Chapter 8

Javelin silently trailed them to class, and was greeted at the door by Mr. Boy. "Hello! You must be the new student! We always welcome newcomers here in Hero Support." Javelin looked down at the syllabus of required courses. "And apparently not much else." She snorted. "Costume Coordination? Maintaining the Armory? Is this for real?" Mr. Boy turned pink. "It's the curriculum, and my job to teach it."

Javelin shrugged, tucking the syllabus away. "Whatever. I just need to graduate." She sat down in the back row, where the only available seat was, and Mr. Boy finished taking attendance. "Okay guys! Today is one of those days…" He waited for silence as several groaned. "You know it! Assembly Day!" He began passing out labeled bags of parts and pieces to each student, chattering about not cheating and doing their best. Javelin turned to the blond girl next to her. "What's Assembly?"

"An excellent question Miss Destro!" Mr. Boy half-shouted next to her, in his usual exubarent way. He stopped suddenly as the full realization of what he just bellowed sank in, and a look of horror and apology came over his face.

The class suddenly froze, turning to face him simultaneously. Murmurs filled the room and Javelin felt more then saw people sliding away from her. She clenched her fists, staring at the bag labeled in faded ink, "Laser". Don't think, don't think, she repeated to herself, silently.

"Yes, indeed, an excellent question." Mr. Boy continued, embarrassed now. "The goal is to see how quickly you assemble the piece you're holding! Keep in mind that you'll have to do this again as part of your final. Begin!" The class took up their talking, but none of it included Javelin. She pulled out the laser parts, sighed within herself and began to work.

Several hours later, having finished the laser and practiced escaping different restraints, all while not speaking to her classmates, the bell rang for lunch. She stood and left as quickly as she could, following the main crowd.

Javelin felt miserable inside. She'd hoped that they wouldn't know, not at first. But now they knew, and so would the rest of the school. "Why do you look like someone just threw your cat off the edge of school?" Warren fell in step beside her, following the main pack of students to the cafeteria.

"Because this school is lousy." She snapped, grabbing a tray and heading down the line. "It's curriculum is, broken. It's judgement is stupid, and the students are, judemental."

"Welcome to high school." He led the way to a back table. "Amy looks like she's doing fine."

Sure enough, Amy sat in the middle of a large group of girls and guys, laughing and talking easily, though she seemed tired. She caught Javelin eye and mouthed, "You okay?" Javelin shrugged and raised her water in mock salute. Amy got pulled into the conversation again and Javelin turned to Warren. "Why are you being nice to me?" Her voice was taking its sharp edge again, tinged with suspicion.

Warren looked down at his plate, spearing some green beans. "I know how it feels. To be, exiled. People didn't talk to me for the first month. It's our dads they see in us." He looked up at her. "I didn't think you deserved to completely take that."

Layla sat down across from them, pulling out her brown lunch bag. Taking a deep breath, she looked straight into Javelin's eyes.

"I'm so sorry about what happened in class today. I shouldn't have let that happen." She looked down at her sack lunch, fiddling with the top. "I protest all the time against unequal treatment, and I let that happen. She looked back up now, a fierce determination in her eyes. "It won't. Never again." Javelin smiled suddenly, and felt a curious warmth in her chest. "It's okay. But thank you."

The rest of the group came soon after and she was introduced to Ethan, the last member of the group, a nerdy, goofy looking sort. Nothing more was mentioned about the earlier classes, but when they went back to class for Utility Belts, Zach grabbed an extra desk, dragging it closer to their own. Here Javelin was welcomed into them as they reviewed over the fundamentals of what goes into each Utility Belt, and examined theirs for future use. Magenta, who leaned against Javelin and doodled on her steno pad explained this. "Part of becoming 'supers'," She used her fingers as quotation marks and rolled her eyes, "Is making your own Utility Belt, and equipping it. It means no one but you knows where everything is, not even other 'supers'. But 'hero support' uses a generic copy of their heroes." Javelin looked over at Zach, who was holding Magenta's other hand. "Does she always use so many quotation marks, or only about heroes?"

"Only about heroes." Zach kissed Magenta's hand and she threw him a smile before turning back to her drawing, a realistic version of Will with his pants on fire. Javelin chuckled at the sight and even Layla managed a small smile, though she chided Magenta. "We're supposed to be better than that." Magenta shrugged, crumpling up the drawing and lobbing it into the trash can. "Being nice is your job Layla."

"Hasn't Ethan been gone awhile?" Zach asked. Layla turned pale and the group fell silent, craning their necks around to see if he was there. The room was in a general uproar and Mr. Boy was leaning back in his chair, with a newspaper and his afternoon coffee.

"Oh no, not again."

"What?' Javelin asked, but wasn't answered as Layla turned to the others. "Who can go for him?"

Zach and Magenta both shook their heads. "I'm out for dress code." Magenta said.

"Got caught last week." was Zach's response. Layla turned to Javelin. "Can you do us favor?"

"Depends on the favor." She leaned forward, feeling the air of secrecy. "Get a bathroom pass. Go find Ethan? Please?" Javelin blinked, obviously confused. "Oookay… Mr. Boy?" She raised her hand to get his attention. "May I go the bathroom?" At his nod over the newspaper, she left.

Javelin headed down the hall, feeling wary. Something about their behavior suggested that it wasn't completely safe to go 'find Ethan'. This was answered when she heard a bang and turned around to see Ethan slamming into a wall outside the boy's bathroom. "Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling down next to him. He seemed unfocused, but his gaze sharpened and a faint "behind you" gave her a warning. A hand yanked her shoulder around and she saw two boys with ugly expressions standing behind her. "Another victim perhaps?" the fat offered snidely.

"Cu-ute." The lanky one sneered, staring at her outfit. With a snarl she grabbed the large boy's arm off her shoulder arm and yanked down. At the same time, she shifted and shot a kick at the lanky one, knocking his head back for a moment. Waves of red light appear, trailed down his hand to where her hand gripped his arm tightly and he started shaking. With a thud, Speed hit the floor, shivering and knocked out cold. "What did you do to him?" Lash shouted. Javelin grabbed his neck and the same began to happen to him, the waves moving towards her hand.

"What you deserve." She growled. She let him go and he crashed onto Speed. She turned to Ethan, who was completely soaked to the skin. "What did they do to you?" She asked, all violence gone as she gave him a hand up.

"What did they do to me? What did you do to them?" Ethan squeaked, staring at their bodies.

"They're not dead, if that's what worries you." She snapped, stalking ahead of him. "Come on, we should get going before they come to."

"So what did you do to them? Should I get the nurse?" She stopped, and he stumbled into her back.

"What I did was suck the heat from their bodies. They'll be fine. Give them 15 minutes and they'll be alright. Would they have gotten the nurse for you? Would they have helped you?" She turned back around. "The enemy is the enemy. Don't forget that."

After school, Javelin and Amy took their bags and boarded the bus. Amy picked a stop and they got off, walking the last few miles to the RV. Amy teared up too as she wandered around, touching everything once or twice. "Does she still run?" She asked, referring to Javelin's bike. "I'll try her later." Javelin said, touching the tarp lightly. "Go ahead and do your homework and sleep. I've got some errands to run." Throwing an oversize patchwork denim jacket over her shoulders, she wandered out into the town, locking the door carefully behind her.

First day's really lousy right? But it's okay. Our fearless four are with her now. Javelin's gonna make it. So… Any thoughts? I want opinions from everybody! And for those of us who are reading this without logging in (which I do all the time) I accept anonymous reviews to. Just sign your name so I know who it is okay? But I'd like to know, what do you think? Does the story still sound genuine?