All recognizable Sky High characters, places, and events belong to Disney and its affiliates. I am making no money from this endeavor. As for any original content: Any likeness, similarities, and resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places, and events are unintentional and purely coincidental.
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The first day of school was always nerve-wracking. Students were filled with self-doubt and insecurities typical of their age. They're uncertain about their abilities to handle the course load, their relationships, and any new obstacles that might come their way. The beginning of school was the first step into unknown possibilities.
Lash Sandvig returned to Sky High as a Super Senior (no pun intended), so his nerves were wracked a bit more so than usual. It wasn't a new school year per se since he'd been a senior before, but he was a new person. At least that's what the people at The Juvenile Hall for Gifted Youngsters thought. They graciously bestowed the privilege of parole upon him; their words, not his.
It technically wasn't the first day of school either, but it was his first time stepping foot onto Sky High in over a year. Despite the lack of students and teachers, Lash was still nervous to be back. Although he had attended Sky High for three years and a little bit of his final year, the school seemed foreign and strange to him. Nothing had looked different from what he remembered, but he knew everything was different. Anything could have happened in a year and a half while he was gone. That was what unnerved him; he didn't know what had changed in a seemingly unchanged world.
He supposed he ought to be grateful that he only got a year and some change. His lawyer got him off as an accessory to villainy instead of a principal or abettor of villainy. Speed was not as fortunate since he was unable to afford such a good, or pricey, attorney.
"Thanks, dad." Lash thought angrily to himself. He found it hard to be grateful though his father paid for his lawyer. Jake Sandvig couldn't be bothered to even show up for the trial. So while Lash stood on trial, scared shitless, his father thought a company meeting was more important than being there for his son. Lash remembered the very cold and empty feeling that grew inside him every minute that passed in court. The prosecution threw every heavy handed word, normally attached to villains, at him. Lash could distinctly remember internally denying the accusations. He wasn't a villain, not really. It was more of a prank. A really stupid prank, but he wasn't evil. That's what he told his lawyer, almost breaking down, at their first meeting when the reality of the consequences of his actions became apparent. His lawyer didn't care though; like his father, the attorney was more interested in keeping him quiet. So that's what Lash did. He kept a stoic façade as the prosecution and defense battled it out in court. Lash came out the victor because of a "lousy" three year sentence. Slap on the wrist, they said, considering all the evidence against him. Due to good behavior that included taking classes and seeing a therapist for his "villainous compulsions", Lash got parole. He had also agreed to go back to Hero training; finish what he started.
So there he was, sitting alone, in Sky High's library. He didn't even have Penny and he hated Penny. Female was a bitch times eight, or however many multiples of herself she decided to do that day. Speed liked her though, and it was what brought them to Gwen Grayson, AKA Sue Tenny AKA Royal Pain, in the first place.
Penny landed herself in the mental ward, along with Pain, as she refused to disavow her leader. Screaming about Villain superiority, how they'd get out, and take over the world in court did not go over well with the jury.
Lash scowled at the thought of Penny. He had adamantly wanted to put sole blame on her for getting him into the whole thing, but with all the counseling he knew it wasn't just her fault. His shrink, very big on personal responsibility, counseled him on owning up to his part in the plot. So any anger he had quickly dissipated, as he knew he was to blame for his own actions. He made a stupid mistake and he paid for it with a year and several months of his life. What made Lash the most nervous was the likely hood of the school population, teachers and students alike, would not see it that way; that they'd just see some ex-prisoner who didn't deserve to be there. He wasn't sure if he deserved to be there, so he didn't doubt others would think the same.
Lash shook his head to get those types of thoughts out of his mind. There was no use in dwelling on the past or on an unknown future. He was there to finish his Hero degree because he promised his mother. He finished his G.E.D. while at JHGY but he wasn't able to get his H.D.
Shame grew tight in his chest as he thought about his mother. If he would be sorry about anything, it'd be how he hurt his mother with his actions. He didn't really care about his dad, that he could have ruined several lives, or that he wasted over a year of his life; what he was really sorry for was making his mom cry. She stood by him through his hearing and incarceration; visiting Youngsters every time it was allowed. All she ever wanted for him was to graduate with his H.D. and help save the world. When she found out he was doing villainous activities, she blamed herself and cried. He tried his best to convince her that it was his own fault and that he was just a stupid kid that got mixed with the wrong crowd. It killed him that his mother thought she failed him somehow when it was the other way around. So to console her, he did the only thing that came to mind. He promised to go back to super school and become a Hero. Seeing his mom smile was worth all the doubts he had.
He could care less about graduating Sky High, honestly. He didn't think he was cut out to be a Hero, even before the Royal Pain mess. The double life of a Hero didn't appeal to him. He had even considered dropping out and having his powers bound; go to a regular high school and live a normal life. But with the way his parents talked, that was never an option. His mother and father said that he was born with a gift, and it was his duty to use that gift to help the world. The pressure to become a Hero was another reason that drove him to dabble in villainy. The expectations to not only follow in his father's footsteps of running a Fortune 500 company, but to save the innocent in his spare time were overwhelming. Lash felt, between his mother and father, his life had been mapped out without any of his input. He saw his future as a suffocating blanket waiting to smother him as soon as he graduated and nothing he could do about it.
He realized that little tidbit while talking to his counselor at juvie. Like most teens, Lash was very reluctant to talk at all to the court appointed shrink. Dr. Lance Sweets barely looked older than Lash, but the guy had proven himself to be a great listener and confidant. Eventually Lash opened up to Sweets. Dr. Lance helped Lash through his daddy issues and anxiety about the future. Lash couldn't believe how helpful and freeing it was to have someone listen with no judgment or agenda.
Lash tried deep breathing techniques, learned from Sweets, to calm his nerves. This was a far cry from his first senior year experience. He had been confident to the point of cocky, but that was normal for a senior. Lash had a particularly nefarious reason to be so self-assured. A plan had been brewing for over a year was coming into fruition. Despite knowing it was wrong, he saw it as a way to break away from his planned path and do things his way. Joining Royal Pain seemed like an escape from the life that had been decided for him. Rebelling gave him a sense of control that neither Sky High nor his parents provided.
He couldn't help the sardonic snort that escaped him. The irony of his strategy to run away from a life of unyielding plans had led to one that consisted of nothing else. Juvenile hall had an undeviating daily schedule. So Lash lived a well designed hell that he knew would just repeat day after day.
Juvie was more boring than anything. There was a stringent agenda of where he was supposed to be, but not exactly what he was supposed to do. He got so bored he resorted to doing school work to pass the time. Talking with his shrink was the highlight of Lash's week and under Sweets's suggestion he took G.E.D. courses to ensure he had somethingto fall back onwhen he got out. There was no way of knowing if Sky High would let him back in and he didn't see the point in attending public school if he didn't have to. Lash felt secure knowing if he couldn't complete Hero training, at the very least he would be able to apply to college. Lash was very grateful for all of Dr. Sweets's help.
But the benevolent beings ruling Sky High decided Lash's tenure at JHGY was sufficient enough punishment, not to mention a glowing recommendation from Sweets, and should be allowed to return. Or they thought to further his punishment by "permitting" a nineteen-going-on-twenty year old senior to face the student body he tried to baby-ize with a super villain who just couldn't let grudges go. He wasn't sure which was more accurate but, then again, he didn't care.
Either way, he was now in the Sky High Library staring blankly at a stark white wall awaiting a student council representative to give him a rundown of expectations.
This was another aspect of returning to SH he did not look forward to. He was required to attend meetings with the junior class student body president to keep him on course. He resented the administration hovering him, but he could understand their distrust. He knew he had to earn the right to be trusted.
Petulantly he checked his watch and noticed he still had five minutes till his meeting. The old Lash was not considered punctual in the least, but having to adhere to such a strict schedule for over a year forced the good habit on him. So now he was five to fifteen minutes early for everything, and that left plenty of time to grow anxious. He wondered if he could just go back to his old ways and be late for everything. It'd get him in trouble but at least it didn't give him time to stew in his own apprehension.
The library was practically bare except for the few students here and there. It seemed that not a lot has changed in the time Lash was gone. The sidekicks who wanted to lay low and smart kids, generally, were the only ones who used the library. The library wing of the school was fairly standard. Ugly blue carpet with mahogany shelves filled with non-descript books. A row of ancient computers lined the north wall buzzing under harsh fluorescent light and long empty mahogany tables gathered in the center. The only outstanding feature was the section devoted to mystical texts for the magically gifted students. Few were enrolled and their coursework was a lot heavier due to the rigorous nature of spell casting. Regular students weren't allowed into the segment without special permission, and it was hardly ever granted.
Still, that part of the library was drastically different than the rest. Sleek black marble replaced the ancient blue carpet. Each book inhabiting the matching ebony shelves were bound in leather and encased brittle weathered yellow pages. Even from across the room, Lash could feel the pulse of magic vibrating from the tomes. The curious part of him had always wanted to visit that part of the library. He and Speed had attempted a few breaches, but it was not meant to be. They could never get around the magical security protecting the volumes and neither could they successfully petition a teacher to write them permission. So the great mystery of the magic section remained so.
As Lash stared at the off limits area a student walked into his line of vision. He didn't recognize her, but he didn't think much of that. He'd been gone for over a year so there were bound to be people he didn't know despite the small student population. She could have been a transfer student or a freshman for all he knew.
She looked older than a freshman and reminded him a lot of Penny; same skin tone and similar facial features. The likeness ended there as the female was dressed rather modestly, simple jeans and a hoodie. Penny was the sole member of the SH cheerleading team, which Lash always thought was dumb as they didn't have an athletics department, so she was always sporting the skimpy uniform.
Lash caught the eye of the stranger and she acted as if she were a deer caught in headlights. For a brief moment they stared at each other. She then quickly looked away as if he was something to be afraid of and skittered off out of view.
"Whatever" Lash thought dismissively with a hint of bitterness. It seemed as if his reputation has preceded him. If the girl wants to be some stuck up stand-offish bitch then he wasn't going to fret over it. The girl just proved herself to be the first student to judge him for past mistakes. He was sure there would be others.
The patient voice of Dr. Sweets invaded his thoughts as he remembered the Dr.'s advice before leaving the institution.
"You can't make people accept that you've changed Lash. You have to prove to them that you're a different person and it still might not be good enough. You just have to keep your head up and not let it get to you. I'm proud of ya kid, and I want you to do well this year."
A short raven haired Hispanic female suddenly approached him and it immediately threw him out of his reverie.
He'd been sitting in the library for about fifteen minutes and this was the first person to come close to him. He stood a little straighter and was at a loss of what exactly to do. So he opted to sit there awkwardly in a stilted silence.
"Hello, you must be Lash. I'm Emma Turner, Junior Class President. I'm here to welcome you back to Sky High."