"Jake Switch?" I make my way up to the unnecessarily large stage as quickly and quietly as I can. "What's your shtick?" I decided to demonstrate rather than explain, in the hopes that this painful process will be over as soon as possible. Shutting my eyes, I concentrate as hard as I can until I have become a shadow. That's another thing about us that's opposite; Zach can glow, and I can become a shadow. I wince as I become solid once again – it's always pretty painful. The wince doesn't go away as I wait for him to tell me – well, more like announce to everyone in the school – that I'm a sidekick. "Hero." What! I can't even move from my spot; he said hero! And he didn't scream it! Oh my goodness, this must be a dream; how on earth could becoming a shadow make me worthy of saving the world? Before I can ruin everything by asking him why, I shove my lead based feeling legs down the stairs and right into Zach, who's waiting with open arms.
"Dude, you made hero; that's awesome!" He gives me one of those manly hugs. You know, 'I'm hugging ya, but I'm hittin' ya!' So it's less wimpy. Although, the manliness doesn't last very long, and the hugging and hitting turns into a full fledged bear hug – almost knocking the wind out of me. "Man, Boomer made me a sidekick, even after I helped save the school." I figure I might as well come up with something before Zach starts on his rant about how he and prep and goth helped save the school and they should be heroes too. I bump him with my elbow and look at the sheet I have, one half for if I made hero, and one half for sidekick. Zach starts muttering to himself about how 'no one even wants to hear the story' but quickly calls the momma's boy and whispers something about being my 'mentor.' Fat chance!
"Hey Jake, class is about to start, so why don't you come with Warren and I, we'll be in the same class." Me and Zach have a little handshake we do for good luck, and afterwards I left with Will and the guy who looks thirty. I can't help but gawk at the school; it's so modern looking… and clean. Although I remember Zach telling me that the janitor is a sidekick who didn't get placed with a hero after his graduation. His powers are sucking up garbage; man, I'd love to have that power… only not. This school is a lot bigger then Sea High. And our janitor was a student's dad – he didn't have any powers but the principal felt bad for him.
"Oh Will, Warren – there you are." We didn't even get to the end of the hallway before getting stopped by… the principal, I think. She sounds relieved.
"Yes principal Powers, what is it?" Coughsuckupcough.
"I thought you two should be the first to know that Speed and Lash are coming back to finish their senior year. The prison guards are dropping them off at lunch. I figured you deserved to know before the other students, but please don't tell anyone – their experience in prison has changed them quite a bit, Speed especially, and I want them to feel like they are allowed to have a fresh start."
"But principal Powers, they're… villains!" Will says the word like it's a bad taste in his mouth, and Warren's fists are on fire – maybe I won't share my stereotyped views with him. Even tiny little burns are enough to make me go to the hospital. It's embarrassing, but sudden or large amounts of pain make me pass out… one of the many 'tough' qualities I have.
"Will, I am aware of the bad decision they made, but they would like a fresh start. Speed has completely reformed and will be attending just like a regular student, and Lash will have detention at lunch, just as a precaution." She's looking at me as if I just appeared. "Oh hello Zach – how is your first day as a sophomore going? Oh, and please don't tell anyone about Speed and Lash coming ba…."
"I'm Jake." She looks a little disappointed.
"Oh… wow, have you met Zach? He's a student here as well and you two have a striking resemblance."
"Jake and Zach are twins – there mom's powers made them opposite from birth." It'll be good having Will around to answer stupid questions. Man, I'm starting to wish my power was becoming invisible, because next to Zach – where I'll be glued until I'm convinced to make friends – I stick out like… well, like an opposite. And the last think I need are more bruises from being shoved in a locker. Although, I don't have enough red blood cells in my system, so I bruise really easily. That bear hug is probably going to give me a bruise.
"Jake, are you okay?" The amount of sincere concern in Will's voice makes me feel guilty, as I care about him near as much as I care about my breakfast, probably even less. Shaking off his question, I follow Warren, who – still half on fire – kept walking to the classroom. Will is lifting himself off the air to float after us. I hate how his powers will actually be useful when fighting villains. All I'll be able to do is hide… and even then my shadow can be seen if you look close enough. As we walk into the classroom, Will and Warren walk over to talk to the… holy mackerel! Is that even a man? Oh, I get it; it's a costume, ha ha.
"Students, this is your new classmate, Jake Switch; Jake, why don't you quickly tell us a little bit about yourself?" I hate this part.
Tearing my eyes away from the head, I shakily introduce myself. "Uh, I'm Jake – my power is to become a shadow, my last school was Sea School, and I have a twin brother named Zach." I say the same thing every time, but it never seems to get any easier. Will is sitting in the very front row, so I follow Warren to the back – so as to draw a little less attention to myself. The class is all introductions and pathetic jokes. I think it's in the teacher's code: 'all jokes that are actually funny must be kept to oneself.' By the time everyone in the class has said a little bit about themselves and pretended to laugh at Mr. Medulla's jokes, class is over. I've already made a list of people to stay away from – including a girl who sucks energy from you – I need all of the little energy I have – and a guy who can make you say what you're thinking out loud – I'd never shut up. I tentatively stand up – ready to timidly ask Warren where I should go next when Will bounced up from nowhere… or his desk.
"Alright Jake, we have hero history and then lunch! Follow me right this way!" As we walk to the class, Will is pointing out different things like the cafeteria, washrooms, lockers – he'll help me find mine after class – and emergency exits. I guess mad science was when he decided whether or not to play tour guide Barbie. Hero history has a similar start – minus two head sizes. The teacher – Mrs. Tex – lets me do my little introduction from my seat in the back. Mrs. Tex looks so familiar, I can't believe it. She has a motherly look to her, even though she is obviously quite young. I can't say I paid much attention to any of that class; I spent most of it thinking of where I know the teacher from, and wishing some kid with time travel would make us skip through lunch. Unfortunately my wishing was to no avail, and lunch came before I could say 'this school is overwhelming' followed by Will dragging me to me locker.
"Okay, so we'll drop off your stuff and then go meet everyone in the cafeteria." Of course it's just my luck that the lock doesn't work and Will refuses to 'destroy anymore school property' so we end up having to go all the way back to the office, where Will explains my current situation, and the secretary practically swoons before letting us go see Mrs. Powers. Taking a look around, my knees buckle and I can feel myself starting to fall. Luckily Will is standing close and catches me before I can actually fall. "Holy cow Jake, how much do you weigh?" I'm too afraid to mention shamefully that I weigh less than one hundred pounds, because standing in the office is none other then Speed and Lash. Surprisingly, Lash is the only one of the two wearing handcuffs. Power's is shooting Will one of those 'get-the-freshie-out-of-here-before-he-melts-with-fear looks that are supposed to go unnoticed – so I stand up as straight as I can and try to wipe the look of utter terror off my face; which is, by the way, a lot harder then it sounds. "Principal Powers, Jake's lock won't open, and I think it's the wrong combination." Will's jaw is clenched, and his hands are tightly curled into fists – I can't believe he just noticed who was in the room. But he is obviously pretty mad. Odd observation number two: Lash is smirking away like he's having the time of his life watching Will get uncomfortable, but Speed's only glanced up long enough for me to catch the look of remorse on his chubby face.
"Alright, give me a moment." Principal Powers massages her temples as she leaves, and slams the door behind her. I really hope this isn't the part of the story where I die. Lash is getting out of his chair and slowly walking towards me and Will. Man, he's taller then he looks on television – he must be around 6'4.
"Hey Stronghold, come to welcome me back?" Will's jaw and fists are still clenched tight – that must be getting sore.
"Welcome you?" He's trying so hard to stay calm it's almost making me smirk. "You tried to take over the school and turn everyone into babies!"
Lash is looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "Yeah, another brilliant idea by Sue Tenny; I said we should just kill everyone. I mean, how were we going to raise a bunch of villain babies?" Will's hands are rapidly turning white, and I really hope they don't go fisty cuffs; there's no way I'd survive.
"Sorry about that Jake, your locker combination was mixed up with Speed's." Principal Powers is holding out a small slip of paper to me, and I take it slowly as she ushers all of us – minus Lash – out of the room. Will starts rushing ahead, but I figure I'll catch up eventually.
"Will!" Speed is… speeding to catch up with Will, and manages to stop him in the middle of the hallway. "Look Will, you have no idea how sorry I am for what I did last year. I realize it was putting a lot of people's lives and hard work at risk just to gain a little more power. I want to honestly thank you and your friends for stopping us; I don't know if I could have lived with myself if anything had happened to those innocent people." Yeah, and I'm Peter Pan; come on Will, there's no way you believe this tubby fool, after everything he did! One apology can't be the cut for forgiveness; it just can't. Will's looking at the ceiling as if it's going to tell him what to do. Come on, ceiling, don't disappoint me.
"I forgive you, man." Okay; I understand that the hippy has had a lot of influence on him, but forgiving Speed? That's just too far. Principal Power's is leading a handcuffed Lash to his locker, and Lash gives Speed a not-so-friendly shove as he walks by. It's disgusting how concerned Will looks; don't feel pity for the guy who tried to ruin your life! "Did you two get in a fight?" Speed looks so sincere it's hard to believe he's not a villain.
"It's just that as soon as we got into our cells Lash and Sue started plotting another attack; a revenge type thing, but me and Penny didn't want to help, so we're both kind of… out of favor. Sue will be in jail for the rest of her second life, and Penny is living somewhere in Canada with her grandmother." Yet another reason I shouldn't be a hero; I would have already tried – albeit in vain – to take him down, assuming that he's lying his chubby face off. But role model Will listens to everything before deciding what to do. Maybe there's a course on it: How to be a hero that actually does stuff right. I'd sign up in a minute.
"Hey Jake, are you coming?" I quickly hurry to catch up and officially meet Speed as I put a few things in my empty locker. He's actually a really nice guy. Unfortunately, the rest of the group doesn't know this, and from the cafeteria entrance I can see all their smiles fade not so subtly.
"Why is Speed with you?" Of course Mrs. I've-never-heard-of-tactfulness is the one to ask while she twirls a strand of purple hair. She asks it in that I-don't-give-a-crap-about-anyone's-feeling's-cause-I'm-just-that-hardcore tone of voice that she probably developed as a small child; her voice reminds me of one of those ugly skinhead hit-man thugs.
"Magenta!" Will says her name in a whiny, pleading tone of voice that is somehow partly a whisper. "Would it kill you to be a little friendlier?" After a straight faced nod from the 'goth,' Will continues, obviously giving up on the idea of his friends welcoming the ex-villain. "Speed is here because he is going to eat lunch with us today. I know you guys probably heard through the gape vine that…"
""The grape vine, what is this, an Archie comic?"
"…that Speed and Lash are back, but it's all okay now." Will finishes, ignoring Magenta's mean comment number two.
"Well why isn't he eating with Lash?" Ethan's voice is laced with bitterness – I'm guessing he was the one who got 'welcomed' by the swirly… every day.
"Look you guys – I am so sorry for what I did last year, I just…"
"Don't take all the credit, fatty." Everyone's heads are turning towards where the cold voice is coming from. "Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be in detention, but what can I say… I'm not really one for rules, besides its cold in there." I'm already wishing I had convinced Anna and Kelly to let me stay at Sea School. Crap, he's looking at me. "Who's the newbie?"
"That newbie is my twin brother Jake." Oh my goodness, Zach; why don't you come over and wipe my mouth whilst you're at this whole motherly thing.
Lash looks amused, and I can feel myself start to wince. "He looks like the opposite of you." …okay, kudos to him for not asking 'the questions' but still. It's funny – if I didn't know him… or, know of him, I'd think he's just some emo kid who sings in an angsty boy band… although I'd still bet money he is. Everyone's staring at me, and there's this terrible feeling in my stomach that's telling me I did something wrong.
Lash is smirking like he's so cool for not being affected. "Actually I'm the bass player." Oh crap. "Anyway, I'd better get going." Yikes; well, other than the fact that I just blurted out a semi-insult to a villainous grade eleven repeat with power issues, I think that went well. Now everyone believes that Speed's over his villain phase. Of course my paranoia has already kicked in and I am freakishly nervous about him, so I think I'll leave – wander the halls until class starts and hope I don't get beat up before my first day is over. But I have a good feeling about this school; I think it'll be differe…
"Hey newbie!" …and I spoke too soon. Do I have a sign taped to my back that says 'I live for being harassed'? I mean come on! Sure my self esteem is low but I'm not masochistic or anything. Of course I pull the dumb-newbie-can't-hear-you; it never works but I find that as my wit flies out the window along with my composure and that last scrap of dignity, its appeal increases. Of course there is a dramatic decrease when I'm getting my ass kicked, but hey, what can you do? …it's funny, I'm so used to Zach answering my obviously rhetorical questions I find myself waiting for the 'well, you can…' "Newbie – quit ignoring me when I talk to you…" The frightening bully stopped speaking when I turn around, and he had a kind of scared look on his face… so naturally I check behind me to see if some actually intimidating people are behind me – there aren't. Shooting him a puzzled look, I lift my eyebrow, telling him with those short black hairs that I would love an explanation. And of course the one and only time I would like to have a coherent two way conversation with the customer of the year at Big and Tall, he runs away. My distrust, dislike, and distain for strangers passes my wit, composure, and dignity as they trade places on either side of the window that is my current flow of emotions as I turn to a group of oblivious Shakespeare obsessed teens sitting outside the drama room, obviously destroyed mentally and 'spiritually' by the fact that it's locked.
"What's with him?" Their faces pale when I see me – this is getting frustrating. "Okay, not that I'm not psyched that for once in my life I am not the poster child for school bully victims, but why the hell is everyone looking at me like my Prozac got stolen?" The shrimpy guy with the fire hydrant inspired hair color starts to stutter, making me even angrier. "Listen Nancy, as much as I would love to sit here all night discussing the outrageous things Romeo and Juliet had to do just to prove their love for one another… it would be even better if you just spit it out."
A girl who appeared to be a strange mix of butch and willowy answered my question. "It's just that like, someone said that you're like, friends with like, Lash – like, his childhood friend or something. And he like, went to jail." She whispered the last part as if it was some big secret or… wait, Lash!
"Where did you hear that?" I can't help the high pitched squeak in my voice.
"Umm, I think I like, read it on my friend like, blog or something." Butch willow replied unsteadily. Crap; I would rather be shoved in a locker than thought to be the friend of an emo villain! I've got to find Zach. Of course my three dis' about strangers come sliding right back in as the 'window' closes, and – so as to avoid terrifying and terrified looks from said random strangers – I go into painful shadow form and crouch/walk along the walls to the cafeteria and rematerialize under the table where Zach is still sitting.
"Will, are you playing footsies with me?"
"…no." Crap, now Zach thinks he's being hit on by a queer super human prodigy. I quickly come up trough the space between the bench and table – a small plus of being dangerously thin – and put my head down on the table; I'll have to work on not needing to pass out every time I power up for more than two minutes.
"No offense Will, but I'm reeeally not unto you like that." Layla is shooting him a bad look while I peak out from under my arm. "I swear Layla, he did; Jake, you saw it right?" I shake my head, but because it's still in the nest that is my arms and on the table it just ends up being me hitting both sides of my head on the table and screaming in pain while the goff – pretty sure her name is purple, or some variation thereof – pats me awkwardly on the back. "Hey wait a minute, you weren't here before!" Zach says this like he's such a genius for realizing that I just showed up.
"Zach, I've got a bigger dilemma." I say as I lift up my head – slowly so I don't pass out (Sheldon taught me that one.)
"Yeah right, bigger than the son of the famous Commander and Jetstream being gay?" I honestly cannot believe I'm so closely related to this kid.
"Maybe not, but it's a close second – there's a rumor going around that I'm friends with Lash." All four mouths drop open. Oh wait, Ethan is melted on his seat… but I'm pretty sure his mouth is open too."
"Are you?" Purple asks me in that disturbingly low I'm-so-bad-ass-even-though-I'm-not-really voice of hers. I swear this girl is going to give me nightmares. The closest thing to a glare I can muster is – thankfully – enough to shut her up. Layla looks at me in that motherly way – just like everyone else – and finally speaks up.
"Just ignore them, no one believes rumors anyways." Wow, this girl is daft.
"What's the rumor?" That kid who looks like he's thirty has just joined the table.
"Everyone thinks Jake is friends with Lash." Zach says quickly, obviously thrilled to be able to say it before anyone else. He looks at me like he's crushing my soul with his eyes… and I think he very well could. "But he isn't." Zach adds as he realizes the thirty year old is shooting death glares at me. He calms down a little bit starts reading his book. Funny that he's the only one not eating. I'm still beyond tired from the mornings 'activities' so I put my head back in my arms and on the table.
"Are you dying or something?" Oh god, someone shut her up. "You're always using that inhaler or collapsing or having panic attacks."
"Are you secretly male or something?" I probably shouldn't be talking. "You're always talking like a man and dressing like the thirty year old."
"…I'm seventeen." The apparently not thirty year old says. I don't think anyone really paid attention… I know I didn't. I'm afraid if I take my eyes off her she'll sink her fangs into me. Luckily just before she can the bell rings.
"Okay I'm going to class, Warren, Jake come on lets go, have a good class everyone, we'll see you later, bye!" Will is rambling as he grabs me arm and pulls me away, lifting me off the ground without realizing it. 'Warren' is close behind and I can tell he's fighting a smile by the awkward situation that is me being carried down the hall by a kid shorter than me. He stops short to wait for Warren. "What's so funny?" He asks genuinely – this kid couldn't do fake if his life depended on it – although with his brains I doubt he could spell it either. Warren nods his head in my direction and Will quickly lets me down, his face turning red. "Oh… sorry." He mutters as we continue down the hallway to the next class, which was hero math, a seemingly pointless class where we learned the percentage that our sidekicks will live in various scenarios – pretty depressing actually. If taking down a giant robot, my sidekick would probably have about a whopping 45 chance of living; and I translate that to my sidekick and I both having a 45 chance because lets face it, hiding 'ain't gonna save me from no one.