Chapter Text
“I can’t believe we’re finally here!” Luke said as they stepped off the bus, looking up at the school in awe. “Sky High! The first stop on our journey to becoming the ultimate double threats of superheroes and music legends .”
“I guess,” Alex replied as he stepped down next to Luke, his nervousness evident on his face. “What if we get separated between the Hero and Sidekick classes though?”
“Come on, Alex, get excited!” Luke exclaimed, placing his hands on Alex’s upper arms before picking him up with ease to spin him around.
“Um,” Alex squirmed. “Please put me down, Luke.”
“Sorry,” Luke apologized, carefully setting Alex down. “Even if we do end up in different classes, we’d still have some classes together. Plus, we’d still be us! We’d still be the band.”
Julie was only half paying attention to what the boys were saying as she stood with her eyes concentrated on the school in front of her, a small flower pot filled with bright pink dahlias in her hands. Sky High. Where her mom had gone to school and learned to be a superhero. She and her friends had been talking about their future time here for years—she and Luke for almost their entire lives. And now she was here, but everything had changed. She turned to look past where the school grounds dropped into nothingness out at the bright blue sky stretching beyond, dotted with clouds. Julie wondered if her mother was out there, somewhere.
Reggie was off to the side, chattering about the day ahead with his little orange and white hamster, Pizza, while Flynn was intently studying the welcome package they’d all received in the mail a few weeks before. Julie hadn’t even opened hers, she realized. She assumed Flynn had passed on anything she really needed to know.
Alex checked his phone. “We’d better get inside, the freshmen tour of the school starts in 15 minutes and we shouldn’t be late. What if they were to take that into account for our placement?”
“We have time, Alex, don’t worry,” Flynn asserted. “Careful though,” she added, with a pointed look at his leg. Alex cried out in dismay, as the bottom half of his left leg disappeared.
“Why does this keep happening to me?” he complained. “Ever since I powered up I keep randomly going invisible and getting stuck that way!”
“Your powers are reacting to your emotions, Alex,” Luke said. “Maybe it will just take some time and extra focus to get them to cooperate for you.”
Alex groaned before hurrying toward the front doors of the school, shaking his leg out as he went in an effort to get his foot to reappear. Reggie trailed behind him, tucking Pizza into the pocket of his flannel.
Julie was staring up at the school again, her lower lip caught between her teeth. She was having a really hard time trying to convince her feet to move forward. This was pathetic. She wasn’t even inside the building yet and she was already starting to feel constricted by its walls. The school would be her own floating cage of sorts, she thought to herself with an inward grimace. It would be a daily reminder of her mom and of what Julie had lost of herself. She was already regretting showing up at the bus stop today. Realistically, Julie knew that Flynn would have only shown up at her front door, threatening to use her literal powers of influence on her best friend in order to get Julie to school. Flynn had asserted only yesterday that Double Trouble would not be missing their first day of high school together.
Julie took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and silently pictured her mom standing there with her. She opened her eyes and moved her gaze back down to see that both Luke and Flynn had hung back to wait for her. Flynn lifted Julie’s dahlias out of her shaking grasp and held out a hand to her, wiggling her fingers. “Come on, Jules. You can do this.”
The three of them walked forward, though Julie’s steps stuttered as they approached the school entrance just ahead. She came to an abrupt halt, her white running shoes scraping against the stone beneath her feet, forcing Flynn to do the same. Julie inhaled sharply. Was she going to be able to do this?
“Do you mind?” A voice scoffed. The form of their now-former friend Carrie Wilson pushed through Julie, Luke, and Flynn and turned to face them. “Some of us actually have places to be.” She focused on Julie. “I’m surprised you even showed up today, Julie,” she said, smirking. “Heard a little rumour that you’re having some performance issues.”
Julie tightened her grip on Flynn’s hand, glaring at Carrie and trying hard not to cry. Luke quickly moved to block Julie from Carrie’s view, and reached a hand back to touch her arm in protection as he got into the other girl’s face. “Go bother someone who actually cares, Carrie,” he snapped, glowering at the girl.
Carrie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. See you all in Power Placement,” she said with a final smile at Julie as she walked away, her voice and expression dripping with fake sweetness.
Julie subsequently felt warm, rough hands wrapping around her free palm, and looked down to find Luke’s hands reassuringly on hers. He studied her face briefly before his eyes flicked first to Flynn and then around at the stream of other students still heading into the building. Flynn let her hand slip from Julie’s as Luke gently tugged her to the side in order to allow the two a second of privacy.
Once they were away from the crowd, Luke leveled his green eyes with Julie’s brown and lowered his voice so that only she would hear him.
“Ignore Carrie,” he said seriously. “She isn’t worth it and she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Julie nodded hesitantly, keeping her eyes on Luke’s as he continued to speak. “I know you’re worried about Placement. But all of us are going to be right there to support you. I’ll be right there,” he emphasized. “We’ve been talking about starting at Sky High since we were kids, remember? And we’re here now! Everything will be fine. Trust me.”
He inclined his head back to where Flynn was waiting for them, smiling warmly at her. “Come on, we’d better get inside before Alex comes running to look for us.”
--
Julie tried to pay attention as much as she could to their guide’s words throughout the following welcome tour of the school. She was using the (slightly more-than-soft) pressure of Luke’s hand in hers to try and ground her, but she’d no doubt have to ask one of her friends to draw a map or something for her later. The closer she got to having to stand in front of her classmates and exhibit her powers, the more anxious she felt. She had managed to register when they were shown the school’s music room and adjoining practice spaces, though the sight of them just left her with a sad, sinking pit in her stomach. If things were different, she’d have likely spent countless hours in those rooms training her powers and no doubt practicing with the band as well. Now… she didn’t know.
Too quickly Julie found herself standing with her friends and the other freshmen in front of an empty stage in the gym, anticipating their Power Placement tests. She tried to ignore the concerned glances of her friends around her. Searching for some extra strength and some form of closeness to her mother, she took the vibrant pink dahlias she’d so carefully repotted from her garden back from Flynn. Her powers, though now long unused, still hummed comfortingly within her at the renewed proximity to nature, and the sensation left Julie feeling just a little bit calmer. You can do this, Julie, she thought to herself. Singing is a part of you. Your powers are a part of you. You can do this. Despite her sliver of renewed hope, her fingers were drumming nervously with no discernible rhythm against the flower pot she held.
“Good morning, everyone,” called a voice from behind them. The students all turned at the sound, and Julie saw a familiar figure walking toward them, stopping to stand in front of the group of freshmen. “My name is Mrs. Harrison. I am the music teacher here at Sky High, as well as the school guidance counselor.” She moved around the group then, climbing the steps of the stage as she continued to speak. “As the guidance counselor here at the school, an important part of my job is running the Power Placements for the incoming Hero and Sidekick classes each year.” She smiled encouragingly out at them. “Our testing will begin in just a few minutes. You will be called one by one to join me up on our stage here, and you will then be required to offer a demonstration of your power. Once I’ve assigned your class, you may leave the stage and take a seat on the side with the corresponding group.”
“I assume everyone who requires any kind of prop or assistance to exhibit their abilities has remembered to bring whatever they require, correct?” Mrs. Harrison questioned loudly, looking around. Several heads nodded in confirmation. Out of the corner of her eye, Julie saw Reggie pull Pizza back out of his pocket and place him on his shoulder, whispering softly to him.
A moment later, Reggie’s whisper heightened into a quivering (and not very good) Scottish accent, in a poor imitation of Harry Potter’s Professor McGonagall. “Before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses.”
Alex sighed quietly. “Really, Reg?”
“What? We are basically about to get sorted, aren’t we? Also, how cool would it be if we were at Hogwarts right now?” Reggie sighed. “Imagine, getting to go to a school for magic? It’d be awesome.”
Everyone turned and gave him a weird look, eyebrows raised. “What’d I say?” he asked, bewildered.
“Reggie, you do remember that we’re literally going to a school for kids with superpowers, which we all have, right?” Alex asked under his breath, circling a hand to gesture toward the whole friend group.
“Of course!” Reggie answered brightly. “I just think it would also be very cool if we lived in Harry Potter and went to magic school! Don’t you think, Pizza?” he asked, swiveling his head to look at the hamster. Pizza squeaked in response, presumably in agreement if the satisfied expression on Reggie’s face was anything to go by.
“I… okay.” Alex sighed, shaking his head, after studying their friend for a moment.
Mrs. Harrison called the students’ attention back to her. Julie adjusted her grip on the little flower pot, her hands shaking again as she tried and failed to calm her nerves.
Luke leaned over to her, his eyes trained on her face once more. “Jules, you doing okay?” She assured him that she was.
One by one, the students were called up to exhibit their powers. Alex was the first of their friends to go up, and his presentation went well despite an awkward minute when Julie knew it had taken Alex longer than he’d intended to make himself visible again onstage. As he’d reappeared, she saw him fix a nervous smile on his face and promptly stick his hands into his pocket, no doubt to hide the few fingers still invisible on one of them. Mrs. Harrison just smiled and sent him to sit with the Hero class.
Flynn was the next of them to be called up for her placement, during which she influenced several already-placed students to stand back up and build a human pyramid. She was also placed in the hero class.
Julie felt more and more exposed as the waiting group of students dwindled around her. She was conscious of the fact that everyone here knew about her mom’s death, which had happened just a few months before. She also knew that at least a few here beyond her friend group were aware that she hadn’t been able to use her powers since. Carrie had made that abundantly clear for her.
In no time at all, Mrs. Harrison was calling Julie’s name. She stepped forward and froze, her eyes turning to Luke as she tried not to panic. His hand came up to give her shoulder a brief supportive squeeze, and he gazed at her with understanding in his eyes. “You got this, Jules. You can do it,” he said to her softly.
“Miss Molina?” Mrs. Harrison called from the stage. “Are you ready?”
Turning away from Luke, Julie looked back up at the teacher and nodded. She inhaled deeply through her nose and then finally started climbing up the steps of the stage with her flowers clutched tightly in her hands. Once she reached the centre of the stage, she placed the pot down on the ground and stood to look out at the other students. Her friends were all looking back up at her with hopeful smiles, Luke among them holding two thumbs up.
Feeling her hands shaking again, she quickly clasped them in front of her, using one thumb to massage the palm on the opposite hand. She cleared her throat, glancing down for a long moment at the dahlias before looking back up. Everyone was looking at her expectantly, but she wasn’t moving and she was starting to feel her heart beat faster and faster and— Oh god, she wasn’t going to be able to do this, was she?
Julie looked back to Mrs. Harrison, eyes wide. Her teacher was blurry, and belatedly, Julie realized her eyes were stinging, starting to fill with tears. “I—I’m sorry,” she stuttered, half to herself. “I don’t think I can…” She trailed off, stilling, before darting forward to grab her flowers. She needed to get off of the stage and out of this gym right now . She couldn’t let all of these people see her cry.
Moving swiftly down the steps and across the room, Julie only dimly registered the sound of Luke and Flynn’s voices calling out to her, as well as Mrs. Harrison’s. She didn’t turn back around to see their disappointment; she couldn’t. Instead, she went out the door and immediately started down the hallway, keeping her head carefully down to hide the tears starting to stream down her face, anxious to find a quiet and safe space. A thought came to her. She knew from their tour this morning that she was vaguely close to the school’s music studio and practice rooms. She would go there.
Finally reaching one of the practice rooms, Julie checked to make sure that no one was already occupying the space before slipping in and shutting the door firmly behind her. She stood there for a moment, staring into the empty room before she sank to the floor and let her tears overtake her.
She hadn’t been able to do it. She hadn’t been able to sing, hadn’t been able to feel that familiar warmth and joy her music and her plants gave her when she used her powers. She had failed herself. Worse, she had failed her mother, who had always instilled in Julie the importance of taking pride in her abilities and in nurturing and embracing them no matter what. Her powers were supposed to make Julie stronger. But now, all Julie felt was weak and hopeless.
Several minutes had gone by when Julie heard a soft knocking on the outside of the door. She coughed and tried to settle her breathing a little before she spoke, hoping that her voice wasn’t too shaky. “This room is in use!” she called, feeling a little happy with herself when she heard only a small waver in her voice.
The knock came again, though this time it was in a familiar rhythm, one she was acutely familiar with after almost an entire lifetime of hearing it against her window panes. “Julie? It’s Luke. Can I come in?”
Pushing herself onto her knees, Julie reached to open the door and found Luke standing there with a gentle smile on his face. As soon as he was in the room, Luke kneeled next to Julie and pulled her into his arms. She shifted into a seated position and pressed her face into his shoulder, closing her eyes and letting herself melt into his comforting form. With Luke’s arms around her, his hand placed reassuringly on her curls, and his lips pressed to the top of her head, Julie felt safe. She let her tears fall anew. They would no doubt be staining Luke’s shirt, but she knew he wouldn’t care.
“I couldn’t do it,” she said faintly, speaking into Luke’s chest. “What if I’m never ready to sing again? Whoever heard of a superhero who could never use her powers? Or a lead singer of a band who never sang?”
“Hey,” said Luke from above her, interrupting her anxious thoughts. “I believe that you’ll get back there someday. You’ll find your voice again, as well as powers and connection to nature again with it. You’ll get back up on stage with us, too, I know it. There is no Julie and the Phantoms without Julie Molina.”
“But—”
“But you know that if you are never able to sing again, that’s okay, right? You’ll still be Julie. The rest we’d figure out.”
Julie sniffed and bit her lower lip as a contended smile gradually fought to appear on her face. “Thanks, Luke. You’re the best.”
“Anytime, Jules,” he said, nudging her head with his. He paused. “I know you were wishing your mom had been here today, that you were trying to imagine her with you.” Julie quirks a small smile in acknowledgment. Of course he’d known exactly what she’d been thinking about as they’d stood outside the school. “But you know she’s always with you, right?” he asserts. “Your powers are a part of you, music is a part of you, and even if those things are lying dormant for now, they’re still there. And you got those from her. Your music, your voice, your ability to control plant life. It’s all still you.”
She smiled sadly into his chest, taking comfort in his words before a thought occurred to her. “Wait,” Julie said, using one hand to push herself away from Luke’s chest to look him better in the face. She frowned slightly. “Isn’t Power Placement still going on?
Luke laughed, grinning down at her. “Flynn may or may not have subtly used her powers of manipulation to convince Mrs. Harrison to let me go look for you.” Julie opened her mouth to chastise him for leaving during the most important test of their young lives (not that she had done any different), but Luke waved a hand in dismissal, shaking his head at the same time. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my testing later,” he said with a shrug. “I was more worried about how you were.”
Warmth bloomed in Julie’s chest. She was still worried about Luke’s placement but was also beyond grateful her best friend had come seeking her out. She knew she’d also have to go back and face Mrs. Harrison, too. Luke would go with her, she knew. With him next to her, maybe the conversation with her teacher wouldn’t be as bad. She sat up straight then, wiping a finger underneath each eye and smiling appreciatively. “Thank you, Luke.”
“Besides,” Luke wrinkled his nose a little, his hand going up to rub at his head in thought. “The door I accidentally ripped off its hinges when I ran out might have been enough to place me anyway.”
“Luke!” Julie gaped at him. “You can’t just go around destroying school property. You should know better by now. You powered up ages ago.”
“It will be fine,” he said. “I’m sure Mrs. Harrison’s already on it. I think I heard that one of the other new students controls metal.”
Julie nudged his knee with her own, quirking another smile at him before shifting to stand up. “We should probably go, I guess,” she said, trying to keep her nerves out of her voice. Luke heard it anyway, enveloping her hand in his and giving a reassuring squeeze as he stood. He applied just a little too much force. “Ow,” Julie said accusingly, shooting her friend a playful glare as she (reluctantly) pulled her hand out of his and shook it out. “Careful with that super strength, Patterson.”
He smiled at her guiltily. “Oops, sorry. I guess I still need to work on controlling my powers, huh?” He held out his elbow to her. “How about an arm instead, Miss Molina?”
“Thank you,” Julie replied, giggling.
Julie and Luke ventured back out into the school, arm-in-arm. Together they started strolling back toward the gym, with Luke leading the way. Julie wasn’t sure she’d remember exactly how to get back there anyway. Though she was now feeling marginally better after talking to Luke, she still had the reality of what had happened during Power Placement to worry about. Without showcasing her powers, she was sure she’d be immediately placed in the Sidekick class rather than the Hero class.
As they approached the gym, it was clear the Power Placement tests were finished. Alex, Reggie, and Flynn were leaning against the wall outside the room, plainly waiting for Julie and Luke to return, with Alex nervously tapping his foot. He let out a relieved breath when he saw them, and Flynn sprang forward. “You okay?” she asked Julie, pulling her into a hug. Julie latched onto her best friend tightly. “Yeah, I’m good,” she murmured against her cheek.
“I wanted to come looking for you too, but Luke asked to go himself,” Flynn whispered to her, moving to look her in the face and smiling approvingly. “He didn’t want you to feel overwhelmed by too many people.”
The warmth Julie had felt earlier returned. She glanced back at Luke to find his eyes already on her. Sending him another tender smile, her cheeks blushed when he reciprocated with one of his own.
“Mrs. Harrison’s still inside,” Alex then stated, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m sure it’s fine if you both go in to talk to her.”
Julie let out a deep breath, looking back to Luke. “Okay, let’s do this,” she said, opening the door and slipping inside, Luke alongside her.
Mrs. Harrison looked up as they approached her and smiled at Julie before focusing on Luke. “I didn’t appreciate your little demonstration when you left earlier, Mr. Patterson. Nor Miss Cooper’s interference.”
Luke grimaced. “Sorry about that, Mrs. Harrison.”
“However,” Mrs. Harrison continued with a grudging smile, “I did see enough from you to place you.” Picking up a folder she’d left lying on the stage next to her, Mrs. Harrison took a sheet of paper from inside and handed it over to Luke. “You are officially in the Hero class, Luke. Congratulations.”
Luke beamed down at the paper and then at Julie, who mirrored him with a grin of her own. She was happy for him, despite her own concerns. She knew him being in the Hero class would be important to his parents. She suspected her smile hadn’t quite reached her eyes, though, as Luke’s eyes darted around her face and his face shifted into a frown. Julie could practically see his momentarily diverted attention shift back to her. “What about Julie?” he quickly asked their teacher.
Mrs. Harrison smiled at Julie again, not unkindly, and gestured for the two students to sit on the edge of the stage with her. “Now, Miss Molina.” Mrs. Harrison started. “As I’m sure you are aware, if a student is unable to demonstrate their powers during power placement, we have no choice but to place that student in the sidekick class.”
“Hey! That’s not fair!” Luke interjected, an indignant look on his face. He threw an arm out, gesturing vaguely around them. “Half the staff here already know exactly what Jules is capable of!”
“Mr. Patterson, please,” the teacher shot Luke a disapproving look before turning back to Julie. “Miss Molina? Do you understand?” she asked, looking for confirmation.
Julie nodded. “I understand.”
“However, Julie,” Mrs. Harrison continued softly, “I’ve already had a quick phone call with Principal Lessa’s office. Considering the circumstances, the school will allow you until the end of the term to retake your Power Placement. As we already know what your powers are, if you can demonstrate them by then, you will be able to switch over into the Hero class without having to repeat the year.”
Hope and anxiety both blossomed in her chest, fighting for dominance inside Julie at this news. She had another chance, though it was a chance with a firm deadline. It had been months since her mother had died, and she had yet to feel that spark within her. Even though she knew Luke and the rest of their friends believed in her, her powers still seemed so far out of reach. Did she honestly think she’d be able to get back up on that stage within the next few months?
“Now, this will mean some extra work for you this term,” Mrs. Harrison clarified. “We’ll be providing you with a tutor so that you can complete the Superhero Basics coursework alongside the Sidekick Basics coursework, and you’ll have to turn it in to me each week. That way, if you can complete the placement test and move streams, you won’t be as far behind next term. We’ll let you know who it is you’ll be working with once we have it all sorted out.”
Mrs. Harrison glanced at her watch. “Okay, the both of you had better get going if you—and the rest of your friends,” she added, eyes gazing toward the hallway outside, “want to have lunch before your first classes this afternoon.” She pulled another paper from the folder in her arms and handed it to Julie. “Here is your schedule. Now off you two go.”
Julie started walking back to her friends with Luke by her side. She could still feel his eyes trained on her in worry as she surveilled the schedule gripped in her hands. “Sidekick Student Schedule” was printed in bold letters across the top.
And there it was. She knew there was a lot of pride in being a sidekick (or Hero Support, as her mother often said.). She knew sidekicks were just as valuable and as important as heroes. Her mother’s sidekick, Victoria, had been like a second mother to Julie her entire life. She recognized all of that. But still, this wasn’t what she’d imagined for herself all the years she’d spent dreaming of the day she’d start at Sky High. It wasn’t what she’d imagined when she dreamed of continuing her mother’s legacy as Petal Pusher in her own way. And despite all of her reasoning, in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help herself but wonder what her mother would think of her new allotted identity. Julie Molina: sidekick.