Mark came downstairs with a bag on his back. Originally, he would have had trouble picking which books to bring, but thankfully he had a timetable that was printed out to find out what subjects he had that day and which class to go to.
"Mom, I'm heading to school," Mark told her as he was about to leave. He didn't care much about calling her mom since he came from a culture where everyone was considered family.
Debbie, who was sitting at the dining counter reading a book, turned around and said, "Have breakfast first before you go."
Seeing the breakfast ready on the counter, Mark decided to sit in front of her and began eating the sandwich she had made. He enjoyed it, never expecting it to taste this good.
He finished the sandwich in a few bites, then lifted the plate to the sink to wash it. Right after that, he searched for water. He looked through the fridge and only found a bottle of orange juice.
He drank it from a glass cup and washed that too right after. Before leaving for school, he said without looking back.
"Bye." Mark began putting on his outdoor shoes.
"Bye," Debbie replied, then advised him, "Be careful out there."
"Alright." Mark waved at his mother and left for school. He closed the door and walked away from home, but now the only problem was where the school was located.
As he looked around, he found a savior: the mailman, who was putting mail on the other side of the road, minding his own business. So he quickly ran over to the man and asked urgently, "Do you know where the nearby school is located?"
The mailman was a bit confused but still guided him on where to go. Mark said his thanks and followed the guide, since he had nearly been cooked not knowing where to go.
But when he got near the school, there were a lot of students walking too. He began looking around, searching for someone recognizable, but he didn't find anyone. As he entered the school building, he headed straight to his class, following the school map that was on the wall.
When he arrived there, he asked a student where he was supposed to sit. The student looked confused but still pointed to his seat.
"Thanks, bro."
As he took a seat, he began observing every other student in the class. Then a new classmate entered and called out to Mark with a smile on his face.
"Mark, you got here earlier this time."
Mark began thinking about who the guy in front of him was. He knew this guy was the original Mark's friend, but he didn't remember his name at all. With that in mind, he decided to just relax and act chill.
"Yeah, my mom nagged me."
. . . .
Time passed, and the school day finally ended with the bell ringing. Mark's face was full of annoyance as he came out of the building. He quickly left the school because he couldn't stand it anymore.
'School is the worst, especially when you have no friends and have to act like a fake person.'
And yes, William wasn't much of a friend either. Mark didn't really know who William was and had no real connection with him. He had been faking all of his interactions with William, just going with the flow and deciding that was the best case scenario.
But before Mark could leave school grounds, William called out to him, panting as he tried to catch up. Mark had been walking really fast because he didn't want to be there anymore.
"Mark, a few of us are gonna go hang out at Shenanigans tonight. Do you want to tag along?"
"Nah, I'm busy. I've got something to do today," Mark said, making excuses to avoid hanging out since he had far more important things to do next.
"Oh, you've got a shift today, right? My bad, I forgot you have a job. See you soon then." William raised his hand for a second to bid him farewell.
Mark's face slightly changed when William mentioned he had a job, but he didn't react much. He replied by raising his hand for a second too, bidding him farewell.
But Mark didn't walk back home. He went to search for a place where he could learn martial arts. As he walked, whenever he saw people passing by, he asked them the same question.
"Do you know any place that teaches martial arts?"
The replies he got were either "I don't know," "no," or people just outright ignored him. Until one muscular dude with a kind smile who had just left the gym answered him.
"There's one about 15 minutes drive from here. It's called Baltimore Martial Arts Academy."
"Thanks, dude." Mark offered a brotherly handshake. The bigger dude smiled and accepted it, and both of them patted each other on the back.
"No problem. See you soon, kid." The bigger dude continued jogging right after.
Mark looked at the gym, decided to enter, and paid a day entrance fee. Looking at all the gym equipment and sweaty people training, he took a deep breath.
'I need to start training even if my power comes late.'
So first thing first, he put his stuff in the locker room that the gym had given him a key for. Then as he headed out, he decided to start warming up his body.
He was a bit of a beginner since this was his first time being in a gym and having enough money to even pay for a day pass. He felt a bit nervous because it was overwhelming.
"You good, kid?"
Someone from behind him asked. When Mark turned around, he saw a very huge, very muscular guy with brown hair.
"Yeah..." Mark took a deep breath and accidentally said, "I don't know."
"What don't you know?" The guy tilted his head since Mark had suddenly said that out of nowhere.
Mark encouraged himself and explained that he didn't know what to do here. "I don't know where to start. I want to get stronger. Can you help me?"
The guy's face practically beamed, like he had been waiting for this his entire life, with a smile on his face.
"I can. What's your name?" The guy asked as he introduced himself and offered a handshake. "I'm Marc."
"My name is Mark too." Mark began chuckling as he introduced himself and accepted the handshake.
Marc heard that and chuckled too. "That's great to know. Come on, I'll show you how you can start training."
Marc began leading the way, and Mark followed suit and began learning as much as he could.