Purple Phoenix

Chapter Ten

So comfy. So safe. So cuddly. Nothing could match anything but the feeling of being in bed, cozy under a hoard of blankets. And nothing could take this feeling away beside something called an alarm clock, one that I was close to scorching to dust if it rang one more time-

I reached out and blasted a wave of heat to the alarm, quieting it. Finally, peace. I snuggled deeper under the covers and sighed in satisfaction.

~ ~ ~

My phone rang on my bedside table, waking me up again, so I stretched my hand, grabbed it, and answered the call.

"What?" I grumbled, not even bothering to open my eyes. This better be important, or I was going to be really mad.

"Eve, where are you?" I recognized the voice of Soraya's.

Opening my eyes, I blinked a couple times and looked around the apartment. "In bed. Why? What's up?"

"School is starting in five minutes! Get over here!" School? Oh, wait a second. She didn't say five minutes, did she?

I cursed. "Soraya, I'll talk to you later. I need to hurry. Bye." I hung up, ignoring her protests. Jumping out of bed, I sprinted to the bathroom, changed as well as brushed my teeth, snagged by backpack, and climbed up the stairs. If I walked, I would never get there in time, meaning I would have to fly, no matter how dumb that idea was. With two steps, I was in the air, shooting towards school at a speed I've only matched a few times before.

My heart hammered in my chest as I feared that I would be late. Three tardies and detention would be served. I've already had two, and if I got another one, I would have detention.

Swooping down, I landed two buildings away from the school and sprinted the rest of my there. Everyone already had entered the school, so no one stood outside chatting anymore. I ran my way in and slowed my pace once I passed the office, praying they won't notice me.

My eyes narrowed when I heard a voice speak up. "Hey, you need to sign in here," a woman called out from the office. I swore. Why did my luck have to be so crappy?

I grumbled under my breath and walked back. I wrote my name and time, realizing I was literally two minutes late, and now I would get a detention for that. Awesome.

"You can go to your class now," she added once I left. Where else would I go? The smelly bathrooms? No thanks.

The lockers were all shut when I made my way through the hallways. None of the people in my former school used their lockers, but here it was a popular thing to decorate and make your locker 'yours'. When they are open, there's a multitude of colors and pictures. A couple put their favorite memes, others taped drawings, and some put pictures of their favorite superhero. Cocking my head, I wondered if any of these teenagers were the superheroes themselves. They were for the most part young, but it just seemed impossible. Dismissing the thought, I entered the classroom with my late tardy slip in hand.

Everyone's head turned toward me. "Late, Ms. Thorne?" Mr. Kelly took a look at my pass before throwing it into the recycling bin.

"Yep." He waited for me to take my place beside Soraya, the only seat left, before returning to his lecture about force vectors.

Soraya whispered, "You slept through your alarm clock?" I nodded. This was the fourth alarm clock that I destroyed, but I had two more left. Never hurt anybody to be prepared.

Grabbing my notebook, I titled the page 'Force Vectors' and gave my full attention to Mr. Kelly, planning to stay focused. His words, however, droned on and mixed with each other. Nothing made sense, and I was already getting a headache. Taking a look at the clock, I realized we still had thirty minutes left. What a nightmare.

Giving up a minute later, I started doodling on the side of my paper. I drew a flower, detailing every petal, and I colored in the shadows with my pencil.

"Ms. Thorne?" My head snapped up at the sound of my name being called.

"Yes?" I tried to figure out why what he was asking me.

He pointed with a stick to the board. "How would you solve this problem?" There was a box, a couple of arrows, and some numbers written.

I bit my lip. "Uh. So you would take... um. You would take... the force of x, and... the force of y... um." I wrung my hands together, having no idea.

Then, I heard someone whispering next to me, "You need to find the cosine of forty-five of the force of x." I repeated what the person said, and Mr. Kelly wrote down what I was saying.

"Multiply that number by the distance, which is nine point eight meters, and the answer will be the work of the object," He continued, and I said it back, verbatim.

Mr. Kelly finished the calculation on the board and smiled at me. "Excellent, Mrs. Thorne." I grimaced. That smile was going to turn upside-down once he would grade the test for this concept.

I looked beside me and realized Axel was the one who had helped me. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"No problem." He focused back on his paper, scribbling something down. I was about to do the same when I heard an explosion. The sound reverberated the floors and made the lights flicker overhead. There was a silence until it dawned to everyone that a bomb had just gone off near us.

From one moment of serenity, it turned to another of chaos and disarray. Orderly rows of desks were now shoved aside as more than half of the room sprinted to the classroom door. The boy in front of me let out a shrill cry as he dove under his table, joining others who huddled beneath their own desks. I sat there, trying to think what I should do.

Soraya stood up and shouted, "People, please, remain calm." No one, however, could hear her through the screaming and yelling. I had to give it to her, it was a brave attempt.

She hopped down, and Axel took her place on the desk. "Everyone! Everyone!" After a couple more shouts, the people who stayed in the classroom started to quiet down to whimpers and sobs. The other students were already out in the hallway, trying to run to safety. "Please, remain calm and-" Another explosion rang out, this one fainter, and the commotion began once more.

Glancing around, I noticed Mr. Kelly was gone. He must have run out with the other kids, probably not even realizing that there were still people in here.

Then, I realized Soraya was gone too. Did she leave with the rest of the classroom? She wouldn't leave her brother behind, though.

"Axel?" I called out, and he looked down. "Where's Soraya?" He surveyed the room, looked down at me again, and shrugged. Did he just shrug? I would be slightly worried if my sister wasn't with me.

I was about to tell him so when I heard creaking. I glanced around, trying to find the source of the metal grating. My eyes widened as I spotted one of the corners of the roof beginning to unravel. The roof was... being ripped off? Bit by bit, the layer of the ceiling was stripped, leaving debris to fall down. I decided that the other kids should probably get out of here, so I grabbed them and ushered them out. Their hands were shaking, and they obliged quickly when I pointed at the crumbling roof.

I wanted to join them, but Axel stood, alone, in the middle of the room, hands clenched. "Uh, Axel. You want to get out of here, before, you know, before that super who is ripping the roof off joins us?"

He shook his head. "No. I need to stay, but you need to get out of here." I pinched myself. Okay, I wasn't dreaming; this was real. So maybe he lost his mind? Perhaps he was in shock? Oh, please don't tell me he's another one of those Samaritans that think it's a great idea to fight a super.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I noticed the roof was now fully gone, and I was still standing by the doorway, unsure of what to do. I mean, he helped me, so I did owe him one. Then again, I didn't want to reveal my identity, meaning I could fight just not with my powers. I decided I would drag him out of here, but before I could take another step, the super jumped into the classroom. I sighed. Here we go.