Finally! This chapter gave me such a hard time but here it is! And it's a really long one too so maybe I'll be able to take a break for a while... nah!
"You've got to be kidding me," Fatima growled as she looked to who would be her lab partner. That same guy… why did she keep on running into him? She didn't move, maybe the teacher had meant one of the other rows? She glanced sidelong at them, but no such luck.
"Mr. Peace, if you would kindly raise your hand so Miss Moore knows where her seat is?" Mr. Medulla said and he reluctantly raised a hand. Fatima's eye twitched a little. No more stalling now, she thought and swiftly made her way over and sat down, avoiding eye contact at all costs. She propped her head up with an arm and started taking notes as Medulla continued with the lecture he had begun before her arrival.
Though she knew she should be paying attention—after all, she was new to just about every subject in the school—but still she found her mind wandering. What was that guy's deal anyways? Now, what did the teacher say his name was… Peace? She smirked. A bit ironic. Wait… she thought back to some of the conversations she had overheard in the halls and lunchroom the day before. Peace, she had heard that name. Something about fire, and… a lot of mention to homecoming the year before. There was also a lot of talk around about some kid named Will Strong-something… he was involved in whatever had happened last year as well. Fatima hated being new; it made her feel ignorant.
Ten minutes passed until Mr. Medulla asked a question to the class. No one raised their hands as he looked around hopefully. You've got to be kidding me, Fatima thought for the second time that hour and grudgingly raised a hand.
"Miss Moore, I'm afraid you'll have to wait to go to the lavatory," Medulla said, not thinking that she could possibly know the answer. Fatima glared.
"The cooling point of a heat ray is directly linked to the power source of the second relay circuit," she said confidently. Medulla stared at her, shocked. She had never before stepped into his classroom but was able to answer so perfectly. She smiled a little at the amazed looks she was now getting from her fellow classmates.
"Well, at least one of my student's heads isn't filled with cobwebs," Medulla remarked and gave them an assignment.
Ok, heat ray… heat ray… I can do this. Fatima looked at the parts lying out in front of her. That Peace guy hadn't said or done anything since they had been given the assignment. She took a deep breath and began the assembly. The minutes dragged by as she continued the tedious work.
Hey, halfway there! She smiled to herself.
"Can you hand me the heat coil?" she asked, momentarily forgetting who she was sitting with. Warren looked over at the girl wordlessly and she looked back. "That one there," she said and pointed. He looked down and handed her the part. By the time she finished, she felt as if she had been rubbed all over with sandpaper. Didn't he care about what grade they made at all? Mr. Medulla started around the room to check everyone's work. When he came over to their table, he looked at Warren with contempt.
"Ah Mr. Peace. What may I ask did you do to contribute to this?" he asked and held up their perfectly assembled heat ray.
"Oh, he helped Mr. Medulla. Really, he did," Fatima said immediately. Warren perked an eyebrow at this but remained silent. The bell rang and everyone made a dash for the door.
"Remember we'll be starting our study into the principles of beams tomorrow!" Medulla called after his retreating students.
"I suppose that you want me to thank you f-," Warren started but Fatima walked past him, totally ignoring his existence. She smirked at the fact that she had gotten him to speak. Ha, let's see how Mr. Grouchy likes getting ignored. She was fairly pleased with herself, and was even able to find a lunch table by herself later. This day just keeps getting better and better, she smiled to herself. Her mood lasted until the last period of the day: P.E. She just had three words: Save the Citizen.
-----
Fatima sat on the back row of the bleachers by herself in her P.E. uniform, hoping to hell that she wouldn't get picked to play. From what she could tell it was a pointless game meant to pit students against one another in a violent display of dominance. One team tries to save the citizen, and the other team tries to stop them.
She watched as the two heroes failed to defeat their villains in time and the citizen dummy was shredded.
"TIME!" Coach Boomer called from his referee perch just after the buzzer sounded. "Keller, Daniels, your citizen is now cat food because you couldn't get it together." He turned to the two students who had been posing as the villains and were now standing confidently, awaiting their next opportunity to thrash more heroes.
"I assume you want to be villains again?" he asked.
"Of course," said the shorter one.
"What would make you think otherwise?" replied the taller one.
From her time up in the stands, Fatima had been able to determine a lot about the two villains. Their names were Whip and Legs, and they were known around school as the most accomplished bullies and pranksters. Legs, the shorter one, had the ability to jump very high and very far, and he was also able to phase through just about anything he wanted. The taller one, who was called Whip, was able to stretch his arms to the length of about 10 feet and use them as weapons; hence his name. There were whispers about his older brother, but Fatima couldn't hear anymore because Boomer was talking again.
"So, who do you want to torment this time?" he asked. The two juniors conversed amongst themselves for a moment, occasionally glancing up into the bleachers, then announced their decision.
"We want Peace," Whip said, pointing. Warren stood and looked very intimidating.
"And that girl, up at the top," Legs stated, and pointed directly at Fatima. Everyone in the gym turned to look at who they were talking about. Ooh, this just wasn't her day… again.
"Moore! Peace! Gear up!" Boomer yelled, and before she knew it, she was strapping on body armor and walking onto the gym floor alongside the one person at school that she didn't get along with. The gym seemed more like an arena now that she was down in the middle of it, she noticed. She could practically hear the order to release the lions as they took their starting positions and 3 minutes were put on the clock.
"So what's your power anyways?" she asked Warren, trying to formulate a plan.
"Just worry about trying to keep conscious," he said, not even sparing her a glance. Fatima had half a mind to object to his statement but her thought was interrupted by Coach Boomer's yell.
"BEGIN!"
"Come on Peace, let's play," Legs said and disappeared through the floor. Warren powered up and waited for his opponent to reappear. Fatima didn't have a chance to notice because she was too busy dodging Whips barrage of attacks. Fortunately for her she was very nimble, but it was taking everything she had to stay out of the way of his arms which he was snapping around like whips, no pun intended. She did a back handspring, just barely getting out of the way of a blow that was aimed at her head. She flicked out a hand in midair and blew his feet out from under him.
She smirked and landed gracefully before taking to the air, hoping to keep out of range of those appendages.
Legs appeared again out of the floor behind Warren and took hold of the flame-thrower. He smiled and jumped clear up to the rafters of the gym and threw him forcefully back to the ground.
Fatima gasped. A fall from that height would injure him badly. She knew from personal experience when she had first taught herself how to fly. She reached out and thickened the air near the ground where he was falling, so instead of crashing to the floor, he slowed as he hit the modified air and landed on his feet softly. He powered up again and began throwing fireballs at Legs, who had perched himself up the rafters to get a clear view of the destruction. Unfortunately for Warren, Legs was able to phase through every ball of fire that he sent at him, and he was soon on the attack again.
Fatima had started toward the citizen when she was smacked across the face by one of Whip's arms, sending her crashing to the ground, and leaving an angry red line on her cheek. Before she could even recover, he grabbed one of her ankles and threw her hurtling into one of the obstacles that were set up around the gym floor. Whip waved to the crowd as they cheered, but as soon as he turned his back, Fatima sent the remnants of the metal obstacle flying into him.
"Come on Peace, is that the best you've got?" Legs exclaimed while dodging the teen's fire blasts with ease. Warren kept on throwing. One had to get through eventually. Meanwhile, Fatima's temper flared as she advanced towards Whip who was picking himself up off the floor painfully. She picked up a piece of the now shattered obstacle, careful not to cut herself on the sharp edges.
"That's it! No more playing around," she glared and Whip took a step back, slightly intimidated by the infuriated girl who was advancing on him. She stretched out a hand in front of her, getting ready to use one of her most powerful skills. She looked over at the grinder which the citizen was dangling over. One minute on the clock… all she needed was one spark. She struck the piece of metal on the rim of the grinder and as soon as the spark appeared, the air in front of her hands ignited like a flame-thrower. She sent streams of fire at the flexible student who was running away at this point. Warren noticed the flames out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't afford to look away from his own fight for a second. Fatima released the flames and reached out with her power to grab Whip's wrists. Then, none too gently, she tied his hands to two poles that were on their side of the gym floor, immobilizing him. He stared up at her in disbelief.
"But you're not a pyro! How did you do that?" he demanded, but Fatima wasn't listening. She had already turned on Legs who was still running circles around Warren.
Warren swore. This guy was really starting to get on his nerves, and no matter how he tried, none of his attacks got through. He was just about to scream with frustration when Legs suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What the?" Legs tried to move, but to no avail. Warren looked up and saw Whip stretched out and tied up and Fatima with a hand pointed at Legs.
"Do it!" she yelled at Warren, keeping the air around Legs solid. She saw him trying to phase through her barrier, but was unable to. Warren smiled and threw a fireball that finally hit its mark, sending Legs flying into the sidewall. Fatima looked up a the clock. 15 seconds left.
"Burn the rope!" She said and Warren didn't have to be told again. But in a surprise attack, Legs jumped up to grapple with Fatima just as the fireball was sent. The rope was burning and Fatima needed to move the citizen so it wouldn't drop into the grinder, but couldn't concentrate enough with Legs attacking her in midair. She screamed and blasted him into the gym floor so hard that a small crater formed underneath him. Fatima turned and blew the citizen out of the way at the last second. The buzzer sounded and Boomer blew his whistle.
"Your villains are immobilized and the citizen is alive! HEROES WIN!" The whole gym erupted into loud cheering as Fatima landed on the ground again. She looked around with wide eyes. Were they cheering for her? For the first time in a while she smiled. But when the students rushed the floor, her smile faded as she realized just who they had been cheering for. She stumbled slightly as they all pushed past her to Warren. She looked over and saw that he was looking for a way out of the crowd which mainly consisted of swooning girls. She made her way towards one of the exits, unhooking her body gear and letting it fall to the floor. When she reached the door she looked back with a slightly sad face, and her gaze met with Warren's. He nodded at her with approval. Well, at least someone acknowledged her. She gave a weak smile and shrugged, then left the gym. She didn't care that there was only a few minutes left in the school day. As soon as she changed she flew away from the school, heading for her home.
-----
Minutes later, she touched down in the front yard of a large two-story house whose white paint was chipping. The bushes around the front door were overgrown, and the lawn was scattered with toys. She saw a car in the driveway and made her way towards the side of the house. Checking to see if anyone was around first, she flew up to a window on the second story. With a flick of her finger, the lock sprang open and she climbed inside. She quickly removed her white outfit and locked it safely in the trunk she kept in the back of her closet. Rifling through drawers, she pulled on a pair of blue jeans and a cream-colored long sleeve shirt with a hood. There was a lightning bolt on the front and the sleeves were orange. She glanced over at the trunk again as she began putting her long hair into two loose braids. The white outfit was one of the things that she didn't want her foster family to know about. It would just raise questions. As far as they were concerned, Fatima had won a scholarship and was attending a special prep school that was out of town.
She laid down on her bed and hugged her covers. She wondered how this family would react to knowing that she had super-powers. She had only been living with them for two months, but she already knew what they would think. They'd be just like her last family… fearing her, thinking her a freak. The thought brought her back to the conversation that she had with Principle Powers the day before.
"I called you here because I wanted to check on how you have been doing in your new foster home," Powers said, lacing her fingers together on her desk in front of her. Fatima remained standing close to the door of the office, a not too happy look on her face.
"Sure, everything's great," she lied. Yeah, being uprooted from your ideal home and forced to go to a new town and a new school were her idea of fun.
"I've spoken with your foster parents, and they can't say enough how much they enjoy your company." There was a pause. "They tell me that you've been studying pretty hard."
"Well yeah, I've got to learn all the stuff that I missed last year. You know, when I was going to a normal high school." Fatima tried to keep her voice from sounding hostile, but the news about her foster parents was such a blatant lie. With the exception of a few group homes, this had to be the worst foster home she had been in. Her foster dad, Carl, was a drunk, and didn't work. He spends his time in his recliner and trying to get into everyone's pants who happens to pass by, especially hers. And her foster mother, Candace, was always out at parties and clubs. She had a job as a secretary in a company downtown, but she hardly ever went to work. When she did, it was only to screw her boss, and his son. Fatima smiled wryly. Of course the two had acted excited when the government had suggested that they take her. It just meant another check every month that they could spend on themselves instead of the kids that it was really for.
The kids… there were nine other kids in the house besides Fatima. It looked like a big house from the outside, but with 12 people living there, it was really cramped. She had considered herself lucky to get the broom closet of a room she had to herself. 10 kids, and they didn't do anything for them. Taking care of the younger kids fell to the older kids in the house. And being the second oldest, Fatima shared the responsibility with Gina, who was 17.
"Well, I'm so glad to hear that you're so dedicated to our curriculum here, also…"
Fatima sat up in bed, and almost screamed. She hated that woman so much, and she'd never be able to tell her. She sighed and got out her mad science book and began to work on her remedial work that she had been assigned. How do they expect me to do well on the work this year, when I haven't even done all the work from last year? She rubbed her temples as she tried to memorize theorems. She waved a hand at her light switches and her fan came on. A second later her door opened. Fatima looked up.
Standing in her doorway was Gina, her older 'sister'. She was tall, had curly dark hair, and a tan. She smiled at the younger teen.
"You back already from that school of yours?" she asked and plopped down at the foot of the bed. Fatima held onto her books to prevent them from falling to the floor. "I didn't even hear you come in." Fatima smiled.
"Yeah well, you know how sneaky I am," she said. "Are you working tonight?"
"No, I got the night off, so you don't have to worry about missing homework to help out," Gina said and stood. "Take it easy kid." And with that, she was gone. Fatima smiled as she went back to her work. She liked Gina. She was, after all, the only person close to her age in the house, but she had always looked out for her and helped her whenever she could. Besides that, Gina was the only other person in the house who knew about her powers. She had caught her practicing one of her wind techniques in her room one day. (Fatima always remembered to lock her door since then.) Unlike her previous family, Gina thought that Fatima's powers were cool, and promised to keep it a secret.
It only took an hour for the rest of the kids to come home from their schools, and another two for Fatima to become fed up with the constant ruckus. She stuffed her white book bag with books and headed downstairs.
"I'm going to the library, I'll be back late," she said to Gina, who was trying to round up the twins, with Justin, the baby, propped up on her hip. She waved before grabbing Nick by the collar, stopping the seven year old from hitting his brother Chris again.
Fatima sighed and started towards the bus stop. She couldn't fly because too many people were home from work and would likely spot her, so public transportation it was.
Ahh, the glamorous life of a superhero in training, she thought to herself as she was forced to sit between a large, hairy man who had a severe BO problem, and a senile old woman who kept asking where Kathy was. It was only a five-minute ride, but man was she glad to finally get off of that contraption.
The first thing she did as she stepped off the bus was take a nice deep breath. She quickly smelled her shirt and breathed a sigh of relief that the smell hadn't clung to her. Now, which way to the library in this stupid town… she looked around and began walking.
-----
"Oh my god, what is with this place? It's never this confusing from the air," she muttered to herself after she had been walking for about a half hour. She turned another corner and could have sworn that she had come across the same street 10 minutes earlier. Her stomach rumbled angrily at her and she frowned.
"Ok ok already. I suppose I can stop for some food before starting the search again. Hmm…" she checked that she had that 50 dollar bill she had managed to swipe from Candace's bag the other day. All she would have done is buy a pair of shoes with it anyway, Fatima thought as she looked around for the nearest food joint. Besides, I needed lunch money, and this is sort of the same thing… her thoughts drifted off as she caught a whiff something that smelled good. She looked across the street and saw that the source of the heavenly smell was a small Chinese restaurant. Hmm, the Paper Lantern? Fatima thought it sounded a little hokey, but if the food tasted as good as it smelled then she didn't care.
Once inside she was led to a booth in a corner and handed a menu. Fatima looked around, noticing that it was actually a pretty small place, and there weren't that many people there. An idea popped into her head as her waitress came back for her order.
"Hi, actually I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me staying here to study?" she asked, pulling out a schoolbook for effect. "Oh, I'm ordering food too," she quickly added at the waitress' skeptical look.
"You pay, you stay," she said with a smile. Fatima almost laughed at the comment, but busied herself with ordering instead. After she left, Fatima leaned back and opened up her Classical Heroes literature book and began her work. Well, it was beginning to seem like the library deciding to cloak itself was turning out for the best.
-----
Two hours later, she had moved onto Mad Science and was having a hell of a time with it. Papers and books and plates of half-eaten food were strewn about the table in a slightly organized, yet haphazard way. Stupid schoolbooks, they ask one thing then say another, she thought angrily as she flipped through page after page, looking for the right answer. She was just about to give up entirely when she heard a semi-familiar voice.
"Are you still working on that?" Oh, it was a busboy. She held a hand protectively above the plate closest to the edge of the table, not looking up from the text in front of her.
"I'm fine," she said and flipped a few more pages.
"Well, the manager strongly suggests that you 'hurry up or order more food,'" he said. Fatima looked up incredulously.
"I beg your-," Fatima blinked in shock. "You! What are you doing here?"
Warren Peace looked at her, wondering why he hadn't recognized her sooner. The hair was a dead giveaway. As they both stared, the word 'cute' popped into his head as he looked over the surprised expression on her face, her street clothes, loosely braided hair, and the pair of chopsticks that were sticking out of her mouth.
"You work here, of course. What a stupid question," she said, quickly placing the chopsticks down on a plate. "But w-," she stopped herself. "No, that'd be a stupid one too…" There was an awkward silence between the two.
"So, do you know Dorvan's theorem on plasma coils? Because I just can't seem to find it," she said with an unexpected subject change that made Warren's head spin.
"What?"
"Well, the chapter review asks for it, but it's not in the chapter," she explained further, looking up at him. He raised an eyebrow in response. She sighed. "Look, I figure that since fate insists on throwing us into each other like this, then we should try to get on semi-friendly terms so we can at least stand each other next time it happens," she said, hoping that he would agree, because personally, she was getting real tired of the sandpaper feel.
Warren stared at her again. What she'd said had actually made logical sense. He shrugged and slid down into the seat across from her.
"Works for me," he said casually. Fatima breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, what's your first name anyways?" she asked. "Cuz I'm sick and tired of referring to you as 'that Peace guy.'" Warren was once again, staring at her in almost disbelief. This girl really hadn't heard of him? Well, no wonder why she doesn't take any crap from you, a voice in his head taunted. But still, it was almost relaxing to think about someone who had never heard of him, his reputation, or his father. To just start with what you've got in front of you.
"My name's Warren."
"Warren Peace…" Fatima repeated, smiling at the play on words. "That's a nice name."
Warren blinked. She liked his name? Most everyone he had met thought that it was just a really bad pun. No one except his mother had said that they liked it. He couldn't think of a response, so he ignited the tip of his finger casually and lit one of the candles that was on the table. She raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk tugging at a corner of her mouth. He smiled back.
-----
Fatima laughed. She didn't know why it was so easy to talk to him, but she decided not to question a good thing. She propped her arms up on the table while listening, her schoolwork now long forgotten. He seemed like a completely different person compared to the Warren that she had met at school. Maybe it was all that peer pressure to keep his tough-guy act in place. She laughed a little at the notion of Warren giving in to peer pressure.
"Well, I think I've taken too long a break as it is," he said finally, beginning to slide out of the booth. As if on cue, a mean-looking Chinese woman poked her head out of the kitchen and yelled at him.
"Warren! How many times must I tell you not to flirt with the customers? They don't buy more just to hear you talk!" she said in Cantonese. Warren rolled his eyes.
"I'll be there in a minute, calm down!" he yelled back in the same dialect. He turned back to Fatima with a resigned look on his face. He was about to say something when the woman yelled at him again. He turned to reply but stopped when he heard Fatima speak up.
"He said he'd be back in a minute woman!" she yelled in Cantonese, surprising the hell out of him and the woman in the kitchen. She smiled at Warren. "Thanks for talking, I hope you don't get in too much trouble." He stood. "See you in school?"
"Yeah," he replied and made his way into the kitchen. Fatima soon after heard a stream of arguing that even she couldn't understand. She sighed and turned back to her schoolbooks. Well, it was a nice break, but she needed to get some more work done before she could even think of quitting for the night.
-----
Warren lugged two bags of garbage into the dumpster that was behind the Paper Lantern. He wiped sweat off of his forehead, glad that his shift was finally over.
"Lock up will you," his boss told him in a stern voice as she made her way out. "Oh, that stupid girl in the corner fell asleep. Kick her out already." And with that Warren was alone. He hung his apron up and let his hair down then headed over to Fatima's booth. There she was, with her head resting on her papers, a pencil still in hand, and one of her long braids scrolled out on the table. He shook his head at her, and reached a hand over to wake her, but stopped when he saw a large packet of papers that were beside her. He picked it up and examined it with wide eyes. Were these all of the assignments that they were making her do? Man, how did they expect her to do all of this, plus all the work she was assigned this year? She must have really been working her butt off to do all this, he thought and felt a little sorry for her.
Slowly and carefully, he gathered all her work and books together and put them in her bag. After locking up, he swung the bag over his shoulder and then even more carefully, slid her out of the booth and picked her up. She stirred slightly, but settled down again with her head against his chest. She was a lot lighter than he had expected, and he then made his way out and up towards his apartment that was next door. He passed by several of his neighbors on the way up; they all began whispering to each other. Oh that's just the thing he needed. Rumors flying around the building about him carrying some mystery girl up to his apartment. He rolled his eyes and opened his door.
It was pretty small and beat up, but hey, it was home to him. It was still under his mother's name so that he wouldn't be bothered about living alone while he was underage.
He placed Fatima down gently on his couch and went to find a blanket. When he finally found one he came back, slipped off her sneakers, and covered her up. Without thinking, he brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and noticed that her cheeks had very light freckles on them. He frowned at the red line that still adorned her left cheek from their Save the Citizen match earlier that day. He didn't think that it was right to mess with a girl's face, but then again, he supposed that most guys nowadays didn't have any chivalry. He sighed and went into his room to read. He'd let her sleep a while longer.
-----
Fatima woke with a start. She looked around and didn't recognize anything. She pushed the blanket off of her and swung her feet around to the floor only to discover that her shoes had been removed. Looking around a little more, she found that they were sitting next to her book bag to one side of the couch that she was on. She had been studying at the Paper Lantern, and now she was in someone's apartment. Okaay…
She wondered what time it was as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stood. She pulled the ties out of her hair and slowly undid her braids as she walked around.
The living room was small and simple. A couch along the back wall, and 2 chairs in front of a TV that was set up on a crate. To her right was a kitchen, and to her left was a closed door. She couldn't see anything out of the windows except darkness. She walked over and saw that she was about three stories off the ground. She heard a door open and turned, wondering what she would see.
"Warren!" she exclaimed, surprised at his sudden appearance.
"Hey," he said and walked over to the kitchen. "Do you want a drink?" He opened the fridge. She nodded and he got out two cans of soda and handed her one.
"So… what happened?" Fatima asked, still half-asleep. Warren sat down in a chair and opened his can.
"You fell asleep. It's no wonder with all that work they've got you doing. I figured I'd let you sleep a while."
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to be an inconvenience," she said, sitting down in the other chair sideways, draping her legs over one of the armrests. "So, this is your place?" He nodded. "But uh… how did I…" she sort of trailed off.
"Don't worry, you weren't too heavy," he said, grinning at the flustered look on her face.
"Does that mean you… I, uh… what do you… umm," she stuttered helplessly. Warren couldn't help himself. He laughed. Fatima blinked at him, the sound being unfamiliar coming from the pyro. She folded her arms in front of her and looked away.
"Well I never," she said and kicked one of his armrests. This only made Warren laugh harder. It was just one of those moments, and Fatima smiled, pleased that she'd gotten him to laugh so much. She wiggled one of her fingers above her soda, causing it to open. She drank half of it straight down before the bubbles got to her nose. She cringed a little and made a squeaking sound as her eyes watered a bit. She opened them back up and saw that Warren was looking at her. She fiddled with the tab on the can.
"So, why did you choose to go to Sky High after you'd missed your first year?" he asked. "If you knew it was going to be so much work, why bother?" Fatima looked away from him, letting her hair fall over part of her face.
"I, I didn't choose," she said softly.
"So your parents made you or something?" he asked.
"Don't have parents," she replied simply. He blinked at her. She decided to keep going.
"I've had my powers since I was little, but I always kept them secret. I was afraid of getting carted away for study or something." She swung her legs down, facing front so her face was completely obscured from his view. "I was living with my foster parents, Mary and Curtis. There was a fire… their daughter was trapped. I used my powers to save her. Somebody saw. Somebody told. Eventually it got to none other than Principle Powers herself." There was now a bitter note in her voice, but she pressed on. "She came to visit me and told me that she wanted me to go to her school. We would have to move, but I was excited. Until she told my foster parents about it." She shuttered a little. "I could see it in their eyes. They feared me because I was different. They thought I was some sort of freak. They said that moving was 'out of the question.' Next day my social worker came by saying that the state wished to relocate me so I would have the 'wonderful opportunity' to attend Powers' school. Of course I had to go along with it, the government basically owns me. So now I'm stuck in one of the worst foster situations I've ever been in, all because of Powers." She was holding back tears at this point.
"Well if you're last foster parents thought you were a freak because of your powers, then I don't think that they deserved you," Warren said, taken aback slightly by her outpour. She stood quickly and turned her back on him.
"You don't understand!" She hugged her arms around herself. "They, they were going to adopt me!" she finally blurted. "I was going to have real parents…" her voice drifted away and a silence fell over the room. Warren looked up at her after a moment and noticed that her shoulders were shaking, and her hands kept moving to her face now and then. It takes years of misery to learn how to cry so silently, he thought as he stood and approached her.
Fatima jumped a little when she felt his warm hands grip her shoulders. He turned her around and lifted her chin up and she finally met his gaze. Her face was tearstained and her eyes were bloodshot. She sniffled a little, trying not to sob out loud.
"I'm sorry," she managed to get out. "I guess I've just been holding all this in for a while now."
"It's not your fault," he said simply and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Fatima gave in and buried her face in his chest, sobbing. After a few minutes she settled down and was able to breathe normally again.
"Everyone's family has their issues," Warren said after a while. "My father…" he started, but paused as if it was difficult for him. "He was thrown in jail by my best friend's father." Fatima looked up at him. "He's a super villain."
"And your mom was a super hero," she said. He looked at her with a surprised look. "War and Peace," she said with a little smile. She hugged him. He had obviously been dealing with this for a while; no words of comfort were needed. Now, with everything out on the table, it didn't matter that they had just met; all that mattered was that they were both there for each other, right there in that moment.
"Oh, what time is it?" Fatima said, breaking their respective trances. They took a step away from each other and Warren glanced at a clock on the microwave in the kitchen.
"Nearly eleven-thirty. You need to get going?" he said casually. "I can give you a ride." She smiled at the offer.
"That's ok. It's late enough that I can fly and I won't be seen," she swung her book bag over a shoulder and opened one of the windows. She stepped out, but quickly peeked back in.
"Thanks, for everything," she said. He nodded and she was tempted to give him a kiss on the cheek, but quickly decided not to. She withdrew from the window once again and began her flight home. She had been too distracted to notice the slight rumble in the distance, or the dark clouds rolling in until it was too late. Her skin tingled with the charge that was in the air and her flight faltered a little. She looked up at the sky with wide eyes. Oh crap. She tried to make her way down to the ground as quickly and safely as she could, but as the first few drops of rain fell, her powers failed and she was plummeting down towards the street.
Warren had just closed his window and was walking back to his room when he heard a scream and a thud. He walked back over to the window and saw a crumpled-looking Fatima lying in the middle of the street in front of his building. Not stopping to wonder what had happened, he grabbed his jacket and an umbrella and ran down the stairs. By the time he got to her, it was raining pretty hard. He leaned over her and was glad to see that she was still breathing.
God, that sucked so much, Fatima thought and turned over only to discover Warren leaning over her, holding an umbrella over them both.
"Well, so much for my dramatic exit," she said and smiled, trying to lighten the mood as he gave her a hand up.
"Are you ok?" he asked. She tried to take a step but stumbled a little. She couldn't put weight on her right foot.
"I think I sprained my ankle," she said miserably and he supported her as they made their way back towards the building.
"Come on, get in," he said after he'd led her over to his car. They both scooted in and Fatima told him where she lived. She shivered a little. After all, she had been lying out in the rain for a while.
"It may be a piece of junk, but its got heat," he said and turned the heater on for her. She smiled and put her hands directly in front of one of the vents.
"At least you have a car," she said. "Sure I can fly, but only when no one's around. Otherwise I have to rely on public transportation."
"So, what happened anyways? Why did you fall like that?" he asked when they were halfway there.
"I'm not too sure on the specifics, but during a thunderstorm the air is charged differently, and it's a little difficult to control. I'm getting better at it though," she said with a slight smile. "Used to be that if a storm was within' a few miles my powers would stop working."
The ride wasn't too long, and Fatima had managed to warm up by the time he pulled up to the curb in front of the large white house.
"Nice house," he commented as he helped her hobble up to the front door.
"Yeah, it'd be nice if there wasn't 12 of us living here," she commented, reaching for the knob. But before she could touch it, the door burst open, revealing a woman in her late 30's who was wearing a purple wig and way too much make up. Her clothes and jewelry made her look like a prostitute.
"Hey Tima, late night?" the woman asked in a nasally voice and grinned at the two of them.
"Hi Candace," she said with a fake smile. "This is Warren, he goes to my school. He was just giving me a ride home after a study group." It didn't matter what she said really, she already knew what Candace thought, what with him still helping her to stand it looked like he had being doing more than giving her a ride. Candace's grin grew a little wider as if reading her thoughts.
"Well, don't let me keep you," she said and walked away to her car and sped off.
"Yeah, that's my foster mother for you," Fatima said dryly and opened the front door. "Thanks again," she said and hopped inside. They said goodbye and Fatima watched as Warren's car disappeared down her street. She managed to hobble up the stairs and finally threw herself into bed. As she felt sleep pulling her into its embrace, she couldn't decide whether today had been the best or worst day ever.