3"Miss Muter? Do you think that you could help Felicity out?" Mr Murray, our Villainy teacher asked me, drawing my attention away from a riveting text conversation with Tristan.
"Sorry, sir, what was the question?"
He smiled patiently at me. "The scenario is thus – you are in the final stages of committing a heist. You are out the doors, and well on your way to your getaway vehicle, when you're confronted by heroes. What do you do?"
"Well, that's easy sir. Distract the hero with something shiny, and make an easy getaway." I grinned as the class laughed. Even Mr Murray couldn't stop his chuckles.
"Yes, yes, Holly, very clever, and very true, but we need an answer that will satisfy the Board. How would you get away?"
I thought. "Well, that depends. Do I have accomplices?"
He nodded. "Yes, three, but they are inside the building dealing with the security."
"And what do I have in the way of weapons?"
"A revolver, a small dagger, and a canister of nitrous oxide."
I nodded thoughtfully, and pursed my lips. "Right… I assume that there are pedestrians somewhere to be found?"
"A few curious bystanders, yes."
"Alright. Well. As the heroes are trained to first protect the innocent, I would threaten the most vulnerable type of citizen, preferably a woman, or child. While the hero is occupied with them, I would slash the insides of their car tyres, an action they won't notice until they try to pursue. Releasing the nitrous oxide, I render the hero powerless to stop me as I make my escape. Once a safe distance from the scene, I'd make an untraceable call to my head accomplice, letting them know to get away, and then, once in the comfortable luxury of our safe house, bask in our success." I grinned at him. "Right?"
He nodded, and applauded me. "Perfect, Holly, absolutely flawless. Class, pay attention. First, we exploit the weaknesses of the hero – the training that requires them to first protect. We create the illusion of danger, without the actual intention behind it. And why is that, class?"
"Because classy villains never kill," the class chimed in unison. "It's messy, and it leaves clues."
"Exactly. And while the hero is preoccupied, we sabotage their vehicle, making it impossible for them to follow, let alone catch us. We then create a window of opportunity, where we can make our escape. Once clear of the immediate danger of discovery, we can contact the rest of the team, and rendezvous at a safe location."
Before he could say anything else, the bell rang, signalling the end of the period, and, more importantly, the end of the day's lessons.
"Hey," my best friend, Corinna Thurlow, caught up to me in the hallway. "How was it?"
I shrugged. "Basic. Murray's really going overboard with the revision. He seems so reluctant to teach us anything new… What about you?"
She made a face. "Same with Austin in History. We've been going over the best people to graduate from the Academy for the last three weeks. You think there's something going on?"
I just looked at her. "Corinna. You're training to be a villain, and you can't tell when there's something going on? Are you sure you're in the right school?"
She laughed. "Hey, give me a break alright? I just spent the last hour revising the achievements of one Harry Donovan, drug trafficker extraordinaire. Coincidentally, Mr Donovan also makes a very large contribution to this here Academy. The more you know, huh?"
I laughed and rolled my eyes as we sat down at our usual table to wait for the others. "I'd like to know what's going on. Whatever it is has to be big, right? Or we'd still be learning something. God. I mean, anything would be better than this constant revision bullshit. Murray doesn't seem all that pleased to be teaching it, though…"
She shook her head. "Yeah, Austin either. He's angry like, all the time. Miss Hughan, as well, in Languages. Always muttering something foreign under her breath."
"Ladies," my other best friend, Tristan Blaire greeted us. "What's crackin'?" he asked, sliding into a seat next to me, slinging his arm around my shoulder.
"Trying to figure out what's going on," I answered him. "We're not learning anything new in any class, and there's got to be a reason for it. And I'd like to know what that reason is."
He laughed. "Well, we all would, Hol, but what are we gonna do? The only people who know anything are the teachers and Director Hargrove. And the teachers aren't allowed to say anything."
"How do you know they can't say anything?" Corinna asked.
He shrugged. "Asked Barton in weapons. He said he couldn't say anything. Although he did mention that I could take it up with Hargrove if I desperately wanted to know."
I stood. "Then that's what we're going to do," I announced.
Tristan looked at me, confused. "What? Where are you going?"
"To talk to Hargrove. What's happening is affecting all of us, and we have a right to know what's going on. You coming?"
He grinned up at me. "Hells yeah babe. You know me."
I laughed, as he stood. "Cor?"
She shrugged, standing. "Nothing better to do."
We headed towards Director Hargrove, chatting idly, spawning theories as to what we'd find out.
"Reckon someone's been caught?" Tristan asked. "Cops?"
I shook my head. "Nah. Far too public. Media would have been all over it."
"Maybe they've found out what this school really is," Corinna offered worriedly. "And we're being shut down."
"Well," I sighed, as we approached the glass doors of Director Hargrove's office. "I guess we'll find out soon enough, won't we?" I knocked confidently on the door.
"Come in," came the genteel voice, seated behind a large beechwood desk. "Ah. Hello, you three. Not in trouble again, I hope?" He smiled at us.
I smiled politely back. "Not this time, Director. Actually, we came to talk to you."
"Oh?" he asked, giving us his full attention. "And what would this be about?"
"We want to know what's going on," Tristan said. "With the Academy."
"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Mr Blaire."
"Look, Director," I said, getting straight to the point. "We know that there's something going on. We're learning nothing new in classes, the teachers are sullen and not themselves. There's something going on here, and I think we deserve to know what it is. It's affecting us too, you know."
He sighed. "Ah. Yes. Seems I've overlooked what observant students we have here. I am aware that this involves you all as well, and you're completely right. You deserve to know what's going on. I will be holding an assembly tonight, and all will be explained then."
"Well why can't you just tell us now?" Corinna asked, somewhat impatiently. "I mean, we're here now already…"
He smiled tiredly. "Yes, well, I would prefer to address all students at the same time. I don't want to have to explain what is going on to you three now, and to the rest of the student body later tonight. You understand."
I nodded. "Of course we do. Just as long as we do get an explanation. I feel that we've earned that much, at least. We've held off asking for weeks."
He nodded, sighing. "Yes. Well, everything has only just been finalised. I did not want to address you students until I knew with absolute certainty what was going to happen."
Corinna smiled. "Of course, Director. We'll leave you to it."
He attempted to smile back, but it didn't reach his eyes. Whatever was going on was serious, I could tell that much. "I'll see you three tonight."
"Absolutely," I said, leading the others out the door.
"So," Tristan said, as we headed back towards our table. "What'd you guys think?"
"I think he looked angry," I said slowly. "I mean, he was acting like he usually does, polite, and caring and whatever, but did you see his eyes? There was a storm brewing in them, that's for sure. He was pissed."
"I think he looked a little upset," Corinna contributed. "I mean, not like, sissy upset, just… I don't know how to explain it. He just looked kinda sad."
When we reached our table, Jason, Cameron and Kyle were already sitting there.
"Hey, where were you guys?" Cameron asked, pushing his wavy blonde hair out of his blue eyes.
"Went to talk to Hargrove," Tristan explained, taking a seat between Kyle and Jason.
"You find out what's going on?" Jason asked curiously. "You know everybody's dying to know."
I shook my head. "Assembly tonight. Apparently all will be explained then."
"What do you guys think it is?" Kyle asked me, moving over so I could sit next to him.
I shrugged as I sat, rummaging through my bag. "Beats me," I told him, as I pulled an apple out of my bag. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
The wait from afternoon to evening was agonising, and not just for me. A few minutes after Tristan, Corinna and I had joined the boys, Director Hargrove had made the announcement that the entire student body was to meet in the second courtyard at precisely seven pm, to discuss a very important issue. We all knew what this was about, and the masses buzzed with theories. I paid attention to none of them.
Kyle and Jason headed off to the chemistry block – the block where they got to play with explosives in the name of "science". Cameron and Corinna headed over to the computer labs, muttering something about hacking. Which left me and Tristan.
"You wanna spar?" I asked him, challenge in my eyes. "Unless, of course, you don't feel up to it…"
He grinned menacingly. "Not on your life, little girl," he said, before hoisting me effortlessly over his shoulder.
"Hey!" I squealed, squirming. It was no use. He had me tight.
We had only just entered what was commonly referred to as our 'Fight Club', when the bell rang out.
"Seven already?" Tristan asked as he placed me safely back on the ground.
I scowled at him, before checking my watch. "Huh. Yeah, it is. Guess we all talked more than we thought."
He shrugged. "Whatever. Come on, let's go. You know this is gonna be good."
When we finally reached the courtyard, about half the student body was already gathered. As Tristan and I were seniors, we had the privilege of being able to sit in the gallery. Heading up the stairs, we found Kyle and Jason.
"Hey kids," Kyle said, waving us over. "Saved you seats."
"Excited?" Jason asked, winking as I took the seat next to him.
I laughed. "Curious, more like. You forget, this could be bad news too."
We sat in relative silence, until we saw Director Hargrove walk onto the stage. By that time, Corinna and Cameron, along with all the other seniors, had joined us in the gallery.
Hargrove cleared his throat, before beginning his speech. "I want to thank all of you for coming. I know that this has not been easy for you, being able to sense that there is a problem, with no indication of what it may be. I want to thank you all again, for being so patient. The news I have to give is both upsetting and angering, and I expect that most, if not all of you, will be outraged at what I have to say. Before I begin, I must make it clear that I have done everything in my power to prevent this from happening, but my efforts were not enough. Despite my objections, this is going to happen. The council," he sighed, running a hand through his greying black hair, "has decided that this town need another, larger, mall, and car park to accompany it. They plan to build this mall where the Heroes' Academy is."
A small cheer went up among the juniors, jeering and laughing at the heroes' bad fortune. The seniors waited in silence.
"SILENCE!" Director Hargrove bellowed into the microphone. "This is not a cheering matter!"
The students feel silent.
"This is not a cheering matter," he elaborated, once more composed, "as it means that the heroes, and the small school of civilians near them, now need somewhere to go."
"No way," Tristan murmured beside me. "He can't be serious…"
The bodies around, and below, us, were making many of the same whispered statements, as we all came to the same conclusion.
"The council has decided that, because of our large campus, we have ample space to house both the hero and civilian schools, while they search for new locations."
He was forced to shout now, to be heard over the objections of outraged students.
"This is a terrible decision on the council's part, but one that we cannot avoid without revealing what we truly are," he shouted. "Everyone! Everyone, I need you to quieten down, while I explain how this is going to work."
We silenced immediately, all interested in what he had to say. We all wanted to know how he thought that this could possibly work.
"Thankyou," he continued, when we had all quietened. "Now. A great many changes will have to be implemented in order to make room for our new boarders and students. The empty block at the back of campus, where I know you all like to throw parties and hang out and whatnot, will be cleared immediately, to make room for our civilian friends. We absolutely cannot allow them to witness anything that happens here, unless they have made a formal commitment to us, and even then, their initiation must go through me. Am I clear?"
A chorus of 'Yes, sir', rang out.
"Good. That should be enough to hold them. They are not a large school, and I am therefore confident that they will have no need to bother us, or even set foot on the main campus. The heroes, however, are a different matter. Their student population is roughly the same size as ours, and room for them to board must be made."
The students started to argue at the thought of having their rooms, as well as their school, invaded by heroes, and Hargrove held up a hand to silence them.
"I am not!, nor will I ever be, suggesting that you share your room with one of them. I am not a foolish man, as I like to think I have proven time and time again. I believe the easiest solution for all of us to do will be to share a room with the person across the hall from us. If that arrangement does not suit you, find one that does. There will be no less than two students sharing a room, am I understood?"
Dejected mumbling implied that he was.
"Good. The heroes will live there, in the rooms directly from us. I expect that you will all behave in a way that will make me, and this Academy, proud."
Suddenly, it dawned on me. Oh, he was a villainous man. Director Hargrove was setting chaos into motion, with his mere words. I shook my head in wonder, grinning. He was exactly the kind of villain that I aspired to be.
"Hey," Tristan nudged me. "What're you so happy about?"
"Tell you later," I whispered back.
"Now, as for classes," Hargrove continued, "what they learn is more or less on par with what is taught here, only the opposite, obviously. I will take every measure necessary to ensure that their classes do not interfere with yours. After all, they are only guests, and as such, expected to respect us. Finally, the when. I am sorry to have to spring this on you so suddenly, but my negotiations took up more time than I had expected, without the desired outcome. Both heroes and civilians arrive tomorrow-"
He was cut off by shouts of outrage.
Tomorrow was not a hell of a lot of time for me to plan…
"- Like I said!" he yelled over oppositions. "Like I said, they arrive tomorrow, and, as I stated before, I expect that you will all act in a way that this Academy can be proud of. That is all. Do not forget to find yourselves a roommate. Have a productive night," he said, seeking me out in the crowd, and looking directly at me.
I nodded slightly, to show that I understood.
"What the hell was that?" Jason demanded of me. "You're nodding at him, after what he just told us?"
I shook my head. "I'll explain in a sec. Get everyone to meet me in the senior courtyard when they get out of here."
"Why?" Tristan asked. "You heard Hargrove. We gotta get moving."
"We need to do more than that. Didn't you get what he really said?"
He shook his head, a blank look on his face. I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry about it, I'll explain later. Right now, I need everyone n the courtyard."
He shrugged, and pulled out his phone. "Whatever. I hope you have a plan."
I beamed at him. "Don't I always?"
Fifteen minutes later, we were all gathered in the senior courtyard.
I took a seat up on the stage, observing the sea of angry, impatient faces that stared back at me.
"Alright guys. Let me just start by asking whether anybody but me got what Hargrove actually wants us to do?" I was hoping there was at least one other person that had got the hidden meaning in his words.
Sadly, they all shook their heads.
"Yeah," shouted a male voice from the back. "He wants us to surrender to those hero jerks, and let them run us out of our rooms without a fight!" A junior. Figured.
"Quiet, junior," I snapped. "Actually, that's not what he was saying at all," I corrected him. "In fact, it was the complete opposite. He wants us to do everything we can to get rid of the heroes."
"…And how do you figure that?" Kyle asked curiously.
I sighed. Sometimes I worried for the future of villainy. "Look. He's putting the heroes across the halls from us, in close enough proximity for us to mess with them. He's organising their timetables so that there's no way they'll interfere with ours, leaving us plenty of opportunities for sabotage. He wants us at the top of our game, making him proud. He wants us at the height of villainy, running those heroes out of our Academy. Get it now?"
I watched as realisation dawned on everybody.
Corinna giggled, hugging me. "See, this is the reason we call you Princess," she told me. "Princess of Darkness. I can't believe nobody else got that!"
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, me either. I mean, really. Not that difficult."
"So what are we going to do?" a girl yelled out from somewhere in the middle. "They all arrive tomorrow!"
"For now," I told them, "we do nothing. We move into one side of the dorms, leaving the other side free. Classic Heroes versus Villains set up. And no prizes for guessing who wins." I grinned wickedly. "Villains, of course."
They cheered their agreement.
"Alright, so, if you guys want to go and get sorted – we'll all live on the right side of the dorms, if there's no objections?"
They all nodded, not one protest.
"Alright. Go and get settled into your rooms, and I'll let you all know when I've finalised the plan, okay?"
They trickled back to their dorms, some coming up to high five me, or pat me on the back, telling me what a genius I was.
It was times like these when I saw my empire. I got a glimpse of what it was like, what it would be, to command people, to destroy enemies. I sighed happily.
Corinna hugged me again. "Looks like we're going to be roomies," she said gleefully.
I grinned at her. "Awesome. Let's get you all moved in."
We stayed up until about eleven, moving all Corinna's stuff across the hall and into my room. We just dumped it all wherever it would fit, planning to fix it all properly tomorrow. Even around twelve, when we finally crashed, I could still hear others moving things back and forth.
The morning bell woke me at about seven in the morning. I could only assume that the special-occasions-only bell meant that we had half an hour before our presence was expected in the main quadrangle for the arrival of the citizens. And, an hour after that, we were expected again in the second courtyard, for the unwelcome arrival of the heroes.
I yawned widely, and kicked Corinna gently. Somehow she'd managed to sleep through the piercing bell.
"Cor," I mumbled sleepily, stifling another yawn. "Get up. Bell's gone."
She muttered incomprehensibly, and turned so her back faced me. We'd shared my double bed last night, on account of the fact we'd had to disassemble hers to move it, and she was sleeping on the edge. I saw my opportunity to wake her up, and seized it, promptly shoving her onto the floor.
"OW! HOLLY! What the hell!"
"Gotta get up, Rinna, bell's gone," I said cheerfully. "Morning's here."
I grinned widely as she picked herself up off the floor and glared at me. "Fine. But first shower's mine."
"Well good luck finding your clothes," I told her. "They're all in a pile under something, I think."
She sighed, scowling. "Fine. Shower's all yours."
I hopped triumphantly off the bed and headed straight into the bathroom.
When I emerged, ten minutes later, wrapped in a towel, Corinna was sitting impatiently on the bed. "Jesus, Hol, could you take any longer? It's nearly quarter past already."
I smiled angelically. "Well, it's all yours now. Go for it."
She rolled her eyes as she walked past me and into the bathroom. "Well, thankyou. How very generous of you." She stopped in the doorway. "Oh, by the way, Trist rang. He said he'd be here soon, so you might want to get dressed," she said, winking at me as she laughed evilly, shutting and locking the door behind her.
I glared at her through the bathroom door. Maybe she couldn't see it, but she'd damn well feel it. I had a very powerful glare.
"Corinna Annabel Thurlow, I swear to god I am going to kill you!"
"Who're we killing?" Tristan's voice came from behind me. "Oh. I see you're not dressed, Holly. Need some help, or can I just stay and watch?"
I threw the closest thing I could find at him. Luckily for me, and rather unluckily for him, that happened to be a baseball. "Blaire. Out. Now!"
He held his hands – one clutching the baseball I'd thrown – up in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'm going. Keep your towel on. Or don't." He winked at me. "I'll be out here." He laughed to himself as he headed out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
I threw on the first clean bra and pair of underwear I could find, and proceeded to hunt through my wardrobe for clothes. I came up with a pair of black skinny jeans, and a plum coloured tank top. After pulling them on, I opened the door to Tristan.
He looked me up and down, mock-disappointed. "Damn. You're wearing clothes. You know, I like you much better when you're naked."
I laughed and rolled my eyes, heading back into the room. He followed. "Well, too bad for you that you're never going to see me naked, hey?"
He frowned. "You're no fun anymore, Holly. None at all. Has anyone told you that lately."
I shook my head. "Nope. Just you."
He grinned and pulled me into a hug. "Morning, shortie."
I pulled away. "Get away from me. I'm getting you all wet."
His grin widened. "That's what she said."
I slapped him playfully on the arm. "Seriously. I need to dry my hair. Get off."
He let me go, pouting. "See, Holly? No fun at all."
I rolled my eyes. "Poor baby," I said, before picking up the towel I'd discarded on the floor and towelling off my black hair, paying extra attention to the tips I'd dyed bright orange. Everybody knows the tips take the longest to dry, and they drip everywhere, and I was not dealing with irritating drippy tips and heroes in the same day, no thankyou.
"So," Tristan said, from the spot he'd taken up on the bed. "You got a plan yet, Princess?"
"Funny you should mention that, actually, Trist," I said, looking at him in the mirror. "I barely slept last night because I was thinking up just that. I'm thinking, we give it a week. Start off small, basic street villainy, and, by the end of the week, we finish with something absolutely spectacular. What do you think?"
He nodded slowly. "I think that could work," he said. "I think that that could definitely work. What's on the agenda today?"
I turned to face him, satisfied that my hair was as dry as it would get without the hairdryer in the Corinna-occupied bathroom.
"Absolutely nothing today," I told him. "Today is Sunday, which means two things. One, that they're going to be too busy moving in and everything to fully appreciate my villainy. And two, that if we start tomorrow, we can make it a straight week, and have them out of here by Friday night, in time for our formal. And besides. They'd probably be expecting something to happen today, so they'll be on guard. The longer we leave it, the more room for paranoia to set in." I grinned. "Sound like a plan to you?"
He grinned back at me. "Such evil contained in such a tiny package…"
I snorted. "Well, you'd know all about tiny packages, hey, Trist?"
He laughed. "Touché."
The bathroom door opened, and Corinna exited, dressed in a denim mini, black stockings, and a black shirt. The dark brown hair I'd recently help dye with a red undertone fell loosely around her shoulders, in the same style as mine.
"Hey Trist," she greeted the boy still taking up space on my bed. "You get here okay?" she asked, smiling cheekily at me.
He chuckled. "Sure did. You know, you guys have a lovely view this side of the dorms…"
I rolled my eyes. "I hate you both. Really. I should just dump you with the heroes."
The second bell rang, meaning it was time to make our way "promptly and noiselessly" (ha) to the quad, to welcome the civilians to our wondrous school, three-quarters of which they would never see anyway.
I ran a brush through my hair, slipped on a pair of black ballet flats, and headed for the door. "You guys coming?" I asked.
"Well, that depends. Are you suggesting that there's a way we could not come?" Tristan asked, lazily getting off the bed and drifting over to join me in the doorway. "Because if you have a plan, I would very much like to hear it."
I sighed. "Sadly no, Tristan, I have no plan. We're just going to have to suck it up like everybody else. Cor?"
"Just let me find some shoes," she said, rummaging through the many piles we'd left last night. "Any idea where we put them?"
I shook my head. "Sorry. Just borrow some of mine, we're the same size," I told her.
"'Kay." She picked up a pair of black Converse, and slipped her feet into them, not bothering to tie the laces. "Alright. Let's do this."
I laughed. "Don't sound so motivated."
She stuck her tongue out at me. "Let's just go."
I locked the door behind us, hiding the key in my bra as we headed down the stairs to the main quad, filling Corinna in on 'Operation Hero Elimination'. You'd think by now I'd have learnt not to let Tristan name our operations, but no, apparently I hadn't. He's just too damned hard to say no too.
We were among the last students to enter the quad. All the civilians were already there, easily identified by their uniforms. They stood out easily among the casual clothes the villains wore.
All the seniors present looked at me questioningly when we arrived. I nodded, reassuring them that I did, in fact, have a plan. They turned away, pleased.
I paid no attention at all to the assembly held for the civilians. I had no strong feelings about them either way, really, as long as they stayed out of my way. The assembly I was really looking forward to was still just under an hour away. In just less than an hour, the fun would really begin.
Okay, first things first.
I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY.
It's been way too long since you guys have had an update !
Anywho. You may have noticed that you've already read all this. I've decided to rewrite it all, to make the chapters a little longer, the wording a little better, and basically try and make sure none of the chapters feel just like filler, you know?
So, yeah. Obviously there is going to be new stuff updated pretty soon, I've got the first four or so chapters rewritten, with a lot added, and a lot fixe up, so I hope you enjoy. :)
Also, anyone with Twitter/Tumblr/even Facebook, if you want, feel free to leave links when you review, I'll follow/add, and you can harrass me for updates easier. :P
Hahah.
lovelovelove. xxx