*Beep!*

The insistent sound of the alarm shocks a young girl into wakefulness.

*Beep!*

Well, it intends to shock a young girl into wakefulness.

*Beep!*

Instead, it merely disturbs an otherwise shockingly deep sleep.

*Beep!*

"HAILEY JUNIPER PENZE! IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP THIS INSTANT I WILL COME UP THERE WITH A TRAY OF ICECUBES!" A woman's voice reverberates through the room.

At the shout from downstairs, the sleeping form rolls over to slap her alarm clock silent. Unfortunately, her aim is off and instead of hitting the silence button, she manages to knock the clock off the stand. Smashing on the floor the clock falls silent, no doubt due to the good portion of its mechanical guts hanging out. Mumbling to herself, Hailey rolls over to stare at the broken clock. Then with a wave of her hand, the clock repairs itself and flies back to the nightstand!

*Be-*

A moment later, it begins to blare out again but this time the teenage superheroine is fast enough to smash the silence button before it can spread its wakeup call throughout the house.

With a yawn, she fumbles out of bed and floats over to her mirror and dresser where clothing begins to float out of the drawers and arrange itself in front of her body on the image in the mirror.

"Hmmmm, what do you think Bel? Comfy and cute or sweet and a drop of slutty?" She says looking over at a vicious dagger laying casually on her dresser.

Then she cocks her head to the side and waves her hand moving each outfit in front of her for a moment each. Then she continues to speak, "I think I've worn leggings every day for the last week. So comfy with jeans instead?" She pauses for a moment, then laughs. "No Bel, I am not going 'skyclad.' I'm not that crazy a feminist no matter what The Chauvinist might think."

Finally, after a few more minutes spent staring at herself in the mirror, she waves her hand and sends one of the suits back to her drawer neatly folded. "Cute and comfy, maybe with a tiny hint of hot too." She spins in the mirror to admire herself from a different angle, "Yeah maybe just a hint!"

Her reflection in the mirror smiles back. Hailey is off a short stature standing just above five and a half feet tall. Then her eyes drift upwards to her disheveled hair. Her dark black locks grants an aura of mystery in her suit, in the morning however they grant an aura of frizzy neglect. When wearing her cowl of spells, she ties her hair up so it appears shorter. But when out of her costume, Hailey’s straight hair dips just below her shoulders.

Combined with her blue eyes and short height, her appearance demands a second look without quite rendering her a truly captivating beauty. The general character of her face is soft and curved, rendering her attractive but not sultry. Together, her gentle features push Hailey closer to cute than beautiful.

Capping it off is the smattering of faint freckles across her cheeks. The faint marks stand out against her tanned skin, accentuating the brilliance of her eyes. Although her friends and parents have not yet noticed, her growing affiliation with magic has only darkened and intensified the blue color.

Then she pulls out her backpack and begins shoving scattered textbooks and a laptop into it while speaking, with a hint of mirth, "There's nothing wrong with looking good Bel. Theo can always use a reminder of why he likes me, besides my personality that is. And hey, if all this nightly crime fighting has one benefit it’s that I've lost a bit of weight. Give me a few more months and I'll have a perfect butt too." Then she frowns. "Yeah I hear you, magic takes a toll and all so eat up. Man, I almost wish I had Ginger's power sometimes. She looks like a freaking gymnast in that suit. I bet she's the queen bee of her school."

Hailey pushes the dagger into her backpack and then ducks over to the mirror where she winds her hair into an unruly ponytail. Then with a flick of her wrist, the wild look settles into a perfectly combed hairdo. "Okay yeah, magic has its uses. I just wish I could get away with a little more, I mean come on you should totally teach me how to French braid with spells! Or copy some of those crazy celebrity looks! I could go to school with prom hair every night and it would be sooo funny!"

She stares intensely into the mirror, idly playing with the ends of her ponytail. "I know combat and protection magic is probably more important in the long run but still, I could be the world's best hairdresser in weeks if we worked on it."

Hailey pauses for a moment. "Okay we could be the best. And sure maybe magic has a few more, you know like magical, uses I guess but if we're being completely honest I could really use a practical skill for the long term. I'm already falling behind in Mr. Laurisden's class and give me a couple more months of this and Mr. Memely won't be thinking to highly of me. If it wasn't for Bella I'd already be in hot water there."

Standing, she spins her pack around her shoulders and marches to the door. "Yeah exactly, give it to the end of the school year and things might get rough. Once this ends what about junior and senior year? I've got to get into college or my parents will literally murder me and if that ends up in a different city I honestly don't know what I'll do. I mean do you know any teleporting magic? Because the plan of flying, sorry floating, back here every night and weekend or so feels like a really bad one."

Marching down the stairs, she continues to speak, "Relocating seems like a bad idea too. I mean that makes it super obvious where I came from and it's not like my age is going to be difficult to guess. Villains will just start scouring the incoming freshman classes in whatever city I end up at until they find me."

At the foot of the stairs, Hailey pauses walking for a moment. "You're right, you're right, I've got three years to think about this still. But we should really have this conversation sooner rather than later, otherwise it'll turn into another 'five page essay on Beacon's major policy initiatives as leader of the Association' situation. You know the essay we wrote on the way to class last week? And don't even suggest relying on your advice for homework help ever again, high heels are not a sexist invention of the patriarchy. Even if they are, writing a twelve page response to that effect on question three of ten in lieu of actually doing the word problem on my math test was not a great way to get through the quiz. We're just lucky Mr. Glass is an understanding guy and let me retake it."

Continuing through the hallway at the foot of the stairs and into the dining room, Hailey notes her parents sitting at the table.

"Morning sleepyhead." A middle-aged woman in a pantsuit says with a hint of a smile.

"Morning mom." Hailey replies with a scowl. "Did you have to shout down the whole house this morning?"

Her mother's expression turns severe in an instant, "Did you have to sleep in and make me late for work three times last week?"

Hailey rolls her eyes, "I was tired! Theo getting hurt had me really worried and made it difficult to sleep is all."

Hailey's mom picks up her coffee mug and gives her a knowing look, "Oh really? That's the story you're going to go with? Young Mr. Trelio was hurt a few weeks ago as I recall and he seems to be doing just fine last time I watched a football game."

"Ugh so fine, maybe I just had to catch up on a little homework is all. Alright?" Hailey throws herself into a chair and begins pouring a bowl of cereal.

With concern in her voice, her mother speaks up after taking a sip of her drink, "Catch up? Is there something you aren't telling me Hailey? I know we let you stay overnight at the hospital that one time but if you think that's a license to spend time with boys..."

Hailey cuts her off, "NO mom! Don't be gross. I'm not doing anything like that!"

In a more subdued tone, her mother replies, "Well you know I worry. What with you disappearing after school every day and don't even try to tell me it's just your workout sessions. I can see you've lost weight recently so I don't doubt you're spending time working out but you and I both know that spending several hours in the gym isn't healthy. Should I have you talk to a therapist?"

"Oh my God mom no! What is your deal? I don't need a therapist!" Hailey replies indignantly as she can around each spoonful of breakfast.

"Well you could be developing an unhealthy body image. I read that could lead to anorexia or worse! I'm just worried about you Hailey." Mrs. Penze says in a low tone.

"Look, mom, I'm only out late because I'm um... I'm..." Suddenly Hailey's face lights up, "Because I'm getting tutoring from Bella and she's got cross country practice so we have to work on stuff afterwards which is why things go so late is all." Nodding to herself, Hailey continues, "Yeah she's super smart and all so it'll really help me and it's a really good idea, I mean it's already really helping me!"

Pausing for a moment to digest this revelation, her mother gathers up her plate and puts it in the sink before turning around and speaking. "Bella, you mean the Atropos girl?"

"That's the one! She's wicked smart you know and she could really use a friend." Hailey replies as she finishes her bowl of cereal.

Nodding, her mother replies. "Yes I've heard something about that from her mother at the PTA meeting." Then she turns her gaze on her daughter and with a stern look says, "If you plan on using that girl just for tutoring you will be in trouble young missy. She's a very nice girl who doesn't deserve to have anyone take advantage of her."

Hailey gulps. "Hey mom whose side are you on? I mean I would never do that but still I'm your daughter jeez."

With the same level look, Mrs. Penze continues, "Exactly. And I would be extremely disappointed in my daughter if she was anything other than the soul of kindness. I know you'd never do anything to hurt anybody, but you've also been lucky and you haven't seen how mean kids can be to each other. Especially high school girls."

"Oh trust me mom, I've met a few really wicked types." Hailey replies with a grin. "You know misogynistic jerks and jealous girls who you can't stand but have to work, those types."

Walking to the door and grabbing her keys on the way, her mom replies, "Well I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you know not to let them get you down, it's just high school and in ten years they’ll all be nothing but memories." Then she spins around to face Hailey as her daughter steps outside the house. Reaching up to closing the door behind Hailey, she continues, "But I do want you to promise me, Hailey, that you will be nice to Bella. She's a very nice young girl who has very poor taste in friends and I expect you to be the exception to that."

Rolling her eyes once again Hailey replies, "Okay mom I promise, now can we go? Besides, she's tutoring Jake too and he likes her so nobody bullies her anymore."

"Jake and Bella? Wasn't he dating your friend Missy?" She says as the two get into the car.

The sound of the engine starting forces Hailey to speak in a raised voice, "YEAH BUT SHE DOEsn't mind him getting tutoring help. Besides, Jake's way to into Missy to cheat ever and Bella's way too timid to even dream of making a move. Which she wouldn't do anyways because Missy decided they should be friends soon as she found out Jake had a tutor. So they bonded over how dumb he is or something. Plus Missy's dad is a cop, so if Jake ever breaks up with her he might shoot him."

Pausing for a moment to slowly digest her daughter's torrent of words and ensure she drives carefully Hailey's mother causes a lapse in the conversation for a minute. Asks her to repeat the last bit and laughs when she does. "You think he would do that? Oh come on Hailey! Detective Anderson is an incredibly nice man."

"Riiiigghhht. Actually, he's a bit scary you know? Like I'm only fifty percent joking about him shooting Jake scary." She responds with a slight shudder.

"Oh come on! When have you actually gotten to know the detective? He's a very nice man who is very devoted to his daughter is all." Her mother responds with a laugh.

Hailey gives a wry grin at her words, "Oh I see him every now and again. Anyways we're at school so cya mom!"

Surprised by her daughter's quick exit she rolls down the window and shouts, "We're still a block away!"

Hailey leans in the car door, "I'll walk!" She breathlessly intones before moving off towards the school.

"Alright! But don't forget your promise! Hailey Juniper Penze! You answer me!" She hollers at her retreating daughter who spins about to give her a thumbs up and grin before disappearing into the school. With a grumble, she peels away from the intersection noting all the other parents with teenagers taking the same opportunity to bail early.

Mrs. Penze's ruminations on her daughter's friendships will have to wait, for our attention remains squarely fixed on Eldritch herself. We will see the next portion of her school day next week in... "An Afternoon in the Life!"