Villain Academy #JustWriteIt [WATTY AWARD WINNER OF 2015]

+ the 4 with the gum chewing +

"I've said too much." I heard the faint hiccup of a stressful voice.

"Tell me!" My ear vibrated against the door at Archer's harsh tone.

"I've said too much," Roger quietly repeated.

I was itching to break the tension on the other side of the wall but curiosity dug into my shoulders and held me back.

I missed a few parts of the conversation and pressed my ear closer to the wood.

"Says the one with a secret stash of sandwiches in his underwear drawer," Archer said.

"I'm entitled to being lazy. I could roll into class as a bowling ball and take up three seats and still be allowed into Villain Academy." He paused and I left the door partly open, hearing in on Roger's next words. "Dear Hero, I have a secret. A very, very dark secret."

I swallowed hard and pressed my hand on the door, relaxing as it clicked shut.

Roger's voice had never been that...eerie. I could hear his words already crawling into my ears.

Rattled, I disappeared out of the dorm and released a breath I didn't know I was holding. I rested the back of my head on the wall and rotated my shoulders, coolly leaning on one leg behind me.

My fingers pulled a piece of gum from my pocket and I quickly popped it in, trying to chew away the burning itch to ask Roger about his secret.

The pink bubble popped in my face and I chewed again, slowly flexing my fingers.

Snap!

I shrugged off the wall at the familiar sound of Roger's backpack and watched him run over with his weird penguin hobble. He tightly clenched on his juice box as words tumbled out in short gasps.

I guess I wasn't the only one with hidden identities.

"Th...they're coming."

Fear cracked through my arrogant mask and I quickly fixed it up with something I could control: aggression.

I fisted his shirt and hissed, "What's with the new roommate?"

The juice box squirted under his tight grip and he gulped. "Archer just showed up this morning. What was I supposed to do? Slit his throat with a chocolate bar?" He furiously wiggled to get my hand off. "And do you think I had a good sleep when a killer was sleeping three feet away? He could've kept a mega ray gun under his pillow, ready to murder me in the night!"

"A ray gun wouldn't be able to get through all your fat."

"I'm not fat. There's just layers of fluffy skin. Like a cupcake. A twelve layered cupcake full of sweet icing and sugary treats, piled with rainbow sparkles and gumdrops."

Annoyed, I let go of his shirt. "We need to talk to the headmistress about this. He can't stay with you-especially if I'm not there," I quickly said.

"What are we talking about gang," a voice interrupted.

About to grab a fistful of someone else's shirt, I faced Archer and his two other heroes. My arm dropped, hands still clenched by my sides.

I glanced at the three pink lines down his neck-my claw marks. Yesterday's anger sparked again and he caught my flying fist and stared into my shaking knuckles that hovered an inch from his nose.

"You don't want to start another school fight, do you?" Archer asked with a raised brow. His eyes lifted from my gaze and drifted to my clean wrists. "You heal fast."