"Administration will see to that." Franklin frowned when he saw Pete staring at the assignment. At least he was staring at an A. But he had a real sinking feeling about what that sudden aversion meant. He could feel his heart and stomach sink like a rock.

Franklin went over from the other side of his desk to the chair beside Pete, putting his hands on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Pete." He didn't want to say too much about it openly, especially if he wanted it kept private. "But you know you're not alone here, right? If you ever need or want to talk about anything, or need help, we're here."

It was a lot easier to talk about the War of American Independence. But the fact was, they would never just be an ordinary school with a few extracurricular powers-training classes. Pete was, sadly, far from alone on that score.