The Sunny Side of Super University (NaNoWriMo)

Life in a Shadow

I could lie here all day, in the warm hum of the treetops in the summer; I am in my usual spot, the fattest limb of a tree along the edge of the forest, lying face-down with my ear against the tree so I can listen to it without trying. Trees are so peaceful, the opposite of the frantic dandelions or clover, who grow so fast that all they focus on doing is obtaining and reproducing. Even if the entire tree is cut down, which is a sad event indeed, they will still calmly continue to collect from all the things they have stuck their roots into, and will begin anew another trunk. In a lot of ways, trees are more of a role model to me than any person I know. I'm sure they would be other people's role models too, if other people could hear them. I know nobody else can, though, so I can't fault others. It's what makes me unique; it's a part of my power.

"Terra!" I hear in the distance. I lazily open my eyes and see my tutor, waving at me by the house, motioning me to come towards her. "Coming!" I yell in response, while hopping down from my peaceful companion.

Once I get within earshot of my tutor, she begins chiding me for my lax behavior. "I can't believe you're still outside! The reception begins in ten minutes, how are you going to be down in time to greet the guests?"

"I just won't be." I replied.

"Your grandma is not going to be happy when she sees that, she sure isn't," my tutor continued, a worried look in her eye as we entered my grandparent's mansion.

"Look, it's not like any of it is your fault, so don't worry about it." I said, although I knew trying to ease her tension would be in vain.

"You look, Ms. Langley, I will not have done my job if you are still behaving this way by the end of the summer."

I left her as I ascended the stairs, managing to squeeze out the last word as I disappeared upward, "You've been at this all year, you've tried. I know that. I just won't cooperate. That's not your job. See ya in a few."

About a half an hour later, I had on a light-blue dress that rippled downward, the kind that makes you look like you're constantly in motion, and the gown matched my eyes even to the point of having a darker trim, like the ring around my irises. I descended the steps slowly, letting my medium-brown, curled hair bounce with each step. It was a dress my grandmother had custom-designed for me for this occasion. I thought that was excessive, but she insisted because I didn't have a dress that "accentuated my curves enough". Of course, that means she had this dress made so that she could flaunt my body to her guests, but whatever. Her party, her guests, her house. I could show my passive-aggressive resentment by not showing up on time, and nobody would even care. In fact, my grandma definitely just made up the fact that my late arrival was part of a 'big reveal' to "kick off the evening". She's good at improvising like that, especially because she already knew I would be late.

As I get to the bottom of the stairs, my grandmother meets me and I start greeting everyone. Oh look, the mayor and his family came. The county and state representatives, too. I'm sure even the president was sent an invitation, and I'm sure he would have attended if he had free time today. See, my grandma is popular. Like, really popular. She saved the nation a few times, and the world once, I believe. She is one of the only supers to have IP - or interpersonal - powers. IP powers are so glorified because they're OP, they have no major weakness or fatal flaw. All other powers require a medium to stop a villain, like I would use plants, but she doesn't need anything. She is able to read and influence other people's thoughts directly, as well as project her own thoughts or voice into their head. She is so good, she can make people go insane with her hallucinations. The only people she's done that to were arguably insane to begin with, though, so she has justified that there has been no real damage done. On a similar note, I trust her when she says she only influences the thoughts of villains, because I have done many a rebellious thing in her presence.