"Larkin, darling, if you continue to forget to turn your alarm clock on, I won't wake you up anymore." Her mother's voice sliced through her dream like a knife through butter. "Then you'll be late for school, and I will not tolerate that."

Larkin groaned and rolled over in her bed, pulling the covers up to her ears. "Mom. It was one time. I won't be late," she promised.

Larkin heard her mother's high heels clacking on the hardwood floor of the hallway as she walked. Larkin pushed her blankets back to begin her, albeit late, morning.

Her mother's voice echoed from the hallway. "If you need anything, be down in ten minutes because I leave at six thirty."

"Of course, mother," she hollered back.

Larkin rolled out of her bed and stumbled down the stairs, still groggy from the lack of sleep. She let out a large yawn as she walked into the kitchen. Her father was just about to go out the door when he noticed Larkin digging through the cabinet.

"If you're looking for the bagels, I ate the last one this morning," said Mr. Knolls.

"Uggghh," she grumbled, deciding to eat her default oatmeal for breakfast. Before she could sit down with her bowl, both Mr. and Mrs. Knolls were out the door, leaving Larkin all alone.

()()()

Third period: chemistry. Larkin paid rapt attention to the teacher. She didn't want to miss a single detail. After all, this was her favorite subject. It was only the second day of school, but Mr. McDowell had already delved into the thick textbook.

"We're going to begin with the periodic table. In previous years, you probably reviewed it some. This year, we will go more in depth..."

That's when she heard it. It was a distant yell. Even with her advanced hearing, it was hard for her to tell if the voice was male or female. For all she knew, it might not even be a plea for help. But she had a gut feeling. Something wasn't right. She had to check it out.

Hesitantly, Larkin raised her hand.

Mr. McDowell abruptly stopped his teaching. "Yes, Miss Knolls? What must you interrupt my teaching for?" A frown creased his face, adding more wrinkles to his already sagging skin.

"Um... well I have a dentist appointment today... and... I never got a pass," lied Larkin. She wrung her hands under her desk. Larkin didn't know how she would get out of this one. He would find out that she didn't have any excuses for not being in class.

He let out a deep sigh. "I suppose. I could write you a pass to go down to the office."

Larkin was relieved. This was easier than she thought it would be.

She walked up to the front of the class and grabbed the pass out of his hands before he changed his mind. Larkin was sure she had guilt written all over her face. Stupid superhero morals!

The hallway was deserted. All the doors were closed, and no students were shuffling through the corridors.

She obviously wasn't going to go to the office. That was the best excuse Larkin could think of to get out of class.

Larkin dropped her books off at her locker. As she jogged to the ground floor of the school building, she wondered how she was going to explain her absence from school to her parents.

Larkin stopped short of the office before stepping through the wall into the bright August sun. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the sun before putting on her super suit. Then she took off running.

Larkin had a difficult time locating where the sound was coming from. She took several wrong turns before the sound got louder. I might be too late. Oh gosh! No. Why can't stupid criminals to their criminal-e things after school hours?

To her surprise, she found herself at the gas station from yesterday. Everything was eerily silent. The lights were off and trash skittered across the parking lot like tumble weeds in a desert. The pumps were empty of cars as well. Even though it was only ten in the morning, it felt like a gas station for ghosts.

This is where I'm supposed to be. I know it. Larkin couldn't doubt her instincts. She cautiously approached the convenience store and stepped through the door. The inside was dark; the only light came through the windows. Everything looked normal to Larkin. She could hear voices from outside, maybe through a back door. The only thing off was the smell.

The air was too metallic. Electricity. The smell crackled through the air as a residue of the lighting produced by Black Lightning.

Larkin rushed through the building, looking for a second door. She navigated her way through the maze of shelves before finding one in the back corner. She pushed it open and came face to face with the back of a head. Black Lightning's head to be exact. They were in a back parking lot.

"Hey," she said.

Black Lightning spun around, almost tripping over his own feet. "You're a little late." He stepped aside and motioned to the two people tied up, sitting against the wall. Also, Larkin recognized the traumatized-looking cashier from yesterday, standing next to what was presumably his car.

"I'm never late," she grumbled. "You're just early."

Black Lightning chuckled. "Whatever you say."

"I had trouble getting out of... I had difficulties getting here. I can't fly, you know," she snapped. "Just fill me in on what happened."

"So, I hear the cries for help and then I come running to this gas station. Which, coincidentally, I was at last night. These two dudes had-"

He was cut off by the traumatized cashier interrupting him.

"First it was the crazy banana girl, and now it's these two thugs!" he exclaimed. "I need a raise."

"You weren't robbed by the banana girl. I was there. And yes. These two thugs showed up in the gas station demanding money. I flew in, blew up all the circuits in the whole store, dragged them out here, then you showed up. Late." Black Lightning gloated about his success until the police showed up.

She shook her head in frustration as the police cars arrived. He smirked at her and chuckled.

"I'm obviously a better super than you," he joked.

"You are ridiculous," huffed Larkin.

Just then, a female police officer trotted up to the two heroes. She raised her sunglasses and smiled. "I see the two resident superheroes are finally working together. Anyway, what do we have here?"

Black Lightning took the liberty to explain what happened, making sure to state that Coalescence didn't show up until the fight was over. Larkin frowned. She knew this would look bad for her: a late superhero.

"And where were you? Isn't it your duty to protect Markusville's citizens?" The officer raised her eyebrow questioningly at Larkin.

Larkin swallowed, looked the officer in the eye, and stated very calmly, "There is only one of me, and there are many bad people in the city. I can't be everywhere at once."

She wasn't technically lying.

()()()

Larkin arrived back in school just before the lunch bell. She had missed her chemistry class and all of German two. Oh gosh. Mr. McDowell is going to hate me. I freaking skipped his class on the second day of school.

Larkin had changed out of her super suit before she entered the building. Everything was still deserted since the bell hadn't rung yet.

Larkin walked to her locker and spun in her combination. She opened her locker with a click just as the lunch bell sounded throughout the hallway. Teenagers spilled through the doorways, chattering and laughing. Larkin grabbed her lunchbox and spotted Greta and Silvie in the sea of students. She shoved and elbowed her way through to them.

"Larkin! Where were you? I didn't see you in German," asked Silvie.

"Oh. I had a dentist appointment. I forgot to tell you guys. Sorry." The lies ate away inside of her.

The group of girls picked their way toward the lunchroom. Before they made it to the doors, four boys intercepted them. It was, of course, Jacob and his cronies. They all walked together toward the lunchroom.

Only Jacob and Larkin had brought their lunches, so they sat down while their friends stood in the long line.

"Oh, Larkin, I have your notes from chemistry," said Jacob. He pulled a folded piece of notebook paper out of the textbook he was carrying.

Larkin stopped chewing. Jacob was never nice to her. He lived to see her be humiliated. The normally insufferable boy had done something kind for once.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Jacob looked at her funny, scrunching his eyebrows. "Yeah... Why would I not be?"

"You do realize that what you just did was a nice thing, right?"

"I can be a decent person," said Jacob, defending himself. "And I'm sure you had a wonderful time at the dentist." He sneered at Larkin, and she wiggled in her seat uncomfortably before sighing.

"Mr. McDowell is going to hate me," she remarked, putting her head in her hands.

"Why would you say that?" Jacob was practically gloating at Larkin's misfortune.

This is the Jacob know and don't love.

"We both know I didn't go to the dentist today," she snapped. There was a dangerous edge to Larkin's voice, almost daring Jacob to disagree with her. "And we both know he never got a call from the office, stating that I had an appointment."

He grinned at her. "He won't hate you, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," muttered Larkin. She glared at him from across the table.

"Trust me on this one," urged Jacob.

"I wouldn't trust you with my stamp collection."

"You don't collect stamps," he argued.

"First of all: exactly. I don't even trust you with my imaginary stamp collection. Second of all: how would you know what I collect?" She squinted her eyes at him, suspicious.

"You're not the kind of person to collect stamps."

"And how would you know what kind of person I am?"

"Well, I've known you since kindergarten, and despised you since fourth grade, and we are now sophomores, so it's given me a lot of time to get to know you."

"And since you know me so well, what do you think I should be collecting?"

"I think you would enjoy collecting dead bodies. It seems to fit your personality," he explained.

Larkin scowled. "Your dead body is next on my list," she growled.

Jacob grinned from ear to ear, only infuriating her more.

"It's nice to know the two of you didn't tear each other apart while we were gone," a voice said from behind Larkin. She recognized it as Evan's voice. Silvie snorted before setting her tray down to Larkin's right.

Evan walked around the table and sat down next to Jacob. Only seconds later, Greta and Luke sat down at the table. Greta plopped herself next to Jacob, across from Silvie. Luke sat next to Evan. Finn arrived at the table last. He seated himself next to Larkin.

The table was filled with the sounds of food consumption, and Larkin was left to ponder her unusual day and worry about tomorrow. She would be in trouble; she knew it.