The dilemma of what to wear on the first day of freshman year was not a struggle young Elodie Stronghold related to. She put on a black skirt with punk chains hanging from it with a black skull tee under a white lace camisole and she felt prepared. The unruly mess of black curls she called hair hung in her face, but she didn't bother putting a brush to them. All she'd end up doing was frizz her hair and that was the last thing she wanted to deal with. She pulled on a pair of black and white striped socks then her chunky black boots and she was practically ready to go.
She heard her father call out her brother's name from downstairs and rolled her eyes when it was followed by clanking metal. She knew exactly what her older brother was doing: adding more weights to his bench to make it appear as if he was lifting far more than a normal human should be able to. She shook her head as she grabbed her pre-packed backpack and left her room to walk downstairs. She passed her dad on the way down as he went up, smiling at him. "Good morning, dad."
"Good morning, sweetheart," he said, wearing the smile of a proud father and hero. He continued to climb the stairs, calling after Will. "Son!"
Elodie made her way to the kitchen to sit down and enjoy breakfast, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. She couldn't sit there and say she was exactly very happy to have to go through another first day of school, let alone her first day of high school. She couldn't go to a normal high school either, she had to go to Sky High, the school where all the supers went to learn to be heroes or sidekicks. She had a pretty good idea of what category she would end up in, which was part of the reason her heart was pounding.
"Good morning, dear," her mother said as she took a seat at the breakfast table. Josie smiled at Elodie, admiring her daughter who just seemed to be growing up so fast. "I can't believe you're already going to high school."
"Me either," Elodie said, managing a small smile.
"Nervous?" Josie asked. She watched her daughter nod, the boundless curls bouncing around her head. "There's nothing to be worried about. Sky High is just like any other high school."
"Except I've never been to any other high school."
"What I mean is that you're going to have a great time."
The conversation wasn't helping her nerves, but Elodie nodded and smiled as if it were. Both looked up when they heard a crash, unphased and not surprised by the noise. Something was always getting broken, what with a father with super strength and all.
The crash made Elodie laugh and Josie smiled at her, going to retrieve a plate of food for her to eat. Just as she was grabbing the plate, the door opened and in walked another teenager with bright red hair and a happy smile. "Good morning, Mrs. Stronghold."
"Morning."
"Hey, Layla," Elodie said.
"I noticed you had some recyclables in the trash, so I took the liberty of moving them for you," Layla said as she took a set with Elodie. Josie walked over and set a plate down for her and Elodie's in front of her. "You hungry? I've got plenty of eggs, bacon..."
Elodie started to butter and jam her toast before folding it in half.
"No thanks," Layla answered. "You know how my mom can communicate with animals? Apparently they don't like to be eaten."
Josie stared at her for a moment. "How bout some juice?"
"Great."
Elodie looked up as her dad walked in. Steve came and sat with the girls, greeting Layla.
"Good morning, Commander," Layla said.
"Commander?" he asked, looking at her quizzically. She rubbed under her eye and he sighed, pulling his glasses, the key to his secret identity, from his vest pocket and put them on. "Thanks, Layla."
"I can't believe you, Will, and Elodie are starting high school," Josie said. She was reminiscing again, as she had been doing for the last two weeks. Summer had seemingly ended too soon for the mother. "It seems like just yesterday, you three were swimming naked in the kiddie pool."
Will walked in just in time to hear her. He looked at her and whined, "Mom!"
They both walked over, Will taking the last seat at the table to eat his breakfast and his mother to deliver the orange juice to Layla. Will greeted his best friend and started to eat. At that time, the phone began to ring.
Josie went to her bag and pulled out her phone to answer it, but Steve held up a red one with a bright light flashing on it. "Josie, it's the other one."
With that, he answered the phone and the call was serious. It was quick and he turned to speak to his wife. "There's trouble downtown!" he stopped as he realized she was right beside him. Lowering his voice, he met her eye. "Big trouble. Downtown."
"Shoot," she said, looking disappointed, "And I really wanted to see Will and Elodie off to the bus. I remember his first day of preschool, he wouldn't let go of my leg."
"Mom!" Will whined once more.
"And Elodie and kindergarten. I don't think she said a word the whole day."
Will and Layla exchanged a glance. It appeared to them Elodie hadn't changed much since then. The girl in question smiled to herself awkwardly and nodded.
"Josie," Steve called from the door. She smiled and kissed Will and Elodie on their cheeks.
"Oh, and Will, Ellie, a reminder," he said, turning to look at his children. "A lot of the kids at Sky High will only have one superhero parent, not two. So try to take it easy on them. No showing off, okay?"
"Oh, dad, not to worry. I'll keep it lowkey," Will said. Elodie hummed in agreement.
Mr. Stronghold gave him a look and then nodded toward Elodie, silently giving his son the signal to watch over his younger sister on their first day. Will gave a thumbs up and smiled at his dad. He had been watching out for since the day they brought Elodie home.
"Steve!" Josie called from the other room.
"Gotta go," he said and turned, leaving the three teenagers on their own.
When they were done with breakfast, Elodie took the plates and glasses to the sink, setting them down and turning to the TV as Will clicked it on. She went to stand beside her brother as all three of them watched the newscaster report on the giant robot blocking traffic and attacking downtown. Soon, the screen showed the Commander and Jetstream, or as Will and Elodie called them, Mom and Dad, coming onto the scene to neutralize the threat. It didn't take long as Jetstream flew around the robot with Commander in her arms before launching him into the metal beast. He punched it and with one blow, the monstrosity went down. It then cut to The Commander tearing away the eye of the robot to take home as a souvenir.
Will turned the TV off. "They are good."
After that, the three grabbed their bags, locked up the house, and headed for the bus stop. It wasn't far from the Stronghold home. But even that little walk had Elodie's heart pumping again. The dreaded bus, full of all new people she would have to go to school with and sit with. She trailed behind Will and Layla as they chatted about graduation, already!, and how excited they, mostly Layla, were to save mankind. And womankind. And animalkind. And, of course, the rainforest.
Just as they arrived at the corner, the bus pulled up. When it came to a stop, the doors opened to a friendly-faced driver. "Morning!"
Will led them onto the bus and looked at the man. "Is this the bus to Sky High?"
"Shhh! What are you crazy?" the bus driver asked, closing the doors behind the teens. "I guess you want every villain in the neighborhood to know we're here?"
"No. No, sorry," Will apologized and tried to continue to find a seat, but a hand stopped him.
"What's your name, freshman?"
"Will Stronghold."
The attitude of the bus driver changed. He looked nervous and amazed. "The son of the Commander and Jetstream?" When Will nodded, he stood up with a broad smile. "Everyone! This is Will Stronghold, the son of the Commander and Jetstream."
When everyone's attention was turned toward them, Elodie bowed her head and let her hair fall in her face, hiding from their stares. It was bad enough she knew she was going to get recognized at school for having the last name Stronghold, but she wasn't even there yet and the name was already catching unwanted attention. She just wanted to go sit down.
She tuned out the rest of the conversation, catching the name of Ron Wilson as he tried to get two students to move from their seat. When Will didn't allow for that to happen, she was thankful that they could just get to some of the empty seats in the back. Will sat with Zach, whom Elodie was happy to see one friendly face. She hurried to take the seat with Layla and kept her head down. People could know Will, but she was fine being unknown.
After another stop, it was time to get to school. Ron switched hats and tore a patch off of his shirt to reveal a Sky High patch underneath it. He turned to everyone with a smile. "Next stop, Sky High."
He drove the bus down an empty highway and turned onto a ramp that had a ROAD CLOSED sign beside it. They were going faster and halfway up the ramp, seat belts buckled themselves around every passenger.
Elodie looked out the window and pushed her hair out of her face, seeing the red cones and the tops of trees. She held onto the bar that had also latched them in and pressed herself into the seat. "I don't know if I like this."
"Where are we?" Layla asked.
Ron said something from the front of the bus, but Elodie was tuning him out again. She didn't like this. She didn't know how much more her heart could take and it wasn't even eight o'clock yet. She closed her eyes and before she knew it, she felt them falling. She heard whooping and screaming.
Then they surged forward and it didn't feel like falling anymore. Elodie opened her eyes and looked out the window. They were flying. She could see the city, the neighborhoods, everything. All of Maxville was there for her to see. She didn't know when she stopped screaming, but looking out that window while everyone else had a heart attack made Elodie feel a lot calmer.
When the school came into view, Ron introduced it and explained how it was held up by the latest in anti-gravity technology and only a few individuals were given its location, including himself.
"Smooth and easy," he said as they came to a landing, except the landing was anything but. It was bumpy and Elodie found herself holding onto the bar again. She took a deep breath and looked at Layla, who smiled at her assuringly. "Sorry!" Ron called from the front of the bus.
The doors opened and everyone exited accordingly. Elodie breathed in the air of higher altitude and looked around, seeing all the students who attended the school making their way to the front doors, whether that be by flying themselves or driving some kind of suped up car.
Ron was talking about how the bus waited for no one. "Except for you, Will Stronghold. If you're ever running late or you're running early or you just wanna talk... " he whipped out a business card with his name and number on it, "give me a call."
"Thanks, Ron."
With that, the three joined their group of freshmen from the bus. They made their way across the courtyard and saw just what the students were made of. One guy and his buddy thought it would be funny to shoot a laser, from his eyes, at one girl's ass, but didn't anticipate her turning around and freezing them. There was a group of cheerleaders singing a cheer that just welcomed them, and as they cheered and jumped around, it was revealed the cheer team was all one girl who could replicate herself.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the group was suddenly stopped by something fast. They were pushed together and their hair was flying all over the place. Elodie's hair made it where she couldn't see and so she grabbed the arm of the nearest person and held onto them, unaware and fearful of what was happening.