Villains & Heroes

The classroom was noisy that afternoon in March. With the sound of chairs scraping against the wooden floors. Voices talking over one another. Laughter was heard all around mixed in with smiles and looks filled with excitement on the topic of discussion. It was as if one was at a carnival rather than a middle school. It was to be expected since it was nearing the end of the day and there was one more class before everyone could go home. But, still my classmates at times acted as if they were still in elementary school. We already graduated from elementary two years ago. We’re now in 7th grade. They could start acting a little mature or pretend to at least. Well, in a way I do understand a bit from their perspective. We were soon going to go off to highschool so I guess we can enjoy the thrill of being kids a little while longer. 

But at the rate our class was going, I was going to end up with a headache. Why the hell did the principal call our teacher all of a sudden for? I glanced at the clock out of the corner of my eye. Just one more hour to go before you can get out of this hell hole. The reason why the class is really in a buzz today, more than usual, was because our class president was absent for 3 days due to family circumstances and most of the kids in class, if not all, were overjoyed by his return. 

For a person to have that much influence over others is truly a feat, but that doesn’t seem the case for Lucas (Lior) Akselsen. Admiration, respect, devotion, envy etc. these are just some of the emotions that are brought out by the class, no, the entire school in fact, because of this one individual. That was Lucas. He was popular ever since we were in elementary school and his popularity just kept increasing on and on as the years went by. Adored and loved by all, he was the perfect prince charming right out of a fairy tale. Of course there were some who resented him. There were always those who could see the light in others, but still choose to look away. If I had to say, I might be one of them. Although at times I’m not entirely sure…

We were never really close. We’ve talked once in a while, but I tended to keep my distance from him and the others around me. Call me what you will, but I wanted to be left alone. I enjoyed not being in the company of others or center of attention. I guess that would make me an introvert and in all honesty, I was perfectly fine with that. I would only interact with my peers when needed to. Otherwise, I would just stay clear of them and have my nose buried in a book or my cell phone. I can be social if I wanted to be, but I choose not to. Some might wonder why, but there’s no deep meaning to it. Some people like to interact and others don’t and I fit in the latter.   

“Guys don’t be too loud. You might disturb the other classes.” a voice called out. It belonged to Lucas and just as he said those words, the voices in the classroom immediately went down two notches. He was surrounded by a group of people and laughed at something someone said. When he looked up, we made eye contact and smiled that smile of his. A smile that could light up anyone’s day. I nodded and went back to my book. His name fit perfectly with his personality. Light. A light that shone so bright. Brighter than any star in the night sky. He was even given the nickname “Lucas the Lighthouse”. He would always light the path for those who lost their ways in the dark. Helping those in need and guiding them down the right path. Blonde hair like the color of sunlight and a pair of emerald green eyes. I wondered how two people whose names meant the same had entirely different personalities and looks on that note. He was light the day and I was like the night. Black hair with a pair of dark eyes that stood out against my pale complexion. My name was Ash (Ashterope) Markov. Although my name also meant a form of light I didn’t really own up to it or look the part. One thing that I knew sure of was, the two of us would never truly get along. 

Just then the door to the classroom opened and in walked out teacher Mr. Glen. “My, it sure is festive here. What’s the occasion?” he chuckled and closed the door behind him. “It was about time he got here. What took him so long anyway?” you thought and closed the book you were reading. “Alright everyone settle down. I can see what all the excitement is about. It seems Mr. Akselsen has returned from his leave. We’ve all missed you no doubt, but let’s get the class started shall we?” he said and walked on over to his desk. “Yes Mr. Glen.” Lucas said and broke out in a smile. The class started to take their seats. “Alright everyone, since we’re a bit short on time, I’ve planned a fun activity for you all. Now this activity will also span out to the next couple of days, but I wanted to get a start on it with the time that we have on our hands. And I think we,” he glanced up to the clock on the wall. “just enough time to do it.” 

I drummed my hand on the cover of my book. The class that Mr. Glen taught Humanity & Philosophy. It might sound complexing to be taught in middle school but it was only an intro class and it was that challenging at all. The class itself was called “The Humanity of Philosophy”. Mr. Glen really did have a way with naming. I found this class really interesting and although at times it was more fun and games with more activities and interactions as its basis, which I struggle with, I enjoyed the topics he covered, well most of them anyway. What I enjoyed most about his classroom was it had a very interesting decorum to it and the wall next to the windows had a large bookshelf that was stacked with books on philosophy, psychology and much, much more. He let us borrow his books any time we wanted. Although I was probably the only one in this class that actually did so. In fact the book I was just reading came from his bookshelf. 

“Okay guys. The activity we’re about to do doesn’t require any written notes yet. But we’ll be moving around though. So I want you guys to pack your backpacks and then leave it at the back of the classroom. When you’re done with that I want you guys to push your desks along the sides of the wall so that we have enough space to sit in the middle and move from one side to another. Got it? Then get to it on a double and make sure you are careful of your surroundings.” he exclaimed and clapped his hands signaling for us to do as we were instructed. We all got up and did as we were told. Someone asked what we were going to do, but Mr. Glen just smiled and said that they were just going to have to wait and find out. After we pushed all the desks to the side, with Mr. Glen’s help, we sat in the center of the room, while Mr. Glen walked behind his desk and picked up a black top hat that was upside down. He came around to the front and sat on top of his desk like without a care in the world and placed the top hat on his lap.     

“Everyone, the activity that we are going to do is what I’d like to call Hero vs. Villain. If you had to choose between one or the other what would you pick?” My classmates immediately started to talk amongst one another. Voicing their thoughts on the activity Mr. Glen just mentioned. One of the boys raised his hand and Mr. Glen called on him. “Mr. Glen that sounds so childish. Do we really need to do an activity like this? We’re not elementary students.” he groaned. “Speak for yourself.” I thought. The way they act at times is really immature of them. But I have to say I agree with them. The activity itself seemed meaningless. The outcome of whether you wanted to be a hero or villain was quite obvious. “Now, now. Hear me out. It may seem childish but it’s going to help with the activity that we’re going to do next week. There’s more to it than just being a hero or villain. You need to look beyond what you see on the surface.” he chimed. 

At this point I was lost which was not that unusual. Sometimes it took awhile for Mr. Glen’s words to really sink in. “This seems like it’ll be fun.” Lucas said to the boy who asked the question in a bored tone. His expression immediately changed and he nodded. “Alright then this is how we’re going to do the activity about Heroes vs. Villains. The room will be divided into 3 sides. The Right side for Heroes. The Left side is for villains and down the middle, where I am sitting is going to be for ordinary people. Now I want you to remember that you can think of this topic as having super powers like your characters from comic books. Superman for example. Or they can be someone who doesn’t have super powers but does their best to protect the people and the city they love. Batman’s a good example but it can also be a police officer or a firefighter. Then we have ordinary people who are neither a hero or a villain and just live out their lives. Let that sink in for a bit.” 

It was fairly easy to understand this. I knew Mr. Glen was a huge fan of comics. From the examples that he gave you can instantly tell that he’s more of a DC fan than a Marvel one but says he enjoys both equally. He even likes the anime Boku no Hero Academia that’s all about heroes and villains. Mr. Glen is definitely a nerd but his looks prove otherwise. I for one enjoy reading both. Their movies are okay too, but I wouldn’t say that I’m all too interested. The very thought of heroes and villains is just childish. There’s no such thing— “Next is Ashterope. Come on up and pick out a piece of paper.” a voice broke me out of my thoughts. I was startled by my full name being called knowing that there was only one person who would call out my name just to tease me. I looked up and sure enough it was Mr. Glen who just gave me a grin. I could tell that he figured out I was in one in one of my dazes where my thoughts were lost in the clouds. But I wouldn’t let him know that. I stood up and walked to him. “I said to call me Ash and not by that name.” I said in an annoyed tone. “Oh, come on now. You and Lior have such unique names that it’d be such a shame to not call you by your given names.” he beamed. I could hear some giggles from behind me. I sighed and ruffled my hair. There was no point in arguing with him because he just won’t listen.

“Now if you will do me the honors and draw a piece of paper from the hat and take a seat.” “What’s it for?” “You’ll see.” he said and I plunged my hand into the old top hat and rummaged around before I drew a folded piece of paper. “Don’t open it yet okay?” I just nodded and turned around. Lucas smiled my way but I just ignored it and took a seat in the back. After everyone’s names were called Mr. Glen told us the next steps for this Hero vs. Villain activity. “Alright as I said before, the paper you all have will tell you whether you’re a hero, a villain, or an ordinary person. When I tell you to open your slip take a look at it and then go towards the right side if you’re a hero, middle for a normal person, and left for being a villain. Got it? Begin!” he said in a medieval voice like this was a jousting match. It kind of was though without the horses.

One by one we started to open our slips and rushed to the correct sides. Some stopped to show each other their slips and were either joyful that they were on the same side or acted sad that they were being separated by an invisible wall. I lazily opened up my slip and saw I was a hero. “Just my luck.” I said under my breath and walked over to the right side. I saw Lucas also got the hero slip and it fitted his character perfectly. After we all found our places, I looked around and saw how we were all split equally amongst the 3 sides. Mr. Glen then asked, “Now is everyone satisfied with the side they’re on? Some of the kids shook their heads. “I see some shakes and nods. For those who don’t like the side they are at, tell me why and if you could what side would you be on?” The ones he didn’t like where they were at raised their hands and said their thoughts and even the ones who were fine with where they are started to change their minds when the others spoke.   

Their reasoning's were absolutely stupid though. “I don’t want to be a villain because they do evil things.” “I don’t want to be a bad guy.” “I want to be a hero that helps everyone.” “I want to have powers that can be used for good.” “I want to live an ordinary life cause I’m too lazy to do anything else.” “It’s easier to be ordinary and not be called out by others.” I understood their views as they were typical, but they also felt shallow and lacking. Some people are given the ability to have a choice and others don’t. Right now this scenario fits the latter. We are already stuck as one of the 3 choices and have to make the best of it and not wish or hope that things could be different. “Okay then part 2 of this activity is those that want to change sides, can do so.” Okay. Mr. Glen just basically contradicted everything that I just thought about. What was the whole point of this anyway? He then asked if we were happy with the change or not. Some people were and others just wanted to stay where they were or pick another option. They’re not satisfied with what they have or even when they get something, they’re still not satisfied. This is all just pointless.

“Okay that the last and final part of this activity is, I want you to pay attention to this very closely now. Instead of 3 sides, there will now only be two sides. Heroes vs. Villains. But there’s a catch. You can pick whichever side you want, but you need to convince everyone to be on one side. Either a Hero or a Villain. Okay? Go!” He said. At first no one moved and then some people moved toward the other side. Those that moved were the class clown and his friends and others who just wanted to see who could convince the other side. I looked and saw Lucas convincing the kids on the villain side to join the hero side and once again was giving the most stereotypical reasons that I was starting to get pissed. What was the point in saying that you had to convince everyone to be on one side when you know they’re going to be on the hero's side cause Lucas was there and because heroes are good. This whole activity didn’t make sense at all to begin with and was just so vague. Why give 3 sides in the first place when you could just have—wait. I looked up at Mr. Glen and he were looking right at me with a knowing look. Then he tilted his head and smiled. 

That damn old fart. Is that what he was getting at this whole time? What I was about to do might just make me get backlashed by the whole class, but I have this gut feeling that I needed to do this. That this is the real purpose of the activity. If I’m right it might boost my grades up further in this class. That or I’m going to have to beg my parents to let me transfer out. “Has everyone chosen to be a hero then?” Mr. Glen asked, already knowing that everyone was on the Hero’s side. “Alrighty then. Let’s—” I raised my hand. I was probably going to regret this, but in a way I had enough of everyone always being on Lucas’s side. “Yes Ashterope.” “Ash.” I said and walked over to the other side and sat on my desk which was right in the front of Lucas. “I’ll be a villain.” I said in a loud clear voice. The shocked looks on their faces was priceless and nerve racking at the same time. “Convince me otherwise, Heroes.” I said in a deadpan voice.