Hard Light - A Teenage Superhero Story

16: New Team, Who Dis?

The chaos following the test results made my head spin. I hardly had a few seconds to process before I'd been ushered out, handed my school ID, a planner, a schedule, and a lunch pass. I was ushered through the halls quickly, and before I realized what had happened, I was pushed through a door and into a room.

It looked like a commons room, a stark difference to the industrial looking halls I'd been ushered through. A couch with a massive curved plasma TV sat in the middle of the room. Off to the side was a small kitchenette with a fridge, a washing machine, several cupboards, a coffee maker, and a microwave. A little further past, there was a dining table with chairs set around it, and a water cooler against the wall. On the other wall, there was a shelving unit, filled with books, and three chairs set up around a coffee table. further past that, there was a weights area, complete with a bar and bench set. There was a treadmill as well.

The whole room felt like a living room or a communal space in a house rather than a large school meant to teach superheros how to use their powers. It was oddly homey, and it had that warm feeling I had been missing from home after mom...

There were two people reading books at the reading corner, and there was someone using the weights as well. Someone walked through a door at the far end of the room and stopped short, making the two readers look up and glance at them, then turn to look at me. The weight-lifter also stopped, racked the bar, and sat up, wiping her face as they looked at me. I smiled nervously.

"Um. Hi. I'm-"

"You're the new team leader?" Someone asked. It was a monotone girl- she was reading in the corner. I shifted, uncomfortable and still in shock from my whirlwind arrival. My bags had somehow magically appeared beside my feet.

"I- uh. Yeah- Yes? I'm not-"

The two in the book corner set their books on the table and stood. The other girl at the weights stood as well, wiping sweat off her face and neck, face flushed from the exercise.

"Well, you have to be good if they made you team leader mid semester." The girl on the weights stepped forward, putting her hand on her hip. She was... built. Her muscles were well defined and sinewy, far more than half the football players on Sullerwood South High School's team. The sweat glistened and accented every curve and dimple of her muscles, and I found it hard to pull my eyes away. Pull yourself together, Kase.

"What do you do?" The boy stepped forward from the reading nook with his hand on his chin in thoughtfulness.

"What do I do?" My thoughts felt like a train trying to start and then stopping short every five feet- I could barely follow one line of thought before a new one interrupted.

"Yeah, what's your ability? Your power?" The boy spun his hand in an exaggerated motion. I glanced around the room, still trying to grasp what was happening.

"I- Um-" I paused and glanced at the papers in my hands. "Can- can we pause for a second? I gotta put my stuff down-"

"Oh, right!" The person from the other room rushed forward and helped me move my things into what looked like an empty room. I followed, assuming that's what they meant for me to do. I set my papers and notebook on a table near the door, and stepped back out, taking a deep breath.

"So, what's-"

"I'm Fractal, I'm from Sullerwood, the-"

"You're the Sullerwood Lights?"

I looked over at the person who'd helped me with my bags, and they stood flabbergasted staring at me.

"Yeah?" I tilted my head, questioning.

"So you've met both Citadel and Black Phoenix?" The girl from the reading corner spoke up, still with a book in her hand, the other hand on her hip.

"Um, yeah, I did. I'm from Sullerwood, and I-"