Chapter four:

Dash POV-

I blinked when I realized what had just happened. A GIRL just beat me at DOOM. How is that even possible? She told us at dinner that she had never gone to school or had a family but somehow she had become a DOOM champion?

She looked over at me, not even bothering to hide the smug look on her face.

"Well?" she smirked.

"You're good," I finally sighed, not wanting to admit it at all.

"Thanks," she grinned, the smirk still not falling off her face.

"So…what do you want to do now?" I asked.

"I don't care," she shrugged, folding her legs crisscross-applesauce style. We sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say or do.

"So…how did you end up in Metrocity?" I decided to ask. If I had not been paying attention, I would have missed the subtle stiffening in her shoulders (my sister thinks I'm stupid, which is kind of true when it comes to school, but I can actually pick up on things about other people rather easily), after a few seconds she released a sigh and told me.

"Well, because I don't really have a family, I've kind of just been switching from city to city and then I ended up here."

"Where are you from?" I wondered.

"Somewhere in Colorado, I guess, but I spent a good deal of time in Amity Park, Illinois too," she answered, as if this was the first time she had ever thought about it. 'I guess' what kind of answer is that? Shouldn't she know where she's from? And Amity Park? I had never heard of that city.

"What's your last name?" I asked, not knowing why I really asked it other than the fact that I was curious. She seemed to put a lot of thought into this question, the look on her face made it obvious that she was debating on what to tell me.

"Fenton," she told me finally, her face was a firm, keeping her emotions hidden. But I sensed that that was not the only thing she was hiding, this girl looked like she had had a hard life and she was definitely keeping some secrets. This made me a little nervous, because we have to keep our secret identities…well, secret. I was slightly afraid that she was some kind of spy for any of our enemies. Mentally, I shook that thought off, there is no way that she could possibly know who we are, she came from some other part of the country and on top of that, it was not possible that she could have planned to end up with Lucius and Honey. Heck, she probably didn't even know what supers were, as far as I knew, most of them were still in hiding except for us and a few others.

"So what's school like?" she asked suddenly, with an almost undetectable bit of a shake in her voice. With a start I realized that she was nervous.

"It's okay. It's almost fun without homework or evil teachers or well…learning," I told her, she giggled in reply, "So you've really never been in school before?"

She shook her head, "My…dad" she said the word like it was acid on her tongue, "didn't really want me…out in public."

"Why?" I asked, not expecting this response.

"Because…to him, I was a mistake," she said, quietly, averting her gaze to the floor.

'Ouch,' I thought, 'her own father didn't even want her.' Although I probably wouldn't admit it, that made me all the more grateful that my parents actually cared about me.

"Oh…" I replied, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think that you were a mistake." 'Where did that come from? I barely know her' I wondered. Dani's eyes lit up like the Fourth of July with…hope?

"Thanks," she smiled a little, "Anyway, I lived with my dad until my cousin came and saved me. I've been on my own ever since."

"What about your cousin, why can't you live with him?" I asked. A flash of sadness brushed across her pale face.

"It's complicated…" she told me.

"You can tell me," I prodded, I'm not sure why I cared so much about her, or why it mattered to me that she didn't trust me enough to tell me.

'Of course she doesn't trust me yet, we just met. And how could she trust anybody with a home life like that?' I convinced myself.

"Maybe another time…" she smiled a little. I nodded, not sure whether or not she meant it. Would she ever actually tell me?

'Why do I CARE?' I mentally asked myself.

"Dani!" Honey suddenly called from down the hall, "Come on, it's time to go home!"

"Okay," she called back, standing up to leave. I stood up too, and followed her to the front door where they were preparing to leave.

"Bye Dash," she said, smiling at me, "See you at school on Monday?" She sounded a little concerned, like she was afraid that she would never see me again. I was a little surprised, but attributed it to the fact that she didn't want to be alone on her first day of school.

'It has nothing to do with me,' I assured myself. But then again, 'why would I care if it did? Why is she any different from other girls?'

"Yeah, definitely," I assured her. She grinned, waving goodbye to everyone and thanking my mom for dinner before leaving with Honey and Lucius out the front door.

Dani POV-

I'm glad I met Dash, it would be nice to know someone on my first day.

'And he's really nice and cute, wait. What? Where did that come from? How could I possibly think he's cute? I just met him. It's probably just because he was nice to me, and the first guy, my age, that I have met,' I processed in my head.

"So, Dani?" Honey asked, "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, and I kicked Dash's butt at DOOM," I smirked.

"Whoa! Really?" Lucius asked, dumbfounded, "He's really good at that too."

"Not good enough," I shrugged.

"Alright Danielle, why don't you go get some sleep. Tomorrow, I'm gonna take you shopping," Honey told me as we walked in the house. I complied, going to my bedroom. I sifted through the clothes until I found a loose t-shirt and some shorts that would serve as PJ's. I slid them on and promptly fell into bed. I was out the second my head hit the pillow.