The sun glared into my room, waking me from a half-sleep. The night had been restless enough with my first day of Sky High looming ever closer, the last thing I needed was the sun so bright and cheery shinning through my window. I covered my face with the pillow and groaned loudly into it. I tried to shut out the sounds of the outside world and the sounds of my mother running around in the kitchen in an attempt to get breakfast on the table while packing the perfect first-day-of-school lunch for my little brother and myself. "Alice!" Her voice shattered all my hopes of getting back to sleep.

I graoned louder and threw my pillow at the open window, the screen the only thing stopping it from landing in the bush outside my window. "Alice! Get up!" I heard my mom walking down the hall and towards my room. The door flew open and she stood there, hands on her hips. "Get up," she said simply.

I shook my head. "Can't," I replied. "I'm sleeping. Leave a message."

She walked over to my window and pulled the curtains open the rest of the way, letting the full extent of the light stream in. "Ahhhh! Light!" I yelled dramatically.

"Your gonna be late. Get up." She threw my covers off my body and to the floor. Then, she left to finish breakfast.

"Well," I moaned to myself. "Might as well get up now that the stupid window's open." I got up slowly and walked to the window. I looked outside at the clear sky outside. I scowled at the lack of clouds, nothing to block the sun. Too much light. I shut my curtains and went to the bathroom to shower. Fifteen minutes later, I was clean and dressed in black boots, dark wash tattered jeans that hung loose aroung my hips and a neon green tank top. A necklace with my sigunatre seal hung on a silver chair. A circle divided into four sections, each for one of my elements: A flame for fire, a tideal wave for water, a leaf for earth and a cloud for air. My mom made power seals for my brother and I when we were young. I had my necklace and a belt buckle and my brother had a ring with an onyx cresent moon. My boots clumped down the hall as I drug my feet to the kitchen. I sat down at the table at my usual place and munched on the cereal my mom sat in front of me.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked. I shoveled another spoonful of Cocoa-Crispies into my mouth and shrugged. My mom took no notice of my obvious bad mood, just continued to act in the happy manner that she knew drove me crazy. "Are you excited?" I scoffed and swallowed.

"Bursting with joy." I said sarcastically. She sat down in her place next to me.

"Great," she answered, matching my sacrasm. I ate my breakfast and she sipped her coffee in silence. My mom was tall and curvy and very pretty. She had long dark brown hair and piercing brown eyes that could always tell when you were lying. Her powers were endurence, stamina and night vision. She had retired from the superhero gig when my father disappeared, a few years after my brother was born. I finished my breakfast and got up to put the bowl in the sink. "Alice, will you go wake your brother please. And be nice about it." I walked down the hall and up to the door next to mine. I opened the door and walked over to the lump that was my sleeping brother Jack.

"Hey, wake up," I said, prodding him in the back with my finger. Nothing. "Jack. Get up." Silence. I sighed and closed my eyes. I breathed in and focused on the water in the air around me. Within a few seconds, I had a ball of cold water in my hands. I raised it up and splashed it down onto Jack's head.

"Ahhh!" He yelled, jumping up. "What are you doing?"

I shrugged and smiled. "Getting you ready for a fun filled day of learning and friendship."

"Get out of my room!" He jumped off his bed and started hitting me and pushing me out the door. As soon as I was out, it slammed shut behind me. I turned and yelled to the closed door, "At least now you won't have to shower!" I laughed and went to grab my lunch off the counter, then started back to my room.

"Alice, what in the world are you thinking?"

I turned and faced her. "I'm thinking if I need to be up for school, so does he. Not my fault he's a heavy sleeper." I started to walk away but my mom caught my wrist and turned me around.

"You can't act like this so early in the morning. It's your first day of high school, I understand that you must be nervous. But that's no reason to take it out on your brother or me. Now go finish getting ready. The bus will be here soon." I pulled myself out of her grasp and slammed my way into my room. I turned on my stereo and blasted loud music that shook the windows. I grabbed my backpack and shoved the paper lunch bag into it. I wasn't nervous about school, I just didn't want to go. I didn't need a school to tell me how to use my powers, I could figure that on my own. I had been ever since I could remember. School was only going to frustrate me. I was not a people person. I got along fine on my own. But, since mother dearest went to Sky High, I was expected to do the same. I looked into my backpack and checked to make sure I had everything I needed. The last thing, my journal. My book of secrets, the key to the inner workings of my mind. I put it in behind the rest of my books and swung the bag onto my back. Then I walked over to the window and yanked it open. I kicked out the screen and sat on the lawn behind the bush. I sat and waited for the bus. After a few minutes, I heard a knock at my door. My mom walked in. She flipped the switch on my radio and it buzzed out. Then she walked over to my window and sat on the window sill. She sighed and looked out at the sky.

"It's a beautiful day out. Perfect for the first day of high school." I said nothing. "Four whole years, filled with lots of fun and chances to make new friends. It'll be great, you'll see." I just nodded my head slowly. Then silence. I didn't look at my mom though I could feel her eyes boring into me. People who didn't know any better said I looked like her. That me and Jack both looked like her. But for those who knew of my father, I bore no resemblence to my mom. While my mom was thin as a pole, I was a little bigger. Not fat, just fuller & more muscular, like my dad. Her and Jack had brown hair and eyes while I had short black hair and green eyes. I guess my mom and I had a similar look about us, like a way you could tell we were mother and daughter. But I definatly matched my father's jet black hair and hazel eyes. I never though of myself as pretty. My mom and Jack were both very good looking. I guess you could say my dad was too, in a rough rustic sort of way. Jack was two years younger than me and he already had a fan club of girls hounding after him. It was actually kinda disguesting. Me, on the other hand, was off to my first day of high school and had never even had a boyfriend. I opened my mouth to say something when I saw a girl walking on the sidewalk. "Oh crap," I gasped and jumped into the bush.

"Alice, what-"

"Shhh! She's here!" I stuck a finger out and pointed to the girl approching our front door

My mom looked to where I was pointing and said, "Oh my, not again." She shook her head and rose from the window sill. "Alice, get out of there. You have to talk to her."

"Says you! Tell her I already left. Tell her I died! Tell her anything! Just don't-"

"Alice!" A high pitched voice rang throughout my house and I shivered, shrinking lower into my shrub. My mom left my room and shut my door. I heard that high pitched voice from all the way in the living room. It was my crazy neighbor from down the street, Tammy. Her mom and my mom went to Sky High together and she thought we were best friends. I found her the most annoying person alive. She was always at my house, she followed me around, and she had the most annoying super power ever. She could shapeshift. She found it so much fun to find new things to turn into and run to my house in the middle of the night to show me. She came and knocked on my window until I woke up and wouldn't stop talking until I watched her change. I heard my mom trying to talk to Tammy, then I hear footsteps. I tried to make myself as small as I could in my little bush. Then I thought, instead of making myself smaller, why not make the bush bigger. I closed my eyes and clasped my hands around the branches. I felt the earth moving underneath me and the branches growing as my power surged into it. I heard my bedroom door open and let go of the plant. I knew it was Tammy and didn't want her to see it moving.

"Alice?" I breathed and poked my head out of the bush. It was just Jack. He saw me, shut the door and hurried over to me. "I take it you saw her?" He said, joining me on the lawn.

I looked at him with a blank look on my face. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Mom's got her busy right now, told her you'd be out in a minute."

I shook my head. "As if this lame day wasn't going to be bad enough, I have to deal with her the whole way there. I ask you, why?"

"Dude, consider yourself lucky! You're going to Sky High! With your power, you are totally gonna dominate Power Placement! She'll be stuck as a side-kick."

I smiled at Jack's optimism. He had the power to bring inanimate objects to life and cotrol and manipulate shadows; the same power as our dad. We didn't talk about him much, it was like a rule in our house, on unwritten law. I turned to look at my little brother. Despite his dark powers, he was the happier out of the two of us. I ruffled his perfect brown hair and it fell back into place. He brushed my hand away and started to get up. "Good luck today. Kick butt." He smiled at me and replaced the screen on the window. I climbed out of the bush and brushed the dirt and leaves off my legs and out of my hair. I gave him a little salute and he left my room, closing the door behind him. I walked across the lawn and onto the sidewalk leading up to out front door. I reached for the handle but it swung open before I could grab it. And there stood Tammy, in my doorway of my house with my mother standing behind her. Something about this felt wrong.

"Hi Alice!" Tammy stood close to me and smiled. She was a good few inched shorter than me so she had to look up a little to make eye contact. She had thick framed glasses and long dirty blonde hair that almost hit her waist. It was clear she had attempted to curl it but it was messy and looked tangled and slightly burnt. She wore a pink tunic that looked like it belonged to a child and jeans with the cuffs rolled up a few times so you could see the tennis shoes she wore on her feet and the socks she pulled up to high. Her backpack was over stuffed and she carried a pink lunchbox in 1 hand. "Ready for the first day of Sky High!"

I shrugged. "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"You girls have a fun day at school," my mom said from behind Tammy. "I'll see you when you get home Alice." She leaned over and pecked me on the top of my head. "Try to have some fun today," she whispered. "And please, keep your temper." She leaned away and smiled at me. I nodded and turned to walk. Tammy trailed along after me, chattering away about nonsense. She was talking so fast, I couldn't keep up, nor did I really care to. I pulled my iPod out of my backpack's side pocket and slipped it into my ear, letting blissful music tune out the sound of nails on a chalkboard. We stopped at the bus stop and waited to see out ride. Tammy hadn't really noticed I wasn't listening to her, she just kept going, like a broken rcord. After a few minutes, I saw it riding smoothly towards us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tammy jumping up and down a little,an excited smile on her face. The doors opened and she ran in. I rolled my eyes and slowly followed. I prayed that there were only a few seats left, that I would have to pare up with someone else. Turns out I had no such luck because Tammy plopped down right in the front seat. She was frantically patting the seat next to her, looking at me. Only dorky freshmen sat in the front of the bus. And what's wrose, she took the window seat!

'Man, this bites!' I thought to myself as I sat down. If I sat somewhere else, she would only follow me. She was talking again, I could see her lips moving. She turned to face me and was quiet.

She pulled one of my headphones out of my ear and said, "You know, it's really rude to ignore people."

I took my headphone back and held it in my fist. "I'll keep that in mind," I said through gritted teeth. The bus was moving now, on to the next stop. It was only about half full so we had a ways to go. Great... I kept one headphone out so Tammy would think I was listening. And for the next twenty minutes, I watched the bus fill up with all kinds of people. This was clearly the freshmen bus because everyone that got on either looked like they were scared out of their minds, way to cool to be there, or they just looked excited like Tammy. Although no one looked as bad as Tammy, I saw a few that came close. Long hair, short hair, tall, tiny, cool and confident, shy and quiet, boy, girl. All different. All my fellow classmates for the next four years. As the bus filled up, it got hotter and louder. It got harder to hear my music so I turned it up. Then Tammy turned her voice up to be heard over all the talking. So much noise! I couldn't take it, I was about to explode! 'Remember your temper, remember your temper,' I told myslef. My powers were emotionally controlled. The last thing I needed was an emotional outburst before school had even started. I turned my iPod off and shoved it into my bag. The I turned to face Tammy. She was going on about her mom and what she had said about the ride to Sky High.

"So then, my mom said, we land on the little island type thing that supports the school. It's like a million feet in the air! Oh my gosh, I hope I don't fall off! Do you think anyone's ever fallen off Alice? Boy, what I wouldn't give for the power to fly!"

"Tammy, I think's that's about enough." I tried to keep my voice level but it was hard.

She stared at me with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean? I was only saying-"

"Your always only saying something! How about we say nothing for the rest of the ride, O.K.?"

She frowned at me and turned to face the window. "Well, I was only trying to help. If you want to go falling off the edge of the school, go ahead. It is not my problem."

She was acting like a child! I could have killed her right then and there! Steam blew out my nose and I tried to keep calm. I closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep. The rough rest last night plus the rude awakening this mornig, add that to Tammy. I needed a nap! Sleep came easy but it felt like as soon as I fell asleep, I was jerked awake by Tammy. She was grabbing my arm and yelling. I opened my eyes and looked around. "What's going on?" I asked rubbing my eyes. I looked out the window, expecting to see the street zooming past. Insteaad I saw blue sky and clouds. Tammy had a death grip on my arm and the other students on the bus were screaming as well, some with joy, others with fear. The bus was flying! We were in the air, flying to Sky High! I smiled and laughed at the fun of it all. "Wooooohoooooo!" I screamed at the top of my voice and smiled the widest I had all morning. To soon, the bus straitened out it's flight and flew slow and level. The noise level inside the bus grew quieter but the grip on my arm remained. I looked over at Tammy who was clutching my arm and had her eyes closed.

"Do you mind?" I said, pulling my arm away from her.

She opened her eyes and looked up at me. "Oh my gosh, that was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me! Why didn't they warn us?"

I shrugged. "Initiation."

"Well," she said crossing her arms, "I don't think it was very nice of them to go and scare us all like that!"

I laughed. "Not everyone was scared. It was actually pretty fun. Besides, it's a high school for super powered kids. If that was scary, you'll never be able to go out intio the world and be a hero."

Tammy looked up at me. "Oh I can be a hero! You just wait and see, I'm going to get the best grades this school has ever seen and be the world's greatest hero!"

I tried to hold back a laugh. "What ever you gotta tell yourself."

She turned to look at me and glared. "You don't think I can do it do you? Well, that's not very supportive of you. Friends support each other. And anyway, I heard you screaming too!"

I turned away from her and looked out the front window."How could you hear anything over your own loud-ass voice," I muttered to myself. Any other day, I would have said it to her face, leaving her to cry and run home. Then two hours later she would show up at my front door and act like nothing happened. But this wasn't any other day. I sighed and longed for the comfort of my bed. After a few minutes, I saw the school looming closer. I gulped a little and slid my bag into my lap.

"Take a good look, newbies," said the bus driver from the drivers seat. "Sky High."