A Warmer Place

A new year had begun for the students of the Jefferson’s University for the Higher Education of Supers, or J.U for short, just five days ago and things were getting hectic already.

Mary Salazar was glad classes were done for the day but today was the last day of the Welcome Week and all students were told (ordered) to assist the Director’s speech in the Main Hall after classes. She really considered skipping it as everybody knew the same speech was delivered every single year from their eccentric “leader” as she liked to be called. But just as she was beginning to walk towards the main gate, she felt a strong grip grabbing her ear and yanking her back. She yelped from the surprise and some pain, trying to turn around to face her aggressor. And there stood, her guardian angel and her voice of reason, Robin Carter.

“Just where do you think you are going, slack? The speech is on the main hall. If you perhaps got lost, let me guide you there” Robin said as she began to drag her blonde friend by her ear towards the right direction. “Robin! Y-You see, I was just…gonna grab something to drink from that vending machine! I am so thirsty” Mary replied and due to the fact that she was speaking so fast from the pain, her accent began showing.

“Oh do not worry, my good friend, they always have free drinks for this celebration of the end of the WW” And that was enough to stop the blonde from continue to squirm dramatically and just properly pull away, as she had been able to do from the very beginning “You would know this if you had attended last year” That certainly caught Mary’s attention. “Free?” Mary asked again, standing up straight and started to make her way to the main Hall “That’s all you had to say. I like free stuff!”

Robin could only roll her eyes hard at the blonde, she quickly caught up and linked their arms “Really? That’s all it takes to get you to go somewhere? Free drinks? You should be careful with that, girl” She said with a smirk and Mary gave her best friend a puzzled look “Right, I forgot you are just a baby. You’ll understand what I mean later, when you grow up” Mary frowned, looking down at the floor as she whispered to herself “But we are the same age…”

Lucy Park looked from the back of the seats as the Main Hall began to fill with the students of the J.U. Some came flying, some running so fast that they appeared in their chairs in the blink of an eye. Some flew there but most just arrived by walking. Most students helped themselves to a drink before grabbing their seat. She would have continued her people watching if it wasn’t for the hand that had tapped her shoulder softly. She looked up to find a familiar face “Thanks for saving my seat, I had to stay back and speak with Professor Flynn about my options for next year. You know, this is our last year and most of us haven’t gotten proper job offers, unlike you” Carl Larsson gave Lucy a teasing smile, to which she simply took a deep breath, being used to his teasing “I have gotten a couple of offers but it was only to be expected as I have been part of the Doors since my second year here. We are the best of the best, it’s expected of us that when we leave the school, we get the most offers from professional supers”

Carl could only chuckle at how serious she always was “I bet it must be nice. I think that if I don’t get a decent offer by August, I’ll just go work for my uncle. His team is in control of all of Vegas. Which means that I’ll be close enough to come visit you every now and then” He raised his eyebrows up and down as a smirk began to show but Lucy could only glare at him. She had to admit, that smirk still made her feel something but then she remembered how things had ended between them last time and she quickly pushed those feelings away “Carl, stop. We agreed to be friends. Friends don’t flirt with each other. Besides, I haven’t made up my mind if I want to stay in LA” The blond quickly threw his hands in the air, admitting defeat “Sorry, sorry. It’s just…old habits die hard. Plus, you know that if it were up to me, we would still be together” He had to dodge Lucy’s hand that was about to hit the back of his head and whispered another sorry to her, he had clearly made her angry, which is what he was looking for with his teasing.

The two had to stop their argument as principal Woods had taken the stage.

The main Hall suddenly went dark except for the two lights that were shining down on their principal. Janet Woods was definitely something, nobody could argue with that. She loved being in the spotlight. “Hello and welcome, my dear students, to what will surely be another amazing year here at Jefferson’s University for the Higher Education of Supers. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Janet Woods, I am J.U’s principal. You can refer to me as your leader from now on. Leader? You might be asking yourselves. Why, yes. You see, when you leave J.U you will all join a professional team of supers! And you will have to refer to your boss as leader, I like to think of this school as one big team of supers so you might as well get used to it!” Janet let out a laugh at her own joke. The one she tells year after year. If you can even call it a joke.

Mary coughed a little, she had been taking a drink from her cup of free orange soda when the last line had been dropped “Wow, this woman is hilarious. I need to come to this events more often” She told Robin under her breath, who could only glare at her dumb ass of a friend “Shut up, dude”.

“It is a tough world for supers out there” Janet continued, as she slowly walked around the stage, looking at her students “Many of us are born into not-super families. And it is very hard for parents to raise a child, now imagine a child that can breathe fire! At first, you share an educational system with non-supers, but then, all of a sudden, when you leave high school, you realize that non-super universities or colleges don’t have a degree in rescue of civilians or a degree in kicking some evil mastermind’s butt” Again, the only one that laughed with Janet was Mary, who had started to get some weird looks by the students sitting around her and Robin could only feel embarrassed for the both of them.

“That’s why, forty four years ago, a great man by the name of Jonathan Craig Woods Jefferson founded this amazing university. You see, he was not a super but he had just had his first-born, a cute little baby girl that had grown a set of wings just a week after being born” With this, Janet expanded her wings, getting a few gasps of surprise from the first-year students. And Mary. The principal let out a chuckle, this was her favorite part of her speech “He had done his research and was surprised when he realized that most of the supers from his day were simply thrown into battle right after high school, learning in their free time from the oldest members of their team. He didn’t want this for his daughter. Back then, the rate of failed missions and the number of dead civilians and supers was incredibly high. He heard that in some Asian and European countries, schools that specialized in the education of supers had been active for many years now. That’s what finally made him decide to take some action and open this amazing place. My father founded this place for all of us. It is not a regular university, you can only get one of two degrees. Whether your powers and personality are better suited for rescue or fighting will be decided on your very first year by our amazing professors. After that, you will face personalized classes for your type and some shared ones too, so you will get to meet the other side of the coin and learn to get along as I assure you, you will have to work together later in life. Now, I welcome the first years and I congratulate you all for taking the brave decision to dedicate your life to help others. My father would have been very proud of this school and all of you and your accomplishments so far. Before we finish, we have to dedicate a moment to honor the most promising students of each year. This is a tradition that began on the third year of this university. The Doors are to be role models for their fellow students, this is not a contest for who is the most powerful…although that is usually the case. This students chosen to be the Doors have to have excelled in their classes and should be people that others look up to, they were nominated and chosen by the professors based on their actions towards their fellow students, based on their grades and attitude in class and also on the future potential that they have, this are sure to be supers that villains will have to look out for.”

A man with his right arm covered in bandages had set up four chairs on the stage as Principal Woods was giving out her speech “Thank you, Professor Flynn. Now, we’ll go from fourth to first. The Fourth Door will represent the Second year students. This Door has had a whole year of experience here, they should already know the buildings fairly well and in this single year, they have managed to impress their peers and professors. Please, give Maria Salazar a round of applause!” Principal Woods clapped softly as did most of the students. She saw as a red faced, tanned, blonde young woman stand up and slowly make her way to the stage. She had been aware of this student for quite some time now. Earned a scholarship through a contest when she was 17 that would basically give her all 5 years of education for free, it was the best scholarship they had and only one was given by year. Candidates from all participant countries showed their best abilities but only the most promising could win. She had been brought from her native country in Central America, Costa Rica, for the healing and protection course. But Janet was aware of her other abilities, the ones she tried to keep hidden, the ones that could cause plenty of chaos, she was sure she had to keep an eye out for this girl.

Mary took the first seat after shaking the “leader’s” hand. She couldn’t believe she had been chosen to be a Door. She was so lazy! Then again, she was aware that she did very well in classes and when anyone needed help, she always offered but that was only because she liked helping! Was that enough to get selected as a Door? In her opinion, she could think of at least three people that deserved this seat more than her. As Mary was deep in thought, the rest of the Doors were getting announced.

“The third Door, Liam Barr!” A round of applause was given. “The second Door, Jonathan Woods!” Another round of applause and this time Principal Woods hugged the second Door, instead of the usual hand shake. She was always so happy to see her baby boy! Of course, being hugged by your mom in front of literally everyone in your University was embarrassing but, how could Jonathan refuse a hug from his mother?

“And finally, representing the fifth years of the J.U, a student that will sadly leave us this year but one who will go out into the world to do amazing things…For her fourth consecutive year having the honor of calling herself a Door, please give a round of applause to Miss Lucy Hye Jin Park!”

Now, looking at this Park woman, Mary knew she was under attack. Someone that could slow down time or some sort of hypnotizing ability. There was no way this wasn’t the case, it was the only explanation for what she was feeling right now. As their eyes crossed, it felt as if the world had suddenly become a warmer place. She had never felt anything like this. Mary returned the look until Lucy broke it as she turned her eyes to their principal, shaking her hand and giving her a small bow. The black haired woman made her way to the last seat available, her expression as serious as always. Except she couldn’t hold back from sending another glance to the fourth Door. She had no idea why but since the younger woman had shown up on stage, it was as if she had been calling Lucy to look at her, demanding to be appreciated, making her want to get as close to her as possible.

“This concludes the activities for the day and therefore, the Welcome Week as well! Please, continue to work hard for the rest of the year and remember, next week, the first game of the season will be happening Saturday at 8 pm, we will be facing the Giants so make sure to come support our team. Go Kiwis!” Until this day, Janet Woods had no idea why her father had chosen Kiwis to be the mascot of the University but she enjoyed shouting Kiwis during the games so she really didn’t complain.