It was Monday morning before I knew it as my phone's alarm went off. Groaning I reached over and saw that it was 6:30am. Rubbing my eyes I was tempted to go back to bed until Shock, already awake, poked my head until I sat up.
"Alright, I'm up." I muttered standing and heading for the bathroom. Brushing my teeth and fixing my hair, I stumbled into the kitchen/living room. "Shock, outfit change." I said and he linked with me. By the time I stepped out the door I was wearing my usual outfit which consisted of jeans, a green hoodie with Shock's image on the front with a silver t-shirt underneath plus my white and green sneakers. When I reached Max's door I lightly knocked.
"Come in." Molly called out and I opened the door to find Max's mom standing next to the kitchen table wearing a long gray dress." Good morning. It's nice to see you up bright and early." She said, nodding towards a door a short distance away. "Unlike some people." She added and I laughed.
"I heard that." Max called out from the other side of the door. "I'm up." With a yawn he stumbled into the kitchen and sat at the table. Rolling his eye Steel hovered overhead.
"Now that you're here, I wanted to tell you to leave your phone on if Forge or Berto need to contact you. If an emergency does come up, you'll need to excuse yourself and get to N-Tek as quickly as possible. Also make sure that you're not seen when you need to switch to Turbo mode." Molly told me. "Above all be careful." She added and I nodded, noticing Max nodding off. I poked his shoulder until he looked at me and frowned, making me grin.
"How are you awake at this time?" He asked me and I shrugged.
"I'm not sure. I guess I'm looking forward to going to school." I replied and Molly looked impressed.
"I never thought I'd hear a teenager say that. Your parents must be very proud." She said and to my left Max made a face at me, something between bemused and horrified. "Would you like to stay for breakfast?" She asked and I nodded. Spending the morning with Max and his mom made me a little homesick for my parents though I didn't let on. Grabbing my bag Shock flew inside and I zipped it most of the way closed, leaving a gap wide enough for him to see through. Leaving the Vista View apartments with Max and waving goodbye to Molly we headed for school. Along the way Max asked me if something was wrong.
"I guess I'm feeling a little homesick. It's okay though, I have my friends and N-Tek to hang out with so it's not all bad." I replied as we reached the front door. Inside we found Sydney standing beside what I assumed was her locker.
"Hi glad you're here." She said and I noticed that she looked worried.
"What's going on?" I asked her and she pointed to a group of four guys. As I watched I realized that one of them was Kirby. Walking closer I saw one of them, a taller muscle bound guy, attempting to shove Kirby into one of the lockers behind them. Annoyed that someone would pick on my friend I picked up the pace.
"What are you doing?" Shock asked me. "They'll see you."
"That's kinda the point." I replied and stepped forward, placing myself between Kirby and the bully.
"Hey what do you think you're doing?" The bully asked as Kirby whispered a thank you.
"I'm sticking up for my friend." I shot back and he seemed confused. "I'm guessing you're Butch."
"Yeah what's it to you?" Butch said, crossing his arms against his chest. Glaring up at him I told him to leave my friends alone. Apparently shocked that a girl stood up to him, he didn't say a word as I walked over to Sydney and Max with Kirby in tow.
"I've never seen anyone stand up to Butch like that." Sydney said. "Other than Max of course."
"Dude you rule." Kirby said and I grinned, feeling pretty good. "Uh dudette." He added.
"Impressive though it was I'm not sure that was the smart thing to do." Shock said to me.
"It was the right thing to do though." I said and Sydney overheard me.
"Did you say something, Jessie?" She asked and I replied that I can't stand bullies. "I know what you mean. Butch's being a jerk."
"When is he not?" Max said and I smiled. "Just be careful around him."
"Sure though I doubt he'd pick a fight with a girl anyway. Wouldn't help that ego of his." I said as I leaned against the lockers behind me. "So I guess I'm an official student here now."
"Yep so that means we get to give you a tour." Max said just as the bell rang. "Right after home room." He added as I shook my head in disbelief. "At least we're in the same class."
"That's a good thing because I have no idea where I'm going otherwise." I said as I followed Max, Sydney and Kirby inside the classroom to my left. Pretty much the moment I walked through the door I was asked to introduce myself to the class. Nervous I started to speak as I stood there.
"Umm hi. I'm Jessie and I'll be starting at Copper Canyon High from today. I like movies, especially horror, and music. Feel free to come and say hi to me." I said as I stood in front of the class. Taking a seat next to Max, I waited for class to start. By the time class let out I had already had several people stop and ask me what bands I liked. Wracking my brain I remembered a few I've listened to in the past.
"I like Gorillaz, Rammstein and Evanescence. My favorite band is definitely Linkin Park though." I told them and they told me that I was pretty cool. When I met up with Max again he asked why I had a huge grin on my face. "Being told you're pretty cool does kind of make you feel good about yourself."
"What exactly is 'Linkin Park'?" Shock asked me and I explained that it was a popular American band that played music. "Okay then. So what's 'music?" Max laughed as I began to explain that as well, only for two guys to walk past and see me apparently talking to my bag. Giving me an odd look they walked away and I groaned, making Max laugh harder.
"You have to remember that people can't see Shock so it kind of looks like you're talking to thin air. Trust me I know." Max explained as I rubbed my eyes. "You get used to it after a while. So ready to head back to N-Tek?" When I raised an eyebrow in confusion, Max told me that Forge had asked that they come back to N-Tek as soon as school let out. A short time later we were on our way back courtesy of Flight mode.
"I wonder what's going on." I said out loud as we flew at top speed. "I hope nothing bad."
"I guess we'll find out when we get there." Shock said as we reached the Canyon. Flying through the hologram entrance we landed and changed back into our Base modes. "So where do we go now?"
"Follow me." Berto said as he waved us over. Following him, Berto asked how my first day at Copper Canyon High School went.
"Pretty good. So far I stood up to Butch and a fair amount of people there have a high opinion of me and my taste in music." I told him and he grinned.
"That's pretty cool. Who's this Butch by the way?" He asked me and I told him what he tried to do to Kirby. "Impressive. I bet he wasn't expecting a girl to stand up to him."
"Me neither. You should have seen the look on his face. It was priceless." I said and we laughed.
"You might want to think before you act next time. You don't know if Butch would have picked a fight with you." Steel said and I rolled my eyes.
"I doubt he'd stoop low enough to fight me .Even if he did I'd wipe the floor with him and his two cronies." I replied as we reached the Com Room. Walking inside we found Forge. Kat and Jefferson waiting for us. "You wanted to see us, Commander?" I said and Max raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Hey I can be polite when I want to . Don't burst a brain cell." That last comment earned me a smile from Forge, although I knew he would never admit it was funny.