Fire and Ice
By Rayven Darkheart
Chapter One
Brooklyn strolled into Medulla's classroom as the bell rung. The man with the large head gave her a hard look. "Name student?"
"Drake, Brooklyn, sir."
He looked down at his list. "Ah, yes Drake. Go sit down by Peace over there. We'll continue last year's work and start with a ray gun."
Frowning a bit, Brooklyn sat down beside the broody boy that she had met at the bus stop. The dark haired boy gave her his best death glare and she couldn't help but chuckle. "I see you've gone from your mourning stage to your 'I hate everyone' phase. Tell me; is that your super power big boy?"
Growling, the boy turned away from her and mumbled. "You're not very careful with your life, are you?" The girl chuckled again and sighed before settling down to listen to their teacher's lecture about how to construct their gun.
A hand appeared out of nowhere and poked Warren on the shoulder. He turned and looked to the left just as a boy sped toward Brooklyn's right. "God Peace, you're keeping all the cute girls to yourself. Care to introduce us?"
Warren's head whipped around to see Dash standing next to the table. "She has a tongue. She uses it enough around me." With that, he left the two to them to talk as he started on the ray gun.
Dash picked up Brooklyn's hand and kissed the top of it. "I'm Dash, Milady, and you are?"
Just as she was about to answer, Medulla cleared his throat. "This is a classroom, not a dating service. If you would kindly pay attention up here, I will be giving you two a write up to give to Principal Powers at the end of the day."
Brooklyn murmured an apology and turned her eyes down to the table so she could begin helping her partner work on their gun. That is, of course, until she heard a soft, masculine laugh. Her cobalt eyes turned to meet Warren's face. He stopped laughing and looked up at her with chocolate brown eyes. "Now who looks like they're in mourning?"
Classes came and went. The school was buzzing with the usual first day gossip: who liked who, who broke up with whom, who wanted to date who. Very little of what was said was a bombshell to anyone except perhaps the freshmen. Soon it was time for lunch.
Brooklyn collected her lunch on a red tray and stopped for a moment, surveying the lunchroom. It surprised her just how many of the freshmen had found a clique of their own by now. Most were sitting with students of their own grades however. Will Stronghold was one of them. Gradually she sauntered over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Mind if I sit?"
Will moved up and smiled before shifting over on the bench and making room for Brooklyn. She took a seat next to her new friend and couldn't help but notice the glare of jealousy she got from Layla. "So Will, what happened at Power Placement?"
Will suddenly found his sandwich very interesting in the face of telling Brooklyn what he had told his other friends. Ethan saw this as well and answered for him. "He hasn't gotten his power yet. I think I'd be embarrassed too. I mean, he is the son of," stopping mid sentence, he saw the look on Brooklyn's face.
Placing her arm around him gently, she gave him a big smile. "Cheer up Stronghold. Not everyone gets their powers right away." She held up her hand to stop him. "Let me guess, someone scared you by saying you may never get them right? Well, think of it this way. You could be normal. You could go to a normal school." As if to prove her point, she dropped a tiny ice chip or two into his soda and smiled at the looks of astonishment. "What, never heard of fine motor control?"
Changing the subject, Will gazed over his shoulder for what seemed like the fifth time since Brooklyn had sat down. "Does it seem like that kid is staring at me?"
Zach looked over at the boy that Will meant. "Yep, he's definitely stating at you. It's probably nothing."
"Probably nothing?" Ethan's eyes looked huge behind his glasses. "That's Warren Peace. His father is Battle Baron." When no one caught what he was saying, he groaned in frustration and continued. "Will, your dad caught him and put him in prison. Battle Baron's a huge villain."
There was a collective "Oh." Suddenly Will stood up and started to stroll toward Warren's table. Layla grabbed for his arm but missed. Everyone, besides Brooklyn, held their breath.
Will stuck out his hand and introduced himself. He got no reply and dropped his hand slowly. "Listen, Warren, I know your dad and mine weren't exactly the best of friends and all, but I don't see why that should affect up in any way, you know?" He again got no reply. "Well, I'll see you around." He turned to walk away.
"Stronghold!" Will stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. "No one talks about my father." He no more than turned when he felt a blaze of fire run passed his head. "Fight me!"
Ethan took a moment to melt into a puddle. Layla grabbed Magenta and moved out of the way and Zach ran to get someone. Brooklyn froze the fire before it could hit someone and watched it fall to the floor. She had the sense to get out of the way, but she didn't want to stop the fight. 'Will needs this…'
"I said fight me, Stronghold. Too chicken to have a real fight, sidekick?" Warren flicked his arms and the flames rose higher on his arms. "Come on little man. Let's see what you've got."