Shane woke up to birdsong and golden sunlight streaming through his window. Rubbing the sleepy blur from his eyes, he called to his parents.

"Morning, Mom and Dad!"

There was no answer. He looked around for them, and suddenly realised he was no longer in his room. What had happened? Why wasn't he in his house? He caught a glimpse of the handbook on his desk - List of Psionic Abilities - and then everything came flooding back to him. For a second, everything was too much, and he wanted to cry. The fact that he was a Psionic. The Onyx League. The new friendships he had formed with Fernando and Luciana. The enemies he had made. And -

"The entry exam!" he cried out. Seized by the cold grip of panic, he glanced at his watch. It was 7:30 am, Saturday morning. The entry exam was scheduled to begin at 8:30.

Shane sighed with relief. He wasn't late!

He sat in his bed for some time, just thinking, trying not to be overwhelmed. Eventually, he got restless.

Getting out of his bed, he went over to the dresser. He wasn't sure how to dress for a life-altering entry exam, so he grabbed a white dress shirt and some black jeans. Not too casual, but not too formal either. He stepped into the shower, and turned it away from hot. The cool water cascaded over him, washing away some of his stress.

After a long shower and dried himself with a soft, luxurious towel that the Academy had provided. He got dressed and brushed his teeth.

He checked the time. It was almost 8:00. He quickly checked his appearance in the mirror. His dark hair was combed as close to perfection as possible, and his emerald green eyes gleamed with excitement and nerves.

He was really doing it. The uncertainty threatened to consume him, but the reality of what was about to happen squashed all of his nervousness. He suddenly felt a steeled by a strong sense of determination. So close to the exam time, he could no longer afford to be frightened. He was going to prove Ethan wrong. He was going to pass.

He met Luciana and Fernando outside, in the hallway. Together, they walked to the examination room.

Outside was a crowd of nervous looking fourteen year olds, fidgeting around next to their families. Shane felt a twinge in his heart, a longing to be with his parents.

Headmaster Farmaris suddenly stepped out of the examination room.

"Could all potential students please come forward?" he asked.

All of the kids came forward, leaving behind their concerned parents. Headmaster Farmaris ushered Shane and his friends into the examination room. There, he found twenty or so desks with chairs, placed in orderly lines. The Headmaster directed them to sit down.

A lady with platinum blonde hair and steely blue eyes began handing out exam papers, placing them upside down on people's desks and giving them pencils.

"You have two hours to complete the paper. There is a timer at the front of the room. You may flip the paper and began on three. One... two... three!"

Shane's heart jumped in his chest as he flipped the paper. The first page was on biology. He finished the questions on classification and taxonomy, cell structure and mitosis, and the functions of different parts of the brain in the first twenty minutes. It was much more difficult than a human test, but Shane still felt confident that he knew the material. Next was a page on chemistry, physics, an analysis of a short story for English, a quiz on geography and general world history, and questions on geometry, statistics and algebra. He finished with ten minutes to spare and quickly flipped through the paper, checking for any mistakes. When the alarm went and the exam was over, the lady came back and began collecting the papers.

"Thank you for taking the entry exam to Psionic Academy. The results will be posted three hours from now."

Shane, Luciana and Fernando walked into the dormitory.

"How did the exam go?" Fernando asked.

"Better than I thought. I'm feeling pretty good about it," Shane said.

Just then, Ethan walked past them in the hallway.

"Dream on," he said, his voice dripping with acid, "in three hours, you're gonna have to leave the Academy, and you're never coming back."

Shane pushed past him, flanked by Luciana and Fernando. They walked straight into the common room, and found it full with people.

All the fourteen year olds that had just taken the exam were waiting around in the common room.

A girl walked over to the three of them, giving a huge smile.

"Hi. Would you mind if I hung out with you guys for a while? The students back there are... not the most kind Psionics in the world," she said, glaring over her shoulder at Ethan and Nyla.

"Yeah, of course you can," Shane said, smiling, "what's your name?"

"Ava. Yours?"

"Shane."

"I'm Luciana."

"My name's Fernando."

Ava greeted them all in turn. She had long, sandy blonde hair, sky blue eyes and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, like she had just set up a complex prank and was waiting for it to all play out.

"Thanks. My big brother, Adrian, can't have any fun," she said in a mock-boring voice, glancing over to a boy with icy blue eyes and almost pure white hair. In stark contrast to Ava, Adrian looked serious and composed, like someone who would stay calm in every situation, no matter how dangerous and unpredictable.

They talked for a few minutes, before Ava spoke.

"See you later. I should probably be setting up the stuff in my dorm room."

After Ava left, they all went their separate ways. Shane went to his dorm room to read some more of the Psionic handbook.

Shane was sitting by his desk, reading the handbook, when a thought entered his mind. It sliced through his own concentration, foreign and alien, and filled his mind with its presence.

The results have now been posted outside the examination room.

Shane was shaken. The thought hadn't been his own. Instead, it sounded like the voice of Headmaster Farmaris, somehow in his own head.

Immediately, he ran over to Luciana and Fernando.

"Did you guys hear that thought? A thought that... that wasn't your own?" Shane asked.

"Yes! I did!" Fernando exclaimed.

"It must be the Headmaster projecting his own thoughts into our minds," Luciana realised, "and that means the results are out. Come on, let's go!"

They sprinted out of the dormitory. Seconds later, other Psionics were realising what the thought meant. A flood of other Psionics surged forward, right behind them. There was fear and hope and excitement sparkling in everyone's eyes as they ran to the examination room.

Shane was one of the first people there. His eyes desperately scanned the list of Psionics that had been accepted into the school.

Liang Chen

Nyla Williams

Grayson Lewis

Hanako Akiyama

Luciana Martinez

Adrian Matthews

Fernando Rodriguez

Shane was overjoyed to see that Luciana and Fernando had both passed the entry exam, but he began to feel panicked as he couldn't find his name. He read down the list at an impossible speed.

Ava Matthews

Shane Marino

Ethan Marshall

Congratulations all that passed. Welcome to Psionic Academy. We are honored to have you as our students.

He felt an immense sense of relief when he saw his name. Shane was a bit irritated to see that Ethan had made it too, but that annoyance was instantly crushed by his overwhelming joy. He had made it! He had really done it! To make it even better, all of his friends were going to be in class with him too.

"Nice job, you guys," he said, beaming to Luciana and Fernando.

"Yeeeessssssss!" came a cheer from Ava, "I made it!"

"Well done, Ava," Shane smiled.

He saw some people crying, their eyes glimmering with tears when they found their names were not on the list. Her face in her hands, a girl fled to her parents. Shane's heart twisted. That could've been him, and he felt so sorry for them. But at least he could stay in the Academy, with his friends. Nothing could dampen his joy right now.

Together, the four of them chattered excitedly. Shane smiled. He was glad to have such kind friends, and he felt so lucky that he could spend all of his schooling time with them.

Just then, Ethan stalked over to Shane, Nyla sneering at his side.

Shane gritted his teeth and gave a confident smile.

"Looks like I proved you wrong, didn't I?"

"You may be deluded enough to think you're staying here for a long time, but you won't make it past the mid-years," Nyla said, her words dripping with venom.

Shane's throat tightened. It was true. He didn't know if he would ever form an Affinity, and even if he did, he wasn't sure he would be able to master his ability before the mid-year exams.

"You seem to be forgetting something,"Luciana said, her voice edged like a knife blade, "the whole point of this place is to teach us. Shane will learn, and he will join a Discipline."

"We'll see about that," Ethan said. Then he and Nyla spun on their heels and left.

"Boy, those guys are really jerks!" Ava said.

Then she turned to Shane, the mischievous glint back in her eyes.

"I'll have to... correct their behaviour," she said.

Shane wasn't sure how she would do it, but he couldn't wait to find out.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Shane asked.

He knew that their lessons began on Monday, but it was nearing the end of Saturday and he had no idea what they would be doing on Sunday.

The four of them were sitting together in the common room, watching the sun as it set outside the window. Across the room, the girl called Hanako was reading a book. There was no sign of conflict, Ethan and Nyla having retreated to their rooms.

"I don't know," Fernando said, "I hope they have something exciting planned for us!"

No sooner than he had said, a thought was projected into their minds by the Headmaster.

Every student is expected to meet outside the Psionic Biology room tomorrow at nine o'clock sharp to get your uniforms. After that, you shall be directed to the examination room for a special announcement.

Shane smiled. It was really happening. He was going to be taught here, in Psionic Academy. The thought made his heart swell with pride.

He couldn't wait for Sunday.