Chapter 1
I checked my reflection in the mirror one last time as I got ready to leave. My dark blond curls framed my round-ish face, and my dark blue eyes seemed wider than usual, possibly due to the fact that I had put on mascara today. I was wearing fairly plain clothing, just jeans and a blue t-shirt with the words 'bite me', and a plain black zip-up. I grabbed my grey and green school bag off the floor, which jingled as I slung it across my back due to the charms hanging off of it, and stepped out of the door just as the school bus pulled up.
Once on the bus, I sat in the seat I had been sitting in since I started Sky High last week, across the aisle from Layla and her boyfriend Will.
"So Rain, did you do your homework?" Layla asked me. We were in a few of the same classes together since the school board decided that lessons not involving the use of super powers should be taught in mixed ability classes.
"We had homework?" I asked, a little worried. I had set myself a goal for not getting detention in the first week, which involved handing in homework.
"You know, the one for hero lit," she said grinning.
"She's just messing with you," Magenta said, turning round from the seat in front of Layla, where she sat with her on/off boyfriend, Zach.
"I knew that," I said in mock defence, and Layla laughed.
"Then why the shocked look on your face?" she asked
"I'm practising my acting skills," I said matter-of-factly.
"Of course." Magenta said.
Just then I was pulled back into my seat by the straps as the bus took off. Although it wasn't my first ever time on the school bus, I still let out an involuntary gasp as the bus swerved to the left, but it was drowned out by the grinding of metal as the wings and turbo engine slid into place.
Once in school, I followed Layla through the maze of corridors until I found my locker, which was only a few metres away from hers, then followed her to my first lesson of the day, Hero Literature.
Later on in the day, I managed to make my way to the cafeteria alone, without getting lost. But when I looked towards the table where they usually sat, none of them were there… except Warren.
I walked slowly to the table, wondering whether it was a good idea to sit down or not. Although I'd sat at this table with him and the others for four days now, I still hadn't spoken to him. Honestly? I was little scared of him.
I'd been told about Warren, the hard-core bad-ass who had nearly fried Will in a fight that had almost destroyed the cafeteria. Apparently he had been thrown right through a steel-reinforced wall and into a concrete pillar, and had stood up again like nothing happened. Not exactly a guy I wanted to piss off.
Screw it, I thought, and took a seat almost directly opposite him, where I had sat since Monday- my first day at sky high.
"Hi," I said brightly as I shook my bag off of my shoulders. He raised his eyes to look at me, with a eyes so intense I had to look away. Pulling my lunch out of my bag, I took my chocolate muffin out of its plastic wrapping, pretending not to notice he was looking, though I could feel his gaze on me. For some reason, it really pissed me off. Not that he was looking, but… I don't know what it was. But it gave me the guts to say to him
"Is there any need for you to stare at me like that?"
"No."
"So could you stop please?"
"And what if I don't?" he said, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"You don't want to know." I said.
I don't what made me say it. Picking a fight with Warren really wasn't what I'd had planned, it just came out. Normally I would never have had the guts to say something like that, but maybe I was the fact that I was at a new school, nobody here knew who I was. In my old school, I'd played plenty of roles- the freak, then the smart girl, then the popular girl, then the gossip girl… now I could play the bad girl. Maybe it would turn out to be what I was looking for.
"You've got guts," he smirked, obviously not taking me seriously. I was saved from having to come up with a witty retort by Layla and the others, who came to join us at our table. There was a clatter of trays as they all took their seats, immediately launching into conversation with one-another.
"So, you spoke to Warren?" Layla asked in a low voice so no-one else would hear. "That was brave. Not a lot of people in this school would dare speak to him."
I shrugged. "Well, I kind of rested on the belief that he would refrain from frying me seeing as you guys are friends…"
Layla laughed. "I'm not sure if that's totally true…"
"Well, I survived didn't I?" I grinned. Layla's laughter quickly died as she caught sight of something behind me.
"Uh-oh, here come Speed and Lash," she said.
Turning round, I saw two guys walking purposefully towards our table, the younger kids more than happy to get the hell out of their way. They stopped right in front of me, with smirks plastered across their faces. I assumed that these were the same Lash and Speed who had been involved in the Royal Pain incident last year.
"New girl, right?" the taller one said to me
"What do you think Lash, worth shutting in a locker?" he shorter one asked.
"Nah, too pretty," Lash said.
"Leave her alone," Layla said from behind me
"Ooooh," Speed said. "Gonna get your boyfriend on us?"
I looked at Will. He looked slightly annoyed, but not intimidated in the least. I figured he could probably take them out quite easily.
Suddenly, I felt something on my lower, back, moving towards my bum. Did he just try to grope me? Spinning round, I saw Lash's arm retracting to its normal length.
"Don't do that again." I said, standing up, my hands curling into fists. I could feel heat spreading through my hand, building up at my fingertips. My palms began to sting.
"Why? What are you going to do?" Lash smirked.
Smoke was now rising form my hands. A liquid seeped out of my skin, red and orange with bits of black. It looked like molten lava. Noticing the smoke, Lash looked down at my glowing hand. "Another pyro?" he said, glancing past me to Warren.
"No," I smiled. "different." I raised my hand, the liquid on it rising from my skin, forming a ball that hovered above my palm. "Would you like to find out what it does?"
Lash and Speed recoiled slightly.
"We have better things to be doing right now," Lash said, and Speed nodded. They walked past me, keeping their distance, and continued to the other side of the cafeteria.
As I turned to sit down, I noticed that our little exchange had attracted quite and audience, many of the other students in the cafeteria returning to their lunch when I caught them looking. One guy flashed me a smile. He had light brown hair and a dimple in his right cheek. He was kind of cute.
When I returned to my seat, Layla hi-fived me. "Nice going Rain," she said.
"Cool power," Zach told me. "What is it?"
"Um…" I was reluctant to tell them, because people usually find the idea disturbing.
I looked around the table, and everyone was looking at me expectantly, curiosity on their faces. Even Warren's eyes were on me, with that intense gaze of his, the one that made me want to avert my eyes and keep staring at the same time…
"It's burning blood," I mumbled, shoving the muffin in my mouth.
"Burning blood?" Magenta repeated loudly.
"Way cool," Zach leaned back in his seat. Ethan nodded.
I was pleasantly surprised. No-one had every told me that particular power was cool. My wings and ability to fly, yes. My burning blood? No.
"So, you have two powers. That means you're at least 2nd generation hero, right?" Will said to me.
"5th generation actually," I told him.
"Really? Who are you're parents?" Ethan asked eagerly.
"You wouldn't have heard of them… they relinquished their powers. So did my grandparents." I told him
"How come?" Magenta wanted to know.
I squirmed in my seat. "Just… because." I took another bite of muffin. "I'm the first one in my family to keep their powers since…" I paused, not willing to reveal my heritage. "Since my great great grandma," I finished.
"Was she evil or something?" Magenta asked.
"Magenta!" Layla frowned at her?
"What? It can't be that bad!"
"Trust me," I sighed. "It is."