Gidget

Hallways give off an uneasy feeling when empty. It wasn’t a coincidence that they were prime spots for horror tropes or detention scenes in movies. When desolate, the elongated room was blanketed in a sense of loneliness and uncertainty. As if the lack of life was a warning. Telling you that being here would lead to disaster.

She knew this from experience.

Samantha Windsor wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting in that plastic chair. Long enough for her nerves to fry. Hands fiddling with each other, lower half numb, the tap of her foot echoing against the walls. She could barely keep herself together with the anticipation.

The sheer number of times she’s been in this sort of situation should have prepared her. She should know not to get her hopes up. That getting antsy about the answer would only make the denial worse. This time, however, it was different. This time, she had a solid chance.

A click of a door sent Sam into overdrive. She nearly gives herself whiplash turning towards the door. It was wide open, a dark-haired man dressed in a suit walking out. He was thanking the person on the other side. Sam tapped her leg, the seconds of their formal goodbyes seeming like hours.

When the door did close he faced the younger girl. His face was stoic. Sam’s body tense. And then, the biggest grin broke out on his face.

“Congrats, Sam, you are now officially a registered UA student.”

One Month Prior

Samantha was in deep shit.

“Get back here you quirkless freak.”

In deep, deep shit.

She slid across the pavement and ricochet into an alleyway. Sam couldn’t tell how long she’d been running, but it was definitely a while. Her heart hummed. Her feet stung. Her lungs burned. Yet those assholes hadn’t gotten tired. Their footsteps echoing behind her.

There were five of them, two girls and three boys. All with powerful quirks. Still, Sam thanked her lucky stars none of them had a speed-enhancing quirk. She could deal with heavy hitters, but definitely not people who could run like a freaking car.

The blond grabbed a smaller trash can, yanking back and towards her assailants. She didn’t see if it worked, but by the loud crash and yelps, she could only guess. After breaking out of the alley and into a train graveyard, she took another glance back.

“Damn it.”

Three were set back, but the other two had barely lost any ground. The worst part, one had a ball of light growing in her hand. Sam willed her legs to go faster. Those early morning runs were paying off, but it didn’t help that one of them had a location quirk. She should have been more careful, otherwise, the prick wouldn’t have touched her.

There was a shrill sound.

‘Fuck.’

Sam dove to the right just as a ball of light went flying past her head. It went whistling across the field and straight into a pile of metal. The impact caused a huge rush of wind that propelled Sam’s already falling figure across the train track. Pain erupted from her shoulder, body tumbling against the hard dirt.

“The hell man, you trying to get us in trouble?”

“Relax, I knew she could doge it. Plus, no one is ever here. No way we are going to get caught.”

Her vision was blurred, the blinding light and impact rattling her senses. Still, she forced her body up. If she didn’t, well, God only knew what would happen to her.

Sam could only push her upper body up before the pain came back in zaps. Gravel dug into her legs and face, and she knew for a fact there was going to be a nasty bruise on her shoulder.

“Looks like the bitch can’t run anymore.”

Her heart nearly stopped.

Sam could now see the five walking up to her. Each one sporting their own messed up smile. Her fingers dug into the dirt.

“So,” one of the older boys knelt in front of Sam. The rest of his lackey’s stood behind, “the loser really thought she could hit and run.”

Laughter filled her ears.

“Seriously, what’s a quirkless like you doing trying to be a hero.” A hand threaded through her hair and yanked up. He looked so smug. As if he was hot shit, the top dog of the situation. What she wouldn’t do to beat him to a pulp.

But that would cause more problems for her. Fighting was no longer an option.

Sam’s eyes flickered about, trying to grasp her situation. ‘No matter what, there would always be a way out’ was her mantra, and damn if she wasn’t sticking to it now. All she needed was an escape route and plan to get these asshats off her tail for good.

She spotted a cluster of cargo crates that made her smile. On the corner of the structure was a small opening. Perfect for someone of her size to slip into undetected. Now for the hard part.

“Hey, you listening. Or are you not only quirkless but deaf too.”

Sam examined each teen with vigor in her eyes. The girl needed time to charge her ‘light’ quirk so Sam could easily knock her off her feet. As for the other girl and guy, Sam was familiar enough with their quirks to get an upper hand. The boy was a beast type, but luckily not very strong or fast on land since he was part fish. The girl’s quirk involved infatuating the opposite sex, which wasn’t going to be a problem for Sam as she was both female and had nothing but loathing for the girl. That left the boy with the location quirk. He was going to be the biggest issue in her escape. Luckily for her, Sam knew her terrain could be used to her advantage. With that, she had the leader, who’s quirk enhanced his teeth to sharp daggers. Scary, but useless in the hands of an idiot. All she needed was a distraction.

“Answer me, quirkless bitch.”

Sam was yanked farther up by her roots, bringing her nose to nose with the boy. His eyes were livid, unaware of the shit storm Sam was going to send his way. She had found her distraction.

The girl smiled.

“The hell are you smiling fo-”

WHAM!

Sam slammed her forehead into the other boys, knocking him back and into a daze. This caught the other’s off guard and gave Sam the needed time to jump and head straight for light chicks legs. The girl squealed as Sam’s kick to the shin sent her tumbling. This made the other girl jump into action, but Sam was already ready for her. The blond dodged to the side as the girl went for the punch. The girl now thrown off, Sam charged at and under fish boys own swipes. Then, she went for the kill.

The locator shifted into a defensive stance making Sam grin. There’s a look of surprise and horrific realization, but he doesn’t get a chance to fully realize what was happening. Sam had thrown sand into his eyes.

The boy wailed in pain, hand grasping at his eyes in a futile attempt to get the sand out. Sam would have loved to watch the chaos unfold, but her main objective was to escape, not retaliate.

She was nearing the cargo pile when she heard the leader start screaming again. Without a second thought, Sam picked up the pace and swung around the corner and dove straight into the crevice. She sat there, unmoving.

“Where’d she go?”

“Frank, can’t you tell where she is?”

There was a sharp intake of air as she heard the footsteps grow closer.

“The bitch threw sand in my eye, I can see jack shit right now.”

“Damn it all, she can’t have run far.”

Five pairs of feet continued running past her. The sound of shouts and pounding feet faded into nothingness. The teen sighed, releasing her held breath. After calming her nerves, Sam assessed the damage.

She was covered in dirt, sweat, and grime head to toe. Not to mention the new holes decorating her jeans. Sam cursed. She had to sneak into the house and clean up. That or find an excuse for looking like she wrestled with a bull. Otherwise her mother -and worse of all Mike- was going to give her hell. As for her injuries…

“Mother of,” Sam’s hand jerked away from her shoulder. Yeah, definitely bruised.

Checking the rest of her body, Sam noted various cuts and scrapes. Most were on her arms while the rest were on exposed skin from the holes in her jeans. She pulled out her phone - it was ok besides a few new cracks, thank God - and used the camera to check her head. There were a few scrapes there as well, but that wasn’t her biggest worry. A bright red spot was forming, slight swelling, but no sign of bruising. She could only hope it didn’t do so later.

Shoving her phone in her backpack, hands clenching the straps, Sam started her long journey home. There was no possible way she was going to let her mom see her state. So sneaking in was the plan. That way she could wash up and cover some of the bigger injuries with makeup. Then she’d go straight to bed. Easy enough, she’s dealt with worse.

Sam stopped.

“It’s Thursday.”

Thursday meant family night.

“For the love of, GAH!”

Yeah, Sam was in some deep shit for sure.