"Liz, baby girl, it's time to get up. Your gonna be late if you don't get up soon."

A snore was the only reply. The graying brunette shook her head and poked her only daughter once more.

"Liz, come on sugar, it's your first day of school."

"…"

"Ok, if that's how you want it to be." Quickly, Debra grabbed the covers on her daughter's bed and threw them off, then she proceeded to tickle her until she finally jumped out of her bed.

"MUM!" Elizabeth Coulter looked at her mom and then at her clock on her dresser. "Oh, NO!! I'm gonna be late!" Grabbing a pile of clothes, she ran into the bathroom.

Her mother, shook her head once more and then began to make her way to the kitchen while yelling that breakfast was on the table.

Emerging from the bathroom, Liz smoothed her pants and pulled down her shirt before grabbing her silver dog tag necklace and red belt and running down the stairs. Slipping into her shoes, she grabbed her black Inuyasha messenger bag and two pieces of toast.

"Love ya, mum. See you when I get home!" Liz hollered as she made her way out the door. Turning her run into a sprint, she reached the stop just in time.

"This the bus to Sky High?"

"Get up here," Obeying, she stepped into the bus. "Be careful. Evil may be around every corner. I'm Ron Wilson, bus driver. And you?"

"Elizabeth Coulter… Liz."

"Well, welcome aboard, Liz. Find a seat." Ron smiled as she nodded her head and began to make her way to the back of the bus. The only open seat was with a blue haired girl who was looking out the window. Noticing her standing there she turned and smiled, "Go ahead sit down."

Liz returned the smile and complied. "I'm Elizabeth, but call me Liz."

"Oi, I'm Lily Swanson, but please call me Ly. Ugh, I hate the name Lily!"

Liz laughed and watched as the bus rapidly began to ascend into the sky. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked the girl over. Ly's hair was a dark blue and was spiked. She wore a black tank top that had white shear lace at the top and bottom of the shirt, a black skirt the had a light white pattern embroidered onto it, a red belt, and red flats to match. Smiling, Liz calmed down. Maybe this new school wouldn't be so bad after all.

Exiting the bus, she turned to Ly. "Is this your first day here?"

"Nada, I'm a Junior and have been going here since Freshman year. What are you? A Junior?"

"Yea. But since you've been here, would you mind showing me around?"

Ly grinned, "Of course! I was already planning on it, sweetie. By the way, I love your bag. I haven't seen the show in a while though. You'll like it here. I will admit a few of the guys are jerks and some of the teachers are strict but there is other things that make up for it."

Liz smiled. "Like what?"

"… The food."

"What?"

"Well, that and the hot guys."

And as they continued to talk, they began their walk up the steps of Sky High. In the hallway, Liz stumbled into a dark haired guy, Ly next to her gasped. Liz glanced at her before looking up into dark brown eyes.

"Watch where you're going." He told her before walking off. His dark brown hair fell to his shoulders and he was fitted it in a gray t-shirt, dark faded blue jeans, combat boots, and a leather jacket on top of it all.

Turning to Ly, she asked "Who was that?"

"Warren Peace, the son of Baron Battle." Ly said in a hushed whisper. Liz raised an eyebrow at that. "So? Doesn't mean he's gonna be a villain like his daddie."

Ly nodded and continued walking. "Come on, stop gawking at the hot guys. We've got to get you to the gym." Liz stopped, "Why?"

"Power placement." Ly grabbed her hand and continued to drag her along.

Liz looked up at the man that was going to tell her were she would be. Hero or side-kick. Honestly, she didn't care what she would be. She could barely control her powers. And if being a side-kick meant that she would learn control. Then show her where to sign.

"Every year I get a whiner babies, people who don't like were I put them. Well, too bad because my word is law!" Coach Boomer shouted, "You'll get up here, show me your power and I'll assign you to where ever you should be. Got it? Ok, you in the blue jacket, get up here."

A small boy in a blue jacket, nodded and slowly made his way to the stage. "Max Nidden, I can fly." He flew two feet and Boomer nodded. "Hero."

Liz leaned against Ly, "What are you still here?"

"Cause I'm your guide and I promised you I would show you around."

"Ah." She yawned.

"Did you get much sleep last night?" Ly asked.

"No, I couldn't sleep. I was nervous." Liz glanced up as a blonde girl just turned to dust. Boomer chuckled, "Just as bad as melting. Side-kick."

"Don't worry. I won't abandon you. Your 17 right?"

Liz nodded, "Why?"

"Same age as me. Sorry, I was just wondering. When you get up there, don't try to suck up. He hates it. He hates it just as much as he hates me."

"Why does he hate you?"

"I'm the Principle's daughter. He can't degrade me like everyone else cause he's afraid he'll lose his job. So I taunt him and tease him. It's hilarious!"

"Ok. What's your power?"

Ly sighed, "I control water. You?"

Liz looked down, "I shape shift."

Ly grinned, "Really? That's sooo cool! Into what?"

"A tiger."

"Lucky. All I get is the ability to control water. You shape shift… into a tiger. I love you!!" Liz was suddenly swamped by Ly's hug. "I love tigers so much! They are so cool!"

Boomer looked down at his interruption. "Lily Swanson! What are you doing here?!"

Ly released Liz from her bone-crushing hug. "I'm this girl's guide, Captain Muy Loco. Have a problem with that, Sarge?" Boomer glared.

"You next to Swanson, get up here." Liz turned to glare at Ly, "Thanks a lot!"

"I'm sorry…"

Liz slowly climbed the stairs and stood next to Boomer. "Elizabeth Coulter. I shape shift."

Boomer waited. "Into what?"

"A tiger."

"Then shift already!"

"Because I can't on command." Liz turned to look at Boomer. "And yea I know. Side-kick! Sheesh." Liz hurried down the stairs and grabbed Ly's hand.

"Let's get out of here." They ran to the door and pushed through, nearly hitting people in the hallway as they made their hasty exit. Slowly they came to a stop and leaned against the wall, Ly panting for she was out of breath. Liz on the other hand breathed fine and seemed like she didn't even run at all.

"Let me guess." She paused to catch her breath. "A tiger quality?"

Liz smiled and nodded, "I may not be able to shift on command but some qualities I have all the time. Like the ability to run for a long distant and not be out of breath, great eyesight, and great hearing."

"You lucky, lucky dog, you. Well, lucky cat in your case but you get the idea. Sorry about that back there. I shouldn't have annoyed him."

"Nah, it's alright. I would've had to go up there sooner or later. So aren't you gonna show me around?"

Ly grinned, "Shame on me for forgetting. What kind of tour guide am I?"

"A bad one."

"Yea, I guess so. Well, there goes that option on my future job possibilities."

Liz rolled her eyes, "Just go."

"If you insist!" They continued down the hallway with Ly every now and then pointing to rooms and telling her what class would be there. Ly stopped at a door and glanced over at Liz. "Time to meet my mom." She opened the door and Liz followed.

"Hello Mommy Dearest. Meet my friend Liz. Liz, meet my mom." Linda Powers stood and extended a hand towards Liz. Liz smiled and shook it.

"Nice to meet you. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. And if need be, ignore Ly. She can get annoying sometimes. I should know."

Ly opened her mouth to voice her retort but was interrupted by Liz. "She's not that bad. And by the way it's Elizabeth Coulter, I just go by Liz."

Ly tried again but was silenced by her mother. "How do you like it so far here?"

Once more Ly began to talk but was cut off by Liz, "It's a very nice school. Yea, I'm a sidekick, but I can't exactly control my powers yet so I understand. I shift into a tiger."

Ly flopped into a chair and started playing with the end of her shirt.

"A tiger? That's neat. If you want any help you can talk to one of our better shifters and a friend of Ly's. Her name is Magenta. I'm sure you'll meet her sooner or later. Now if you wouldn't mind, I need to finish this paper and you two need to get to lunch."

Ly looked up, "Lunch? Well, what are we standing around here for? Let's go! Bye, Mom!" She jumped out of her chair and grabbed Liz's hand, dragging her out the door before she could even say bye. When they reached the lunch room, Ly shouted, "I am here my people have no fear!" Liz side stepped away from her and began walking to the lunch line. There she picked up a tray and got a cheeseburger. While waiting for Ly to get her lunch, Liz noticed Warren sitting with a group of kids. Even though he sat at the table, he made no move to join the conversation.

"Liz!! Come on. You can meet the gang." Liz followed Ly to the table she was just looking at. "Will, move over. Make some room for me and my new friend, Kitty." Will scooted over so Liz and Ly could fit on the end and sent a glance towards Liz.

"Your name is Kitty?"

Liz shook her head, "No, my name is Elizabeth Coulter, but call me Liz. She just calls me Kitty because I shift into a tiger." Once the words were out of her mouth, she could feel the eyes of everyone at the table on her.

The girl in purple and black spoke up, "I'm Magenta. I shift also…into a guinea pig." So this was the girl Powers said to talk to.

"Cool."

The girl in green smiled, "I'm Layla. It's nice to meet you but can I ask a question?" Liz nodded. "Ok. Don't get angry or anything but do you have to eat meat?"

"I don't have to but I should. If I go too long with out meat in my system, I shift more often and I get hard to control."

"Ah… Ok. I control plants by the way." Layla smiled again and picked up her fork to continue eating her salad.

The boy in white and neon green spoke up, "I'm Zack and I glow."

Liz chuckled at this, "Like a light bulb?"

"Like Rudolph's nose only green." Said Magenta.

The boy next to Zach looked over at her, "I'm Ethan. I melt."

"Different." Liz smiled.

"I'm Will." The boy in red, white, and blue spoke up. "Loner down there is Warren." Liz glanced down at him and picked up her cheeseburger, "Yea, we've met." She told him before biting into her burger. Lunch carried on as normal, though several times Ly asked, more like begged Liz to shift; Other then that it went on as normal.

Dumping their trays, Liz ran into Warren once more, this time though she introduced herself. "I'm Liz, the girl you ran into in the hallway." Warren stared down at her. "I ran into you? I believe it's the other way around." He began to walk away but still Liz yelled at him. "Nuh uh! You ran into me!"

Ly walked up to Liz and threw an arm around her, "I know. He's so hot and I can see why you're crushing on him. He just has that whole bad boy thing going on. And when he smiles… Damn! Yep, he's one sexy beast." Ly winked at her. "Plus, he's single." The last part was a whisper. Layla walked up in time just to hear the single part.

"Talking about Warren?" Layla asked. Ly nodded. "Yep. Just telling my good friend here about my other good friend. If you ask me though, I think these good friends are perfect for each other." Layla smiled at this. Liz on the other hand glared at Ly.

"No matchmaking." Liz all but growled. Ly gasped, "You wouldn't hurt me would you?" Liz smiled, "Only if I find out you're playing matchmaker." And with that Liz walked away.

Layla turned to Ly and said, "You're gonna play matchmaker, huh?"

"Yep."

"She's gonna kill you. You do know that right?"

"Yep."

Layla suddenly smiled, "Can I help?" Ly smirked and nodded. "Of course!"

Liz twirled her pencil as she listened to the teacher rattle on. Only ten more minutes and she would be free. She looked around the room taking in every detail. In the front right corner sat a young girl. She guessed maybe ten which led Liz to believe that she was a genius. Behind the girl was a guy that kept jotting down notes. Teacher's pet you bet.

Behind the pet was a girl who just emanated prep. Her blonde hair laid flat and her nails were neatly manicured. Next to her was a near exact twin. So they must be twins? She wondered if they shared powers. In front of the twin were several other people. Then in the beginning of the next row was the sand girl. She seemed nice enough.

The other people in the room no longer interested her. Well, ok that was a lie because one person certainly interested her…a lot. A Mr. Warren Peace sitting right behind her. Once during the class she made a mistake of turning around to look at him. He glanced up at her from his book and just stared. Oh, so intimidating. She quickly turned around and tried to act like nothing happened but it certainly didn't help to feel Warren's stare.

Suddenly the bell rang interrupting her thoughts. She collected her things and stood… only to run into him..again. She looked up at him. "Honestly do you have nothing else to do but run into me?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes.. "I'm sure I can find something else to do besides running into you." He moved to walk past her but Liz stepped in front of him. She poked his chest. "Stop running into me." He brushed past her without a word. She glared at his back. "That isn't very nice, Peace!" He went out the door without a word.

Liz sighed and picked up the rest of her things to make her way out the door. She began to hum as she walked to her locker. She grabbed her bag and the books she needed. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind. "AHH!" She whirled around only to face Ly with an innocent look on her face. "Lyyyy.." She growled.

Ly snickered. "Awwww, your so cute when your angry. You look exactly like my cat when I take away her toys." Liz closed her locker and ignored Ly as she made her way to the bus. She smiled at Ron and went to the back. Ly plopped next to her. I'm sowwy…. Forgive me, Kitty?" She held her hands in front of her and stuck her bottom lip out. Ly nodded and looked out the window. Suddenly Ly shrieked. "JAKE!" She jumped up. "Sorry Kitty. I just saw my man sit with another girl." Liz glanced up in time to see Ly rip a girl from her seat next to a very hot guy. Ly sat down and snuggled up next to him. All Liz could do was roll her eyes. Drama, drama, drama. She felt someone sit next to her. Just imagine her surprise to find out that it was Warren. She raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" He ignored her and pulled out a book. She nudged him. "Must you ignore me?" He closed his book to stare at her. "What?"

She smiled. "So your not gonna ignore me?"

"No, I'm just not gonna talk to you."

She raised an eyebrow. "What's the supposed to mean?" He sighed. "Can you please be quiet?" He asked. "I'm trying to read."

"Whatcha reading?" She lifted the cover of the book. "Hamlet? To be or not to be? Am I right."

He nodded. "Yeah.." She smiled and looked out the window, to let him read his book. Suddenly he spoke up, "Is it true? That you can't control your powers?"

She nodded without looking at him. "Yeah.." He reached over and touched her arm. "Maybe I can help sometimes? You know to help you gain control."

She looked over at him. "I'd like that." She returned her attention to outside. The rest of the bus ride between them was silence.