When Gabriel first suggested we sign up for the school\u2019s new \u201cIntroduction to Computers\u201d class, I laughed. Neither of us had touched one outside of the library, and the idea of spending a whole semester learning to \u201ctype\u201d on those humming beige boxes seemed like punishment. But it was new, it was the future, and\u2014if I\u2019m honest\u2014we figured it might be an easy A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there we were, walking into the lab for the first time. The place smelled like hot plastic and new carpet, humming with the quiet buzz of machines waiting to be woken up. Rows of bulky monitors sat ready, green cursors blinking in patient silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then we saw him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark Harcourt, the soft-spoken kid who\u2019d nearly folded under the bullies\u2019 fists last week, was already at the front of the room. Not sitting at a desk like the rest of us\u2014but standing beside the teacher, sleeves rolled up, calmly explaining something about \u201cboot sequences\u201d and \u201ccommand prompts\u201d that might as well have been a foreign language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I blinked. Gabriel leaned toward me and muttered, \u201cWhat the hell?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The teacher, Mr. Reynolds, beamed like he\u2019d just won the lottery. \u201cClass, this is Mark. He\u2019ll be helping me out this semester. He\u2019s a little ahead of the curve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A little ahead of the curve? That was putting it lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within minutes, Mark was gliding between stations, helping students with the patience of a saint. He showed one girl how to load a program from a floppy disk, reassured a panicked teacher\u2019s aide when her screen went black, and explained to an entire row why typing \u201cDIR\u201d wasn\u2019t going to delete the system but simply show the directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMr. Harcourt,\u201d one of the teachers-turned-students called, panic in her voice. \u201cIt froze again!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark leaned over her shoulder, calm as ever. \u201cNo, it\u2019s just waiting for input. Type C-colon-backslash, then hit enter. See?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The screen sprang to life. She looked at him like he\u2019d just returned fire to the Prometheus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel let out a low whistle. \u201cThey really do worship him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I smirked. \u201cGuess in here, he\u2019s the alpha.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not everyone was so thrilled. Down the row, one of the same idiots who\u2019d cornered Mark in the parking lot sat slouched in his chair, letterman jacket hanging from the back. His smirk faltered as he mashed the keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUh, hey, teacher\u2019s pet,\u201d he sneered, waving at the monitor. \u201cThis thing\u2019s busted. Doesn\u2019t do what I tell it to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark walked over, quiet and deliberate. He stopped just behind the guy\u2019s chair, voice steady but soft. \u201cIt\u2019s not broken.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bully glared. \u201cThen why won\u2019t it work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark leaned down, close enough that his voice dropped into something sharper. \u201cBecause it doesn\u2019t take orders from you. It takes instructions. And you\u2019re not giving it any.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A ripple of laughter spread across the room. Even Mr. Reynolds cracked a grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bully flushed, ears burning red. \u201cWhatever. Just\u2026 fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark typed a few quick commands, screen blinking obediently back to life. Then he straightened, hands in his pockets. \u201cThere. Next time, try reading the directions before you muscle through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid had no comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel smirked, murmuring, \u201cQuiet revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cQuiet,\u201d I agreed, watching Mark stroll back up the aisle, no swagger, no gloating. Just doing what he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it was obvious enough. Out in the halls, Mark was fragile, easy prey. In the cafeteria, he blended into the wallpaper. But here\u2014in the almighty computer lab, with adults hanging on his every word\u2014Mark Harcourt wasn\u2019t weak at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was untouchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wolf in me saw it clear: strength didn\u2019t always roar. Sometimes, it hummed through circuits and screens, soft-spoken and unshakable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Gabriel first suggested we sign up for the school\u2019s new \u201cIntroduction to Computers\u201d class, I laughed. Neither of us had touched one outside of the library, and the idea of spending a whole semester learning to \u201ctype\u201d on those humming beige boxes seemed like punishment. But it was new, it was the future, and\u2014if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/98"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}