Chapter 1/A Good Deed
School is typical. I eat alone at lunch, I walk alone in the hallways, I sit alone in gym class (and I'm only picked when someone wants to take advantage of my powers), nobody notices me and I don't really care. I don't really need any friends anyway. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. Oh yeah, and then there are the bullies.
Lash used to be an important bully, back when I was a freshman. Apparently he was part of a big scheme to overthrow the school during Homecoming. I didn't have a date to homecoming, naturally, so I hadn't gone. Ana Lucia insists that he's changed now, and gets this dreamy look in her eye when she talks about him. It makes me feel sick but what can I do about it?
The bullies that now roam Sky High are just cowards looking for something to prove their manliness, or lack thereof. Big brutes that would be on a football team if we had any; they lack the IQ of an earthworm and smell just as bad. There are about three main bullies in Sky High at the moment. The Three Stooges. They like to pick on me especially. Butch, Brutus, and Brock. Actually, they're more like the Three Bees. Anyway, they like to rough me around. They haven't left any lasting injuries on me . . . yet. It's easy to get away from them. All I have to do is use my powers of emotion manipulation to get them to stop. They always manage to get a few pushes in before then though.
Ana Lucia doesn't know about the bullies. Not that she could do anything if she did. All she can do is heal outside wounds. These guys have super strength, acid spit, and can control strong winds, respectively. She wouldn't last three seconds standing up to them. Not that I want her too. I can fight my own battles. I have to.
Ana Lucia doesn't understand me. She used to try to, but now she just wants to be with Lash. She barely speaks to me nowadays. I've just kind of faded into the background. I've also started doing something I promised her I would never do again. I've started cutting. I didn't mean to get addicted, but I suppose I did. I was upset one day after a brush off by Ana Lucia and the razors were just sitting there in the bathroom. I'm not saying I'm proud of my new hobby, but I can't change on my own, and not many people have offered to help me. So I'm stuck . . . for now.
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School started again after winter break. The days passed usually with me as just a shadow among the throngs of Sky High students. One day however, that changed when a girl sat down across from me at lunch. She seemed upset about something and a quick scan of her feelings confirmed that. As she angrily jammed her straw into her juice box, I realized I recognized her. I didn't say anything, thinking she had not noticed me in the first place. I was surprised therefore, when she started speaking.
"How could I have ever fallen for a guy who was so stupid?" She muttered, frustrated.
I did not speak, wondering if it was a rhetorical question. She looked up from stabbing her food with her fork.
"Hello? I'm talking to you." She flipped a stray black curl away from her almond-shaped eyes.
I stared at her, wondering why she was talking to me in the first place. She nodded, suddenly seeming to realize something.
"Right, you don't talk. My bad." She went back to her food and I returned to mine. Silence ensued for a while before she spouted again.
"How could he be so inconsiderate? To say it is my fault he forgot my birthday. I told him once. That should have been enough."
I ventured to speak, sensing that she wasn't really angry, just frustrated and hurt. I tried to make her feel calmer as I spoke. "I didn't think you were one to care about something like that."
She started in surprise at the sound of my voice. She peered at me. "I don't. I thought you didn't talk."
I didn't say anything, just stared at her. She sighed.
"Fine. I care, alright? I just thought that he liked me enough to care about it too. Aren't boyfriends supposed to remember their girlfriends' birthdays? I mean, hello! We're supposed to be close, right?"
"He's crazy about you." I decided just to be blunt, as is my way sometimes.
"Then why didn't he remember?" She asked, looking more vulnerable then I have ever seen her. She was usually hard-core and sarcastic. I wondered if there was something else bothering her too. The hurt that I was getting from her seemed to be deeper than just a sting from a forgotten birthday. However I knew it was not my place to try to fix things that weren't handed to me to fix. So for now I had to work on the birthday problem.
I smiled slightly. "Zach isn't the sharpest guy in the world—"
She snorted, her old self coming back as she rolled her eyes. "You've got that right."
"—It probably did just slip his mind. Go back to him and tell him how he can make it up to you. Do you remember his birthday?"
She blushed faintly. "Uh . . ."
"Don't be too hard on him." I stood; ready to leave this mess behind me. I threw away my trash and picked up my black book bag. Before I left I turned back to Magenta.
"May first."
"Huh?" She looked at me as if I had grown a second head. I nodded slightly.
"His birthday is May first."
"Oh." She turned back to her food and I left.
That had to be one of the strangest situations I have ever been in.
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As a senior, Ana Lucia takes a different bus then I do. She was already in the kitchen making dinner. Her back was to me and I tried sneaking past, not know what I'd say if she asked me about my day. Unfortunately, or fortunately, she's smart.
"Come in Alex, I want to talk to you."
I hesitated, fingering my lip ring nervously. Had she found out about my habit? I stood next to her, fidgeting slightly. She continued to peel carrots, not looking at me.
"I saw you talking to Magenta."
I stayed silent, waiting for her to get to her point. She still did not look at me. A tendril of dark hair rested on her neck and I had to resist the urge to tug at it. She often criticized her looks, with me insisting that she was very pretty. It sometimes got annoying how many times she would disagree with me. Nowadays however, she has Lash to tell her how beautiful she is.
"What were her feelings?"
"She was frustrated and hurt."
"Hmm." Ana Lucia stopped peeling and turned to face me. I noticed I was slightly taller than her. She stared up at me, and I stared down at her. Her eyebrows creased slightly behind her glasses. I stood as stiff as a board, wanting to lean forward but resisting with all my strength. She turned back to the carrots.
"It's good that you talked to her." She paused. I raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "Her parents have been fighting a lot recently. She's more sensitive nowadays."
I nodded. That made sense. Too bad for her. I knew there was something else going on besides the birthday situation.
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The next day I was ambushed by Zach on my way to my locker. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. He looked agitated. He was wringing his hands and looking furtively about. I scanned his feelings and saw that he was nervous but also excited. I thought I could guess why.
"Look man," he said in his deep voice. "I need to ask you something."
I kept walking as if I didn't hear him. He followed persistently like a golden retriever. I snickered slightly at the image that brought to my mind. I opened my locker and retrieved the books I would need for the next class. Zach continued with his request.
"I forgot Maj's birthday, right? So I wanted to make it up to her. The Paper Lantern is too expensive and I can't come up with any good ideas. Could you give me a little help?"
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Why are you asking me? You should ask Will or Layla."
Zach looked at the ground sheepishly. "Well, I just figured that since you got Maj to apologize to me for blowing up, you might be able to help me too."
I sighed and got out my wallet. I could not believe this was happening to me. They barely knew me and already they were asking for favors. I handed him all my cash.
"Take her to the Paper Lantern. She likes it there."
Zach took the money excitedly. "Dude, thanks! I owe you one."
I shook my head, knowing he would never remember to pay me back anyway. "Don't worry about it. Have fun or whatever."
He punched the air excitedly as if his favorite football team had just won. He was grinning from ear to ear as I left him. So now I was broke and back to being invisible. But hey, I had done a good deed.
A/N: So this is the start. Please review and tell me what you think of it so far. :-D