22Summary: Hayley Stevens was perfectly average until a strange butterfly encounter in the woods changes her life forever. Does she have what it takes to be a super-hero, or will she fall like so many before her have? WarrenxOC
Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or any of it's characters. But I do own my mysterious, unknown plot line.
Previously: The more I thought about the whole problem the more obvious it became. I was going to have to tell my mother.
This is dedicated to 122 for being such an awesome friend and editing this for me and wanting to read this. Thanks. :)
Chapter Four: Morphology
I guess you could say the talk with my mom went a little different then I had expected.
After calling in sick at work, I walked out to the kitchen and calmly sat down next to my mom like I wasn't about to tell her that magical wings had sprouted out of my back overnight. I tried to be as cool and collected as possible, but when she finally looked up from her coffee cup I knew I had failed.
"Uh, hey, Mom," I said, taking in an unnecessary gulp of air. This was worse than having the sex talk.
"Hello, Hayley. I thought you had to be at work a few minutes ago," she said, lifting her pale, worn arm and putting a piece of hair that had fallen out of her pony-tail behind her ear.
"Yeah, well, I called in sick today. I wanted to get to talk to you and now seemed like the best time," I replied, shifting uncomfortably in my chair. I generally sucked at lying, no matter how tiny it was.
"What'd you want to talk about?" she asked, giving me her full attention.
This was where things got kind of tricky. I started out by casually trying to explain it to her, but the longer she looked at me the more frantic and sporadic my explanation became. By the end I felt like a big jumbled mess of goo, completely humiliated and afraid. What if she didn't believe me? What if she hated me or thought I was disgusting? The huge possibility for rejection scared me. She was my mother. I needed her even though it didn't always seem like it.
During the middle of my speech my body had become extremely rigid in my chair, my eyes staring directly at my hands, which were doing a pretty good job at picking apart a loose seem on the old shirt I had decided to wear today. I didn't want to look up, afraid of the stare that I would be met with.
"Hayley, would you stop messing with that shirt and look at me?" her voice came out oddly soothing even though she spoke a demand, and my head shot up. She didn't sound disbelieving or disgusted…
"Can I see them?" she said, her voice giving absolutely nothing away. Without speaking a word, I stood up, raised my shirt up to my neck, pulling my blond hair out of the way. I stood like that for a minute before I started to get worried again.
After another minute of silence, I was convinced. She hated me. Pulling my shirt down roughly, I spun around, hurt written across my face. "You hate me, don't you? Don't deny it." Her mouth opened and closed a few times, making me irrationally angry. Why couldn't she talk to me? Did she think I was so beneath her that she couldn't even speak to me?
"Fine. Don't talk. That's cool with me. I guess I'll just pack up my stuff and leave then, because you're just way too good for me!" I yelled, bitter. I felt the angry tears well up and blinked them back in frustration. Crying was a sign of weakness, one I couldn't even afford to show my mother.
It was when I turned around and began to stomp to my room that she finally spoke. "Hayley, hold it right there young lady!" I froze. "Now turn around and look at your mother." I turned. "Good," she said, her eyes almost twinkling and confusing the heck out of me. She stood up, slowly walking over to me and putting her hands on my shoulders. "I love you, and nothing you could do or say is going to change that. This," she said, gesturing to my back, "is fantastic news! You're a Super, Hayley! You're special." I felt my eyes well up again with unshed tears. I couldn't believe that I doubted my mom. She was incredible, and amazing, and so strong.
"I love you too, mom." I replied, throwing my arms around her waist and burying my head into her shoulder.
"Oh! I have something for you," she said, going over to her purse, rummaging through it before pulling out a small piece of paper. "Here," she placed it in my hand, before patting it and returning to her coffee like the whole conversation had never occurred.
I looked down at it, reading the small print. "What is it?" I asked, completely confused.
"That," she said, "is the number for Sky High."
~0~
After school I called the number. It rang five times before anyone answered the phone. A woman named Mrs. Powers talked to me, and we came up with a meeting time for the next day so I could show her my powers. If I really had any, she said I would be going to Sky High by next Monday.
I'm not going to lie, I was more than nervous. What if my powers didn't work? What if she didn't think I was good enough? If that happened I'd never learn how to control it and I'd always have to hide in isolation, never getting close to anyone. I didn't want that. I didn't want that at all, because that's not a life.
I heard a knock at the door, and stood up, dusting off my clothes before going to answer it. I'd tried to spruce up the house a little bit, but I don't think I did a very good job. When I opened the door, I was close to having a nervous breakdown.
Mrs. Powers was a really pretty person. I mean, not that I expected her to be ugly or anything, but she was really pretty. Her face was made up to perfection with bright red lipstick, her hair was poofed up to a T, and her ultra-white suit looked brand new.
"Hello, I'm Principal Powers," she said, sticking out her hand in a very business-like manner. I took it, shaking it lightly before letting go. She came in, and we got to the point. "I have to say, that I've never seen any power exactly like this before. Close, but never quite. How did you get this?" I told her about the giant butterfly, terrified that she would think my story was a lie. "Well, I've never heard that one before, but I don't think you have any reason to lie about what happened to you." I let out a breath, finally starting to feel relaxed.
"So, does this mean I'm going to Sky High?" I asked, giving her a hopeful look.
She let out a laugh before replying, "Yes, yes it does. You'll be in the hero classes, and when you arrive on Monday your schedule should be in the main office." She turned towards the door and put her hand on the knob. "Oh, and Miss Stevens," she said, glancing behind her, "good luck."
Wow. Hi. I'm so blown away by the fact that I went from having like, 2-3 reviews to having 13! it just makes me happy, and this is only my 4th chapter. I'm sorry that this took so long, but that's just how the world works, and I have it now, so no complaining. Although, if complaining is the only way to make you comment... complain away. Know you all have voices makes me happy. Although just knowing that ya'll found this good enough to follow overjoys me as well. It's good to know that I'm not just talking to myself all the time and that someone is seeing and appreciates my hard work.
Live long and prosper.
^.^
~A-O-N~