Disclaimer: I do not own Sky high.
Shaking her head at the memory, Jennifer closed her eyes before taking a breath.
She wasn't necessarily proud of the way things had gone down between her and Warren but since their meeting the year prior, the two would consistently butt heads. And it wasn't like she could escape him, regardless of how she felt about him, he was very obviously one of Layla's best friends; though loathe he admit the same about her, everyone knew it to be true.
And like she said, she owed the flower child, and Layla had quickly inserted herself into Jennifer's life. The thought of the rambunctious redhead made her smile as she climbed the bus. Say what you will about Layla and her...unorthodox lifestyle, she knew how to get under your skin in the best way.
Taking a seat towards the back, Jennifer adjusted her light-wash high waisted shorts before lounging down in the leather seat, leaning sideways against the metal side and propping her feet up lengthwise, taking up the whole seat.
Digging in her pocket, she pulled out her phone, plugged in her headphones and began scrolling, searching for something that would wake her up for this early morning journey.
Sky High had insisted that they leave ridiculously early so that they could get a jump towards their super secret location. As such, all the seniors were required to show up outside their houses to be picked up at 4am, only to be driven to Sky High and go through a 'check-in' process before being allowed to officially board at 5:30am.
Suffice to say, Jennifer was not a morning person and it was through the grace of God and Blue State Coffee that she managed to get up, showered and dressed to be ready in time.
The jostling of her feet brought her back to present and she was surprised to look up and see Warren sit across from her, mirroring her position in the seat.
Their eyes met and maybe it was the earliness of the morning, or the beauty of the sky that she so often missed, still a deep black with the oncomings of purple and orange streaming through the windows behind him; but Jennifer couldn't muster her normal sneer.
Instead, she gave him a small smile and a nod before looking back down at her phone to switch songs. Had she continued their eye contact, she might not have missed the flicker of surprise mixed with something indistinguishable on the pyrokinetic's face before he too looked down and focused his attention elsewhere.
Jen was once again about to get absorbed in her music when she felt something hit her shoulder. She looked up sharply in the direction it came from, only to roll her eyes at who she caught as the culprit. Jacob i'm a dipshit in disguise Alexander. "of fucking course." she muttered to herself, narrowing her eyes at the brown haired boy.
After the Royal Pain incident Jacob had taken it upon himself to become Sky High's new resident bully. Jennifer could take care of herself, that much was known to most of the student body after a particularly gruesome Save the Citizen match.
The problem with Jacob was that he was less interested in shoving her into lockers and more interested in shoving his hand down her pants.
Since her arrival she had been subjected to a number of catcalls, bad pickup lines and a general sense of creepiness that he managed to exude anytime he was in her general vicinity.
Picking up the piece of folded paper he had thrown, she didn't bother to open it before digging through her bag, pulling out her favorite zippo and flipping it open, watching as the flame slowly enveloped the folded triangle.
Looking back up she smirked at the bully and threw the still flaming paper back at him, relishing in his shriek as he tried to avoid it.
"YOU CRAZY BITCH!" he screamed, frantically patting at the part of his sleeve that had caught on fire before stamping out the now blackened and smoking piece of paper.
Paying him no mind, she laughed to herself and caught the end of a deep snort coming from the seat across from her.
Looking up, she watched as Warren showed no sign of having snorted in laughter. His head was currently buried in what looked like a manuscript but she caught the corners of his lips twitching.
"I would've helped ya know. No need to waste a good zippo." Warren said, voice muffled from behind the papers in his hand.
Mildly surprised at his choice to address her, and rolling her eyes slightly because she could practically hear the smirk on his face, she was unable to reply because her attention was once again interrupted as she was dealt a lapful of sleepy redhead.
"Whaaaat the fuck is happening." Jennifer stammered out. She wasn't even mad, just very much confused as to why Will Stronghold had deposited her friend in her lap. Layla murmured something nonsensical before readjusting and lying completely on top of Jennifer tucking her head into her neck.
Not wanting to wake the sleeping girl, she looked to Will and subsequently Warren who was now actively paying attention, having put the papers down beside him. her face belaying the confusion and slight panic as Layla began to snore.
Will at least had the decency to look sheepish. "She was way too excited about the trip and Nurse Spex was worried about her, and I quote, "working herself into a tizzy" ...so she gave her a mild sedative."
Jennifer's eyebrows lifted in incredulity. "Spex tranquilized her? Holy god." she shook her head before looking once more at the redhead who was softly snoring into her bare shoulder. "How long before it wears off?" she asked, hoping for the answer to be sooner rather than later.
She loved the girl but for someone who ate nothing but vegetables and candy she was a heavy weight on top of her. Will scratched his head before looking at Warren who up until this point had been snickering quietly and watching the events unfold. "...I'm actually not sure. Spex just kind of dosed her and walked off."
Jennifer was silent and glared at Will, watching unblinkingly as he flinched and ducked, knowing that if wasn't for Layla, who Jennifer was currently readjusting on top of her, he would've gotten smacked.
"Jesus Christ" she muttered breaking her gaze off of Will and turning to the girl in her lap. A furrow on her brow began to form as she considered her options.
After a few seconds she turned to the two boys who had been looking at her, one with worry and the other calculatingly and ok Jennifer was not about to touch on why Warren couldn't seem to look at her like a normal person. "So here's what we're gonna do." she started.
First, get her off of me. Seriously, she's crushing my ribcage and I don't know how much more I can take. Her knee is about an inch off my special parts and if she makes contact before you move her, it's your ass Stronghold." Not one to take Jennifer's threats lightly after the 'people have been shanked for much less' incident, Will moved into action, gently lifting the still snoring girl off of her and holding her in his arms bridal style.
Jennifer, thankful that she could breathe once again, slid out of the seat before instructing Will to lay her on her side. Sliding back so that she was now sitting in the seat correctly closest to the aisle, she lifted Layla's head and placed it into her lap. "Look, someone's gotta make sure that she's still breathing. It's common knowledge Spex is batshit, who knows what she injected her with. So for now, I guess we're gonna get comfortable." Jennifer sighed.
Nodding his thanks before taking the seat in front of Warren next to an already passed out Zach, Will bowed out, leaving Jennifer and Layla to some peace and quiet.
Jennifer, while trying to make herself comfortable and simultaneously trying to avoid making any sharp movements that might jostle Layla awake, realized that the more she moved, the more her shirt rode up higher on her midriff.
Cursing herself for her love of weird, thrifty (and this case a bit too small) shirts, she extended her arms in an attempt to re-stretch and cover the flat expanse of her stomach, most of which was now on display to whomever was in her direct view line. "Oh come on!" she exclaimed softly, flushing in frustration.
Pulling the printed black shirt down, because damn she was not about that free peep show life, she caught in her peripheral Warren's gaze focused on her exposed tummy. Feeling heat rise on her neck but not completely sure why, she smoothed the shirt out and laid a hand to soothe Layla who had stirred at the motion.
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Jennifer plucked her headphones from where they had fallen off the seat and placed them in her ears, grabbing her phone once again she paused, her finger hovering over the play button before she turned to Warren.
"Thanks by the way."
He glanced up at her, his brow furrowed in confusion. She continued on, either not noticing his expression or not caring.
"I'd rather not waste what little lighter fluid I have left. So, I'll ask for your help next time I wanna set Alexander on fire." Without giving him a chance to reply she turned back to the seat in front of her, pressed play and closed her eyes. Allowing the music to finally overwhelm her senses, she was asleep before the bus finished it's initial take off.
To say Warren Peace was a young man not easily shaken would've been an understatement.
You didn't grow up with parents like his without developing a thick skin and a thicker backbone.
But as his gaze roved over the sleeping blonde across from him, his eyes taking in the way that even in her sleep, her hand rested protectively over Layla, he was starting to rethink his previous statement.
Noting the way the rising sun caught her hair and the way her head lolled over to the side, he smirked. It seemed like the princess was getting under his skin after all. Reasserting himself in the seat, he focused his attention back to the thesis he currently held, arguing the presence of micro-aggressions in the superhero community.
'This is gonna be one hell of a summer.' He thought to himself, as the words on the page and the quiet hum of the schoolbus' engines enveloped him.
Silence fell over the bus as everyone either fell asleep or found something to occupy their time. No one but the driver, a titan of a woman with a shocking head of blue and green hair, knew where the location of P.E.G.A.S.E.S. was, so it seemed that the seniors had settled in for the long haul.
Say what you will about early mornings and flying buses but god damn, and no one on the bus was going to argue, you could not beat that sunrise.