Chapter 1: The New Girl: Part 1

It was a beautiful summer morning. Today marked the second week of August and the first day of school for special students. In the corner of the neighborhood, a pale blue house was waking up with the new day. On the second floor, a young, mature woman was dressing for school. She had brushed her shoulder length straight raven black hair behind her ears and combed her bangs to the side of her sun-tanned face. Her eyes shown a deep, mystifying blue gray as she stared into the mirror; her eyes were outlined in thick eyeliner with soft pastel colors on her eyelids. A clear lip-gloss was smoothed out over her light rose pink lips. She rose up from her chair and put on her favorite pair of jeans, the pair she had everyone sign on the last day she attended Xavier's School for Children with a permanent marker. She then waltzed to her closet and randomly chose a black shirt that had red words that read, "Today is a total waste of make-up." At the bottom of the closet was her collection of shoes. She took the pair of red Chinese shoes and placed them on her feet. When she was dressed, she turned around and saw her reflection in the full sized mirror next on the left side of her bed. She took a deep breath and took her messenger bag as she closed the door to her room.

Downstairs, her father was reading the paper at the counter while her mom was in the kitchen making her favorite breakfast—French toast and orange juice.

"Morning Riley." Her dad, Chris McCloud, said without even glancing up.

"Hey dad." She said as she smiled.

"Eat up dear. I don't want you to miss the bus." Her mom, Amy McCloud, said as she served a plate with two slices of French toast with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

"But mom, why do I have to the bus when I can just fly there?" Riley asked her.

"Because I'm scared that you'll be diced into pieces by a 747 flying to London or Paris or wherever."

"But—"

"But nothing. You're taking the bus and that's final!"

"Arugh! Fine!" Riley began cutting her French toast and stuffed the squares in her mouth.

"Oh, come on now Riley. You need to make new friends. I know you miss your old friends from Xavier's school, but you can always call them." Her dad said this as he tried to cheer her up. Riley forced a smile on her face. Chris McCloud then placed a small box on the table.

"It's about time you got one of these. After all, you're a senior now and you have shown great responsibility, so here. Take it, it's yours. Besides, your mother and myself have one." Riley glanced up, drank some orange juice, and took the box graciously. She pulled off the bow and opened the box. Inside was the latest cell phone—a Motorola RAZR. It was already turned on and had the correct time and date. Riley's face lighted up as she held the silver phone in her hands.

"Thank you so much!" Riley exclaimed.

"Look at the pho—" Her dad was cut off by a slap on the back of his head. Amy shot a deadly glance at her husband that said, "Do you want to live another day?" She turned to her look-alike daughter with a smile.

"Riley dear, you need to get going. You can look at it on the bus."

"Thanks guys. See you later." Riley said as she held the phone and walked towards the door.

"See you dear." Her mom said as she closed the door behind her. Her father watched Riley walk to the end of the block to her bus stop on 112 Ave. and 137th street.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Chris asked his wife.

"Of course. After all, the Commander and Jet Stream's son will be with her. She'll survive."

At the bus stop, Riley investigated who her parents put in her phone book. She was elated to see that all of her closest friends from Xavier's School for Children were on there. Her attention was diverted from the new phone to two people—a boy and a girl— walking to the same corner where she was.

"Who the hell is the Commander and who's Jet Stream?" Riley whispered to herself as she glanced at the last names her parents entered before she slipped the phone back into her pocket.

"I can't believe we'll be starting our junior year at Sky High. I mean, it was like just yesterday I got my powers and now we're so close to graduating," the boy said to the girl.

"Yeah I know what you mean." The girl said. The two of them stopped as they saw Riley. Both of them looked at each other with a confused look.

"Can I help you with something?" Riley asked. The boy nudged the girl with a "Well, answer her" glance.

"Umm, yeah. Are you waiting for the bus?"

"That's right. And you are?"

"I'm Leyla."

"Nice to meet you. Who's the coward?"

"I am not a coward!"

"Sure you are. You had no courage to say hi to me at all and you nudged her so she can speak to me and in my opinion, you're a coward."

"I am not! My name is Will Stronghold."

"Nice to meet you," Riley said, "coward."

"For the last time woman, I am NOT a coward!"

"You have to forgive him. He can be an idiot when he wants to. So, what's your name? Are you new around here?" Leyla asked.

"The name's Riley and I just moved here last week. I transferred from Xavier's School for Children up north. My parents gave me a phone today that has my friend's numbers. Here." Riley took the phone out of her pocket and showed it to her new friends.

"Wow. That's nice." Leyla told her.

"Thank you. So, where exactly is this Sky High? I mean, I never even heard of this school."

"It's exactly where it says it is." Will pointed up, "in the sky."

"Well, can't you fly there?" Riley asked.

"You can, but there's always the bus."

As soon as those words were said, a yellow rectangle with wheels was rolling up to their stop.

"Morning Will, Leyla," the driver greeted them when the doors opened.

"Whoa, sorry kid, this bus is only for Sky High students." He stopped Riley before she even stepped foot on the bus.

"I am enrolled in Sky High. Today's my first day. If you don't let me on, I'll just fly there." Riley said with her arms crossed over her chest. At this point, everyone went on the right side of the bus to catch a glimpse of the new girl.

"Where do you come from kid?"

"Uh, upstate New York."

"Right. Well, sorry. You can't ride unless you tell me what your power is." Riley hesitated for a moment and dropped her hands at her side. She looked at the driver-squared face in the eye. Riley opened her mouth and mumbled what her power was.

"A little bit louder kid." The driver urged on. Will and Leyla walked to the front of the bus to give Riley a confidence boost. Seeing that she needed to get on the bus, she spoke up.

"I…destroy." Everyone on the bus stared at her wide-eyed, even her new acquaintances. The driver nodded, motioning her to come on, not wanting Riley to demonstrate how destructive she could really be.

So guys, what do you think?