Story:
Hill Street High School was built in the early 1990's in response to the town's recent growth. Too, the old school was a remnant of the 1920's, and looked it. The town had eventually given in to the inevitable and voted in a new school.

The new building had everything. As befitted area weather, it was totally enclosed (except for the athletic fields, of course). Yet its public areas never felt claustrophobic, for it relied a great deal on glass. The cafeteria was large and clean, the library well-stocked even with fiction, and the gymnasium included an indoor pool.

Whateley Academy

“Your friend’s been attacked.”

Jada was the only one of our group of lunch friends who was going to college in the fall. I was working for a year to save money and establish residency, Britt was going to take online trade school classes while learning more from her dad about working on cars, and Poppy and Lisette were just going to start working full-time.

Homecoming. The most miserably cold and wet game yet. The sidelines churned to a sea of mud, and I had to go and slip.

Waving goodbye to the rest of the cheer squad, I snuck into the girls showers. I unpinned my muddy wig, and ran a hot shower.

Sudsing my sweaty, flattened hair, I heard a scream. Clearing my eyes, I saw that Brittany had come back, for some reason.

"I just ducked in here to grab a shower," I claimed, "I didn't think any girls were here."

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

I woke up to someone growling.

New instincts made me leap to my feet, which proved to be a mistake. I somehow jumped too far and slammed face first into the wall. I stood there, plastered to the cold stone for a moment, then fell backwards back onto the floor.

Davey knew he shouldn't have worn his mother's hat to do yardwork in, but being a redhead, he didn't need to get burned. And he certainly didn't need anymore butterscotch freckles...

The moment that tractor beam hit our little ship we knew our fate was sealed. My moms and I had been abducted by the most feared beings in the galaxy, merciless creatures who saw us as nothing more than raw materials for their quest to turn everybody, everywhere into what they were. The drones ignored my screams as they replaced my left eye with a more efficient visual apparatus, then replaced other parts of me with tools suited to the tasks I had been assigned to perform. Wires snaked into my brain, and when my mind was linked to the collective I wasn't me anymore. I was no longer anyone.

But I'll say one thing for being turned into a Borg, it did eliminate my gender dysphoria for more than 5½ years. When you're nothing but a component with the designation 13-of-13 gender identity is irrelevant...

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

When a short guy and a tall, strong girl just click.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

By the end of the first tenday, I had become a friend and playmate to the younger children, an assistant to Bisur in his magical workshop, and an assistant to Mipina in her writing. Razuko, however, remained uninterested in socializing and did not seem to want much help.

“I thought you had a boyfriend named Pete,” he asked.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

'Assume the position' those words echoed in my ear as I stepped back. There was no possible way this could be going on. This was all a mistake. Daisy had defended me, he had taken up for me. He should have been hailed as a hero and here they were treating him like a common criminal.

Daisy took a deep breath and reached into his pocket. A moment later he was pulling out his wallet, his phone, and a string of beads, prayer beads. He handed the items to me. I don't know why but he did and with trembling hands I took them.

“So you see,” I said to the monster under my bed, “it's the last day of the school week. If I survive today, which includes detention, I'll have two days to recover and prepare for next week and the rest of my detention.”

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

Saved by the Bell
-3-
The Son of God goes forth to War

I don't think one signal word passed between the three of us as Jamie guided Daisy out of the lunchroom and toward the headmasters office. Jamie and Daisy walked ahead of me, and I trailed a little behind the two. Then something happened, as we drew closer to the headmaster office. Daisy paused and took a deep breath. And then in a light, airy tone of voice he started to sing a cappella. The sound of his voice seemed to echo down the hallway.