Chapter 1

Just three. More. Mile-kids and their stupid college brochures. Financial aid, are you freaking kidding me? It's not like they don't have enough spare cash on this street anyw-leave the stove on? I know I rushed out of the house quickly and I-in reverse. Check your rearview, ease out-should probably do my homework at some point. Mr. Anderson is a freakin' Nazi-Damn, I'm tired of waking up early.

Well, tired of waking up early, and horrifically exhausted by the fact the only the last thought was mine. Walking faster, I focused on my mental barriers, built up by long years of practice. All of that struggle had to count for something.

I really don't see how dog-sitting pays this little. I mean, I get up at five in the freakin' morn-click.

Ahh. Much better.

I suppose it's just the stress of my first real day of school that has all of my protections going haywire, which doesn't bode well for the coming six hours.

As I neared the bus stop, I gradually became aware of a pair of teenagers waiting, ostensibly, for their ride. Clean-cut, affluent and Aryan enough to host a Nazi convention in their backyards, they were more or less in line with everything else I'd seen of this neighborhood since I'd arrived a week back, quietly moving in in the middle of the night. At least that way, I could pretend that I actually had someone living with me. Apparently, in America it was illegal for a sixteen-year-old to live "unsupervised." Unhindered, was more how I thought of it. Nevertheless, I'd still tried to occupy my half of the small duplex inconspicuously. Seven days in, and it seemed to be working rather well.

But back to the kids.

My footsteps unobtrusively soft in their heeled flats, I quietly stood next to the female half of the pair, a cute little redheaded granola-lite. Decked out all in green, she at least seemed a little more interesting than the All-American Superstar next to her. Less attractive – at least, to my own heterosexual eyes – but more interesting.

"I mean, come on, Will, just look that this endless maze of suburbia-" As she turned to indicate the aforementioned area with a wide sweep of the hand, she nearly smacked me in the face, and would have had we not both instantly reacted: I ducked, and she let out a small "eek!" and took a few inadvertent steps back.

Though I still thought my ducking was rather impressive.

As her friend (boyfriend? I couldn't quite decide, and reading their minds to find out wouldn't be worth it to find out. Oh, and unethical. It'd be unethical, too) reached out to keep her from falling, she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Ohmysweetgoodness! I'm so, so sorry! Are you okay? I just...didn't see you there." Getting her bearings, she looked at me, frowning slightly. "Actually...who are you? I don't remember seeing you around before."

Locking tight the mental door I'd constructed, I swallowed in preparation and put a friendly smile on my face. "I'm sorry for surprising you. Sometimes I think I'm a little too quiet for my own good. My name's Anya, Anya Metriccio."

I tucked back a lock of black hair that had fallen out of place in the commotion, and continued. "I just moved here to attend Sky High. An alma mater sort of thing, you know?"

White Bread surprised me by laughing and giving a small wave. "Sorry, we're just a little suspicious after what went down last year." By this point, everyone in the superhero world had heard about the Major Pain debacle. When saving the world becomes commonplace, one finds other things to gossip about. "I'm Will, by the way. Will Stronghold. And that's Layla. By the way, nice Matrix moves back there. Our gym coach would love you." The redhead laughed, giving him a light, flirty punch in the arm. At this point, I was definitely thinking "couple."

"Way to rub in the klutziness, Will."

Will and Layla. I was going to have to remember that.

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