The next morning she woke up in a daze, a delightful daze. As surreal as it was to have befriended the local hero and spilled her guts as if she'd gone to a confessional, it had really helped. She felt lighter somehow and a little less afraid of the word. She had told someone, it didn't matter who he was, but she had finally told someone about her pain, her past, her secrets, and the world hadn't ended and he didn't reject her or whatever it was she had been so afraid of happening if she only let someone in.

On the other side of town, on a worn out old mattress for a makeshift bed awoke a teen in a similar situation. Kenny had finally given up sleeping in much longer due to his noisy family beyond the door. He'd been at this Mysterion bit since he was nine but he'd never felt as much of a hero as he did after last night. Crime fighting was great and rewarding too but he hoped he'd actually healed that girl of a little of her own sorrows. God knows his life wasn't much better with the drunk, drugged up parents, lack of money, and not to mention he died horrible gruesome deaths. It was never a pretty sight. High school never did leave him as much time for his night job anymore, but being on summer break gave him a chance to catch up on things. Besides, Cartman still tried to be some sort of hero every now and then and someone had to protect the town from the Coon trying to protect it. Finally getting up to start his day, he wondered if he should keep checking up on her.

So began an odd, but wonderful friendship. The next evening, after her aunt and uncle had gone to bed as usual, the girl crept up to her usual spot on the roof. It was a warmer night and the sky was clear enough to see a nice number of stars. Her mind drifted between making shapes out of the clouds to wondering if her new friend was watching her. Would he ever talk to her again? Would he even bother with her in hopes their one little talk had just fixed her life forever? She had to admit though, she felt better than she'd ever felt since that fateful, tragic day. She didn't even feel like crying tonight. Placing her hands behind her head, she made herself more comfortable as she continued her wandering thoughts.

"Wake up."

Whose voice is that? Why was she lying on something so hard and scratchy? Then she felt something move her left shoulder back and forth and suddenly her eyes were open and she sat up with a gasp. She was awake? When did she even close her eyes to fall asleep? She turned to her left, the source of her wake-up call, and faced a kneeling Mysterion. He looked quite annoyed.

"It's dangerous to fall asleep on roofs. You should probably go to bed."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"At least you didn't fall off before I came by. It's late so you should sleep."

"Thanks for watching out for me." She gave him a small smile just before a yawn came over her. "Well I guess I will go to bed now. Goodnight." She couldn't believe she'd actually fallen asleep on the roof, and that Mysterion had caught her doing so, but he had come to see her again. He'd even cared enough to wake her up, as any good hero should, but now she knew he was still watching over her. She had hoped to actually talk to him a little more than this though.

"Wait." He said, and she turned back to face him."Will you tell me your name?" She blinked a few times before responding. It hadn't occurred to her that he never asked for her name before.

"Sure. It's Violet."

Another night, another meeting, but she feared it could be the last. This time she lied there on the roof, waiting for him to show up. Suddenly she caught the flicker of moment out of the corner of her eye and gave a small shriek when she turned to see Mysterion already sitting next to her. How the hell does he manage to be so stealthy all the time?

"Man, you scared me again." He gave her a dull look.

"Are you serious? I thought you'd be used to it by now."

"Sorry, I guess not quite but I'm still glad you came by tonight."

"Really? Well glad I could make it then. Can I ask why?" She sighed.

"The reason is because school starts tomorrow. I'll have to actually go to bed on time every now and then you know."

"Ah, I see." She felt her heart sink a bit. Was she the only one who would miss these nights? "Well, I could always visit on the weekends, right?" Her heart was feeling better.

"Of course." She laughed at herself for feeling so foolish. "I've been wondering though, do you still go to school as well?"

"Yes, I do."

"Really? That's just like out of the comics. Student by day, hero by night."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"You probably can't answer this because of the whole secret identity thing, but do I know you? I've only lived here a year though so I don't really know everyone."

"I can't answer that directly, but you probably do."

"So, if I was able to guess who you were, would you tell me?" A mischievous grin spread across her face. He laughed in return.

"I'll think about it. For now though I'd rather you not know who I am."

"This could be difficult though. I haven't made many real friends to probably know you and the only ones I ever talk to are usually girls."

"I bet you'll have more luck this year."

"Hmm, you really think so? Maybe if I wasn't so shy, but I get so nervous around people until I know them better."

"Really? You certainly warmed up to me well the first time we met when you told me your whole life story." He chuckled as she quickly sat up and covered her face with her hands to hide her blushing face.

"Well, you know, that was a special circumstance... After all, sometimes it's easier to confide in a complete stranger because you have nothing to lose. Besides, you were the first one to ever notice anything was wrong." She could feel herself starting to tear up, as she thought of all the times she'd gone unnoticed and ignored. Even at school, surrounded by so many people, she often felt so alone. Once again, she felt strong arms wrap around her. Whenever she started to feel too sad, he always cheered her up.

"I have a feeling you'll make new friends this year. Just stay away from those goth kids." She laughed.

"I suppose I would fit in well with them wouldn't I? I do envy their courage to dress in those awesome clothes, but I could never pull that off." Feeling fatigue wash over her, she leaned into Mysterion but could feel herself losing a battle with sleep. Once he realized she was asleep, he did her the favor of carrying her back inside. The movement reawakened her by the time he placed her on the bed.

"Thanks. Goodnight, Mysterion.

"Goodnight, Violet."

That night, after he removed all traces of Mysterion, and had gone back to Kenny, he lied awake for a while thinking of his new friend. Maybe it was just because she was a girl, but it was different than being with the guys. At least Stan and Kyle were the kind of friends he could safely say he relied on, but sometimes he needed a serious conversation, and they never took him seriously. Though he'd never noticed her before, he wondered if he'd see her at school tomorrow.

Beep. Beep. Beeeeep.

She groaned as the all-powerful alarm clock forced her out of sleep. The lack of sleep was definitely felt as her eyes stung in the presence of the morning light that was sneaking into her room. In one quick sweep, she finally threw the mess of blankets to the side and stepped out of bed. Already hitting the snooze three or four times, she finally silenced the device for good. With many yawns, she went through the morning routine until she was ready to grab her purple jacket and head off to school.

The best thing about the first day of school is that you do nothing. Introductions, being handed new books and praying they don't make us all do cheesy icebreaker games. Violet's schedule was about the same as any year with all the basics of math, English, history, science, and the other important subjects. This year though she was signed up for home economics, which seemed interesting and she had heard it was an easy class. Either way, she did like cooking and sewing and wasn't too terrible at it so why not? The building just had to be on the other side of the school though didn't it? She did her best to cut through the crowds as quickly as possible but it was a tough fight. After circling a few buildings, she finally found the right one and now for the right room number. She held her folded blue paper in her hand, glancing a few times to make sure she got it right before arriving at the door. Once again, her nerves were bringing a little panic as she hoped the teacher would be forgiving of her lateness on the first day. She put away her schedule and reached for the doorknob.

"Wait! Hold the door! That's home ec right?" She had barely touched the door when she heard someone yelling behind her. Quickly, she turned around to see a boy practically run into her he was going so fast. He must have run the whole way since he seemed a little out of breath. He looked about her age, but you never know with electives. Once he had caught up, he bent over a bit to catch his breath, and then straightened himself and nearly towering over her, but what else was new? Everyone always seemed to be taller than she was. The guy was dressed in jeans and an orange parka and it looked like the hood must have been on before because his blonde hair was a mess, but not in a bad way. As soon as he looked at her, he seemed to look a bit surprised, or shocked maybe? Suddenly she was wondering about stupid things like if maybe her own hair was messy, or there was a stain on her jacket, or something on her face?

"So, this is home ec right? I thought I'd never find the stupid building. I figure if we both go in late together maybe the teacher will go easy on us?"

"Maybe. That would be nice."

"Well then, shall we? Ladies first." He opened the door as he motioned for her to go first.

A middle-aged, but lovely and kind looking woman stopped and turned in the middle of her sentence to greet them with a smile. "Ah, we always have stragglers who get lost on their first day." She quickly scanned the room before turning back to us. "It looks like there's one last free table in the back right. We were just going over the books you'll be using." She handed us each some papers and we headed for our seats. Since I was ahead, I sat on the side of the table closest to the window. The clouds were a favorite sight when daydreaming in class.

The teacher droned on to her students about the various things projects they would be doing over the year, stressed that everyone be on time, and for everyone to get along with their classmates. The usual teacher stuff. Then she said something about meeting partners. Apparently, the seats were assigned from this day on and the person next to you was your partner for the year. The roar of talking overcame the classroom as everyone became acquainted. Inwardly she sighed since it sometimes made her nervous to work on group projects. She'd let her eyes wander over the classroom this whole time too and realized she had the only guy in class.

"Uh, I'm Kenny. Nice to meet you." She looked over, and up into his shining blue eyes and smiled back at his grin. He held out his hand.

"I'm Violet." She said as they shook hands and he lightly laughed.

"Really? What a nice name, and it matches your jacket." She laughed a bit too, looking down in embarrassment as she let go.

"Thanks."

"So, are you any good at all this stuff?" He rested his elbow on the table and his chin on his palm with an amused expression at her shyness.

"A little, but probably not all the things we'll have to do in here." She was back to looking at him again but trying not to think too hard about those beautiful eyes, or his messy hair nearly falling in his eyes, and the fact that she'd be spending way too much time with him than she felt her heart could take thanks to this class.

"Ah, well that's awesome. I'm probably gonna suck at a lot of this stuff." She laughed.

"Well then why are you taking this then instead of shop?" Now he was laughing.

"Let's just say me and shop class, don't get along too well. Besides, this way I get to be with all the ladies." The cheesy way he said that, complete with a wink, had her cracking up, and him chuckling right along with her as he put his arm down. "Glad you find that funny... and didn't slap me for it."

"No, no, it was funny."

"Good. The other reason is the free food just so you know."

"Oh right. I can't wait for that." This just may have become her new favorite class.


A/N: So I hope you liked the second chapter! I can't believe someone already put this fic on their favorite list! It's easier writing from Violet's pov most of the time since its fun writing about her thoughts on Kenny and Mysterion but I love writing as Kenny too. I'll try to update again soon!