WonderBoy - Chapter Two

So now you must be thinking, ‘hey, what’s the catch?’ Well, as a matter of fact, there is no catch. I’m just a regular kid living a regular life. Nobody knows what lies within me. Nobody will ever know. Because from where I’m standing, James Poole is a nobody, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.
         Every day at school, I sit there, bored. No-one talks to me, it’s strange. I’m not the kind of kid who gets picked last for sports, or that kind of thing. Although, that may have something to do with me being good at sports. One day though, that changed. My life took a U-turn, I went from being, zero, to hero.
         Now, it isn’t every day your school catches fire. I swear they’ll never let Andrew May near the science labs ever again. The thing is, what do you need most when there are twenty children all trapped inside a burning room? I’ll tell you what you need; a hero.
         Here’s what happened. I was sitting there, in English with Mrs Yates, I was staring out of the window, probably drooling at the prospect of lunch - me being completely disorganised got up late that morning and forgot to have breakfast. What a fateful error that could have turned out to be. I’m staring out of the window, when suddenly I see a huge puff of smoke, shortly followed by the absolute ear ringing boom that you get in an explosion. Except I had no ringing in my ears, when I looked around however everyone was holding their hands over their ears, staring in disbelief out of the window in the direction of the science labs. Masses and masses of screaming children running in opposite directions, falling, crying, holding onto their so called lovers acting as if everything is fine, when in fact nothing is fine, nothing at all.
         I decided, more like my over-ride function decided that the burning building merely 50 metres across the playground would be my destination. I leapt up onto the desk and slid open the window. Within a few seconds I was out, tearing across the playground, each step assessing the risk points and escape routes of the burning building. I opened the door that led to the science labs, masses of smoke came billowing out. When it cleared I could see that the entrance to the room was blocked, as was the fire exit by what seemed to be burning bookshelves. I would have to find another way in.
         The only other way in that I could think of, was through the vent. The vent was used for releasing potentially harmful gases from the lab, out into the atmosphere. Having been a big bang I assumed that the vent would be full of gas. I don’t have much time, I will have to go for it. In desperation I tried to jump up to the roof. No spring heeled leap. I decided to try and fly up there, superman style, I held out my arm in front of me and willed myself upwards. No go. Panic swept over me like none other before, people could be dying in there. This time I would do it. I would, I could, I had to. I stepped back far enough to have a run up, I ran, kick jumped off the wall and… landed flat on my backside. Anger and humiliation swallowed me up. A little voice in my head said, “Never give up, James” and that was when I knew, I had a job to do, and it was my duty to get those kids out of there.
         I picked myself up, stood firmly on the ground, and cleared my head of the anger, the pain, the humiliation and the desperation. I looked up to the roof, my whole body fully focused on that one point, and I jumped. Next thing I knew, I was up on the roof, now that was freaky! I didn’t have time to think about it though. I looked down at the students below, silent, the screaming, the anarchy had stopped. Utter silence, until, “Oh my God! He’s on the roof!” Then a flurry of hands went down to trouser pockets and dashed out their mobile phones, presumably taking pictures. I quickly scurried out of sight. I was tired, exhausted in fact. I had just flown up to the top of the building. Something an ordinary human would never achieve fully in his wildest dreams.
         It took me five whole minutes to gather enough energy to will myself forward, will myself onward, through the dark enclosed space that was the air vent. I looked down into the nothingness, and dropped in. It was a fair way down until I felt the clunk of solid metal beneath my feet. I felt around me and found a hole, just big enough for me to climb through. I followed the dark tunnel for what seemed to be an eternity. It was like sitting at the top of a chimney with a lit fire beneath, nothing but smoke. I wanted to lay down, to sleep. There must have been some gas in the vent. I fell to the floor and closed my eyes. When I awoke I was blinded by a white flash, then a big blur flashed in front of my eyes. There was a man, all dressed in white with a white beard and a balding head. He was walking through a grave yard, towards a tower. I could hear voices... screaming. I awoke with a panic, how long had I been asleep? When I reached the end I could hear tiny squeals of fright, presumably from the children. I looked around and saw one, I repeat one, child still moving. My heart wrenched, I was too late. I jumped down and misjudged my landing, perhaps at the shock, perhaps because my hands and feet were numb. Coughing and spluttering but amazingly calm I moved swiftly over to the boy. Andrew May, what the hell had he done, he was so… perfect. How had any of this happened?
“James, help me.”
“I am, just stand up!”
“I can’t. James, it was me! I’m sorry, please, take them, take them away.”
“Andrew, they are, dead.”
Andrew screamed with what seemed like sorrow. And yet, there was something not right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was almost as if Andrew was excited. I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder. He was the same age as me, but he wasn’t that heavy. I carried him to the fire exit. It was blocked, by a bookshelf, a bookshelf perfectly placed, too perfectly placed. I thought about the boy on my shoulder. It couldn’t have been him. I almost laughed at the crazy thought, but I was wasting time! It was time to take a risk; I plunged my bare hand into the fire and felt no pain, no heat, nothing. I moved the burning book case with ease, and cleared the doorway. After putting Andrew down I picked him back up and noticed he was unconscious. The poor boy. I walked outside and gently placed him at the headmistresses feet, and turned away to head back inside. She put her hand on my shoulder and said,
“James, no, they are dead, don’t risk your own life now, there is nothing you can do.” Tears filled my eyes and I pulled away from Mrs Jacobs.
”There has to be some way, it’s all my fault.” I ran into the burning building and one by one carried out the lifeless bodies of my ex – fellow students. All around me children were crying, including me. Some were gathering around Andrew May, but I couldn’t think about what I had done for him and his family. All that I could think about was what I hadn’t done for the other 19, and the teacher. What I hadn’t done for them, and their families.