The Modern Four

Chapter 7

Violet was honestly excited about going to Penny's. She shook her head, thinking back to when she asked her parents. They didn't believe her. And who could blame them. She didn't have any friends, really...

Violets family was eating dinner. Usually, in the Parr household, family dinners were a hectic thing. Violets little brother, Daniel, or Dash as they called him, getting in trouble for some stupid prank he pulled on his teacher, or maybe jack jack, violets baby brother, making a mess of everything. But, surprisingly, tonight it was quiet. Too quiet. Almost as if they were begging for something to go wrong. And of course, tonight, Violet planned to ask her parents to do something with penny. And she was seriously hoping for a distraction. Violet sighed, taking a bite of her food. It was now or never.

"Hey mom, dad, I have a question..." She said, looking up. Her parents looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. Violet was usually pretty quiet, except for her occasional sarcastic remarks.

"What's up, honey?" Her mom, Helen, asked. Her dad, Bob, just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I just wanted to know if I could hang out with a friend on Friday.." She mumbled, looking down. Her mom smiled, and the rest of her family looked shocked.

"Violet has friends?" Dash said, grinning.

Violet shot a glare at him. "Shut up Dash!"

Dash rolled his eyes. "It's a real question! You haven't had anyone over in years." He crossed his arms. Violet sighed in defeat. Violets mom smiled.

"Yes, honey, you can. I hope you enjoy yourself."

Violet shook herself out of the memory, tugging at her hair as they pulled up to Penny's house. Helen looked up at the nice brick house.

"It's...big." She said, taking in the details.

"Penny was a child actress." Violet mumbled, unbuckling. "Well, bye mom love you." She said, getting out of the car.

"Oh hold it young lady, I'm meeting the mother. I need to make sure I'm not dropping my daughter off with some killer!"

"Ugh, mom, Penny's not a killer."

"No? You never know, sweetie." Helen followed her daughter up the way, ringing the doorbell. Violet groaned, going up to the door and ringing the doorbell.

The parents meeting went by smoothly, and Violet was grateful for it. Violet and Penny retreated to the basement to choose a movie to watch. Penny pulled out a box of DVDs.

"I've got a bunch of movies, I dunno what kind you like to watch." She said, smiling.

Violet shrugged, rooting through the DVDs. Penny sure had a lot of chick flicks. Easy A, a Cinderella story Mean Girls, something called Heathers...Violet wasn't sure if there was anything she wanted to watch. "Really, I'll watch just about anything." She laughed a bit, then pulled out a DVD. Harry Potter. One of her all time favorites. "How about Harry Potter?"

"Perfect! I love Harry Potter. I always wished I could have received my hogwarts letter.." Penny sighed wistfully, shaking her head. "A girl can dream!"

Violet smiled. When she first read the books, she thought she had to be a young witch. She ran through her house yelling 'Expelliarmus!' "I had the same dream when I was younger. I always loved the wands, the magic..."

"The friendship, the stories, and my favorite part, the invisibility cloak." Penny laughed, shaking her head. "I always wanted to be able to turn invisible."

Violet shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking at her hands. "Yeah...it'd be cool..." She smiled nervously, still looking down. She was silent for a while, biting her lip. Penny took that as a sign, and shifted the topic.

"Anyway, the movie. Pizza should be here soon." Penny hopped up and put in the DVD. Violet played with her hair. Penny's mom came down after a bit with the pizza. Violet had a couple slices, and while reaching for her third slice, she gasped. Oh no. Not here. Anywhere but here. She stood up, rushing to the bathroom. Her hand...

Violet had a secret. Sometimes, never predictably, she'd disappeared. Sometimes fully, rarely in public. She really turn invisible. She began to panic. "No. No no no. Not now. Not here. Not while I'm just making an actual friend!" She took a deep breath, eyes widening as more of her arm starting to disappear. Her leg followed suit. She closed her eyes, then heard a knock on the door.

"Violet?" Penny. Great. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" She said, lying through her teeth. She was certainly not okay. No, she was the exact opposite of okay. "Can you call my parents? I think I'm ready to go home."

Her mom came about fifteen minutes later, and Violet hurried into her car.

"What happened Violet? Did you get sick?" Her mom asked, sounding worried.

"No no, I'm fine I just...it happened. Again. That's the tenth time this month, mom. I'm scared. I'm so scared, mom, I'm so scared." She confessed, tearing up. "I'm never going to be normal, am I? None of us are. Sometimes I just wish I was born into a normal family!"

"Violet... Just because we'll never be normal, doesn't mean you can't be happy with yourself the way you are. You're special, Violet. Gotta super." Her mom said, hugging her daughter. Violet shoved her off.

"Well maybe I don't want to be a super." She said. "I'll never make friends as a super. There's no crime to fight. It's pointless." She sighed. The rest of the car ride went by in awkward silence.