Chapter Two: Lashing Out

Disclaimer: I do not own the ideas or characters from Sky High. I own Claire, my OC.

"Sidekick."

Boomer had spat it out viciously, like a curse word, when Maj and a few others who dared to go first had gotten grouped into the dreaded category. But it seemed there was such a shortage of heroes in the new freshman year that he had simply lacked the vigor to scream at Claire and hurl her halfway across the gym. Instead, he said it indifferently, like he was expecting it just by looking at her.

Claire's hands began to shake as she played with her thumbs and walked down from the power placement platform. She looked down at the ground as strands of her hair fell in front of her face to hide her now flushed pink face. Her cheeks felt like they were burning as she pondered all of the things that could have possibly gone wrong today, and how this was the worst. Her parents would be upset, especially her father, and the worst part was, they would act as if they weren't frustrated or disappointed at all.

When Claire hadn't developed her powers upon the age of thirteen, her parents began to believe that she would never gain any at all. Speed had received his powers at the mere age of six, and both of Claire's parents had gotten theirs when they were ten. They reacted in the way that any superhero parents most likely would have: Fake smiles and reassuring comments. Claire knew both of her parents were frustrated and disappointed that one member of their extraordinary family was in fact just ordinary. She also knew that being a sidekick was only a step up from having no powers at all to her family. Claire's power was invisibility. Boomer seemed impressed when she had first told him, until he found out she couldn't stay in her invisible state for more than thirty seconds at a time, and even in that, would flash in and out of visibility several times. She would have given anything to stay invisible just long enough for Boomer to cast her into the hero category, but of course, she had gotten nervous and became visible several times.

Claire sighed and took slow steps over to where a bunch of the sidekicks had gathered to wait while the other students were sorted. Maj gave her a half-smile, which in Maj's face language was a full smile, like she didn't have a care in the world. Claire noticed a boy dressed in red, white and blue right away. Her heart leapt slightly as she realized this was the son of The Commander and Jetstream. Jetstream had always been her heroine, along with every other girl's on her block. Will seemed to be the only kid with the same nervous expression upon his face as Claire. She also spotted a short, black boy waving eccentrically at her with a big smile plastered on his face. Claire smiled half-heartedly back as she recognized her neighbor Ethan. He was an only child, and his family knew at once that he would be a sidekick. It was already pretty much set in stone by the simple fact that his mother was a heroine who had fallen in love with a man she saved. Everyone knew that there were only a few rare cases where the offspring of a hero or heroine and an ordinary person had been a hero. Ethan had not been one of these cases. Still, Claire envied him. His family was extremely accepting, and it seemed they were just happy he had gotten any powers at all, not that they would have minded if he didn't.

Nevertheless, Claire began to feel better as the day went on. She had already made friends with Zach, a boy with wild, radioactive blonde hair who seemed to be very open about the fact that he could glow, and Layla, a pretty girl who was eager to ask her if she had made the switch to being completely environmentally friendly. Her morning classes were all either interesting or just plain fun. As time went by, Claire became to feel more comfortable and happy being a sidekick

When lunch rolled around, Claire had forgotten her apprehensive feelings about being a sidekick. Surprisingly, Will had almost the same problem as Claire: He was worried his parents would be upset. This shocked Claire, because of the simple fact that the media had completely warped her view, along with everyone else's, that the Stronghold family had no flaws. She would have expected her favorite idol when she was a child, Jetstream, to not have a care in the world whether her son had powers or not, and just take him for who he was. But according to Will, his mother would act just the same as Claire's would, be inwardly disappointed and outwardly fake. Will and Claire had spent a lot of time discussing how they would break it to their parents that they had become sidekicks, or how they would hide it from them.

"I mean, obviously we're going to have to tell them eventually. But that doesn't mean we have to do it right away." Will said with a nervous laugh. Claire nodded her head wildly in agreement, but stopped once she spotted Layla giving her a disappointed look.

"It's not good to hide these things, you guys. All of us know that we would rather be perfecting the art of changing outfits quickly and posing than straining to put together a shrink ray in Mr. Medula's class. Be proud that you're a sidekick!" Layla said cheerfully. Zach let out a, "Yeah!" in agreement, even though it was obvious he hadn't been listening to the conversation until a few moments ago. Layla decided to change the subject to P.E.T.A, and soon enough got too wrapped up in her lecture to realize no one was listening.

Zach leaned in closer to Claire and Will from across the table, "Seriously, man, If I was you, I would just not tell them. How are they gonna find out anyway? It might not get you off the hook for the whole year, but you know that saying, Better later than now." Ethan tried to correct Zach's expression malfunction, but he was interrupted by a loud, whiny voice,

A tall, black girl in a bright orange cheerleader uniform stood on top of the cafeteria table and shouted,"Attention Heroes! For those of you wondering who is below you, and who you should not, under any circumstances, take any shit from, Gwen and I, Penny, have been so kind as to post a list of the new freshman sidekicks. Enjoy!" She smiled immensely as a rush of kids ran to the list located next to the cafeteria doors, laughing and jeering.

"Wow, she has a beautiful smile." Will grinned dreamily in Gwen's direction. All of his fellow sidekick friends stared at him in disbelief. Will snapped out of it as Claire punched him in the arm, and he immediately began rubbing it and staring at her in shock.

Claire rolled her eyes,

"Do you not realize what this means? Now everyone in the whole school knows exactly who to taunt!" Will stared at her blankly. Claire let out a short breath, "Us!" Zach and Ethan exchanged scared glances, and Layla's speech came to a halt. Maj gulped loudly and cleared her throat to attract Claire's attention. Claire's gaze slowly followed Maj's finger pointed just to the left of where the list was hanging. Claire watched in horror as her brother and Lash gradually made their way up to the list. She could see them laughing and pointing at the list, until finally, her brother's laughing suddenly ceased, and Lash's increased dramatically. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know whose name they were reading.

Claire looked around frantically before quickly excusing herself from the table and walking out of the cafeteria as casually as possible. Her heart pounded in her head and she swore she could literally feel Jimmy's eyes on her from behind. She made the mistake of looking back nonchalantly backwards as she heard Principal Powers talking loudly, border lining on yelling as she ripped the list from the door. Too bad that ninety percent of the Sky High heroes had already read it. Just as she looked back her eyes met her brother's angry, almost ashamed brown eyes.

The moment Claire reached the hallway outside; she decided artlessly to make a break for it. The girl's bathroom was only a few feet away, and she knew that was one place neither Speed nor Lash would venture. They would linger outside of the door for the rest of the day if they had to, but at least it would give her a chance to think of something to say. Or break out of a window…..?

Claire shook her head free of these ridiculous thoughts and focused on running. It hit her a little too late that her brother could run over a hundred miles an hour. She collided with Speed and bounced back onto the tile floor of the hallway. Speed was panting, but she doubted it was from running, more likely anger. Claire brushed her jeans off and sprung up, daring her brother to deride her about being a sidekick. She didn't need to glance behind herself to know that Ethan, Zach, Layla, Will, and Maj were all following behind her, not to mention that Lash would be strolling into the hallway any moment. However, she wasn't expecting Lash's arm to rubberize itself and snatch an essay for Mr. Boy's Hero Support Class, and her first big grade of the school year, from her back pocket. Claire felt her pocket for good measure, and she thought about the fact that Mr. Boy had given them the whole first part of the day to write their papers, and her report was due right after P.E, which was right after lunch. Claire began to speak up, but was cut off by Speed.

He held up his hand, his fingers slightly raised, "No, you know what? Don't even start. It's bad enough that you're my sister, and that your only friend is a gothic dyke, but now you're a sidekick? What little respect I had for you is gone." Jimmy spat. Maj frowned and Claire opened her mouth, but snapped it shut right away. Jimmy broke into a big grin, and let out a snort followed by a deep chuckle,

"I honestly don't know why I'm getting myself all worked up over this. Mom and Dad are going to treat you like shit from now on, and treat me like a king. Actually, pretty much everyone is going to do that," He gestured towards a senior girl pushing a junior sidekick into a locker, "My only problem is that you're ruining my distinguished reputation. But it's not like we look alike anyway." Lash's long fingers began to slowly rip up Claire's essay into tiny squares, but she was too busy studying the floor. Last night, when she had been pondering her 80/20 chance of being a sidekick, she had actually thought that Jimmy may have been the only one to give her any slack. Her parents wouldn't ridicule her, of course, but they wouldn't act the same around her as they would have if she was a hero. She thought that maybe Jimmy would be the one to treat her like a normal human being, well, as much as a brother could do so to a sister. She felt her eyes begin to burn as she realized she was wrong.

Zach and Maj began to throw insults at Lash and Speed, and Ethan began to pick up the pieces of Claire's essay, but the two boys stayed silent and stared at Claire, waiting to see her reaction. She felt Layla's comforting hand rest on her shoulder, but she brushed it off and looked up at her brother and Lash, knowing full well her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Have fun with your friend, Speed." She spat. Regret flashed in his eyes as he realized that his sister had never once stopped calling him Jimmy until then. He realized Lash was staring at him, almost scolding him with his eyes for showing any emotion. Lash laughed aloud and lightly hit his friends arm as a sign for him to follow, taking careful care to smack his firm chest into Ethan's, knocking him back a few feet. Speed clumsily followed Lash to the boy's room for a smoke.

Lash looked down at Speed from his spot on the ledge in the boy's bathroom, one leg dangling lazily over the edge. Speed looked back at Lash as he watched him tilt his head to the side, igniting his lighter under the end of his cigarette. Lash began to tap his finger upon the ledge, the sound echoing in the bathroom, demonstrating his boredom.

"Have fun with your friend, Speed." Jimmy mocked Claire in a high-pitched voice. He didn't really know what else to say. Lash let out a short laugh, clearly not that amused.Lash allowed some smoke to escape from his nostrils and lips,

"Your sister's pretty fucking hot." He stated.

"Huh?"

Lash smiled brightly. "Nothing," He blew out the rest of his smoke, "So, what do you have planned for her?" Speed shook his head, trying to forget Lash's earlier statement. He gave Lash a questioning look.

"Dumbass. Last year? All the freshman sidekicks we got? Our fucking genius pranks that humiliated each and every one of them? What do you have planned for Claire?" Lash pieced the puzzle together for his perplexed friend. Jimmy shrugged his shoulders and stuffed his hands in his pocket. Lash took another puff and rolled his eyes with monotony. Lash suddenly leapt off of the ledge, his sneakers squeaking as he landed. Speed looked up,

"Where are you going?" He asked dumbly.

Lash tossed his hands in the air, shrugging his shoulders. Lash pushed his smoking cigarette into a random locker, leaving a burn mark where it had been extinguished. The bell for sixth period had rung long ago, while Speed and Lash were talking in the bathroom, and naturally, Lash decided to wander the halls instead of going to class. He spotted Gwen Grayson, a complete psychopath who he had agreed to help in some little plan to overtake the school. She hadn't approached him with the exact details yet, but she said it was a chance to prank some of his sidekicks and enemies. She motioned for Lash to come over, but he saw something far more interesting.

Claire was sitting cross-legged on the ledge next to the window in an empty Study Hall room, scribbling frantically, desperately trying to finish the essay that Lash had destroyed awhile ago before next hour, when it was due. He heard Gwen whisper his name sharply, but he ignored it. Lash impulsively grabbed another cigarette out of his pocket and lit up. He didn't exactly know why, but he wanted to taunt Claire while smoking. He finally strode into the room casually, and Claire let out a loud sigh when she saw him,

"What do you want?" She demanded, without looking up from her paper. She sounded exasperated. Lash tipped his head up and blew smoke to the ceiling as he slid into an empty desk, his legs dangling on either side of the chair,

"You're not supposed to be in here this hour." Claire kept writing, not looking up. He thought for a moment before speaking again, "Naughty girl." He said smoothly, waiting for her reaction. She instantly tossed him a disgusted glance and he began to laugh loudly.

"What's your deal anyway? What did I," He pointed to himself with an innocent expression, "Ever do to you?" His finger turned to Claire.

She scoffed, "Let's go down the list You tripped me when I was little and I had to get stitches. And you didn't care. You read my diary and then threw it into the fireplace when I was little, and you definitely didn't care. Not to mention, you've turned my brother into a heartless bully, and I'm almost certain, that you don't care." Lash smiled mischievously, reminding Claire of a young boy,

"Oh yeah," He sniggered, "That diary thing was classic." Claire's lips clenched together as she grabbed her books and hopped off the ledge, walking briskly towards the door. Lash jogged towards the door, but with his long legs, he could have easily walked and got to the door frame before her. He leant against the doorframe, his long arm spread across the door, blocking her escape. She crossed her arms and did her best to glare at him.

Lash stared directly back at her, "Listen Claire, I just wanted to say, that I'm really sorry about what happened with Jim today." Claire's mouth went slightly agape, at the fact that Lash was being sincere, and that he had just referred to her brother as Jim instead of Speed. "I mean, if anything, it was my bad influence on him that caused him to treat you like that."

Claire was speechless. Lash was the one person that could fall over dead in front of her and she wouldn't flinch, and now he was being caring and pouring his heart out to her?

The corners of Lash's mouth turned up.

Lash began to slightly chuckle, and it soon turned into him holding his stomach and doubling over with laughter. "Seriously, you are really gullible. You really think I'm some sensitive pansy? And for the record, I'm positive Speed meant what he said, with or without my influence."

Claire was fairly certain that she had never hated Lash more than in that moment. She was still upset about how wonderful her day was going, but now she was completely filled with anger.

"God, are you completely heartless?" Claire yelled at him, forcing her hands against his chest and attempting to push him for effect. Lash just smirked. Claire continued her rampage, "Have you ever wondered why you have no friends besides my brother, Jace?" Lash's eyes narrowed dangerously at the use of his real name. He paused and stomped harshly on his cigarette, causing ash to spread on the floor. His voice was deep and quiet, "You better watch your fucking mou-"

"Save it." She spat, "It's not my problem that your brother is a demented villain who's in jail right now, and you're going to end up just like him." Lash grabbed both of Claire's arms and slammed her against the wall, his nails sinking into her arms. It hurt terribly, but Claire pursed her lips in anger and kept a tough face on, which seemed to just enrage Lash more. Both teenagers heard the trademark heel-clicking of Principal Powers walking speedily down the hallway, and they immediately separated.

Principal Powers smiled icily as soon as she entered the room, "Lash, Claire. Aren't you two supposed to be in P.E. right now?" She didn't give either of them a chance to answer, "Of course you are. I know, because if you were there right now, I wouldn't have to be called out a meeting because of yelling coming from the study hall room." She gestured stiffly for them to leave the room.

Lash stepped in front of Claire and tossed her a dirty look, almost causing her to collide with the back of him. Claire mumbled an apology to Principal Powers, but before they could leave the bell for seventh hour sounded through the halls and students began spilling out of their classrooms. Despite the fact that Claire needed to go the same direction as Lash, she turned the opposite way, still a little frazzled from their encounter.

"CLAIRE! CLAIRE JONES! OVER HERE!" Zach shouted across the hallway. Anyone who had seen the sidekick list in the cafeteria and didn't know who she was now knew her name and that she was a sidekick. She sighed heavily and forced a smile as she walked over to her friends.

"Shit! What happened to your arms?" Maj questioned, a hint of worry in her voice. Claire looked down at her arms and saw bright crimson crescent shaped marks imbedded in her skin. Will butted in, "Yeah, and where were you in P.E?" Claire just shook her head and directed their attention to Lash already beginning to stuff Ethan into his locker.

As soon as they had gotten to their class, everyone besides Maj had forgotten about Claire's arms. She quickly put a sweater on, which looked completely silly in the hot August month. The rest of the day went quickly, and Claire did her best to avoid her brother and Lash at all costs, and thankfully, she did. The only time she saw them was boarding the bus together at the end of the day. They were threatening to steal Ron Wilson: Bus Driver's hat for the rest of the school year if he didn't allow Lash to get off with Speed at his stop. Claire groaned as she realized this meant she would not only have tons of homework to do with Maj, but she would also have to face Lash and her brother.

"Listen Maj, do you think we could do our homework at your house tonight? And…..do you think I could stay over tonight?" Claire put her hands out in a pleading gesture. Maj rolled her eyes, knowing full well that her mother was going to have her "Mary Kay" sample party tonight. Claire knew the simple fact that Maj's mother was a makeup salesperson, and Maj used only one type of product, black eyeliner, was only part of the many reasons they didn't get along. But Maj agreed that it would be better than dealing with "those two morons." Zach instantly began to chat up Maj, who didn't look very impressed, the moment they got on the bus,

"So this one time, this chick asked me to start glowing, right? And I'm all like…"

Claire sighed and rested her head upon the bus window, suddenly feeling the urge to fall asleep, desperately hoping that tomorrow would be a much better day.

A/N: Okay, I just realized that I forgot to turn on the "Anonymous Reviews Allowed" thing, so anyone who doesn't have a penname and wants to review can now review! And I'd appreciate it if you did! Thanks to my eight cute little reviewers who gave their input last time.

Lady Cela: Thanks to my first reviewer! Can't wait for Lash to appear in your story, it should be awesome either way.

Escebella: Don't worry I won't laugh at your crush on Speed, he's practically the same as Lash, just a little bigger  Thanks for reviewing!

Stephanie Clear: Wow, thanks for your review. It gave me a lot to think about! I know a lot of people who don't like OC/Canon Character, but I'm glad you took the time to read mine and comment anyway! I hope Claire is more to your liking in this chapter, I took your advice on giving her some different friends. Thank you!

Shakespeare Diva: Glad you like the dark fan fiction! Thanks for your input!

Ashley 0918: I read both of your stories and they rocked! I can see you get better with each one. I don't really watch either of the shows that those stories were about so I was a little confused lol.

Espantalho: Haha I know I'm evil. I heart predicaments, they make the story interesting. Thanks for your comment!

Carnalheart: Well I'm continuing! Glad you like it!

Stephanie8891: Thanks for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed it.