Chapter 6-4

You can learn a lot in two weeks. The PRT and my fellow Wards had taught me whatever they could about being a superhero. I learned how to fight crime, how to walk and talk in a publicity event, even how to carry myself while walking around the street in my costume. What they didn't teach me was how to deal with a new school.

One of these days, someone ought to tell them that this sort of thing does not come naturally to some people.

I breathed in and calmly breathed out. I had nothing to fear. Arcadia high wasn't Winslow. Emma, Madison, and Sophia weren't waiting for me with another prank. No one here wanted to bully me. Even if someone did, the teachers would put a stop to it immediately. There was nothing to be worried about and I should stop being so afraid.

If only things were that simple.

Dad offered to drop me off this morning, but I declined. I thought I was ready and wouldn't need him anymore. Apparently, I was wrong. It didn't help that the only people I knew at Arcadia were the Wards and I couldn't really hang out with them yet. After all, Taylor Hebert had never met them. In short, I was still completely alone and given my lack of social skills, probably would be for some time.

I sighed, pulled myself together, and walked through the front gate. The yard and hallways weren't that different from my old school, albeit a lot cleaner. I caught a few people looking at me, but nothing more than a cursory glance. They acknowledged my existence, realized I wasn't someone they knew, and then moved on. Huh. Well, I suppose that's a relief. I reached out with my power and found people talking about…well…normal things. Make-up, football, superheroes, boys, that sort of thing. Just ordinary teenagers talking about ordinary subjects.

Then I realized I probably shouldn't be using my power to spy on everyone. Kind off unheroic, after all.

Feeling a little more confident (if guilty), I went to the principal's office. The secretary told me to wait for a few minutes until a girl my age and build stepped out of the office. I nodded to the secretary and walked in, closing the door behind me.

The principal herself (Howell, if I remembered correctly), was an entirely forgettable woman. Calm, collected, but nothing special or noteworthy. No way of telling whether she was going to be an ally or an obstacle. She motioned me to sit down and I obliged.

"Taylor Hebert, I presume." She stated rather than asked.

"Yes, ma'm."

"I suppose I should start off by welcoming you to Arcadia high." I only nodded in response. When I didn't answer, the principal continued: "We are also aware of your status as a Ward and will help you with your…extracurricular activities." So she knew I was a Ward. Not surprising, but good to know.

"Thank you, ma'm."

"We…have also been informed of your history at Winslow High. The inaction of the staff, however well-intentioned, disgusts me to the core. Needless to say, that won't happen here."

"That's…good to know."

After a moment of silence, she added: "You don't believe me."

I sighed. Here comes the elephant in the room. "With all due respect, ma'm, the teachers back at Winslow said the same thing after I got pushed into a locker and left to die. You'll understand I can't take that at face value."

The principal just looked at me. Was she pitying me? "I understand. It's hard to trust an authority figure when every single one of them has failed you for years. Hopefully, we'll be able to rectify that here." In spite of her reassuring tone, I didn't believe her. I wanted to, but it's hard to believe that she genuinely cares about the well-being of her students when no other teacher I've met did. "Anyway, as your team mates probably told you already, resources will be made available to you to help you cope with your double life. That said, I think it's important to mention that your secret identity is your own responsibility too. If you tell somebody who you really are, that's on you, understood?"

"Yes, ma'm. Is there any paperwork I need to sign?"

"No. The PRT has arranged that already. Here's your schedule and a copy of the school rules." She handed me two pieces of paper. Not that I really needed them: I already knew my schedule anyway. "You have homeroom in C39 with Mr. Sanchez. If there's anything you need, like books or supplies, he or one of the other teachers will be able to help you."

"I understand. Is there anything else?"

"No." Before I could walk away, she added: "Just one more thing. I meant what I said earlier. I personally believe that it's a teacher's job to get the most out of every student, not just the ones that are valuable. What happened to you is unacceptable and I won't let it happen here. If I see bullying in my school or teachers turning a blind eye to blatantly criminal activity, I will come down on them hard. Even if you don't believe I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart, at least remember that I've got standards to uphold and the PRT breathing down my neck."

I really, really wanted to take what she said at face value. It would be such a relief to be able to go to school without being afraid. That said, the universe hasn't been kind to me thus far. Bad things happen when I let my guard down and I'm not going to make that mistake again. After all, it's the definition of insanity to try the same thing over and over and expect different results. I left the office and went to class.

Homeroom was…homeroom, I suppose. More or less the same as it was back at Winslow. The only thing out of the ordinary was the teacher welcoming me and three other girls into the class. It's funny how they didn't even bother to hide the fact that one of us was probably a superhero. I idly wondered how Arcadia managed to find three girls who all looked like they could have been Banshee if you looked at them from the right angle. Then again, Arcadia had a waiting list a mile long. Plenty of girls to choose from.

I grimly wondered how many others got pushed down the list because of me and my look-a-likes.

Next class was math. I sat next to a girl with blond, shoulder length hair and politely nodded. She smiled in return. Was she planning something? I pushed that thought out of my head. She didn't know me and I didn't know her. There was literally no logical reason for me to suspect anything. Fucking paranoia.

Fortunately for me, Winslow's and Arcadia's curriculums were more or less the same and I could follow relatively easily. That, or the PRT troopers were better teachers than I realized. That said, the biggest surprise was that nothing bad happened at all. Back at Winslow, I shared math with the terrible trio and it was practically guaranteed that either they or one of their groupies would try something. Even if they didn't, the threat was always there, hanging over me like the sword of Damocles, as the old cliché goes. I was never able to fully relax. Here…people were just doing math. Or talking about normal things. If they were gossiping, they were gossiping about each other. I was being left alone. It was the most wonderful thing I've felt in a long time.

Dear god, I'm hopeless.

"So, with that in mind, I'd like you to start practicing what we've learned today." Mr. Graves, the math teacher, said. "Start working on the exercises on page 153. If you can't finish in class, you can do the rest for homework."

Ah, and there's the first problem of the day: I don't have a textbook. Now I get to ask the teacher for one while enjoying the disapproving stares and snickers of the entire class. Just when I was feeling so well. "Mr. Graves, I don't have a text book."

He nodded and put two-and-two together. "Right, you're one of the new girls. Should have thought of that earlier. My mistake. I'll get you a copy in a moment. In the mean time, why don't you work with Sam for a while? I'll be right back."

Huh, he didn't even sound disappointed. Then again, this had only been the first time I showed up without a book. He'll probably change his tune when my books get stolen faster than I can replace them.

At least this exercise wasn't too much work. The blond girl, Sam, understood the subject pretty well and basic algebra wasn't exactly rocket science. By the time the bell rang, we had most of our work done already. As for me, I got through an entire period without getting sneered at. I suppose that's a win in my book.

A few classes later, the bell rang for lunch. I was at a loss. Most people went to the cafeteria and got something to eat. For me, the cafeteria was the best place to get my lunch, my stuff, my clothes, or all three ruined. Still, I was in a new school now and that sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen here. I took a deep breath and willed myself to the cafeteria. On the way, I bumped into Sam.

"Oh, hey, Taylor! I was looking for you." She said in what I believe is supposed to be a kind tone. One that almost reminded me of Madison. She kind of looked like that bitch too, to be honest: cute rather than pretty, innocent-looking, good clothing, that sort of thing. I'd be shocked if she didn't have an agenda of some kind.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're new here, right? I gotta introduce you to my friends."

In just five seconds, she set of every alarm bell I had. Worst case scenarios started popping into my head. If Sam had something planned…

I immediately checked my surroundings. Nobody was paying attention to us, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. After all, this was how it started two years ago. Making someone's life a living hell took time and effort. However, just messing with someone didn't. It wouldn't surprise me if Sam or her friends hatched some sort of plan already.

On the other hand, Sam wasn't Madison. One: she seemed to have a working brain. Two: I couldn't detect the undercurrent of malice that always followed the bullies around though that could be because I couldn't read Sam well enough yet. Still, there was that other possibility: that Sam was just being nice to the new girl and genuinely wanted to be my friend.

The fact that it took this long for me to even consider that didn't speak well of my mental state.

"Sure, why not?" I replied, hoping to hide my indecision.

"Great!" She beamed back. Suddenly, I was being dragged into the cafeteria and in front of a bunch of girls that could only be Sam's circle of friends. How wonderful. A few awkward introductions later and we were busily chatting away. Or rather, they were doing the talking while I occasionally dropped a line when I could think of something to say.

"So, you're from Winslow, huh?" One of the girls, Tracy, if I'm not mistaken, asked me, roping me back into the conversation. "What's it like?"

"One of her cousins is about to start high school next year." Another, Mellissa quickly explained. "Winslow's basically a giant blank spot labeled 'here be dragons'. She just wants to know if the rumors are true."

It was an innocent question, even if it did bring back some painful memories. That said, most of my problems came from the bullies rather than the school itself. What happened to me probably wouldn't happen to others. Then again, the bullying wouldn't have been as bad as it was if the teachers weren't a bunch of complete jackasses.

I snickered. When it came to Winslow high, I was the last person you should talk to. Taking a deep breath, I forced down the more personal stuff. "Like what? That gang members wear their colors openly and beat each other up when school's out? That there's always someone walking around coked out of his skull and the teachers don't give a damn?"

"You're kidding." Tracy said, mouth agape. I felt a little sorry for her. Then again, her cousin was going to Winslow, so I should probably feel sorry for him instead.

"I'm not, unfortunately. School's right next to the docks, so we get all the gang kids. Just the way it is."

Tracy paled. Maybe I could have worded that better.

"But it's probably going to get better, right?" Sam asked me, probably trying to make poor Tracy feel better. "I mean, Lung got offed by that new Ward girl, which means the ABB is pretty much history. With them out of the picture…" I must have given off some sort of response, because Sam immediately turned to me and said: "Sorry, I'm a massive cape geek. I always read up on this stuff and well…"

A cape geek. My new friend was a cape geek. I suppose that meant that we had something to bond over and talk about, which is good. While being friends with the other Wards in our civilian identities isn't against the rules, it's still a bad idea. Having normal friends would be great for keeping my feet on the ground. On the other hand, if Sam followed the cape scene closely enough, she'd probably figure out who I really was one day. As much as I try to keep my cape and civilian personas separate, someone like her might be able to see through it. I'd have to be really careful around her. "Well, you're probably right about the ABB, but that just means Empire 88 is going to take over. Before you ask: yes, I'm a cape geek too." Sam's smile grew even wider.

"Well, Trace, I guess your cousin will have to deal with the Nazis then. Good thing you're white."

"How nice of you." Tracy muttered darkly. "Don't suppose you want to trace places with her."

"Not on your life. I'm Jewish."

I was really feeling sorry for Tracy right now. Not much I could do about that, though. However you want to put it, Winslow simply isn't a good school. An Endbringer could hit the place and it'd still be an improvement. If her uncle has any sense, he'd send his daughter somewhere else. Not that it was my place to say, of course.

Tracy rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You know what, I'm just going to pretend we never had this conversation. I don't want my cousin to spend the next couple months freaking out."

"Good call. Who knows, maybe Winslow will get its act together. Somehow." That's uncharacteristically optimistic of me. Guess being in a better school's doing wonders for my mood.

"But enough about that." Sam declared. "We've got four new girls in our class and a new Ward. You know what that means, right?"

Oh. So that's why she's hanging out with me. "You're just being my friend so that I'll let you in on my big secret, aren't you?" God, I sounded like a kicked puppy. Then again, I kind of felt like it too. Guess the penny finally dropped again, didn't it?

"What? No, I mean, not really, but I…" Sam's shocked expression seemed genuine, but that didn't mean much. Part of me wanted to walk away or yell at her for trying to take advantage of me, but really, what would that get me in the end? Besides, I wanted to hear her excuse. "God, I'm so sorry. You were new and you just seemed like a nice girl and I didn't realize you were one of the decoys and I really want to be your friend and…Fuck."

Sam seemed almost desperate to apologize. Too desperate, if finding out my secret identity was the only reason she was talking to me in the first place. Maybe…Maybe I was overreacting again. It's a public secret that the Wards go to Arcadia and I can only imagine that 'guess who's the superhero' is more popular than football around here. Maybe, like Armsmaster, Sam pushed one of my buttons by accident. At any rate, I can't really afford to turn away a potential friend. It's a risk, but if I didn't take it now, I was going to be very lonely.

Still, I had a mood to lighten up. Best channel Clockblocker for that. "I wish I had a camera with me. The look on your face is priceless."

Tracy and Mellissa burst into a fit of giggles while Sam did her best goldfish impersonation. "You…you are a terrible, terrible person…who is terrible." How very eloquent. If she'd said that without a massive grin on her face, I might have believed her.

"Guess that's another thing we have in common."

The girls giggled even louder, much to Sam's annoyance. "Oh, that's just…Tracy, Melissa, back me up here."

Tracy cleared her throat and said, with a perfectly straight face: "Two-nil. Taylor's favor." A sandwich collided with her face and we all started laughing.