Chapter Two: My Own Prison

"I entirely agree with you," replied Nikolai, flushing, turning his plate around, and moving his wineglass with an air of such desperate resolve that he looked as if he were being exposed to some great danger at that very moment. "I am convinced that we Russians must conquer or die," he said, feeling, as others did after the words were out, that they were too exalted and bombastic for the present occasion, and consequently inept.

"What you said just now was beautiful," Julie remarked with a sigh.

Sonya trembled all over when Nikolai spoke, and blushed to her ears and all down her neck and shoulders.

- Count Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace", page 97

"This isn't easy for me to say."

Startled by the deep voice that was apparently speaking to her, Dawn immediately looked up and saw the figure of Warren hesitantly looming over her. "I…I beg your pardon?"

"I want to…apologize, I guess, for what I said. I've been trying to be…" Warren sighed, as though it was taking everything out of him to say this to her. "I've been trying to be nicer to people ever since last year, and I wanted to apologize for snapping at you." He said it in a strung-up sentence, like he was trying to spit it out as fast as he could and then run away back to his isolation.

"It was fine." Dawn assured him, extremely surprised by his apology. From the stories she had heard, the young man wasn't usually so amicable. "I didn't know what I was doing." She attempted to make a further apology, but was answered with a curt nod from Warren, and she took it as her cue to shut up. He turned back around, walked to his table, and once more fixed his gaze on his book. The matter was settled.

Dawn couldn't get the butterflies out of her stomach though, and she began reading deeply into the situation. He apologized! She thought excitedly. To me! Warren Peace doesn't DO that. Maybe…maybe he wants to be friends? Such thoughts danced about happily in her mind until the more logical side of her pushed them down. Dawn, get a hold of yourself, she reasoned. He was just being nice because he's in the process of learning to work with others. Sounds like you. She thought wryly, and scooped the last of her salad into her mouth.

She was about to pull a book out of her backpack when someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Not again," Dawn groaned half-heartedly, turning to face her shoulder-attacker.

"Hi, you look kind of alone. You want some company?" The perky voice was hardly Warren's; it belonged to Layla, and she was accompanied by the rest of her usual gang.

"I…" Dawn wasn't quite sure what to say, but finally she forced a smile that matched the one Layla was sporting. "Sure, thanks."

Will, Ethan, Zach, Magenta, and Layla slid themselves into chairs around Dawn, and introductions flew like spitballs. Conversation was immediately started, and the chatter was almost deafening. However, Dawn was being left out of the conversation – not on purpose, of course, but it was happening – and she began feeling claustrophobic. What's wrong with you? She mentally hissed at herself. She had been perfectly willing to go up and talk to Warren, but now, surrounded by all these people…

She realized, to her horror, that by telekinetically moving light particles and matter, she had inadvertently created a bubble-shaped force field around herself. Every time she shifted in her seat, the field nudged Ethan's chair farther away from her. The young melter looked stunned that he was moving across the floor, seemingly without any help.

Now the others had noticed it too. Ohhh, this is awkward. She thought, closing her eyes in misery as the one-sided conversation ground to a halt. "Dawn?" Will inquired, glancing oddly at her. "Are you trying to move us away from you?"

"…Yes." Dawn whispered, wishing she could disappear. "I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to be so rude; I'm just not used to this, and it's all so different!" She tried to fight back a sob as she stared at her hands, not trusting herself to meet the gazes of the concerned individuals around her.

"Oookay, I think someone needs to be alone for a while." Magenta piped up, scooting her chair back. The screech of metal on linoleum was harsh, but Dawn took guilty relief in the interruption. One by one, all the sidekicks (and hero) stood and walked awkwardly back to their table. All except one.

"I know how it feels to be alone and then suddenly accepted by a lot of people." Ethan consoled from his scooted-away position. "All the sidekicks felt that way when Will got moved to Hero class, we saved the day, and people suddenly liked us."

"Oh, man, I've been such a jerk. I just met you guys and already I'm being all solitary." Dawn lamented, keeping her eyes on her hands.

Ethan stood up and patted her on the shoulder, "You think you're bad, you should've seen Warren when we - " The pyrokinetic's head snapped up at the mention of his name, and Ethan hurried to re-phrase his statement. "What I meant was that not everybody is really social during their first day of school. Don't worry about it." Dawn finally looked up and smiled weakly at him. "Thanks." He patted her one more time and then wandered off to his table again.

Feeling a little bit better, Dawn looked at the clock and stood, wanting to make sure she was punctual for her next class. Before she was out the door of the cafeteria, she smelled a faint scent of leather. Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with Warren.

"How did I screw up this time?" Dawn asked meekly, blanching at the look on Warren's face. The pained, why-can't-you-people-leave-me-alone look was gone; it had been replaced with the I'm-going-to-roast-you-alive look with which almost everyone at Sky High was now familiar. Warren towered above her, and he muttered two sentences to her in a low growl.

"Paper Lantern; eight o'clock. Be there."

"But I don't know what - "

But by the time she had started her sentence, he had wheeled away and was gone.

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Eek, I meant to make THIS one longer, but I had to stop at that point! hides I hope very much that you enjoyed this one, and that you'll enjoy the next one. And it means a lot to me that you're reading them; thanks!