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done to my bare foot, I was nervous at first. But as I moved out into the light and began my walk, the clothes did their job.

    So far, so good. I headed toward school.
    Browser was at the fence again. He whined. Stay, I thought.
    He stood, unmoving.
    Sit, I thought, speaking to him with my mind.
    He sat.
    This made me feel strangely uneasy. I wasn’t exactly ready to rule the beasts. I continued toward school. There weren’t a lot of kids on my block, so I figured I probably wouldn’t run into anyone for at least the first part of my trip. Up ahead, I saw Dawn Easton leaving her house. I waited for her to get far enough ahead so she wouldn’t notice me. I didn’t want to have to explain the scarf and glasses. I’d been avoiding her anyhow. She’d been acting real strange recently, and I was beginning to think she had a crush on me.
    I was completely aware of everything as I walked. My senses were pretty much under control, but I was scanning the world, taking in a bit at a time, just sampling little tastes all around me. There was a bird in the tree above me. I listened to its heartbeat. Then I listened to the skritch of insects inside the tree. I smelled the scents of passengers in passing cars. The man riding by in the station wagon had a pack of spearmint gum in his pocket. Behind me, a block away, two kids were walking to school carrying their lunch boxes. I could tell the contents. One kid had salami and cheese. The other—yuck—was carrying egg salad. Ahead, to the left, in a house across the street, someone was using a vacuum cleaner. Straight ahead, and very close, someone was standing, speaking words. I focused in on the words.
    â€œLook at that little fuzzball.”
    Odd words. I recognized the voice right away. And as soon as I knew that, I also realized whom he was talking about. It was Bud Mellon, Lud’s older and stupider brother. And he’d just noticed me. I’d been so busy bathing myself in all the new sensations that I’d forgotten about things that were right in front of my face.
    Bud blocked my path. “Did your mommy dress you today?” he sneered. “Are you all warm and comfy?”
    I started to step around him. He turned and reached out to grab my scarf. “Let’s see who the scarf face is.”
    His fingers were about to close on the scarf. A lifetime of training had conditioned me against fighting back in a hopeless situation. No kid could possibly win against the brute strength and stupidity of a Mellon brother. But my new reflexes didn’t listen to me. I lashed out, pushing him away. I only meant to push him back so I could run past and escape to the school.
    I truly didn’t know my own strength. At least, I didn’t know it until that moment.
    Bud left the ground. He must have felt like he was flying. He tumbled back, his arms spiraling in the air, his mouth open in an expression of amazement and wonder. He looked a lot like someone bouncing back after reaching the end of a bungee jump. Sproing! He flew all the way across the street, crashing to a stop in some garbage bags that had been set out on the curb. After he landed, he just sat there, staring.
    I quickly checked around. No one had seen the Amazing Flying Mellon. There were those two kids behind me, but they were busy looking at some baseball cards and hadn’t noticed anything. It was easy enough to tell—their rate of breathing hadn’t changed. I made sure to pay more attention to the space right in front of me as I walked the rest of the way to school.
    I slipped inside the building, rushing past the windows and into the darker corridors. This just might work , I thought. I might be able to pull it off.
    I went to my locker and put away the sunglasses, coat, hat, gloves, and scarf.
    â€œHi, Sebastian.”
    I looked over. It was Dawn. “Hi.”
    â€œIt’s supposed to be a really nice sunny day. Want to go for a bike ride after