Chapter Text
Violet huffed as she checked the time again. He was late! He was hours late! He was supposed to be at the theater at five, but here it was, seven-oh-two, with no Tony in sight. She huffed and crossed the street–nearly getting hit by a limousine in the process–and got into a phone booth. She dialed his number and put the money in, then waited.
“Rydinger household, Tony speaking.”
“Hey, it’s Violet. I was just wondering if you canceled our date last minute or something.”
“…Who is this?”
“…Violet. Violet Parr.”
“I don’t know anyone named Violet.”
The air left her lungs.
“Hello? …Violet?”
“This must be a wrong number,” she finally said. “Bye, Tony.”
“Okay. Bye.”
Tony hung up, leaving the dial tone ringing in her ear. She slowly put the receiver back in the cradle. “He can’t have forgotten. He can’t have. There’s no way that he forgot!”
Her mind flashed to Tony seeing her in her supersuit, and to Dad telling Dicker. “Dicker made him forget me? Dad made him forget me?” She froze. “No. Mr. Incredible made him forget me.” She punched the payphone. “I can’t believe he did this! Why?! And mom is working to make them legal again? Life was so simple when they weren’t! Maybe…maybe if I get rid of heroes, everything will go back to normal. How…how can I do that? I can’t become a villain because my parents would kill me if they found out. I’ll protest! I’m sure there’s some sort of group at school.”
She tried to pull herself together, left the phone booth, and walked to a bus stop.
…
“You’re home early,” Bob called as Violet slammed the front door shut. “Date didn’t go well?”
“It didn’t go,” Violet answered. “He forgot all about me.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I don’t think so.”
“If you need someone to talk to, I’m always here for you, okay?”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Anytime. I could pop some popcorn and leave the living room to you.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Bob quickly got to work.
…
“How’d it go?” Brandi asked. She and Violet had met on the first day of high school and hit it off; they shared a few classes, too.
“It didn’t.”
“Oh. Did he cancel? What happened?”
“No. He forgot that I existed.”
Brandi huffed. “Name, phone number, everything?”
“Everything.”
“Wow. That’s…that’s rough. What next?”
“Well,” she sighed, “Because he doesn’t want anything to do with me, I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“You go, girl.” Violet closed her locker and the two of them started walking to class. “There are rumors that some girl just moved here,” Brandi muttered. “Let’s see." She started rubbing her temples. "I’m guessing…California. And…she’s a Karen. In name, anyway.”
“Okay.”
“Man, you’re really in the dumps. What’s up?”
“You know of anyone who’s protesting against relegalizing supers?”
“I don’t think any protests are happening soon. But I bet that Jan would know all about it.”
“Yeah.” The two of them walked into homeroom and sat down next to each other.
Just before the bell rang, a girl with bright teal hair–shaved on one side, long on the other–walked in. “She’s going to get a chewing out from the principal,” Brandi muttered, sing-songy.
“Unless…it’s natural?”
“Nah. I don’t think so.”
“World’s a weird place,” Violet replied.
The girl took a seat.
“Good morning, class,” Miss Smith called. “We recently had a student move in. Would you mind introducing yourself?”
She stood and turned to look at the class. Violet thought the girl might collapse in a bundle of nerves.
“My name is Karen Fields and my family just moved from San Diego, California. Um…I’m very excited to be here and I hope to learn a lot!” She darted back into her seat.
“Thank you. Now, today’s class will be on what the homework was about-”
…
“How’d you know?” Violet asked.
“I asked,” Brandi shrugged. “I saw her cowering in the hallway earlier and introduced myself.”
The girl hesitantly walked up. “Um…Brandi?”
“Yes?”
“I…don’t know where I’m going.”
“Let me see your schedule.”
Karen handed it over.
“Your classes line up almost exactly with Violet’s. Only one isn’t one of hers, and that’s one of mine.” Brandi looked up at the girl. “This is my friend, Violet. Violet, Karen, Karen, Violet.”
“Good to meet you,” Karen whimpered, extending a hand.
Violet hesitantly shook it. Her grip was surprisingly firm, but not crushing. “Good to meet you.”
“The only class you have that Violet doesn’t is chemistry, and I have that one. Violet and I are both in Home Ec and algebra, so from Home Ec to Chemistry to Algebra, you should stick with me. But for the rest of them, stick to Violet.”
“Okay.”
“Do you know where your locker is?” Violet asked.
“Yeah, Brandi showed me where it is.”
“It’s right next to yours,” Brandi added unhelpfully.
Violet groaned silently. “Well, we don’t have much time, so let’s get going.” She quickly walked away, easily navigating through the throng of people.
“Violet! Wait!”
…
You got this, Johnson. She has to walk through this hallway on her way to her locker, then again on her way to her next class. You got this. You’re the star player! You’re the most wanted guy in school! If you can’t do this, no one can!
Matthew huffed to himself as he surveyed the hallway. There! A head of long, black hair, quickly making her way through the crowd. “Hey, Violet, I was just wondering if-”
She shoved past him without paying him any mind.
“Violet!” a girl with teal hair–she’d probably go to the principal’s office for that–called, shoving past him after her.
Matthew ran a hand through his hair. Confidence, Johnson. Confidence. That’s what Coach is always telling you to work on. Confidence.
…
Violet quickly unloaded her homeroom textbook and grabbed her trigonometry textbook just as Karen got there. With equally impressive speed, she managed to get loaded and unloaded.
“Can…you…go…slower…please?”
“No time,” Violet answered, booking it to trig.
…
Why do girls always congregate? If I were to ask now, I’d not only get rejected by her, but by her friend, too. Matthew sighed as he took a step forward in line. That teal-haired girl walked up and sat next to them, looking horribly awkward. I pity anyone who’s subjected to Brandi on their first day.
…
“You put her through the wringer,” Brandi sighed as she sat next to Violet. “From what I hear, you had the highest early rate you’ve ever had.”
“You’re the one who fenced her off on me.”
“Try and go slower after lunch? She needs to know where her classes actually are.”
“Can I sit with you?”
As one, Brandi and Violet turned to see Karen standing behind them. If anyone else looked at her, she might melt. Or sink into the floor. That’s what the embarrassed tinge of red all over her face indicated.
“Sure.” Brandi shoved into Violet to make room.
Karen looked even more embarrassed and sat down next to Brandi. She folded her hands and didn’t start eating right away.
“What are you doing?” Violet asked.
After a moment, Karen looked at them. “I had to pray over the food.” It was the most confident thing she’d said all day. With so many introductions, she’d gotten progressively more timid with each one.
“Oh. Christian?” Brandi asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I don’t mind. Do you?” Brandi turned to look at Violet, her mop of curly red hair swishing with the motion.
“Not particularly,” Violet answered.
Karen had stars in her eyes. “Thank you guys.” She started eating.
“Aren’t you gonna eat?” Brandi asked.
“Not hungry,” Violet answered.
“Why’d you get it, then?”
“They made me.”
Brandi huffed, but turned to her own food. “You need to eat.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“Alright.”
“You should eat,” Karen agreed. “It’s important.”
“Why is it such a big deal? I’m not hungry. I had a big breakfast.”
“Fine,” Brandi replied. “It’s your issue, not ours.”
…
Jan hummed as she slowly strolled down the hallway. She had plenty of time to get to the bus.
“Jan, Jan, Jan!”
Jan turned to see Violet running up to her. “Hmm?”
“I heard you know about all the protests that happen.”
“Well, I am the Senior Political Informant for a reason. What is it, Vi?”
“Are there any protests that are against the relegalization of superheroes?”
Jan tapped her chin in careful consideration. “Not that I know of, but I also didn’t think that was an issue and that it had resolved before we were born. Why? Are you looking to become politically active?”
“I just don’t like superheroes.”
“What is it that you know that I don’t? Tell you what: I’ll give you a deal. If you tell me why you’re asking about that, I’ll keep my eyes peeled and keep you informed about them.”
Violet nodded. “Elastigirl is working with DevTech in an effort to relegalize superheroes.”
That was interesting. “And how do you know this? What sources do you have that I don’t?”
“If I tell you, you’ll try and exploit me for it.”
“Fair. I’ll keep my eyes and ears peeled.”
“Aren’t you late for the bus?”
“Nope.”
“Your bus leaves before mine, though.”
“I know. Even if I am, I like the walk.”
“You should get going.”
“Oh, naïve Violet, if you are always moving fast, you may have saved time getting to your destination, but the destination isn’t the point, and you may have lost important growth along the way. Besides, if you spend time appreciating the little things, and you become more accustomed to appreciation, is that time wasted?”
“I guess not.”
Jan smiled. “Don’t think that life has to be fast. If you live life fast, then you get to the coffin all the faster.”
Violet nodded.
Jan giggled, then ruffled her hair. “Bye, Violet Parr.”
Jan spun, then hummed a tune as she meandered towards the exit.
…
Bob sighed as he changed Jack-Jack’s diaper for the fifth time today. “What on earth did you eat?”
He laughed.
Bob threw the diaper away. “Oh, Helen makes this look so easy.”
The door opened and closed. “I’m home!”
“I was worried about you. What took so long?”
“I missed the bus,” Violet shrugged. “So I walked.”
“You could’ve called me, or Lucius.”
“I didn’t want to trouble you. Besides, it’s a pretty walk. I might take it again sometime. Really tiring, though. Lots of hills.”
“Yeah. Horrible gas mileage. But it’s pretty, I guess.”
Violet nodded. “Anyway, I’ll probably study in my room and then go to bed.”
“Dinner?”
“I’m not too hungry.”
“Young lady, you just walked almost two miles,” Bob tried to sound concerned. “That takes a lot out of a person. I made some spaghetti and there’s some leftover that I can heat up real fast. Sound good?”
Violet gave a crooked smile. “Okay.”
Bob grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a side hug, Jack-Jack in his other hand. “Warn me next time you want to walk home, okay?”
“Okay. I can do that.”