AURORA FELL ASLEEP AGAIN. A common occurrence, really. So common that no one batted an eye, save for the few who shared amused or exasperated glances with one another when they caught sight of the familiar scene.

If only they knew.

She inwardly screamed at her body, cursing and shouting and pleading with it to snap out of it, but not bothering to even try and move; she knew from years of experience that it would just be energy wasted. So, instead, she just relaxed into the feeling, slowly letting herself fall asleep. In her state of paralysis, her mind was still racing, her body just couldn't catch up, so if she chose to fall asleep, it would be her mind shutting down as well.

"Briar Rose? Can someone please wake her up?" the substitute teacher asked, causing a few students to laugh while others sympathetically explained to him the situation.

"We don't wake her up, she never does," Sally Avril drawled, not as sympathetic as others could be, "Just let her miss the lecture, she doesn't deserve to do well if she doesn't pay attention."

Aurora inwardly scoffed, wishing she could just lift her head up and make a scathing remark. Of course, she was much too sweet for that, too wanting of everyone's approval. Not to mention she was completely paralyzed, which did make it difficult.

The substitute sighed at that, and Aurora listened to the clicking of footsteps as he approached her, standing over her desk. She wanted to scream as he nudged her shoulder, calling, "Briar. Briar Rose, wake up," growing louder with each try.

She was glad she hadn't fallen asleep just then. It gave her time to lament over her godmothers' choice over her new name when they moved into the city all those years ago. When one was on the run from a malevolent being, one must change her name to keep from being detected, as well as be placed under well kept concealments.

But Briar Rose. Of all the choices, her godmothers went with something that seemed to gain more attention than divert it. But it was a charming name, she had to admit, so she wore it like it was the only name she ever knew.

Which meant she had to endure it being shouted at her paralyzed form for another minute before the substitute finally gave up, mumbling about detention.

Perfect.

Peter Parker winced from where he sat by the window, watching the scene unfold. Aurora—Briar Rose to him and everyone else at the school—always fell asleep, but one conversation with the girl let him know that she, as she put it, "didn't do it because she wanted to," which was good enough for him.

More conversations with her let him know that she found it incredibly frustrating, as she found people disliking her bothersome. She also greatly disliked iced tea, which was a conversation they had had well into their second month of friendship, not that he was counting.

He tried to pay attention to the substitute, but found his attention drawing back to the girl; this was the third time she had done this just that day, which was uncommon, even for her; once or twice a day was common, but it wasn't even noon yet.

He watched her the entire time, wondering if she would wake up before the bell or if she would, indeed, sleep through the entire lecture. He hurriedly copied down two sets of notes as the substitute tried, and failed, to teach them their lesson, glancing over every few minutes to check to see if she was awake, only to find that she was just as frozen as before.

Soon enough, the bell was ringing, and everyone jumped out of their seats, rushing out to meet with their friends for their break time, trying to make a beeline to their respective spots in the cafeteria or somewhere outside. Peter packed up slowly, eyeing the still asleep Aurora, pausing when he saw someone approach her.

While Peter was busy fiddling with his papers, Aurora was startling from her sleep, body still paralyzed. Her heart raced at the thought that, perhaps, she would be trapped for longer than usual. Her birthday was nearing, after all, and that meant the curse's affect was growing stronger.

Then she felt a feather light touch graze her arm, sending goosebumps prickling like thorns as she shivered, her eyes fluttering open.

"Class is over, Briar Rose."

Groaning, Aurora found herself groggily looking up at Phillip Prince who was still standing over her desk, making sure she was awake. The minute she raised her head, he headed out of the room without so much as a farewell.

Aurora watched him go, running a hand through her hair. He had made a habit of trying to wake her at the end of each class they had together—that is to say, every class she had—and it was a surprising coincidence that her paralysis seemed to end whenever he did.

She didn't know much about him—they never interacted save for him waking her up—but she trusted him more than made logical sense; if there was someone willing to try and wake her up every class period, they couldn't be all that bad.

"Are you okay, Briar?"

She was startled out of her thoughts by a familiar voice and turned to find its owner looking at her from his desk, his backpack slung over his shoulders.

She sighed, shrugging as she gathered her things. "Same as usual, Petey, nothing new."

"Yeah," he agreed slowly. He was looking at her like she was both a frightened deer and a theoretical physics problem. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she lied, smiling brightly as she pulled on her backpack, "Come on, I don't want your friends to worry."

"They're your friends too, you know," he pointed out, the two making their way out of the class and into the crowded halls.

Ever since they were partnered together for their final project in English before winter break, the two had formed a quick friendship, bonding over their mutual disdain for their English teacher and a very desperate need for good grades, Aurora immediately being welcomed into Peter's friend group which, while small, was nice. It made her feel a little more normal.

"So your birthday is coming up," he began slowly, "Sweet sixteen. Do you want anything?"

She snorted. "A boyfriend."

While she brushed it off as a joke, she did, in fact, want a boyfriend. Not for the superficial reason for wanting one, like most assumed, but rather for the idea that maybe she could fall in love. A concept she had wanted since she was young, the idea of someone falling in love with her made her heart flutter and her life worth living.

He laughed softly, tapping his ring finger where a plain silver band rested. "I'm spoken for, but Ned is available."

She shoved him lightly, giggling. To the shock of most, Peter actually found himself a girlfriend in the form of one Diana Smith, a blonde in their grade whom Aurora found nice, but was often nervous to talk to. Nevertheless, she loved how happy Diana made Peter, which was really all that mattered.

She shook her head, smiling. "You don't need to get me anything."

He frowned, pouting jokingly. "Aw, c'mon, tell me. It's your first birthday where you have me as a friend, I have to make up for the ones I've missed. Look, at least let me get you something."

She just smiled and sighed, pretending to relent. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she might not be alive for him to give her the present.

º º º

"Oh, Aurora, honey, come into the kitchen, we need you to help us pick a color for the cake."

Aurora rolled her eyes fondly as she stepped into her brownstone, closing the door and toeing off her flats, padding into the kitchen.

She paused at the entrance to survey the damage. There was frosting all over the counter and parts of the ceiling, and all three women were standing with similar expressions of embarrassed guilt, casting blame upon the others, flour coating their faces and clothes.

She took a deep breath. "Why can't you three just get along?"

"Honey, we just want your birthday to be the best," Gazelle sighed, throwing up her arms in defeat, "There was just...some discrepancy on the color of your dress."

"I think you'd look wonderful in pink," Rosalee commented, flicking her wrist and letting all of the dishes move themselves into the sink.

"I think blue would be better," Marisol argued with a huff, twiddling her fingers, the fridge and pantry doors opening, all the ingredients flying back into their places, the bag of flour clipping the side of Rosalee's head.

"What would you like, Rory?" Gazelle asked, intervening just before a second war broke out, her encouraging smile slightly strained as she stood between the two women.

Aurora frowned, shrugging. "I don't care."

Rosalee frowned as well, all three women sharing a look. "Rory. We're your godmothers, we want you to have the best birthday possible. I mean, you're turning sixteen—"

"What does it matter?" she demanded, shocking them with her outburst, "What does it matter what dress I wear or the kind of cake I'm getting or what presents I want. I'll be dead before I can get any of them."

A normally easygoing and lighthearted girl, her words surprised everyone in the room, herself included. While her curse was always a sore subject, that never stopped the girl from smiling every day, finding the bright side to every rain cloud and, generally, being very easy to be with. Negative thoughts were never something she made a habit of searching for, let alone vocalizing.

"Don't you ever say that again," Marisol snapped, coming to stand in front of her, "You don't say things like that, Aurora, it's not right."

"My birthday is in less than a week," she spat, "Why can't we just accept that in less than a week I'll be six feet under and you'll be back at the mansion in Westchester, it'll be easier on all of us."

As she turned to leave, Marisol caught her arm. It was a firm grip, but it wasn't painful. It was the hold of a desperate, hurt woman. Aurora didn't turn to look at her, at any of them; she could feel their eyes boring into her, all of them sad and pitying.

"We made a promise to your parents, we are going to keep you safe," Rosalee whispered, coming to stand behind her, "We aren't going to break it."

"You've kept me safe this long," she said, trying to keep her voice steady as she stared across the way, "Just let me go."

"You can't say things like that!" Marisol cried, shaking her arm, trying to get a reaction out of the girl, something to show that she wasn't as numb as she was making herself out to be.

"Merryweather..." Gazelle warned, her voice low.

"She can't!" Marisol cried, before turning back to the teenager, "You can't just give up. Your parents didn't give up, you don't get to. You have no right. We will get through this."

"How?" Aurora asked, "Hm? How? Are you going to break the curse yourself? Oh, wait, you can't, because that sick hag made sure no other mutant can help me. That rules out everyone we know."

"Aurora," Rosalee whispered, placing her hands on the young girl's shoulders, "We will do everything we can to keep you safe. But you have to do your part. Don't give up. Don't count down the days. You're stronger than that. Fight back."

Aurora shook her head, biting her lip as a lump formed in her throat. "What if I don't want to? What if I just want to see my parents again?"

There was a shared sigh between the three women, perhaps a sob, Aurora wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of anything anymore. All she wanted was for this to be over, but it had barely just begun.

"Your parents wouldn't want that," Gazelle whispered, running her fingers through the girl's hair, "They wouldn't want to see you again knowing they failed. They want you to live, Rory, to fall in love, to do great things. They want to see you when they know you did everything you could."

She felt tears roll down her cheeks and struggled not to sob. "I just want it to stop! I just wanna go to the movies and not sleep through it, I wanna prove to everyone that I'm smart, that I care about my grades, I want someone to call me by my real name!"

She sobbed as she was pulled into a hug, her shoulders shaking as the three women enveloped her in a warm embrace, shielding her from the rest of the world, holding her. These women raised her, they took care of her; maybe soon, they were going to have to bury her.

"Promise," Marisol whispered.

"Promise what?" she sniffed, not pulling away from where her head was buried in Gazelle's green shirt.

"Promise you won't give up," Rosalee continued, tightening her grip, "Promise us. Promise yourself."

Aurora nodded, sighing as she pulled back, wiping the tears away quickly. "I'll try."

She hoped she wasn't lying.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 02.14.18 )

Here's the start! I've tried so many times to write this first chapter and while I'm not super proud of it, this is where it needs to be and I'm glad I was able to set the foundation as to Aurora's character and her relationships with the core players before the story takes off.

If you were confused, here's the skinny: Aurora is in hiding, so everyone in Midtown knows her as Briar Rose. It's just another layer as to why she was already so ready to give up; no one really knew her, so no one would really miss her. She's actually a very happy character, I'm sorry this ended so sad.

Also, if you didn't read in the original author's note in the intro, this story takes place in the Hero of Heroes series, so Diana Smith is my character from Lonely Hearts. You don't have to read it, she won't be making much of an appearance, this is just about the core three, really.

I'm so excited for this story, it's gonna be fun. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!