"So upset you're going to cry yourself to sleep for a straight week?" Emma asked and I froze. Tears started to well up in my eyes, but I blinked them back as I heard my mother's voice speak up.

Don't cry. You know how much I dislike crybabies.

The hair on the back of my stood up and forced myself to turn and walk away, pushing my way through the crowd while trying my hardest to ignore the catcalls and insults being hurled my way. I'd shed my last tears at my mother's funeral, and I wasn't going to give Emma the satisfaction of having broken a promise I made to my mother.

I was so focused on moving forwards that I didn't even notice someone was in my way until I practically had run into them. I paused and looked up, right into Sophia's eyes. She was grinning like the cat that had gotten the canary, and I hated it. I took a step to the side and began to walk past Sophia, only for her to stick out her leg in an attempt to trip me.

In retrospect, if I hadn't just suffered the most cutting attack from my former friend, I probably wouldn't have done what I did next.

Time seemed almost to slow as my eyes narrowed behind my glasses. Snarling lowly, I kicked at her shin while my hand snapped out and grabbed Sophia by the back of her neck. Caught off guard and knocked off balance by my sudden attack, I used the momentum from my kick as I pulled Sophia downward. As she began to fall I let go and continued on my way, looking to everyone else as if nothing had happened, until Sophia's face smashed into the floor.

I'm already a couple meters away before I hear the first sounds out of the stunned crowd, and I'm not surprised at all that it's the sound of Sophia cursing up a storm. I know I'm going to catch a whole bunch of flak for what I just did, but damn if it didn't put a smile on my face.

I stop just outside the front door and turn my head to stare up at the sun. Frowning, I grab the chain around my neck and pull my pocket watch out of my shirt. It's an old ornate Lépine model decorated with a crescent moon that wraps around the clock face, easily filling the palm of my hand. It's beautiful, and it's the last gift my mother gave me. I never let it out of my sight, and I know it drives my dad a little bit crazy sometimes with the way I refuse to take it off, but Mom had made me swear to always keep it close. I give my head a shake and look at the time. Huh. Barely past noon and I'm already done with school.

I couldn't go home, not unless I wanted to have a very uncomfortable session of questions and answers with my dad, so that left me with... well, it left me with most of the city to kill time looking around. I quickly put the watch away, smiling as I feel it settle comfortably between my breasts. Oddly enough, it never seemed to bother me when I was running.

Shouldering my bag, my smile grows a little wider as a butterfly wings it's way over to me. I hold a hand out for it to land on, before I move it over to my hair as I begin walking down the street. I don't look back when I hear Mr. Gladly call out my name. I know it's probably going to come back and bite me in the butt later, but right now, I just couldn't summon up a damn to give, not after what he did. Well, more what he didn't do. He could have stopped things well before Emma or Sophia stepped in, but he hadn't. He didn't deserve my attention.

So, you know, just another day in Paradise. I push all thoughts of Emma and Sophia and school out of my mind as I try to think of where I want to get lunch. The few people I pass on the sidewalk give me the occasional strange look, probably wondering why such a normal teenager is out of school so early, but I don't pay them any mind, unless they decide to stop me and ask about it, I wasn't inclined to care very much.

There were a couple that took a look at me and subconsciously shied away, and maybe one or two flinched without really understanding why when I pulled a lollipop out of my bag - strawberry, my favorite flavor - and popped it into my mouth. Somewhere in the back of my mind I noticed the reactions and wondered at them.I couldn't really blame them. They were the few who had seen me running at night and knew what I was capable of, even if they didn't realize just who they were looking at. I laughed a little at how confused some of them looked when they realized they had reacted to an innocent teenager. Really, I was perfectly, completely normal.

Out of the corner of eye I'd catch an occasional glimpse of my shadow on the walk or in a reflection, and I could have sworn that it seemed a bit too tall or oddly shaped, but when I looked at it straight on it looked utterly normal. I guess it wasn't that strange really. My mother's shadow pretty much had a life of its own, why should mine be any different?

xxxxx

Black Magic Woman.

A Worm/Bayonetta Story.

xxxxx

Uploading here because FFnet needs more Worm stories where the writer actually gives a damn about the subject matter. You know who I'm talking about.