That Wednesday felt like one of the longest days in school ever. I had no idea that it wasn't even close to being over. After the final bell rang, Clemont and I walked to our lockers, which were next to each other.

"Want to come over and play Halo?" Clemont asked.

"Can't. I've got detention, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"I'll knock on your door when I get home."

Clemont and I lived just two doors from each other in the same apartment building.

"I won't be home. I have clogging lessons at four."

"Ugh," I said. It was hard to imagine Clemont doing any physical activity, but dancing with a bunch of seven-year-old girls wearing black patent leather tap shoes was like a bad car wreck—gross, but you just have to look. "You've got to get out that, man. If anyone here finds out, you're ruined for life."

"I know. But the clogging teacher's my mom's cousin and Mom says she needs the money and I need the exercise."

"It's still cruel," I said, shutting my locker. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He put out his fist. "Bones."

"Bones," I said, bumping his first even though I was sick of doing it—I mean, it was okay the first million times.

The hallways were crowded with students as I walked with my backpack down to the lunchroom. Ms. Johnson, a young, new English teacher, had just been assigned to supervise detention, which I thought was a good thing. She was reputed to be cool and nice, which, I hoped, meant she might let us out early.

I walked up to her. I had to force myself not to tic. "I'm Ash Ketchum. I'm here for detention."

She smiled at me like I'd just arrived at a dinner party. "Hi, Ash. Welcome." She looked down at her clipboard and marked my name on her roll. "Go ahead and pick a table."

The smell of lunch still lingered in the air (which was a punishment of its own), and I could hear the lunch workers behind the metal window screens preparing for tomorrow's disaster.

There were three other students in detention: two boys and a girl. I was smaller than all of them and only one who didn't look like a homicidal psychopath. As I looked around the room for a place to sit, the girl looked at me and scowled, warning me away from her table. I found a vacant table in the corner and sat down.

I hated being in detention, but at least today it wouldn't be a complete waste of time. I needed to study for Poulsen's test. As I got my books from my pack, I noticed that my shoulder still hurt a little from being crammed into my locker. I tugged on my collar and exposed a bright red scrape. Fortunately, I had gotten my fingers out of the way just in time to not have the door slammed on them. I wondered if anyone would call my mom about the incident. I hoped not. She had a stupid job she didn't like and I didn't want to make her day any worse than it already was.

Just twenty minutes into detention, Ms. Johnson said, "All ready, that's enough. Time to go."

I scooped my books into my pack and threw it over my shoulder. "See you tomorrow," I said to Ms. Johnson.

"See you tomorrow, Ash," she said pleasantly.

Outside the cafeteria, the halls were now empty except for the janitorial crew that had moved in and were pushing wide brooms up and down the tiled corridors. I stopped at my locker and grabbed the licorice I'd stowed in there after lunch and had looked forward to all day. I peeled back its wrapper and took a delicious chewy bite. Whoever invented licorice was a genius. I loved licorice almost as much as Carmel. I swung my pack over my shoulder, then walked out of the south door, glad to finally be going home.

I had just come around the corner of the school when Calem and his posse, Wally and Drew, emerged from between two dumpsters. Calem grabbed me by the front of my shirt. I dropped my licorice.

"You ratted us out to Dallstrom, didn't you?" Calem said.

I looked up at him, my eyes twitching like crazy. "I didn't tell him."

"Yeah, right, you little chicken." Calem shoved me backward into a pyracantha bush. Sharp thorns pricked my neck, arms, and legs. The only place that wasn't stinging was where my back protected me.

"You're going to pay," Calem said, pointing at me, "big-time." He turned to Wally, who was almost as tall as Calem but not as broad shouldered or muscular. "Show him what we do to snitchers."

"I didn't tell on you," I said again. "I promise."

Before I could climb out of the bush, Wally pulled me up and thumped me hard on the eye. I saw a bright flash and felt my eye immediately begin to swell. I put my hand over it, trying not to lose my balance.

"Hit him again," Calem said.

The next fist landed on landed on my nose. It hurt like crazy. I could feel blood running down my lips and chin. My eyes watered. Then Calem walked up and punched me right in the gut. I fell to my knees, unable to breathe. When I could finally fill my lungs with air, I began to groan. I couldn't stop blinking.

"He's crying like a baby," Wally said joyfully. "Cry, baby, cry."

Then came Drew. Drew Rosewood had green hair and a crooked nose. He was the smallest of the three, which is probably why he was the meanest since he had the most to prove. "I say we pants him." This was a speciality of Drew's. By "pants" he meant to pull off my pants—the ultimate act of humiliation. Last year in eighth grade, Drew had pantsed Clemont behind the school, pulling off his pants and underwear in front of a couple dozen classmates. Clemont had to run home naked from the waist down, something he had never lived down.

"Yeah," Wally agreed, "that'll teach him for ratting us out."

"No!" I shouted, struggling to my feet. "I didn't tell on you."

Just then someone shouted, "Leave him alone!" Serena Yvonne was standing alone near the school door, dressed in her purple-and-gold cheerleading outfit.

"Hey, check out the cheerleader," Drew said.

"You're just in time to watch us pants this guy," Wally said.

"Yeah, shake those pom-poms for us," Calem said, laughing like a maniac. Then he made up his own cheer, which was surprisingly clever for Calem. "Two, four, six, eight, who we gonna cremate?" He laughed again. "Grab him."

Before I could even try to get away, all three of them grabbed me. Despite the fact that my nose was still bleeding and I could nearly see out of one eye, I went wild, squirming against their clamp-like grips. I got one hand loose and hit Calem in the neck, scoring only a dull thud. He responded by thumping me on the ear.

"Come on, you wimps!" He shouted at Wally and Drew. "You can't hold this runt?" They pinned me face down on the ground, the weight of all the crushing me in to the grass.

"Stupid little nerd," Wally said. "You think you can rat on us and not pay?"

I tried to curl up so they couldn't take my clothes, but they were too strong. Calem pulled on my shirt until it began to tear.

"You leave him alone or I'll get Mrs. Palermo!" Serena shouted. "She's right inside." Mrs. Palermo was the cheerleaders' adviser and taught home economics. She was a soft-spoken, matronly woman and about as scary as a throw pillow. I think we all knew that she wasn't actually inside or Serena would have just gotten her in the first place.

"Shut your mouth," Calem said.

Hearing him talk that way to Serena infuriated me. "You shut your mouth, you loser," I said to Calem.

"You need to learn some manners, blinky boy."
"You need mouthwash," I said.

Calem grabbed me by the hair and pulled my head around. "You're going to be wishing you'd kept your mouth shut." He smacked me again on the nose, which sent a shock of pain through my body. At that moment something snapped. I knew I couldn't hold back much longer.

"Let me go!" I shouted. "I'm warning you."
"Ooh," Drew said. "He's warning is."
"Yeah, whatcha gonna do?" Wally said. "Cry on us?"

"No, he's gonna wipe his nose on us," Drew laughed. He pulled off my shoes while Wally grabbed my waistband and started tugging at my pants. I was still trying to curl up.

"Stop struggling," Calem said. "Or we're going to take everything you got and make you streak home."

"Leave him alone!" Serena yelled again.

"Wally, hurry and pull his pants off," Drew said.

A surge of anger ran through my body so powerful I couldn't control it. Suddenly a sharp, electric ZAP! pierced the air, like the sound of ice being dropped onto a hot griddle. Electricity flashed and Calem and his posse screamed out as they all fell to their backs and flopped about on the grass like fish on land.

I rolled over to my side and wiped the blood from my nose with the back of my hand. I pushed myself up, red-faced and angry. I stood above Calem, who was frothing at the mouth. "I told you to leave me alone. If you ever touch me again, I'll do worse. Do you understand? Or do you want more?" I lifted my hand.

Terror was evident in his eyes. "No. Please don't."

I turned and looked at his posse. Both of them were on the ground, quivering and whimpering. In fact, Drew was bawling like a baby and moaning, "It hurts . . . It hurts so bad."

I walked over to him. "You bet it hurts. And that was just a little one. Next time you bully me, or any of my friends, I'll triple it."

As the three of them lay there groaning and quivering, I sat back on the ground, pulled on my shoes, and tried them. Then I remembered Serena.

I looked back over at the door, hoping she had gone inside. She hadn't. And from the expression on her face, I could tell she had seen everything. Bad, bad news. My mother was going to kill me. But there was nothing I could do about that now. I grabbed my backpack and ran home.

Wow. What a chapter. Many of you guys are glad to see Calem treated this way, right? Well, how about Serena's reaction to Ash's first use of his power? More as the journey continues!...