Chapter 1.

I groaned inwardly and cracked my eyelids open. They gave a few weak protests before complying. Both stared straight ahead at the window, which was being subjected to a rather tempestuous rain shower. It was day two of my senior year and time to pull myself out of bed. With a sigh, I rose from the mountain of gray covers and swung my legs over the edge of the mattress. The only sound in the small house was rain hitting windows and roof. We had been told that this bout of storms was rather unusual for Maxville at this time of year. I was sure that it had followed us from the UK.

I pulled on a sweatshirt and blinked wearily at the door. Everything was blurry as I stumbled out to the hallway. My toe made contact with the edge of the doorframe and I bit my lip angrily. It would take some time before I would be used to the layout of this new abode. My father was already gone and the house, still filled with packed boxes, seemed entirely too empty.

Down the hall was our kitchen, a small affair that looked completely unused. Even though we had moved in three weeks ago, we had yet to cook anything and the pots still hung glumly on their hangers above the island. With a familiar motion I turned on the coffee machine and fumbled with a mug. It clanked as it hit the counter. Stomach churning uneasily, I waited for the hot brew. While I waited I gathered up the school books I'd left on the counter the night before.

The homework was interesting to say the least. I'd already been assigned a ten page paper on why superheroes are needed in the world. Apparently it was a traditional assignment for all senior students at Sky High. Actually, the assignment was for all senior students of the hero classification. I had learned very quickly about the strange dichotomy of the high school on my first day. It was bewildering but what could I do about it? At least there seemed to be free mingling among the two classes, it wasn't a complete caste system.

Half an hour later, I was out the door, with a bagel and my backpack. I approached our neighbor's door. Ethan was friendly enough and had put me at ease when we met, especially after he had found that I was going to attend Sky high. I wasn't looking for a best friend anyway; I was used to the new girl routine by now and was quite aware that we might be moving sometime soon anyway. It was too hard to try and make impressions on people you wouldn't see again. Being myself always worked better, less stress on me.

I rang the doorbell and then hid my hands in my long sleeves once again. Ethan was out in a moment, "Hi Dia," he said, and I winced at the unsolicited nickname. He was dressed in bright orange clothes that rebelled against the dark and gloomy weather. The boy fumbled with the door for a moment and then turned to the sidewalk.

A silent and gray walk through the misty morning brought us to the bus stop. Magenta was there waiting for us and sipping on a large thermos of coffee. I had discovered yesterday that she wasn't much of a morning person. We waited under the dripping trees and in a moment I pulled up the hood of my green sweatshirt to protect my head from the rain, which seemed to be increasing in volume. In a minute the bus would be here and the day would start.

"Did you start on your paper?" Ethan started to ask Magenta as the bus pulled around the corner at the end of the street. The sidekicks had been assigned a ten page paper on why Sidekicks are needed in the world.

She grunted a reply that sounded something like no and then all three of us were doused with dirty water as the bus pulled up to the curb.

The doors opened and Magenta entered first with a death glare for the driver. I wiped my freckled cheeks dry with the sleeve of my hoodie. My worn jeans were soaked beneath the knee and I could feel water seeping into my tennis shoes. Tom, the bus driver, an old man with huge ears and white hair, looked out from beneath his cap and smiled at us sheepishly. "Sorry," he said as we boarded, looking rather as if he enjoyed our distress.

I took a seat near the front. We were practically the first stop on the bus route. Ethan sat next to me and Magenta settled in behind us, making various unintelligible noises. We knew she'd want a seat by herself, though it would probably be taken by her boyfriend at the next stop. Zach seemed the exact opposite of Magenta with his bright clothes and I didn't quite understand the attraction there. I guess it's enough that they like each other.

I took down my hood and ran my hands through my short, unruly auburn mane, shivering involuntarily as the bus drove on. I made a mental note to bring heavier clothes tomorrow, especially if the weather kept up like this.

A little while later we pulled up to the last stop. These last two passengers were greeted with a friendly splash of dirty water like everyone else. However, Layla and Will didn't glare at the driver and the hippie even added a cheerful hello. They took seats across from Ethan and I. A couple minutes later, everyone was strapped in and took the rocketing take-off like veterans. I suppose doing that every day for four years made you able to take any amusement park ride with ease. It was only my second time and unlike my fellow seniors I disembarked the bus with wobbly legs.

"You did better today," Ethan said, brown eyes sparkling with amusement, "At least you didn't fall to the ground when you got out."

"Right, that makes me feel better," I answered, looking up at the sky. It seemed a lot brighter up on the campus and the rain was clearing.

We walked towards the school with the rest of the gang. I had been happy that Ethan had decent friends. I wasn't afraid of being by myself at lunch, it's not like I hadn't done it before, but it was nice to have people to talk to. The senior class was very small, only twenty five people and this group had just about the nicest people in the school. It seemed that this new school wouldn't be too bad after all. I just hoped I wouldn't get too attached to any of them. It was hard to keep in contact with people when you moved around so much.

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I looked at the man who sat across from with something akin to disdain. Each senior at Sky High was required to meet with their advisor and plan out their life following high school. The first day Mr. Mardos had discovered I wasn't exactly cooperative when it came to drawing designs for my costume or deciding on theme music. Today he watched me for a few minutes before he spoke. His brown eyes held mine until a bell in the hall outside rang and interrupted the showdown.

"So, Miss," he glanced down at his paper with poorly-concealed forgetfulness, "Tudor, I hope you've thought more about what we discussed yesterday."

"Yes sir," I answered, trying to be as polite as possible. I really wasn't one for driving teacher's to insanity but he made it so easy, "I was wondering what other options there are."

"Options?" he asked, eyes narrowing under wiry gray eyebrows.

"Yeah," I fidgeted under the gaze, "what if I don't want to be a reporter, or district attorney or real estate agent?"

"Well, you don't have the rich bachelor option open to you…one you are female, two you aren't rich, unless there's some old relative who's apt to die in the next semester and leave their secret fortune to you," he said seriously.

"No, not really."

"Then, that question's answered."

"What if I wanted to be a teacher…I've been thinking about it and I think…"

"No," Mr. Mardos interrupted, folding his hands on the desk, "There's no way. Teaching has far too rigid a schedule to work as the cover job for any superhero. You need something with flexibility, something that won't tie you down."

"Well, I'm not really talking about a cover job, I don't really want to be a superhero," I winced even as the words emerged and wished I would've just kept them to myself.

Mr. Mardos gasped, eyebrows lifting to astronomical heights, "Well then, I have no idea why we are even speaking," he pushed my papers together and straightened them, "I'd advise you to rethink your decision, otherwise consider switching schools and saving your parents money."

"Ok," I answered meekly rising and taking the proffered folder. Avoiding his death glare, I left the room and entered the calming quiet of the halls. Apparently I had quite some time before lunch began.

I began walking slowly towards my locker, hoping I wouldn't get in any trouble for being out without a pass. How was I supposed to explain to Mr. Mardos that I had to go to this school, that the government was paying my tuition so my father didn't have to worry about it. Obviously, the administration was not very good about informing their staff about these delicate matters.

So what if I didn't want to save the world? I saw how much trouble my dad went through and where had it gotten him? I wished for a normal life. All I wanted was to graduate high school in one piece and then get my teaching degree. What was wrong with that? It wasn't as if Sky High didn't have enough students becoming men and women in tights every year. Still, I'd hate to break the news to my dad, tell him I didn't care about the responsibility we supers had. It'd seem like a slap in the face to him.

The bell rang as soon as I reached my locker. Students poured out of classrooms and offices, eager to find a good seat for lunch. By the time I entered the cafeteria it was already nearly full. Ethan waved me over to their table and I sat next to him, my sack lunch in tow. Other students passed by with brightly colored trays. A hero tripped a sidekick and high-fived his friends. Warren and Layla came and sat down across from me while Zach and Will stopped a lunch money robbery. More like, Will stopped it and Zach made smart comments targeted at the bullies.

"So how'd your advisor period go?" Ethan asked poking his casserole with a plastic fork.

"Fine," I answered, "I told him I wasn't sure I wanted to be a hero."

The table went silent and was livened only by the arrival of Zach and Will. Layla looked at me strangely while Warren glowered behind his comic book. I wondered if he actually ever ate anything since he always seemed to be reading at lunch. I could hear Ethan's gulp as he finished his bite of casserole and looked at me. I didn't look up, I was sure he'd be disappointed.

"You don't really mean that…do you?" Layla asked. If I would've known her longer I could've realized it was the same tone she used when defending animals or the vegetarian lifestyle.

Will scooted in next to his girlfriend, "What's up?" he asked noticing the somber look on the redhead's face.

"Well," I started nervously, grasping at my pant legs, "I've always wanted to be a teacher…"

A smile overtook Layla's face, "Well you can always do that when you retire. A lot of superheroes teach at Sky High after their done with their service," she looked as if she'd solved the question of world hunger.

"I just don't know," I said lamely, biting into my burrito.

"It's not that hard of a decision," Warren said, voice low and eyes flashing with emotion I couldn't interpret. I was beginning to dislike him most out of the whole group.

"Look Lydia," Layla said with a soft smile, covering my hand with her own, "We all have gifts and since we were given them it's our job to use them to help others. It's not about what we want; with great power comes…"

"Not that line again," Magenta interrupted from the other end of the table, eyes rolling.

I raised my free hand, "Yeah I know…" and the conversation ended. I was sure the group was probably wondering what kind of a person they had let into their midst.