Running for Home

Chapter Three – I'm Limited

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I am simply borrowing the wonderful characters and settings for my own enjoyment and amusement, and not for any profit.

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Well, never let it be said that I wore my emotions on my sleeve. Even though finding out who the cute fire-boy was had nearly caused me to swallow my tongue (partly in shock, partly in disappointment), I managed to keep a straight face (and the power to breathe). I saved myself from having to respond to the info they had just imparted by pretending to really pay attention to what Miss Watson was saying. The guy and the girl shrugged, but turned back around, thank the powers that be for small favors.

It wasn't until Miss Watson wrote down our class schedule that I finally began to feel a little less nervous about being at Sky High. See, everything is better once you know what you're doing. Sidekick math, Sidekick history, Sidekick power development, Sidekick English, Sidekick art, Sidekick color coordination (oh good LORD, just shoot me now!), Sidekick theory, Sidekick current events, Sidekick music (apparently, we were in charge of developing our hero's theme music – why none of the Sidekicks in history had ever used this privilege for nefarious or somewhat spiteful purposes, I will never understand), and General P.E. Drop me dead in shock, they actually allowed us to mingle with the Heroes! Cue waving of the hand fan and a Scarlett O'Hara eyelash batting. Of course, this could just be a chance to further humiliate sidekicks whose powers didn't have the oomph or destructive capability of heroes' powers.

Ehh, I shrugged mentally, my Sidekick schedule didn't really bother me. After all, I had requested Sidekick placement. The one class I was really looking forward to was power development. Sidekick or not, THIS was the reason I continued to attend a superpower high school, even after last year.

During Sidekick history, we had to get into groups of two or three. The two overly curious fellow students in front of me immediately turned their desks around and grinned.

The guy stuck out his hand. "I'm Rick, I can create fog." I shook his hand and nodded at the girl. Rick continued his intro, "This is Jillian; she causes laughter."

Okay, had I heard that one wrong? "Laughter?"

Jillian's grin was mostly evil as she looked towards another student, who soon started laughing uncontrollably, to the point where he was lying on the floor, clutching his stomach, before Miss Watson rolled her eyes and told Jillian to stop tormenting poor Alan.

I raised an eyebrow. "Interesting power. Haven't seen that one before."

She shrugged. "It's kind of like a spin-off of an empath's projection power, only not as powerful as full-on empathy. And I might have even made Hero if I hadn't used Coach Boomer for my power demonstration. He REALLY didn't like being out of control like that."

I could guess, seeing as how he'd nearly flipped when I'd tried to place myself, and that was only a minor, momentary loss of power and control. "I wonder how he reacts to telepaths?"

Rick grinned. "Even if he loses some measure of control when they read his thoughts, he still places them as Heroes, if only to keep them from spilling any secrets they read from him."

Miss Watson interrupted our conversation with an assignment – our group had to debate and decide who was the greatest superhero in history and write three paragraphs.

Seemed easy enough, right? SOOOO not! Our group had a very definite difference of opinion when it came to that question. Obviously, there was The Commander, whom Rick was pulling for all the way. Jillian was set on Wonder Woman. And me? This was a new line of thought for me, though I could tell, based on the debate going on around the room, that this was the type of normal family dinner discussion that most everyone experienced.

Jillian and Rick were looking at me, waiting for an answer. Remember that overactive brain-connection thing? I said the first name that popped into my head, "Batman."

They looked at me like I was on crack. "It has to be a REAL superhero," Rick pointed out, with more than just a touch of disgust in his tone.

Okay, time for me to argue my case, thanks to my inability to just keep my mouth shut and nod and go along with everyone else. "Batman WAS real. He might not have had any superpowers, but THAT'S what makes him the greatest – think about all that he was able to do without any powers."

Well, I had made my case and at least put something forth. And for this, I was rather proud of myself. I mean, it's not like I had a lot of material to choose from. This wasn't the type of dinner discussions we had had at my house while I was growing up, and we hadn't really covered superhero history in my freshman class at my other school. So, uninformed or not, I was proud of myself for what I had been able to offer.

Of course, The Commander won in the end and Rick quickly scribbled out three paragraphs based on his and Jillian's ideas. I remained conspicuously quiet. Maybe my groupmates thought I was sulking over not having my hero chosen, which was actually not the case. Really, I just had nothing to offer in the way of praising The Commander. Most of the adjectives I had ever heard used to describe him were not of the flattering variety.

I made it through the rest of the morning without any other instances that might showcase my ignorance when it came to certain topics. And it wasn't until we were all leaving for lunch that I experienced another of those moments that demonstrated just how truly different I was from my super peers.

I was one of the last ones to make an exit, Rick and Jillian just ahead of me, when I heard Miss Watson call out, "Miss Lockwood? May I have a moment of your time?"

My blood froze at the name Lockwood, my step faltered, and I kind of stumbled into the hallway as I waited to see who would respond. Just my luck, Jillian turned around, and walked back into the classroom. The door closed behind her.

Even though my stomach began to cramp something awful and all I really wanted to do was just lie on the floor and wait for the pain to pass, which it always did, I just about ran as far from that classroom as I could while trying not to double over. I probably looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame as I scurried down the hallway, but right then, I really didn't give a damn. All I cared about was finding an empty room and allowing myself to catch my breath, away from everyone else, and get my equilibrium back.

I saw a darkened classroom and darted in, practically slamming the door shut behind me and leaning against it. I felt like a snowman melting in July as I slowly sank to the floor. I tried to clear my head by letting it fall backwards and pounding it against the door a few times. You know how that always seems to make people feel better in the movies? Yeah, this wasn't Hollywood, it did nothing to help my swirling emotions, and only added the pain of headache on top of my twisted stomach.

When I'd enrolled last spring, I'd been told that I would be going to school with the daughter of Mary "Visine" Lockwood, the son of James "Voltage" Windsor, and the daughter of Kenneth "Spitfire" Abrams. Being forewarned of this was one of the reasons I had so readily changed my name. And I'd been mentally preparing myself for the chances that I might run into one of these students…but as it turned out, nothing could have actually prepared me for it.

Maybe I'd been kidding myself when I'd thought I could do this, when I thought I could just continue to go to a super high school as though everything was all right. Maybe those students at my other school were right and I would do better to just pretend I didn't exist, pretend I didn't have any superpowers, pretend I knew nothing of this world, and just go to a regular high school.

Then again, ignoring the fact that I had a power? Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. As I'd already figured out, it didn't work. And the reason I continued to attend a super school was so that I could control that power. Use it the way it was meant to be used.

Reminding myself of my goal, I stood up, straightened my back, and mentally forced my stomach to quit tying itself in knots. I took a deep breath. Right, I could do this.

And it was time for my next challenge: lunch. And the cafeteria.

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Author's note: Much thanks to reviewers Nival Vixen, Godsgirl91, Kara Adar, inTHEgrid is where i live, and PadFootCC. I got the biggest, goofiest grin on my face when I read the reviews!