Chapter 2
Ann heard Layla scream as the fireball flew at the bleachers where the older students where sitting.
Just before it hit, a pretty blonde girl with glasses jumped up and incased it with ice. The ice melted almost immediately, but the ensuing rush of water managed to extinguish the fire.
Ann stood shaking, half from fear, half from excitement. Coach opened his mouth to say 'hero', after all, the display itself was impressive, even if control was lacking.
"Please." She interrupted. "Don't."
Boomer raised his eyebrows. This was a first.
"If you please, I would rather be a sidekick." She said hastily. "We were lucky this time. If I were made a hero, I would never likely be put in a group where there was anyone powerful enough to stop me if I lost control. People would be hurt, and I couldn't live with that."
There was silence. Even Boomer seemed to be speechless, only nodding instead of his usual shouting.
Ann glanced at the bleachers, and saw the sidekicks huddled around Layla, who was cradling her arm. She went pale when she saw the burn on the other girl's arm. As tears began to sting her eyes, she turned and ran off of the platform and out of the gym before anyone could stop her.
…
After spending the next few hours hiding, Ann managed to get up the courage to venture out, mostly because her stomach was growling.
It wasn't too difficult to find the cafeteria. She had a knack for searching out and finding places with food. As she entered, she heard an overly chipper voice calling her name. Turing, she saw Layla waving a bandaged hand from her seat with her friends. Hanging her head, Anna crept over.
"Hi, Ann!" Layla chirped. "We thought you'd skipped out on us."
Ann only shook her head, so Layla tried again.
"Hey, it's okay about the fire. I only have a little burn. It doesn't even hurt anymore."
Looking up from her shoes, she saw Layla giving her a friendly smile, and Ann returned it hesitantly. Will quickly gestured for her to sit beside him, across from Magenta.
"So." Zach said, ever the tactful one. "What is the deal with you and Lash?"
Ann blushed as she pulled her lunch out of her backpack. It consisted of a fruit salad, a chocolate pudding cup, and a thermos of iced tea.
"Well, I told you we met back in the UK. Honestly I have no idea why we got along so well. I suppose our mutual affection for his sister sort of brought us together."
"If you're such good friends," Asked Mag, jerking her head at the bullies' table "Why don't you sit with him?"
"Because I'm not talking to him right now." Ann replied around a bite of honeydew.
"Don't get me wrong." She continued. "I do not in any way condone the way he has treated any of you. But in a way, I do understand it. As it is, he broke a promise to me, so I won't be speaking with him for the next couple of weeks."
She suddenly frowned in exasperation.
"I'm sorry, is it just me or is someone trying to burn holes in the back of my head through excessive staring?"
Layla laughed, looking over her shoulder.
"That's just Warren. He's probably just wondering who you are and why you're sitting with us. How did you know he was looking at you?"
"Because the back of my head is burning like the flames of Hades."
Will grinned.
"He's actually my best friend. But he doesn't think that his reputation could handle always sitting with a bunch of annoying sidekicks, especially on the first day. He'll loosen up in a couple of months."
"What about your reputation?" Asked Ann.
"Oh." Zach said. "He's the son of the Commander and Jetstream. He can do anything he bloody well wants."
Magenta rolled her eyes and cuffed her boyfriend on the back of the head, making the others laugh. All except Ann. Something seemed to be bothering her.
"Is something wrong?" Layla asked her, and Ann frowned and shook her head.
"I'm not sure. It's just…" She paused, and then continued a little more surely. "It's just that I know that name should be familiar, Warren, but I can't quite place it."
"It's not that uncommon a name." Ethan pointed out.
"I know." Ann replied, nodding. "But I know that I don't know it from England. Someone here."
"You haven't been her for what, three years?" Asked Will.
Ann nodded again absentmindedly. The rest shrugged, not knowing how to help. The troubled look on Anna's face deepened, and she shut her eyes.
There it was, a familiar burning sensation in her ears. It had started as soon as she had walked into the room. And it was coming from… Her eyes flashed open.
"He's a pyro!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah. How did you know?" Will asked.
"I can sense him the same way I do elements, specifically fire." She shook her head in disbelief. "I've only ever met one pyro before in my life, and that was when I was…" She trailed off, and her eyes fluttered shut. "What's his last name?" She asked quietly.
"Peace." Layla answered worriedly. "Warren Peace."
Ann groaned.
"It's official." She muttered. "Fate hates me."
"What?' The redhead asked, her agitation growing.
"Nothing. Never mind." Ann replied, waving a hand. The movement caught her own eye, and she glanced at her watch.
"Oh, look at the time. I have to go." She said. "I'll see all of you later."
Will waved a faint hand toward her retreating back, and gave a faint 'Later'.
"That was weird." Zach said after a pause. Magenta didn't even hit him.
…
"Mother! Dad! I'm home!" Ann called as she entered her house. When there was no response, she went to the kitchen to check the refrigerator for messages. There was one.
"Ann" It began simply. "Your father and I are taking Baby to the park. If we aren't back by the time you do, here is some money. Order a pizza of whatever you feel like. Mother."
Ann sighed. There hadn't been that many clear days recently, and she could see her stepmother jumping at the chance to get out. She made her way upstairs, and entered her 'sitting room'. There she pulled off her shoes, and went up the flight of stairs to the attic.
When she had first moved back, she had asked to be able to re-do the attic into a sort of 'Fortress of Solitude' for herself. Now, instead of old, musty boxes with mothballs, it was a room that anyone with a multiple personality disorder would be proud to call their own.
The room had been divided into four equal pieces. In the first she kept her orchids, bonsai, and enough posters of everything from bands, to actors, to animals, to completely paper the walls in that corner.
In the next were her mini-fridge, microwave, desk, computer, and stereo. The walls where painted pure white, and as everywhere else in the room the floor was hardwood.
The next corner was painted an extremely pale blue. There she had a four-poster bed with curtains of baby blue gauze. The floor was covered with a soft, fluffy white rug, and on her bedside table she kept her pictures of her friends and family. Against the other wall was her wardrobe. The top half of it was double doors, where she kept her dresses, and the bottom drawers, where she kept everything else.
The final corner was painted black, with realistic flames painted licking their way up from the ground. It was the work which she was most proud of, having put herself into it wholeheartedly, and it had come out much better then most of her other endeavors.
It was there that she kept both of her guitars, one electrical and one classical. As well as her piano, music stand, and art desk.
Sighing heavily, she threw herself onto her bed and shut her eyes.
"Well, that was interesting."
Her eyes flew open, and she bolted upright. In the middle of her room stood a young man.
