The Modern Four

Chapter 19

The next day at school had an excitable air surrounding it. During science class that day, both Wilbur and Violet shared their success story, with Violet's having much more realism than Wilbur's drastically dramatized version of the story. Both, however, kept the kiss on the cheek to themselves. It seemed silly, but they both felt that it was something to keep to themselves, and besides, they hadn't yet talked about what it meant, whether it was just friendly or what. Hiro and Penny hung onto every word, their eyes wide. Hiro then started to tell them about how he managed to get his aunt to lift his punishment, but quickly silenced himself as Mr. Pines walked into the room. He looked exhausted. He glared at the students as he made his way to his computer, sighing. The four exchanged looks, and started to whisper.

"He looks tired." Penny whispered, glancing back at the teacher.

Violet nodded. "Yeah, weird... I wonder why..." She frowned, taking out her notebook.

Wilbur smirked, shaking his head. "He probably spent too much time finding any little problem with our tests. Which is probably why I got a C on it." He sighed, grumbling.

Hiro laughed. "Or you know, maybe he was out partying. I mean, really, he's only like, twenty five."

Violet made a face. "Oh, ew, I don't want to think about that."

Wilbur laughed. "Hey, you never know."

Penny rolled her eyes. "It was a school night, I highly doubt it."

Wilbur started to retort, but a shadow fell over the desk.

"Are you all done chit-chatting and ready to learn?" Mr. Pines said, looked down at the four students.

Hiro gulped. "You... didn't hear any of that, right?"

Mr. Pines laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, no. Because I can't hear you say anything about me. You all are so logical. Let's have you think through this logical approach in detention." Mr. Pines walked back up to the front and began instructing. The four sank back into their chairs, defeated.

The rest of the class, as well as the rest of the school day, passed by quickly, and the four gathered in detention, which, thankfully, was held by another, much kinder teacher, since Mr. Hook was out of the school for the day. Mademoiselle Belle, the girl's french teacher, sat in front of the classroom with a book. She explained to the students that she was against the idea of detention, but was asked to do it by her friend Ms. Porter, who was Hook's orignal replacement, and had to take it on. She told the students that as long as they behaved and did not interrupt her reading, she would let them do whatever they pleased. Wilbur glanced around the room and saw that most of the students that were in detention his first time made a repeat appearance, except for Vanellope, who, come to think of it, WIlbur hadn't seen in quite a while. The four gathered around a table, all silent. Hiro had taken out a piece of paper, sketching something. Penny leaned over and furrowed her eyebrows, glancing over the drawing.

"Whatcha drawing?" She asked.

Hiro grinned. "Well, I've had this idea for a while, but I think I finally have the chance to do it. Since it seems we might have a real super villain on our hands, which is crazy because I'm still pretty skeptical over the whole super thing like how is this even possible how do supers even exist it makes no logical sense at all but we're just going to ignore that. Anyway, I think it's time to get a sort of uniform for us. Something that's, you know, cohesive and interesting. Oh, and also, you know, fireproof."

Penny blinked, slightly taken aback. "Fireproof?"

"Yeah, fireproof. We can't be burnt to a crisp. Anyway, fireproof and bulletproof. Oh, and for violet, it's got to be able to work with her powers."

"And the rest of us?"

"What about the rest of us?"

"Well, is it just gonna be Violet who does all the work, or are we gonna have powers too?" Penny asked, tilting her head.

Hiro blinked. He hadn't thought about that. "Well, uh...I dunno. I guess we'll see." He shrugged, he sighed, and glanced over at Violet and Wilbur, who were talking and sitting awfully close. Penny sighed and looked at them, shaking her head.

"They've certainly gotten close, haven't they?" She whispered so Violet and Wilbur couldn't hear and looked over at Hiro, who had returned to his sketching.

Hiro blinked, and said loudly. "Huh?" This caused the rest of the room to turn and look at Hiro, including Violet and Wilbur, who gave him funny looks. Belle shushed the class, without looking up from her book, and Hiro blushed a bright red. "Oops." He laughed, and the rest of the class returned to chatting or working on homework. Penny gave him a light punch on the arm, giggling a little.

"Nice job. You almost blew our cover!"

Hiro blinked, confused as to what Penny was talking about. "...What?" He said, this time making sure to whisper.

"Wilbur and Violet. They've been really close lately, huh?"

Hiro frowned. "I uh...I haven't really noticed. I uh, I guess so?" He said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Really? They've been sitting next to each other, partnering up for projects, and I mean, they took a bike ride together last night! That just screams 'we're totally dating!'"

Hiro just blinked, and once again returned to sketching. "Oh? And whys that?" He said, figuring it'd be best to just let Penny rant.

"Well, I mean, night time, sneaking out, bike rides, it's just all so romantic! I bet they totally kissed. And I'm so totally jealous because that would mean that Violet and Wilbur have kissed twice and I haven't even had my first kiss. Not that I'd want to kiss Wilbur, because that'd be just, ew, but I mean, one of my crushes. But I doubt any of them like me back, so I'm just here waiting-wait, why am I talking to you about this. I had a point. I lost my point." Penny sighed.

Hiro laughed. "You sound like my aunt Cass. It's cute."

Penny blushed. "Cute."

"Yeah, cute." Hiro blushed, and looked down at his sketch. "I think I'm done." He slid the sketch over to Penny, who glanced over it. "I think this is what I'm gonna go with for Violet. Something sleek and not too bulky, since that should be easier to modify for her powers." He grinned, the blush still not fading.

"How are you gonna do that?" Penny tilted her head.

Hiro's grin widened, and he leaned closer to Penny, and whispered. "I'm a mad scientist, remember?"