Myriad footsteps echoed through the dank, never-ending alleyway. Lennon couldn’t pick out her own footfalls from the dozen behind her. She risked a glance back towards the pack of angry gangsters chasing her, led by none other than her father. Her heart raced as she leapt over garbage cans and dodged dumpsters to keep the men from gaining on her. Constantly searching for a way out of the alley that trapped her, she almost stumbled in her fright from the gigantic, looming shadows of her pursuers.

Finally, light appeared in the distance, hinting at an opening to the alley. Then, a voice seemingly came directly from the light source, softly calling out her name. She immediately recognized it as Harvey’s.

“Help me, Harvey,” she called back. “I’m coming to you, help!”

“Lennon,” the shout came again, slightly louder.

“I’m here, Harvey. Help!”

She felt herself being shaken violently, and suddenly she opened her eyes.

Harvey’s gentle, but concerned face looked down at her as she gasped for breath.

“It was...,” Lennon started. “It was...”

“Yes, dear. It was only a dream.”

She immediately sat up, gripping Harvey in a tight hug. Burying her face in his shoulder, she couldn’t hold back her tears. Harvey held her tightly, comforting her.

“It was my father,” she sobbed. “He just wouldn’t stop. Oh god...”

“Len, it’ll be alright, okay? It was jus--“

“No, Harvey. Richard’s out for blood. I know it.”

The kind lawyer kissed Lennon’s forehead gently, not showing his worry. “Get yourself to school, hon. We’ll talk about everything this evening.”

Lennon looked as if she had been struck by lightning. “School!” What time is it? Why didn’t my alarm go off?”

She glanced at the nearby clock on a desk, the flashing 12:00am answering her questions.

Harvey checked his watch. “It’s twenty till 8.”

“Shit!” Lennon jumped out of bed, nearly knocking Harvey over. “Sorry,” she called as she ran for the shower. “I can’t be late for Health anymore, or I’ll be dropped.”

Harvey blinked, a bit stunned and amused. “I’m off to work,” he said to the unresponding bathroom door. “See you this evening.”

Not a moment later, Lennon flew out of the bathroom, barely holding up one towel around her and balancing another atop her head. She smiled hurriedly at Harvey as he went out the front door.

Not caring what clothes she grabbed, Lennon dressed while frantically gathering her books into her backpack. Minutes later, she was out the door and on her way to Gotham Academy Prep.

The minute hand covered the 11 on Lennon’s watch as she pulled into the parking lot of her school. A quick look across the small field that separated the lot from the main campus showed the hallways still crowded with students making their way to their first period class. That’s it, she thought. Time for something drastic.

Running straight towards the mass of high-schoolers, Lennon double-checked that her backpack straps were tight and then leapt, flipping over their heads onto a picnic table nearby. From the table, she made a graceful jump onto the roof of the nearest wing of the school. She immediately made a beeline over the roofs to her Health classroom, flying over hallways from wing to wing, making her way literally from one end of campus to the other.

Lennon paused at the roof ledge opposite the wing her class was held in, eyeing the open door of the room slowly closing. She sprinted along the edge of the roof just moments before the bell began to ring. Desperately, she leapt and half-slid, half-rolled into the room as the bell quieted.

All eyes were on Lennon as the door closed itself. Non-chalantly, she got up and dusted herself off. One by one her classmates began clapping until the room was filled with applause. Lennon took a proud, yet embarrassed bow, and then quietly found her seat under her teacher’s glare.

“Nice of you to join us, Miss Johnson,” Mr. Opezzo dryly commented.

Lennon gave an appeasing grin, then inconspicuously hid in her textbook. Man, I hope not too many people saw...

P A N T H E R E T T E