Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Sara. Oh, and the story concept. Just about everything else is owned by Marvel and probably Foxglove.
InterNutter and Foxglove
The aging step-through died on the crest of the last hill.
"Aw, c'mon, Eileen..." complained the rider. They pushed the vehicle forward as if they were riding a scooter, and coasted down into the parking lot, using their sandshoes as brakes.
Eileen didn't really need the bike lock that the rider wrapped in complicated loops through and around her. It was just there to stop anyone towing her off as junk.
Sara unbuckled her helmet and stowed it in the seat, then slung on her heavy backpack and slouched towards school and her locker.
Another day, another dead rat.
This particular specimen had been "rescued" from a class dissection and had half its innards splayed about the floor of her locker space.
Sara just reached for the other pocket with the hole in it and drew out a plastic bag. She kept her face neautral as she encapsulated the corpse and dumped it unceremoniously into the nearest bin.
"Sara, Sara, plain and tall..."
Oh damn. She's two minutes early...
"When you got height, you got it all," Janine beamed at her, showing off her brackets. She was almost the polar opposite of Sara, being short and rounded where Sara was tall and thin. "When you got beauty, you were sore - you were stuck behind the door!"
It was a daily ritual. "One of these days, Janine," Sara promised, "even you will grow weary of that little ditty, and have nothing left but the novelty of a simple 'hello'."
But Janine wasn't listening. She was primping her copper-coloured curls at a boy who was desperately avoiding her eye. "What's up? Still sweet sixteen and never been kissed?"
"Let's just say that I'm getting bored," said Sara, heading off that particular rhyme. "I'm thinking of a behavioral experiment."
"What? Sticking a penny to the floor again?"
"Please, I did that already. No. This time, I'm thinking random pennies in random, obviously-stuck places. Walls, ceilings, the undersides of glass tables... I can use the school security cams to monitor them an--"
The next thing she knew, she was staring at some blood pooling on the linoleum, and Janine had vanished.
Whoever was dripping was real close. Practically right on top of her.
And then the pain blossomed from her temple.
"Oh frell," she muttered, touching the area. Ouch. She stood and found the locker she'd collided with. No visible rust, therefore there was at a reduced risk of tetanus.
What am I thinking? I've had my shots. "Stupid girl," she muttered. Hand over her wound, she made it to the nurse's office shortly before the bell rang.
"Hall pass?" said the school nurse.
"But - I got here before the bell..."
"I didn't see you before the bell. Go to your class and get a hall pass."
Sara sighed and plodded back to first period.
"You're late, Mister Essel."
Half the school or more seemed to think she was a boy named Adrian Essel. She didn't bother correcting anyone.
Sara held up her gory hand. "I do have a valid excuse."
"You've been fighting," he announced. "Straight to the office. Now!"
"But--"
"Must I escort you?"
"No," Sara murmured. "Though I'm sure you can't get the locker to press charges." It was a long walk to the office and, despite the pressure on the wound, she was bleeding like a stuck pig. Her head hurt and she was feeling all - woobly.
There was no-one at the desk when she got there, so she took a ticket and found a seat that looked easily cleanable. Sara leaned back in it and closed her eyes. Hurry up, she thought to the invisible office staff. I think I need stitches...
Her unencumbered hand fell lax onto the pebbled plastic surface of the cheap chair. It would take sharp eyes to notice that the skin of her hand changed to match the colour and texture of the surface it rested on.
The human eye is naturally drawn to the sight of blood, so in a way, she was extremely lucky that she was bleeding.
AN: It's slow going translating all this stuph to HTML just so I can distribute it on FFN (the pack of mangy bastids...) so if y'all want to read more of this, quicker, pop on over to Nutfiction(dot)net - where I have six chapters up already. Tell all your friends - NFN is user-friendly!