"Hold it right there. And…we're good."
Emily gave a sigh of relief as she sat up, stretching a little. Whenever she posed like that, she was reminded of how hard it was to stay still for so long. Still it was good exercise even it was murder on her joints. She stepped away, taking a swig of water.
She was currently doing some modeling for Fiona's Fabulous Fashion, an up-and-coming fashion chain that was proving to be pretty popular. Her mom had jumped on the opportunity the second it had come up and Emily didn't mind seeing as it was simple stuff, just showing off some of the new dresses and skirts. At least it wasn't a bikini. She hated those poses for the summer shoots but her mom always found a way to get her front and center in them.
"Oh well done honey," her mom said, walking up. "Just make sure to keep that arm covered up. We don't want the camera to get that scar of yours."
"Mom, it's fine. It's practically healed by now."
"Practically doesn't mean completely," she reminded. "All it takes is one image and then that's all people will see. Then your image is ruined and that'll be that."
Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, Emily thought to herself. It wasn't even that big of a scar. She looked at it now, seeing it was now more just a blemish on her skin than anything else. She was more grateful it hadn't hit an artery or something like the doctors had said or else she might have lost her arm. She shuddered at the idea of continuing all her training one-handed. She knew she would be able to do it, it would just mean that much more work.
That whole incident had been a lucky break for her. She still couldn't believe she'd made it through with just this small scar. It felt like she should have deep wounds or something but physically, she was perfectly fine. Mentally? Well, that she was less sure of. She had no idea where to even begin to wrap her head around it all.
Neither did Britta. Emily had found her after the fight ended, unhurt, and had felt a wash of relief. But that nearly faded over what happened next.
"What did happen?" Britta asked, scratching her head.
"Wha-what do you mean? You know what happened. You were there."
"I remember…an explosion. Yeah, there was some kind of explosion and then a few others. I think they said…it was a steam vent or something like that."
Emily had stared at her friend like she was crazy. "What are you talking about? Don't you remember? We were in the gym and then that giant attacked us."
"No…" Britta said, now staring at Emily like she was the crazy one. "Did you hit your head?"
"Did you?" Emily retorted. "We were practicing with my powers and…"
"Wait powers? What powers? You have…" Britta stopped suddenly. 'Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a sec." She closed her eyes and clutched her head. Emily's stepped closer, concerned but Britta waved her off. "I…I remember we were in the gym. And we were…I stretched…your arm…and then there was this…OH!" she suddenly yelled, gasping. "We were attacked by a giant. And you have powers. And then…oh my god, I remember now."
They spent the next few minutes going over it. Soon after that, Emily learned that what had happened to Britta happened to everyone else. No one at the school remembered what really went down. Travis told her that it was probably the people above Swarm like this mysterious Lord Kane. He figured Britta was able to fight it off because she had seen Emily use her powers for a few days. Emily wasn't sure but she didn't have anything better. She was just grateful she didn't need to talk Britta through it all again.
She'd spent the last few weeks just…moving on, she guessed. She didn't know what else to do about it. What should she do about it? It wasn't like she was going to forget it ever happened but she didn't want her life to suddenly change because of it, even if it had. Which was why she kept agreeing to her mom's photoshoots. They may have felt demeaning and wore her down, but at least she was used to them. Besides, it returned a sense of normalcy to her life.
That's why she was doing them. Definitely no other reason.
"So this is what you deal with every day, huh?" Britta asked, eating a complimentary muffin.
"You think I do this every day?" Emily asked incredulously.
"I don't really know what you do on your downtime. I honestly pictured you doing cheerleading poses while a recording of yourself kept yelling at you to do better."
"Yeah, that sounds crazy," Emily said sheepishly, choosing not to say she actually did do that.
"Still, it's pretty nice. And they have good food too. You want some?"
Emily looked at the spread of food on the table and while her eyes wandered over to the cookie selection she sadly took a green apple. With her mother watching, she wouldn't be able to take anything else.
"So why'd you invite me here anyway?" Britta asked through a mouthful of muffin.
"I don't know, I just needed a friend for this one. My mother can be a bit much at these things, or wherever, so I just wanted you here to remind me that sane people do exist."
"Aw thanks. Though your mother keeps giving me these looks."
Emily glanced over just in time to see her mom shaking her head. "I don't think she likes you eating a muffin. She's a bit of a health nut."
"Well she should lighten up. A muffin every now and then doesn't hurt. Besides, with your training regimen, there's no way it'll have a real impact."
Emily nodded. It was the argument she'd used to make with her mom over her eating choices. She stopped now since she knew there was no swaying her, so she just ate junk food in secret.
"But you never answered my question."
"What question?"
"Why do you do this?" Britta asked, gesturing around them to all the people and cameras surrounding the next teen model up. "I mean…no I don't get any of it. So why do you do it cause it seems like you hate it?"
"I don't hate it…exactly."
"Really?" Britta gave her a dubious look. "I've never seen anyone look so relieved as when the dude over there said you were done. Except possibly when my parents when my little brother learned how to use the potty."
"Well, it's just…my mom wants me to do it and there's no harm in it."
Britta gave her another look and Emily winced, knowing how weak of an excuse that was. "Judging from how often I've heard you complain about how little time you have for everything, I think it does. Besides, your mom doesn't control your life. Just say no to her."
"It's not that easy."
"Yes it is. I do it all the time. My mom keeps asking me to go to a museum or gallery with her and I keep saying no cause I don't want any part of that boring crap."
"It's just…" Emily stumbled, not sure what to say next.
"Just what?" Britta prompted.
Emily didn't want to say it. She'd never even really admitted it to herself. It was true, she hated modeling. It was a waste of time and everyone pretty much treated her like an object, even her own mother. She really didn't care about being famous or getting attention for it.
Except for one small thing.
It was her secret hope fear. Walking home one day, she'd seen an advertisement of her in a dress on a billboard. She'd seen a few of her ads on TV and a couple around town. And every time she did, she just rolled her eyes and moved on. But, still, she felt a tiny seed of hope sprout that maybe, just maybe, he would see it.
Maybe her dad, wherever he was, would see her. And know she was ok.
"Look it's nothing. Just…forget about it, alright?"
"Look, Emily, we've known each other for a long time. So, I'd say I know you pretty well and I also have a pretty good guess as to why you do this since you are the least vain person I know. Not saying these people are vain, but…you know what I'm saying."
"…I guess." Emily was getting a little worried. She'd never told Britta anything about her dad. It was the one thing she kept secret.
"Great. So, I think you do this the same way you push yourself all the time to be the best. Because you're trying to prove something. Also, I heard you mumble it a lot so that helped me figure it out."
"I don't mumble it that often."
"Yes, you do. Look, Emily, I won't pry," Britta said softly. "But I just want to say, you don't have anything to prove. You are a badass warrior queen all on your own. And if people don't see that about you or just don't see you, then I don't think you need those people in your life."
But that's the problem, Emily wanted to say. She was, as Britta said, a badass warrior queen because someone wasn't in her life. That was the foundation for her whole personality. If she just let go of him, just moved on, then…who was she?
"Ok," she said. "I understand." But she could tell Britta didn't believe her and Emily couldn't blame her. It wasn't that convincing. Still, Britta did understand and walked away to get another muffin. Emily stared after her for a second before sighing. She looked up at one of the ads just as it happened to show a picture of her in a cute new outfit. After the attack on the school, she had actually wanted to do this stupid shoot, to get her pictures out there. Just in case he'd heard of the attack and was worried. He might not reach out because he was embarrassed from how long it had been, but he'd still want to know. So Emily would do another pose for an ad so he could see it and know that she was ok.
But deep down she knew the truth. She just didn't want to accept it yet.
Madison didn't like to admit this, but she missed Travis. When he'd first arrived at her table in lunch, he came across as annoying with his hyper commentary on superheroes and their place in the world. He could make any conversation about them somehow, though he did do most of the talking for all of them. Madison had found him irritating at first but was too shy to tell him to leave. But then she kind of got used to him, especially when he listened to her talking about programming. She could tell he didn't get it, like at all, but he still tried to listen which is more than she could say for most people. Eventually, she'd even found him sort of endearing.
Now, she hadn't seen him in weeks. Sure, she saw him in classes but he rarely talked, mostly just keeping to himself. And as soon as class ended, he was gone, just speeding right out of there. He didn't stay for lunch anymore and she couldn't find him in any of the common areas. He just came for the classes and then left again to who knew where.
Madison had tried talking with Franklin about it but he didn't know anything either. He said Travis sometimes stopped by the deli where he worked but only to pick up some food before he left again. Madison wanted to check in with his family but she had no idea where he lived. She could always ask his brother but she'd heard enough stories from Travis about him to know to stay away.
She had finally worked up the nerve to text him last week but he only responded with one word answers like: 'no,' 'fine,' 'maybe,' 'ok,' and the very rare 'yes.' With every day that passed, she got more and more worried about him. She knew he was planning on going up against Swarm again and this time, with everyone else bailing, he would be doing it alone. She really didn't understand his decision. She obviously knew he loved superheroes but she didn't know he was so willing to risk his life to be one. Swarm had wiped the floor with them the first time and the second time had basically done the same with the others and they seemed to have stronger powers. But when she'd tried to talk him out of it, he just walked away. Now she had no idea what to do.
You don't know what you have until it's gone. She'd heard that phrase before and never fully understood it until now. Travis had been her first real friend, the first person to really talk to her and get to know her. Now that he wasn't here, she felt empty.
She still had Eustace but he was as talkative as ever, more content with his drawings. Madison understood that. She'd rather be in the computer lab doing some programming but they didn't allow food in there. Still, she missed talking with someone so she decided to give it a shot.
"Hey Eustace."
He gave a soft grunt in response.
"What are you drawing there?"
"Pictures."
Madison grimaced but couldn't blame him on that since she used that same response with her own family when they asked what she was working on or reading. It was clear he wasn't in the mood for talking so she went back to eating in silence. She wished Sumin were here as at least they were willing to engage in conversation even if they also preferred silence. But they were currently at chess club which only met during lunch hours.
After a few minutes, Madison got bored. She didn't like this feeling. She tried to eat her food a little faster but then got a stomach ache and had to stop. She wished she could just go back to the time before she was friends with Travis. Then at least she wouldn't feel this way.
But…she'd been so lonely then. Just like she was now. She slumped over, not sure what to do. She just wanted Travis to come back, which made blush again.
"Are you ok?"
Madison glanced up, surprised to see Eustace looking at her. "Oh, sorry. I'm just feeling a little down right now."
"Because of Travis?"
Madison's eyes shot up and she gaped for a second before slumping down again. "Is it that obvious?" she muttered.
"If I'm noticing it, yes."
"Fair point. Ugh, who knew someone so annoying would be so endearing?" She couldn't believe she used that word to describe him, but that was honestly how she felt.
"So what'd you do to scare him off?"
"I didn't do…anything?" she said hesitantly, recalling their last conversation and wincing a little. She supposed, in hindsight, she may have been a bit harsh with him. Especially when saying his plan was an 'idiotic and suicidal way to go about life' and that 'he would never be a real superhero since they didn't exist.'
In her defense, they were still recovering from the big fight with Swarm and her emotions, especially fear, had been running pretty rampant at that point when he told her his plan. Still, she shouldn't have said all that. At least, not in that way. She still meant the main point, that he shouldn't do this. It was crazy for a fifteen-year-old kid with absolutely no combat training to go looking for someone like Swarm who had nearly destroyed the school and killed them all.
"Sounds like you're not sure," Eustace said as he returned to his drawings, currently doing some medieval portrait with a knight and dragon.
"I'm…I don't know," she admitted, putting her head in her hands to stop from slumping again. "He's just…planning on doing something crazy and…I don't know, I guess I went overboard."
"Hmmm. Well, I'd ask what he's planning, but then I realized, I don't care."
Madison snorted. "Yeah, well, I didn't really feel like explaining anyway."
"Great. So we're on the same page."
"How are you doing? After what happened with the…uh, steam vent explosion," Madison asked, only just remembering the fake story that had been somehow planted in people's minds. "I'm sorry, I should have asked sooner but…"
"It's fine, whatever," Eustace said, waving her off. "And I'm fine. I wasn't even really there when it happened. Besides, it's not like I would have missed this place if it did get destroyed."
Madison frowned. "What makes you say that?"
He gave her a look. "Come on. This place sucks. It's filled with people like them," he gestured to the middle of the cafeteria where Andrew Stroneman was making a scene with his friends by arm wrestling them. Nearby, Luke Decker and his friends seemed to be having fun as they were laughing and joking around. "People more than happy to bully and belittle others to have a taste of popularity."
"Ok, well, Andrew is kind of the worst, but Luke's not so bad."
"Come on Madison. He only really cares about himself and what he wants. The rest of us? He doesn't care about us. We're just…extras to people like him. Bystanders to his accomplishments. The whole school's full of them. All anyone keeps talking about is those ridiculous student elections. They do realize that nothing is going to change because someone gets elected, right? Their school lives aren't going to get dramatically better or worse based on one vote. It's just a way for those people to get noticed. Nothing ever really changes around her."
Madison was pretty sure this was the most Eustace had ever said. She honestly didn't know much about him other than he liked drawing. Though his outlook on school life was…a little sad.
"Honestly, I was kind of hoping the school wouldn't reopen. Don't really have any good memories here. But they fixed it up in time, so here we are."
Madison opened her mouth and closed it again, not sure how to respond to that.
"But I'm glad you weren't hurt. Or anyone for that matter, even them," he gestured again to the popular tables. "I may not like those guys but even they don't deserve getting killed by a, um, steam vent explosion. Or, you know, killed in general."
"Well, I'm glad you weren't there either," she said. She gave him a close look, trying to peer into his mind. It was still so creepy how everyone's minds had shifted. Madison may be terrified of the truth but she was even more terrified of someone messing with her head. To her, her mind was the one thing she could count on and for someone to be able to just rewrite it like it was some program made her nauseous. And these were the kind of people Travis seemed to be going after.
They ate the rest of their lunch in silence before standing up simultaneously to go deposit their food trays. As they did that, Eustace grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the rack, taking a swig from it.
"Well, see you, I guess," Madison said awkwardly.
"We eat lunch together every day, so I'd assume so." He then gave her a soft wave before turning around and walking away.
Madison watched him go for a second, wondering why she'd never really talked to him before. She didn't know much about him, basically nothing, now that she thought about it. And as much as she hated starting conversations, she did admit it was nice talking to a friend and she did want to know Eustace more. She decided she would try again tomorrow. With that in mind, she turned and walked to the other cafeteria exit that would take her to the computer lab. She hadn't made it a few steps when she suddenly heard a thumping sound and then a lot of laughter. She turned and gasped when she saw Eustace on the ground right next to Andrew Stroneman's table, the entirety of which was now laughing at him lying on the ground.
"Watch where you're walking, loser," Andrew smirked next to him, pulling his foot back. "Hey, look at that." He leaned down and Madison saw that Eustace's orange juice had spilled all over Andrew's shoes. "These are my favorite pair. I think the little runt should apologize, don't you?"
"Definitely, Andrew," one if his goon squad replied.
"Yeah, that was rude of him."
"Teach him a lesson."
Madison stood there in disbelief. Were they serious? Madison herself had gotten teased and picked on plenty of times in her life and she was sure Eustace and probably Travis as well had too along with many other kids. But this? This was straight up bullying. She wasn't sure what to do now. Go to a teacher? Step in? Leave and pretend she never saw it?
She opted for none of the above and just watched, frozen in place.
"Well, what do you say, twerp? You going to apologize?"
"For what? Getting tripped by your big ass feet that you stuck out?" Eustace asked as he got back up. "Sure. Have some of this." He then kicked the orange juice bottle across the floor, splashed them all even more.
There were gasps all around the cafeteria as Andrew's group leapt to their feet, swearing and glaring at Eustace, none more so than Andrew himself whose arm shot out, grabbing Eustace by his collar and dragging him forward.
"That was a seriously stupid thing to do," he said through gritted teeth. "Now I'm going to pound you into the ground." Madison looked around anxiously. Wasn't there a teacher or someone who could step in? But they had all vanished and none of the other students seemed that eager.
"Hey why don't you just relax and put him down, Andrew." Madison let out a soft sigh of relief as Luke stood up.
"Stay out of this Decker!" Andrew almost snarled. "You have no right to talk after that disaster you pulled last game."
Luke looked like he'd been physically struck and sat back down. "Hey, that wasn't Luke's fault!" one of his friends said but he just stopped them.
"Now," Andrew said, turning back to Eustace, "I'll make you a deal. You just apologize right now and promise to pay for my new shoes, and maybe take care of my homework for the rest of the year, and I'll let the whole thing go. Sound fair?"
"Screw you!" Eustace said, his fists clenched so hard they were trembling, his eyes full of hatred. Madison was breathing so hard, she was practically hyperventilating. What should she do?
"Well, I tried being nice," Andrew shrugged, somehow smirking and sneering at the same time. "Now I'm going to-"
"Stop!"
For a second, Madison wondered who had spoken before she realized she had taken a step forward, her mouth open. Her heart skipped a beat as she took in what she was doing. She wanted to back off and run away, but her feet wouldn't move. She had somehow managed to find the courage to rush into battle and facedown an actual supervillain who was trying to kill her. If she could do that, then she could do anything.
She just really didn't want to.
"Leave him alone."
"Stay out of this little girl, or you're next."
Madison didn't know how she had managed to get into this position but she couldn't stop now. "I don't get it," she said. "What do you get out of this? Does it make you happy, to pick on him? Does it satisfy you to make fun of him? To beat him up? Does that make you feel better?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Then that's just pathetic." As soon as she said the words, Madison's eyes flew wide and she nearly gasped herself. She had never done anything like this before. She had no idea she could even do this. So why the heck was she?
"What did you just say to me?" Andrew asked, glaring menacingly at her. "I'm going to give you just one chance to apologize or I'll pound you too, I don't care that you're a girl."
I'm sorry, Madison thought. She almost said it out loud, but she stopped herself, saying it in her head instead, but not to him. She wanted to let her body know that she couldn't back down. She knew she couldn't use her powers in front of everyone so he would probably beat her up or something. She would just have to take it.
"I said you're pathetic."
There was a low hum of silence as everyone stared wide-eyed at the scene. Andrew's nostrils flared like a bull and he tossed Eustace aside where he hit the ground, trembling. Andrew then walked forward, cracking his knuckles. "I don't really like messing with girls cause that would be pathetic. But today, I'll make an exception for scrawny little rat like you."
He reached out for her and she stared, shaking, unable to move. But strangely enough, she had no regrets. All her life she'd been terrified of people and what they'd do. But she was glad she stood up for herself and especially for Eustace. And she would do it again, though maybe not in a heartbeat.
"Now, why don't we-" Andrew began, fingers just touching her collar.
"Don't touch her."
Madison knew the voice. She'd heard it almost constantly for a year now. It was always a cheerful, upbeat, sarcastic voice that made her day a little better. This time, it was dark with a hard edge to it. She looked up and saw Travis was now next to her, having suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His arm was in front of her, blocking Andrew's hand. His expression was hard as rock, glaring with absolute fury at his brother. Madison barely recognized him, the joy in his eyes gone.
"Step aside, little brother. Or I'll beat you to a pulp."
"I'd like to see you try," Travis replied.
Andrew smirked at him. "Look at that. Little Timmy here has finally grown some balls to protect his little girlfriend." Madison was too anxious to blush, watching them both carefully. "I'm impressed. But there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity and you're about to cross it."
"And there's a fine line between bad breath and radiation, but you crossed that years ago."
There was a cough and then a few snickers and chuckles around the room. Madison herself had to choke back her own giggle, not expecting Travis to say that with such a serious expression.
Andrew's face took a dark turn as he heard the laughter around the room. "That's it, loser. Now you're going to-"
"What's going on here?"
Finally! Madison cheered as Mrs. Leilani approached them.
"Yeah Andrew," Travis said. "What is going on here? You're standing a little too close to me and my friend for comfort. It's rather…threatening."
"Watch it, nerd, or I'll-"
"You'll what?"
"That's enough!" Mrs. Leilani's voice echoed across the cafeteria. "Unless you boys want to see the principal, break it up and walk away."
"No problem," Travis said. He put his hand around Madison's shoulders and guided her away. Her heart was still beating a mile a minute and her mind was racing a little less than that. She couldn't believe what had just happened. And she had been attacked by a supervillain a few weeks ago.
"You ok?" Travis asked her as they left the cafeteria.
"Uh…yeah, I think so."
"Great. Sorry to do this but I gotta run."
"Wait…what?" It took a second for Madison to process what he was saying. "Really?"
"If you need me, give me a call."
"But…" Madison barely even said that before he was gone in a rush of wind as quickly as he came, leaving her standing there, staring at his empty spot.