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.
If anyone wishes to volunteer to beta this fic, feel free to contact me.
Emma took her leave of the library as her job there was done. It was half-assed but then again, Lash wasn't something that was a priority of hers anyway. She waved hello to Lyndsey, a fellow former Valhalla student of hers. They were friends, but didn't get to see much of each other due to the move. With their busy schedules, it didn't make it easy to see each other outside of school. They saw each other when they could. Emma hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should stop and chat. She checked her watch and decided not to since she had another friend waiting outside.
Emma strode through the barren halls and out into the bright sunshine.
The school was deserted as class didn't start for another few weeks. The only people there were those who wanted to get things ready for the upcoming year. That included student class reps like Emma, and helpers like Lyndsey.
There was one other student there, that didn't fit into either category. Emma spotted her on the steps to the school relaxing. She was leaned back on the granite steps and looked as if she didn't have a care in the world. The girl was dressed casually in jeans, teal chucks, and a screened tee; it had some kind of nonsensical saying that only teenagers would wear. Probably inappropriate for school, Emma mused to herself. If she knew her best friend, and she did, then it was probably sexually implicit.
As she got closer, she got a better view of the black baby-doll tee. Emma was proven right as "Let's Play Carpenter. First we get hammered, then I nail you" was plastered across her friend's chest in big teal letters.
"You know this is a school right?" Emma asked her friend sarcastically.
"You know it hasn't started right?" her friend answered right back.
They both laughed at their sardonic humor. It was the type of thing that only best friends could do. Be brutally honest and candid but still have the tightest bond.
"Oh, Olivia. What are we going to do with you?"
"Is there any reason you made me come to school, of all places, when class hasn't even started yet?" Olivia asked, ignoring her friend's rhetorical question.
"Yeah, I need a favor."
"Of course you do. My powers are full of the awesomeness. Who am I reading today?"
"This super senior who just got out of juvie"
"oooo sounds juicy. But what's in it for me?"
Emma sat down next to her friend and Olivia scooted closer. While Olivia would never do anything for free, not even for her best friend, she did free-lance her powers at a disgusting discount for her. Emma knew it wouldn't take much, as Olivia was a notoriously curious person. It was in her DNA to want to know things, so she could be talked into doing favors quite easily.
"How 'bout I give you free range of the school to get a 'feel' for the place?"
They both grinned at the play on words Emma used, and Olivia couldn't resist getting an advantage over other students. So she held out her hand for an object that she knew Emma would have.
As expected, Emma dug into her purse and pulled out a handkerchief. She carefully unfolded the linen as to not touch what was inside. In it was a simple pen and to an outsider they'd be very confused as to why Emma was handling it with such concern.
Olivia knew the protocol; she reached out with one hand and picked up the ordinary pen. Her normally deep brown eyes glowed unearthly amber as her powers took hold. She slowly twirled the writing tool and had a concentrated look on her face; as if she was watching and listening to something that wasn't there.
"Heh, he called you out on your bid for junior class rep." she said at last with a small laugh.
This made Emma frown because that was not what she wanted to know.
"I know what happened at our meeting, I want to know if I have anything to be worried about with him."
Olivia gave her friend a frown, silently saying "Hey, I'm the one doing you a favor here."
"Sorry, you know how I get when I'm hungry." Emma apologized. As soon as the words left her mouth, Olivia held out a granola bar. She was very used to Emma's hunger fits and was always prepared.
Emma took the cereal bar gratefully and ravenously tore into it.
Olivia resumed her reading on the pen and finally got to what Emma wanted.
"Naw, I think you're good. He's only here to make mommy happy. He's more nervous about facing everybody than trying to take over the school again."
Olivia's eyes went back to their natural dark brown hue and she pocketed the pen. Olivia was a pen hoarder so she always walked away with the writing implements, much to Emma's chagrin.
Emma had a concentrated look on her face as she took the information in. Olivia was best at what she did, so Emma wasn't concerned about the integrity of the information; just how to use it to the best of her advantage. This was something she'd have to ponder later, as she promised her friend a "tour" of the school.
They both gathered their things and headed into the building.
Olivia noticed that Sky High was very different from Valhalla. For one thing, there is an insane amount of windows. It let in a lot of natural light and Olivia could dig the feel. SH also seemed to have this love affair with light blue. From the tile to the lockers, everything was a shade of light to medium azure.
"I supposed they want to keep in with the theme of Sky High, so they want everything to blend. Kinda lame" Olivia thought to herself.
Both of the girls explored the school and it didn't take them that long to go through the building. It was only one structure with three floors: a bottom basement level, main level that housed the majority of lockers and other shared quarters such as the library and gym, and then the top level. Olivia had noticed there was definitely a socially accepted and systematic type of segregation to the school. It seemed that the bottom floor was full of anxiety and low self-esteem. The angst was almost palpable and she barely had to reach out her powers to get a reading on the basement level. Olivia assumed that was where Sides were taught. The main level was more of heterogeneous mix that she usually found in a crowded place. The only place where she felt the high levels of anxiety and terror was the gym. But that's typical of most high schools. The top floor though, that was an interesting story. There was some anxiety, but it was mostly filled with confidents and an over sense of self-worth. Olivia knew that was where the alphas of the school resided, so she had to make sure she got herself there. With her academic record, she was sure she'd easily make Hero.
The rows of lockers called to Olivia. She just couldn't resist the impulse to cause trouble. She was in luck as Emma, who would have surely tried to stop her, was busy talking to a teacher. Olivia knew she'd have a bit before Emma noticed her as the time-stopper had her fake campaign smile on. That meant she was kissing ass to appease the new administration. Olivia felt a little bad for her friend just then. At their old school, fake appearances weren't necessary as the faculty condoned aggressive ambition. At Sky High, it seemed they were stuck in some lame G movie where the worst someone could do to you was say they didn't like your outfit. This was made very clear in the initial orientation a month ago. All the Val kids that decided to go to Sky High had to attend a "Welcome to Sky High, now here're the rules" meeting with their parents. Most of the faulty were very cordial and their optimism rolled off them in waves. They just couldn't wait for school to start and shape the minds of the heroes of tomorrow. Sky High faculty seemed to think Val kids were under the illusion that hero life was glamorous and fun. Valhalla kids were taught differently and knew better. Lucky for Val kids, such adults were easy to manipulate as they were prone to believe the best in kids. So Olivia had no doubt that her and her cohorts would take over the place in no time…socially that is. Emma's quick move into power, with a little help from Olivia, was proof of that.
So while her friend was distracted, Olivia set into motion what she was sure to be hilarious shenanigans.
She came to a random locker and held the simple combination dial padlock. She quickly got the combo from the device and reset by turning three times left, then did the combination in one full turn right and then immediately left again. Click. Easy as that, she held in her hand the grand security of the lockers at Sky High. She did this several times at random lockers and replacing one with the lock of the previous locker. She grinned at the thought of the confused students who just couldn't figure out why their combos weren't working.
While she was in mid-spin on her seventh locker, she felt a presence coming towards her. She looked up to see a tall lanky kid with a mop of brown hair. He had a puzzled look on his face, as if he was asking "What the hell are you doing?"
She raised her eyebrow and defiantly looked back as if to retort "What's it to ya?"
They both stood there in silence as if they were caught in some kind of Mexican standoff. Olivia knew she had to keep her cool, as technically she was the one doing something wrong. Then she recognized who he was and relaxed. She finished what she was doing and walked up to the tall male.
Olivia had her confident smirk in place, casually leaned against the lockers, crossed her arms, and casually asked "'Sup?"
Lash looked surprised at the ease at which the unknown female approached him. He figured she was one of the transfer students Emma talked to him about. He had to bend his neck down to look her in the eye as she was short. Like not almost a midget short, but short for a female. He didn't see the harm in conversing with her and she seemed friendly enough. Seemed a bit mischievous too, if he caught her doing what he thought she was doing.
"Sup" was his reply with the non-committal head nod to top it off.
There was a bit of a pause as neither really knew what to say. It wasn't an after-school special, so it wasn't like they could start off with "Would you like to be my friend?"
An evil idea crept into Olivia's head and she couldn't resist asking "So what brings you here?"
She knew why he was here, she just wanted to mess with him and see if he'd tell her the truth.
To Lash, it was an innocent question and he didn't know the slightly mean intent behind it; he debated with himself if he should even tell the truth. To make things simpler for himself, he decided to be honest. She'd find out eventually anyway and he wasn't feeling creative to make up something on the spot.
"I, uhh, had a meeting with a student body rep to discuss the terms of my reinstatement to the school." Lash said, mostly quoting the notice he got in the mail to attend the meeting.
Olivia raised an eyebrow but never lost her smirk. Honestly, she didn't expect him to tell the truth but was impressed that he did. She thought she ought to give him the same courtesy.
"Yeah, you're that Lash kid right? I've heard things about you." Ok not the entire truth but at least enough to let him know that she knew about him.
Lash figured as much. "Yeah? Like what?"
"Oh this and that…Teamed up with a villain this…tried to take over the school that. Something about time at Youngsters. And that you have to 'volunteer' to help us Val kids adjust. Tough break, guy."
Lash frowned a little, since the girl shouldn't have known that. The incident with Pain and his stint at juvie he could understand. That was all over the hero news, but his work with Val kids should have only been known between him, the school, and Turner. He figured the word would get out, but not this soon. What kind of student class rep was Emma if she was going to telling their business to everyone?
"So what? The student council runs a gossip mill now?" Lash said a bit heatedly.
Olivia realized her mistake; she knew privileged information and let it slip that she knew. Automatically she went into damage control mode.
"No nothing like that. It's just really…difficult to keep things from me." she said vaguely.
Lash wasn't buying it and he was getting upset that his high school life was already getting treaded on; and it hadn't even started yet! He moved to leave but was stopped by the small brunette as she stepped in front of him blocking him.
"Hey, come on now. No need to get your panties in a twist."
"I do not wear panties."
He stepped aside to try and leave again, but this time the girl placed her hand to his chest and looked him dead in the eye. He was confused as to why she kept stopping him and was startled to see her eyes glow a tawny yellow.
"Yeah I know, you wear Calvin Klein medium black boxer briefs…in silk. Nice."
Lash was a bit freaked that she knew that, not to mention the weird eyes but it dawned on him how she knew that. And why she said it was hard keeping things from her.
"You're psychic."
"Something like that."
Her eyes turned back to their natural shade of dark brown but she kept her hand where it was on his person. He was unsure of what to do; he's never met a psychic before. Lash was getting more and more of an uncertain feeling about this girl. She knew everything about his record and probably a lot more than he was comfortable with since, e.g. his underwear preference.
"Oh not to fret, I know how to keep my trap shut and I don't really care about who you were" She took back her hand and smiled coquettishly at him. "I'll be seeing you around."
And with that, she left him dumbfounded. Seeing her retreating back, he did have to smile to himself a bit. This was going to be an interesting year and it felt good that at least one person didn't judge him for his past.
