Screw This: Avalon's Story

"Do you know why you're here, Avalon?"

I folded my arms over my (very nearly nonexistent) chest. "Might have something to do with almost blowing up the chem lab. But I can assure you, that wasn't my fault."

Sister Adelina raised her eyebrows. "Thomas Masterson saw you fiddling with the equipment. Are you accusing him of lying?"

"Of course not!" I exclaimed as I shifted into a more comfortable position. Sister Adelina glared pointedly at me, and I realized that when I sat like that, you could see up my skirt. This is why I hate this stupid uniform, I said as I went back to the fidgety way I had sat before. "Anyways," I continued, "I noticed that the Bunsen Burner was broken, a bit off kilter, so I figured I'd try to fix it. It wasn't until Sister Emily yelled at me to stop that it combusted. And that's only because she broke my concentration!"

"Emily says she saw sparks even before it exploded."

"That's natural," I said, much more calmly than I felt. "Sparks fly to warn you it's about to blow."

"And yet you didn't stop."

"I didn't see the sparks."

"You shouldn't have messed with the burner in the first place."

"It's not like I haven't fixed things around Saint Kinnia before. And lemme just remind you, I'm a lot cheaper than a repairman."

The final bell chimed, and I rose. "So, am I in trouble?" I asked.

Sister Adelina sighed. "There isn't enough evidence to expel you, or to suspend you. And will detention really do any good?"

"I've been in there enough times that I think you know."

"Just pray for forgiveness tonight, Avalon. And I want you in the office during free period for the next week, helping with approved repairs. I won't make you stay after school. I'll see you Monday."

I shrugged, trying to look sorry. I helped with repairs when they asked anyway. Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I ran out of the office and the school.

Abigail and Lucy were still waiting for me, luckily. "So," the latter said. "How much trouble did you get into?"

"Very little. I have to pray and I can't use my free period for personal reasons for the next week."

"Not like you ever do anyway."

"My thoughts exactly."

Abbi, Lucy, and I were all ninth grade students at Saint Kinnia Catholic Academy. Only Abbi was Catholic... Luce and I had been sent here because the public schools in Byron, California tended to suck.

One thing all of us shared was our frustration. We were all frustrated for different reasons, but the school... lovingly nicknamed "Our High School Of Perpetual Misery..." was at the base. My main concern was the uniform (why can't a girl wear pants?) and the fact that though I was treated like a perfect little lady in the majority of ways, the moment something broke, I was the one they'd call on to lug out the toolbox and do some repairs. I didn't mind the fixing. I just felt like they were using me.

See, I had a gift for tools. Ever since my parents caught me with my older brother's toy hammer at age two, seeing that I had somehow managed to fix a loose bar on my crib, it had been apparent. I had never been professionally trained. I tended just to gather as much knowledge as I could by watching endless episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Trading Spaces. The rest tended to just come to me. As though I knew it already and only had to remember it.

Abigail, Lucy and I walked home, chattering about the day, mainly keeping the topics light. I split off at the end of Sullivan Road, my street, and ran the rest of the way home, eager to finally have some me time.

Of course I tripped. Of course. What else could have happened?

My skirt flew up, revealing my underwear. I really, really despise this stupid, ugly uniform, I thought as I shoved it back where it was supposed to be. Further inspection noted that my knees were skinned badly, bleeding a little bit. At least they didn't seem to have any gravel stuck in them. My hands hurt too, from trying to fall onto them, but they weren't worth much notice. They still stung, though. I cursed. I'm an old hand at getting hurt. Funny how it never seems to hurt any less.

"Are you injured?"

I looked up. Standing there was a lovely girl, though not the sort of person you were likely to see in Byron. She had a beautiful medium skin tone, black hair tied into a bun, dark eyes that looked at me from behind a sleek pair of glasses. I couldn't place her exotic accent.

She was also the sort of girl that Sister Adelina would have loved- her white Oxford shirt was crisp, and her skirt was plain black, pleated, and fit perfectly at an inch above her knees. If you had lined us up, nobody would have guessed that I was the Catholic schoolgirl.

"I'm fine," I responded, getting up with a grimace. My knees protested weakly, but I ignored the pain.

She grabbed my hand and helped me up. "Do you need any help?"

"Nah. I got it."

She smiled and nodded. "Alright, if you're certain."

"More than. Thanks for offering, though."

"Safeyah. My name is Safeyah."

"Cool name," I said, unsure how to spell that, or even pronounce it, though she had said it twice. "I'm Avalon. You new around here?"

"A few friends of mine and I are visiting Byron. I don't know if that counts me as new, or no."

Why would anyone want to visit Byron? You have to understand that despite the stereotypes of culturally-diverse, accepting, loving, wild California, Byron just... wasn't. We were that oddball conservative, white bread town. If you wanted excitement, you went to San Francisco or Los Angeles or Gardenia. You didn't come to Byron.

As if on cue, a car pulled up. A pink haired girl leaned out of the shotgun seat. "Saf!" she called. "Who's your friend?"

"Avalon," Safeyah said in her odd accent. "She lives around here."

"Cool," the pink haired girl replied. She waved at me. "I'm Roxy," she said. "Nice to meet you. Maybe we can meet up and you can show us around Byron?"

I shrugged. "Don't have much to do tomorrow, anyway."

"Great. We'll meet you here."

Safeyah opened the door and delicately jumped into the backseat, and the driver, a blonde, started driving away. What did I just agree to? I asked myself. What will Abbi and Lucy say? Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I walked the rest of the way down the road to my house.

Sullivan Road was the entrance to a typical housing develoupment, with all of the homes nearly exactly the same. Except for ours. The garage was sloppy and always open if I was home, and set up with a minifridge and an army cot. I rarely even went into the main house anymore, though my actual room was there. But until my big project was finished, I spent as much time in the garage as possible. My parents didn't mind- not because they were negligent or anything. They just knew me well enough to know I was determined, stubborn, independent, and a bit of a loner.

I laid a hand on the centerpiece of the garage- a large, broken, rusty blue car that I had dubbed Ole Denim. I had been repairing her since I was thirteen and my parents told me I could have her if I could fix her. My determination had been upped for the last couple months... I was determined to have her fixed by next week, when I turned sixteen and could legally take her out for a spin.

"Your knees."

I turned to see my older brother, Arthur... yes, we were Arthur and Avalon. Feel free to laugh. "Yeah, I tripped and fell. No biggie."

"Your skirt's ripped a little, too."

I looked down. Damn. "Remind me to fix that before Monday."

"Fix that before Monday. Now can't you stop working on that piece of crap car and come inside for a couple minutes? You can grab some pants like you like to wear and get some real food instead of that junk you keep in the garage. Besides, Mom and Dad and I haven't seen you since Tuesday."

"But my birthday is next Saturday, and I still have to get the lights working." My voice was a little whiny, but I didn't care. This was important.

Arthur's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Wait, you're on the lights? Does that mean you got the engine running?"

"Back on Tuesday. That's why I came in and took a break. Quick reward."

He held out his hand for a high five, and I delivered, slapping his palm harder than most girls could. His smile turned automatically into a grimace. "Ouch, Av, that stung."

"Sorry," I said.

We walked into our perfect little subdivision home and he sat down on a bar stool in the kitchen while I pulled out some cheddar cheese from the fridge and crackers from the cabinet. I placed them on the small table that matched the stool and got a little of both on a napkin. Small explosions, random encounters, and car talk could make a girl crazy hungry. Speaking of... "Do you think Mom and Dad would mind if I went out with some friends tomorrow?"

"Nah. Lucy and the other one?" He looked more hopeful than he tried to sound. It was no secret to me that Arthur had a small crush on Luce. But you had to give him credit- he tried really, really hard not to make it obvious. He just didn't ever succeed.

I smiled. "No, a couple others."

"Do I know them?" And that was Arthurspeak for Are they hot?

"You don't know them, you might want to. I'm straight. I'm likely not the best one to give you a rating on bra sizes and that stuff."

He nodded. "Fine."

We finished our snack and talked about Ole Denim, then I went to the den and chatted with Mom and Dad, who looked happy to see me for once. I asked them about showing Safeyah and Roxy and the girl who's name I didn't happen to catch around Byron, and as usual they fully approved on the condition I stayed safe.

The next day, I woke up and slipped on a pair of raggedy jeans and a football jersey. I threw on my tennis shoes and opened the garage door- yes, I slept in there again.

We hadn't actually agreed on a time- something I had only just realized- so I took a NutriGrain bar out of a box on top of my minifridge and walked to the place where I had fallen.

They were already there, all three of them, lounging around on the car. Roxy was sitting on the hood, Safeyah was sitting with her ankles crossed in the open backseat, and the blonde was standing tall. She was obviously the oldest. "Hey," I said to her. "I'm Avalon."

"Lysis," she replied. "So, you're going to show us around town. Can you drive?"

"Not for a week. I only have my permit."

"I'm twenty-four and I have my license. It's legal if you want to."

On one hand, I had always been shy about driving other people's cars... especially considering I wasn't exactly licensed to. But on the other hand, I could see the olive branch of sorts that Lysis was offering. I didn't really know these people. If I was driving, it would be a lot harder for them to kidnap me or something. "Okay, sure, if you really are okay with that."

The blonde girl handed me the keys and I carefully slid into the driver's seat. She got into the passenger's side and Roxy and Safeyah climbed into the back. "Any idea where you guys want to start?" I asked.

"There's a nature park we saw around here," Roxy said. "Do you know it well?"

"Yeah... but that's an odd place to go. What about, like, the mall or something?"

"I want to see the nature park," she said firmly, so I shrugged and drove there.

We got out at the parking lot and started on the winding nature trail that was the park's main feature. "You don't really get a taste for Byron walking in the middle of nowhere," I warned.

"Get a good taste of the wildlife," Roxy said. Safeyah nodded solemnly.

I sighed, and we kept walking. In about half an hour, we were surrounded by woods and by a river, just us four on the path and a few animals that we heard, but did not see. "Let's stop for a minute," Roxy said. We had all been talking up to that point, utterly distracted from the brisk pace, so I was surprised. Maybe I was the only one without aching feet... I was fairly active.

"So," Roxy said in a conversational tone when we were all sitting. "Do you believe in magic, Avalon?"

I shrugged. "I kind of have to, don't I? It's been confirmed on CNN and ABC and NBC and all those other big initials. Down south in Gardenia, right? The aliens with wings and all."

"Yes... but do you believe in it?"

"I don't know! Ten years of Catholic school tends to strengthen your belief in miracles and reduce belief in fairies and elves and stuff. Maybe it's hypocritical... but I believe what I see."

Lysis and Roxy smiled at each other conspiratorally. The pink haired girl made a fist, then opened her hand to reveal a small orb of green light.

The breath went out of me. "Holy crap," I whispered.

Roxy's smile turned into a serious face. "You can do it too," she said.

I could feel my eyes widening. "You're not serious."

"Yes, she is." Lysis looked me dead in the eyes. "Avalon, we need you. Do you know the whole story of the Magical Renaissance?" The Magical Renaissance was the 'offical' name for last summer, when the aliens came down and fairies emerged from some obscure island.

"Um, alien fairies came, found enslaved race of fairies or something, beat up enslavers, enslaved fairies beat up alien fairies, eventually overcame differences, then the happily ever after."

"Basically. Well, the enslavers... the Wizards of the Black Circle... were taken care of. But they have apprentices. And those wizards will not stop until every fairy on Earth is trapped or dead. At first, we were gathering students. But now our need is even greater. We need a force to be reckoned with. And you, Avalon, are part of that force."

I looked at the three girls. They were all so different looking, and different acting. "You're all three fairies?" I confirmed disbelievingly.

Safeyah smiled. "It is hard to believe," she said in a weird accent. "But I am the fairy of lightning. Roxy is the fairy of animals. And Lysis is fairy of science."

"And what am I?"

Roxy shrugged. "It's hard to know. It normally manifests in whatever you're best at, unless it's nature related, like Saf's power. Do you have any major strengths?"

"I can run exactly three steps without tripping, I can make a killer peanut butter and applesauce sandwich, and I fix things."

"Oh joy," Roxy said darkly. "The power of peanut butter. That will definitely save the world." I was learning that Roxy was almost as sarcastic as I was.

"I bet you're the fairy of building, or something similar," the oldest girl said. "Is there anything you can build or fix that we can observe? It's the easiest way to tell."

"Well, there's Ole Denim, my car..." I said uneasily. I didn't know how well I liked this idea.

"It's perfect," she said, getting up. The rest of us followed, and soon we were all heading back to the parking lot, determined to figure out what the hell was going on... for them, that meant what my power was, for me, it meant if they were generally demented or if I really was a fairy.

A little part of my brain scoffed. A fairy? Me? I'm not a fairy at all. I'm a tomboy. A Catholic schoolgirl. A mechanical genius. Clumsy and only fifteen years old. Who are they kidding? And do I believe them, really? I wasn't sure.

We could see the lot through the forest, the sunlight cutting through the thinning trees, when all of that light we were looking for suddenly disappeared. It wasn't pitch black- I could still see the three fairies, but it was hard. I had to squint. "Avalon, get behind me. You too, Safeyah," Lysis said.

"Lysis..." Safeyah protested.

I wasn't so fond of the idea myself. "No way! I don't know what's going on, but I can take care of myself! I'm a big girl."

"Neither of you are ready for this. Neither is Roxy, really, but at least she's had some battle experience." Before either of us could say something else, the older fairy added, "And not lucky shots or schoolyard fights. Get behind me now, both of you."

We obliged, and almost on cue, a shining light in the sudden darkness appeared. From it stepped a boy, with blue hair and nearly white skin. If he hadn't looked so menacing, he would have been cute. Even now, he was attractive in the way a wolf might be- pretty, but ready to eat you. I wouldn't have admitted it, but I was suddenly a bit happier that I was behind an experienced fairy. "Nyklus!" Roxy exclaimed.

The boy smiled, and his smile was evil. "Roxy. Is your wing still smarting?"

Roxy practically snarled. "Oh, this is on!" she said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. So, are you going to transform? Or did I ruin that for you?"

"In your dreams, scaryface!"

Suddenly, I was squinting. A green light and a pale blue light nearly blinded me for about half a minute. Somehow, they also transfixed me, almost hypnotic. When the light faded, Lysis and Roxy were standing there in full fairy form, transformed. Their clothes sparkled and glimmered, and large wings were on their backs. One of Roxy's was a little bit off kilter... slightly broken. Did this guy do that? I wondered.

The two transformed fairies held hands and shot an energy beam at Nyklus, one that he dodged, levitating into the air slightly. Lysis shook her hand out of the pink haired girl's and, wings beating, rose from the ground herself, shooting energy at him as she went. Roxy tried to follow, but ended up collapsing to the ground, crying in pain.

My eyes followed Lysis. She was persistant, but her attacks were not very effective. Nyklus dodged easily, and in the few instances where the energy beams hit him, he barely seemed to notice.

I glanced at Safeyah. She looked panicked and conflicted, but then her eyes met mine. Maybe I looked as scared as I felt... but the light was around her, and thirty seconds or so later, she had transformed too, and was flying up to help Lysis.

I had gotten the impression that Safeyah was like me, a new fairy who they had scouted, and the battle only seemed to confirm that guess. Saf tried her best to help, but her energy beams were weaker and didn't shoot as far as the ones Lysis threw. There's no way they can win this. Maybe if Roxy wasn't out of flight commission, but with just Lysis and Saf? This isn't going to work unless... unless I transform.

What was I thinking? Hadn't I just been doubting my own fairyhood? How the hell was I going to transform?

Transform. Transform. Transform. The word echoed in my head like a mantra. I focused on it, blocking out the battle around me, consumed by the word and all the desperation in contained. I closed my eyes for a second.

When I opened them, there was light all around me.

My hands were in fists at my sides. I brought them up, my arms crossing in front of my chest. My hands released the tension, and I smiled. I had no clue what my body was doing, but it felt pretty good. I whipped my short hair back and felt it lengthen slightly, and when I looked down, my shirt and jeans had been replaced with a sparkly silver one-piece jumpsuit that went to my knees and my elbows. Fingerless black gloves had materialized on my hands, and boots suitable for working in any sort of mechanical job protected my feet.

I felt a small sting on my back, then a feeling of joy. I had wings. Wings that looked like sheets of metal cut to look like normal, delicate fairy wings. Perfectly me. I wasn't sure if they'd get off the ground... but the costume department sure knew my personality. "Avalon, fairy of tools," I said, testing the idea out as the light faded. "I kind of like it."

I flew up to join Lysis and Safeyah. "Nice weather up here," I said conversationally.

Lysis glanced at me. "You should have stayed out of this, Avalon!" she said. "This is dangerous."

"Well, you told me to stay behind you, so well, here I am. Don't worry. I told you, I can take care of myself."

"Fine, then prove it," the older fairy snapped, so I channelled my energy and started throwing it against Nyklus.

It really wasn't doing much. In fact, he was laughing. As one of Saf's beams came hurdling towards him, he caught it in his hand and crushed it between two fingers. "They just don't make fairy magic like they used to," the wizard sighed in fake regret.

I could see the two other airborn fairies starting to lose hope. Looking down, Roxy wasn't doing much better. I pursed my lips and did what I did worse and least- thought. Strangely enough, I had an idea. "We need to get on the ground," I said.

"What?" Lysis and Safeyah said in unison.

"If all three of us can combine our powers with Roxy, we stand a fighting chance. Rox and Lysis almost had it at the very beginning... they just missed. With four fairies, we can do this."

Lysis's eyes widened. "That's right! Avalon! You're brilliant!"

"Nah, I'm just a grease monkey with a typewriter. Give me credit if it works."

We flew down to the ground and landed next to Roxy. "What are you doing?" the fairy with the broken wing asked, in the same tone someone might ask "How stupid are you?"

"We're saving all of our butts," I responded. "You can't fly, can you stand?" She nodded. "Okay. Get up. We all need to combine our powers."

"Convergence."

"Bless you. Hold hands with me."

She did, and Lysis took the other side. Safeyah held Roxy's hand. As if on an invisible countoff, we all channelled our energy into our hands. Somehow, I ended up with it. "Why me?" I asked. "I'm the noob!"

"You're also the one who had the idea!"

Lysis had a point.

I aimed, carefully. Luckily, Nyklus was flying down towards us, but slowly, cautiously... you could tell he had no clue what we were doing. I aimed the energy at him with my mind, and when I had a clear shot, I let it go.

It hit him, and I silently cheered, especially when the wizard flew back into the top of a tree, crashing through branches and finally hitting the ground with leaves stuck all through his hair. I laughed a little. It was a great sight, seeing a jerk like him looking like that.

He stood on wobbly legs. "I'll be back," he warned, before waving a hand and jumping through a dark portally-thing that had appeared out of nowhere.

"We'll be waiting to kick your butt once again!" I promised, thought I wasn't even sure if he could hear me.

Lysis looked at me. "You sure adjusted to being a fairy fast," she commented.

I smiled. "Hey, it's fighting. Someone should have told me that before. I would have been all in."

"Being a good fairy is a lot more than fighting. Unfortunately, that's the main bulk of what we have to do lately. With the emergence of these wizards, no fairy on Earth is safe."

I cracked my knuckles. "Sounds good to me. Let me at 'em."

"First, let's let you at that car. I'm still curious about it," Roxy said.

"You'll be bored out of your wits," I warned.

"Try me."

"Fine," I said, and Saf and Lysis laughed. Roxy and I joined in. I think this won't be so bad, I decided, thinking of how my life was going to go from now on. But with that thought came the inevitable worry. "Oh my gosh! How am I going to explain this to my mom and dad?"

We all looked at each other and ran to the car, getting in and planning the best way not to freak out my family.

Author's Notes: Well that wasn't long or anything.

Avalon belongs to Musicalyak. I hope I used her well! Next up is RainFlowers' Kristina. I'm so excited to write her, though I did have to tweak a few things in her character.

Be sure to review telling me how you like this! Thanks for twenty reviews already. Also, if you like this story, you might also enjoy my 2nd gen fic, Legacy of Light.

Thanks for reading!