Chapter One

LEO-

Leo Dooley sighed as he stared at the blank test lying on his desk. He scanned the page carefully before letting out a sigh. Yep, he knew every answer. Surprise surprise. He glanced up at the clock. Only a minute had passed since the test had started. He looked around the room, not wanting to start the test. He hated having to get some of the answers wrong. You see, don't tell anyone but Leo was bionic. He pretty much knew everything. But, of course, he had to hide it. So, he was forced to dumb everything down. He kept his grades at about straight Bs, with the occasional A or C. It kind of sucked sometimes. Sometimes he just wanted to be able to show how smart he was.

However, Leo knew that would be a bad idea. Unless he wanted government agents swarming him. He knew he would be reported instantly. The kids here were jerks. Some more than others. Such as the Hendersons. They were a strange family. He had never quite understood them. Turning slightly to face them, he studied them. The oldest was annoying, but was a lot better than the other two. He was very deep and philosophical. He had a million questions, most of which were very strange. His name was Adam. He had slicked back brown hair and normally wore fake glasses. You know, the type that were classified as "hipster glasses". He usually carried a notepad which he was constantly scribbling in. Right now, Adam was eying the test, a slight smile on his face. He was a straight A student, and clearly was about to ace the thing. He tapped his pen on the edge of the desk a few times before writing the answers down slowly, taking his time.

Then Leo turned to Adam's jock of a younger brother. Chase. His hair was spiked and a light brown color. He was wearing a light blue football jersey, like always. He was the star of the football team, and probably the most popular guy in school. However, he was an idiot. He never knew what was going on, and on top of that, he mean as a snake. Leo did his best to avoid him.

Currently, Chase was looking at his test, a blank stare adorning his face. His eyes were wide, and he was biting his lip. He slyly looked up from the test and peered at Adam's. He began copying his answers, which caused Leo to sigh. Adam fidgeted to let Chase see his paper.

Finally, Leo averted his gaze towards their sister, Bree. She had silky caramel and brown hair that lay a little below her shoulders. Her outfit was clearly designer, and a disgusting shade of pink. It matched her eyeshadow and lipstick. Not to mention her attitude. She was rude, snobby, conceited, shallow and, just like Chase, not very smart. She was also, like Chase, very mean. The one time Leo had spoken to her, she had the same bratty attitude towards him as she did everyone else. She had a way of making someone feel terrible about themselves. Her test lay blank and abandoned on her desk. She had completely given up and had whipped out her compact. She was smiling and pursing her lips at her reflection. She looked so vain. Which of course, she was. They tell you not to judge a book by its cover, but with Bree, there wasn't much more than the cover. It didn't go any deeper. What you saw was what you got.

Leo shook his head and glanced back at his test. Shrugging, he jotted down all the right answers, then calculated how many he had to get wrong. There were fifty questions so… Seven. He flipped the page and erased a few answers. He made sure they were close, so it seemed like something he would get wrong. His math teacher was completely sure he had potential, so if he wrote something ridiculous, he would get in trouble. It was a delicate balance but such was life.

The bell rang a few minutes later, and Leo got up quickly. Dropping his paper on his math teacher's desk, he rushed out of the door, wanting to get to his next class before the Hendersons. He wasn't scared of them, he just preferred to avoid them. Unfortunately, while he was on his way to English, he wasn't paying attention. As he walked through the hallways, his mind was elsewhere. He stared into space, trying to clear Bree's sneer and Chase's smirk out of his head. He was so deep in thought that he ran right into someone. He winced as the person crumpled to the ground and he stayed standing. He couldn't help it. He had super strength as well as super smarts.

He bent down. "Are you okay?" He asked the person.

They looked up, anger written in every feature. Leo cringed. Chase. "Am I okay? A loser just ran into me! Why don't you watch where you're going, nerd?"

"Chase-" Leo began.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Now the loser thinks he knows me!" Chase said, his voice drenched with sarcasm. "Isn't that cute?"

"Cute is such a subjective term. Why do we define things with words such as 'cute'? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So something that is 'cute' to one person can be described as utterly hideous to the other. Really, who decides what is 'cute'?" Adam began, being philosophical as always.

Chase rolled his eyes. Bree chomped on her gum for a second before shrugging. "I think we should go to the mall." She suggested.

"No." Chase shot her down quickly, not giving it a second thought. "Anyways, maybe this loser should get out of our face, huh?" He jeered.

Leo tried to defuse the bomb. "I'm not trying to cause any problems, Chase. Please, just back off. I don't want really don't want any trouble."

"Too bad, because you're gonna get some." Chase cracked his knuckles, a smirk on his face.

"Make sure to ruin the outfit too. I mean, cargo pants? My gosh, it's not the nineties! And look at that jacket! Plaid like that has to be illegal in at least fifty-five states." Bree commented snidely.

Adam simply scribbled something down in his little book. He looked slightly bored, but at the same time as if he had just discovered something.

"Listen Chase, I wouldn't suggest punching me." Leo muttered, knowing that as soon as he would struck, problems would ensue.

Chase narrowed his eyes. "Really. Why is that?"

"Because... FREEZE." Leo heard the rush of time slowing down. Frankly, it made his head hurt. He shook his head back and forth, trying to clear his thoughts. He glanced around at everyone in the hallway who had ceased moving. He turned his gaze to the clock. "Reverse, five minutes." He instructed. Immediately, everything around him began moving in reverse quickly. He smiled as the Hendersons rapidly walked away, backwards. "I love bionics..." He muttered. "Some of those upgrades mom gives me are amazing."

After about a minute, he heard a quick whoosh, letting him know time was back to normal. He checked his watch. He had two minutes before Chase showed up. He rushed to class, making sure to watch where he was going. He was not going to put his secret at stake again.