New Friends

***

Her first day of school was lonely, but there wasn't much teaching, she was thankful for that. At lunch she sat at a secluded table her attention drawn to six kids in particular; a Goth girl, a skater boy, a boy seemingly full of himself, a blonde, a girl with brown hair, and a black guy. /They look like they're having all the fun in the world. / She sighed. Just then the Goth girl caught her eye and she promptly looked away. /If I don't make contact, I don't have to speak. If I don't have to speak, I don't have to embarrass myself. / She kept repeating that in her mind until the bell rang for 5th period, she nearly jumped for joy when it did. She ran as fast as she could without getting in trouble. And when she made it to science she was gasping for breath.

The rest of the day went smoothly and she avoided the group of kids she saw at lunch successfully. And she decided to hang out at the mall that she heard a couple of girls talking about in her 6th period. She parked her car as close as possible to the Galleria mall. /In case anyone needs m__.....Zink. Wow five years and I still mess up like that? I'd better keep that in check. / She then realized that she was thirsty, so she headed over to, what had to be, a lemonade stand, since it was a giant lemon. But halfway there she froze; working the stand was the blonde she had seen at lunch. And at the table closest to her? The other five. She sighed. /Might as well get this over with. / She decided to approach the blonde first—she was still thirsty. "Hi, can I have a small banana lemon twist?"

"Coming right up!" the blonde chirped. "Here ya go!"

"Thanks" Zeilia said. She took a sip of her drink and put a $5 on the counter.

"And your change is— "

"Keep the change." Zeilia said and turned to walk off.

"Hey, aren't you the new girl at school?" Zeilia turned around to find that the voice came from the Goth girl.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Oh yea. I saw you at lunch. I'm Nikki."

"Hi Nikki, I'm Zeilia."

"What a great name!" The blonde said this. "I'm Caitlin. That's Jude," the skater boy, "Jen," the brown haired girl, "Wyatt," the black boy. "and Jonsey." the boy full of himself.

"Um......Cool names."

"Thanks." Jude said.

"Mind if I sit down?"

"Not at all."

Zeilia smiled, she hadn't smiled since she moved to Galleria. She just hoped it would last. There hadn't been one hero call since she moved, and she hoped it would stay that way. /Why haven't they called? What if something's happened to them? Wouldn't someone call? / She was lost in her thoughts when everyone in the mall started screaming. She looked up to see what looked like a cyborg that just emerged from a bar. "Oh. My. Lord." She ran as fast as her feet could carry her and jumped into a bathroom. / Empty, good. / With a snap of her fingers, she was in costume: a ninja-like outfit with fingerless gloves, a brown leather belt with a sword, and of course, a mask. /Nice to be Zink again. / She flew back to where the cyborg was and found him with guns trained on….Wyatt!!! "Oh no…" She breathed. She snapped her fingers again and he was standing next to her. "Run." She said staring at him with a military-like gaze.

"Don't have to tell me twice! ZEILIA!!! ZEILIA WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Zeilia sighed. She forgot that she would have to explain her disappearance. /Oh well, for now I can take my anxiety out on Mr. Tin can. / She smirked. "Hey! Aluminum butt! Over here!" He looked over at her with wild eyes. / No…it couldn't be. /

"Zink! So nice to see you again." The cyborg said with snakelike charm.

"Daymoor?? I thought you were…dead."

"Awwww. Did I disappoint you?"

"No, you just, shocked me."

"Hmmm good idea." His guns turned into lasers.

Zink didn't waste any time, she snapped her fingers and reappeared behind Daymoor. Then delivered a solid punch to the back of his head. While he was seeing stars, she disarmed him and kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could retaliate, she snapped her fingers and he was gone.

"That…was…AWESOME!!!"

/ Oh no, Jude. / "Uh…well, all in a day's work and all that stuff. Um, bye!"

"Awesome" Jude breathed.

"Didn't you just say that?"

"Zeilia? Zeilia! You're okay! We were all so worried!!!" Caitlin ran over and crushed her in a death hug.

"I'm fine I was just hiding."

"Well you can't blame us for being worried. That guy looked like he came straight from a comic book!"

"Yea, well……Who's hungry?" She smiled sheepishly.

"I am." Jude said.

"Cool, let's get a pizza."