It was another normal day in Fair City; birds were singing, villains were villiaining and Wordgirl was saving the day once more.

"Come on Two Brains, I have places to be-"

"Too bad!" holding his newest ray-gun, local mad scientist, Dr Two Brains, laughed at the young hero, "Have a guess as to what my ray does this time!"

"Turns something into cheese?"

"NO- well… yes, it turns CONCRETE into CHEESE- BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT! I'm going to use it t- HEY-!"

Tired and bored, Wordgirl had yanked the nearest light post from the ground and used it to tie the villain-of-the-day up. She didn't have the patience for banter today. She snatched the new ray gun from his gloved hands and smashed it over her knee. Dusting her hands off, she looked around before raising a brow, "Wait, where are your henchmen?"

Without even attempting to lie, Two Brains rolled his eyes and muttered, "They're taking the day off."

"Huh, good for them," The young heroine placed her hands on her hips, "Okay, off to the slammer with you."

Back at Fair City's local highschool, a flash zipped into the back of the building. Becky Botsford, also known as Wordgirl by a small few, hurried back toward her class, pulling her shoe on as she ran. She stopped just before the classroom window and attempted to make herself look less dishevelled. Taking a breath, she casually walked past and entered.

"You're back," her English teacher hissed from where she was seated, a leg coiled over the other as she filed her manicured nails, "What took you so long?"

Quickly glancing over the rest of her class, she swallowed, a small panic setting in. She answered in a small voice, "Uhmm… I don't know…"

"You have a test on friday, Botsford. I don't care how good your grades are, it does not excuse you from leaving class for large periods of time."

"Yes, Ms Butterbean. I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix anything. Go sit down."

Walking through the isle of glaring classmates was painful for Becky. She kept her focus on the floor, not wanting to meet the eyes of anyone she passed. She felt totally disrespected and she couldn't do anything about it. It made her feel horrible.

Slumping into her seat, she opened her notebook and took out a pen. Her desk buddy scoffed at her, to which she shot him a devastated look.

"Tobey, don't start."

Theodore McCallister the Third, otherwise known as Tobey, shook his head and rolled his eyes. He leant back in his chair, his arms behind his head, "Oh, little, pathetic Botsford child. You need to work on your excuses."

Although the two of them had become less out-right hostile toward the other over the years, the blonde English boy never ceased to taunt her. Becky glowered, "I'm tired, alright? I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"I'm sure you didn't."

From the front of the room, Ms Butterbean shouted back, "Becky! Stop distracting the class!"

Hurt by the reprimand, the brunette closed her mouth and scribbled words into her book. She leant her head against her hand and for some stupid reason, felt her eyes mist over.

Her self-pitying trance was interrupted, however, by a note being slipped onto her notebook. Annoyed, she looked down at the a bit of paper her desk mate had blemished with his atrocious handwriting.

'are you okay'

That was a weird question to come from Tobey. Completely taken aback, she rubbed her eyes and turned to face him, a brow raised. Tobey glanced from her, to the paper, and back to her again. He huffed before taking his note back and tearing it to shreds. She watched his cheeks turn pink while he adjusted his glasses and focused back on his work.

Becky suddenly felt bad. Even though the two were rivals, they were also kind of friends. She didn't know exactly when this happened, it just clicked one day.

Of course, he still bragged about his brilliance and constantly turned everything they did into a competition, but it was a lot friendlier than it used to be. His robot attacks were also a lot more fun. Although Becky would never admit it, he was the one villain she actually enjoyed having mid-battle banter with. She'd insult him, he'd come up with a smartass comment to retaliate, she'd beat up some of his machines, he'd insult her and she'd come up with her own smart retaliation. It never ceased to make her giggle, and that never ceased to make him smirk.

Him attempting to talk with her at an emotional level like that was weird- scratch that, it was borderline ludicrous. But, she felt it was a sign that he cared, as bizarre as it was. The brunette flipped to the back of her notebook and tore out the corner of a page. There was no harm in responding, was there?

'I'm fine, just burnt out.'

With the scrap placed on his notebook, Tobey's eyes widened, almost like he was surprised that she answered. He took it up and read it before giving the sender an uncharacteristic, sympathetic gaze. Becky turned back to her work, not wanting to indulge in the situation any further.

Taking the hint, Tobey did the same. They didn't interact for the rest of the lesson.

Lunch was a different story.

Becky opened her locker, placing her math books away. She sighed at the sight of her packed lunch before taking it with her and closing the locker door.

Behind her were her two best friends, Scoops and Violet. She jumped slightly at their sudden appearance, but felt her spirits lighten at their presence.

"Hey guys! Sorry I didn't see you this morning."

"It's alright," Violet, the soft-spoken blonde, beamed, "We were just planning something really special for you for Friday."

"Friday?" Becky frowned, "Oh, yeah. My birthday."

"Don't worry, this year it's going to be a lot smaller. You won't have to miss out on much if you need to, well, fly off," Scoops, an inspiring reporter, started on their walk to the cafeteria.

Relieved that they weren't doing anything extravagant, Becky smiled, "Thanks guys. You really don't have to do this."

She was met with various rebukes from her best friends, and it made her laugh. She was incredibly grateful for their acceptance of her secret superhero persona, even if she had to hide it from them beforehand. It meant a lot to her, more than they'd ever realise.

The three walked into the cafeteria. As per usual, one of them would go reserve a table while the others got their food. Today was Becky's turn, so off she went.

She walked through the busy room until she spotted someone sitting alone at the farthest table, a book in their hands. That someone was Tobey. Scanning the room once more for a free table, she brought her eyes back to him. With slight hesitation, Becky made her way toward him.

The boy looked up from his book. Confused at first, he frowned. But because it was Tobey, his face quickly contorted into an annoying smirk, and with his imprudent stupidity, he made a dumb remark alongside it, "Can't get enough of me, hmm?"

She rolled her eyes, accidentally allowing a playful grin to appear on her face, "Sure, you just keep thinking that."

Placing herself next to him, she unwrapped her sandwich and bit into it. She looked over at his book, interested in what he was reading. Unable to see the cover, she instead peered over his shoulder.

"Do you mind not eating in my ear," Tobey groaned.

"Probably," she couldn't quite figure out what he was reading, so she finally grabbed the cover of the book and lifted it to see the title, "'War of the Worlds'? In a sci-fi mood, are we?"

"Please," he smacked her hand away, "Science fiction is a brilliant genre."

"When done right."

"Whatever you say, Botsford."

Silence wafted over them as Tobey continued reading, only slightly irritated with Becky's presence over his shoulder as she too continued to read.

A page and a half in, Violet and Scoops arrived at their spot. They sat opposite the two, Violet greeted them enthusiastically whereas Scoops gave Tobey an unsure look. He was apprehensive about the new addition to the group.

"Oooh! What's in your sandwich, Becky?" Violet casually started up a conversation.

"Just Nutella," her friend nonchalantly shrugged, "I know, it's super unhealthy, but I was in a chocolate mood."

"That's fair enough, it's probably healthier than what we have today," Scoops laughed.

The trio of friends started conversing amongst themselves. Tobey quietly looked up from his book, listening in to their conversation. He didn't necessarily feel 'left out', but he did feel ever so slightly jealous about their friendship. They got along so well, the ebb and flow of their conversations fascinated him. He wished he could be a part of it.

Suddenly, Becky stopped, her energy fizzling out. Tobey noticed this first. He watched as her eyes darted toward him, then back at her friends. It was like she was passing them a message, to which they somehow received. She stood from her seat.

"I'll be back, I'm just going to the bathroom," her nervous laugh neutralized her lie. But Tobey wasn't about to poke holes into the façade, he'd grown bored of that a long time ago.

He suddenly felt all six eyes lay on him. He quickly responded, "Uh, thanks for letting us know, Botsford."

With that, she quickly walked off. Once she exited the room, Scoops turned back to the boy. Tobey diverted his attention back to his book. The reporter's unwavering stare made him incredibly anxious.

Once he'd finally got back into reading, Violet's soft voice spoke up.

"It's Becky's birthday on Friday. You should help us with planning her surprise party!"

Silence swept over them. Tobey found this strange, he quickly glanced at Violet, who was looking back at him, "W- were you talking to me?"

"Yes! Do you want to help us plan her birthday?"

"Me-?"

"Wait, I thought this was a you and me thing, Violet?" Scoops gave her an almost hurt look, something that went unnoticed as she continued.

"But, Tobey is Becky's friend now too! Right?" Her head tilted.

The blonde cleared his throat and fiddled with the collar of his shirt, "I- uh, I'm not sure."

Scoops, annoyed with the idea of Tobey being involved in their plans, crossed his arms, "Well, what do you bring to the table then? What can you do to help?"

"Well, obviously I can build you whatever you need," Tobey retorted, unappreciative of Scoops' attitude.

"Oh! I know what you can do!" Violet clasped her hands together, "You can do the balloons and streamers! It's perfect!"

The reporter's face quickly morphed into a frown. But just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared and was replaced with a wide grin, "Actually, that is perfect."

"So you want me to build you a robot to blow balloons and put up colourful streamers?" Tobey scoffed, "That's incredibly simple, I co-"

"No, no, no. You have to blow them up yourself," A haughty grin smeared itself across Scoops' face, "You'd also have to put the streamers up yourself too."

"Why can't I just make a robot for it? It would be much easier for everyone involved-"

Violet shook her head vigorously "No, you have to do it yourself. That way it comes from your heart."

"Yeah, it needs to come from your heart, or whatever you have left of it."

Tobey scoffed, "I don't need to be lowered into such a situation with insults. Do these menial tasks by yourself. Besides, Becky isn't my friend, and I highly doubt she'd call me one of hers. We're rivals.

The blonde finished his speech by delving back into his book. This caused a defeated Violet to slump over her lunch, poking at it with a fork.

"Oh, okay. Sorry to bother you then."

Before he could feel bad, a blur of green and maroon made it's way back toward them. Out of breath, Becky sat back beside him and gave a tired smile to the small group.

"So! What did I miss?"