By lunchtime that Heath finally decided that Poppy was definitely somewhere around the awesome spectrum.

She had actually continued to hang out with him long after class had finished and hadn't left him like he thought she would. He thought she'd only sat next to him because it was the only free seat but apparently she actually wanted to be his friend.

He used to sit next to a super in science but, upon confronting Poppy's middle finger, the super decided it best to find a seat elsewhere. Normally Heath would've felt immensely sorry for the boy, but he reminded himself that a super had killed his brother.

The rest of the classes had flown by, with Poppy easily managing to get a seat next to Heath at each lesson. He couldn't blame those who had moved. In math, the girl had refused to budge and had been attacked by a boot to the butt. She had managed not to cry (Heath certainly would've burst into tears) but had gotten the message and quickly moved.

Throughout the entire day, she was immensely talkative, describing her home town of San Fransisco (which was pretty poorly done; she mostly just talked about some massive skyscrapers and the lights of the city at night and then moved on), going into detail about her feelings about the school and the small town (it basically sucked but was better than her last place, according to her) and mentioning drugs once or twice. She'd offered to give him drugs a few times but Heath had quickly, albeit politely declined. His parents would murder him if he got high. And then they'd burn his body.

He found he had forgotten about his mission to avenge his brother, and instead of getting angry about it, he felt almost happy because of it. Finding his brother's killer was a massive burden on his teenage shoulders, one he'd previously felt the need to bear but now felt otherwise. His parents could sort something out.

And it was because of Poppy's banter that he managed to ignore the whispers of everyone nearby.

They mostly talked about stupid things that Heath didn't really care about but now and then there would be a yell far louder than the rest, ranting about something they hated. Unfortunately, most people seemed not to have taken the same liking to Poppy as he had.

He wasn't that surprised though. The way she had pushed people around hadn't exactly been the nicest or friendliest way to sit next to him.

Most of it he could banish as bitterness but when he heard his friends having a conversation about it, it was rather different. There was no heated arguing or ranting.

Their worry and concern was clear in their quick glances and soft whispers. Heath's fists clenched. He didn't want their concern. He didn't need it. As if any super knew what was best for him.

But then a thought struck him.

"Poppy?" he asked cautiously.

"Hmm?" she replied, looking through her bag.

"Are you a... um, well, a super?" he stammered, terrified of her reply. He did not want to get her knee-high boot to the butt.

She looked up, eyebrows raised. "Why?"

He wondered why she couldn't just answer the question. He didn't want to elaborate. He may have wanted to consider her his friend, but he didn't want to tell someone he barely knew his life story. Or to talk to her about his brother.

"Just wondering," Heath said, shrugging.

Her glacial eyes studied him for a while before she looked away and continued to search through her schoolbag.

"No," she said, in a manner that suggested it was the final word.

He felt silent, returning to listening to the whisper and conversations of those nearby.

One girl had lost her cat and was distressing over how to find it. A boy was murmuring about his algebra homework and how he wouldn't be allowed to go to his best friend's party if he didn't pass the next test. A super spoke loudly about how she cheated on a the last three English tests, using her x-ray vision (as she phrased it) to see the answers of the other students. The girl sitting beside her looked extremely annoyed and mumbled about how she had actually studied for the test.

His eavesdropping was suddenly interrupted by the bell ringing.

Poppy looked up, like a leopard suddenly aware of its surroundings and grabbed Heath and dragged him off to class.

Poppy continued to chat to him throughout each class, driving each teacher insane. Mr. King, the math teacher, looked as though he wanted to devour her alive and then destroy the pieces he couldn't eat.

What was almost worse than her loud chatter was her repeated use of curse words. She swore left and right, at every oppurtunity. Her favourite words were b*tch, f*ck and sh*t, all of which earned a disappointed (or livid) stare from the teacher.

But Poppy simply shrugged it off and continued on and Heath was in awe of her because of it.

The school day simply ran away when he was with Poppy. She knew how to keep one entertained, even if her puns were terrible and her jokes weren't funny (Heath would've rather faked a laugh than get a boot to the face though) she did manage to be excellent company.

So, when school was over, he was surprised to say he was disappointed. He'd never liked school, but it wasn't like Poppy lived near him. He wasn't much of an outdoors person anyway, and barely knew his neighbours. So, school was the only way to talk to his newfound friend.

Fortunately, she walked home the same way as Heath did, so he could talk to her while they went home.

"How was your first day?" he asked, glancing at her before returning to looking ahead.

She snorted. "That's a sh*tty conversation starter, Heath," she said, her hands buried deep into her pockets.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"It was just schooltastic!" Poppy said, looking extremely proud of herself.

Heath held back a groan and just stared. That didn't even make sense.

"Laugh, motherf*cker," she said, throwing her arms up,"It's funny!"

He laughed weakly, his eyes on the ground.

"Better," she said, her Chesire grin creeping up before it was quickly replaced with a beaming smile.

Heath couldn't help but smile back, the corners of his mouth lifting.

Poppy popped another one of the gums into her mouth and offered him one. She seemed to have a endless supply of them.

He didn't feel guilty about taking one now that they were away from the teachers' glares. So he quickly took one and put into his mouth.

"You don't like supers, do you?" she asked, out of the blue.

Heath nearly bit his tongue. "W-what?"

"You avoid alllllll of them," she said, making a wide sweeping gesture with her hand.

"No!" he snapped, but immediately regretted speaking so harshly.

"You sure about that?" she asking folding her arms and raising her eyebrows.

Heath felt as though he was cornered. "U-um..."

She folded her arms and grinned. "I won't laugh, I promise. Well, I can't promise that so I promise I won't laugh on purpose."

He sighed. "No, I don't," he mumbled, as quietly as he could.

"Why?" she asked, blowing a bubble with her gum.

"Reasons, okay?! You don't need to know my life story, Poppy! I just met you today! We're not besties, we're not friends, we're just people who've talked a lot to one another on the first day back at school!" Heath said, his hands scrunched up into fists in his pockets.

Her bubble of gum popped and she stared. "It was just a f*cking question," she said, eyes narrowed and tone disgruntled.

Terror caught in his throat but he ignored it, glaring her down. "Have you ever heard of privacy?" he muttered irritably.

"Sh*t man, you could've just said it was f*cking private instead of blowing up on me!" she replied, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Sorry," he mumbled, stomach squirming. He decided not to get angry around Poppy again. She was far better at arguing than he was.

She didn't reply, simply blowing another bubble. He glared the ground, as though it was the one responsible for the argument, rather than meet her eyes.

The rest of the journey was one of silence, so Heath just buried himself in his thoughts or eavesdropped on nearby conversations.

Although it was quite calming, listening to other people's conversations and taking a peek into their lives, he missed Poppy's banter.

He glanced at her once or twice but she never looked back. She just stared ahead, radiating annoyance and anger.

By the time they had arrived at the house, Heath was sick of the quiet. He would probably have to adjust to the unbearable silence though. He didn't think Poppy was going to talk to him again.

He raced into his house, not even glancing back or saying goodbye to Poppy, who just continued walking.

When he got inside, after fumbling with the house key for a few minutes, his parents' voices sounded almost like shouting in comparison to the deathly quiet outside.

His mother greeted him with a "hello" and "how was your day?", while his father was cooking in the kitchen.

He plastered a smile onto his face and replied,"It was good."

His mother smiled and kissed him on the cheek, but when she pulled away, she mumbled,"You didn't look good when you came in."

Heath nearly choked on his chewing gum. What she had said hadn't terrified him. She was a motherly and caring person, so it was nothing out of the norm.

The scary part was that she had spoken without moving her lips.