I walked through the glass doors that led into the halls of Victory Academy. I came in nervously as an overflow of kids of all ages and styles, none of whom I had ever met, rushed around looking into what would be our classrooms and rejoining with their friends not seen since the beginning of summer. I didn't have any friends to meet up with. It was my first year here, and I knew no one. I wasn't too worried about that though; I was completely content to go through this school year smoothly and without too much drama or distraction of meeting new people. That should make the adjustment easier. I had never gone to school. I was always homeschooled before this, and I was definitely more of an introvert who would be fine to keep mostly to myself. All I had to do today was figure out where my classes were, who my teachers were going to be, and not cause any problems. However, others had different plans. As soon as I began looking around, a boy around my age with reddish-blond hair walked over too excitedly for my personal taste. "Hey! I'm Will! Were you here last year? I don't really remember you. What's your name?"
"I wasn't here last year. I'm Christie. How long have you been going here?" I answered somewhat quietly.
"Around..." He paused to think about it, "forever... By the way, that's Tim. We used to hang out a lot, but now he hangs out with Flash, who's like a bully, so I don't really know what to do..." He continued speaking without a break while pointing over at two boys who were definitely older than Will and I were, the two of us at eleven. The taller one looked around sixteen and had blond hair. The other one looked closer to fourteen with black hair, but both looked rather intimidating. The younger one seemed like it must be Tim based on Will's gesture, but he hadn't stopped filling me in, "Plus, he has a creepy sister. And a creepy dog! Oh... and that's Mandy... she's scary like that" I looked over to the girl he was referring to only to notice her writing what appeared to be notes on me as she peered over her black notebook. She had long black hair and was definitely the type of person to scheme when you weren't looking. She continued watching me and writing as I looked back to Will trying to move past the fact that she was definitely watching my every move, hearing my every word... and writing it down. Then the younger one of the two boys who Will had referred to started to walk over. This has to be Tim then... I thought only seconds before he could confirm my suspicion. "Hi, I'm Tim." He said looking a tad distracted. "Who are you?"
"Christie"
"So," Will continued helping the conversation along, he seemed good at that, "What's your favorite superhero?"
I quickly thought and responded, "Flash"
"Me too!!" Will excitedly called out as if it were the best news he could hear. "He's SO cool! Like he could do everything before anyone else got a chance! And in the comics, he has MY last name!!!"
"Is there anyone in your family named Barry?" I asked with that tiny, although, unrealistic suspicion.
"No, I don't think so. I wish my mom could have just given it to me though. I was SO close!"
I looked to Tim for his answer, "What's your favorite?"
"Hmmm.. Green Lantern" He responded after a few moments.
"Hey, get back over here!" The other one, Flash, called from the back. "I need to show you something!" Tim looked slightly tense, for only a split second before responding, "Ok, coming" He walked back without another comment to us.
Tim's POV
Flash really can't give me two minutes with Will. Will's going to think I abandoned him for Flash... I thought walking back to Flash. I hated that I wasn't paying much attention to Will anymore. We had been friends for years, although I was pretty sure he thought we were closer than we actually were. But I had to get closer to Flash, and Flash did not like Will. It's important... and maybe Will can understand it someday... It was pretty unlikely though. I doubted I could ever tell him. He talked too much and said everything that came to mind. It wasn't that I didn't trust him, I just wasn't sure he was capable of keeping something to himself. I knew all his hopes and dreams, most of which included becoming, meeting, and/or helping Flash. Ironically the person keeping me from him was named Flash as well. Only this was Flash Thompson, and he was not a superhero. I only desperately hoped and prayed he wouldn't become one of the reasons heroes need to exist. "We have to get a layout of everything" he said as I closed the gap between us. I didn't really want him to have a good layout. It was never for a good reason, but that was just why I had to go with him. "I need to set things up before things actually start" He continued. At least I was still leaving him unaware of how I actually felt about it. That would be ugly. It would mess up everything I had been working for over summer, ignoring Will's invitations for no apparent reason. There were reasons, of course, but, once again, he didn't and couldn't know that, or what they were. Plus, Flash could hit. It's not that I couldn't, but more that I didn't want him or anyone else to know exactly how hard I could. "Come on, Tim!" Flash tossed a rock at me, as I failed to follow him outside and around the school, where he was no doubt planning to make the first day of school... eventful. "You know what the first day needs..." Flash was cut off by a voice calling from inside, "No leaving the school, please! This is supposed to be a chance to see your classes and meet your teachers and classmates." I knew Flash didn't plan on responding immediately, so neither did I. "What does it need?" I asked.
"A celebration of sorts, I guess you could say..."
"What sort of celebration?" I asked dreading the answer and hoping it didn't sound like it.
"This type" He responded proudly with a slightly crooked smile as he pulled out a box of fireworks.
"Flash, that's just straight up a bad idea"
"No, it's not. We'll do it outside, just close enough so no one realizes they're outside until after" He responded. That fact is, Flash doesn't take "no" for an answer. And I knew giving a warning ahead of time would expose me to Flash, once again ending everything, I was working on Why do things have to be so complicated I wondered internally, but I knew why. "Flash, Tim! Come inside!" The voice came again. That meant I had around a week, until the first day of school, to convince Flash Thompson that setting off fireworks wasn't in his best interest. And considering he didn't have a care at all whether he or I got expelled, it was probably going to be difficult.