Your Average Superhero

Just a little eye-shadow; maybe some lip-gloss. That’s all I needed. It’s subtle; not over-the-top and trashy. I stared at my reflection as I added my favorite lip-gloss to my pink lips. Dark lashes framed light blue eyes, and thicker blonde hair fell down past my shoulder. The heart shaped face and high cheekbones merely highlighted and complimented my lips and eyes. My lips looked wet and shiny from the gloss. Even though they weren’t as full as I would’ve liked, I didn’t stress over it. They weren’t just thin lines on my face, but did look pouty.

I catch sight of the alarm clock over my shoulder, and holler an unnecessary, “Shoot!” I quickly stuff my gloss in my pocket, sling my backpack over my shoulder, and rush out the door. “Dang it! I am so late! I’m gonna get in so much trouble!” I shouted as I run down the steps. I skid to a stop by the kitchen door, skipping through to snatch a pop-tart for along the way.

“Wait for me!” Diamond yelled just as I reach the front door. “C’mon, Crys, you can’t leave me here!”

I laugh as we dash out the door. We both hop into the silver Porsche, and groan as we realize that I had forgotten my car keys.

“Looking for these, little sister?” Emerald asked mockingly as she dangles the keys in front of my face.

I snatch them before she could taunt me any further, smiling in victory at her. “Need a lift again, I presume?”

“Whatever.”

She slowly gets in, but not before Di lost her patience, and jerked her in, fastening her seatbelt all in one blinding movement.

“Drive,” Diamond commanded as she gets back in her seat.



I sprint through the halls, shuffling with the other students who had come in late. It was the first day of school, which also meant that I didn’t have a clue about where I was headed. I needed to get to the junior part of the school — the only problem was that I didn’t know which direction that was in either. Gosh, high schools should be smaller!

After minutes of running around the outrageously large building, I come face-to-face with my homeroom. The final bell rings, and I burst through the door, gasping to catch my breath.

“Ah, Ms. Jones, I presume?” Mr. Gibson asked in a patronizing voice. “You’re late. And on the first day! Never a good sign.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” I replied quickly. I open my mouth, prepared to explain myself, but he beat me to it.

“Save it, Ms. Jones, and please take your seat.”

I nodded, blushing a dark shade of red as I scurried to the nearest seat. I could already tell that I wouldn’t like him. I tossed my head to the side, thus flipping the hair on my shoulder behind my back, and wait patiently for him to begin the lesson.

“Let’s see if Ms. Johnson and Mr. Love decide to show up.”

I coughed to cover my laughter. Mr. Love? Did he really have to say it that way? It sounds so … player-ish. I choked on my laughter the next second as I process the rest of his sentence. Ms. Johnson? As in Emerald Johnson? Oh, no. Please, please let it be another Johnson! Any other Johnson!

As if she knew that I was thinking about her, Emerald walks in. Emerald Johnson; my sister everybody! I think bitterly as she stands by the doorway, examining the classroom, and meeting every pair of eyes. I suppressed a groan of irritation as she spots Mr. Gibson, and prepares her world-class flirting technique.

“Am I late?” she asked innocently.

“Oh, no, Ms. Johnson, you’re right on time,” Mr. Gibson replied back sarcastically. “Take your seat.”

She frowns, obviously not used to the bitter attitude from a male of any age range.

Emerald was a very attractive girl for her age of fifteen — almost sixteen. Long, think, wavy brown hair, and blue eyes the same as my own. Heart shaped face, straight nose that was just slightly too big, high cheekbones, and full lips that always drew attention. She was tall, most definitely, but lacked the curves that most girls had.

She pouted as she walked to an empty seat, drawing even more unnecessary attention to her red lips, and passing me as she did so. She forced a sickly sweet smile, stopping in front of my desk.

“Well, hello, Crystal! Isn’t it just great that we have homeroom together?”

“Yeah, great,” I said with the same amount of fake excitement as her. “Maybe we’ll have all our periods together.”

Her smile faltered temporarily, and her eye just barely twitched — it was a bad quirk of hers that she only did when she was upset with someone. “I wouldn’t count on it, little sister,” she sneered, dropping the façade completely.

I rolled my eyes once she continued walking onto the back rows for an available chair. I sigh, looking to my left out the window. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting from a second story view. I look up at the sky. I wonder what it’d be like to fly? It’s probably extraordinary. I’d have to ask Diamond sometime.

I’m forced violently back into reality as I hear the desk in front of me being occupied. I blush as he smirks at my surprise, and quickly look back out the window. That must be Mr. Love. My lips twitched at a smile. Yep, his name is still funny.



I sprint through the halls in a hurry before the bell rings, signaling the end of another period, and the beginning of lunch. Five, four, three, two … I run twice as fast, bursting through the lunchroom just as the bell rings. I thanked my bladder for choosing the just-right moment to have to make me pee.

I scamper to a table, pulling out my plastic Superman lunchbox. Yeah, it’s probably one of the dorkiest lunchboxes in the history of time, but I don’t care.

“Hey, hey, Crystal Jones,” Diamond said as she plops down beside me.

“Hey, ho, Diamond Smith,” I replied back with a smile at my BFF. “So, how are you liking high school, freshman?”

“Just fine, junior.”

“That sounded weird.”

“Yeah, I know, right?” she agreed. “Oh, and I love your Kung Fu Panda t-shirt,” she added half-jokingly.

I looked down at my shirt, and was shocked to see that she was correct. It was Po and the Furious Five joined in a karate pose, and underneath read Kung Fu Panda, surrounded by a fiery frame until it was back to black.

“Tigeress is awesome,” I said randomly.

“Are you kidding me? Are you blind? Remember in Kung Fu Panda 2 how Po kicked some serious bee-hind?” Di said, rolling her dark eyes. “Po is the awesomest one in the entire movies.”

“Yeah, but Tigeress is deadly calm and alert. Plus, she has that total sensitive side. That makes for a great superhero.”

“Oh, yes, and you are the expert on Superhero-ness,” she said sarcastically. We both laughed at that.

“What are you guys arguing about?” Jake asked teasingly.

“Kung Fu Panda,” I replied back.

Jake was a football jock, and my only male friend. (Yes, that most definitely sounded geeky.) He’s African-American, coated in muscles that are hard as rocks, and most definitely tall. He was utter perfection with a secret that only his closest and most trusted friends knew about. His face had lost all of its boyish charm, resulting in him appearing much older than he already was. His lips were ridiculously full, and I’m always telling him how jealous I am of that fact. His nose was big, but you barely noticed with his abs staring right back at you, and saying, “Come on and feel me. I know you want to. Look, I’m a six pack. I bet you’ll like it as much as me. FEEL ME!” But, careful ladies! He’s a forbidden fruit. He’s been dating this girl named Kaylie for the past two years. (Three years if you count the year of flirting before Kaylie asked Jake out.)

“I was just pointing out to Crys that Po is better than Tigeress,” Diamond said with a smirk.

“What? No way. Crane is the bomb,” Jake said.

“Where’s Jamie?” I asked, looking to the empty space beside him.

“She got the flu.”

“Oh, that sucks.”

“Yeah,” Diamond agreed, nodding. “She’s gonna miss checking out all the cute boys with us.”

“Us?” Jake and I asked simultaneously.

“Alright, fine. Me.”

I rolled my eyes. Ah, that’s Diamond.



I bob my head along to the beat, leaning against the door to my car as I wait for Di and Emerald to show up. I don’t know why they aren’t here already, and frankly, I really wish that they’d show up. I look around, and groan with irritation. Where were they?

Let’s go back a bit — it’s chemistry, my final period. The bell had just rung, and everyone’s shuffling off to their cars or rides to go home. I was grinning like a fool for no apparent reason — I had no idea why I was so happy.

I skipped through the corridors that were already barren, and opened my locker to grab whatever I had for some reason thought that I would need. Then, suddenly, two boys came running down, shouting and yelling at each other with water balloons that I had just assumed were filled with water, and I just continued minding my own business. I closed the dull blue locker with a slam, and turned around, only to be hit on one of the balloons. It was most definitely not filled with water, but pink paint.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry,” one of the guys said sincerely, running over to me. I wiped a hand down my face to get the paint off, and used my other to push my hair away. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Just peachy,” I said, forcing a smile.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated.

“You know, just forget it,” I said, quickly walking away.

“Pink’s a good color on you!” the idiot who had thrown the balloon that hit me yelled.

I didn’t respond.

So, as you can guess, at this moment I am standing in the middle of the parking lot with pink paint coated on me like cake that’s starting to dry. Which, trust me, is a very uncomfortable feeling.

“Come on, come on,” I muttered under my breath as I look around. “Where the heck are you guys?”

“Who?” Diamond asked as she ran over.

“You and Emerald,” I answered just as Emerald decided to pop up with Naomi.

Naomi was a short, busty girl. She was around 5’1” with long brown hair that fell in waves to just below her cleavage. Dark brown eyes, nearly black, framed by dark eyelashes and a thin line of eyeliner, and heart shaped face. Her bottom lip was just ever-so-slightly fuller than her top, and both were coated in a thin layer of red lipstick that I was fairly sure she had recently reapplied. Her nose was perfect on her face — not too big, too small, or any of deformation that a nose could possibly have.

“So, Crystal, is it okay if Naomi comes with us?” Emerald asked as they hopped into the backseat of my Porsche.

I roll my eyes, and slid into the driver’s seat, not even bothering to waste the breath that it would take to reply. “Seatbelts,” I commanded simply.

“Hey, wait! Diamond!” some boy yelled, jumping in front of my car, and waving Di’s phone in front of him. “You forgot your phone!” he shouted the obvious.

Diamond sighed, sliding back out to retrieve her cell. “Thanks, Wayne.” she forced a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow in physics.”

He nodded, grinning like he’d just seen the greatest thing in the world as Diamond reentered her ‘shot gun’ seat. I honk, and he jumps back, startled back into reality.

“Get out of the way!” Naomi yelled, poking her head out the window to ensure that he heard. He stepped to the side, and I put the car into drive.

“Next stop, a well-needed shower,” I muttered under my breath as we exited the parking lot.

“So, mind explaining about what happened to you?” Emerald asked.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Why not? It appears to be a very interesting story.”

“Just drop it. Alright?” I snapped irritably.

“Whatever,” she grumbled under her breath. “And who was he, Diamond?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” she repeated what I had said only minutes prior.

“Sometimes I think that you two share a brain,” Naomi said, rolling her black eyes. “It’s just freaky.”

“Whatever,” Diamond and I said simultaneously.



“Hola, Cristal, ¿cómo estás?” Mars asked with her thick Spanish accent, obvious taking note of my wet hair. “Did something happen at school?”

“Nothing, María,” I replied back. “Just got hit by a water balloon filled with pink paint.”

“Cristal, it’s Marte,” she said, glaring playfully at me.

“What does Marte mean, Ms. Smith?” Naomi asked.

“Mars,” she answered. “How was your first day of high school, Diamante?”

“Fine, mom,” Diamond said, rolling her eyes. “It’s just school.”

“No, it’s escuela secondary. High school.”

“Oh, Dios mío.” Di sighed in exaggeration. “Oh my gosh.”

“It’s so cool how you guys can speak Spanish and English,” Naomi said. “It’s always such a mystery as to what you’re saying. Seriously epic.”

“Oh, by the way, señoras, Rae is coming over today with Jake and Jamie,” Mars said, smiling that love-struck grin that she always got when she talked about Rae.

“I thought Jamie had the flu,” Di said confusedly.

“Oh, she does have la gripe.”

“Then why are they coming?” I asked with eyebrows raised high. “Shouldn’t Jamie be in bed or something?”

“Ah, I don’t question Rae’s parenting,” Mars said in her very, very heavy accent. “Kaylie is coming, too, with Jake. I think she said she was bringing some friends … I don’t know.”

“Oh, cool,” Emerald said sarcastically. “More people to feed.”

“Wash out that mouth of yours, Esmeralda,” Mars said. “I will not have you ruining la cena with your actitud amarga.”

“What does ‘actitud amarga’ mean?” Naomi asked.

“Bitter attitude,” Di answered effortlessly.

“And ‘la cena’?”

“This dinner.”

“Vamos a tener una cena tradicional mexicana. We will be having a traditional Mexican dinner.” Mars practically squealed excitedly.

“Yay,” Emerald said sarcastically.

“Oh, you love my cooking, Esmeralda.”

She rolled her eyes in reply.