Superhero CITY - The Test

Chapter Thirteen (edited)

When we got close enough, I lifted the hand holding the key card in it so that my three team mates could see it as they followed me out of the door. A swell of amusement bloomed in my chest at their wide eyes as I'd brushed past them.

Allison was the first to speak as we began to traverse the campus with only the moonlight as a few dim lamps to guide our path. "Is that what I think it is?"

I could have resisted the temptation, but didn't want to any longer, and allowed myself to smirk at the breathless surprise in her voice that was so at odds with her fierce gothic appearance. She hadn't bleached her natural tan or dyed her blonde hair black, but that was about it. Since eighth grade, the metal decorations in her ears had covered more flesh than they'd exposed, and her eyes were surrounded by enough black make up that the natural sky blue practically glowed neon.

But her voice sounded off, and it took me a moment to figure out why; it was missing the usual faint lilt that I'd grown accustomed to a few years ago. And sure enough, when I glanced back to look at her face, I could see why. The two plain iron rings that had been pierced around the lower left side of her lip were gone. Ever since her parents had let her get piercings at twelve, I hadn't seen her face devoid of decoration. Spanned over four years, she'd gotten seven piercings between her tow ears, one on the side of her nose and three just above her cheekbone in what she calls the "anti-brow". The only time I'd ever seen her take the silver jewellery out was the day that she replaced it all with iron versions after she'd manifested.

"What's up?" I spun around to ask, tapping my cheek before spinning to face forwards once more. "You're looking a little naked.

I saw her flush out of the corner of my eye, uncharacteristically quiet as she mumbled back. "Didn't want to be a distraction."

I shrugged, realising that I'd hit a sore spot. Normally I liked to poke at them almost as much as Natalia, but figured that right now was not a good time; the last thing I wanted to do was start an argument before training. We had to be at our best both physically and mentally this morning, and pushing Allie to emotionally unstable ground would not help me achieve it.

"Well, oh Queen of Darkness, I do know what your thinking, and yes, you are right. This card is coded to room GT-05, four-thirty to five-thirty every morning for the next six weeks."

Now it seemed it was Natalia's turn to ask me something. "But how did you do that Jason? They usually take about three days to process for a ­­single afterhours training session. How could you have possibly gotten it for six weeks when we only registered the team yesterday?"

"I did it the day school started."

Chuckie snorted behind me, and it became apparent that my attempt to shrug off the conversation wouldn't be working the way I'd hoped for.

"So that is why you kept getting called into the DP's office at the start of the year." He must have turned to look at the girls behind us because his voice came out just the tiniest bit fainter when he continued. "It makes sense. I mean, however bad I am at organising and details, he's a thousand times worse when it comes to planning. He can leave his side of the dorm a mess, but he needs to be the first one to know our next schedule and assessment dates in detail, before he can even unpack."

"But I still don't know what I want to do after graduation." I called back over my shoulder to him, and the snickering redhead another step behind. They all knew that I didn't like to talk about the future; I didn't want to be a hero, but with such a famous "mom" as Aunt Jo, everyone expected it of me.

"Doesn't mean that you haven't already decided what coloured suits we'll wear under our caps and gowns, how many kids we'll have and what flower arrangements will be at our funerals."