It's not music, but it's calming. Low, groaning tones that I can feel in my chest, sweeping up into lilting whistles. The answering chatter behind me is less comforting...but I think I'm getting used to it.
No smile, but I can hear the fondness. No eyes, but gaping pits leading down and down and down into the nothingness at the centerofeverything.
"Aren't you glad you looked behind you?"
Behind me? Why would I look behind me? There's nothing-
It moves, and whispers from a hundred mouths, and looks out from athousand eyes andthere are limbs everywhere plucking at the threads that tie me to the stars and it is vast and broken its true body hidden in the shadows it casts but I can see that it's there and it is looking at me peering down asit reaches outand in and into me and I-
-twitch, in my seat. Lift my head.
"Glad to have you with us again, Taylor." Mr. Gladly's smile is forced, and fake. I really hate that smile. "If you'd like to stay for the rest of class, I would appreciate it."
I can't find my voice yet, so I just nod. Ignore the snickers and mocking looks, as he turns his attention back to...the lesson, right. 'The impact of Capes on society'. Because we haven't covered this often enough yet. No wonder I was falling asleep.
No, that's not right. It's my own fault for not getting enough sleep. And for thinking I'd just 'rest my eyes'. That...that was just too much optimism.
It's still boring. 'Something, something, homework. Something, something, groups'. Everyone else seems excited about the idea. Distracted. That just means I'm the first one out the door when the bell rings. Moving as quickly as I can without drawing undue attention, I make my way up to the third floor.
The girl's bathroom. A month ago, I would have been eating lunch here. Which is actually just...really sad, when I stop to think about it. I try not to. Because now it's just another good place to break line of sight. A place where some extra ash goes unnoticed.
I eat my lunches on the roof, now. Fresh air. Sunlight. It's nicer than the bathroom. Hell, it's nicer than the cafeteria. This...this is a pretty good day.
Still, I can't wait for it to be over.
xxxxxxxxxx
Two weeks ago, I was still afraid of heights. It was a perfectly valid fear, and I'd still be justified for feeling it; everything else aside, I'm pretty sure I'd still go splat if I hit the ground. Now, though, I can't help but enjoy the way my heart races and my stomach churns. Standing on the edge, twenty stories up, and I feel better than I could have possibly imagined. It makes me feel real.
The thought hits me, and I don't question it, or dismiss it out of hand. Instead...I act.
Wind tears my hood back, my hair flying free of its tie as I fall.
I have a little over ten seconds.
I don't reach five before I jerk to a painful stop.
"What the crap!?"
Alright. Apparently the painful-grabby-thing is also a confused-flying-person. I'd laugh, if she hadn't driven my breath away when she plowed into me.
"Hold on!" We're going down. That's not good. All my stuff is still on the roof. "Oh man, I didn't hurt you, did I!? I almost didn't even see you!"
'Well, it's pretty dark out' is what I try to say. All I actually manage to do is cough, which doesn't seem to reassure her. That's fine, though, because I don't need to talk to remember the spot where I'd changed my clothes not five minutes ago. I shift to grab hold of my 'savior' as steadily as I can (more difficult than you'd think, when you're flying through the air), then gather my power and-
-teleport us both back up to the rooftop.
"Whoa!"
She drops me on my ass (par for the course), and I wheeze, flopping down on my back.
A blonde blur appears, and I spend a few moments blinking away involuntary tears in order to get a better look.
"...you weren't trying to kill yourself, were you?"
"Nope." Well, I can talk again. I guess that's a good thing. Not as good; Glory Girl standing over me, looking fairly unhappy with me. "Sorry."
She rolls her eyes, nudging me with the toe of her boot. "Tell me you're not a villain, at least."
"Not a villain." I nod, force myself to take a deep breath and sit up. Flinch, only to realize that, no, she's not about to hit me, she's holding her hand out like that to help me up. And now I'm staring at her like an idiot.
I take the hand up, and step back for a second once I'm on my feet so I can brush myself off (and pull myself together). "Thanks for the...save? I guess?"
"Not that you needed it, apparently." She's...smiling, now. That's probably a good thing. "It was pretty awesome though, wasn't it?"
I probe at my side, grimace at the feeling. "My ribs might disagree."
And she heard that. Shit. Antagonizing the Alexandra-package isn't a smart thing to do...then again, maybe it is. I don't think she'd be laughing like that if she was upset.
"Okay, so I could have been a little more careful. But c'mon, you were, like, half-way to the ground!" She grins, waving toward the roof's edge. "I didn't exactly have time to finesse it, y'know?"
"R-right."
She shakes her head, and I do my best not to wilt under her sudden scrutiny. "So, uh...I don't think you're a complete newbie, considering you threw yourself off the roof. But you haven't been doing this very long, have you?"
Yeah, that's a fair assumption. Me, in my ratty sweatshirt and cloth mask...I didn't cannibalize a t-shirt or anything, sure, but it still looks like I put it together with a pair of scissors and blind luck. Compared to her whiter-than-white dress and golden tiara (which might be real gold, for all I know), I'm a poster-child for DIY costumes. The ones that people laugh at, not the fancy stuff they feature in reality shows.
And I never answered her. Stupid. "A couple weeks. Barely."
"Awesome." She's smiling again. It's unnerving. I'm seriously debating cutting my losses and just disappearing. "Get into any trouble yet? Something fun to share?" No chance to respond before she leans closer. "We can swap stories. I'll tell you about the time I punched Skidmark in the face!"
"...what?"
"Yeah, that was a weird day." She rocks back on her heels (thankfully), then lifts into the air and edges back a little further. "Hey, you kinda interrupted my night out. Why don't you tag along, see how the professionals get things done?"
I stare long enough for her to start giving me a weird look. Because on one hand, this was supposed to be 'me time', while on the other...well, gift horse.
"...Sure." I shrug, shifting uncomfortably for a second before just 'porting over to the big AC unit my stuff is hidden under. I don't really need to double-check that it's secure, but it'll give me a second to gather myself. Clothes? Still wadded up and stuffed in a bag. Glasses? Unbroken and safe in their case. Pepper-spray? Well, I might want that...
I tuck it away in my sweatshirt pocket, grab the aluminum bat I'd stowed under the bag, and make my way back to Glory Girl.
She's smirking. It's both calming and irritating, and I'm not really sure how to react to that. "Sports fan?"
"I took it off an Empire thug." That had been my...third night out? It had really come in handy since then. "He wasn't using it anymore." Hopefully he's still in jail. Or prison? Wherever the police are putting the guys I've been leaving on their doorstep.
"Huh." She drifts to one side, eyeing me again. "You, uh...do you know Shadow Stalker, at all?"
"...no?"
"Go figure."
A moment of awkward silence. "So...are we going now?"
"Oh! Yeah, right." She shakes her head, turns to look toward the bay. "You gonna be able to keep up, d'you think?"
"I need a few seconds to recover when I teleport, but as long as you stay close to the rooftops... sure." I shrug, and shoulder the bat. "Lead the way."
She offers a slightly unsettling grin before taking off. I take a second to guess at her path, then move to intercept.
Maybe this'll be fun?