Disclaimer: I'm european and barely know anything about the American HS system. I tried to read a bit about it, but I'm sorry if I fucked anything up lmao. Sorry in advance. :D


...Several days earlier...

Blossom walked briskly towards the principal's office. She had been summoned earlier and wasn't sure what could be the occasion. She couldn't be in trouble, for sure, the only question was...were others in trouble?

Sh opened the door to find a beaming principal sitting across an absolutely gorgeous girl: long, flowing black hair that framed her delicate features, porcelain skin that made big, sapphire eyes stand out and impeccable sense of style, proper without seeming too uptight.

'Ah, yes, Blossom. You're finally here.' the principal nodded at her in approval.

'Of course, Mr McNamara, how can I help?' Blossom looked tentatively towards the beautiful brunette.

'This lovely lady here is Layla Morrison, she's our newest student here. Layla has moved from Arizona here with her father, who works in the military.'

'Layla, this is Blossom, one of our best students here at Townsville High. I think you've heard of the Powerpuff Girls, they all attend our highschool, and Blossom is among them.'

The girl extended her hand towards Blossom, and Blossom promptly shook it.

'Nice to meet you, Blossom. Of course I have heard of you, it's an honour!'

'Likewise, Layla, I hope you'll have a good learning experience here.'

'Indeed, I hope the teachers can keep up with you, Layla.' the principal beamed at the girl.

Blossom's questioning gaze prompted him to add:

' Layla has a GPA of 4.84.' he pointed out at the brunette. '4.84 so far.' he added complicitly.

'What? 4.84??' the number rang in Blossom's

mind and a knot quickly formed into her stomach. Hers was 4.75, nearly 10 decimals lower.

Layla simply bowed her head in appreciation.

'You're too nice. My dream is to get into Harvard, since my mother studied there herself. But any of the Ivies are fine by me.'

'I'm sure Harvard will be lucky to have you, dear. Blossom's has been hoping for Harvard as well, haven't you, Blossom?'

Blossom swallowed the saliva that had pooled in her mouth and quickly regained her footing, answering with a cordial smile.

'Yes, of course. It's in my plans.'

'Then I'm sure you'll be great friends. Blossom, can you show her around the school? Help her get settled in, please! It's almost lunchtime, you could show her to the cafeteria!'

'Of course, Mr McNamara. I'm here to help.' she kept the smile plastered on her face.

'Great then. I'll see you, around, girls! Truly a delight to have you both as my students.

'Pleasure is ours, I guarantee you.' Blossom continued, guiding Layla outside.

They took a few steps along the hallway. Blossom was somehow expecting of Layla to ask her something but they continued to walk in silence which prompted Blossom to attempt to break the ice:

'So...what classes are you taking this semester?'

'Well, I'm taking 5 AP classes...AP Biology, Physics C, Calculus BC, Chemistry and English Literature. And Research 1.

'I'm only taking 4 APs' Blossom unwittingly furrowed her brows.

'Huh, that's a lot.' Blossom answered in awe.

'I've got Pre-med on my mind, so..' Layla shrugged.

'Do you need AP English Lit for that?'

'No, that's just for pleasure. I've always had a soft spot for it.'

'Oh... that's great then!' Blossom answered, clutching her books to her chest. 'We've got three APs in common, guess I'll see you there.'

'Really? Which ones?' Layla subtly turned towards her as they walked.

'Chemistry, Calculus BC and Physics. I'm going into STEM.'

'That's great! Then I'm guessing we'll be seeing a lot of each other.' Layla gave her a warm smile as they continued walking across the hallway.

Blossom couldn't help but notice the whispers that followed them as they made their way towards the cafeteria. It was difficult to ignore the girls, but ESPECIALLY the boys. The jocks were the hardest to ignore, they made no attempt to hide their gossiping.

Before she could pick up the pace to avoid him, the most obnoxious of them, Dan Green, left his two henchmen and plopped himself in their way.

'Well, well, well, who do we have here?' he quickly picked up Layla's hand and brought it closer to his lips.

'Name's Dan. Who are you?' he said, close to kissing her hand.

Blossom gave him a killer glare, which made him drop Layla's hand like a hot iron.

'She's NOT interested, Dan. Move along, please.'

'...I wasn't talking to you...' Dan mumbled under his breath.

What soon confused Blossom was the cristaline laugh that burst from the new girl.

'Hey, I'm Layla.'

The brunette now grabbed his hand herself, flashing him a dazzling smile.

'I think you were about to kiss my hand. I don't mind old timey manners, go ahead.

The confused jock brought her tiny hand to his lips and placed a chaste kiss on it.

'Such a gentleman! I hope I'll see you around!'

She waved him goodbye and continued walking triumphantly towards the cafeteria, leaving a dazed jock and Blossom behind.

Blossom regained her footing and finally got close enough to whisper in her ear.

'That guy's a real sleazeball, you know? You shouldn't humor him, it will only make him annoy you more. Trust me, I've heard some horror stories.'

'Trust me, I've dealt with worse.' her brilliant blue eyes flashed at Blossom. ' It's easy to keep them in line, I've yet to meet one I couldn't, men aren't that complicated.'

'You don't know what I've seen. One of my sisters saved a LOT of drunk girls from this creep. It can get really, really bad.' Blossom insisted.

'I'm not saying you're wrong. But I'd rather deal with them elegantly, you never know what you might need from them someday.' Layla smiled enigmatically as they stood in front of the door of the cafeteria.

'Here's the cafeteria. The food is pretty good here compared to other schools I hear. You can eat with me and my friends if you want.'

'Of course! I'm sure they're great.'

The whispers intensified as they stood in line for food. When their turn came, the lunch lady's face lit up as she noticed Blossom.

'Hello, my dear! We missed you yesterday at lunch!' the woman said, laying a generous portion on Blossom's plate.

'Sorry about that, we had a monster emergency that lasted for a few hours. Glad to be back, though!'

'Bless your heart, you're truly a gift to this city.'

'You're too kind, Mrs Wilson.' Blossom awkwardly smiled at her, heading back to the tables.

'That's nice.' Layla addressed her as they approached a table occupied by bespectacled teenagers. 'Your work must be so fulfilling.'

'Mostly, yes. We're grateful we can do it. But it's got its pros and cons. '

'Oh, really?Tell me more'

Before Blossom could answer, they reached the table and it was hard to tell whose jaw dropped the hardest. The four boys sitting at there were seemingly in awe with Layla and confused about her proximity to them.

Blossom sighed, and noticed her best friend Kenzie rolling her eyes at the boys' reaction.

'Hey, Liam. You're drooling on the table, man. We're having lunch. It's kinda gross.'

The boy next to her turned red and wiped the corner of his mouth defensively.

'Hey, you must be the new girl I've been hearing whispers about. I'm Mackenzie, Kenzie for friends.' she extended her hand towards Layla.

'News travels fast, it's nice meeting you.' she heartily shook it.

'These absolute dweebs are Liam, Aaron, David and Mike.'

'You could get away with calling Liam a dweeb, but it won't work with me.' One of the boys raised from the table to shake Layla's hand, he was the handsomest of the bunch, sporting a dashing, toothy smile.

Blossom's heart skipped a beat seeing him so eager to woo another girl. David and her had dated for a few months last year until he decided he found her too...smart? Intimidating? What was it again?

'He felt neutered.'

Yes, that was the exact word he had used. She almost appreciated him for saying it, she knew that many men would rather die than admit feeling inadequate next to their partner.

'I'm David, and welcome to Loserville. Sorry if we're startled, but we don't usually have hot girls sitting with us at the nerd table.'

'Hey!' Kenzie slapped the back of his head in annoyance. 'Sorry, Layla, our friend David here suffers from brain damage ever since inhaling toxic fumes during his sad-sad attempt at a science project in third grade.'

'You guys said you'd never bring that up!' David turned a bright shade of crimson.

'That's for not acknowledging Blossom and I are nothing short of goddesses.'

'You're both gorgeous, yes. Surprised he'd ever suggest otherwise.' Layla replied, taking a seat next to Blossom.

'You see, asshole? Women appreciating women. We don't need you anymore, men are obsolete.' Kenzie stated, taking a big bite out of her slice of pizza.

'That's very toxic, Kenzie. I'm actually insulted by your misandry.' David feigned hurt.

Kenzie didn't say anything, instead eyeing Blossom.

'Blossom must be cringing into oblivion right now, probably why she's so quiet. Are we embarrassing you in front of your new friend, Blossom?'

'Nothing more than the usual dose of embarrassment.' Blossom sipped on her orange juice.

'Sometimes I wonder why we're friends.' Kenzie narrowed her eyes at her. 'Anyway, Layla, what brings you here? Where are you from?'

'Here and there.' Layla said, sporting a mysterious smile.

'Oh, yeah, I get it. Lemme guess, army brat?'

'Kenzie...' Blossom tsked at her.

'What..? It's what everyone calls them.' Kenzie replied defensively.

'It's ok, we don't mind the term. Yes, my dad works in the military.' Layla smiled in return.

'See? I knew she wouldn't mind.' Kenzie said, turning to the redhead.

'I'm sorry, Layla, my friend Blossom here likes to be prim and proper with people we don't know well enough. I say, fuck it! Being blunt is a way to figure out who's cool or not from the get-go. '

'I bet you'd feel the same way as Blossom if you were in her shoes. Must be exhausting to constantly be in the spotlight.

Blossom smiled, shocked at this total stranger's empathy towards her. Yes, it was exhausting. She felt the full weight of her superpowerdom on her shoulders. It mattered how you appeared to the public.

For instance, there was a scandal every week involving Buttercup's latest antics. Bubbles managed to avoid a frontal attack from the tabloids, but her, Blossom, wasn't allowed to step wrong. She wouldn't, she couldn't. She was the big sister and people looked up to her as a pylon of stability.

'Thanks, Layla. I've been trying to explain this to Kenzie for years. You wouldn't know she's an actual genius judging by her lack of understanding.' she poked at her.

'Actual genius..?' Layla inquired.

'Genius level IQ ,baby, 145. I don't even know what I'm doing here with these losers.' Kenzie smugly replied.

The three boys groaned.

'Christ, Kenzie, nobody asks you to eat lunch with us. By all means, do the Mackenzie Adams show somewhere else from now on.'

Aaron chimed in.

'You're just salty I beat you in chess last week.' Kenzie retorted

A chuckle escaped Layla's lips:

'So you're the leader of the pack around here?'

Kenzie blushed and tucked a piece of her mousy brown hair behind her ear:

'I guess you could say that.' she slouched in her chair.

'Just because you're the loudest doesn't mean you're the leader.' David intervened. 'There isn't any leader here, Layla. We like to think of ourselves as individuals. Although if we had to pick a leader, it would probably be Blossom.'

It was Blossom's turn to be flustered.

'I'm just in a lot of comitees, that's all.'

'That's a load of shit, she loves being a boss bitch.' Kenzie interrupted.

'It's not my fault people don't step up. Taking responsibility doesn't come naturally to...'

'I really don't know when she has the time to do it all, really.' Kenzie interrupted her again, this time collecting a frown from her redheaded friend.

'She's a superhero, that probably helps.' Layla suggested playfully.

A burst of laughter escaped Kenzie's lips:

'So, hear me out, Layla, if I had superpowers I would literally do anything but attend boring meetings. And even catching thugs doesn't seem like such a fun idea. I mean, she can fly! How cool is that exactly?'

'Very cool.' Mike nodded repeatedly, entering the conversation for the first time thus drawing attention towards himself.

'So, my point being, what would YOU do if you had superpowers? Wouldn't you go around doing lots of fun stuff?' Kenzie animatedly inquired.

Layla pondered for a bit, tapping with her perfectly manicured index finger on the table. Blossom used this time to study her further. She decided she must very well be one of the most beautiful girls she'd ever seen.

'I haven't thought about it, but I respect Blossom for her decision. Even if it is somewhat... masochistic, like you pointed out. I feel safe to know someone like her exists.'

'MASOCHISTIC..??? Kenzie never said 'masochistic'. She DID imply it though. Is that what I appear like to people?'

'Helping people is what gives my life meaning, Kenzie. Not everyone is hedonistic.' Blossom intervened, her voice trembling with a hint of anger.

'Whoa, you're mad.' Kenzie realised she'd scratched at a sore spot. 'It's fine, I'll stop teasing you about it. I don't know how you do it, but it's pretty amazing and we're all grateful for it.'

Everyone nodded, causing Blossom to relax slightly.

'Anyway, lunch's done. Can I accompany you lovely ladies to a short walk outside?' Kenzie extended both her hands towards the girls, basically dragging them out.

'It's gonna be a long day.' Blossom pondered as her friend tugged at her hand.