Chapter 2: Trying to fit in

I walked into school nervously. I had been thinking heaps about Mysterion but decided I needed to concentrate on this life, the normal one, for now. My backpack slouched with the weight of my many books and it was a relief to plop it down on a desk once inside the classroom. The teacher walks in and sits at her desk. Well, I thought it was a her. It was the ugliest girl I had ever seen, did she used to be a guy or something? "Hello there Miss Macadie," she cooed out in the lowest voice I had ever heard on a woman. She definitely had a sex change or something.

"Um, hello…" I replied not knowing what her name was.

"Mrs Garrison," the teacher informed me.

She returned to whatever she was reading and I relaxed at my desk. I looked around the classroom to find a group of girls whispering to each other and pointing at me. I sighed.

"That's my desk," a voice called. The source of the voice was a fat kid with an ugly look on his face. His arms were crossed and his beady eyes stared me down.

"Is it?" I retorted. His face flushed in anger at me 'stealing' his spot.

"Yes it is now move, faggot." I noticed his voice was the stupidest I had ever heard. It was high pitched and had a funny accent that I had never heard from anybody before. It also sounded awfully familiar.

"Cartman! What is wrong with you? You're such an ass," a boy with a green hat scolded.

"Yeah, be nice to the new girl!" another boy who was wearing a lot of blue agreed.

I smiled at them and they introduced themselves to me. "I'm Kyle," the one with the green hat said. The other one said he was Stan. They sat at the seats beside me and made Cartman sit at the back of the room, although I could still hear him grumbling from where I was.

"I don't think I like Cartman," I whispered to Kyle.

He grinned and replied, "I don't think anybody does." Class started then. I noticed that there was an empty seat a few desks across from me. Just then, the classroom door burst open. The boy standing in the doorway cringed at the loud noise it made. He held his head through his orange hoodie and went over to the empty seat.

"Nice to see you're here now Kenny," Mrs Garrison huffed. The Coon had mentioned a 'Kenny' last night. I wondered if it was because my hood was done up the same way as this kids was. How did they know each other? Kenny said something that was muffled by his hood and the rest of the class laughed. I couldn't understand it so I looked at Kyle quizzically. "Kenny said that he got so wasted last night so he had a massive hangover this morning and that's why he was late. He also offered Mrs Garrison some vodka, he said he's off the stuff right now," Kyle grinned. I rolled my eyes but smiled.

After class Kyle invited me to sit with him at lunch. There were a lot of other boys at the table but no girls I noticed. Kyle started to talk about Stan's girlfriend and I asked who she was. Stan pointed over to another table where a girl with straight, black hair topped with a pink biuret sat eating with her friends. I was curious as to why she didn't sit with her boyfriend but I didn't say anything. When the table was entirely full everyone started introducing themselves to me. There was a boy named butters who was simply adorable, I thought I would like him. Next to him was Tweek who had a constant twitch. Stan and Kyle didn't have to introduce themselves and Cartman refused to. He was still steaming over the desk thing. Kenny had come and sat right next to me. He told me his name (even though I already knew it) and some other stuff I didn't quite pick up on through the hood.
"I remember you. I saw you last night in your orange hood. I'm your neighbour," I smiled. He had a worried expression on his face which calmed though. I wondered what I had said wrong.

"That's cool," he mumbled.

"Woah, so lucky mate!" Token called out. I laughed and he grinned.

"I don't see why we have to have a stupid girl sit with us anyway," Cartman complained.

"Are you homo or something dude?" Stan accused.

"Anyway, did you guys hear about the new superhero in town?" Cartman changed the subject abruptly I noticed.

"Yeah, his name is Dark Avenger apparently. That's what everyone's calling him anyway," Kyle said matter of factly. Kenny's eyes lit up at this information but I remained relatively cool about it.

"What do they look like?" I asked. I was absolutely hysterical on the inside, this was too good.

"W-well they don't have an actual hero costume yet. They wore a d-dark hood with black jeans and b-black shoes," Butters called out.

"They sound like a pussy." Cartman mashed his food bitterly. He didn't seem to like many people.

"I think they sound pretty awesome," I disagreed. "I heard all about what happened last night. It's a shame Mysterion died though." Everyone went silent at my last comment.

"Mysterion didn't die, fucktard." Cartman snorted.

"Y-yes he did," I stammered. Everyone looked at me strangely but moved on quickly. Did they not broadcast that part or something?

I took away my lunch tray and cleaned it off. Kenny followed me to do the same. On the way back to the table he grabbed my arm and pulled me along. "What are you doing?" I asked him. He looked back but didn't answer. We kept going until we were in an isolated part of the school. Kenny loosened his hood so I could see his face. I had to admit he was hot, like really hot. How did he not have a girlfriend?

"How do you remember that?" Kenny's voice was dark and suspicious.

"Remember what?" I questioned.

"Mysterion dying."

"Because my friend told me about it. Didn't they broadcast that?"

"No, of course not. Nobody ever remembers when I- I mean Mysterion- dies. So how can you?"

"I told you, my friend told me." Kenny's face darkened to a sinister expression.

"Who is this friend of yours?"

I gulped slightly before whispering, "the Dark Avenger."

The look of surprise on Kenny's face amazed me. "How do you know him? Who is he?" I wondered why they all thought I was a boy. Was my voice that low or something?

"He is my friend. I'm sorry I cannot tell you who he is." Kenny grunted a little at that before walking away. He tightened his hood again concealing his mouth and muffling his voice. I guess I did sound just like him when I was the dark Avenger.

I didn't hesitate to start work on my costume straight away when I got home. I had lots of homework to do but I procrastinated that for later. I collected together the outfit that I wore yesterday night and spread it out on the bed. A few hours later I had a whole new costume. My hood had been adjusted in a way so that everything around my eyes looked as dark as the material. The sleeves had also been replaced by a tighter material. I also replaced my converse with tight, leather, lace up boots with durable soles. I pulled back my blonde hair into a braid which I tucked under the hood. My outfit was on and I was ready for action. I leapt out my window and floated down to the ground. I wish I had thought of that last night instead of going to the trouble to sneak out the front door. The first thing I did was creep over to Kenny's house. I was going to surprise him as the Dark Avenger but I was the one who had a surprise. I peered into his bedroom window and saw him standing shirtless facing the opposite way to me. He covered himself with a dark top that matched his pants. His messy blond hair was soon covered by a purple cape. I gasped. Mysterion was Kenny! It couldn't be true; their voices didn't sound anything alike.

I waited outside Kenny's house, leaning on a tree. As soon as he was out the door I spoke up. "So you're alive again, Mysterion." Kenny didn't even look startled by me.

"Yeah, I was just visiting my friend. He was worried, a girl at school said I was dead," Kenny explained in his dark, raspy voice of Mysterion.

"I know. It was Cassie my friend. I tell her everything. Sorry, didn't mean to scare your friend."

"It's ok. You didn't know I'd be alive again."

"It's nice to know I'm not the only one with powers."

"Well ours are both very different. You see, I can't die. You can."

"Yes. I am mortal. At least I don't have to pretend to have a hangover at school because I've been reborn." I was muffled but Kenny understood every word.

In a flash Kenny was by my side and growling. "How do you know who I am?"

I laughed and in a second I had transported myself away from him. He would try to follow me no doubt but I had better things to do. I crept around the quiet town looking for some form of chaos. I walked past Kyle's house and decided to have some fun. I was getting bored. I leapt up to his bedroom window and peered in. Kyle was working busily on his homework. I felt a pang of guilt as I knew I should be doing mine. I quickly shrugged it off though. I knocked on Kyle's window and waited for him to see me before I leapt into a nearby tree and concealed myself. Kyle stuck his head out the window and called out, "Dark Avenger?" I covered my mouth through my hoodie to keep from giggling. I heard him sigh before he closed his window again.

Soon I was by Butters house. He was playing a video game when I crept through his open window and sat next to him. He just about hit the roof in surprise. "D-Dark Avenger! What are you doing h-here?" He stammered.

"Just checking up on the locals," I said as sincerely as I could.

"One day I want to be like you!" Butters said. It melted my heart. He was such a little kid still.

"Maybe one day, kid."

"D-do you have a girlfriend? Do I know her?" Butter's question surprised me more than I did him earlier.

"Um no, Butters you see… I'm a girl." Butters laughed at my answer. He insisted I couldn't be a girl. I asked why and he said that my chest was flat and my voice was too low. Well, the hoodie did lower my voice with the muffling and I guess it also made my chest smaller than what it actually was. I guessed nobody would ever guess that the Dark Avenger was me then which was good. I laughed with Butters and told him I was joking. I left to return home promptly. I was tired and had school tomorrow.

Kenny, still dressed as Mysterion was waiting for me when I got home. I was just about to jump up to my window sill when he jumped me. I didn't have time to stop him before he ripped down my hoodie. I tried desperately to hide my face but it was too late. It was now Kenny's turn to gasp. "It's you! Cassie!"

"Yes Kenny, I am the Dark Avenger," I sighed. We both looked at each other for a minute and then began to smile.

"It's so great to know who you are." Kenny pulled off his own hood revealing his mess of blonde hair flopping over his face.

"You too," I smiled.

"Why can you remember when I died? Nobody else ever does," Kenny asked looking incredibly confused.

"I don't know," I shrugged. Kenny pondered on it for a minute before giving up.

"I don't know either. Well, we have school tomorrow so I better be saying goodnight." Kenny gave me a hug before he left for his own house. It was amazing that I now had somebody else that was special like me. My heart leapt a little in the hug that he gave me and I hoped for more, to be honest. I lay in bed thinking about Kenny all night. It's too bad the mystery is up though about who I am.