193This chap is dedicated to all my new followers and those who have favorited my story ^_^
Songs: Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus & Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler
Victoria was fairly sure she could not possibly be in a better mood. Since the dance a week ago she and Warren had been getting progressively closer. Though they weren't exactly dating quite yet, they were working up to it. They even sat together on the bus in the morning and again on their way back home, talking and more often than not sharing earbuds as they listened to whatever song the randomized setting presented them with.
Walking back to class from Lunch, the halls were pretty much clear since Victoria had taken an extra minute or so to finish eating, since most of the lunch period had been spent talking to Warren about the latest book he'd been reading. Her earbuds were already in, indulging her in a between classes music fix, a breeze passes by and blows her hair with it, strange as that is for being inside, and the next thing Victoria knows is that everything is suddenly a lot quieter and her ears hurt.
"What the-?" reaching up to her ears as if to check for what had caused the pain she found that her ear buds were missing. Quickly searching her pocket for her mp3 player in a panic she found it missing as well. Scanning the floor almost frantically she really hoped she'd just dropped it. She could still hear it, echoing lowly in the hall.
Hey, girl, you know you drive me crazy
one look puts the rhythm in my hand.
"Heheh, looking for this?" her eyes shot up from the floor to find Speed standing a little further down the hall taunting her by waving said mp3. Glaring at him she took a threatening step forward.
"Give. It. Back."
"Or what? You gonna be a hero? Use your powers? Oh wait, you can't. Cuz a good little hero follows the rules right? No powers for you then."
She hated that he was right, and she especially hated that she was so prone to following the rules. Though she had to admit she was pretty close to just saying f-it and do what she wanted.
"I don't know Speed, maybe we should give it to her?" came a voice from behind her.
"If you say so, Lash." With a shrug the overweight speedster threw the mp3 to her.
The amount of pure relief that flooded her system was enough to nearly made her feel like collapsing to the floor. Just as the mp3 came within reach and Victoria held out her shaking hands to catch it, thinking maybe these guys weren't as bad as she remembered, a black and white striped arm shot past her and snapped the flying mp3 right out of the air.
"Or maybe… Peace will show up again and save you."
Nope, they were complete assholes and they only confirmed it further as they stood there laughing at her. That's it forget the rules- next thing she knew was how utterly not comfortable the linoleum tiling was for her face. Looking up Victoira found that Speed was now standing next to Lash.
Do you feel like a man when you push her around?
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?
"You guys are jer-" she was cut off as her face once again made contact with the tile when her feet were suddenly pulled out from under her as she tried to stand.
"Sorry what was that? Can't hear you through the floor!'
"That's it!" just as Speed was about to make another pass to knock her off her feet again Victoria laid both hands flat on the floor and sent out a shockwave just big enough to throw Speed off his feet and send him skidding down the hall, his own face meeting with the linoleum.
Face down in the dirt, she said,
This doesn't hurt, she said,
I finally had enough.
Turning to watch Victoria smirked as she called out, "How's the floor taste? Great right? Just thought you'd like to knooooooow!" suddenly she found herself in mid air practically hanging upside down with her arms clutched tightly to her sides by something that felt kinda like elastic.
"Hey now, that wasn't very nice. I don't appreciate you picking on my buddy. Oh and, nice underwear."
"What!" she screeched as she tried desperately tried to reach her skirt and hold it down. Of all the days to wear a skirt! Damn Layla for convincing her to do so! 'Oh it'll look cute for Warren, yeah cuz he had totally noticed the skirt. And now this is perv is looking up it. Never again!' And to top it all off her powers weren't much use from up here.
"The color really suits you."
One day she will tell you that she has had enough
It's coming round again.
"Oh, I can't believe-! Ugh!" she could swear that nothing had ever made her blush this hard. Even if all the times she'd been embarrassed around Warren were combined, they couldn't possibly rival this.
"What's the matter? Your boyfriend not coming to your rescue?" could he be anymore sarcastic, wait what?
"I, I don't have a boyfriend. Whoa!" and now she was hanging upside down right in front of Lash's face, but at least she could reach her skirt now and hold it in place.
"Yeah, then how come you and hothead cut out on the dance, huh?"
"Wait, how did you-? No, that's none of your business! And he's not my boyfriend! Now put me down you jackas-" she was getting tired of being cut off by the speedster.
"Oh yeah, well then if you're not dating Peace then-"
"Then what!?"
"Then why don't you go out with me?" had Lash really just said what she thought he said?
"…" silence, complete and utter silence filled the hall, even the music stopped as the song ended.
And then the next song started, one she didn't even remember having. Layla must have been messing with her mp3.
Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need
"Hey! Hands off!" shifting to look over Lashes head at the familiar voice, Victoria found that her mp3 must have powers of its own because there was no other way that Warren had just show up to help her unless it had summoned him, right?
"Huh?" and that was all these idiots had to say as they turned around to find a very angry pyro.
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
"Put'er down or I fry you."
"Uh, Lash, I think we should book it." Tapping his buddy on the shoulder Speed looked about ready to run with or without him. "I've got to be down half my wardrobe already with how much charred stuff I had to throw out!"
"Last chance before we all find out if you melt like rubber too."
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
"F-fine." Lowering her down Victoria just about had her feet on the ground when Lash decided, "You know whatever, it's not like she's worth it anyway." And dropped her, meaning she'd likely be able to find bruises on her butt later, before the bullies went on their way like the cowards they were.
"You okay Victoria?" Warren asked, holding out his hand to help her up.
"Yeah…wait." Patting herself down she quickly realized something before turning on her heel and yelling after the runaways, "Hey! What about my mp3 player!?"
Not even looking back Lash turned his hand into a slingshot and slung it back at her.
"AH!" running forward to catch it with a scream she was barely able to grab hold of it before the stupid thing bounced right back out of her hand and fell to the floor.
'til the end of the niiiiigh…ta
The last few words fizzled out. "Aww, that's just great."
"Is it broken?" walking up beside her the pyro watched as she crouched to pick up her poor mp3, turning it to see it at every angle.
"I don't think so… it looks like the battery just came lose." Popping them back into place, the screen lit up for a moment before flashing that it needed a charge and going blank again. "And it looks like the fall somehow managed to knock the charge right out of it. Man, I need a new mp3."
Standing back up she turned to face him, "Thanks by the way. But… what're you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?"
"Well yeah but…" running a hand through his hair he blushed a light pink. "Okay, so I sit next to this psychic in class and she told me something was up, more specifically that Lash was 'messing with some girl I had lunch with and that I was supposed to stop 'im. I figured it might be you… when she mentioned how pissed I looked in her vision. So I said I was going to the bathroom and came to check things out."
"Oh, well thanks… again." At least she wasn't blushing as hard as when… great now she was thinking about it. She really hoped Warren hadn't seen.
"No problem. What was up with them anyway? Besides you I don't think they even pick on girls."
"I don't know. You wanna start heading back to class?" anything to keep her mind off of the panty flashing incident.
"Sure."
"I think, maybe Lash never grew up."
"What do ya mean?"
"Bullying the girl you like is some pretty elementary school mentality."
"Yeah, I get wht you me- wait what do you mean? You're telling me Lash likes you?"
"I guess, at least that's the impression I got when he kinda… asked me out?"
"He asked you out?" he stopped walking as he tried to take this all in. A douche like Lash had managed to ask her out and he still hadn't? What was the world coming to?
"Kind of. I mean he thought we were dating and when I told him we weren't… he asked me to go out with him. It was weird."
"I, hey wait!" jogging to catch back you to her he grabbed the music obsessed girl by the arm. "You told him we weren't going out?"
"Yeah. Well we're… not." On the outside she was barely holding back a pretty intense blush but on the inside she was desperately chanting 'keep it togther' hoping that this conversation was going where she thought it was.
"What if, what if we were?"
"You… wanna go out with me?" tucking the hair hanging in her face behind her ear she watched him mimic the action without even noticing he was doing it.
"Heh, well yeah. If you want. I mean, I'm not about to hang you upside down in the hallway if you say no or anything but…"
At least he looked as flustered as she felt. "Yeah sure." Smiling shyly she absentmindedly patted her skirt down as they started walking again.
"Great. I… I didn't expect the first time I asked you out to turn out like this."
"Me neither, not that I spent a lot of time thinking about it or anything." Still mildly embarrassing to have blurted out but the chuckle she got out of it pretty much made it worth it.
As they came up to her classroom the pyro ran his hand through his hair again and mumbled something under his breath, a light blush on his cheeks. Then he hurried off to make it back to class before the teacher started getting suspicious.
So he had noticed her skirt after all. Biting her lip the and grinning music obsessed teen turned to enter her own classroom, pink crossing the bridge of her nose. "He thinks I look nice in a skirt. And now, it looks like we're dating."