Everyday Hero *REWRITING*

Chapter 1 My Family Gets Crazy

The day my life went down the drain was the day I got my superpowers. It had been a normal day four years ago in the standards of my family, until after school. I had decided to try out for my middle school track team and was running a mile with the coach recording me and my competitors' times. The wind ripped trough my hair and the old pavement of the track was riddled with rocks that I had to avoid.

I was halfway around the track when everything came to a standstill. The kids surrounding me seemed to stop mid-run, while I continued down the track at the same speed. The world was like a tape recorder on pause. I rounded the corner and crossed the finish line. I finally slowed down, gasping for air. As soon as I slowed into a jog, the world around me was pressed on play again and a roaring wind trailed behind me. I turned around to find everyone with their jaws to their knees. The kids that had previously been competing against me had now stopped in their places. A scream came from the bleachers and my brother, who had been busy with homework looked over at me, owl-wide eyes looking around at everyone confused and afraid and the coach grinning from ear-to-ear. Laughter broke the silence following the scream and before I knew it I was running off the track and down a nearby alleyway, tears in my eyes.

Gabriel found me a few minutes later behind the school dumpster. He sat down next to me, but I didn't dare look up at him with my tear-stained eyes. He'd only laugh at me. After a couple moments of me burying my face deeper into my knees, he finally said, "You were amazing out there."

That spiked my attention. I look up at him, wiping my nose and murmuring, "R-really?"

"Of course! But I'll have to erase their memories anyway. I can't let you get too famous."  He smiled over at me. I tried for a smile in return, but instead it turned to a grimace.

"I'll have to leave the school, won't I? Like you..."

Gabriel sighed. "Yeah." he stared at the ground, but quickly shrugged it off. "But mom's not that bad of a teacher. I think I toughened her up a little."

A small laugh escaped my lips and again silence filled the air. "So I can control time..."

"Not exactly, Sandra. More like you can run super fast." He stared up at the orange sky through the two buildings on either side of us. More silence.

"We should head home. Mom'll probably kill us if we don't make it by curfew." He grabbed my hand and gently pulled me up.

"But what about them?" I gestured my head toward the track.

"Oh," Gabriel's eyes followed to where I had gestured to, then looked back at me with a smirk, "they're already taken care of." And with that we headed toward the bus.

Thanks to Gabriel, the family's savior as he called himself, that day was gone in a blink of my schoolmates' eyes. I was pulled from school and began schooling at home with my immature brothers. My younger brother, Ronnie, got his powers when he was a toddler. Our mom nearly had a fit whenever she put him in the crib and just a few hours later he'd be crawling around the kitchen getting into the various knives and silverware. It took my family about two weeks to figure out that he wasn't some spider monkey climber like our Uncle Tom, but instead had simply floated out of his crib.

My older brother, the lovely Gabriel, got his powers while at a dog park when he was thirteen. Don't ask why he was at the dog park. He has this weird obsession with dogs. Anyway, long story short he accidentally 'overheard' a couple of guys planning to steal from a group of women walking their dogs. Gabriel did the sensible thing and attacked the guys before they got the chance to have another thought about the matter.

The men, along with my intelligent brother, were arrested. The police found evidence of their heist and Gabriel was set free. A couple days later he discovered he could read minds. Ever since then I've been constantly thinking one word whenever I'm around him, "Stupid." He often tries to pry into my mind, which isn't fun.

I sat sprawled on my bed, letting the darkness of my room surround me and the large moon peek in through my window. The suburbs were silent tonight. Sighing in content, I turned on my side to face the wall on the one side of my bed.

"Alessandra Lynn Black!" My mother shouted from the bottom of the staircase. "Dinner is ready and I've been shouting your name for five minutes!"

The break of the calming silence from my mother's shrill yell made me jump up and slam my head against my bedroom's arching ceiling.

"I'll be down there in a second!" I shouted back. And sure enough, I was. My super speed did come in handy at times. Mother jumped as the rush of wind hit her from my trip down the stairs.

"Honestly, Sandra, you don't need to use your talent for everything." She sighed, turning around on her heel and walking back into the kitchen where my family waited.

What could I say? It was convenient at times. I smiled and walked into the kitchen.