An Avenger's Tale

01|| Midtown High School

Breath in. Breath out.

I kept reciting, silently mouthing it to myself. It was bad enough starting at Midtown High School in the middle of the school year. I didn't need a panic attack to top it all. A cherry on the cake. A rotten one at that.

I hurried up a flight of steps to the looming entrance. Students were brushing past me, conversing about homework, upcoming tests, parties, boys and football - whatever teenagers found pleasure and comfort in talking about these days.

I adjusted the strap on my shoulder and wormed myself through the crowds. I needed to find student services but I had not the faintest idea where that was and I was too shy and stubbornly proud to ask somebody to help me out. I blamed my father for those traits, since his genetics latched onto mine more than my mother's did.

My eyes frantically roamed above the teenagers' heads as I craned my neck to find my way. I was feeling agitated and uneasy with everyone pushing past me, bumping into me, swinging me from side-to-side. My vision started to blur and I felt dizzy, as if my brain was not corresponding with the abrupt movements of my head. My lungs were burning like wild-fire in my chest, in a protest for air and just before I felt as though I was about to faint, lose consciousness, a soft and comforting voice pulled me straight back to earth.

"Are you new here? You seem lost."

I slowly turned around and my eyes fixed upon a guy with liquid, brown orbs and tousled hair, a shade lighter than his eyes, mobbed on top of his head. He was rather short in comparison to some of the guys I saw buzzing around the school halls. He didn't seem to quite fit in either. High school was a hieragic, you see, and the strange guy didn't seem level one to me.

"Umm. . . Yeah. I need to get to student services but I have no idea where that is." I smiled nervously at the guy and his obese friend.

"We'll help you," said his friend excitedly, causing the brown-haired guy to trail off shyly, "I'm Ned, by the way, and this is my friend, Peter."

"I'm Sage. It's nice to meet you." I shifted the weight of my bag onto my shoulder and extended my hand in greeting.

They took turns shaking my hand. Peter shook last and when he stepped back, our eyes glued to one another. I smiled nervously and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before abruptly averting my gaze with the fear that I might get lost between the constellations that swirled in his irises.

"Err, so... ummm... student services?"

"Oh yeah. This way," Ned gestured his palm down the hall.

I nodded my head and fell into step alongside them. The halls were filled to the brim with throngs of students gathering their books from their lockers all while exchanging exciting holiday gossip.

"So, where are you from?" Ned asked, lifting the heavy cloud of silence that thundered above our heads.

"Oh umm... Minnesota."

"How long did you live there?"

"Eleven years. I've been living there with my foster parents since I was six. We recently moved here because of a job opportunity."

Okay, so maybe I lied. Maybe my foster parents didn't move along with me. Maybe it was just me. And maybe, just maybe, the reason behind my sudden move from city to city was something far bigger than a job opportunity - something more mysterious - perhaps a little more heroic.

"How was it there?"

"Well, it was nice. Much calmer than here, I can tell you that."

"We're here," said Peter as we came to a halt in front of a closed door, a golden name-plate hanging from the door, slightly catching our contorted reflections.