Extraordinary- Chapter Two: The Ashcrofts

plummet: Alrighty, chapter two is ready and posted! In case you're wondering whether or not I actually have a life (which I don't…lol), I've been writing this fic for awhile now, and I already have about four chapters typed up. I'm just spending my time looking for errors before I post them. So, after posting chapter four, things might slow down a bit because I have to write all the chapters fresh from then on. Not too much slower, though. I'll probably be updating about once or twice every two weeks…(hopefully).

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Extreme happiness begets tragedy…-Chinese Proverb; 1906.

I stood completely still, staring blankly at a wooden door with the golden number 124 nailed to its front; the door to a quaint little tan-colored house on the corner of Sparrow Boulevard. This particular humble abode belonged to none other than my new foster family, the Ashcrofts. The Sisters had managed to convey their deepest concern for me and my well-being, but I could tell they were just glad to be rid of me. I could see it in their eyes; could feel it in their auras.

Apparently, the Ashcrofts were looking to adopt for awhile now and jumped at the chance to foster me. Mr. and Mrs. Ashcroft were a lovely, happy couple, and their teenage daughter Layla was very kind and good-spirited. They seemed to be the best opportunity a gal could hope for in a foster family. But the thing is, I didn't want a foster family. I didn't want to be pitied or to be thought of as some act of charity. I sighed. Oh well. It was a home and a start.

I raised my arm to knock on the door when it opened of its own accord. There stood Mrs. Ashcroft, smiling brightly at me.

"Oh, well hello, dear! You must be Amelie! Come in, come in!" she said while ushering me inside.

I slung my old and worn jean backpack over my shoulder and followed her in. In surveying my surroundings, I came to the conclusion that I had entered the Ashcrofts' living room. Furnished with an olive green futon, oriental rugs sprawled across the wooden floor, a nice little bookshelf in one corner, and some plants and cats here and there, it painted a picture of a family who's very…down to earth.

The corners of my mouth twitched into something that resembled a smile for the first time that day.

"Well, dearie, don't just stand there! Make yourself at home!" Mrs. Ashcroft was smiling at me again.

Just then, Layla sauntered into the room.

Mrs. Ashcroft turned her sparkling, honey-colored eyes to Layla. "Oh, there you are, Layla. Look, Amelie's here! Why don't you show her to her new room, hmm?"

"Sure thing, Mom!" Layla was smiling too.

And, despite it all, I even found myself smirking along with them.

Layla led the way up the white-washed staircase to a room on the far left side of the hallway. She opened the door, and I followed her inside. I must say, the room was rather cute. The walls were a buttercup yellow, and the bed in the middle of the room had a comforter with a daisy print. The window set into the far wall was adorned with gauzy, yellow curtains, and the dresser against the right wall looked to be made of oak. In a bright, happy-go-lucky, flower-loving kind of way…the bedroom suited me.

"Well, here's your new room. I hope you like it. I picked out the color scheme myself."

I was speechless. They actually cared enough to paint and furnish a room…just for me?

"It's wonderful! Thank you very much. You…You didn't have to go and redo a room just for me…"

Great job there, Amelie. I'm sure you sounded sincere…

"It was no trouble, honest. It's the least we could do for you!" Layla sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to her. "Come, sit! I want to get to know you a bit before school starts tomorrow…"

I blinked confusedly at her. "Um…school? What's this about school?"

"Nobody told you? Woops…Well, you'll be going to Sky High with me tomorrow."

"Sky High? Is that a…public school?" I was still totally lost.

"No one told you about Sky High either? Wow, erm…Sky High is a school for teens with super powers…"

My eyes widened, and suddenly, everything made sense. The Sisters had handed me over to Mr. and Mrs. Ashcroft because they had a daughter with magical powers. I grew nervous as my mind processed this information completely. Then, the Ashcrofts must know all about my own powers…

I decided to break the ice, "So, you know about my powers, then?"

I shifted my feet and nervously twisted the strap of my backpack. Layla must've sensed my discontentment for she got up and gave me a one-armed hug.

"Yes, and don't worry, school will be fine for you. The kids at Sky High aren't all that scary, you'll like them. And, if not, you'll have me there with you." She gave me a half smile when she pulled away and then sat back on the bed. "Well, aren't you going to sit down?"

I nodded and sat next to her. Man, was this bed comfortable or what?

"You don't…" I swallowed and started over, "You aren't afraid of me, are you?"

Layla's brow furrowed. "Why would I be afraid of you? ...Because you have super powers? Honestly, I think your power is really cool. Controlling the weather must be awesome…I control plants." She shrugged nonchalantly as if having such a super power was no big deal.

"You think my ability to control the weather is…cool?" I held in my sigh of relief when I figured that they must not know about my electrical 'mishaps'. That would've been a hard one to explain.

"Heck yeah! Why wouldn't I?"

"Um…well, I don't know. I was just never praised for having powers before…"

"There's a first for everything, you know!" Layla beamed at me.

I cracked a smile. Well, she's just a ball of sunshine, isn't she?

We sat together on the bed in surprisingly comfortable silence until Mrs. Ashcroft's voice rang out, "Layla, Amelie, dinner's ready!"

"Thank goodness, I'm starving." Layla stood up and brushed nonexistent dust off of her brown, flowing skirt.

She walked out of the room and a good way down the hall until she realized that I wasn't following. Poking her head back in the room, she asked with laughter in her voice, "Aren't you coming?"

I stood up rather quickly. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that. I don't know where my head is today."

'Smooth, girl. Real smooth. You know very well where your head is.' My conscience hissed at me. 'It's back at the orphanage…thinking about a little redheaded girl and how you broke her heart.'

Not wanting Layla to know of my distress, I held back a wince. Sometimes my conscience goes a little too far, but not this time. I definitely deserved that.

"On your shoulders, I hope," Layla teased lightly as she led me down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Ooh, dinner smells good, Mom."

"Thank you, sweety. Oh, and Amelie, this is my husband, Cole. Cole, dear, this is Amelie Bowen."

My eyes fell upon a rather attractive man who appeared to be in his mid forties. His dark hair was touched with a bit of silver, and his face sported the genuine, Ashcroft smile.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Bowen," Cole Ashcroft said kindly.

"Likewise, Mr. Ashcroft," I replied.

The Ashcrofts all seated themselves around a rather elaborate dining table, and I followed suit, sitting down next to Layla and across from Mrs. Ashcroft. They were having some kind of rice served with some brown stuff and a garden salad. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.

"Oh, the brown stuff is tofu, by the way. It's a meat substitute," Layla explained helpfully.

Ah, that would explain why I had no idea what it was. Well, it was worth a shot. After we had said grace at my request, I tried a forkful of the tofu. I chewed for a bit, testing its texture and taste.

"Mmm, this is really good, Mrs. Ashcroft."

"Why thank you, Amelie. You may call me Grace, if you like. No need for formalities. We're all friends here."

"Okay…Grace."

It felt awkward addressing an adult figure so informally, but what the heck. We all ate in silence for a while until Mr. Ashcroft asked me a question.

"So, Amelie, do you like your room?"

I finished swallowing some of the garden salad I had been previously chewing. "Yes, it's great, thanks."

"That's good to hear. I was afraid you weren't going to like it. Not all girls are girly like our Layla," Mr. Ashcroft jokingly said.

"Dad! I am not girly. Nature-loving, yes. Girly, no." Layla pouted.

"Say that to your pink room and your closet full of skirts, hon."

I couldn't help it, I laughed. However, my laughter died in my throat as soon as I glanced at Layla. She looked extremely offended, and I felt horrible for causing it. I hurriedly apologized to remedy the situation, but she dismissed it by saying that she was only joking.

I blinked. "Oh," I stupidly muttered.

I mentally sighed, 'Of course she was joking, you dimwit. Way to look completely stupid!'

The harshness my mental insults fell upon deaf…minds as the Ashcrofts only smiled good-naturedly in return.

'They're so easy-going…' I thought wistfully. 'If only…' My eyes hardened and I snapped at myself. 'No! No dwelling on what could have been. The past is the past. She's not…She's not coming back…' Violet turned to a dewy lilac as I became caught up in some depressing memories.

"Who's not coming back, dear?" Mrs. Ashcroft asked softly, bringing me back from my thoughts.

Oh, crap. I must've said that last part out loud.

"Erm, nobody. No one. It's nothing," I said hurriedly. 'What a genius you are, Amelie! They definitely don't suspect a thing…' I thought bitingly in response.

Layla and Mr. Ashcroft were staring at me as if I was some sort of puzzle to be solved.

"Well, if you say so, sweety," Mrs. Ashcroft replied uncertainly.

An awkward silence hung in the air, during which everyone finished off almost or all of their dinner.

Mr. Ashcroft decided to save the conversation, "So, are you ready for your first day at Sky High tomorrow, Amelie?"

I raised a strawberry-blond eyebrow. "Oh, you bet, Mr. Ashcroft," I replied somewhat sarcastically.

If they noticed my name slip up, they definitely didn't show it.

"Oh, honey, you'll be fine!" Mrs. Ashcroft cut in. "Really, you're a very likable, pretty girl. You'll have tons of friends by the end of the first day!"

Boy, Mrs. Ashcroft uses many endearments when addressing people. And, why's she saying such nice things about me? She's just met me, for goodness' sake! And if I'm such a 'good' person, why did I end up in an orphanage...?

I sighed.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people, I guess. Ooh, look! I thought an optimistic thought! What? You think that's funny? You want summa this?

While I was mentally…arguing with myself, the silence must've stretched on for a pretty long time because Mr. Ashcroft felt the need to loudly clear his throat. I started a bit, not expecting to hear that particular sound.

"Wha…?" I inquired confusedly.

"Are you sure you're alright, Ammie?" Layla's voice was laced with concern.

"Oh yeah, I'm perfectly fine. Never been better," I said with false cheerfulness, not even noticing the specific nickname Layla had given me.

Layla turned to her mother, "She's just nervous about her first day, Mom. Not to mention, her first day at a public high school."

Shock flashed across my eyes when I concluded that she was partly right. I am nervous. "You read people very well," I whispered to Layla.

She smirked at me and whispered back, "Thanks."

A wave of understanding passed between us and, just like that, we were friends.

"Oh, well, is there anything we can do to make it easier for you, dear?"

I glanced at Mrs. Ashcroft when my brain grasped the fact that she was addressing me, "Um…it would be nice to have a more in depth explanation about the classes, teachers, hall set-ups…You know, stuff like that."

Mr. and Mrs. Ashcroft seemed to be completely lost on where to begin, but Layla slipped easily into story-teller mode.

"Hmm…where to start? Ah yes, let's start with the different groups," She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Okay, when you first arrive at Sky High, you'll be tested by Coach Boomer, the gym teacher, who'll put you in either the hero or sidekick category. Personally, sidekicks are heroes too, but I'll get into that later. Anyway, after that…Wait, you are a junior, right?" At my nod, she proceeded to explain, "Yes, well, juniors and seniors have certain electives available such as art and various music classes, regardless of whether you're a sidekick or a hero. And teachers…Well, you'll see for yourself tomorrow."

I absorbed all of the information she had just given me when I realized that she didn't mention anything about the building itself.

"Uh, how will I find my way around?" I asked warily in case I missed something from her explanation.

"The halls are really hard to describe. I'll have to show you around myself tomorrow, sorry."

I sighed. Figures. Nothing can ever be simple.

"So, are you a hero or a sidekick?" I inquired conversationally.

"Sidekick and proud of it!" Layla made the 'victory' sign and stuck her tongue out at me.

I made a weird face in retaliation. Mr. Ashcroft decided to interrupt us, however. Aw shucks, and I was just getting started.

"Well, girls, we've been at this dinner table for quite awhile now, and it's getting late. Why don't you two scallywags go and get ready for bed?"

I pretended to put on an imaginary pirate hat. "Arr, matey. Ye be right."

Layla echoed what I said in a parrot-like voice, "Squaaawk ye be right, ye be right."

"Ye be a mighty fine parrot, lassie," I complimented Layla.

She winked. "Squaaaaaak mighty fine parrot, squaawk."

"Alright, that's enough you two. Move your land lovin' selves upstairs," Mrs. Ashcroft teased.

I pulled out my make-believe sword from its make-believe scabbard, narrations and all, and pointed it in the direction of Layla.

"Avast ye, matey! Draw yer sword an' fight like the lass thatcha are!"

In drawing her 'sword', she accepted my challenge, and we mock charged at each other, narrating the swishing and clanging noises made in a real swordfight all the way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. When the last "Yarr, ye almost got me" faded from earshot, Mr. and Mrs. Ashcroft broke out into peals of uncontrollable laughter.

A special thanks to:

vionette: Thanks so much for taking your time to review my fanfic! I know it's not anything yet, but there are (hopefully) better and more exciting chapters to come! Like this one, for instance! -coughs yeah right coughs- -glares at self-Heh. Anywho, yes, thanks again for reviewing and to answer your unspoken question, Amelie is not going to be a Mary Sue! Hehe. That is all.

T: Thank you very much for reading my fic! It makes me so happy to know that you liked the first chapter! I worked very hard on it. I hope you're as pleased with this chapter as you were with chapter one! Thanks again.