Zoom, Academy for Superheroes: Part 1

Hello Hello

"Never going to find anything to change my mind; famous last lines of a fool. Just when you think your chain is just one link, something comes to tip you off your stool. Hello, hello, what have we here? Hello, hello, I'm not alone, it's good to know. Someone dropped in to say "Hello.""
-Elton John

*****

        17 year old Jack Shepherd walked the hallways of Westbrooke High, their school's arch rival, with his best friend and teammate Finn Richards, better know to the comic book world as "Marksman". He and Finn were teammates in more than one way. Firstly, they were on their high school basketball team, quite skilled players I might add. Secondly, they were both on the Zenith Team, a secret team of superheroes formed by the government in means of public protection.
        Jack and Finn were planning on causing some trouble, it wouldn't be a visit to Westbrooke without it. Basketball is what had brought them there today, Traverse Secondary versus Westbrooke High, battling it out for the Valley Championships. They were in between games and decided to scout out their options for wreaking havoc. The decision was to toilet paper the main hall. It would be tricky, being so close to the office, but knowing Jack and Finn, it could be done. They hurried back to the gym as they heard the whistle signalling the beginning of their final game.
        Jack played as hard as he could, the whole team did. He could tell the chicks were impressed, one of his main goals in life as a teenage boy. As much as he hated Westbrooke High on basketball terms, he had to admit, the girls weren't too shabby. He got another basket, they were winning, not by much, it was a close game, but they were winning.
        Jack looked up into the crowds and saw his girlfriend Alex, who was also better known in the comic book world as "Ace." She was busy talking with a Westbrooke senior like she always is. He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, but he didn't need any distractions right now. Jack and Ace finally made things official about a month ago. She was on the Zenith team as well, but her and Jack went to different schools.
        Jack's brother, Connor, who's alter ego is "Concussion", and Finn's girlfriend, Rebecca who's alter ego is "Daravia", were the other members of the Zenith team. Each member of the team possessed powers that were beyond human, some would call these superpowers. Marksman possessed mind sight, Ace could levitate, Daravia could dissolve things with just her eyes and Concussion could throw "super punches", which no one had a real, scientific name for. As for Jack, who was better known to some as "Zoom", he was born with super speed. His powers were so strong and advanced, that he was referred to as the leader of the Zenith team, the captain.
        He never really liked to be called Zoom. Not by the people he was close to anyway. He wasn't Zoom, he was Jack. Zoom was a character in a comic book, a great hero. Though Jack was technically Zoom, he was just Jack, a sporty teenage boy who drove a nice car. He didn't like when people confused the two.
        Jack liked to think that him and Alex were made for each other. She was never as enthusiastic about it, and throughout their entire relationship, Jack had been somewhat blind. Alex wasn't very personable, her personality was quite flat, she didn't like many people.
        She didn't even treat Jack any differently. But he thought loved her. He'd never taken that step and said those three little words to her, though, because subconsciously he knew she wouldn't return them. Something else he never noticed about her was that she always called him Zoom, she barely used his first name. It was almost as if it was some kind of act.

*****

        They had won the game, it was a big deal in the world of high school basketball. Westbrooke was always hard to beat. As the crowd was filled with a mix of cheers and boos and the players shouted congratulations amongst each other, the entire gym cleared out. There must have been 600 people in the small gym, all trying to fit through one door. To make matters worse, there were even some students trying to enter the gym, just because it wasn't busy enough already.
        Jack had finally found his way to the door, but as he pushed himself out the door, he ran right into someone else going the opposite way. He tilted his head downward to see who he had collided with. His intentions were to give them heck and tell them to watch where they were going, but he'd never gotten the chance to do that. He had just glanced at her for half a second while she apologized and kept walking. It was long enough, though, for Jack to memorize her face.
        The first thing he noticed was the she was absolutely beautiful. There was something about the captivating smile that he just knew it was on her face more often than not. She had curly brown hair, glasses, a few freckles on her cheeks, and her face was turning red with embarrassment though she smiled anyway. But the one thing about her he wouldn't soon forget were the eyes. For some inexplicable reason, they seemed to sparkle. Alex's eyes were hazel, beautiful, but nothing compared to this girls blue ones.
        The girl had been holding a stack of schoolbooks in her arms, and the people around her payed her no mind, pushing her out of the way as if she wasn't there at all. And based on the way she was being treated, the glasses and the books, she was probably the school nerd. The first thought that popped into Jack's mind was that she was nothing like Ace. And a wave of guilt swept over him when he realized he couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
        Jack and Finn walked quickly down the, now empty, hallways of Westbrooke High once again. This time, with 4 empty toilet paper roles in their hands. They would have gotten away with their prank, had they not taken a moment to stop and admire their work. They took just long enough to be spotted by Mr. Dunley, Westbrooke High's very own principal.
        Finn took off before Jack even realized they had been caught. It was always like this, Jack takes the blame and the punishment because Finn vanished into what seemed to be thin air. He didn't really mind, it was usually Jack's ideas anyway, Finn being simply the partner in crime. You'd think it would be the other way around, Jack was the fast one, he should be long gone, but he hated a guilty conscious even more than the next person.