Leah chose to ignore their argument and brought up another topic for lunch. Natasha grabbed onto it eagerly, not wanting a fight, and Michelle put in her two cents worth, willing to let it go. Only Liam hung back, and even then only a little.
When lunch was over Leah dumped her tray, glanced once more at Warren when her friends weren't looking, and headed back to Mad Science, her next class. They had desks for two in Mad Science, so Leah chose the seat next to Natasha, leaving Liam to sit beside Michelle.
Mad Science was interesting, to say the least. Medulla did indeed have a sadistic streak, and he knocked out half the class with a green rock carved into disks and used in certain beams. They wouldn't be making anything yet- instead Medulla instructed them on the differences between rays and beams, on how to assemble both, and everything else he deemed crucial.
"Wow," Leah said to Natasha, who was walking at her side as they left Mad Science. "I didn't realize how complicated Mad Science was going to be. I mean, I thought it was going to be like- well, I don't know, but I also didn't think I was going to be watching half my classmates faint while Medulla chuckles like the loony he is."
Natasha laughed and nodded, and Liam broke in, walking quickly to catch up. Michelle was by his side, and Leah glanced at them slyly. "He's a madman for sure. I just hope he doesn't get any ideas about knocking me out, or I'm going to have a talk with Principal Powers about his little joke. Actually, I think I might anyway. She seems like she might actually care that he does shi- stuff like that."
Leah laughed when she realized what Liam had just stopped himself from saying. "It's okay, Liam. You can swear, I'm sure no one will mind. It's not like we've never heard it before, honestly." She shook her head. "We're fourteen, not four."
Liam shrugged. "Swearing is proof that you haven't got the brains and imagination to come up with anything better. So thanks, but I'll keep my foul language to myself."
Natasha shook her head. "I don't usually swear, unless I stub my toe or something, but Liam never does. Half swears like that are the closest he's ever come to cussing. We've tried for years, Michelle especially, to get him to say the F word, but he resists our best efforts."
Leah laughed in disbelief. "The F word? What the hell? And why are we talking about swearing, anyway? God, what a conversation. I say we talk about something cooler, like chocolate, or Michelle."
"What?" Michelle asked quickly. "Why talk about me? Why not Natasha?"
"So has she got a boyfriend?" Leah asked, grinning cheekily. This was the best way to find out just how Liam felt about her, and how she felt about him.
"Nah," Natasha answered. "She hasn't dated since Jared in eighth grade. What a loser," she added, shaking her head.
"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" Leah asked, honestly concerned. It was probably nothing horrible, but still. Michelle was her friend, and she didn't like people messing with her friends. Michelle shook her head no.
"He cheated on her with some bimbo," Liam growled angrily once he had Michelle's permission to talk about it. "Said since she wouldn't put out he'd have to go someplace else, and he did. Jerk. I was going to hit him, but Michelle said just leave it." Liam snorted. "I should have hit him anyway," he mumbled under his breath.
Leah looked at Liam appraisingly through her curtain of hair, and nodded slightly in satisfaction. He definitely liked her, and probably had for longer than he realized. She glanced at Michelle to see a small, admiring smile on her face as she looked at Liam.
Leah looked away from her friends and grinned happily. She hadn't expected things to be this easy. Michelle had seemed so gloomy at first, uninterested in anything but staring out the window on that bus.
A thought occurred to Leah and she frowned thoughtfully. Maybe Michelle had thought she was competition? She had been joking around with Liam, maybe the reason Michelle was so distant was because she thought Leah liked Liam?
An even bigger grin split Leah's face, and she skipped ahead of her friends to the gym, where the sidekick class would be practicing quick changing by getting into their gym clothes that way and then doing various games to help them develop lifesaving skills.
Save the Citizen would start as soon as they were done, but because no hero wanted to cripple themselves with a sidekick when they could team up with another hero, it was pretty much a free class for the sidekicks.
Leah wasn't the first to the gym, so she spared a brief second to pout, but when she realized that she hadn't officially introduced herself to the rest of her gym class she cheered up and headed for those who were there.
"Hi!" she said, sliding up next to a shortish black kid and offering him her hand. "I'm Leah. You know, I just realized that I haven't introduced myself? I mean, I don't know the names of anyone here but my three rather slow friends over there-" Leah jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Liam, Natasha, and Michelle. "-and that's really a shame, because if you're going to be in my class for the rest of high school, the least I can do is learn your names!"
The boy blinked at her twice- blink, blink- and then stuck his own hand and shook hers enthusiastically. "Ethan. And it's nice to meet you, Leah."
Leah grinned. "Likewise. So what's your power? I can create little bolts of lightening, but nothing big enough to rate hero, I'm afraid." Her friends came up behind her, but Leah didn't say anything, choosing to wait for Ethan's power.
"I melt," he said simply.
"Cool! So, this is Natasha, Michelle, and the tall one lurking in the back is Grindlefund. He'll probably try to tell you his name is Liam, but he's full of it. He just wishes his parents had given him a name like that, that's all."
Liam growled behind her, but Leah's gigantic smile didn't waver, and the brightness of it seemed to attract Ethan's friends, because they all came over. First was a pretty red haired girl wearing a green shirt. "Hi! I'm Layla."
Layla smiled, looking only a teeny bit uncertain, so Leah let the smile shrink a little and become more sincere. "Leah."
Will Stronghold shook her hand next. "Will."
"Stronghold," Leah said, nodding. "I know." He looked confused, but Leah didn't bother to tell him how she knew. Poor kid- he obviously meant well, but he looked just a little bit clueless. Layla sure thought he was great though, Leah noted. She was looking at him with a mostly hidden, adoring expression.
"Zack," a tall, pale kid with blond hair so light it was almost white said. Leah smiled and nodded. He was wearing all white and yellow, and he looked like a bit of a wanksta with his hat on like that and the too-long-to-be-shorts-but-too-short-to-be-pants he was wearing, but he seemed nice, unlike most of the wankstas she knew.
"Magenta," the girl next to Zack said, looking anything but thrilled. Leah grinned, amused, and Magenta just stared back at her, looking bored.
"Alright class," Mr. Boy said, breaking them out of their little moment of silence. "Gather around. Now, watch me." He walked over to the side of the folding 'wall' everyone was gathered next to, and then walked behind it so that he was out of sight for a second saying, "Change, and pose!" Mr. Boy emerged from behind the wall in his All American Boy costume, posed for a second, and then grabbed the clipboard and started scribbling on it. "Now you! Go!"
Layla went first after a moment's hesitation, not sure if Mr. Boy was talking to her. Will followed her, and then Magenta and Ethan. Each did their own little pose except Magenta, who wavered on the spot and then moved on rather than bothering to pose. Zack went after Magenta, only rather than emerging fully clothed he came out in nothing but a pair of white boxers with enormous yellow polka dots on them.
"Go back," Mr. Boy said, shaking his head as everyone had a little laugh at Zack's expense. He did so sheepishly, and Leah shook her head. If she ended out coming out in nothing but her underwear...
Leah shuddered and followed Liam, ducking behind the little wall for a second and emerging in her gym clothes. They consisted of a pale blue shirt, white shorts that thankfully weren't as small as she'd feared, white socks with blue and red stripes near the top, and white tennis shoes.
The guys had a slightly different uniform- longer, baggier shorts and darker blue shirts that were also longer and baggier, but the same socks and shoes.
As soon as the bell rang at the end of class after everyone had changed back into their normal clothing the entire student body came pouring into the gym. Leah caught Michelle's eye and jerked her head at the stands. Michelle nodded, because over the chatter of hundreds of students they couldn't hear each other, seeing as there were about fifteen feet and a bunch of students between them.
Michelle grabbed Liam's sleeve and tugged on it, tapped Natasha's arm, and then grabbed it too and pulled them behind her as she made her way over to Leah. They all sat down next to her, and Leah smiled faintly. "Let the show begin," she murmured.
Mr. Boy had already put the folding wall thingy away and left, and Boomer climbed up onto his referee's seat. He looked like a lifeguard, whistle, shorts, and all. "God, those shorts are scary," Liam commented. "I don't know how the hell he can stand those."
"What do you mean?" Leah asked.
"Look at how short they are! Jesus. No grown man should ever wear shorts that short unless he's really, really hot, and that is one thing that Boomer is not," Michelle said flatly.
Leah looked at Boomer's shorts, hiked up even further because he was sitting, and understood exactly what Michelle and Liam were talking about. She felt green as she agreed whole heartedly with Michelle. Natasha chuckled, but even she had to admit when they pressed her that yes, Boomer, and his shorts, were revolting.
"It's not the kind of thing I notice," Leah said, stifling a yawn of boredom. "But now that you point it out I see what you mean. I wonder why he wears them? I mean, surely he doesn't think he actually looks good?"
"Who knows? Maybe he wants to impress Principal Powers," Michelle suggested. Leah sniggered and nodded, but then Boomer blew his whistle to announce the start of the first round, and they all quieted down immediately.
As soon as the whistle shrilled again, signaling the end of the first game, Liam spoke. "If I wanted to be a hero before this game started, I was crazy. There is absolutely no way in hell you could ever get me out there, even if I did have a real power. Jesus, did you see what happened to that one kid?"
The kid in question had been thrown all the way across the gym by way of telekinesis, slammed into the top of the wall, and then slid down it to crash painfully onto an unused seat. He was being carried to the nurse's office on a stretcher someone had made out of a hairpin by enlarging it until it was big enough to carry him on. It was possible that he was conscious, but Boomer wasn't sure.
"I don't know," Leah said thoughtfully. "That was pretty brutal, but I think I'd do it. It's not always that bad, first of all, and second, if my lightening was strong enough to make me a hero, I could totally fry them."
Liam gaped at Leah. "You're insane! You would honestly do that? He flew about fifty feet, slammed into a wall, and then fell down about twenty to crash on a hard, wooden surface! He's probably going to need major help from a chiropractor once they wake him up."
Leah shrugged, and Michelle snorted. "It doesn't really matter if you would do it or not," she reasoned. "Because your power isn't hero strength, it's sidekick strength. So why does it matter? You'll never get picked to play Save the Citizen. Sidekicks don't play Save the Citizen, because what hero in their right mind would choose a sidekick when he can have another hero?"
Leah sighed mournfully. "True. But you must admit it would be cool. Can you imagine if I won Save the Citizen? I mean, I'd have to find a hero who didn't mind having a sidekick partner, which is practically impossible, but still. It'd be awesome to show the heroes that they aren't as great as they think they are."
She leaned forward and rested her head on her fists, imagining winning Save the Citizen herself. She saw Liam and Michelle exchange looks, shaking their heads over hers, thinking she couldn't see them, and Natasha, who really couldn't care less, watching the game.
But pretty soon she spaced out again, and didn't snap out of it until the bell rang to signal the end of the day half an hour later. Leah jumped up and followed her friends, first to collect their bags, which they had been told to leave in Mr. Boy's room during gym and Save the Citizen, and then to the bus.
Leah mused over the idea of following them, which she seemed to do a lot, and decided that it was because her head was always in the clouds, and so she trusted them to go to the right place while she followed happily, like a little sheep. That was not acceptable.
"I follow you guys too much," Leah said decisively to her friends. "I need to get my head out of the clouds."
Liam shrugged. "Not gonna happen," he said dismissively. "We go to Sky High, remember? Your head is going to be in the clouds for the rest of high school."
Leah gave him a sarcastic look. "You know what I mean, Liam, don't pretend you don't." He did, too. She could tell by the little smirk on his face. "And stop smirking at me," she added, pretending to be annoyed.
"Would you two stop bickering? I'm tired, and you're not helping me fall asleep..." Michelle yawned, a yawn big enough that Leah would have been able to see every one of her teeth if she hadn't covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes were half closed as she climbed up the steps onto the bus, and Leah smiled and gave a tiny breath of laughter.
"Sorry," Liam apologized. "You want to use me as a pillow on the way home?" Leah immediately perked up, delighted with what she was hearing. He was offering himself as a pillow, willingly and openly? This was good. This was very good.
"Sure!" Michelle perked up just a bit and smiled at Liam. He smiled back, and Leah watched gleefully. She had to stop herself from rubbing her hands together when Liam sat down in a window seat and Michelle promptly followed him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"So cute," Leah whispered, watching. Liam looked at Michelle fondly for a minute before turning to look out the window, and Michelle had her eyes closed and a peaceful, happy look on her face.
"What are you so happy about?" Natasha asked. She looked confused, and Leah wanted to tell her, but she wasn't certain how she would react. Leah sat down and patted the seat next to her, eyebrows raised at Natasha in an invitation to sit. Natasha plopped down next to her and sat her bag on her lap.
"Oh, nothing." Leah smiled slightly and shrugged casually. "Hey, what's your phone number?" Leah dug through her messenger bag and pulled out a pen, poising it to write down Natasha's number on her hand. Natasha told her, and Leah scribbled it down, wrote Natasha's name over it, and then underlined the name. "There," she said, satisfied.
"What's yours? Here, write it on this piece of paper, kay? My mom hates it when I write on my hand, plus I've only got a pencil. My stupid pen ran out the minute I tried to use it." Leah quickly wrote down her number on the piece of paper and handed it back.
Leah and Natasha chattered quietly about various things on the way home, and got off the bus still talking. As soon as Liam was off the bus, though, Leah started needling him about letting Michelle use him as a pillow. "It was so cute!" she teased. "I wish I could have taken a picture."
Liam scowled at her. "Oh, shut up," he growled, irritated. "She was tired."
Leah just grinned knowingly and started walking home. She got about ten feet before she remembered something. "Hey Natasha, I'll call you in a little while, okay? We can help each other with homework. I'm pretty good at English and stuff, but not so great at Mad Science..."
Natasha nodded and waved goodbye, making her own way home with Liam walking beside her. Leah watched them for a minute, glad she finally had some friends that might last, before she turned back around and went home.
When Leah pushed the front door open, the first thing she saw was her mother, smiling at her. Leah blinked, surprised. Adele was naturally a happy person, but she looked even happier than usual, and Leah had no idea why. "Hey mum!" was all she said, choosing not to upset her mother by commenting on her smile.
"Hey honey," Adele said. "How was school?" She smiled at Leah, eyes crinkling, and Leah smiled back automatically.
"It was alright," she said, shrugging dismissively. "I made a couple friends- Natasha, Liam, and Michelle. Liam totally has a crush on Michelle, and I'm pretty sure she feels the same way, so I'm going to try and set them up. They're all really nice, and they're sidekicks like I am, so we have all the same classes."
Adele's smile flickered for a second, and a sad look crossed her face. Leah knew why- she was stuck in the middle, too powerful to be a civilian but not powerful enough to be a hero. Not powerful enough for her father to care about her.
And that was the source of the friction in their family- her mother loved her, but she would never understand her, because Leah was just too much her father's daughter. And Lainei, despite being everything her father wanted in the superpower department, was too much her mother's daughter to really understand why Leah had loved her father so much, or why Leah liked the things she did. And yet Lainei refused to say that William was dead like everyone else, and no one was sure why. Was it because she was loyal to her father, villain or not? Or was it simply because she refused to pretend?
Adele's smile came back, and Leah relaxed. "That's wonderful. Just make sure the two you're setting up are the right two. I'd hate to see you lose friends over a stupid mistake like the last time."
Leah winced, because she knew her mother was right. Her last best friends, two girls who had been inseparable for four years, had both liked the same guy. The one Leah had tried to pair the guy up with, however, was the one who had kept her feelings a secret, because she didn't want her friend to know she liked the same person. The last month of eighth grade was spent alone, none of them talking to each other.
"Don't worry," Leah assured her mother. "I haven't even mentioned it to any of them yet. I'm going to wait, just in case, but I'm certain that Natasha doesn't like Liam. And anyway, I'm going to call her later, so I can always ask her then."
Adele shook her head. "Don't ask her outright, hon. There's no way she'd tell you if you just asked her that way."
Leah smiled craftily. "I know. But Will Stronghold's best friend is madly in love with him- it's totally obvious- so I'll just ask her how she feels about falling for your longtime best friend, and use that to judge whether she might like Liam or not."
Adele shook her head. "You love doing that, don't you? Setting people up. I admit it was always fun when I did it, but sometimes you need to just let people get together on their own."
Leah nodded. "I know, mum. And I plan on it. I'm not going to be totally obvious and stuff, I'm just going to sort of push them a bit. It's just a matter of time anyway. Whereas they would have gotten together maybe in college, now they'll get together in high school and have that much more time together, that's all."
She shrugged and smiled. Maybe it was none of her business when Michelle and Liam got together, but in her opinion, love should be embraced by those lucky enough to find it. And if they didn't even realize they had it, well, it was her duty to show them. Discreetly, of course. Playing Cupid was much more fun if you did it from the background.
Adele nodded in understanding, and Leah kicked her shoes off and opened the fridge. She pulled out Nutella and peanut butter and set them on the counter, and then pulled a pie plate, a butter knife, and the crackers out of the cupboard and set them down too.
A big scoop of peanut butter and Nutella each went on the plate, as did a handful of crackers. Leah put the knife in the dishwasher when she was done and brought the plate and her bag with her to her room. She dumped her bag on the floor next to her bed and sat down on it.
Leah polished off the crackers and then pulled her homework out of her bag and grabbed the phone. She dialed the number on her hand, and waited as the phone rang. "Please be there," Leah whispered to herself.
"Hello?" A woman's voice asked.
Leah immediately smiled in relief. "Hi, this is Leah, may I talk to Natasha?" Leah made sure to keep her voice polite, and the woman and the other end chuckled.
"Sure, hon," she said. There was a small clunk, like the phone was being set down, and then it was quiet for a second, before Leah heard the woman yelling in the background, "Natasha! Your new friend is on the phone! Come get it!" She picked the phone back up and said, "Just a second. She was up in her room."
"Okay!" Leah chirped. A second later she heard Natasha stomping down the stairs, and then another small scuffle as the phone was handed over.
"Hello?" Natasha asked in a half cautious, half curious voice.
"Hi," Leah said.
She could almost hear Natasha relax, and her voice sounded much less formal as she said, "Leah! Hey! So you want to get started on our homework then?"
Leah nodded to herself and said, "Yeah," into the phone. "I'm pretty sure that number one is B," she said slowly, looking over the homework.
There was a rustle as Natasha pulled out her own paper, and then she spoke. "Yeah, I think you're right. It makes sense... so, one B. What about two? If your hero is wrapped in iron chains..."
It took them about fifteen minutes to do the homework together, but they stayed on the phone and played twenty questions for longer. "Okay," Leah said, laughing slightly from Natasha's last answer. "If you could go out with anybody in hero class, whatever grade, who would it be?"
"Just the heroes?" Natasha asked. "Oh- I don't know. Um- not somebody who's a snob, but I also wouldn't want somebody that never talks, either... Crap, I don't know any heroes I'd date! I don't even know any sidekicks I'd date. What about you?"
Leah thought it over for a second. "I'm not sure," she said finally. "No self respecting hero would ever look at us anyway. We're sidekicks- losers- and they're heroes, the kings and queens of the school. So it doesn't really matter anyway."
"Yeah," Natasha said dismissively. "Hey, you want to come over on Friday? Michelle and Liam are sleeping over. It's sort of a tradition- we all go to one of our houses once a month, all three of us, watch movies, eat pizza, and just mess around. I don't think they'll mind you joining us."
Leah smiled up at her ceiling, excited. "Sure! If you guys don't mind me butting in I'd love to come!"
"Okay! I'll tell you tomorrow what they said, okay? I'm gonna go, and I'll call them and ask."
Leah nodded to herself again, even though she knew Natasha couldn't see. "Sure. Bye!"
Natasha hung up, and once she was gone Leah clicked 'End' and tossed the phone down on the bed beside her, still staring at the ceiling. So she was being invited to their sleepover. Well, hopefully, if Michelle and Liam didn't mind. Leah crossed her fingers and hoped that they didn't. Going to this sleepover would show, once and for all, if she was being accepted into their group.