Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High, or any of its canon characters.
Chapter Four- A Friend to One, an Enemy to All
I thought we were going to the Detention Room, but it was much worse- she led us straight to... The Office.
My heart was pounding. Oh god, I thought, that's it. I'm going to fail the project, and Hero History, and I'll have to repeat it. It's over. We're finished before we've even begun.
"Have a seat," she told us, gesturing to the seats.
As soon as we sat down Principal Powers had Warren, then Paul, and finally me, tell our respective versions of what had happened. In the end I had to admit that Paul had in fact provoked Warren which started the whole thing. Paul shot me a pained look that made me turn away guiltily. I felt bad saying what I did but it was the truth. Besides, Paul had promised he'd behave. He promised.
"I'll have a talk with Mr. Mnemonic," Principal Powers told us. "He will have to decide what to do as things clearly cannot continue like this. In the meantime... Paul, Warren- I will have to call your parents and inform them of what happened. Till then, I think it'd be best if you two would have a seat in the Detention Room. Anna, you may go to class."
We got up. I carefully avoided Paul's gaze as we left and tried to make a break for it to my classroom, but he wouldn't let me. As soon as we were a little way from the Principal's office, Paul started in. "I can't believe you!" He was almost screaming, which unnerved me more than anything.
"What?!" I tried to keep a straight face but I knew. I didn't care though. Things had gone far enough and I wasn't going to let him ruin things for me, all because of his pride.
"You always take his side, ever since we started this stupid project!" he said, jerking a finger in Warren's direction.
"That is not true!" I said, my face flooding with enraged embarrassment. What was he thinking, yelling at me in front of a third party as if I were a kid? I glanced over at Warren- he was scowling darkly at Paul.
"I only told her what happened," I said. "I wasn't trying to get you in trouble. Don't pin this on me!"
"It wasn't about taking sides. You were wrong - end of story."
Warren had said it. Each word had an edge to it as if he were trying to cut into Paul as deeply as he could, trying to set him off as Paul did him.
Paul rounded on Warren furiously. I thought for a moment that my cousin would attack him- Paul's eyes flashed silver and he snarled, revealing his fangs. I stepped forward, ready to stop him if I had to. But he closed his mouth almost immediately and, glaring at me, stomped off to the Detention Room.
Warren and I stared after him for a few seconds. I suddenly felt very tired. My right shoulder throbbed with pain. Feeling uncomfortable in the silence, I found myself mumbling, "Look, I... I'm sorry about...you know...Paul... and the levitation, and...well, everything." I wasn't sure why I said it. I just felt that it had to be said.
Warren however, wasn't prepared to accept this. He looked sideways at me with an almost defiant expression, as if he thought I was trying to be funny.
"What?" I asked nervously.
"Right, like you're not as pissed off at me as Findle is," he said, his voice filled with sarcasm.
"Oh believe me, I am," I said, allowing myself to tell him face to face exactly how I felt for the first time. "You guys couldn't last one week without being at each other's throats, literally. And now look what's happened! If Mr. Mnemonic doesn't give us all an instant 'F', I'll be surprised. "
Warren, narrowing his eyes indignantly at me, began, "Hey, your cousin's the one who-"
"I know what he did!" I snapped. When I spoke again, my voice was much calmer. "And I'm sorry about that. But you played a part in this too." I sighed heavily. "I gotta get to class. And you obviously have somewhere to be," I said, nodding toward the corridor that led to the Detention Room.
Warren glanced upwards for a second before looking back at the floor and shaking his head. "Whatever," he said and walked off without another word or glance back. I did the same, trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder.
It was the weekend so a couple of days went by before I saw Warren or Paul again. But during that time I thought about them both: Paul, with a sharp pang of guilt; Warren, with a new and rather surprising doubt.
When my dad found out about the fight, he was livid- but not with me. He was furious at Mr. Mnemonic for putting Paul and me to work with Warren. He almost called Principal Powers, but I stopped him.
"Listen, it's okay! Things got out of hand but it's settled now." I was glad they didn't know I got hurt from the fight. My right shoulder was really stiff now and it to move it, but I wasn't about to tell them that. They'd go straight to Sky High themselves for sure come Monday. That would be too humiliating for words.
"The hell it is. I'm not having you or Paul anywhere near him," my father snapped.
"Dad, I thought we were past that. Barron Battle's in jail."
"That doesn't mean you have to go fraternizing with his son."
"But I'm not! It's just a project. I'll only be seeing him for a few hours a week. I can't mess this up, Dad. I need this grade."
"Don't you worry about that. I won't let them fail you and I'm certainly not going to let them make you or Paul work with Battle's kid! I can't believe that Frank would even think of doing something like this. I thought he knew better! I'm going to have a talk with him and the Principal," my father said, rising from the couch where he was sitting. But Mom pulled him back down.
"Charles," my mother admonished quietly, then turned to me. "Anna, you know better than anyone how sensitive this situation is. Are you absolutely sure you can handle this?"
I hesitated for a second and only a second. "Yes, I can." I had to. There was really no choice in the matter. My father was ridiculously steadfast in his decisions but so was Mr. Mnemonic. It wouldn't have been pretty seeing them go head to head.
"Diane," my father began, but my mother stopped him.
"She has to learn Charles," she told him. "If she doesn't face this now, then when?"
xxxxxx
Warren Peace was in the face of all logic, someone I should have dismissed as a by-product of an evil villain as well as being my cousin's sworn enemy. But up until the incident with Paul he had been taking his position in our group very seriously, even conscientiously, considering who the members (and the group leader) were.
And now Paul had fought with him after provoking him repeatedly over the past few days. Paul was right- it was becoming difficult to become completely on his side now. And he wasn't helping the matter.
I couldn't admit that to him though.
When Monday rolled around I dreaded going back to Sky High. On the bus I wondered what would happen. Mr. Mnemonic would have obviously heard about the fight by now and like Principal Powers had said, things couldn't stay as they were.
I saw Paul in the hallway and called out to him.
"Hey Paul! Hey!"
Paul glanced at me for a split second and turning pointedly, walked away. But I wasn't giving up so easily. I ran to catch up with him and grabbed his arm, which he instantly yanked away.
"Leave me alone," he snapped.
"Come on Paul, don't be like that."
"Because of you, I'm grounded for a month!" he said sharply. "All you had to do was stick up for me and you couldn't even do that!"
"But you started it, Paul! What did you want me to do, lie to Principal Powers? Tell her it was Warren's fault?"
"But it was! He threw the first hit," Paul hissed between clenched teeth.
Feeling suddenly angry, I just gave up. "Whatever. You know what? I'm done feeling sorry for you. You shouldn't have started in on his dad so whatever he did to you, you were asking for it." I turned around and began to leave when I heard him whisper it:
"You traitor."
I stopped for a second, but I didn't turn around. I continued walking, his words stinging afresh with every passing moment.
Once in Hero History class I ignored Jana Vega (who did the same), and went straight to Warren. He was reading one of his textbooks, his hair falling over his face. He didn't seem to notice me at first. I coughed a couple of times. Not looking up he said, "What, Arrian?"
"I just wondered if you heard anything from Mr. Mnemonic or Principal Powers, about...well, you know."
"No. Though I sure heard a lot when I got home." He sighed reflectively, shaking his head. Finally he looked up at me. "Why don't you ask Vamp Boy?"
I didn't reply to that but Warren, seeing the look on my face put two and two together. "So, trouble in the family, huh?"
"No," I lied, a little defensively. "I'm just...giving him his space."
"Sure."
Mr. Mnemonic came into the classroom then with Paul following behind, staring daggers at us. I glanced back at Warren- he raised his eyebrows as if to say, 'Well, here it comes.'
"Will everyone quickly take their seats? Thank you. Before we begin, will the members of Group Two see me after class?"
Jana raised her hand.
"Yes that means you too, Jana," he said, rolling his eyes.
She instantly put it down.
After the class Mr. Mnemonic told us to pull up the chairs in the front row and have a seat, which we did. He leaned against the front desk and didn't say anything for a minute. Then:
"Well. As I'm sure you know by now, Principal Powers has informed me of the incident that occurred on Friday."
We didn't answer. Paul was frowning at the world in general; Jana looked vaguely non-plussed at the whole thing (she probably knew little about the fight, since she didn't bother to show up that day); Warren folded his arms and stared at his desk in mild boredom; I kept my eyes on Mr. Mnemonic's briefcase, gazing at it sadly.
"I must say that I am extremely disappointed in all of you. Anna, being the sensible one I know you are, I'd hoped that you would have come to me before things escalated to this degree."
I could not believe what I was hearing. "But you said that-"
"I said that you would have to work out your issues, yes. But if things were getting out of hand and hindering progress on your project to such an extent, then you could have at least told me about it."
I exhaled indignantly but said nothing.
Mr. Mnemonic continued, "Warren, this is the second time this term that you've been in a fight. You cannot afford to do that again. As tempting as it is to settle your disputes by incinerating the other party there are better, more effective ways to deal with them. I hope I don't hear about you fighting again."
Warren didn't answer. He threw a look in Paul's general direction with an expression which suggested he hadn't particularly considered incinerating Paul before, but the prospect was very attractive now that he had. I felt worried.
"Paul, I placed you in this group with Warren for a reason. I'd hoped, maybe foolishly, that you'd be responsible and get the work done with no major mishaps. And now considering what you both have done, I don't have any other choice but to appoint Miss Arrian as the group leader. She will act as the neutral party and as mediator should any further conflict occur. Is that understood?"
I started at this and said, "But I don't want to be in charge!" at the same time Warren said, "That isn't going to help anything!"
But Mr. Mnemonic was in a bad mood. "I said... is that understood?"
I muttered, "Yes sir." The other two just nodded sullenly. Jana didn't even acknowledge the whole exchange. She simply stared into space.
"Paul," he went on, "you're a smart young man. You can see the bigger picture can't you? Are you really going to sacrifice thirty-five percent of your final grade over pointless misplaced resentment? Paul, are you listening to me?"
I flinched when I heard his words. Silently I prayed that Paul would keep his cool and not do or say anything that would ruin himself.
His hand was gripping the underside of the desk which was attached to his chair- I heard the low groan of the solid metal as it bent easily beneath his fingers. I tensed, waiting for it. But Paul didn't do anything. Instead, he looked up with an unreadable expression.
"Yes sir. Of course sir," he said.
It was obvious that he was struggling to keep his voice level and I thought that Mr. Mnemonic noticed it too. He watched Paul carefully for a moment more, then finally turned to Jana.
"Jana Vega," he said, shaking his head. "What are we going to do with you?"
"Excuse me?" she said, having the nerve to look affronted.
"You haven't been pulling your weight in this project," he said, being more patient than I would have been. "Not attending meetings or giving input-"
Jana scoffed then looked at me in an accusing manner. I glared back at her just as strongly, even though I wasn't the one who had snitched.
"Now I'm serious Jana. If I find out that you're still not getting involved in the project, I'm going to have to give you an 'F'. Yes, just you. Now that's all. I hope I don't have to sit you all down again."
We left the class to go to lunch- separately. I usually ate with Paul but since he wasn't talking to me at the moment, I was on my own.
"Ow- hey!" I said angrily as Jana bumped into my hurt shoulder on the way to the lunchroom.
"Sorry. Didn't see you," she said in a cold voice as she walked past.
Rubbing my arm gingerly, I stared after her. She was really starting to get on my nerves. But I forced myself to dismiss it as a new thought came to me.
"Hey, you guys!"
The three of them turned around, each looking at me in varying degrees of sullenness.
"Uh..." I faltered.
"Yes?" Jana snapped.
"Um...group meeting! Yeah, at...ah...tomorrow. Five'o clock!" I said somewhat triumphantly after a few seconds of panicked deliberation.
"No can do. Guitar lesson," Jana said smugly.
"Save the Citizen practice," Paul reminded me.
"Work," Warren explained.
"Oh. Well, we'll just..." I tried to think of another time but without much enthusiasm.
"So we'll have it today," Warren suggested after a couple of moments of silence. "In the library. Three 'o clock."
"I have a meeting with a teacher," Jana countered smoothly.
"Then four 'o clock," Warren said insistently, giving her a look that thickened the very air.
"Okay, okay," Jana said resignedly.
Paul simply nodded, not looking at him or at me for that matter.
Turning to back to me, Warren said in a listless voice, "All right with you, Arrian?"
"Yeah. Well, see you guys later."
The three of them muttered something along the lines of "Right, whatever," and left.
Good to see you're all looking forward to it, I thought sarcastically as I trailed behind.
Once I was settled at a table I started on my fruit salad, still thinking about the project. Things certainly had not started off well. But now here we were with a chance to start over, sort of. I only hoped that we didn't blow it. Again.
A couple of tables ahead of me Paul was talking and joking with a bunch of senior heroes-in-training, taking great care to show me how much fun he was having without his traitorous cousin. Well, fine. I didn't need him anyway.
Oh, who was I kidding? I missed him already.
I heard Jana laughing from across the lunchroom with her 'rocker crowd', as I referred to them. She was showing them something from an old-looking book, pointing at one of the pages and snickering. I promised myself I wouldn't let her get a rise out of me. I simply wrote her off as a first-rate jackass.
Not too far away from her little clique was Warren sitting at an empty table, quietly having his lunch. He didn't have to, but it was nice of him to help me arrange a meeting time for all of us. Truly, no one else had even tried.
Suddenly he paused and turned, looking straight at me. I jumped and quickly looked down at my half-eaten fruit bowl. I grabbed my fork and stabbed a piece of apple, perhaps too enthusiastically- the fork snapped neatly in half.