Hello all! Welcome back to Broken Hart. I got two reviews in the first week which makes me incredibly happy and even more hits. Yaaaay!

Anyway, I'd like to give my first two reviewers cookies. Much obliged.

To the anonymous reviewer who started off with 'Really really really kewl.' Lol. Thank you for reading! I took your advice in this chapter by making the memories in all italics. I haven't yet figured out how to make a nicer line break as Fan fiction won't let me put my usual array of x's and o's. I'm attempting to separate them this time and I'll see how it goes! Hope you enjoy this installment. =D

To xxNewMoon29xx; Thanks for reading! I am in fact happy you didn't figure out what her power because I'm trying to keep it hidden for awhile yet! I will drop hints from time to time. And yes. Aiden is dead. For now at least. Mwu hur hur. Ahem. Anyway! Please enjoy my next chapter! =D

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The paper said the corner of Willow Avenue and Ashe Street.

Or maybe it was Wieeov Auenue and Ajle Slneel.

But that wouldn't make much sense would it?

A boy of sixteen was strolling lazily down the sidewalk of Ashe Street, a backpack thrown over one shoulder, and a makeshift map in one hand. He was trying to decipher the handwriting on said map. He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his shaggy, night black hair. A white streak framed either side of his face and his ragged bangs brushed just the top of his dark lashes.

His blue eyes were boring holes into the sheet of paper.

"Why is her cursive so damn loopy?!" he howled in frustration, tossing the paper to the ground. "And why are all streets named after trees?" Ugh.

"Are you lost?" someone asked from above him. Wait. Above? He looked up to see Tinkerbell wrapped in an American flag. Wait again. That couldn't be right. On closer inspection, he realized it was in fact a human girl, not a fairy, clad entirely in green. And the patriotic mass? A boy that was embracing the fairy girl, who too had some kind of color scheme fetish, although his consisted of red, white and blue. And they were floating above his head.

What.

The.

Hell.

He had seen flying powers before but just not….like a daily advertised thing, you know? Especially not in broad daylight.

"Are you lost?" the girl asked again.

"Uh," was his reply.

"Oh dear. Will, put me down! We're obviously freaking him out," she said to the newly dubbed Will. He continued to hover a bit and then slowly returned to Earth. Tinkerbell skipped away from his arms and stuck out a hand towards the ebony haired boy. "Hey! I'm Layla Williams! This is Will Stonghold," she said motioning towards the boy who stood awkwardly behind her.

"I'm Jaden…Jaden Hart," he replied. He stuck out a gloved hand and made a brief wave, but he didn't shake hers.

"Why are you wearing gloves? It's only September!" she exclaimed, now realizing that this Jaden also had on a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and a pair of rugged, black Converse. She herself was in a forest green skirt, lime green baby tee and brown gladiator sandals. "Aren't you hot in that?" Jaden gave her a small smile, remembering another who used to always ask her that.

"No," he answered, "I'm always really cold." That was his official excuse anyway. She nodded enthusiastically.

"So are you looking for someplace in particular?" Will butted in, inclining his head to the disheveled map on the ground.

"Yeah, you reminded me of these kids who were lost on this exact same street," Layla chimed in, beginning to walk down the sidewalk in the direction Jaden had previously been heading. Jaden nodded, falling in step behind her while Will took his place on her right.

"Um. Yes, I guess. It's my bus stop…" The couple halted in front of him.

"What school you heading to?" they asked in unison.

"It's…well." Jaden paused. The boy had been flying before so he could only assume that they were…heroes…too. 'Right. A hero. That's what I'm called now.' "It's…uh…called Sky High," he finally managed to mumble. The couple turned and beamed at him.

"That's what I thought," Layla said, "Cause this neighborhood is mostly powered families, you know? And it's not often we see normal people wandering around here." Jaden shook his head slowly.

'You would not be telling me that if you knew who I was. Such a foolish girl, spilling her information like that. Too trusting. And I am DEFINITELY not a mundie.'

They soon reached the intersection of Willow and Ashe and the small group stopped to wait. While they did, Jaden learned that Layla and Will had been dating for exactly 10 months, 14 days, 5 hours and 23 minutes. They had also been neighbors all their lives. Layla was telling Jaden a story about some bad guy they had stopped last year and something about babysitting, when the bus pulled up. It was a normal yellow bus. Jaden had been expecting something a little more…Hero like? But then again how would you herofy a bus? Give it a cape?

He snorted into his hand. Layla gave him a look as she boarded the bus ahead of Will. As Jaden climbed the small stairs, he realized the bus driver looked normal too. AND the students. Though they did seem to all have colors they were partial to. That boy had some fascination with fluorescents; this girl had a thing for pinks and purples. But other than that…they were pretty mundane. Mundane. 'REALLY should stop using that. Seriously though…I thought that heroes would be different. But they're the same as me. Well. Close anyways.' Layla and Will took the last empty seat on the bus. Not paying much attention to where he was going, Jaden realized this too late. He didn't want to look stupid so he sat in the unoccupied space beside a boy in a black and red tee that was seated behind Layla and Will. His hair was on the long side, straggling around his shoulders. There were red streaks running through it but Jaden was pretty sure they weren't natural, unlike his own oddly colored hair. The boy gave him a withering look as he sat down but Jaden didn't care. He was preparing himself for many looks like that.

"Hey, Warren! This is Jaden Hart, he just moved into our neighborhood. He's a hero too!" Layla introduced the two enthusiastically, leaning over the back of the seat.

"I guessed as much, since he's on the Sky High bus and all," Warren mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Layla stuck out her tongue at him and hurriedly seated herself properly again.

"Hey, Layla, who were those lost kids you were talking about? I don't remember meeting anyone," Will asked.

"I was talking about us our freshmen year, silly!" she said, giving him a peck on the cheek.

Ugh. Jaden briefly glanced at Warren and discovered he had flame tattoos crawling up his wrists. He flinched at the sight of fire, even in ink form. Warren seemed to notice this and glared down at him.

"You have a problem?" he growled. Jaden shot him an icy look and shifted uncomfortably. 'Jerk,' he thought, 'I could kick your-' His mental threat was cut short as seatbelts shot out of the bus seat and strapped them tightly in.

"What the hell?" Jaden mumbled, tugging at the restraints. He glanced up to see that the bus was approaching what looked like an off ramp…that's construction wasn't even completed! Jaden suddenly stiffened, gripping the plastic upholstery. "WHAT. THE. HELL!" He closed his eyes as they launched off the highway and into the air. He waited for their imminent demise as a flaming pile beneath the overpass but soon realized, nothing was happening. He opened one eye, just to check, and saw that the bus had somehow sprouted wings and jet engines. They were now soaring towards the clouds.

"You scream like a girl," Warren murmured, smirking at the boy practically shaking next to him.

"At least I don't look like one. And I didn't scream," Jaden hissed, focusing on a speck in the distance that they were heading towards.

"I look like a girl? Have you looked in a mirror?" he shot back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Have you?" Jaden replied, grabbing his backpack that had previously been discarded in the aisle. The speck had gotten bigger and he could now recognize the resemblance of a school in it. 'Sky High, huh? Cute.'

The bus made a NASA worthy landing in a parking lot in front of the school. As soon as he was free of the seatbelts, Jaden practically threw himself off the bus.

"Wait, Jaden! Walk with us!" Layla called after him. He pretended not to hear.

He began strolling towards the school's entrance when a speeding blur halted his progress. The blur circled around him a few times, creating a mini whirlwind, before coming to a stop in front of him. It was some chubby boy. A speedy chubby boy. He smirked at Jaden, standing proudly in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, Jaden saw something black, white and striped heading his way as well. Another boy. Though this one was skinny and gangly in all the places the other one wasn't. His power appeared to be stretchiness, guessing from the fact that he cart wheeled to his friend's side with 9 foot long limbs.

Ugh ugh ugh.

"Hello there, freshman. We couldn't help but to notice that we haven't seen you before and therefore must be a little late in your power development. We'd like to welcome you to Sky High. I'm Lash and this is my friend Speed," declared the striped one, "And we'd be happy to give you the mandatory tour of the school for ten dollars."

"Bull shit. Move out of my way," growled Jaden, shooting the pair what was becoming his signature icy glare. The two frowned at him.

"Oho. You have a mouth on you don't you? Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" said Lash, taking a step towards him. Jaden's fists curled and uncurled, a relaxing technique that had yet to succeed.

"I said to move out of my way," he repeated, glaring up at them. Lash grinned devilishly.

"And if I say no?" he asked, taking yet another step forward.

"And if I do this?" Jaden replied, smashing his fist into Lash's stomach. The boy doubled over, coughing. Speed glanced back and forth between the two wildly as if having a visual seizure could explain what had happened. While he was busy doing that, Jaden skirted around fatso and disappeared inside.

"Damn that little kid. He's going down," Lash grumbled through clenched teeth.

While Lash was seething, Jaden was wandering through the halls, dodging everyone he could. He received many a stare as he ducked and weaved, going out of his way not to come into contact with anyone. Finally he found what he was looking for, Principal Power's office. He knocked once, twice, and gently eased the door open.

"Hello?" he called softly. He squinted as he entered the room. It was incredibly bright. There was a glowing orb hovering over the desk in the room. "What's that?" he wondered aloud, sitting down on one of the large and extremely comfy chairs.

"That," called a disembodied voice, "Is the principal." The orb suddenly flitted around the ceiling excitedly, before settling in the swivel chair behind the desk. The light particles it was made up of began to shift and reformed themselves into an attractive, middle aged woman. An incredibly familiar, attractive, middle aged woman. "Hello," she said, smiling warmly, "You must be Amelia Hart." Jaden merely stared in astonishment.

"But…but you're Principal Sin!" Jaden accused. Principal Powers continued to smile.

"No, I am Genny Powers. Malicia Sin is my sister. My evil, twin sister. Cliché, isn't it?"

"I should've seen that coming," sighed Jaden, shaking her head. "You scared me there for a minute. I thought she had hunted me down."

"I can assure you, my sister will not find you under my watch. You can trust me Amelia."

"I'm calling myself Jaden now."

"Ah, yes of course. I remember you mentioning that you would be registering under a different name over the phone. But, pardon me if I offend, weren't you a girl also?" Jaden smiled secretively.

"About that. You know how I told you that as soon as I made it here, I would explain in detail my plans?"

"Yes I do."

"Well I'ma start explaining now. Hope you're comfortable. It's a long story." Principal Powers interlaced her fingers on her desk, giving Jaden her full attention.

"Tell me all about it."

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(AN: I am going to continue to refer to as Jaden/Amelia as a 'he' even though he is in fact female. This is mainly for my benefit to remind myself that the majority of the characters believe Jaden is a boy. If this confuses you, please tell me and I will correct it in later chapters.)

Principal Powers released Jaden in time for him to reach lunch. Yay. He found the cafeteria quickly enough, continuing to do his dodgy dance in the hallways. He got in line, grabbed a tray, and proceeded to pile it with the gooey mass they were serving for the day. It was green and stringy. So it could be spinach, seaweed, pine tree, or some aquatic life form that the lunch ladies had found in the toilet of the janitor's closet. All were possible. He stuffed a strawberry milk into his hoodie pocket and began scouting out a possible seat. AHA! Empty table, nine o clock. Window view. Total score.

Jaden made a beeline for it and slid into a seat that was bathed in sunlight. Ah. Nice and warm. He smiled and began tearing into his lunch. His happiness was short lived, however, as he felt the presence of people sliding into the seats surrounding him. Layla, Will, the boy that resembled a highlighter, Warren, a Pink Girl, and some kid who was partial to orange had taken spots around him.

"Hey, Jay! Mind if I call you Jay? How were your first two classes? What did you have?"

'Damn hippies and their freakin' flower children.'

"I don't know since I didn't go. And yes, I do mind. Thanks for showing me where the bus stop was this morning and all but that does NOT make us friends," Jaden growled, picked up his tray, and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. He then proceeded to stomp out of the cafeteria and escape into the library. Principal Powers had recommended coming here. It was hardly occupied and there were plenty of dark corners with chairs one could curl up in. Principal Powers seemed to know how hard it was going to be. How hard it already was. And she seemed to know how much Jaden would probably have to hide.

He found a dark corner with a large pillowy seat. He sat. He curled. And he cried.

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"So you're disguising yourself as boy to protect the other students?" Principal Powers asked.

"Well yeah. It's to protect them from my power. My power requires skin to skin contact and if I never get close to anyone, it'll be that much harder for anyone to touch me."

"But why do you have to be a boy to avoid people?"

"Well because…I just thought it would be hard. What if I began to like some guy? I couldn't get close to them in this boy form. Well, unless they were gay but then I couldn't really be with them in the first place could I? It's like an extra precaution for me. No matter how much I like a guy I couldn't do anything about it."

"And your power…Is it truly what you said?"

Jaden paused for a moment. His eyes took on a sad demeanor.

"Yes," he answered, "As much as I hate it, it is my power."

"So those white streaks in your hair. They're like the stories say. They're physical manifestations of your power?"

"They're physical manifestations of what my power has done. I've tried dying them but it doesn't work. The color just slides off."

Principal Powers scrutinized Jaden. His power kills. Not exactly the power of a hero.

"Amelia…"she began.

"Jaden," he corrected

"Right. Jaden. I know you were having a hard time at my sister's school but I don't really believe that Sky High is the school for you. We specialize in training heroes how to use their powers. Hell's Depths specializes in training villains." Jaden glanced up at her, his stormy eyes staring calmly into hers.

"Do you believe I'm evil, Principal Powers?" he asked softly.

"Well, no, but-"

"That makes one of us. I don't want to be a villain. I don't really want to be a hero either. I just want to be able to control my power. I don't know how I'll do it but I'm sure Hell's Depths isn't going to help me achieve my goal."

"But, Jaden, your power is of the destructive variety. I just think Hell's Depths would be better equipped to help you learn how to handle it."

"Do you even know what they teach at that school? Do you even know what goes on there? Do you know the kinds of things they encourage you to do? They have classes called 'Raping and Pillaging 101', Principal Powers. You're sister? She gives us extra credit if we torture an animal. Hell's Depths lives up to its name. It is a true villain school. Still want me to return? Do you really want me and my power to be raised that way?"

"N-not at all. I…oh dear. I had no idea. It's just. I thought you would be more comfortable there. Others that have powers like yours. You wouldn't have to hide. You could have friends. Boyfriends."

"I didn't have friends. They were all afraid. I did have a boyfriend. And he was killed because of me. Going to Sky High would be a relief. No one is avoiding me now. I'm avoiding them. No one knows me or my power. I'm practically in heaven. Or pretty close," he said, adding the last sentence with a smile.

"It'll be so hard though…"

"I'll be fine. Just let me transfer to this school."

"Well then. I guess I'll have to welcome you to Sky High Miss- I mean Mr. Hart. I hope you will enjoy it."

"Oh, I will," Jaden said, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "I will enjoy it greatly."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it. Now to get to your official registration forms…What should we list as your power? And background information?"

"Already got it covered."

"And Jaden?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"You'll tell me the parts you're leaving out one day won't you?" Jaden stared at her in surprise. She was much more perceptive than she let on.

"Yes, ma'am."

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"Okay, so I was lying to myself about enjoying this. But it's for my own good," he whispered to himself in the shadows of the bookshelves. "Remember, Jaden, you're free of Principal Sin, you're free of the Four, you're free of Aiden…" That set him into another fresh round of tears. "Dammit. Get over it you stupid girl."

"Are you crying?" asked a vaguely familiar voice. 'Shit. It was male. Shit shit shit. It has to be Will. And he's going to tell Layla. And Layla will take me to some aromatic therapy that uses completely natural ingredients. Ugh ugh ugh. OH NO. He didn't hear what I said did he? How long could he have been there?' Not even looking at the boy, Jaden hopped to his feet and ran. He skirted the bookshelves the computer cubicles and hightailed it out of the library. When he was sure Will had lost complete sight of him Jaden stopped and leaned against a set of blue lockers. Ugh ugh ugh. Jaden was suddenly glad of all the running around he had to do in New York. Great leg muscles. Hell yes.

"Jaden! There you are!" called Layla from down the hall. 'What is up with people finding me? Do I have a blinking sign hovering over me that says 'JADEN HERE! PLEASE ANNOY ME.' Dammit.' He pushed away from the lockers and turned to look at her. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, putting on the best scowl that he could. 'Be a little bitch to her. Push her away. Far away.'

"What now?" he snarled. Layla stumbled to a halt a few feet away from him. Clearly, she was taken aback by this particular response.

"Hey, dude. She's just trying to be friends with you. And all you've been is a jerk," Will said, appearing behind Layla.

'Crap. Please don't bring up the library thing,' Jaden thought, taking a step backward. Aloud, he said, "Whatever. I didn't ask for her friendship." He turned and sauntered away.

"Wait! I'm not done talking to you!" Will bellowed after him.

"No, stop, Will," Layla said. In a whisper she added, "Didn't he look like he'd been crying?"

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And that's half of Jaden/Amelia's first day of school. I'll have the next chapter up when I get some reviews. (HINT HINT)

Anyway. I hope you enjoyed/semi-liked/didn't completely despise it.

FOR ANY ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS;

Please, put a little name/nickname at the end of your review so I can shout out to you in the next chapter. =) Ex: (Sincerely, Mr. Bladdy blah.)

I like it when I can address reviewers personally.

SO REVIEW. TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG, WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, OR DON'T LIKE.

Please?

PLEAAAASE?

Brownies for those who review.

.'

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