The first thing James noticed was how well dressed he was; it made him feel underdressed in comparison as he'd opted for black jeans and a black and white striped shirt with his denim jacket. His eyebrows narrowed at his statement. Great; he was one of those students. It wasn't the first time James had to deal with a student like him and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Okay." He replied with a half shrug. "If you do you're not going to graduate from training sessions on time." Just a small reminder of the consequences from his decisions. It was entirely up to Gene, though.

[Deleted]

Weren’t teachers supposed to keep students from going delinquent from class? Even a simple training session, it was their job to make sure the student showed up and excelled. Gene didn’t move back any more, but he didn’t move forward either, still glaring into the room at this so-called trainer of his. “What the hell kind of attitude is that?” he asked with demeaning scoff. “You must not be very good if you’re just going to let me leave so easily.” Even his ‘discouragement’ was half-assed.

“It’s not like there will be dire consequences to humanity if I don’t learn how to ‘control’ my power.” There wasn’t much to control, in any case. “You could just give me the ‘A’, say I ‘made progress’, and then we both just go home. I’m sure your time is better spent teaching some weather manipulator how to not cause a hurricane when she gets dumped by her boyfriend.” Because obviously, only girls ever got that emotional and stupid. Gene snorted as an idea occurred to him. “Or…are you one of those trainers. You know, the ones who care about all their students, no matter how bright or hopeless.”

Gene hadn’t moved from his spot in front of the doorway, though he his head was tilted slightly to the side as he spoke what he considered to be ‘the truth’. Not demeaning at all. If you couldn’t handle hearing the truth, then….well, that was your problem. “‘No child left behind’, right?” he finished with a smirk.

[James Lawrence]

"Listen... Gene," James said, pausing to search for the student's name written on the corner of a piece of paper. "I've been doing this for some time now. I can't force you to come to training sessions." He finished, shrugging his shoulders indifferently.

Helping students was one thing. But those who couldn't even bother to take the first step? That had caused James enough frustration his first couple years as a trainer. Already, he knew that he would be ranting to Ella later on about this student. Were trainers allowed to send students off to someone else?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, James felt guilty about it, even if Gene had no idea. He couldn't just give up a minute after their introductions. His pride was at stake here. Raising an eyebrow, James took one step towards the door. "Are you trying to bribe me? Because that's not happening. I've failed students before for not showing up." He raised an eyebrow at Gene's next statement, choosing to ignore it and not offer a response to something like that. Part of him wondered if his own attitude had been this bad in high school.

God, he hoped not.

"If you're willing to put in the effort, then we can work together to make sure you succeed. Even if your ability is not the most dangerous one out there, you still need to learn how to gain some sense of control over it." James looked up. "Of course I care about all my students." He said with a laugh; what kind of a question was that? "But again, not gonna force you to come. Your choice."

[Deleted]

Was this guy serious? Gene didn’t miss that pause in his address and that quick glance down at his paperwork. “You obviously haven’t been doing it long enough if you to keep crib notes to remember your own student’s name.” Along with his nonchalant attitude, Gene was already suspecting that the trainer wasn’t half as good as he talked himself up to be, especially if he was willing to just let Gene skip out without a fight.

“No, I’m trying to tell you that we’d both be happier if we just ended this now and went home. I wouldn’t have to do something pointless, you wouldn’t have to deal with a snot-nosed kid.” Gene smirked, knowing full well that that was exactly what this would-be role model was probably thinking of him. Who wouldn’t? Most people did, he presumed. “Or do you want me to bribe you? Name a figure, I’ll call up my grandmother and she’ll send you a check in the mail.” That was the way to an easy A in his book.

Gene rolled his eyes at the old man’s attempt to persuade him, finally taking his first steps into the room and dropping his book-bag on a chair while taking the one beside it. “And if I don’t want to put forth the effort?” he asked impatiently. This conversation was getting boring, that was the only reason why he went inside. He was tired of standing too. “I have my doubts. You’re willing to let one fail without a fight, after all,” he said, challenging the guy’s ‘commitment’ to his students. “That’s boring.”

[James Lawrence]

Frowning, James extended the paperwork. "My notes don't just have your name written down. It also has previous notes and training plans from your previous trainers. Apparently you were a handful." To be fair, he also met with a lot of students and sometimes the names got jumbled together; considering it was their first meeting too. Though he doubted after the way things were going he'd forget Gene's name any time soon.

"It's not pointless." James argued, a grin threatening to cross his features. "Unless you want to consistently glow for the rest of your life or feel the effects of trying to suppress the colours." Sure, it was a cheap shot to call out the insecurities of a student still learning to control that aspect of his ability but could he really be blamed? The grin was quick to fade at Gene's next comment. "Bribery won't work. Don't even try it."

James sighed, taking the necessary steps over towards the chairs where his new student had sat down. "Then do you expect me to put in any effort as well? We can meet a couple times a month; you'll inevitably fail and be stuck with me until someone else is unfortunate enough to receive you as a transfer once you inevitably complain about me. And the cycle will repeat until you manage to pass or find a trainer who is willing to accept your bribes." His temper was flaring; that much was obvious, but James was trying to keep his anger on the down low. Heavy emphasis on trying.

"I've been doing this for some years now Gene. It's not worth it to fight for those who aren't even willing to fight for themselves." James finished, looking towards the door. "So, if you want to leave, just go." He'd be kind of relieved if he went with that option.

[Deleted]

“A handful, was I? I guess I should feel ashamed of that title…or should I feel proud?” he said with an inquisitive look. “I can’t decide.” It wasn’t necessarily that he was trying to be a handful…but Gene really was just absolutely bored out of his mind when it came to training, and none of his trainers so far had done anything to convince him that it was worth his while to ‘cooperate’.

Just so he wouldn’t glow for the rest of his life? “I’m not too bothered by it,” he said, only half lying. “Makes for a good flashlight substitute in the middle of the night. Or a nightlight.” At least Gene never had to worry about being left blind in the dark. Though he really didn’t like that his ‘emotions’ were always on display, though half the people who noticed didn’t know what the colors meant anyway. Gene shrugged when the guy turned down his ‘offer’. “Wasn’t expecting you to take it, honestly. Too many teachers here are fixated on that ‘moral high-ground’ stuff.” Though the fact that he was more than willing to let his student walk out and fail made Gene severely questions his new trainer’s morals.

Gene scoffed again. “You sure are making a lot of assumptions about someone you just met,” he pointed out. “Didn’t anyone teach you to not to presume? Or speak in absolutes?” After all, Gene could very well surprise the guy and end up being very cooperative…if he felt like it. He may even do it for spite, though he suspected that that might’ve been this guy’s plan all along. Gene smirked. “I already sat down,” he said smugly. “It’s too much effort to get up leave now, so why don’t you take advantage and actually try to teach me something?” Arguing with this guy was also turning out to be more entertaining than just going home. Hopefully things stayed that way, otherwise this really was just going to be a waste of his time.