Clark answered Chloe's question with a vague shrug, clearly unwilling to explain further. He avoided eye contact and quickly changed the subject, which only made Chloe more curious.
"It just happens that we could go together tomorrow," Peter suggested enthusiastically. He spread his hands in a carefree gesture and glanced around the group.
"It's a shame it isn't summer yet," he continued with a sigh. "Otherwise I could volunteer as a lifeguard at the pool."
That would certainly be more interesting than spending hours with elderly people wearing dentures.
But spring hadn't fully warmed up yet, and the outdoor swimming pool remained closed. Compared to picking up trash or cleaning streets outside, volunteering indoors sounded far more appealing.
Chloe shook her head.
She had already completed her community service hours earlier in the semester, and she had no intention of doing extra work just for fun.
"Count me out," she said casually.
David remained quiet, watching the crowd around the barbecue while holding his bottle of fruit beer.
"She's not only paying attention to me," he thought silently. "She's watching Clark too."
Although Kayla was sitting with several girls nearby and chatting while preparing food, her gaze drifted toward their group every now and then.
David had been observing her carefully.
And it was obvious she had been observing them as well.
"What exactly is her purpose?" David wondered.
"Chloe, you look cold. Want me to warm you up?"
A cheerful voice interrupted the group.
A tall student with short blond hair and a football uniform walked over. He had a strong build and a confident smile that suggested he was used to getting attention.
"You said that pretty boldly," Chloe replied, surprised but slightly flustered.
"Don't misunderstand," the boy said quickly, raising his eyebrows with a playful grin. "I've got a blanket over there. You could come sit with me."
"Sean, she's not your type."
Peter stood up immediately.
Even though he was nearly a head shorter, he still stared directly into Sean's eyes without backing down.
David recognized the name.
Sean had a reputation around school. He was charming and smooth-talking, the kind of guy who convinced girls to fall for him and then broke up with them a few weeks later.
In short, he was exactly the kind of person David disliked.
"In biology class last week," Chloe said with a polite smile, "the teacher paired me with Jenna from the next class for a lab experiment."
As a reporter for the school newspaper, Chloe naturally knew Sean's reputation.
"I heard you broke up with her last week."
"To be precise," Sean said calmly, "we broke up with each other."
He didn't look embarrassed at all.
Seeing Chloe smiling, he seemed even more confident.
"So," he said softly, "would you like to come sit with me?"
He lowered his voice slightly and looked at her with practiced sincerity.
"I promise I won't do anything," he added gently. "No matter how beautiful you look to me."
Chloe's face flushed faintly.
Not many people complimented her like that.
For a brief moment she glanced sideways at Peter, remembering his earlier joke about her being jealous of Kayla.
"I…"
"Chloe," David said suddenly.
His voice cut cleanly through the moment.
"You haven't even taken a sip of wine tonight," he said calmly. "You just sat near the fire to warm up. Did you knock yourself out from the heat?"
Teenagers often made impulsive decisions without thinking about the consequences.
David turned his gaze toward Sean.
"Stay away."
Three simple words.
Sean's expression stiffened slightly.
He had heard rumors about David fighting Whitney and several other athletes by himself. Not wanting trouble, Sean quickly raised his hands in surrender.
"Alright, alright," he said with a shrug.
Since picking up girls here clearly wasn't going to work, he turned around and walked away. A few of his teammates called him over to play football near the lake, and he joined them with an annoyed expression.
After Sean left, Chloe's embarrassment finally surfaced.
"Actually… I was just going to give him a fake phone number and send him away," she said quickly.
Her face reddened as she tried to salvage her dignity in front of her friends.
"I'm not stupid."
David shrugged casually.
"Let's go with that version."
Chloe glared at him, feeling both annoyed and grateful at the same time.
In the end she sighed.
"Fine. Thanks," she said quietly to David and Peter, realizing they had been trying to protect her.
Clark watched the entire exchange silently.
A thought slowly formed in his mind.
When his family was threatened, David reacted like thunder striking an enemy. But when his friends faced trouble, he offered calm advice and helped them quietly.
It made people feel protected.
"Is he really putting himself above everyone else?" Clark wondered.
Then another thought followed immediately.
"Is it wrong to treat enemies ruthlessly?"
Clark shook his head quickly, trying to stop the train of thought.
"If I keep thinking like this," he realized uneasily, "my thinking will start changing the same way David's has."
David noticed Clark staring at him strangely.
For a moment Clark looked confused, then shook his head repeatedly as if trying to clear his mind.
David frowned slightly.
"What's wrong with him?" he wondered.
Near the lake, several football players had gathered.
"The pizza's here!" one of them shouted.
"Sean, catch!"
A football was thrown toward Sean as he turned around.
He jumped to catch it but missed.
The ball bounced several meters away and slid across the frozen lake.
While the others began devouring the steaming pizza, Sean walked across the ice to retrieve it.
The surface was cold, hard, and dangerously slippery.
As soon as he bent down to pick up the ball, a sharp cracking sound echoed beneath his feet.
Crack.
Sean froze.
"What was that?" he whispered.
Cold fear spread through his body like icy water. Slowly, trembling, he looked down.
Thin cracks were spreading beneath his shoes.
He didn't dare move.
He opened his mouth to shout.
"Hel—"
The ice shattered.
Sean plunged straight into the freezing water.
He struggled desperately.
But the cold lake water was merciless. Unable to break through the ice above him, his strength faded quickly. His movements slowed, then stopped entirely as he sank into the darkness below.
At the muddy bottom of the lake, a faint green glow pulsed.
A cluster of meteorite fragments lay buried there.
When Sean's body touched the strange stones, something began to change.
His blood vessels swelled beneath his skin, turning an eerie green.
A silent transformation had begun.
Meanwhile, the football players on the shore were too busy eating hot pizza to notice that Sean had disappeared.
…
Early the next morning, the Kent household was unusually quiet.
Martha and Jonathan sat at the kitchen table with calculators and stacks of bills.
"The dealer's fee is twelve point five percent," Martha muttered. "Six months of feed costs another five percent. Then the mortgage interest is eight point two percent… plus the lawn mower repair…"
Both of them frowned as they pressed buttons on their calculators.
"Fifty-four thousand five hundred and one dollars," Clark said suddenly.
He had been listening quietly for several seconds before giving the answer.
When the topic of the lawn mower repair came up, Clark scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"If I hadn't stuck my hand inside the mower that day," he said sheepishly, "the farm wouldn't have spent thousands fixing it."
"Now let's calculate the profits," Jonathan said calmly, taking the ledger without scolding him.
Before Jonathan finished entering the numbers, David glanced at the figures.
"Total income is sixty-seven thousand three hundred fifty-seven dollars," he said casually.
He raised an eyebrow.
"So the farm made more than ten thousand dollars over the past year and a half?"
Jonathan and Martha set down their calculators and finally exhaled in relief.
Martha smiled at her sons.
"At least we didn't lose money," she said gently. "And besides, the most valuable assets our family has are the two of you."
Jonathan waved his hand.
"These things aren't something you two should worry about," he said firmly. "Didn't you make plans with Peter to do community service today? Go on."
The burdens of life weren't meant for teenagers still in school.
Later that morning, the brothers arrived at the small town nursing home with Peter.
"Room 206 needs an assistant," a voice announced over the intercom.
Every student needed thirty hours of community service each semester, and David was no exception.
The three of them collected their assignments.
A familiar figure stepped out of a nearby room, pushing a cart filled with books.
"Hey, Lana," Clark said quickly, waving with forced casualness.
"What a coincidence. Are you volunteering here too?"
He tried to sound relaxed, but his voice betrayed a hint of nervousness.
"I've been here for a while," Lana replied with a calm smile.
"What kind of work did you get assigned?"
"I'm supposed to read with Cassandra," Clark explained.
David and Peter remained silent, deliberately giving Clark the chance to talk with Lana.
David's assignment was simpler.
He was supposed to play chess with an elderly woman.
"Cassandra?" Lana said with a small smile. "She's interesting."
"The caregivers say she can predict the future," Lana added. "Sometimes just a few minutes ahead… sometimes someone's entire life."
Clark looked intrigued.
"Have you tried it?" he asked.
Lana shrugged slightly.
Her expression made it clear she didn't believe in such things.
Then she pushed the cart down the hallway to deliver books to another resident.
"Predict the future?" Peter said skeptically.
David raised an eyebrow.
Clark, however, kept watching Lana's back as she walked away.
Inside Room 206, an elderly woman sat by the window.
Her gray hair was neatly tied back, and she wore dark glasses that covered her eyes. Her hands moved gently across the pages of a Braille book resting on her lap.
"Don't just stand at the door," the old woman said suddenly.
"This is the first time three people have come to read with me. Please come in."
Clark, David, and Peter exchanged puzzled looks.
[Joy from Cassandra +1.0, +1.2…]
David's eyes flashed briefly as he studied her.
"A metahuman," he thought.
Her emotional energy was strong, and the ability felt unusual.
But could she really see the future?
More importantly, how exactly were they supposed to "read" with someone using Braille?
"How did you know there were three of us?" Peter asked as they stepped inside.
"My eyes may be blind," Cassandra said with a weathered voice, "but my ears still work."
The explanation didn't fully convince Peter.
Could a blind person's hearing really be that sharp?
Cassandra removed her dark glasses and accidentally dropped the Braille book from her lap.
Peter stepped forward to pick it up.
As he returned it, his fingers brushed against her hand.
"What's your name, young man?" Cassandra asked softly.
"Pete Ross."
"Mr. Ross," Cassandra said with a mysterious smile, "you're going to have a long walk home today."
She paused slightly.
"You should check your pockets."
Pete frowned and immediately reached into his pocket.
His expression changed.
"My car keys…" he muttered. "They're gone."
He had no idea where he had dropped them.
"I guess I'll have to leave early," Pete said helplessly, glancing between the two brothers. "Looks like I won't be finishing my volunteer work today. You two take care."
Still shocked, he hurried out of the room.
After Pete left, Cassandra slowly turned toward David and Clark.
"You two are brothers, aren't you?"
She stood up from the chair and faced them directly, her posture surprisingly steady for someone who claimed to be blind.
"What are your names, gentlemen?"
....
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