Adam Powerhouse Episode 3: School, Sports, and...Superpowers?

Adam Powerhouse Episode 3

  School, Sports, and…Superpowers?

  By Kevin T. Goddard

  Copyright 2011 Kevin T. Goddard

  Table of Contents

  Episode Three: School, Sports, and…Superpowers?

  Scene 1: New Kid at School

  Scene 2: Sports-centered

  Scene 3: No 'I' in 'Team'

  Scene 4: Back to the Beginning

  Scene 5: Training

  Scene 6: Winners and Losers

  Adam Powerhouse Episode 3

  School, Sports, and…Superpowers?

  Story by Kevin T. Goddard

  Scene 1: New Kid at School

  By age seven, Adam had spent as much time by himself as he could stand. His parents meant well by keeping him at home and letting him learn on his own. Sure, Adam was capable of surpassing any learning he could have accomplished in school, but he wanted to have friends. His parents were hesitant to enroll him, but eventually gave in and agreed to let Adam start at the public school for the next school year.

  They wanted Adam to take some tests and be placed by his academic level, but Adam would have none of it. He wasn’t going to school to learn, but to be around kids his age.

  On the first day of school, everyone wanted to be Adam’s friend. He was good looking, athletic, and smart. But Adam took his work seriously even though it was so easy. He flew through the assignments and had plenty of time to work on his other projects on his Dell laptop which the principal had reluctantly agreed to let Adam bring to school. He rigged up a wireless connection with his the local cell phone towers, much like his bike helmet, to create a network connection to his home computer and the internet.

  At recess, everyone wanted Adam on their football team as the girls watched on and dreamed of him and his blonde hair. Adam would set up elaborate games of capture-the-flag which utilized the entire playground and act as a referee since it would have been lopsided had he been on one of the teams.

  Despite Adam’s popularity, it quickly became apparent that he was different from the other kids. They began to drift away, seeking kids more like themselves to play with on a regular basis. At times Adam felt sad because he knew it would be hard for him to find someone he could really be friends with. As time went on, Adam learned to do his work at a level that didn’t attract too much attention from his teacher. He spent an incredible amount of time at school working on plans for gadgets and computer programs that would help the police department minimize crime in the city.

  Girls tried to vie for his attention over his laptop, but soon they gave up since Adam’s one seeming weakness was noticing when members of the opposite sex were interested in him. Regardless, Adam would have taken his no-nonsense, logical approach had he noticed girls watching him and said, “Seven is much too young to be serious about a girl.”

  So school went on, each year pretty much like the one before. Every time Adam would move up and to a different school, new girls noticed him and new guys wanted to be his friend, but Adam’s differences became more apparent with age as he matured quicker both physically and emotionally than the other kids.

  Scene 2: Sports-centered

  To help burn off some of the hormones and energy that came with having super-DNA, Adam began to join sports teams through the local Boys Club. Quickly, his basketball, football, and baseball teams rose to the top of the ranks as Adam helped them stomp opponent after opponent. He began to look forward to the buttered popcorn and Coca-cola syrup smell coming from the concession stand and the chlorine smell that wafted into the gym every time the door to the pool area was opened.

  One night, Adam was leading the charge against the second ranked team in the league. He dribbled down the wooden floor, the ball echoing a satisfying ping against the planks underfoot. He cut to the center of the court, spun around one defender at the tip off circle, cut to the three point line and flicked a quick pass between two defenders to a teammate on the outside. Adam then cut through the lane and received the pass back from his guy, leapt into the air and ducked underneath the swats of the remaining two defenders. Hovering for an inconceivably long time in the air as he glided underneath the basket, Adam switched the ball to his other hand, double pumped, and then fingertip rolled the ball underhand up toward the basket, off the glass, and in for two points.

  Adam gave his teammates high fives and ran back down to defend at the other goal. This was typical play for Adam. Sometimes he popped a quick shot off from the outside, sometime he just outran the other team for a quick layup. He could have dunked the ball had he wanted to gain a lot of attention, but Adam kept that to himself.

  At the end of the game, Adam didn’t notice the other team looking at their feet as he shook their hands at mid-court. He went to the locker room and grabbed his duffel bag to hurry to a football game. As he ran out, he realized he’d left his laptop behind and turned around and went back into the locker room to get it. As he came around the lockers, Adam heard some of the boys talking.

  “Boy, Adam sure is a ballhog.”

  “Yeah, what a show-off. If we weren’t winning all of our games, I definitely wouldn’t want him on our team.”

  Adam couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “I didn’t sign up to watch somebody else on the team do everything. I’m thinking about quitting if he doesn’t start sharing the ball more.”

  Adam slammed the door and all the talking stopped. He quickly grabbed his laptop and headed to his football game.

  Football wasn’t as complicated. He got the ball from the quarterback, ran the play that was called, and tried to gain as many yards as possible.

  Adam went out with determination and had a record game. Everything that came his way, he snagged out of the air. Every run, he gained yards on. The other team began to look for him to get the ball every play, and yet, he couldn’t be stopped. At the end of the game, he looked at the scoreboard and realized they had won 64 to 13. Feeling satisfied, he trotted to midfield to shake hands with the other team. As he passed each player and shook their hand, he realized they had a look of hurt and humiliation in their eyes. At the end of the line, Adam no longer felt good. He felt like dirt. As he slowly made his way back to the bench, Adam thought about how many times this had happened and he’d never noticed. He looked at the crowd, short puffs of frosted breath coming from his mouth as his body soaked up oxygen to replenish all that he’d burnt out of his muscles during the game.

  Adam could feel sweat beginning to dry and freeze from the cold air. He suddenly didn’t care as much about winning. He didn’t care whether the small crowd of parents and kids from school cheered for him or not. He cared that he’d made other kids feel bad.

  That night Adam went home and began to really study the sports he played. He wasn’t going to rely strictly on his talent any more, but play the game mentally and try to help everyone on his team look good.

  Scene 3: No ‘I’ in ‘TEAM’

  The next time Adam’s basketball team took the court, Adam started looking for the pass. Although he couldn’t avoid the shot every time, when it was over he was the leading scorer for his team, but he also led in assists. His teammates looked happy. They enthusiastically gave Adam high fives and the other team, although it had been beaten, didn’t feel like it had been run over by a truck. Adam went home feeling much better.

  The next football game, Adam started looking for the blocks he could throw to help other players gain more yardage. As they began to feel more confident, the quarterback used them more and Adam began to enjoy looking for the bone-crunching hits to open the field for another player.


  On one play, Adam cut across from the other side of the field. He knew his defender would never be able to reach the quarterback in time, so he headed at an angle upfield to cross paths with a receiver who was supposed to catch the ball. Adam had seen the cornerback read the play, so he found him and cut him off as the receiver caught the ball. Adam then curved back around and hit the safety hard, planting him into the ground as his teammate ran the ball into the endzone for a touchdown.

  Adam hopped up and felt incredible. The players were jumping around in the endzone celebrating their friend’s success. Adam trotted back to the sideline. The coach grabbed his arm.

  “I saw what you did out there,” Coach told Adam. Adam’s heart leapt into his chest, afraid he was going to be chewed out for not following the play. “That is the most selfless thing I’ve seen a football player do. I’m proud of you.”

  Adam’s heart swelled as he went over