Post by Xan Rydman on Jun 23, 2006 16:08:26 GMT -4
“Go ahead and sit down; tell me about yourself.”
She had dyed blonde ringlets and rather large glasses. She looked overweight and short, but her voice was smooth, quiet, and calming. Xan took a seat across from her. The chair was stiff and uncomfortable. She crossed her legs, tapping her foot to the music constantly playing in her head. She bit her lip, touched her hair that was pulled back into a high ponytail. Her side bangs shaded half of her face. She pushed her sunglasses back onto her head.
“My name’s Xan. I’m fourteen, going to be a Freshman in high school this year. I go to Hawthorne Academy in New York, but I’m originally from Maryland.”
The woman wrote something down on the pad of paper in front of her. “Hawthorne Academy? You must get excellent grades. That school is only for the best students in the United States.”
“Uh, yeah,” Xan replied, cracking her knuckle and looking at the ceiling. Little did the shrink know, Hawthorne Academy was a training school for super heroes. It wasn’t for kids with good grades, and it definitely wasn’t a college prep school, like McDonough. It was for teenagers with powers. And sure, the school had some aspects of it that were normal. There were dances—Homecoming, Winter Formal, Prom. They had sports teams that played “normal” schools, and a volleyball team that played other superhero schools. They had classes Monday through Friday, they wore uniforms, and did community service. Any outsider could observe the students acting normally.
That was until you went inside, when you realized that Study of Evil wasn’t a normal high school class. At 3, you could head off to the Arena or the Gym to watch a Combat or Undercover class take place, where students would fight each other with incredible powers or someone would heal someone else or go invisible.
“So why are you here, Xan?” the woman asked politely, looking at her and tilting her head.
Good question. Why was she here? Guilt? There was plenty of that, yes, but so much as to lead her into a shrink’s office? Hardly not. There was a question struggling to get out. It was on the tip of her tongue, and she just couldn’t remember it. Xan just remembered it being important. And then she remembered it was between choices. She had already made her choice sort of, but it wasn’t too late to turn back. Did she want to, though? She wanted to do what was right, except she had no clue what right was anymore. Her mind was so cluttered with different ideas, opinions, and voices, that she could barely separate hers from everyone else’s.
“I need to know,” she paused, “how you know what’s right and what isn’t. How can you tell?”
“Well, you need to follow your heart and your head,” the shrink responded softly. “It’s your decision, and it will come deep inside you.”
Thanks a lot, that didn’t help whatsoever. Xan pushed herself up out of the seat and walked out of the office, not bothering to pay, even though in the end, her parents did receive a hefty bill. Xan had forgotten she’d filled out forms before she went in there. Stupid. And that was over two years ago, around the time she’d entered her freshman year at Hawthorne Academy. Now she was a Junior, and a long time ago she’d chosen what right was. Right was listening to the Devil inside her brain, telling her what to do. Right was watching over Seth Hudson’s every move. Right was telling Harsham Hall any information they needed to know. Right was being a double agent.
Xan was that popular, funny, pretty girl with a fashion sense no one could mimick. She wore bright colors and whatever she wanted. Her hair always looked great and it was always in some interesting “do.” Xan always had an opinion that everyone wanted to listen to. She was the girl boys dreamed about being with. She was a star soccer and lacrosse player. Her power was enviable, and she was friends with everyone, even whoever was on the Team at the moment.
And who would have guessed that last years’ team’s flops were caused by Xan Rydman?
Last year’s team had failed miserably in saving New York. They just seemed to have the worst luck. The Dean had blamed it on himself for picking students who couldn’t work together. Half of it was true—you couldn’t put Arrow on a team when he wanted to everything himself. But their equipment always messing up, the team members tending to get hurt without an explanation of how, and the way Harsham Hall could always tell what they were going to do before they did it—that was Xan’s dirty work. She had done her job. And this year, she didn’t only have Harsham Hall asking her for help, she had the legendary Devil himself.
At first, she had been awestruck, frightened, and apprehensive when he had first intruded into her mind. Then again, it really wasn’t anything new. He had explained his situation, and made his plans clear. He had given her direct orders. And all she had to do now was get close to the Team, particularly Lainey Carson. Because Xan knew her secret. She was holding the blonde by a string and the short, defenseless girl didn’t even know it yet. But Xan was also supposed to get close to Aidan, Seth’s best friend. She was supposed to be friends with Jake and Blair. And slowly, she’d be let into the fold of everyone else. The key was not slipping in front of Seth, Wynne, or Jade. Wynne, the brain of the team was smart enough to detect an intruder if it was made too obvious. Jade would always be suspicious and bitchy. Seth, on the other hand, Seth always seemed like he could read people. She knew he couldn’t, Xan knew it was irrational, but it felt like if she got too close to him, he’d be able to tell her plan right away.
She was kicking around her soccer ball after practice and a shower. Her hair had already been blow-dried straight and was sitting comfortably in a ponytail. She was wearing a tight tank top and shorts under sweat pants that looked like they might fall off any second. She was wearing her sunglasses and chewing a piece of gum as she aimed the ball, kicked and hit the wall exactly where she wanted to. Xan sighed, watching as the sun was starting to set. It was nice when she didn’t have to worry about her “job,” when she could just relax and kick the ball around. It was nice when she really didn’t have to think about anything.
She had dyed blonde ringlets and rather large glasses. She looked overweight and short, but her voice was smooth, quiet, and calming. Xan took a seat across from her. The chair was stiff and uncomfortable. She crossed her legs, tapping her foot to the music constantly playing in her head. She bit her lip, touched her hair that was pulled back into a high ponytail. Her side bangs shaded half of her face. She pushed her sunglasses back onto her head.
“My name’s Xan. I’m fourteen, going to be a Freshman in high school this year. I go to Hawthorne Academy in New York, but I’m originally from Maryland.”
The woman wrote something down on the pad of paper in front of her. “Hawthorne Academy? You must get excellent grades. That school is only for the best students in the United States.”
“Uh, yeah,” Xan replied, cracking her knuckle and looking at the ceiling. Little did the shrink know, Hawthorne Academy was a training school for super heroes. It wasn’t for kids with good grades, and it definitely wasn’t a college prep school, like McDonough. It was for teenagers with powers. And sure, the school had some aspects of it that were normal. There were dances—Homecoming, Winter Formal, Prom. They had sports teams that played “normal” schools, and a volleyball team that played other superhero schools. They had classes Monday through Friday, they wore uniforms, and did community service. Any outsider could observe the students acting normally.
That was until you went inside, when you realized that Study of Evil wasn’t a normal high school class. At 3, you could head off to the Arena or the Gym to watch a Combat or Undercover class take place, where students would fight each other with incredible powers or someone would heal someone else or go invisible.
“So why are you here, Xan?” the woman asked politely, looking at her and tilting her head.
Good question. Why was she here? Guilt? There was plenty of that, yes, but so much as to lead her into a shrink’s office? Hardly not. There was a question struggling to get out. It was on the tip of her tongue, and she just couldn’t remember it. Xan just remembered it being important. And then she remembered it was between choices. She had already made her choice sort of, but it wasn’t too late to turn back. Did she want to, though? She wanted to do what was right, except she had no clue what right was anymore. Her mind was so cluttered with different ideas, opinions, and voices, that she could barely separate hers from everyone else’s.
“I need to know,” she paused, “how you know what’s right and what isn’t. How can you tell?”
“Well, you need to follow your heart and your head,” the shrink responded softly. “It’s your decision, and it will come deep inside you.”
Thanks a lot, that didn’t help whatsoever. Xan pushed herself up out of the seat and walked out of the office, not bothering to pay, even though in the end, her parents did receive a hefty bill. Xan had forgotten she’d filled out forms before she went in there. Stupid. And that was over two years ago, around the time she’d entered her freshman year at Hawthorne Academy. Now she was a Junior, and a long time ago she’d chosen what right was. Right was listening to the Devil inside her brain, telling her what to do. Right was watching over Seth Hudson’s every move. Right was telling Harsham Hall any information they needed to know. Right was being a double agent.
Xan was that popular, funny, pretty girl with a fashion sense no one could mimick. She wore bright colors and whatever she wanted. Her hair always looked great and it was always in some interesting “do.” Xan always had an opinion that everyone wanted to listen to. She was the girl boys dreamed about being with. She was a star soccer and lacrosse player. Her power was enviable, and she was friends with everyone, even whoever was on the Team at the moment.
And who would have guessed that last years’ team’s flops were caused by Xan Rydman?
Last year’s team had failed miserably in saving New York. They just seemed to have the worst luck. The Dean had blamed it on himself for picking students who couldn’t work together. Half of it was true—you couldn’t put Arrow on a team when he wanted to everything himself. But their equipment always messing up, the team members tending to get hurt without an explanation of how, and the way Harsham Hall could always tell what they were going to do before they did it—that was Xan’s dirty work. She had done her job. And this year, she didn’t only have Harsham Hall asking her for help, she had the legendary Devil himself.
At first, she had been awestruck, frightened, and apprehensive when he had first intruded into her mind. Then again, it really wasn’t anything new. He had explained his situation, and made his plans clear. He had given her direct orders. And all she had to do now was get close to the Team, particularly Lainey Carson. Because Xan knew her secret. She was holding the blonde by a string and the short, defenseless girl didn’t even know it yet. But Xan was also supposed to get close to Aidan, Seth’s best friend. She was supposed to be friends with Jake and Blair. And slowly, she’d be let into the fold of everyone else. The key was not slipping in front of Seth, Wynne, or Jade. Wynne, the brain of the team was smart enough to detect an intruder if it was made too obvious. Jade would always be suspicious and bitchy. Seth, on the other hand, Seth always seemed like he could read people. She knew he couldn’t, Xan knew it was irrational, but it felt like if she got too close to him, he’d be able to tell her plan right away.
She was kicking around her soccer ball after practice and a shower. Her hair had already been blow-dried straight and was sitting comfortably in a ponytail. She was wearing a tight tank top and shorts under sweat pants that looked like they might fall off any second. She was wearing her sunglasses and chewing a piece of gum as she aimed the ball, kicked and hit the wall exactly where she wanted to. Xan sighed, watching as the sun was starting to set. It was nice when she didn’t have to worry about her “job,” when she could just relax and kick the ball around. It was nice when she really didn’t have to think about anything.