[Author's Note: Hope you guys are enjoying the story. This chapter doesn't bounce around too much. I would just like to say, thanks for reading this. It means a lot to me. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send a review.]

Chapter Two

After the incident at the store, the Manager closed the Shopping Center for the rest of the day. So I had all afternoon to get ready for hanging with Layla's friends. I wanted to be a little more than casual, but I didn't want to be really dressy. I never really thought about my outfit this much, but I wanted to make an impression, since I didn't have any friends here.

I sighed, finally settling on a pair of worn in blue jeans and an AC/DC band t-shirt. I didn't have much else to pick from. I grabbed my wallet and was disheartened only seeing ten dollars remaining. This would have to hold me over for another week, until my next paycheck.

My stomach growled at me for being so wasteful of my money. It was alright. The average person could live a week without food. I could easily last two or three days. I took seven dollars out and stashed it in the top drawer of my dresser.

This small gesture would prevent me from using it. At least until I needed it.

I had forgotten to ask the specific time, but I figured about six-ish would work. So I put my wallet in my back pocket. I also grabbed my bus pass, and apartment key. I chose not to take the bus tonight, considering it was only a few blocks away. Tonight I chose to ride my skateboard.

I picked the board up and locked my door behind me. I walked the two sets of stairs and pushed open the door leading to the outside world. The cool air hit my in the face and I shivered. I threw down my board and kicked off, sailing down the sidewalk for a good hundred feet or so before I had to push again.

This maneuver got me to Frank's Pizza Joint in about 10 minutes. Apparently, I was early. For Layla was sitting at a table by herself. "Hey!" She called as I entered.

I nodded to her, walking over and leaning my board against the booth.

"Did you have any problems finding the place?" She asked.

"Not at all." I smiled at her. Without the mask, she was really gorgeous. Long red hair in pigtails. Somewhat hippy-ish clothes. I immediately knew we'd be decent friends.

"Can I buy you something to drink while we wait?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks." She nodded. "So how many friends are we talkin' bout?" I asked her, somewhat nervously.

"Well, there's Will, Ethan, Zach, Magenta, and I don't know if Warren is coming. So four, maybe five." She smiled, counting them off on her fingers.

"Ah. That's why the big booth." I laughed.

She smiled, nodding. The bell rang, signaling someone had entered the eatery. "Hey guys!" Layla exclaimed.

Hmm…We'd be good friends if she could tone down the always happy thing.

I turned to look at the people she was talking about. A boy, maybe a freshmen or a sophomore, completely dressed in yellow with platinum blonde hair, and a girl about the same age dressed completely in black and purple. Her hair was black, accented by strips of purple to match her outfit. I stifled a chuckle at their color choices.

"Guys, this is Jade. Jade, this is Zach and Magenta." She introduced.

"Hey." I said, shaking their hands.

Magenta leaned over and whispered something to Layla, who smiled and said "No, but I trust her."

I was highly curious as to what they were talking about. The bell rang again and Layla seemed to brighten completely. The boyfriend, I guessed. "Hey Will. Ethan." Layla smiled at them as they sat down and I scooted over until I was sitting next to Will, who was sitting next to Layla.

Ethan was the literal definition of geek. He was a short African-American boy, with thick black rimmed glasses and his entire wardrobe was orange and black. What was up with the color schemes?

"Will, Ethan, this is Jade. Jade, this is my boyfriend and Ethan." Layla said, smiling at Will.

"Nice to meet you, Ethan. Nice to see you again, Will." I smiled shaking their hands.

"Yeah." Will smiled.

"Again?" Zach spoke up.

"Uh…" I mumbled. I probably shouldn't have said that. What if his friends don't know he's a superhero? I totally just blew his cover.

"I saved her from this creep the other night." Will said, as if he were ordering food.

"Yeah." I nodded, nervously rubbing the back of my neck.

"Sweet." Zach said, high fiving Will. So, they obviously knew.

"Is Warren coming?" Layla asked Will.

"I don't know. He hasn't texted me back." Will said, checking his phone.

"Excuse me." I said, scooting out of the booth, heading for the restroom. As I turned around, I ran into a boy about six feet tall. His leather, finger-less gloves and leather jacket gave him away.

I just stood there looking at him. But he never released my gaze.

"You know each other?" Zach asked, them I heard something like 'Ow!'

"They were having a moment and you totally ruined it." Magenta scolded.

"Um." I said, awkwardly taking a small step back out of his bubble. "Hey."

He gave me a small smile. "Warren." He held out his hand.

"Jade." I said, shaking his hand. He let go of my hand. "Like the book." I laughed as it came to me.

"Book?" Ethan spoke up.

"Um, yeah. War and Peace." I said, enunciating the words.

He nodded. "My mom loved Russian literature."

I then noticed the whole table looked at us intently. "Uh, I'll be right back." I said, throwing a thumb over my shoulder. He nodded and I walked away, letting out a breath.

Once I relieved myself, I looked in the mirror over the sink. Could I get through all of this evening without totally swooning over a boy I didn't even know?

I pulled one corner of my mouth higher then the other, making a sideways line with my mouth. Guys had never really looked at me like that. I mean, I was pretty. But I was nothing compared to the girls at my old high school.

One of the blue streaks in my bangs suddenly fell into my eyes and I pushed it barely out of my vision. I seemed to look better when there was some sort of hair in my face.

I took a deep breath and went back out into the dining area. I frowned as I came near the booth. "Where's my board?" I asked the table, gesturing to where my skateboard had been five minutes ago.

"I moved it by the coats so nobody would take it." Layla smiled at me. I gave a smile back, sitting down at the end of the cushion with Warren next to me.

"So what kinda pizza do you guys want tonight?" Will asked, picking up a menu.

I couldn't even bring myself to look at the menu. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, leaving my lunch at the store. I forced myself not to show any revealing emotions, like, panic.

"Jade, how's a large pepperoni and sausage and medium veggie?" Layla asked. I enjoyed the fact she was trying to include me in their group decision.

"Sure." I said, shrugging my shoulders. Even though I won't be eating any of it. However, I wasn't going to let them know that. Layla seemed like the kinda girl who would freak out if I didn't eat for a day.

"So Layla. What did you get for the, uh, Science test?" Will asked, obviously improvising words. I had already figured out that they went to some kind super hero school. I mean, c'mon. They can't exactly go to public school, can they? But the conversation continued with school.

"So Jade, what school do you go to?" Layla asked, trying to get me into the conversation.

Will knew the answer, from our separate conversation, but I answered anyway. "Well, actually. I'm emancipated, so I can't go to school because of work." I tried to say the statement with gusto, as if it were cool living by myself. But that wasn't true.

"Oh, that's sad." Magenta said, sincerely.

"What grade were you in, before you quit?" Zach asked.

I thought about it for a minute. "I was just about to start my sophomore year."

"So you're like, seventeen?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah." I corrected. "So if I were in school, I'd be a junior."

"That's cool. Warren's a junior." Layla said.

Warren was obviously uncomfortable with the change of conversation from me to him. I nodded, like the comment was unimportant. "But we're all sophomores." Zach said with pride. He obviously liked the fact he was no longer a freshmen.

"So, why are you emancipated?" Magenta asked me.

"Um." I said, scratching the back of my neck. "My parents got divorced and my mom got custody. But mom's new boyfriend liked to throw stuff." I said, holding up my forearm to reveal a scar about six inches long.

The table seemed to cringe. "And dad and the new girlfriend liked to drink. A lot."

They all nodded and ended the conversation. School was once more brought up and I was content with listening quietly. I noticed that Mr. Peace also did not like to join in the conversation.

I took my napkin and scribbled "Are you bored?" and slid it over to him, returning my eyes to the table like nothing happened.

He read it, took my pen and wrote, sliding it back and returning his gaze to the table just the same. His words: Insanely. But its pizza.

I then wrote back: Oh yeah. Never ditch pizza. Again sliding it back to him.

He looked down when I accidentally touch his arm, which, I also noticed, was no longer leather clad. He scribbled one word, sliding it back to me.

I looked down at it. Never. I was disheartened that this is where the conversation had ended. But oh well. I returned my gaze and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed his posture relaxed. Because he wasn't talking to me anymore? Or because I didn't push the conversation?

Somehow, I figured it was both.

The pizza came soon after and most conversation was dulled by the crusty food. Except Zach, who seemed to enjoy having a conversation with himself as he ate. As I was laughing with them, my hunger lulled. I barely noticed it: until someone asked if I was going to eat.

I lied, saying I was fine. Even though I was starving. I felt bad eating the pizza and not being able to pay for any of it. I mean, three bucks wasn't going to get me far. I looked at the clock and silently cursed, standing up.

"Where you off to so soon?" Will asked, finishing his bite.

"I gotta work tomorrow." I said. "But it was great meeting you guys. We should hang out again soon."

There was a somewhat weak chorus of 'goodbye' as I got my skateboard and waved, leaving the restaurant. I now regretted my choice of not bringing a coat. It was eight o'clock and it was like 50 degrees out here.

I shivered, rubbing my hands together. I threw my skateboard down and kicked off. Somehow, I felt eyes on me as I rode down the street, turning at the correct road. I had only been riding for about five minutes when some jerk walking by clothes-lined me.

I fell with a thump to the ground, groaning as my head hit the concrete. I heard loud bouts of laughter. I struggled to get up, but the guy's shoe was in my face, setting on my collar bone. This movement kept me on the ground.

"New in town?" He asked, smiling cruelly. He had fairly short brown hair and wore a long black and white striped shirt with jeans. I then noticed the other guy; a husky kid about the same age. He had a baseball cap on backwards and a jacket over a white shirt, with jeans.

"Yes." I said, fearing he was going to step on my throat.

"I saw you were hangin' out with Stronghold and the losers." He said.

I assumed this to be Will's last name, as I hadn't actually got his last name. "Whatever you say." But my answer made him set his shoe on my throat, not yet putting down pressure. "Why were you hanging with the losers?" Husky asked. "They just asked me to have pizza." I said.

"Uh-huh." The tall kid said, looking at chubby. I took this diversion to take hold of tall guy's ankle and twist it sideways, throwing him to the pavement.

I stood up as quickly as I could, grabbed my skateboard and took off running as fast as my feet would carry me. But then I was forced to stop, seeing chubby in front of me. How had he moved so fast? No human alive was that fast. And how had I not seen him come up on me?

I turned to run the other way, but there was Tall Dude, as I was respectively calling him. I turned back to Husky. Still there; standing his ground and closing in. At this point, I was panicking slightly, fearing the worst.

"Duck!" I heard someone say and I dropped to my knees, covering my head instinctively.

The next moment, there was something shooting at both the guys surrounding me. What was that? Fire? No way. Not possible. But there was Tall Dude and Husky, on the ground, a big hole in both their shirts where it looked like it burned away.

"Yeah! You better run!" Said a voice from behind me.

"Will?" I asked in confusion as he helped me to my feet.

"Hey. You ok?" He asked, looking me over. The knees of my jeans were torn, revealing bloody flesh from my drop. Somehow, it never hurts until you see it. "Ow." I commented, looking over at my bloody jeans. "That's gonna suck to wash."

"You want me to take you home? I don't want you out here with Lash and Speed." Will said, looking around for the goons.

I gave a laugh. Will eyed me. "Lash and Speed? C'mon, that's so lame." I smiled.

He gave a small laugh. Then it clicked and my mind contorted in fear. "You can fly, have super strength, and throw fire?" I asked, realizing my eyes had to have been the size of a dinner plate.

For some reason, he glanced back at the tree he was standing near when he had first called out the bullies. "Yeah, well, I usually get a little help."

"What's wrong?" I asked, also looking at the tree.

He sighed to himself, turning back to me. "Nothing. You want a lift home?"

"Yeah. My legs hurt just standing here." I said, bending my knees a little.

"Alright." He said, taking my hand and lifting off. Once we were in the air, above the city, he took out his phone and called Layla to tell her where he had gone. It was about a two minute flight to my apartment, since you didn't have to take all the side streets.

"Thanks." I said, as we touched down. "Tell your friends I had a really good time."

He smiled at me. "Sure. Oh yeah, Layla wanted me to give you her phone number." He said, taking out a piece of paper and writing down her cell phone number and his.

"Thanks." I said once more, leaving his presence and joining the building.

Once I was safely in my apartment, I went to the bathroom and carefully peeled my jeans off my legs and tossed them in the bath tub. I sat on the sink, cleaning out the several little cuts that made up my injured legs.

After I had successfully cleaned off the blood, I bandaged them up best I could with the supplies I had stashed, and slipped into a pair of old sleep shorts. Work was not something I was looking forward to.