Athena was always a good kid. She got straight A’s, and she never got in trouble. But that all changed when she went back to school. On her 12th birthday, the day before school, she wished she could have super speed. All of her brothers and sisters laughed.

“How could you possibly get super powers?” asked her eldest brother, George.

“You never know,” said Athena.

She was right. The very next day, she was so excited for school that she slipped on her bathrobe and started to run uncontrollably fast.

“AHHH!” said Athena. She started to slow herself down.

Once she got back inside, she took a shower. She changed into her favorite outfit, her cozy bunny sweater with a jean skirt. She slipped on her favorite sneakers and grabbed her bag. She stole a donut from her sister, Virginia, and took off. She eagerly waited for the school bus, but when it got there, she became speedy again. Athena raced faster than the wind into the bus. The other kids stared and started to whisper. How could things get any worse? Then, Wendy, her best friend, boarded the bus. She sat down next to Athena, and Athena told her everything.

Wendy and Athena both went to their lockers, and when Athena closed hers, she found Beatrice Loop waiting for her. She was one of the fastest kids in school, and the biggest bully as well. She always smelled like tobacco, and she always spat on people when she got angry. Everyone tried to keep cool when Beatrice was around.

“Hey you, Ant! Want to race after school? Meet me at the field after 7th period,” said Beatrice.

Once Athena got to her math class, she started talking to Wendy. “She wants me to race her after school. What if I lose?”

“Then you know you’ll get a wedgie in front of the entire grade, including the boys,” said Wendy.

Athena thought for a moment. What if she used her superpower? Wendy clearly read her mind. She would always believe her friend, no matter what.

“You should totally use your super power.”

***

Finally, the horrid time had come. Beatrice Loop was waiting for her. Athena winced.

“Get ready to lose, sucker!” scoffed Beatrice. “On your mark… get set… go!”

Athena took off like a bullet. Beatrice tried to catch up, but it was no use. She continued to run until she saw the finish line. All the kids gasped. Athena blushed. Beatrice finally came back, red-faced and angry.

As soon as she got home, Athena was attacked by her little brother, Andy. She strode over to her mom.

“Hey Mom, what if I told you that I have the ability to run super fast?” asked Athena.

“Ha ha ha, you must be joking,” said mother. Athena noticed she was starting to sweat.

“I’ll show you.” Athena began to race across the room.

“Oh sweetheart, go up to your room please,” said mother, kissing the top of her head.  She raced to her room. But she heard something from downstairs. She couldn’t help but take a peek from her room. Athena gasped. She saw two things. Her mother smoking, which she had never seen, and calling somebody. She tried to listen, but her mom was too quiet.

The next day, Athena told Wendy the terrible news.

“What? But your mother seems so… so… nice,” said Wendy. They walked to gym class together.

“Today, class, we will be working on running,” Coach Pattie said. About 75 percent of the class groaned. “Hey, listen up! I will have two contestants. You, Charlie, get up here!” Athena knew Charlie was the fastest boy in school. “And you, Athena, see if you can beat Mister Charlie here.”

Athena strode up to him rather confidently. She saw all of Charlie’s friends, like Mario and Felix and Luigi, cheering him on. Then, as if it were a One D concert, all the girls started screaming.

“On your mark… get set… go!”

Just like before, she took off like a bullet, running around the gym two times like Coach Pattie asked.

Coach Pattie hung her mouth open. “WOW. I have never seen someone so fast!”

All the girls and even some of the boys started questioning Athena about how she got so fast. She finally managed to get home with some help from Wendy.

As soon as she got home, her mother asked her to pack her bags. Athena was rather confused. “But why?”

“I’ll tell you on the way there.”

After some time in the car, Athena became restless. “MOM! I need you to tell me where we are going,” she said.

“Here,” said her mom. It was an alleyway in the city.

“Seriously, you’re taking me into a –” Athena was cut off as she was dragged into the wall. “Where are we?”

“We are at the Academy for Special Kids or A.S.K.”

Athena looked around. She saw high-tech gadgets everywhere. Then, a tall man dressed in a fine, white lab coat came toward her.

“Why hello there, young lady! You must be Athena,” said the man. “I am Dr. Bob.”

“Please don’t make this worse,” mumbled Athena.

“I’ll show you where all the other kids are waiting.”

Athena gulped. She was rather nervous. When she stepped inside, Athena saw other kids just like her. She smiled as she sat next to a girl who appeared to have purple hair. Athena was rather surprised.

“Hey, I’m Ivy,” said the purple-haired girl.

Then, Dr. Bob started to speak. “Hello, children! Today, we are going to test your skills and see if you are eligible to become a superhero! Up first, we will have Athena!”

Athena stepped up to the judges. She nervously looked at them and started to run. Faster and faster Athena went, ’til everything was a blur. She finally slowed down a few minutes later.

“Oh my! She will definitely do,” said one judge. Athena she sat back down. As she watched all of the contestants, she went to join Ivy.

“Man, you were sick! You were like a blur.”

“I was?” Athena blushed.

“Yeah, mate. You were pretty much the fastest one here.”

For about a year, Athena learned how to control her super speed. She made many friends, including Ivy. She sometimes missed her old life with Wendy and imagined what she would be doing at that very moment. But Ivy tried to cheer her up, and that usually did the trick. During the summer, Dr. Bob told her that it was time for her to go. She said goodbye to Ivy and promised to text her every day.

***

“Yes!” Athena exclaimed on her first day of school. She felt like today would be better than her last first day of school. Hopefully, Beatrice wouldn’t pick a fight with her. She couldn’t wait to see Wendy. As she waited for the bus, everyone smiled at her. Then, Athena saw Wendy. As if it were in slow motion, she ran to Wendy as fast as she could.

“Oh Wendy, I missed you so much!”

“Me too. Me too.”

They held each other in a tight embrace. They hadn’t seen each other in a year, and were so excited. Then, they were off to school!

Beatrice was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, Athena had already frightened her a year ago, when she beat her in that race after school. Athena was glad. But Athena couldn’t help but be annoyed by the millions and millions of questions her classmates asked. It seemed like Athena was more popular than last year. But when somebody needed help, she was always there. Athena became Super Speedy Girl! Sometimes, things could get pretty out of control.

But on a particular day, a Wednesday in fact, Athena was on her way to art class when Beatrice once again came up to her. This time, she smelled like fresh mint. Perhaps she had stolen a mint from somebody because she smelled pretty bad when she smelled like tobacco.

Is it just me, or did Beatrice get a little taller while I was gone? wondered Athena.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Little Miss Show-Off and the cowgirl,” said Beatrice. She had a huge smirk on her face and was towering over her by the second. “Ready to be beaten up?” She was cracking her knuckles.

Oh boy, thought Athena. “Well, if you’d excuse me, I should be on my way,” she said rather boldly.

“You know what? You’re a little baby. You always cry, and you always get what you want. Well –”

Athena started to get angry. She ran as fast as she could around Beatrice, creating a giant vortex. Beatrice was caught in the middle of it. When Athena stopped, she sent Beatrice flying all the way to the field. Just at that moment, Mr. Snickers, the principle, came out in time to see Athena send Beatrice flying.

“Excuse me, Miss Prince! Come to my office immediately!” he exclaimed.

“How dare you blast Miss Loop! Athena, you should know better after you went to A.S.K.” Athena was as still as a statue. Her lips were sealed.

“ I… I didn’t mean to, really. It’s just that (sniffle) she was making fun of me, and I didn’t like that!”

The principal was also still. “Unfortunately, I have to expel you from the school. I know this might be hard, but here at Dragon Academy, we cannot tolerate such behavior. After your last period, collect your things.”

Athena could have cried. But she still sat there, stone faced.

Since that horrid day, Athena had to leave Dragon Academy. She sobbed on that day. Everyone was very sad.  The school made cards for her, and some even bought her presents. All the teachers gave her little presents too. Finally, it was time for her to move on, even though she had to leave her best friend and some of her favorite teachers behind. This school just wasn’t for her anymore.

“Well, Wendy, I will miss you, a lot,” said Athena.

Goodbye Dragon Academy, hello Applewood Junior High, she thought as she drove away from Dragon Academy and would never have to see this school again. She wondered if the people at her new school would be just like her? Would she ever see Wendy again? She had many questions, but she would have to wait and see if they were true.