Aberrant

Chapter One

Plomiting (Plom-ing-ton)

Chapter One

Jump. I hurtle over the fire escape of Sally's Diner, and land of the roof of 24-Hour Laundry.

Run. I run across the roof until I see the large roof of Jim's Super Mart: Get your food fresh and fast.

Climb. I step on the misplaced bricks of the wall, hoisting myself up until I reach the top of the higher up roof.

Fall without dying. Now this is the hard part. I take a few steps back, run, and then jump. I put my arm in front of my head and tuck it inside.

Just because I have stronger traits than the average human does not mean that I am invincible.

I successfully manage not to break my neck on the fall down by rolling safely on the concrete. The fall stung a bit, but since my pain tolerance is extremely high, I don't feel a thing.

"Thirty-five-point-seven seconds. Three-point-four seconds less than the last round. You're getting better at being a real super hero." Xander says while hitting the stop button on his timer and writing down the data on his clipboard. I wipe the sweat that is rolling down my forehead and headed to my mask.

"But I think one more time would make you a better super hero." He says smirking. With Xander "one more time" never meant one more time. I have been doing "one more time" for the sixth time now.

I pick up my water bottle and drink the rest of its cool contents. "I have the urge to pick you up and throw you in that dumpster over by Sally's." I say while stretching out my over-used muscles.

"The scary part is that I know that you can do it without breaking a sweat," Xander says and then visibly gulps. I don't think he's really scared of me, but just knows that I overpower him; and he doesn't like that. "So to your luck, I'm calling it a day. You can always be a better superhero tomorrow." Xander let out a nervous laugh and came over to congratulate me for my good work by patting me on the back, like he did every night.

I sigh and take off my mask, letting my brunette hair fall from its place. I stuff it in my string bag and get out my face towel to wipe off the excess sweat on my face. I knew since it is about eleven at night not many people would be around to see Thunder reveal her secret identity. Or at least I thought.

"Cassidy?" I hear a wavering voice say. Xander and I both snap our heads in the direction of the girl voice. She has tears welling up in her eyes and looks at me like she can't believe what she is seeing.

"You're Thunder?" She still says in her small voice her tears start to fall.

"Taylor...it's hard to explain..." Xander says trying to comfort and explain to her why she just saw me take off Thunder's masquerade mask.

Taylor is my closest friend besides Xander. I know she's going to hate me for keeping a big secret like this from her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her sadness and surprise now turns into anger and hurt.

"The only people who know are Xander and Jaclyn; we couldn't risk any other people knowing." I explain. Hopefully this doesn't ruin our friendship, besides Xander, Taylor is the only person I have left.

Taylor nods and wipes her tears. "I understand; I just wish that you would've told me. You know that I wouldn't tell a soul that you were the one and only Thunder." She says with a smile on her face. Her mood always changes quickly; she could never hold a grudge.

"I didn't even know for the longest time either. Don't take it personal." Xander says as he puts his arm around Taylor. Taylor is silent for a minute, and then a big smile brakes onto her face.