Stillness ran throughout the plain white house in the suburbs of New Jersey. That is, until an alarm clock began to shout an obnoxiously loud rock station. A tanned hand popped out from underneath the space-designed covers and hit the snooze button a little too violently. The alarm clock shattered like a mirror while the teenage boy cursed at the top of his lungs. He slowly lowered his feet to the wood floor, wincing as the cold hit his hot flesh. With one last grumble and an extra glare at his useless alarm clock, Benji Varder grabbed his robe and headed toward the bathroom for a shower, but something stopped him. He gingerly sniffed the black cotton and made a face as he recognized how much it smelled like his own BO. With an annoyed grunt, he deliberately dropped the robe to the floor and opened a white door, stealing his sister's gray one instead. He grinned evilly as he thought about what his sister Winnie would do once she realized what he had done. The shower sputtered to life, blasting icy water out the nozzle. Letting out a girlish squeal, Benji grabbed desperately to adjust the water's temperature. He cursed as the soap slipped through his fingers, and bent down to pick it up.
Meanwhile, Winnie Varder waited impatiently for her vain brother to find his way downstairs. She chewed slowly at her Cheerios, letting her mind scan for life forms outside for fun. The entire Varder family had special gifts, superpowers in a way. With Benji it was agility and strength, and Winnie could read just about anyone's mind and had limited telekinesis. She made a face as she read Benji quickly; the pain in the ass had used her robe, again. She sent him a particularly nasty mental message before turning her attention back to her food. Moments later, her brother bounced down the stairs, his black hair meticulously parted and gelled to perfection. His blue eyes were lined with black liner, her black liner, no doubt his way of revenge for the nasty telepathic note she had sent earlier. A scowl found her pale face, though she wasn't entirely in the mood to argue with him just yet. Winnie Varder was a girl of few words, most of them in appropriate for his immature ears. Benji gave her a toothy grin before dropping down in the abandoned chair next to her. Upon first glance, the twins looked nothing alike. Winnie had been so desperate for her own originality, that she had bleached her hair pure white, and her skin was nearly the same in color, since she simple refused to go outside for any long period of time. Her blue eyes were paler than Benji's, though they were ten times more piercing. She rarely laughed, while her brother was constantly expressing that carefree attitude and while Benji had ADD, she had OCD. They were an odd pair, to be sure, but they had been stuck together since birth. Unfortunately, neither of them could change that.
"I used your eye liner," Benji said to her with his trademark grin, "hope you don't mind."
"You used my robe too," Winnie said quietly, "I'll have to burn it now, thanks a lot."
He wrinkled his nose before pouring himself his own bowl of Cheerios. He supposed he should ask her what time she wanted to leave, but she'd probably read the question out of his mind anyway.
"Soon," she proved his suspicions, "very soon. I don't want to be late."
Of course she didn't, he thought, she was the perfectionist. A cold glare told him that she'd heard that, but he only smiled in response. Winnie couldn't stand to be late, for anything, he always figured it was part of that OCD thing. And today was very important for her, the first day of school. They were both seniors at the new Sky High, which had been built in town, so the students could drive there like regular people, mostly to avoid unwanted suspicion. The old Sky High had been highly impractical, so impractical that some villain had gone and blown it up a few years back. Someone named Regnition, a powerful criminal that had gone to Sky High with Benji and Winnie's parents. The new school had three dormitories: Stronghold, Williams, and Peace. The students were expected to stay there, out of harms way. Benji just thought the parents and administrators were paranoid, Winnie thought what they were doing was smart.
"Get your suitcase," Winnie instructed, "time to go."
"About damn time," he announced playfully before heading to the hall to grab his heavy suitcase.
Winnie sighed; it would be a long ride.
------------------------------------
Winnie gave Benji an exasperated look. "BENJI," she cried over the noise of the stereo, "BENJI! TURN THAT DOWN! I'M TRYING TO DRIVE HERE!" The force of the radio shook their lowly black '94 Honda back and forth as if the car itself wanted to throw up. Benji pretended not to hear her, head-banging to the country music station with such eagerness that Winnie feared he'd hit his stupid head on the dashboard. She reached over with a drawn-out sigh and turned the volume knob all the way down. Benji froze, "WHAT THE HELL, WIN!? I WAS LISTENING TO THAT!" Winnie flinched, "I'm not deaf, Benji! Show some respect, I'm trying to drive here!" Benji threw himself at the passenger window suddenly. "HOT GIRL!!" He blew on the glass, creating fog so he could draw pictures to the girl in the car next to them. When he started to fantasize, Winnie groaned. "Benji! That's so gross! Stop it!" He snorted, though it was a sheepish sound, like a child that's been caught doing something naughty. "Keep out of my head and we won't have this problem," he retorted hotly. "Then quit thinking so loud," she snapped back.
She strongly suspected the rest of the ride would be quiet.
