Chapter Nine: Learn

Na-Na: No own Sky High. So yeah. READ! The smurfs command it!

"Do you need help?" I asked extending my hand out to him.

"Wha-?" Lash asked looking back at me confused.

"I said, do you need help? Can you walk?" I asked him as he sat there pathetically on the floor.

"No," he bit out, "I don't need help. Not from you. And yes, I can walk." Using the wall, he pulled himself to his feet and made an unsure attempt to take a step. He ended up tripping over his feet and fell face first back onto the polished wooden floor. Giving a frustrated growl, and letting a few obscenities slip, he pushed himself back off the floor and back into an upright sitting position.

"You're a bad liar. So, you need help now?" I asked feeling a bit amused at his struggling.

He remained stubborn and refused my offer again just as rudely as he had the first time. His second attempt to walk away once again failed, sending him stumbling to the floor. Finally, I had enough. When he started pulling himself to his feet again, I grabbed him. Pulling him to me, I slung one of his arms over my shoulders and got my right arm around his waist so that I was supporting him. Once I was sure I had him, I dragged him over in the direction of the coach.

"Let me go Stronghold, I don't need you help," he said struggling against my grip. I glared up at him.

"I suggest you stop complaining Lash, or I will drop you where we stand. Do you want to have to drag yourself out of here by yourself?" He quieted down when I said that to him, "Good. I'm only doing this because you need to get to the infirmary so that life can go on. Not because I like you, okay?" He nodded and we continued to head over to Boomer.

"Coach," I said getting Boomer's attention.

"What is it Stronghold?" he asked giving a questioning glance in Lash's direction.

"He needs to get to the infirmary. The fight banged him up quite a bit and now he can't walk. Can I take him?" Boomer looked slightly amused at Lash's problem, but gave me permission nonetheless.

As we walked, Lash had a sour look glued to his face. I didn't blame since he had just been beaten at his own game. For a second, I considered how degrading this must've been to him, being hauled off by the girl you highly despise who is also the sister of the guy who you just lost to. But he needed to be brought to the infirmary and I was the only person willing to give him a hand at the time. So he'd have to put his pride issues on hold while I was getting him there.

The halls were rather empty as we traveled through them, but I had gotten used to the sound of empty and quiet halls because of the times I had to stay late after school. No doubt Lash was used to it too, seeing as how he'd probably gotten a good share of detentions in his time here for picking on Sidekicks. But what I wasn't used to was the fact that Lash and I weren't at each other's necks. Rather, we were actually being civil with one another. It was really, really weird. I mean, almost as weird as like last night for me. Except without the special warm and fuzzy moments. This was just plain and simple weird.

I didn't even want to attempt conversation for fear I might let something slip. On the other hand, I was horribly bored helping the fumbling bully on our way to the infirmary. To appease the boredom growing in my head, due to my short attention span, I tested whether or not his fingers were stretchy. So basically, I grabbed one of his fingers and…

"ARGH!"

Pulled it as hard as I could. Well, he didn't exactly stretch but, I did get a good laugh out of the yelping noise he made and the string of profanities that followed when I did so.

"What the hell was that for!" Lash cried wiggling and squirming, "That hurt!"

"Must've!" I replied chuckling a bit. When he glowered at me, started to feel guilty, "Sorry…Just felt kind of…bored…and curious…but mostly bored. You get the idea…" I trailed off starting to feel kind of stupid for doing that in the first place.

But Lash remained quiet, and made no effort to try and start up conversation. I don't know if I was more relieved or upset about that fact seeing as how I was torn between boredom and the risk of more awkwardness to this situation. To talk or not to talk? That was the question. My decision went with the path that would keep me from killing myself from boredom.

"So…" I started, snapping Lash out of whatever he may have been thinking about, "Why did you pick Warren to be your opponent in Save the Citizen?" I really did want to know, since it had seemed like such a weird choice when he picked him. I had some theories, but I wanted to hear the reason.

"I figured he'd give your brother a hard time, seeing as how he got into that fight with him yesterday," Lash said slowly as if trying to delay some reaction from me.

Was he expecting me to bite his head off or something about his answer? Sure, he was my brother's other enemy besides Warren and probably Speed, but I understood his reasoning. "All is fair in love and war." As the saying went, and it was basically something like war between all three parties, Warren, Will, and Speed and Lash. And it was just a game. A game that could've gotten Warren killed, a voice nagged in the back of my mind. I ignored it though and tried to think of something else. Warren was saved, that was all that mattered. I decided to ask Lash something else since I had already gotten bored of the topic at hand.

"Since when does Will have super strength? You know don't you? Everyone else except for me seems to know all of the details about the fight and him getting them."

"It was yesterday," Lash answered, looking at me as if I should've known, "He got it during the fight with Peace. I don't know how, but for a while he had been running and next thing, he's throwing Peace through wall."

"He threw Warren through a wall?" I asked feeling somewhat amazed. It was the mere fact that he could be able to do something like that, it made me feel good for Will. And a bit sorry for Warren...

"Yeah, well, actually, two walls and into pillar all the way in the teacher's meeting room," Lash said, a hint of nervousness in his voice that I barely caught. Okay, more than just a bit sorry. How was he still walking?

"You're afraid of him now, aren't you?" I said slyly. Lash glared at me.

"I am not," Lash said, but I knew he was lying. It was too easy to tell.

"Whatever," I said to him, and the look on his face proved I was correct.

"Why wasn't Speed around after the fight?" I asked, "Why wasn't he helping you out?"

"Why are you asking me so many questions?" Lash snapped in an irritated way, avoiding the question. Yet again, I knew the answer to my question, even though he wouldn't tell me himself.

"Because I'm bored," I answered before pausing; "He bailed on you, didn't he?" Lash didn't respond for a while.

"Yeah," Lash finally and reluctantly got out. I started to feel bad for Lash. Which was a feeling I was starting to hate more and more, "I'd have bailed too, if I'd been able to walk." I knew I had to say something. He was starting to sound really bummed out.

"Lash," I started, "What happened, it's okay. So what if you lost, you still have more chances to fight in Save the Citizen, more chances to win. This was only one loss. Compared to all of your other victories, this is a very small thing." I looked up at him, giving him a sincere look. He just stared back with a bewildered one.

"Really?" he asked, still looking at me, but now with seriousness.

"Yeah," I answered, giving him a smile. Oh God, did I just smile and comfort the guy who had shoved me into a locker and threatened to dunk my head in the toilet for the rest of the year only a couple of hours ago? There was totally something wrong with me in the head.

"Thank you," he said, giving me an honest smile. I was amazed. He was capable of smiling with out intent of a prank of some sort? Was this like the end of the world or something? I mean, wasn't he supposed to hate my guts and vice-versa? Then again, I had already broke the code of enemies to the end by helping him out in the first place, but…

"What for?"

"For this, whatever it is," he answered, "You're helping me, even though I have been a prick to you and your friends ever since your first day of Sky High. Especially to you, but you're the one here helping me to the infirmary instead of Speed, my own friend. No one has even cared enough about me to give a damn." Wow, I think he was telling me the truth. That really threw off my cool. How was I supposed to stay mad at a guy who had just gone emotional on me? And more importantly, what the hell was I supposed to say to that?

"Uh…"

"…"

"I DON'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND!"

My free hand shot up to my mouth. Oh…My…God…Did I really say that just now? The look on his face said that I really did. Lash was cracking up, peals of laughter coming forth in uncontrollable waves. My face immediately started to flush, and soon there was a deep splash of crimson across my face, making my fake freckles actually disappear for a second. This was so…I don't know…any word that had a way of expressing the…feelings I was feeling. Where was a person who could turn back time when you needed one?

"Well, that's no surprise," Lash said, still chuckling a bit quietly. I glared at him before pinching him using the hand I had secured around his waist.

"Just shut up and pretend I never said that," I grumbled out as we continued to the infirmary.

"Okay," he said, but he still had a goofy smile on his face.

God, now I just wished I could get this over with. I mean I just said that I didn't have a boyfriend to…Lash! Come on, you have to feel stupid when you say something that stupid to someone like…him! Even though I wasn't someone who enjoyed labels, I would have loved to just get my hands on a label gun at this moment and stamp on my forehead the word "Loser" onto it as many times as I could. Then I'd probably do the same thing to him. For revenge's sake. But for now, I would nurse my wounded pride.

"So…" Lash started, "Was that just a joke to make me feel better or were you trying to tell me something?" One of his eyebrows rose as he watched me. I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth when I finally processed what he said in my head.

"Neither." I ground out darkly, still fighting back the need to retch because of his previous comment.

He was smart enough to not say anything for the rest of the walk to the infirmary. That was a little bit of mercy I felt utterly grateful for. During that while, I thought about how stupid the morons that built Sky High were since they didn't think of putting the infirmary near the gym. Sure, it was quite nice and very high tech, but come on! The most injuries that this school ever had were all caused in the gym. It would save people from the long trek from one side of the school, all the way to the other with an injured person in tow.

After maybe one or two more minutes of helping Lash down the many hallways, we reached the infirmary. I gave a relieved sigh at the fact. Maybe now I could go back to the gym with all of my other friends. Pulling the door open, I was greeted by the same sweet, antibacterial smell I had smelled when I had come with Will to see Nurse Spex for the first time. It was just as clean looking as it had been last time, everything white, but not in an evil way like the detention room (Stupid glowy white walls). The Nurse was sitting in a chair on the far right of the room. When she saw us, she got up to see what we wanted.

"Ah, Miss Stronghold, you've come to see me again," she said cheerily, "This time you have brought a new companion with you." She took some time to inspect Lash with her X-ray vision before nodding a bit, "Don't tell me, Save the Citizen?" It was so obvious. Lash was still in his outfit for the game.

"Yeah. So how is he?"

"He's okay. He's sprained one of his ankles and left wrist. It's very minor, especially in his case, due to advantages from his powers," Nurse Spex said to me while walking over to the small refrigerator, "He'll need ice on it for a little while until we wrap it up." She spent a couple of minutes searching through the refrigerator, but when she was done, she didn't pull out anything at all.

"Is something wrong Nurse Spex?" I asked giving a side glance to Lash who was now seated holding his left wrist in his right hand.

"Well, it seems we don't have any ice left for Mr. Andrewson." My eyebrow rose. I looked at Lash who was now blushing.

"Andrewson, eh? Nice last name Lash," Smirking I returned my attention back to Nurse Spex, "I can make some ice for him if you want."

"That would be great," the nurse said in response, before going through one of her cabinets in search of bandages for Lash.

I turned to Lash who was still holding his wrist gently, rubbing it slightly every now and then. Holding out my hand, I let water shoot up into the air and used my other hand to form it into a small ball. I kept it that way for a little while, just watching it levitate over my hand before sending a jolt of cold through it, freezing every bit of it in its spherical form. It fell right into my palm, very cold and slightly wet because it had started melting the moment it touched my hand. Lash had watched my performance with the ice the whole time with quiet fascination. Reaching out, I handed the ice to him and he took it and carefully settled it on his wrist. Repeating what I had done, two other spheres of ice were made. I took a seat on the floor in front of him and pulled off his shoes and socks and held the pieces of frozen water to his ankles.

"Better?" I asked looking up at him, he gave me a smile and a nod. God Dammit! Why the did he keep on smiling so sincerely! If he keeps on doing that, I don't think I'll be able to keep hating him anymore. And he's supposed to be the enemy! Argh! It's the attack of the pushover syndrome! I decided I needed to get out of here and back to class, pronto.

"Lash, I think I need to get back to class," I said standing up, "Will you be able to manage on your own without my help?" He hesitated with his answer for a little bit before speaking up.

"Uh, yeah," he said reluctantly. I made my way to the door, but was stopped short when he said something else, " Hey, um, thanks again. Is there…is there anything I can do to repay you, you know, for your help?" I thought through my answer before giving it to him.

"Honor your promise Lash," I said to him, "No picking on Sidekicks for the rest of the year. That's the least you can do." Turning away, I left the infirmary, not needing to check if he said yes. It was his decision to make. Whether he actually went through with it or not was up to him.

Class had already ended by the time I got back to the gym, so I went straight to the girl's changing room and got my stuff and got out of my gym clothes. Once I had my usual long sleeved top and skirt on, I slung my bag over my shoulder and left as soon as possible. Things went as they usually went, I waited by the boy's locker room for Will, Zach, and Ethan. The only thing that was different was that Lash wasn't around to pick on me. As pleasant as the thought was, I couldn't content myself with the fact that he wasn't here to pick on me because he was badly hurt. Silently, and against all thoughts that told me not to, I gave a little prayer he'd be okay as soon as possible.

When everyone was out, we headed to the front of the school to wait for Ron. The guys asked me where I had been after Will and Warren's victory and I just told them I had gone to the bathroom. I wasn't sure it would've been a good idea to tell them I had been helping Lash to the infirmary. We were delayed quite a bit having to fight our way through the crowds gathering around Will to praise him. Somehow we managed to get out of the school in one piece.

Once we reached the bus, we all climbed aboard the clamoring vehicle and still there were groupies pestering Will about his big fight. Some people even bothered to try and get information out of me about Will while I was taking my seat beside him. There were also a couple of people trying to get me to move so that they could sit next to Will. I silently fumed while ignoring them as I stared out the window at the clouds that passed. This sudden spike of popularity for Will was getting on my nerves more and more. I didn't know how much more of it I'd be able to take before I would start attacking Will's new followers.

Thankfully Ron hit our stop a little earlier than usual. I had to rip Will away from the people he was telling his "Heroic Tale" to, and dragged him off the bus. I could hear the people protesting and yelling at me as we got off. I didn't care, I was actually glad I was pissing them off as much as they had been pissing me off all day. Will and I watched as the bus rolled away, and waved to our friends who were waving at us goodbye. Once the bus disappeared around the street corner, we took off in the direction of our house.

The whole walk was spent in silence. I didn't even look at Will as we walked. Just let my eyes slip down to my feet. I was annoyed, but not at him. Today had been another crazy day this week. I was wondering if the weekwould actually end at some point so I could stop and catch my breath. First it started with Dad, then Warren, then Will, and now I had Lash, of all people, on my mind. It really weirded me out.

"Will!"

Lifting my head, I looked down the street to see who had said that. It turned out to be Dad. He was in the front waiting for us to get there, with his big grin that reminded me of a big dog waiting expectantly for food (Which may sound weird, but hey? What can I say?). Will rushed ahead to meet up with him while I stayed behind, walking slowly over. I didn't want Dad swinging me around in the air today. Trust me. Some people may enjoy doing something like that with their Dads, but me, no, especially not today.

Right when Will got to Dad, it was easy to tell Dad was in a really good mood. Slinging an arm around Will's shoulders, he and Will began talking in quick, excited voices, and by the sounds of it, it happened to be about Will winning Save the Citizen. My mood got worse by the moment. Was there ever gonna be a time this day that someone wouldn't focus on Will winning the stupid game? It may have been impressive, but no one acknowledged anything else about it. No had wondered if anyone had been hurt after the fight. No one was worried if someone had almost DIED during the fight. They just cared that the son of the Commander had won Save the Citizen as a freshman. What was wrong with people? Why was no one seeing everything the way I had?

I didn't have anymore time to wonder why everyone was so ignorant because I had just reached the front door. Entering the house, I heard all of the talking coming from the kitchen. Setting my backpack down next to the door as I closed it, I headed in the direction so I could say hi to Mom and Dad. When I got in there, I got a big surprise though, when I saw that it there was another person in the kitchen. But my surprise doubled when I actually got to see who it was.

"Hi Sweetheart," Mom said greeting me. I nodded a bit, even though my eyes were still glued to the other girl standing in the kitchen with all of us.

"Hey," the girl said greeting Will and I. Will was still too dumbstruck to get any words out so I beat him to it.

"Gwen?" I asked still staring at her with wide eyes, " What are you doing here?"

Na-Na: I know. Really crappy ending. You can probably even guess what happens next too. Well, see you soon.

Zoycitenega: Cool. Thanks for saying so.

Sasha: Well, wishing is a good thing.

Inwe Tasartir: Formailty? Oh well. Anyways, thanks. Nice to know you enjoyed it.

Raeven Moon: It' Lash! Wee! He wasn't that much of a bad guy in this chapter.

chickenishcheese: Magnificent! My story's magnificent? Wicked awesome! Was the ciffhanger really that good? Anyways, no need to thank me, I enjoy writing this. It's like my baby.

SmithysTrivia: So it was the 7th the day you read the update? Yay! You read it on my birthday! Also, it's good you like that I'm keeping to the story plot. I've really been trying to.

Iloveplotbunnies: Thank you for the compliment. Keep reading.

Fuzzy Makes Me Happy: Ding ding ding! We have a winner. You guessed right!

Movie-CaffineAddict: Once again, I think I liked your review the most. I get how Tenni seemed too helpless when shoved into the locker, but I just wanted to give Will a drive to really want to fight Lash and Speed. And with Gwen, I hate it when most OC's jump the gun by saying they hate Gwen for being a prep. I kinda want Tenni to like Gwen before the Homecoming Dance.

Tenni: And you're mean! Don't criticize how I decide to make Tenni act! Gwen's not that bad of a character.

Twisted Dreamer: Okay. I'll try.

Arisa-san: Of all people. TENNI IS NOT A SUE! And besides, I wanted to make Lash helpless. And I may have a romance scene for Warren and Tenni. But you have to wait.

Next Update: Boyfriend

New Update Date???

(I am sooooooooo sorry...)