It was gym time; which usually meant that a select few would gain glory, others would be completely humiliated, and the rest would be thoroughly entertained.
But before this round of Save the Citizen was started, Coach Boomer (Sonic Boom to those who cared) stood on his referee chair to make an announcement.
"All right, listen up." He yelled not quite loud enough to shatter the windows. "Next week we will begin our mandatory swimming section. Make sure you bring a bathing suit. Principle Powers requested that I make sure to announce that girls will only be allowed to wear a modest one piece bathing suit, and that all Pyros will be required to swim at least once during the week."
"Dude, like why single out the Pyros?" Zack asked in his usual dimwitted manner.
"Because stupid; water is the overall arch enemy of all fire wielders." Magenta said with a roll of her eyes.
"Wonder what Warren thinks?" Ethan said.
The group was unable to ask their favorite Pyro as he and their favorite flyer were suited up and ready to defend their title as Undefeated Save the Citizen champs. Sitting in the bleachers, the group had the pleasure of seeing the disturbed looks of all three of the other Pyros that attended Sky High. However, if the announcement perturbed their Pyro, they couldn't tell.
On the floor…
After hearing the announcement, Will nervously looked at his best friend/partner in "crime", worried that the announcement of impending doom had rattled the taller teen any. As it was, the announcement had him rattled. He hated swimming at school. All the girls would see him without his shirt. That was just embarrassing. Sure he was super strong, but his baby fat hadn't gotten the memo yet. His musings about the upcoming torture/embarrassment session were interrupted by his friend.
"STRONGHOLD!" Warren yelled. He mentally rolled his eyes at the other teen's trip to lala land. "Get your head out of the clouds!" he ordered. The other teen looked at him and he was able to see the curiosity and worry cross the teen's face. He discreetly looked up to see the rest of the group of teens that had insisted on invading his life to see the same look of mixed horror and concern. 'Great' he thought shaking his head and powering up.
With that Coach Boomer blew his whistle and the two teens made short work of their opponents and saved the "citizen".
It was a Friday, and that meant that Gym was the last class of the day. After he and Warren had wiped the floor with their opponents they had gone back to the locker room to change. Will was eager to talk to his friend about the announcement of the swimming section. It would be interesting to hear his opinion about it. He assumed that, though it would be an embarrassing situation for the rest of them, it would be a terrifying situation for his friend. After all, everyone knew that Pyros were afraid of water. Why else would they only be required to swim one day where the rest of the school was required to swim all five days?
Warren was smarter than most people gave him credit for. And he wasn't big on chit chat. Given the curiosity level (very high) and the tact level (very low) of the group of freshmen that currently insisted on invading his life; it was easy to come to the conclusion that as soon as they saw him they would bombard him with ridiculous questions concerning him and water. So, being the smart guy that he was, he tactfully avoided them. Which, if he was being truthful, wasn't all that hard.
You would think that being a super hero in training he should be able to change faster than he did. But by the time he had changed back into his street clothes and made his way to the other side of the locker room where Warren's locker was, the older teen had made himself scarce, Will frowned in disappointment. Besides commiserating with his quickly becoming best friend, Will wanted to let the other teen know that he had support; that if the coming week got too hard to deal with, that he and the others would be there for him.
The rest of the gang were of the same mindset as Will was, and Warren had eluded them just as easily as he had Will. He really didn't want to deal with their misguided sense of concern. So he skillfully avoided them until the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and then quickly boarded his bus. And as luck, or irony, would have it he had the perfect excuse to avoid them the entire weekend too. He smirked and raised his hand in farewell as the gang came running out of the building in time to see his bus take off.
***
Josie Stronghold had a lot on her plate. She was a successful business woman, a super hero and a full time mother. She tried very hard to be at home when her son returned from school every day. Today she had barely enough time to change out of her hero costume and get a snack started before her son and his group of friends came marching in the front door. It hadn't been that much of an adjustment for her when her house had been designated the unofficial gathering place afterschool for homework and hanging out.
Up until homecoming the afternoon schedule was pretty predictable. The kids would show up, eat some snacks, take over the living room and start on some homework, then they would get sidetracked and start playing some game. After homecoming though, things weren't so predictable. Every now and then the group would choose someone else's house to do their homework at, and every time Will would come home late in the evening with a disappointed but determined look in his eye, mumbling something about someday or next time.
Steve had guessed that it was due to some new video game. But she knew that it had something to do with the newest addition to the little group of friends. She had seen him at homecoming, after everyone had been depassified. He was standing as far back as he could, trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. She knew Steve hadn't seen him, but she had, and surprisingly, she had liked him on the spot.
On a normal day, the group of teens would head straight for the kitchen and then head into the living room to start on homework. That was why she always made sure the snacks were set out on the table; to avoid any unnecessary damage to her kitchen when 'starving' super teens scavenged for sustenance. Today though, they all went straight for the living room. Curious she poked her head around the door frame to see the group of friends all in similar states of slouched defeat.
"Do you think he'll be ok?" she heard Layla ask.
"Don't know." Her son replied. "He didn't seem to be in the mood to talk."
"Duh," that was Magenta, "When is he EVER in the mood to talk?"
Josie didn't consider herself a nosy mother, but she couldn't help her curiosity, so she stepped around the corner and asked, "Who's not in the mood to talk about what?"
Every head immediately snapped up and in her direction, their eyes wide with surprise. Their shock and anything other feelings generated as a result of her curious intrusion on their conversation was quickly forgotten when their eyes registered the plate of snack sandwiches she had in her hands.
And just as she suspected, the food would loosen her son's tongue.
"Coach Boomer announced that next week is swim week." He said as he grabbed two sandwich squares and shoved them in his mouth.
"We're worried about Warren." Layla admitted as she took out a baggie of grapes and popped one into her mouth.
And the pieces of today's puzzle came together in her head. Warren was a pyro, like his father had been. The group of teens were worried about how the upcoming week would affect their newest friend.
"Did he seem worried about it?" She asked as she gently sat on the arm of the sofa.
"Don't really know." Her son said around a sandwich square. "He kind of avoided us after the announcement."
"Well, why don't you give him his space today, and give him a call tomorrow; invite him over for dinner or something." She had an idea why she hadn't seen the teen at all since homecoming, but she wanted to make sure that her son understood that ALL his friends were welcome in their home.
Will sighed but nodded, "Yah, yah I'll give him a call tomorrow." A slow smile spread across his face. That seemed to lift the cloud from the group of teens and set the immediate cosmos at rights.