Thinking about all of that led him to one point.
Carrie… the "witch" for many, but in reality a girl broken from the inside, shaped by fear, mistreatment, and constant mockery. And even so, she hid a power that no one in that town was prepared to face.
In her original world, everyone knew how her story ended: prom night, unleashed telekinesis, chaos tearing the entire town apart.
But this time, he was not here to watch that tragedy repeat itself.
That gift she had could be something more than a prelude to disaster. If he guided her, if he managed to make her feel even a little of what a normal bond was, a normal life, that blade that had cut so many lives could become something she controlled… not something that controlled her.
"Hey, did you fall asleep with your eyes open or what?"
Frank's voice yanked him out of his thoughts.
"Let's go already. If we don't get into the classroom, Miss Collins's eraser is going to fly straight at our heads."
…
In the middle of Miss Collins's explanation, sunlight streamed through the windows and mixed with the chalk dust suspended in the air, creating a soft glow over the desks.
Collins scanned the classroom with her gaze when something made her stop.
At the back, in the last row, a student was sleeping so deeply he looked comatose.
The teacher's eyebrows came together in an expression everyone in the class already knew too well. Without saying a word, she picked up the eraser from the desk, weighed it for a second in her hand… and threw it.
Swish
The eraser shot across the classroom with a whistle before crashing directly against the head of the sleeping student.
Keller shot up, grabbing the spot where he had been hit, completely lost.
"Mr. Keller. If you fall asleep in my class again, you can go ahead and reserve a giant F on your final report." Miss Collins's voice woke him up even more.
Keller blinked several times, trying to orient himself. Then, in a desperate attempt to save himself, he pointed at Leif, who was right next to him.
"Miss Collins, that's not fair. Leif was asleep too! Why are you only scolding me?"
But contrary to what one would expect, the moment he finished speaking, the entire class burst into laughter.
Collins did not bother with a dramatic gesture. She simply pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, letting the glare of the lenses hide her expression.
"Mr. Leif has A+ in every subject," she said calmly. "You are not in a position to compare yourself to him."
The laughter grew louder. Keller opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out.
It was right then that Leif, who until that moment had been sleeping like a log, finally opened his eyes.
He rubbed his face lazily, confused by the commotion around him.
"Mr. Leif, since you decided to rejoin the living, come and solve this question on the board." Miss Collins's voice cut through the noise of the classroom.
Leif blinked a couple of times, ran a hand over his face to wake himself up, and stood without protesting.
He walked to the front, looked at the formulas and equations on the board, and after a few seconds began explaining each step with a clarity that left everyone silent.
He did not stutter, he did not hesitate, he did not correct anything. He simply said it… and it was correct.
Collins looked at him with approval.
"Correct. You may sit down."
The recess bell rang immediately and the students rushed out, grateful for the break.
The physical education class for the day was volleyball, so everyone headed to the gym and then to the outdoor court.
The heat hit both body and mind: the high sun, the thick air, the sticky sensation that made it hard even to breathe.
Carrie walked behind the group, wearing her old sports clothes that were far too big for her body. She stayed at one end of the court, as if trying to make herself so small that no one would see her.
But the peace did not last long.
A poorly received ball went flying toward her. Carrie reacted out of pure reflex and tried to lift her arms, but the movement was clumsy. The ball bounced against her forearm and shot far away.
"Hahahaha! What a useless girl!"
The laughter arrived before the people did.
A group of girls approached with that cruel smile only those who enjoy pushing others to the emotional floor can have.
The one in front, Chris, looked her up and down and let her venom out without holding back.
"Seriously, Carrie, what is your problem? You can't even touch a ball without making a scene. You're completely useless."
The cackles mixed with the scorching sun.
Carrie lowered her head, feeling her cheeks burn.
Her fingers gripped the worn fabric of her shirt as she tried to control the shaking running down her arms.
The shame, the fear, the pressure in her chest, everything came back like a blow she knew too well.
Leif arrived at the field just as he heard the laughter and saw Carrie hunched over, the ball rolling a few feet away from her and the group of girls mocking her without the slightest restraint.
His eyes changed immediately.
There was the opportunity he had been waiting for.
Without wasting time, he began walking toward the court.
Frank caught up to him and grabbed his arm.
"Leif, seriously? Are you going over there?… you better not get involved."
But Leif did not even slow down and pulled free with a simple movement.
"You're not getting it, Frank."
"I'm not saving her. I'm saving them."
Frank remained frozen, understanding nothing.
Leif reached Carrie.
He leaned down, without invading her space too much, and spoke to her with a gentleness, "Ignore them. It does not matter what they say. If you want, I can teach you."
Carrie lifted her gaze, surprised, not understanding why someone like him was speaking to her.
Leif picked up the ball and turned toward Chris and her group.
"There is no need to do this," he said calmly. "We are all classmates."
Silence followed.
Not because they understood, but because no one expected Leif, the smart, popular, and apparently carefree guy, to intervene in favor of Carrie White.
Chris was the first to react. She crossed her arms and smiled mockingly.
"Well, look who decided to play the hero today." Her tone oozed provocation. "How noble of you… though your tastes are pretty curious, Leif."
The girl beside her let out a giggle and added:
"If you are as good as everyone says, why do you not make her catch a ball? Just one. Then we promise we stop bothering her."
Frank, off to the side, grew nervous, thinking they were doomed. With the way Carrie was, it was already enough if the ball did not end up hitting her in the face.
But Leif did not even turn.
He placed the ball in Carrie's hands.
"Do not worry," he told her calmly. "Breathe. Just focus on seeing it coming. Imagine it is something familiar, something simple… like an apple. You just have to reach out your hand."
Carrie tried to follow the instruction, but her hand trembled too much.
The ball brushed her fingers and dropped to the floor without resistance.
Chris's laughter exploded.
Leif did not react. He simply picked up the ball and spoke to Carrie again.
"It is fine," he said with a gentle smile. "It is normal to fail. Let us try again. This time just imagine the ball coming directly to your hand, as if it wanted to stay there."
He took distance and threw it.
But not in any ordinary way.
To everyone's eyes, it looked like the ball had found its own path, tracing a perfect curve in the air, precise, as if guided by something invisible until it fell right into Carrie's hands.
And the ball stayed trapped between her fingers.
"..."
The entire court fell silent.
Chris, who a second earlier wore a smug smile, now had her expression frozen on her face, unable to process what she had just seen, and Frank, from the side, opened his mouth without producing a single sound.
Carrie, meanwhile, remained still with the ball pressed against her chest, unable to lift her gaze as she felt her heart pounding hard inside her chest. Even so, the disbelief appearing in her eyes spoke for her.
Leif slowly turned toward Chris, allowing himself a barely visible smile that appeared at the corner of his lips, "One ball, Chris. Just one. And she caught it. Or do you still want to argue whether I am good at what I do?"
Without giving her time to answer, he took the ball from Carrie's hands and tossed it upward.
"Alright, Carrie, now send it back."
The moment she lifted her arm, something changed in the way she moved. It was not confidence, because Carrie had nothing similar inside her, but there was a strange mixture of impulse, nerves, and a small spark of I can that Leif had placed in her mind seconds earlier.
Boom
The ball shot out as if it had been launched by a professional player, tracing a straight line that passed so close to Chris's face it brushed her cheek, then crashed against the net with a thud so loud it made even the poles vibrate.
"..."
Chris remained frozen, her skin pale and her legs shaking so much that her own body could not hold her, causing her to fall seated on the ground with a mix of shock and terror on her face.
Right then, the physical education teacher appeared, and upon witnessing the scene, he gave Leif a firm pat on the shoulder. "Excellent work, Leif. I am glad to see you helping your classmates instead of ignoring them. The rest should follow that example."
The girls, unable to find any comment, rushed to help Chris up, and practically fled from the court.
Carrie remained in her place, as if she were still waiting for a new attack or some kind of mockery, and after a few seconds she managed to lift her gaze toward Leif, "Th… thank you…"
"You do not have to thank me for anything." Leif replied, winking at her and letting his smile transmit warmth, "If you really want to learn, you can look for me whenever you want."
After that he turned around and began walking toward the exit of the field with Frank, who took a few seconds to react, and when he finally caught up, he still had confusion written all over his face,
"Leif, that was insane… how did you do it? That hit from Carrie was like someone who has been training for years."
Leif put his hands in his pockets and walked calmly, leaving Frank with nothing but an image of him full of mystery, "I told you I was saving people."
He had not only saved Carrie's dignity in front of a group of bullies. He had also saved those same girls from something they did not yet have the capacity to understand.
"..."
Meanwhile, Carrie remained there, her fingers still tense around the imaginary feeling of the ball, and for the first time in a long while she looked at the palm of her hand. In those eyes that were always full of fear, for the first time a different light appeared.
________
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