Hermia the Healer: Stops Bullies in Their Tracks

Mrs. Piazza

ELA 7

12/13/16

Chapter 1: The Hangry Bully (that’s hungry and angry)

It was a hot and sticky day. The kind of New York afternoon where you could feel the grumpy, gloomy energy in the air. As I packed up my books and headed home, I could tell that something was coming. I used my psychic powers to scan the area. Trouble lit up the warning lights in the back of my mind. Luckily I had brought my supersuit! I slipped into the girl’s room to change. Then, quick as a flash, I raced out of the building. I could feel my cape billowing behind me. It felt glorious!

As I rounded the corner I saw Jeremy, a local bully, holding my buddy Gino against the wall.

“Give me all your money punk!” He shouted, “Or I’ll break your glasses again!”

“Hold it right there!” I said in my most sinister tone.

“It’s Hermia!” Said Gino.

“Aww man!” whined Jeremy. I had him pinned with my mind. He couldn’t move a muscle.

“Jeremy, this is the second time I’ve had to deal with you,” I warned. “One more time and I’ll have to force you out of the bully game for good. You know I don’t want to go digging around in your twisted brain, but I will, if that’s what it takes to put an end to your bullying ways.”

Jeremy knew that I could use my psychic powers to unlock the secrets in his mind. I could open him up like a can of beans and dig around in there until I found what led him to be so bad.

“Ok, I get it, just let me go?” He begged.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked him.

“I’m just so hungry.” Jeremy explained. “My mom lost her job and I need to help bring money home to buy groceries. There is nothing to eat at the house.”

“Jeremy,” I said, “didn’t you just turn 14? You can get your working papers and get a job. Price chopper is hiring you know.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “Go to the guidance office and they will help you with the paperwork. I think you can work up to 18 hours a week. You don’t have to bully anymore!”

“Thanks Hermia,” said Jeremy. “I’m done bullying!”

Man I love solving problems! It felt so good! So, why did I have a nagging feeling, like I was forgetting something…

Chapter 2: Family Matters

As I returned to the school to switch out of my supersuit a bunch of kids with wet hair and their parents started streaming out of the building. I recognized my mom from across the parking lot. She was patting my sister Selena on the back to comfort her.

“Uh-oh,” I thought. That’s what I forgot. My little sister had her first swim meet today, and I wasn’t there to support her. I would have to beg for her forgiveness for weeks to make that up to her.

When I got home she wouldn’t even talk to me. She closed the door to her bedroom and turned the music up all the way. I guess it didn’t go well. I wished I could tell her why I wasn’t there. I was helping someone in need! But it was too risky to tell anyone about my secret powers. I didn’t want to get her into trouble. And if the secret got out I could end up locked in some science lab, being poked and prodded by researchers trying to learn about my psychic abilities. It was better just to keep it to myself, even if it was hard.

Chapter 3: The Big Bad Wolf

It seemed like things would never get back to normal. Selena was never going to forgive me, so I planned to take a night off from begging. My friend Stephanie was throwing a party at her house, nothing crazy, just a few of us girls hanging out. For some reason I felt like I needed to be there.

Well, I guess the word got out that Stephanie’s parents weren’t home, because when I got there the place was packed. I could hardly get down the hallway, there were so many high school students standing around. Suddenly everyone was moving towards the backyard. I could hear people yelling, “Fight, fight, fight.” I squeezed into the bathroom and got into my supersuit. By the time I had changed the hallways were clear and I rushed outside.

The Wild Dogs had shown up, uninvited, and were causing trouble. They were a gang of bullies that terrorized the school. We hadn’t formally met, but they knew me when they saw me.

The crowd parted. “Huh, it’s Hermia!” I heard people saying.

Howler, the leader of the gang, was there with some tiny kid’s shirt twisted up in his fist. “Oh, Hermia,” he said in a fake scared voice, “I’m so afraid!” he whined. The other Wild Dogs laughed. Howler dropped the kid and crouched down into some fancy martial arts pose. He waved for me to come get him.

“I hope you’re scared,” I said inside his mind. My psychic abilities let me talk to people inside of their heads. I could tell that Howler was freaked out by it. I held him in place by telling his muscles not to move no matter what. No one else knew what was going on. To them it looked like we were just locked in an epic staring match.

“Grr,” Howler made a grunting noise when he tried really hard to move. I think he must have super strength because I could barely keep him in place. I had to do something fast, or I would lose him and show my weakness! I didn’t know what to do so at the last second I told his bladder to let go. He peed himself in front of everyone!

Everyone cracked up. I could see the anger in his eyes, but he was also totally embarrassed, so he ran away. The other Wild Dogs disbursed. I think they were pretty embarrassed too.

I was relieved. What would have happened if the other Dogs had jumped up to help. I definitely wasn’t ready for that fight. I darted away and looked for a dark corner to switch out of my suit, before finding my friend Stephanie.

Chapter 4: The Truth is Revealed

I snuck back to the party, and searched for Stephanie. As made way across the crowd to meet her, I heard a dinging sound, like 30 phones going off at the same time. People were pulling out their phones to take a look. Then they all looked at me. I was in a sea of people who were all staring at me. Someone handed me their phone. Someone texted everyone a picture of me changing out of my Hermia suit! I had my mask off, they could all see who I was!

I felt faint, dizzy, I wanted to cry. Instead, I reached out with my psychic powers and told everyone’s minds to be silent, to let me pass. They all watched quietly as I walked away. Once I left the party, I started to run. I wanted to be home in my bed! Who had received that message? How could I ever get them all back?

I climbed the stairs to my room, exhausted and unsure what to do. When I came to my door, I found a folded note taped to it.

“Hmm,” I thought.

As I opened the note a chunk of hair fell to the ground.

“That looks like Selena’s hair,” I thought. Suddenly I realized what I was holding in my hand. It was a ransom note! Selena was gone!

The note said:

“Youthinkyou’repowerful?Meet@ 8:00attheoldtrainstationoryoursisterbites it, HERMIA!!”

I could only think of one person who would hate me enough to do this, Howler, the Wild Dog captain I just humiliated. I didn’t have time to think about what to do. It was already 7:45. I changed into my supersuit and raced out the door.

Ch. 5: The Showdown

It was dark when I arrived at the old train station. The building had been abandoned for years, and it looked like a good place to hunt for ghosts. I remembered how hard it had been to control Howler with my mind, so I knew I would need to take him by surprise. I tried creeping up th the building, but they knew I was there. Someone shone the beam of a flashlight into my eyes. “She’s here,” he said.

The front door creaked open slowly, and all I could see was darkness on the other side. I knew I shouldn’t go in, but I didn’t see any other choice. I reluctantly entered the building. As I entered the building I felt ropes drop around my body and squeeze. I reached out with my mind to sense who else was there. It was Howler and his two buddies, Milky and Stinker.

“Where is she?” I shouted with my mind.

Someone shined the flashlight across the room. I could see Selena strapped to a chair and gagged. She looked terrified.

“Let her go!” I screamed. “You have me!”

“I think we’ll keep her around for insurance purposes,” Howler said. His voice was so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck.

I whipped my head back and connected with his face, hard.

“Ahh!” He yelled.

One of the ropes around me loosened. I pulled against the other one. I reached out with my mind and found Milky there. I wrapped my thoughts around his and squeezed. “NNOOO!” He howled in pain. He dropped the rope and I slipped out of their grasp. I searched for my sister’s mind as I hurried across the room. “I’m here, you are going to be ok,” I told her. I could feel her surprise in her thoughts.

Suddenly someone hit me hard, I flew across the room. I hit a window and felt the glass shatter against my skin. “I knew he had super strength,” I thought. I plummeted through the air outside the building, and found myself on the platform next to the tracks. Howler jumped out the window and landed beside me.

Stinker came out the back door. “What did you do to Milky?” He shouted. “He can’t move!”

“The same thing I’ll do to you if you don’t let her go!” I retorted.

“Yeah right!” Howler grunted. He kicked me in the stomach knocking the wind out of me. Stinker kicked me in the back. I scrambled to my feet trying to shield myself from their fists while delving into their minds. I couldn’t focus. It was too painful. Stinker shoved me off of the platform onto the train tracks. I flung my arms out to break my fall but I landed hard with my back against one of the rails. “Uh,” the air went out of me. “I’m dead meat,” I thought.

My spine was vibrating. Tingling. “That’s not good,” I thought. “What if I’m paralyzed!” Howler and Stinker looked over the edge of the platform grinning at their handiwork.

I didn’t feel dead. I didn’t feel paralyzed. I felt strong, empowered, like there was electricity radiating off of me. I looked around. The moonlight glimmered off of the rails. I could see a blue glow emanating from my skin. I had landed on the third rail. My healing powers must have prevented it from electrocuting me. Instead it had electrified my mind powers, enhancing them! I could feel my own super mental strength surging!

I reached into Stinker’s mind and saw how he had grown up, rich and privileged. He got whatever he wanted, but no one respected him, no one liked him. He joined Howler’s gang because he was insecure. He wanted friends and for people to listen to him.

“Stinker,” I said inside his mind. “People don’t love and respect you. They fear you. No one will care about your ideas, and listen to you until you do that for them. True friends will come if you treat them the way you want to be treated.” I sent him a warm fuzzy feeling to show him what he would feel when he found true friendship. He fell to his knees and cried.

I dug into Howler’s memories. His father had abused him as a child. He learned to fight protecting his baby brother. One day he wasn’t there and his baby brother did not survive the beating. He could never forgive himself. He bullied because it made him feel in control. He needed to be the strongest person in the room because deep down he was afraid.

I showed Howler his own memories and the path that had brought him here. “Is this what he would have wanted?” I asked. “How can you honor your brother’s memory this way?”

Tears sprung up in his eyes. “Hermia, I can’t go back now. It’s too late to change who I have become.”

“It’s never too late to change,” I told him. I showed him a future in which he had friends who cared for him, like a family. I filled it with the warm happy feelings that he could experience. “You can have this if you want it, but you’ll have to stop bullying now.”

Chapter 6: The Grand Finale

I climbed back onto the platform and walked past the two crying bullies. Inside I found my sister, untied her, and we walked away. She was so surprised and excited about my super-secret, that she forgot she had been so mad at me. She had about a million questions which she asked as we walked home.

The next day in school I saw Marcus, AKA Howler, in the guidance office. He was asking for help resolving his anger issues. He hoped one day to turn his life around and work to help others resolve their own conflicts.

I guess my super-secret is out. I’m not sure if I’ll be taken into a secure laboratory any time soon, but just in case I’m making sure I get the most out of my time here with my friends and family.

The End