A few weeks had passed since I joined West High Academy. It wasn't as bad as I suspected. The media claimed it was full of murderous supernatural freaks but the only psychopath I knew, was the definition of a cinnamon roll.

I had made friends with everyone in my class. As we were such a small class, we were so close that our group was pretty much a second family.

Most breaktimes and lunchtimes, we all hung out together, laughing and talking until our cheeks ached.

Sometimes, Jake and I spend our break and lunch with Wolf, in either my room or his. 

He was so childishly cute, that I enjoyed every moment spent with him.

His eyes lit up like a puppy when I showed off my powers. I caused lightning to dance across the sky or simply created a light drizzle. It fascinated him, as he watched, silent, unable to tear his eyes away.

Jake's power was the ability to manipulate metal without touching it. It was awesome.... even when he used it to make me swing from the roof like Spiderman when I didn't let him get his own way.

Our lesson before break was Science. Mrs Fisher, the science teacher, had laid out fourteen glass boxes. Inside were lots of little bugs. "Bagsy, the millipede," Jake whispered in my ear. Mrs Fisher cleared her throat.

"For the next few weeks," she began, "You will all be doing an extended biology homework. You will be looking after these bugs, which are at the stage where they could change from caterpillar or larvae to adult at any moment. Some have already made that change. Try not to kill them. Harley, you can pick first."

I got out of my seat and walked to the boxes. Examining the contents of each one, my eyes locked on to a yellow caterpillar. Normally, I wouldn't find bugs cute but this one was adorable. It had two black spots on the side of its face, which made it look like it had puppy-dog eyes. I grabbed the handle on the box and took it to my desk.

Next it was Jake's turn. He almost ran to the large millipede. Bringing it to the desk beside mine, he stared at it like he had just found the jackpot in the sweet store.

After Jake, Kyle chose a box of Shield Bugs and took them to his seat beside me. Lucinda then chose the hairiest caterpillars I had ever seen. At least I think they were caterpillars. They looked more like tiny piles of fur. 

Megan chose a baby praying mantis; Tom chose some stick insects; Lucifer picked up a wasp; and Yuki delicately placed a box containing some fluffy bee-flies on her desk. Blake was after Yuki. He picked up a box and wondered back with white worm-like creatures. Jesse then chose an ant family.

Lily chose a box full of what looked like maggots. She assured us that they were not maggots; they were scarab beetle larvae. The twins picked up identical ladybirds and finally Ethan took the last one: a Giant African Snail.

Suddenly, large BOOM sounded beside me, causing me to nearly jump out my skin. Kyle had accidently scorched the living daylights out of his Shield Bugs. He stared at the barbequed box, his brown eyes filling with tears.

Lucinda immediately rushed to his side. "It's okay," she said, wiping his tears away before they could fall, "I have too many caterpillars to look after. You can have some of mine." Kyle smiled at her, his cheeks faintly pink.

The pair got to work emptying his contents and refiling it with caterpillar essentials, while we continued the lesson. Lucinda carefully placed some of her caterpillars inside and closed the lid again. She couldn't resist giving him a quick hug, before returning to her seat.

The bell sounded for break and everyone decided to spend it in my room. We cut a large carboard box in half and placed some leaves, twigs and dirt inside for our bugs. The bugs crawled around curiously.

I had to admit, I was nervous about voluntarily inviting a wasp into my room. Lucifer took the lid off his fruit pot and poured some jam into it, which had been given to him by the dinner lady when we were getting our snacks. He placed it in front of his new pet, who eagerly sipped it. After a few sips, the wasp stopped and started to rub its face and antenna like a cat. 

"Your wasp seems pretty tame," Ethan stated, "Usually wasps are just angry."

"They are misunderstood," Lucifer replied, his wasp climbing on to his finger, "Some wasps create a bad reputation and all the others are tarred with the same brush." There was a sad glint in his eyes, as if he could relate to the wasp on a personal level. 

Since we were not looking, the mantis took the opportunity to spear one of my caterpillars. It then began to eat the unfortunate creature, right in front of my eyes. "I'm so sorry!" Megan apologised, scooping up the mantis and placing it back in its box, with lid firmly shut. I was too horrified to answer. Well, this "try not to kill them" thing was going well. 

Two weeks later, Jake and I took our bugs outside. We lay sprawled out and I let my caterpillars out while I jotted some notes down about the food chain. I wrote "Grass" and drew an arrow to "Caterpillar". Glancing up to check on my the Swallowtail caterpillars, I saw a bird swoop down and take one. I drew and arrow from "Caterpillar" and wrote "Bird". Jake howled with laughter.

"You have a sick sense of humour you know." He shrugged. "Also you could've chased it away!"

"I'm sorry, Sunshine. I didn't see it coming." He looked genuinely sorry and pulled me into a hug. I blushed and hugged him back, not used to the sudden affection. 

I asked him why he started calling me "Sunshine" once and he flushed.

"Because..... because of your power." He scratched the back of his neck and hastily changed the subject. 

Back in Jake's room, he took his millipede out of its box and laid it on the bed. I gently stroked it, while he cleaned out its home.

"Do you want some help?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied, handing me a bucket of foul-smelling muck, "Go empty this for me." I did as he asked, hauling the bucket outside and tipping it into a nearby bush.

When I returned, he had just finished  washing it out with a sponge.

"Um, Jake, your dog." I motioned to Wolf, who had just closed its mouth, sealing in the millipede.

Jake swore and prized his dog's mouth open. He reach his hand down Wolf's throat and pulled out a slobbery, but otherwise miraculously unharmed, millipede.

Somehow, most people arrived in Science with a box of creatures. Mrs Fisher seemed pleased that we hadn't killed all of them. 

"Um, Mrs Fisher. I was cleaning out the box and accidently set it on fire," Kyle told her. The box was once again barbequed. At first I thought nothing had survived. On closer examination, I noticed something.

"Kyle, look at the lid!" I exclaimed. He took off the lid and saw a leafy hammock in the corner. It was a cocoon. The cocoon squirmed and the edge began to split open. A moth broke free from it and landed on Kyle's nose, examining him curiously. Satisfied with its new partner, it settled itself into his dark pockets.

As Mrs Fisher was about to take in our boxes, I spoke up. "I raised them, I want to keep them." She glanced around the room at the hopeful eyes. Reluctantly, she let us keep the bugs.

"It. Won't. Get. Off." I shook my finger, trying to get the Spicebush Swallowtail off. The other butterflies had flown off but this one continued to cling to my finger.

Millie (Jake's millipede), was resting on Wolf's back, as they watched the scene with confusion. Jake watched me with an amused look on his face. 

"I thought you wanted to keep it," he said.

"I did but its a butterfly now. I can't keep it," I replied, furiously shaking my finger. The little butterfly would make a good bull rider, I can tell you that. I sighed.

"Fine. You can stay," I told it, transferring it to my shoulder, "You can't stay on my finger though." Jake smiled.

"I'm going to call you Indigo."

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Levy xx