Thanks to everyone who followed, especially wierdunusualchick for being the first one!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High
1/17/16: i should be studying haha but this is better.
Immediately following my placement I was called to the office on the loudspeaker.
"Avery Greene, report to the main office please."
I stomped down the metal stairs of that goddamned platform and walked out of the gym. As I did, stares burned into my back. I wandered the spacious halls of Sky High until I came to a door marked as the main office.
I walked into the room and pushed past the all-too-eager secretary and situated myself in the chair in front of Principal Powers and her desk. She leaned forward, elbows resting on a stack of papers, fingers interlaced.
"Yes?" I growled.
"Miss Greene. Who are your parents?" she asked in a calm voice.
"S-Steve and Josie Stronghold," I muttered. Ah, here comes another pity party.
"That's what it says in your file. But I have reason to think your parents were Lance and Julia Greene. Your surname and powers give it away, dear."
"Damn," I said under my breath. "Were you watching Power Placement?"
"Yes, I was. Boomer certainly knows about your parentage. Don't worry, I can tell you're trying to keep this a secret, for whatever reason. I'll tell him and the rest of the teachers to not advertise it, but this isn't a free ticket to hide your powers. Most students here don't know that your parents had a child, so you don't have to worry about your peers." She suddenly focused on fiddling with the pen holder on her desk.
"Do you remember anything about the day your parents died?"
I jolted from my casually slouched sitting position to an alert stand. "If you're trying to be my counselor, you should know there's already one employed at this school," I snarked before I could stop myself. But damnit, where had that come from? My shields flickered between existence and nonexistence as I defensively held my stance.
"Power down, and do not use that tone with me young lady," she said, staring over her glasses with quiet authority. She sighed and leaned over her desk. "I just wanted to warn you, because you obviously remember being there and seeing the man who did it." I fidgeted as I sat back down, invisibility flickering anxiously.
"Baron Battle's son goes to this school, and I don't want to hear about any hallway fights outside of class, is that clear? Do not provoke other students, no matter what the previous generation has done. No one deserves blame for his father's actions."
I blankly took her words in. "What?"
"I'm saying, Miss Greene, that heroes must exercise good judgement when taking action, and if you can't do that, then you shouldn't be here." She had obviously taken my blank looks as feigned innocence.
"No. No! Of course, I seriously wasn't even thinking about it. I would never attack someone for something he hasn't done." I had never even thought that Baron Battle had a family. To me, he was just evil, not human like the rest of us. But now that I knew he had a son, all I felt for the kid was pity. He had the nerve to attend this school, when all the kids were aware of his father and the things he had done. Hell, some were probably like me and had family killed because of him.
Principal Powers let out a relieved smile. "I'm sure Steve and Josie would be proud. You have a lot of potential, Miss Greene, and I want to see you succeed here." So quickly that I wasn't sure it even happened, she laid her hand on top of mine and squeezed it gently.
"Carry on, then." Her face returned to stony professionalism and she turned away, rifling through a file of papers.
"Of course. Thank you," I said quickly before taking off into the hallway.
I found my way back to the gym easily. I found the crowd right where I had left it, but here Coach Boomer was pointing menacingly to Will.
I was pretty dead beat from holding the car on my force field. It wasn't the heaviest thing I ever held, but it was enough to make me tired and starving. I didn't wait for the other freshmen to be let out and walked to the cafeteria by myself. It was empty save a few lunch staff, so I made myself invisible and sat down at the table nearest to the window. I took out my turkey sandwich I made this morning and ate it while staring at the clouds outside.
In your mind right now, you might be picturing a turkey sandwich floating in midair in front of some floating clothes, but I forgot to mention another thing about my power. I could make anything invisible as long as I was touching it. I was touching the sandwich, my clothes, and my bag, so they were all invisible right now.
I heard some loud talking and realized that people were being let out of class. I just stayed invisible and prayed no one would sit at this table. I didn't really want to sit with Will and Layla because I knew they were going to be sitting with their friends from junior high, and I was in no mood for introductions.
People were piling into the cafeteria quickly as I spotted Will and Layla among the crowd. They were walking with Zack the highlighter, orange kid, and a girl that wore a lot of purple. To my surprise, they all sat down right behind me.
"Do you think Avery's at the office because of 'it'?" I heard Will whisper to Layla, to which she just shrugged in confusion.
I almost jumped in fright when I heard a rustle in front of me.
Shit.
A guy who looked like he could be part of a motorcycle gang sat down right in front of me and pulled out a book. He had dark hair with red streaks, a leather jacket, and some seriously ripped jeans on. I was too preoccupied with my problems to notice he wasn't half bad-looking. My messenger bag slid down my shoulder a bit, causing it to make a small rustling sound against my blouse.
Motorcycle dude's eyes snapped right at me, and I could tell he wasn't just looking through me.
"Am I crazy or is that guy really looking at me?" I heard Will ask his table. Then I heard Zach and Layla explain to him that he was Warren Peace.
This was Warren Peace, son of Baron Battle. The same Baron Battle that killed my parents.
I should've known, in retrospect. Underneath all the leather and long hair, I could see his resemblance to that psychopath who wore a smile even as he burn my brother to a crisp.
I was feeling pretty spooked at this point and had to get away from him. He didn't quite have the same look in his eye as Baron Battle (his eyes: a guarded brooding anger; Baron's eyes: detached mania) but I recognize hostile when I see it. Yep, I'm pretty sure he's staring at me. I must be showing an outline again. I fled the table and hurried outside the cafeteria before turning around. I made myself visible and walked to Will's table.
"Hey, Ave!" said Will as I sat down next to him. "Guys, this is my adoptive sister Avery. Avery, this is Magenta" he pointed to the girl in purple, "and this is Ethan," he pointed to the nerdy orange kid.
"Hey," said Magenta nonchalantly. I nodded.
I felt kind of shy and jittery at the moment so I just sat there as Will and Layla reconnected with their old friends. I felt oddly removed and melancholy, seeing my friends
The rest of the day was just me watching the other freshmen go through Power Placement, including Will. I don't want to explain what happened in detail because it can be explained in one word: painful. He got into Sidekick class. I wonder how he's gonna break it to Steve…
The first thing I noticed when I got home with Will was the gigantic robot eye Steve kept as a souvenir from this morning's battle. I rolled my eyes. I don't understand how he is blood-related to me.
"Oh, there they are!"
"Hey!"
"Kids of the hour!"
"How'd it go?"
"Um, Dad, we need to talk," said Will nervously as he bit his lip.
"You mean a little hero to hero talk? I think I know just the place. Come on," said Steve. I gave Will a pat on the shoulder for reassurance.
"Sanctum, I'm guessing?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's a tradition in the family. I'll take you there after Steve and Will are done, honey," said Josie. "You're flickering, dear. Is something wrong?" she led the way to the living room and sat down on the couch.
I sat down next to her. I looked down and confirmed that I was, in fact, flickering. I controlled myself and fought to stay visible.
"No, it's nothing. I'm just nervous for my first day of being a hero tomorrow, that's all," I fake smiled.
"Oh honey, don't worry. You'll be fine," reassured Josie with a warm smile. Guilt pierced me. Damn you, Will, making me lie to Josie! "I know just the thing to cheer you up. The guys are probably done with their talk, so let's go join them for some pool, shall we?"
I spent the rest of the night in the sanctum (Josie registered my biometrics for the hand-scanner this morning) beating the rest of them at pool.
Will left after the third round and I quickly followed him. I turned invisible as I followed him into his room and he pulled open his window. He climbed out and left the window open. Confused, I crept out silently and sat behind him on the roof.
Will sighed and stared at the stars. A large tree grew at an impossible rate and carried Layla onto the roof. They talked for a bit (mostly Layla giving Will a pep talk on being a Sidekick) and then just sat there and stared at the stars.
I turned visible. "So I when are you going to tell Steve you're a sidekick?" I asked, breaking the silence. Will and Layla jumped and turned around to look at me.
"How long have you been sitting there? And I'll tell him tomorrow, I promise," said Will defensively.
I just sighed and continued to stargaze with them.