SUPER

Sky High

At lunch Cammie finally gets to meet the new kid. 

"Well hey there!" she yells across the cafeteria, waving Finn down to our table, "I'm Cammie, this is Mike, and somehow you already know Mack. How are you liking school so far? Where are from? What's your name? Do you have a gir-" 

Cammie starts rattling off the questions a million miles per minute. If Finn didn't have super senses he probably would have been scared off but instead he just nods and offers a hand. "My name's Finn Smith. Nice to meet you guys." 

Mike tries to give him one of those "bro" handshakes where they do some elaborate arm grab/fist bump but Finn screws it up and instead both their hands just fall awkwardly to their sides. 

At least he has the whole acting like a nerd thing down. (That is if you wan't to believe he's actually "acting" and not really a huge dork deep down)

Cammie pats the seat next to her and Finn sits. He really does look the part. The too big clothes make him look tiny, the glasses draw all the attention to his face, and his hair falls unstylishly flat against his head.  Sure you can still see his stunningly blue eyes but you have to look past all the layers of dork Finn's piled on top and most people aren't willing to do that. 

I think I'm starting to understand the whole Clark Kent thing. 

"So how do you know Mack?" Cammie asks, but the question is more aimed at me. She raises one perfectly arched eyebrow in my direction. Cammie may be overly peppy and a bit air-headed at times but she's not stupid.

"He's an old family friend. They just moved to town from California," I answer without skipping a beat, "My father knows his father from college or something. You know how those things are." 

My dad is the kind of guy who know's everyone in town. Cammie buys it. 

"Mm-hmm," she says, turning her attention back to Finn, "I can't believe you'd move from Cali to Vertigo City. Talk about a step down." 

Finn's face falls. "What do you mean?"

"Vertigo kind of sucks. Super high crime rates, notorious mob activity, plus our shopping mall seriously sucks." 

"You're going to scare the kid," Mike laughs, nudging Cammie's shoulder with his, "Don't worry, the mall isn't that bad." 

So not everyone shares my love of Vertigo City. I'll admit, we are known for being a dangerous city. Downtown especially can be run down in some areas but you just have to stay where it's safe. I like how Vertigo is rough around the edges, it adds to its charm. 

Mike and Cammie start laughing and then move to talking about some party this weekend but Finn looks complexed. At first I think he's just feeling awkward about being new in school but then I realize its something more. 

When our eyes meet he whispers the words so quietly only I can hear them. "Even more a reason I need to do this." 

He's talking about being a hero. A superhero. I had thought Finn only signed up for Superhero 101 to stop the monsters that are after him from hurting anyone else but now, looking into his eyes, it's obvious he wants more. If any city needs a hero, it's Vertigo. 

"Hey Mackenzie, who's your friend?"

A wave of nausea rolls over me. I know that voice.

Swiveling, around I turn to find a smirking Abbey Tanaka standing behind me. Her arms are crossed, hair pulled back in a sleek pony, and she looks so smug that I feel like her face might crack into a million pieces. 

Abbey Tanaka is sort of my arch nemesis. 

Sometimes I wish my life could be a 1980s high school movie where the mean girl is dumb cheerleader who only cares about dating the quarterback and feeds off insulting nerds with lame one liners.