Classroom: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/lady-bug/images/7/76/ClassroomBustier.png/revision/latest?cb=20151107235030

Ari sat at her desk with her head down, trying to get in some rest. It had been a long couple of days with the sudden explosion of villains popping up. Her and her partner had been taking down bad guy after ad guy and it was getting a bit overwhelming both physically and mentally. She was exhausted. With a big yawn the girl looked up drowsily at her teacher as she called her name. “Ari Gray! You best not be sleeping in my class again!!” The tall, male teacher scolded. “Huh…?” Ari stared for a moment at the teacher as the other classmates stared at her. “Oh my gosh!! I’m so sorry, Mr. Drake!”
“Ari, why are you so tired all the time??” Mr. Drake demanded with some concern in his voice. “I’m getting worried. I don’t want you to fail this class.”

Ari made a worried noise and looked around at the others who were looking at her. Her best friend, Cali who sat next to her nudged her. “Just say sorry and stay awake.” Her brunette friend whispered to her. The blonde girl nodded and stood up.
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again!” She bowed at the waist and then sat back down. It was something she had seen on TV, it was a sign of respect. How embarrassing. She didn’t want to look back to see if her crush was looking at her too. After the incident, class continued on until lunch time when Ari grabbed her backpack and ran out of the classroom.

“Oh Cali that was so awkward!” She spoke loud enough so only her friend who had followed her could hear.

“It’s okay, just try to stay awake, drink coffee if you have too. Why are you so tired all the time anyways? You’re not secret a super spy who goes out on secret missions in the dead of night are you? Or maybe you’re Shadowbird!?”

“WH-WHAT?! ME??? Y-yea right, Cali, I’m not cool enough to be a spy or a super hero.” Ari stammered.

“I know you geek, I was just messing with you. Whoever is Shadowbird has to be PRETTY flexible, agile, nimble and fast. I don’t think you’re any of those things, you’re far too clumsy.”

“THANKS.” Ari rolled her eyes and smiled at Cali. “You’re the nicest friend I’ve ever had.”

“No problem.” Cali looked at her watch. “Oh isn’t it about time you run off somewhere to do some secret thing..? You’re not secretly stalking him are you?”

“Stalking? No. No way. I just like to eat lunch at home and have to go and let my dog out to go to the bathroom, you know the drill.” Ari gave a big innocent grin and gave Cali a brief friendly hug before running off toward home, waving over her shoulder as she did so.

Ari’s home: http://i57.tinypic.com/50o593.jpg

Back at home, Ari plopped herself down on the couch and clicked on the TV. After which she laid back and closed her eyes. Her mom and dad were at their jobs and she was left to her own devices. After letting her dog, Link, out to pee she had all the time in the world to just relax after today’s embarrassment.

“And it looks like downtown there is a rather slender young woman with green hair on a rampage. She is one of the ones with inhuman abilities it seems.” The voice on the TV said.

“Wait. What?! Envy is on a rampage. I thought she was locked up?” With a heavy sigh, Ari stood up and grabbed her back pack. She ran to the backyard so she could do her thing. Easily she teleported out of her clothes and directly into her skin tight get up that she threw out of her back pack into the air. She was only unclothed for a short second before she was in the air in her get up. Landing on one knee with her fist hitting the ground (Superhero landing), she picked up her clothes and back pack and stashed them away then used her hook shot on the nearest building to get the hell out of there and to her destination and fast. Hopefully her partner would meet her there and they could end this quickly so she wouldn’t be late to class, AGAIN.

Downtown Winlock: http://i.imgur.com/oZTwz68.jpg

@Xikari chan
At Winlock High School, students were allowed a free period in the middle of the day to eat lunch. Most went to their homes, or to the many fine restaurants near the school. There were lunch rooms available to those who didn't want to, or couldn't leave the grounds. They were extremely nice, by any standards.

However, Orion Tara preferred to sit on the roof to eat.

As of right now, his backpack was at his side, and sandwich, with a few bites taken out of it, was sitting on a nearby plate. Orion was not paying attention to either object, though. He was staring at his phone, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Superhuman loose in Downtown Winlock," the news headline read. Below it was a grainy photograph of a green-haired girl, in the middle of tossing a car.
Envy.

It had already been too long since he had seen Shadowbird.

He felt the other presence in his mind, the alien, stretch out, like she was awakening from a deep slumber and had some stiff joints.

Orion didn't even hesitate. Ready? he thought to her, whose energy he already felt pulse through his mind.

Always, she shot back, with a smirk in her voice.

Waves of bright light passed over Orion. His clothes transformed into the shiny black material of Galaxy's costume. A belt encircled his waist, and was fastened by a silver clasp. The light traveled over his outstretched arms, turning into black opera gloves. His sneakers disappeared, and in their place were his combat boots. With a burst of light, his glasses transformed into a shiny visor, and his hair undid itself and changed its colour to a silvery grey. Lastly, he felt the star appear on his cheek.
The light faded away to a faint sparkle around his limbs.

He was Galaxy, the superhero, and he was going to make Envy pay.

Galaxy concentrated and jetted off into the sky. The fierce winds billowed his hair around his face and stroked his exposed skin. He laughed, relishing the feeling of the sweet sky on his body. Grey buildings shot by, and people looked like agitated ants. He faintly saw a figure swinging from buildings-- Shadowbird. He paused for a second to smile at seeing her once more, then rocketed almost vertically towards her tiny form.

Floating a few feet behind her as she swung, Galaxy called out in his melodious voice:
"It's the dark defender of justice; the protector of peace; the winsome warrior of Winlock City-- Shadowbird!"

He flew at her side, catching her beautiful blue eyes. "And she looks good in boots and a cape."

"Oh hush you." Shadowbird flashed a smile toward Galaxy and continued swinging from building to building. When they arrived downtown, Shadow landed and rolled swiftly onto a rooftoop. She stood on the edge, looking down at her enemy, Envy, who was picking up cars and chucking them through shop windows. "Come out, come out wherever you are Birdy!!" Envy shouted as people ran in fear of her. As two civilians passed her, Envy reached out at touched the arm of the male civilian. The man she had touched stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes glowed green like Envy's and he grabbed the arm of the woman he had been running with. "You never loved me! You love someone else don't you!? Who is it?!" The man growled at the woman, his jealousy and anger controlling him. She put her arms up to block, he seemed as if he was going to hit her. Shadowbird used her ability to teleport away from her comrade and behind the man who was holding the other. She placed her hand on his shoulder and when he turned around to face her she socked him right in the face. He fell down unconscious. "Sorry about that. He'll be better when he wakes up, aside from a little bruising on his face." The hero told the woman. This woman smiled meekly at Shadowbird and knelt down to tend to her loved one.

"There you are, Birdy. Miss me?" Envy grinned at Shadowbird.

"Like a vampire misses the sun." Shadowbird gave a smirk in return. She removed the paintball pistols from either side of her belt and aimed at Envy. "Will you go down easy, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?"

"Where's Galaxy? I want Galaxy!" Envy crossed her arms over her chest, unafraid that Shadow had her guns pointed in her direction.

"Don't get your ponytails in a twist," Galaxy said, dropping down lightly next to Shadowbird.

He curled his hands into fists and smirked at the villain. "Shadowbird over here's pretty good with a gun."

Envy returned the expression, arms crossed in a defiant gesture. "We'll see about that."

She turned around and bolted in the direction of the police barricade. Behind it was a crowd of at least 200 unsuspecting people, police, and paramedics alike. Before anyone could react, a cackling Envy had launched herself over the barricade and began to touch people. Their eyes glowed green and their faces morphed into expressions of anger.

"I thought you loved me, Noah!" A woman kicked her husband in the balls with a stiletto heel.

"How could I ever have married you?" A man punched her wife in the face.

"God, I hate you!" a teenage girl backhanded her sister.

The crowd's heartbroken screams echoed in the downtown street.

Envy stepped through the crowd, slowly and deliberately. Though the crowd attacked each other with vigour, they didn't touch the lithe girl.

"Heartbroken Lovers!" she called, her voice ringing over the crowd's.
The crowd stopped pummeling their former partners. Their green eyes locked onto Envy's own, and their bodies were frozen. It reminded Galaxy of a horror movie.

Envy pointed a finger at Shadowbird and Galaxy. "Your hearts will be healed if you get those two!"

Over 200 pairs of eyes made contact with the two heroes, their anger burning with a green fire.

"Crap," Galaxy whispered out of the side of his mouth, breaking the perfect silence.

Then the crowd ran towards the two, screaming and foaming at the mouth.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Shadowbird removed her hookshot from the holster at the small of her back and shot it to one side of the mob. With the power of her teleportation she teleported around the group rapidly. The cord wrapped around the mob, causing the humans to press together. "Got 'em" She pulled the cord as tight as it would go. "Galaxy you gotta do something about Envy. If you knock her out they'll be out of her influence."

The ones in Shadowbird's trap squirmed and struggled. They yelled, screamed and growled at Shadowbird, trying desperately to get to her and tear her to shreds. "Knock it off you guys, she's controlling you, can't you see that!"

Envy laughed sadistically and ran toward Shadowbird. Shadowbird gripped the gun with the cord coming out of it tightly in her hands. She didn't seem to notice that Envy was nearing, but instead was focused on keeping the others tied together and keeping them from fighting each other. Envy reached her hand out toward Shadowbird. A perfect opportunity for Galaxy to stop her.

Galaxy gave a tiny salute to his partner before launching himself in Envy's direction. He tackled the thin girl, hugging her as they slid across the ashphalt. Her head hit the ground with a dull thunk that made Galaxy wince. They rolled a good 50 metres from the spot which she stood. His arms and legs burned, but still, he held onto her. Then, when they came to a stop, a good 200 feet away, he allowed himself to breathe. His body lay above hers, propped up on his forearms. He could feel her soft breaths on his chest. Envy was peacefully knocked out, her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling. He gave a relieved sigh, about to stand up from her and observe his wounds.

Her green eyes flicked open, pupils like pinpricks. A lightning bolt of fear tore through him and he went in the direction his instincts told him- up. And so he did, a back blur off the ground.

He looked back and saw a smiling Envy, hanging onto him by his upper arm. The exposed part of his arm.

Envy's electric green hair flew behind her, her ponytails long gone. She smiled blissfully, like an angel. She knew that she'd won.

Galaxy, though jetting through the air at 100 miles per hour, felt fear rip through his heart.

He felt himself slipping away, like water streaming through a hand. Envy grasped onto him, an unnatural strength in her twig thin arms.

"You know what to do," she mouthed over the roaring wind.

He saw a face in his mind's eye: blonde hair, iceberg blue eyes, a domino mask, and a pair of blood-red lips. Shadowbird.
His hatred for her grew ever stronger.

The other in Galaxy's head was screaming for him to stop, that he was better than this, that he could overcome this manipulation! Slowly, he closed her out. All that was in his mind was Envy's smiling, angelic face, and his growing anger.

Galaxy hovered there in the thin atmosphere, above the cotton-ball clouds, without saying a word. A breeze sailed over his cheeks.

Yes, he knew what to do.

He shot back down, thrice as fast. He held Envy in between his arms so that she didn't get killed by the speed. Green lit the edges of his vision.

Mere seconds later, he was at Winlock, accompanied by a loud sonic boom. He dropped Envy from his arms and kept going. Shadowbird turned around.

She didn't have time to do anything that might have protected her as he flew at her at Mach one, fist outstretched in a punch.

Her face twisted in a delicious agony as she sailed back and hit a building. Blonde hair spilling everywhere, her eyes shut, and her mask off kilter. Who knew what torturous injuries she had sustained? Her pain sent a shiver of joy down his spine.

Galaxy hovered a few feet off the ground, hands held at his sides, summoning the purple plasma balls that would appear over his palms.

How could he have loved her? He had gotten nothing in return.

She was useless, anyway.

The violet balls appeared over his palms, crackling with electricity. He was not her sidekick, and she would know that soon enough.

A smile snaked its way across his face.

Just then, her eyes opened.

He had saved her. Had taken Envy with him as he skidded across the ground. She was still wrangling the civilians and by the time she had noticed what had happened it was too late. Envy had gotten her way. "Galax-" Shadowbird turned only to get punched with inhuman force into a wall. The civilians were released and stood behind Galaxy who was now hovering above the ground before Shadow.

Pain shot through her body as she slammed into the wall. Galaxy... It felt like her insides had been crushed. Her hair fell everywhere, her mask was askew. For a moment, maybe even longer, she could hardly move. Was anything broken? Probably. Would she stand and fight? Yes of course. In another moment. "Galaxy." Her eyes snapped open, blue marbles piercing into his soul. It was two hundred and two versus one. Her partner was long gone and somehow she had to get him back. But to get through him to Envy would be nearly impossible.

Shadowbird stood up, stumbling slightly, her knees shaking. "Hey sweetheart. You can't do this, okay? So you and your friends move aside while I take care of some business with Envy over there. alright?" She stood up straight and placed her hand on her hip. Her voice was slightly tremble-y. "Ahem..." Shadow cleared her throat as she removed her extendable bo staff from her back. "Move."

His heart thumped a bit at her use of the word 'sweetheart'.

No. He didn't love her anymore.

Did she really think she could fight him? Did she really think she could keep him down any longer?

He laughed. "No."

She stood on trembling feet, holding a bo in front of her. Though her body had a laundry list of injuries, her face steeled in resolve.

It made Galaxy angry. She should be on the ground, begging for mercy.

"No!" he shouted, a violet arc stretching from his left hand to Shadowbird's shaky body.

Shadowbird teleported out of the way to appear behind Galaxy. "Excuse me, but I'm right here." She tapped lightly on his shoulder before teleporting away again, this time onto a rooftop in front of Galaxy. "You're not being very nice, partner." The word that she said was parter, but from his corrupted mind he probably heard her say sidekick. Though she didn't know this. "Why are you so angry, Galaxy! Um. Nevermind dumb question."

Envy was standing behind the mob and the mind-controlled galaxy with her arms crossed, waiting for something interesting to happen. She was, in fact, enjoying the show however. In her mind she knew Shadowbird was wounded and it was only a matter of time before Galaxy killed her. Then she could release her control on him and he would feel terrible. Her plan was working perfectly.

Shadowbird smiled at Galaxy with pain in her eyes. "Heh.. don't suppose we could call a truce?" Her eyes wandered for a moment after asking the question, she was formulating a plan in her mind.

He stared at the cocky Shadowbird. 'Partner'. The word was said with so much sarcasm. She didn't believe it, nor did she expect him to believe it.

He wanted to kill her. So bad. He wanted her to suffer and die in his arms. And yet, he couldn't just fling plasma-balls at her and expect it to work. She'd just teleport out of the way.

A plan came to his mind.

He flew up to the top of the building, his body shaking.

"Shadowbird," he said, his voice strangled. He wanted to make it look like he was fighting against Envy.

His boots landed on the concrete with a soft tap, only a few feet away from her. His hands were raised in surrender.

"Help me," he breathed. He made his body twitch.

He slowly advanced towards her.

She knew him. Knew how he worked. He was trying to fool her. So, she would beat him at his own game. Shadowbird made a concerned face and took a step toward him. "Galaxy. It's okay... I'm here." She reached out her hand for him. Whether or not he chose to take it was beside the point, because she lept up, grabbed one of his raise hands and flipped him onto the ground.

After this she used her hookshot to get the heck away from him. Swooping down to the ground she rested her gaze upon Envy who was watching with both impatience but also anticipation. "No, get away, you're supposed to die." Envy back up against the building behind her.

"Um, no. You can't have Galaxy and you can't have him kill me either. He's my partner, I know him all to well. Even in his clouded state." She tackled Envy to the ground and punched her square in the face so that it would knock her out cold. After which she rolled over next to the unconscious body of her enemy. Everything hurt. But at least the civilians were free from Envy's mind-control.

Orion's body hurt.

He lay on his side on what looked to be a building. With a pain-filled grunt, he sat up.

Looking at his costumed body, he made a correction to his earlier statement: Galaxy's body hurt.

A crowd stood below, milling about in a very confused manner. Then he saw Shadowbird, then Envy, lying on the ground.

Envy?

Suddenly, his loss of memory made sense. He stared at his hands, then Shadowbird.

He could have seriously hurt her. Looking at her lying form, he hoped that wasn't the case.

The other in his head had been screaming.

[-stupidest lifeform on this entire planet, I swear. How did you think that tackling the girl with the tactile abilities made any-]

Hey? he thought to her, interrupting her spiel.

[-What?] she snapped.

Galaxy stared at Shadowbird's form. He needed to make sure she was okay. Later.

He floated down the side of the building slowly, so that he didn't irritate his injuries. Then he walked to her, across the sea of reconciling people.

Shadowbird lay next to a knocked out Envy, bruises growing on her skin.

He felt sick.
"Sorry for anything." The words barely covered how he felt.

He'd have to get the rundown of what he did later, but he assumed it was horrible.

Shadowbird sat up and looked at Galaxy. "H-hey. You're okay." A smile formed on her face as she held her hand up for him to help her up. "Sorry about all that. I'm just glad you're alright" Once he had pulled her up he held onto her hand for a bit longer than expected. She pulled her hand away and laughed. "That's the Galaxy I know."

A herd of police officers came and took Envy away in a black van to the prison where all the super human criminals went. Shadow was glad it was all over, most people were left uninjured and she had gotten away mostly unscathed, same with Galaxy. Then in the distance a school bell could be heard. Shadow's eyes widened ever so slightly but she tried to hide her surprise.

In the distance there was the familiar sound of a school bell in the distance and Shadowbird raised her head a bit as if that would help her hear better. Then she pretended like she hadn't heard it. "Ahem..."The vigilante cleared her throat and smiled at Whiplash and the cops. "Well. This has been a rather eventful day, I hope the civilians will be alright after what they've been through. But now I really have to go. Try not to worry about me too much, Galaxy." With a friendly smile she bowed at the waist and back flipped onto the top of a building.

Shadow teleported from place to place as quickly as she could until she was back home. After which she teleported into the house via a window that was easily seen through since the curtains were open. Ari changed into her school clothes from before and ran back to school as fast as her legs would carry her. When she had finally arrived in class she was almost 10 minutes late. But she had crept in quietly enough to escape the gaze of her teacher.

Now sore as all hell, Ari sat in her seat with her head up but her eyes closed, hoping the pain in her head and body would go away. Please go away, please go away. Running here had caused the pain to increase and it wasn't going away. She was pretty sure she had a broken bone or two. Damn it...

Galaxy smiled as he saw her backflip. That meant she was alright.

He heard the school bell ring in the distance. He shot up into the sky, costume already melting away.

Orion was going to be so late...

He arrived on the roof of Winlock High, somewhat clumsily, and ended up hitting the roof quite hard. He gathered his bag, and looked at his phone. Surprisingly, he was only five minutes late.

Orion glanced at the long stairwell from the roof down. It was a few flights long and would make him a lot later if he walked down them.

He bit his lip and looked around the dark area. No one.

[Don't you dare,] the other said.

Ignoring her, he shut the door and flew down the long stairs.
----------
Mr. Drake was in the middle of an English lesson when Orion came in.

The teacher glared at Orion, but didn't ask why he was late. This happened often, and he knew that he would get a pathetic answer.

Orion gave a winning smile and walked to his seat in the very back.

Immediately, the other began detailing what had happened on Galaxy's latest exploit.

And a few minutes later, Ari Gray came in, late as well. She was lucky enough to escape Mr. Drake's awareness.

[-then, going at an excess of 800 miles per hour, you punched Miss Shadowbird.]

Orion's eyes widened. Oh my god.

[This should have killed any normal person. I believe that she suffers from multiple broken bones, and perhaps internal bleeding.]

Orion felt his stomach lurch.
And she acted like she was okay?

The rest of the other's words faded into the back of his mind.

800 miles per hour, he repeated in his head, over and over again.

He tried to kill the girl he loved. With a shiver, he hoped that Envy would never escape jail again.

Ari felt rather sick. Her body ached like never before. But not being able to forgive Galaxy never even crossed her mind. He was under Envy's control and it wasn't his fault. But man did he pack a might punch. She felt a strange sensation that made her cough into her hand. What she saw there almost made her freak out. Blood. Okay well it was time to get the hell out of there and go to the hospital or something. No, they would ask too many questions. She'd have to wait for it to heal on it's own. Luckily for her she healed faster than most humans. The only reason she survived the impact was because she wasn't like most people.

Keeping her bloodied hand close to her body she raised her opposite hand. "Mr. Drake? I um... I don't feel well..." She sighed, this was pitiful, she hoped the boy she liked who never seemed to notice her, didn't notice her this time. "I feel like I might throw up..." She placed her hand over her mouth and pretended like she was going to vomit.

Mr. Drake turned and his eyes widened when he saw her covering her mouth. "You do look a bit pale, I think you should go home now."

"Thank you!" Ari grabbed her backpack and ran out of the classroom per usual. Her home was not far and it took only about ten minutes to get there by fast walking.

When she arrived home she actually did end up running to the bathroom and throwing up. The pain was beginning to over take her. She sat beside the toilet covering her mouth once more. "Oh god, what am I going to do...?" Her voice was meek. In the back of her mind she heard her confident Shadowbird self telling her it would be okay if she would just rest.

Ari spent the next few days in bed. Until finally she returned to class on Monday feeling a lot better.

"You didn't look very good when I stopped by the other day. It's no wonder you were sick the flu bug is going around." Cali told her as they sat down next to each other in class.

"Ah Miss Gray. Welcome back." Mr. Drake smiled at her and continued to write things on the board for the days lesson.

"Thank you, sir." Ari blushed a little, how embarrassing.

"Now I want you all to know that I will be giving a partner project today. I assume you all will want to pair up with your best friends, but not today. I will be choosing who you pair with."

Ari looked up when she heard this. She liked most of the people in the class but the chance of being paired up with her crush was a big plus. Even though she'd probably act like an idiot around him one hundred percent of the time.

"Cali, you're with Greg. Chelsea with Selene. Ari Gray, you're with Orion."

Cali nudged Ari, they had both ended up with the boys they liked. Ari's eyes were wide and she was blushing. Oh god it had actually happened, she had been paired up with Orion. Things were about to get interesting.

@Xikari chan
Almost as soon as Ari had come, she had left because she 'didn't feel well'. He wondered what had happened to her. Glancing at his scraped and bloody forearms, he wondered if he could leave, too. Nah. Drake would ask how he got those, and he couldn't think of a reasonable explanation at the moment.

He found it hard to pay attention for the rest of class.

Orion walked home, the other silent for once. His heavy backpack was slung over his shoulder. Its weight paled in comparison to his heavy heart.

Over the weekend, there were a few crimes, none of them super. He hated normal crimes, as all the humans were so fragile. Shadowbird didn't appear at any of them, which exacerbated his worry.

On Sunday night, he lay on his bed, headphones in his ears. His phone pinged: there was some crime going on. Glaring at the screen, he swiped the notification aside.

The police need to earn their pay, he thought.

Monday morning, he stepped inside the classroom.

He had distilled what had happened to Shadowbird into three possibilities: she was severely injured, she was dead, or she had not forgiven him.

The last one made his stomach lurch.

Mr. Drake announced something about a partner project. He frowned. Just what he needed today. He preferred to work alone. Perhaps he could convince Drake to let him do so? What would be his excuse, though?

Hannah turned around and gave Orion a brilliant smile with her bleached teeth. "Hi," she mouthed.

Orion held in a groan and pretended to not see her.

Ivy, Hannah's crony, stared diligently ahead. However, she snuck glances when she thought that Orion couldn't see.

"Ari Gray, you're with Orion."

Hannah's smile vanished, and she slid back down into her seat.

Orion looked down at Ari, who looked at her friend Cali. At least this was a chance to find out why she had left earlier.

Drake called that the students could begin. Cali left her seat and skipped over to Greg. Orion walked down the stairs and slid in next to Ari. He gave her a curt nod, then read the assignment written on the board.

"Film a short movie that has a plot, story elements, and a set of developed characters. You will show your project to the class and will be graded by your peers."

"Sounds fun," he said to her.

Ari blushed as Orion sat next to her. She made a nervous sound and looked away. "Er.. Um.. Yea.. it does." Her breathing quickened and she was rather flustered. This was how she got whenever she looked at him or whenever he was close. "S-sorry I guess I'm just a little sick still or something!" Ari bit her lip a little nervous. "S-so. What do you want to do the project on?" She braved it and turned her head to look at him. "I th-think we could do it on... I don't know actually." Although she was making a fool of herself in front of Orion is was a miracle she could actually form words, normally when she tried to talk to him it was just noises. Cali glanced over to Ari and laughed a bit to herself. This girl was hopeless. The teen girl sitting next to Orion hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry..." She whispered. "I'm just awkward to be completely honest." Her voice sounded rather defeated.

She really wished she could be like her alter ego, Shadowbird. Shadowbird was always confident and brave. Never afraid of anything. But Ari was weak and pathetic. There was nothing really to be done about it. They were paired up and Ari would have to get used to being around him if she was going to complete this project.

@Xikari chan
"We're all a bit awkward, I guess." He pulled a paper from his bag, and a black gel pen. In thick, elegant cursive script, he wrote 'Ideas' at the top.

He tapped the pen to the paper, trying to make an idea materialize out of nowhere. The taps turned to scribbles in the corners, which turned to stars. Then, his pen drew little black birds.

"Love is a common element in stories," he said, etching the feathers on a shadowy bird. "I don't think we can go wrong with a love story."

He realized that he had drawn all over the top half of the paper. Birds soared through a galaxy of stars, wings outstretched. He stared at it, transfixed.

Shadowbird's face came into his mind's eye, smirking and confident. Then, he saw a flash of her face, hair everywhere, and mask sitting lopsided. Her teeth were gritted, and blood streamed out of her nose.
Shock and anger and disgust and shame all collided into one.
He crumpled the paper into a ball and chucked it into the trashcan at the other side of the room. Mr. Drake glared from his desk, but didn't say anything.

Another paper was smoothed onto the the wooden desk, and again, carefully, he wrote 'Ideas' at the top. On the first blue line, he wrote 'love'.

He calmed his shaky breaths. "What do you think, Ari?"

"L-Love?" She began before watching him draw little stars and birds on the page. Oh god. He was a Shadowbird and Galaxy shipper. Of course. Her crush believed that she, Shadowbird, should be with the likes of Galaxy. Not that she didn't like Galaxy as a friend and enjoy his company at times, but he was... just not her type. She loved Orion, sweet, caring, seemingly shy Orion. Ari could guess he was someone who owned Shadowbird action figures. No, she wasn't cool enough for him to own that... It'd be so cool if he did though... If only he knew who she really was...

Lost in thought Ari nodded her head unconsciously. "Huh... uh huh. yea..." She read the word on the top of the page, wondering why he had crumpled the other paper and thrown it away. Perhaps he was upset about the incident that happened downtown the other day. There was no doubt Shadowbird fanboys all over were mad at Galaxy for hurting her. "Are you upset about something..?" Ari asked slowly. Her nerves seemed to have calmed down a bit. Carefully she took her own pen and started drawing at the bottom of the page. The birds and stars she drew seemed to be flying toward each other as if they were colliding or maybe even fighting? Then below that she drew a large star with a bird in the middle. "With team work they succeeded. I'm guessing you watch the news?"

"Yeah." he said blankly. "I do."

She thought that he was only a fan.
Was Ari one?

He couldn't resist rambling a bit. "I like Shadowbird and Galaxy a lot." He tapped the pen on the paper, leaving repetitive periods on its once pristine surface. "I think they're kind of perfect together."

Shadowbird was smart and sweet and beautiful and strong, and he loved her more than anything. Yes, they'd be perfect together.

He looked at her drawing on the corner of the paper. A bird and a star.

"I probably sound like such a nerd." he gave a curt laugh. He wrote a few halfhearted ideas on the paper. Yet his eyes kept being drawn to the first line of the paper: 'love'.

Was she a fan? Was she the type of person who had posters tacked up in her room? Did she write fanfics? Did she argue with other fans on the forums late at night?

How cool would it be if she was one?

"How do you feel about them?" he asked, more than bit curious.