42Capo 1.3
When breakfast was done I went back upstairs, passing by my mother as she stumbled down in a daze, moaning like a zombie. I quickly showered, got dressed, and generally got ready for the day ahead. Once I was done with that though, I was left sitting on my bed, wondering what to do. School was cancelled until the repairs were finished and I'd likely get transferred to Arcadia before then. The PRT wouldn't be picking up my family until the afternoon. With nothing to do, I flopped back onto my bed.
Then I immediately jumped back up again as I figured out what to do. Rushing downstairs, I grabbed my coat and ran out the door, shouting my goodbyes at my parents as I went, "See ya Mom! See ya Dad! I'm gonna hang out with Emma; I'll back after lunch byebye!"
I slammed the front door behind me and ran down the street to the bus stop. Then I waited for the bus to actually show up, bouncing on the balls of my feet impatiently. I managed a full forty seconds before deciding the bus was taking too long. Besides, Emma's house wasn't that far away, just three miles and a bit. I'd run between our houses before, it wasn't that big a deal.
Running at a steady pace without stopping, I made good time to Emma's. I don't know why she used to complain about that run when we were kids, I wasn't even breathing that hard. I guess she just didn't have the same energy that I did. Heh, I remember having to carry her after she tired herself out only halfway there. Anyway, I smoothed out my clothes and knocked on their front door. When no one answered in the next thirty seconds I knocked again. And a third time.
I was just about to knock again when someone from inside yelled at me, "All right, all right! Give me a second!" I lowered my hand back to my side and did my best to wait patiently. I was rewarded for my efforts when the door opened, revealing Emma's older sister Anne. She must still have had time off from her college.
"Taylor?" she asked, mildly surprised at my visit if her raised eyebrow was an indication.
"Hi Anne!" I said, waving at her excitedly. "Is Emma here?"
"Yep," she answered with a smirk. She then turned back and yelled up the stairs. "EMMA! Taylor's here!" Next she stepped aside, inviting me inside.
I could hear Emma running down the stairs as I took off my shoes and put them to the side. Straightening up and turning around, I was nearly bowled over when Emma tackle-hugged right into me. Luckily I was able to keep steady and return her very enthusiastic hug.
"Taylor! Are you okay?" I opened my mouth to answer but Emma just kept right on talking. "What happened? I tried calling your cell but there was no answer! The news said that Winslow blew up! Ohmygod, tell me you're okay!"
"I'm fine Emma, I'm fine." I did my best to calm her down. I wondered why I hadn't received any of her calls but then I remembered that my phone must have been destroyed when I Screamed. I'd have to see about getting a replacement. Now wasn't that time for that though. Gently pushing Emma back, I let her get a good look at me. "See? Totally fine!"
Emma looked me up and down and, seeing as I had no obvious injuries, seemed satisfied that I was telling the truth. Not that that made her any happier. "Okay, but what happened?" She asked with a minor scowl.
"Ehhhhhh," I waffled a bit, "That's a bit of a long story. How about we go to your room and I can tell you all about it?"
Emma pouted a bit before agreeing. "Fine. But you had better tell me everything." I nodded and we headed for her room.
Emma's room was fairly typical of a teenage girl's, at least compared to mine. She had her own desktop computer, her bed sheets were pretty and pink and she had a poster of that one cape singer, Canary, on her wall. My room, on the other hand, was filled with books, books, and more books. I sorta, might have inherited my mother's voracious appetite for reading material.
As soon as we had closed the door we climbed onto Emma's bed and sat cross-legged facing each other, just like when we were kids. Taking a deep breath, I got started. "Emma, I'm a cape."
I waited for Emma's jaw to drop. I waited for her to squee and hug me in excitement. I waited for her to tell me to quit bullshitting. None of that happened. Instead she just looked at me expectantly and made a little get-on-with-it gesture when it became clear I wasn't going to keep talking. "…yes, and?"
I gaped at her. "W-what? Is that really all you have to say? I just dropped a pretty big bomb on you, you could at least have the decency to look a little shocked."
"Taylor," Emma said with a bored tone, "you've been a parahuman for years."
"What? No I haven't!" I think that was the sort of thing I would have noticed.
"Yeah, you have." Emma sounded miffed. "You could run for over a mile without stopping by the time you were eight. You can recite all the Harry Potter books from memory. You've been taking college level textbooks out from the library for years now. Remember back when we were five and you stepped on that board filled with rusty nails? You were fully healed the next day. Normal people don't do that."
"Yeah well…" I protested. Or I tried to. Everything she said was technically true… I did do all that stuff. But that didn't mean I was born with powers or something, right? I told her so. "And besides, I couldn't have had superpowers before when I just got superpowers yesterday!"
Emma didn't quite believe me. I could tell by the Spock eyebrow. "Okaaaaaaaaay." She drew the word out, letting me know just how much she bought what I was selling. "Putting that aside for now, what happened yesterday?"
"Well, you know how I've been having trouble with Sophia?"
"What!" Emma shouted angrily, face twisted in anger. "No, I didn't know! What's she been doing to you?"
"Nothing! Nothing!" I tried to get Emma to calm down. That was right, I hadn't told Emma about Sophia. I had been keeping it from her for the same reason as my parents, except if Emma knew about it she'd probably make an even bigger deal out of it. I still didn't know exactly what Sophia had done to Emma that summer but it had become clear that once Emma was thinking clearly again (Never let anyone tell you that counseling doesn't work. Emma will be quick to correct you in such a way that will leave you with a phobia of short, shapely redheads) she was ashamed of her behavior and angry with Sophia for getting to her. Obviously, that meant that Sophia was a bit of sensitive topic and I had just undone all the effort I had put into keeping Emma happy by mentioning Sophia like an idiot.
"She hasn't been doing anything serious, I promise." I continued and Emma began to calm down. "Just spilling juice on me or trying to push me down the stairs, childish stuff like that."
That was the wrong thing to say apparently. "Pushing you down the stairs is not 'childish stuff'! People can die from that Taylor!" Emma yelled at the top of her lungs.
I could feel sweat roll down my brow. This really wasn't how I had been expecting my day to go. "B-but weren't you just saying that I wasn't a normal human? If you're right then I wasn't in any danger. You can't have it both ways Emma," I pointed out logically.
"But Sophia wouldn't know that Taylor," Emma countered, just as logically. "But she does know exactly what can happen to people who take long falls. If she was pushing you down stairs then she really wanted to mess you up. Maybe even kill you."
I opened my mouth to deny it. I wanted to give Sophia the benefit of the doubt. Frankly, I didn't think anyone would have wanted to kill me of all people, especially not another teenage girl, even if that teenage girl did seem to have serious anger issues. But Emma did know Sophia better than me, and considering what she had done yesterday… "Maybe you're right."
"I probably am," Emma muttered before speaking clearly. "So what did Sophia do yesterday? Tell me so I know exactly how angry I should be."
"Well…" I began telling the story of what had happened, starting with my arrival at school and moving onto how I smelled something weird in my locker before finishing with my Scream. By the end of it Emma was trembling with anger.
"That… That… That BITCH!" Emma screamed, clenching her hands into fists. "I'm going to freaking murder her!"
I placed my hands on Emma's fist and gently squeezed to reassure her. "Emma, please calm down. Remember your breathing exercises." Technically, those exercises were supposed to help with the panic attacks she used to have but I figured they would calm her down regardless of if was fear or anger that she was dealing with. "Besides, you can't murder Sophia. She's in the hospital."
"Watch me," Emma growled. But she did as I said and began her breathing exercises. It took a few minutes but eventually Emma calmed down to the point where she was no longer scary looking. "Okay, fine. Let's just… ignore Sophia for now. Did you really blow up your school?"
"Um…" I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. "Sorta yeah. Really, it was just the windows. And the lockers near me. And the lights. And other electronics," I scratched the back of my head before grinning sheepishly. "But the walls are still standing at least!"
Emma started giggling and I pouted. This was serious business. She calmed down pretty quickly though and I continued. "So my power is sort of a super scream that can shatter stuff. I don't really know how it works but I'm going to the PRT later today for some power testing."
"So are you going to join the Wards?"
"Yep!" I nodded enthusiastically. "Already joined in fact. Well, I got the paperwork done. I haven't actually met the Wards yet."
"Paperwork?" Emma winced in sympathy. "Augh, sounds awful."
"Oh my god, it was so boring! You have no idea! There were forms about what I'm allowed to do and forms about what I'm allowed to say and forms about what I can and can't do with my costume, which I don't even have yet, and forms about my…" I paused mid-sentence as I remembered something important.
Emma knitted her eyebrows together. "Taylor? About your what?"
"Um…" I looked at Emma and giggled sheepishly. "Hey Emma? Want to come with me to the PRT HQ later? I think you need to sign some stuff…"
Today's chapter was beta'd by Cailin, who gets a hug. :)