High School Heroes Chapters 8-10

Chapter 8

Superheroes

I didn’t want to think about stuff like that. Being sixteen, I know how the whole baby making process works. But thinking about my parents—doing it—more than scarred me. It’s just so… wrong. They shouldn’t be doing that anymore.

The only good news to come from this, they now had something to focus on instead of me. The next morning, when we were driving to school, Mom was too busy about plans for turning the spare bedroom into a nursery to ask what was bothering me. She dropped me off. The high of finding out she was pregnant hadn’t worn off—I swore I heard her singing as she drove away.

I liked being an only child. It was the way it should be. My friends have brothers and sisters and they all hate them. Why do I have to suddenly be burdened by a little terror running around the house?

I waited for Savanah to show up in Mrs. Blank’s Math class. I wanted to hear her thoughts about what happened to Bruce. Unfortunately, she didn’t come. Actually, I didn’t remember her being there yesterday either. I didn’t think anything more of it as I went to chemistry.

The twins were in there, ready to greet me eagerly, as always. Lance and Kyle both wore leather jackets and tight jeans that made them look like rock stars. They could be so ridiculous sometimes.

Chemistry too, was boring. All we did was talk about hydrocarbons and how they bonded with other elements. I took some notes, but not very good ones. It was so hard to copy notes when you had no idea what the teacher was talking about.

We don’t get to blow anything up today? Lance or Kyle thought about halfway through Mr. Jenkins’ lecture.

I’m pretty sure I slept through history, because I remember nothing about Mr. Murray’s lecture. I couldn’t even remember what unit we were on when Tiffany asked me in the hallway after class.

We began reading Julius Caesar in English. I got to play Calpurnia, Caesar’s wife, which I was less than thrilled with. I hate reading in front of the class. I sounded like a robot. Ms. Schroeder said I did a wonderful job. I’m not even going to mention what she thought about my performance.

At lunch, I sat in my usual spot with Tiffany and Sam, ready to tell them both my dreadful news, even knowing how excited they would be for me (especially Tiffany, who loved babies). I was about to tell them, but I never got chance.

“Can I sit here?” the most dreamy voice in the world asked. I never heard him come up and wondered if he had just zoomed in.

Tiffany was even more shocked. Her mind went totally blank for a couple of seconds.

Stammering, I was the first to reply, “Sure… ummm, have a seat.”

He sat opposite me, next to Tiffany. She kept giving me looks and trying to force back her giggles. Some of the thoughts racing through her head: What did you do? Is this really happening?

“What are you doing here?” I was excited as hell that he decided to sit with us, but it seemed odd that he would to do so.

“I’m not on the team anymore, remember? Not allowed to sit at the jock table if I’m not a jock.”

“You got kicked off the football team?” Tiffany asked, astonished.

“No,” Ethan said. “Quit.”

I don’t believe it! Tiffany thought.

What an idiot! was Sam’s thought.

Ethan grabbed his burger and shoved half of it in his mouth. All three of us just sat there watching him. Both Tiffany and Sam were in shock.

Sam was the first to recover. “So, why did you quit the team?”

Ethan swallowed what he had in his mouth—I was glad to see that he wasn’t a total pig—then explained about how he was tired of getting yelled at on a daily basis.

“Sounds like a stupid reason to me,” Sam said with a great deal of hostility. “Did you really do it so you could spend more time with Chris?”

“Sam!” I shouted. Where did that emotional outburst come from?

He looked at me for a second. I can’t believe you’d forgive him after he blew you off last week.

I didn’t say anything. No way Sam understood the connection between me and Ethan.

“Hold on a second,” Ethan said. Everyone looked at him. “Who’s Chris?”

I probably would have laughed if Sam wasn’t acting like such an ass. Instead, I sighed. “It’s the nickname they call me, even though they know I hate it.” I gave my friends the evil eye. “They’re too lazy to add the extra syllable.”

“Chris, huh?” He shoved the last bite of hamburger in his mouth.

“You didn’t answer the question.” Sam leaned toward Ethan as if to make himself look more menacing.

I couldn’t believe what he was thinking. I was like his cub and he was the mamma wolf protecting me. I was flattered and disgusted all at the same time. “Enough, Sam!” I shouted.

I’m only trying to help.

“I know you’re trying to help. But I don’t need it. Ethan’s my friend, just like you!”

“Fine, I’ll stop.” His expression told me that was definitely not the end of it. I decided to drop it for now.

There was an awkward silence (for everyone but me) for a while. Tiffany kept glancing over at Ethan and thinking how she couldn’t believe he was sitting next to her. Sam went through scenarios in his head, all of which ended with him standing on Ethan’s throat. I wished he would get over it. I needed to find a way to convince him Ethan was okay.

“Me and Christine were discussing our favorite superheroes yesterday,” Ethan broke the silence. “I was wondering what you guys thought. See, I like The Flash, but Christine says she thinks Jean Grey is better.”

“I never said that!” I knew where he was going with this. He was trying to prove he was right about the whole superhero thing by getting my friends to side with him.

“Actually, I’ve always liked Spider-Man,” Sam chimed in.

“Yeah, but he couldn’t take The Flash in a fight,” Ethan exclaimed. “He could beat Spider-Man to a pulp before Spidey could shoot a web.”

“Not with his spider-sense.”

Okay, I thought. This just jumped into the realm of the weird.

Sam suddenly wasn’t being hostile toward Ethan. Leave it to something stupid like superhero talk to bring boys together. Who cared what would happen if two fictional people fought?

After another minute of them going back and forth, I leaned over to Tiffany. “Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?”

“Not really,” she said, but I could tell she was entertained.

I rolled my eyes and got up from the table under the ruse of throwing my garbage away. As I walked to the trashcan, someone ran into me from behind. My tray and its contents crashed all over the floor. Great.

“Sorry,” the boy who bumped into me said.

It was that small boy who Tommy and his goons were picking on last week. He looked frightened as he bolted past. I saw the reason for his fright. Tommy, Walter and Sean were chasing him.

I stood in Tommy’s path, knowing he wouldn’t hit me… just like last time. I would do anything to give that little boy time to get away. Tommy tried to run around me, but I stood my ground and he skidded to a stop.

“Get out of my way, Christine,” Tommy growled.

Not that it was going to do any good, but I tried to reason with the dumb ox. “Why are you chasing that boy? What did he do to you?”

“Nothing.”

“Then leave him alone.”

“Get out of my way or I’m gonna hit you.”

I couldn’t hear the boy’s thoughts. His mind really must have been a blank slate for me to get nothing. I decided to play it safe this time, just in case I was wrong about Tommy’s chivalry. Besides, the boy had plenty of time by now to run and hide somewhere.

I stepped aside and Tommy and the two cronies elbowed past. Sean gave me a particularly hard shove. I fell backwards into the wall. “Freak!” he shouted as he ran off.

I braced myself for the impact but suddenly was cradled by a pair of arms. Was Ethan there already, or had he run up to get me? I hoped it wasn’t the latter, we would never be able to explain that without revealing his powers.

“Ethan,” I whispered. “You didn’t…”

“I was already on my way over. No one saw anything.”

A brief scan of everyone’s thoughts revealed he was right.

Ethan was thinking how glad he was that he was already coming to help me deal with Tommy, or I might have gotten hurt.

“I only would have had a bump on the head.”

“Can you stop doing that?” He meant reading his mind. “It really, really creeps me out.”

“I’ll try,” I promised. We both knew I couldn’t help it. Until I could block out every thought that came my way—if I ever could—I would always be able to hear at least some of his thoughts.

He lifted me back on my feet and we walked back to Tiffany and Sam, who were watching us both from the table. They were like two sides of a coin. Seeing me cradled in Ethan’s arms, Tiffany was nothing but smiles; Sam looked almost homicidal.

“Are we going to just sit here and let that boy get beat?” Ethan asked me.

I tried my best to ignore the stares from both of my friends awaiting my return. “He got away,” I mentioned. “We don’t need to worry.”

The boy was sitting across the cafeteria. Tommy, Walter and Sean had him surrounded.

“What a moron!” I said. How could he just go and sit down when he had Tommy chasing him? Even with me distracting Tommy, he should have realized he needed to get as far away as possible. Maybe the boy didn’t want to be saved. Maybe he actually enjoyed getting picked on.

“So, what are we going to do?” Ethan prodded again.

As I looked over, Tommy took the boy by the collar of his shirt and picked him up off the floor so his legs dangled underneath him. I looked around for a teacher, or even Mr. Philmore, but there wasn’t an adult in sight.

We need to teach him a lesson. Ethan’s thoughts echoed in my head. I definitely agreed. But there was nothing we could do without revealing ourselves to the entire cafeteria.

“What we need is a distraction,” I said.

“Can’t you make everyone see something while I stop him?”

I wasn’t sure if I could. Probably couldn’t. There were well over a hundred people. I made an attempt to shut them out, concentrating hard, but I couldn’t do it. I shook my head. “There’s no way.”

“You have no confidence,” Ethan said.

Tommy had the boy hanging upside down by one leg and was unceremoniously shaking out the boy’s pockets while Sean and Walter stood there laughing. No one did anything to help. Not that I blamed them, Tommy was a giant compared to everyone.

“Try, Christine,” Ethan whispered.

“Fine.”

I opened up the floodgates and suddenly, what had been background noise came rushing to the forefront. My head filled with the thoughts of everyone in the room. Instantly, my head began to pound.

Scrunching my eyes shut, I turned the flow of thoughts around trying to actively seek out their greatest fears.

Fear, I thought over and over, what do they fear?

The throng of voices was proving too much to fight against. I couldn’t make one clear thought among the whole lot. I was about to give up when a hand touched my back. A warm hand. A soft hand. I heard his voice in my head over everyone else’s.

You can do it. I have faith.

Ethan stood beside me.

I concentrated with all my might, harder than ever before. Fear. Fear. Fear.

John is afraid of spiders.

Vicki is afraid of drowning.

Marcus is afraid of his father.

Only a few got through to start, but as I kept pushing against the flow of thoughts, more rushed in.

Rachel fears worms.

Peter fears being buried alive.

Tina fears fire.

Chelsea fears ghosts.

After a minute I had everyone in the room, including, unfortunately both Tiffany and Sam, who both feared lightning. Weird.

“When… they start… screaming,” I stammered. “Go!”

Ethan was ready waiting and ready.

I gave that one last push.

Everyone in the cafeteria suddenly had their greatest fear realized. Everyone screamed.

I opened my eyes in time to see Ethan run headlong into Tommy, bodychecking the boy, sending him flying into a trashcan. The little boy tumbled to the floor.

The next second blinding pain in my head dropped me to my knees.

Ethan was at my side before I knew it. He lifted me on shaky legs and guided me back to the table as the screams of my unfortunate victims died down.

“What just happened?” Tiffany asked as we sat.

“Chris, are you all right?” Sam grabbed me from Ethan and sat me next to him.

“I’m fine,” I lied. It felt like someone had taken an axe to my head.

Tiffany looked the most worried, almost like she would cry at any moment.

“I’m fine!” I insisted.

“Why is your nose bleeding?” Sam asked.

I touched it with my finger: warm and wet. What happened?

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tiffany asked this time. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”

I didn’t answer because I’d become so focused on trying not to vomit all over the table.

“She must have got hurt when that jerk hit her.” Ethan grabbed a napkin and put it to my face. Looking at my concerned friends, I realized I couldn’t hear any of their thoughts. I couldn’t even hear the faint buzzing in the background. For the first time in months, my head was absolutely silent.

I shot Ethan a worried look. What if my powers were gone? As much as I hated it, I’d actually come to rely on being able to read minds, even if it was an annoyance.

No, I thought. You probably just exhausted yourself.

Mr. Quinn, one of the science teachers, entered the cafeteria and gazed at the chaos. I never much cared for him. He was always snide and rude. I’d never had him as a teacher because he only taught seniors. I prayed he would quit by the time I became one.

“Get him out of that trash!” Quinn shouted to Sean, standing next to Tommy. “Have you all gone insane? What is all that screaming about?” His gaze bored deep into everyone in the lunchroom. It was almost like he was trying to read everyone’s mind to see what happened. “All of you need to stop acting like a bunch of animals.”

His eyes fell on me. He started toward me. What was he thinking? He was angry—his eyes were almost slitted shut. I waited for him to yell again. Somehow, I knew he knew I was the cause of the whole thing.

Tiffany and Ethan cowered. Sam, however, tried to block me from him, in some insane attempt to protect me.

“Ms. Carpenter,” Quinn said in a strangely calm voice.

I peeked over Sam’s shoulder to see the man’s stern glance. I couldn’t say anything, too afraid I had been discovered.

“Why don’t you go and have your nose looked at?”

Nose? A wave of relief washed over me. “Okay.”

“I’ll take you,” Sam and Ethan said at the same time. They stood up and took my arms from opposite sides, nearly carrying me.

“I’m capable of walking.” I pulled away from both and left the cafeteria, a napkin held tight to my nose. Sam and Ethan argued with each other as they followed me along the empty hallways to the nurse. “Boys,” I muttered.

Chapter 9

Three

It wasn’t until the next morning when I was able to hear thoughts again. My mother woke me, thinking how sick she felt. Oh, no, the doctor said this wasn’t supposed to start for another few weeks. Then I saw the toilet from much closer than I can ever remember seeing it, as my mother put her head into the bowl.

She drove me to school, but the green tint to her skin said she would be revisiting the bathroom as soon as she got home. It must have only been sheer willpower that prevented her from spewing in the car.

I’m never getting pregnant.

At school, Ethan refused to let up about “our first victory.” I gave serious consideration to melting his brain.

“I mean, it was like the perfect team-up,” he gushed. “And we have a truly vile villain!”

I was growing very annoyed with him. I wished I knew what a one-track mind he had before I spoke to him that first time. “We did a good thing for that boy. I get it. Now, drop it!”

But he wouldn’t. Not ever. I understood that now. “Christine, we have an obligation. To help the defenseless and the weak. With—”

“If you say the line from Spider-Man, I swear I will kill you.”

“All right. Fine. But tell me, what are you going to do with your power?”

The honest truth was I had no clue. “Look, I have to get to class.”

“Okay,” he said and was gone.

Eventually, I would get used to his speed. But I was still startled feeling that rush of wind and he was suddenly not there.

I went into math class. Tiffany was already in her seat. She wanted to ask a thousand questions, mostly about Ethan. The questions stumbled over each other in her head. She tried to decide which one to ask first. “So, are you and Ethan like, a thing, now?” she spurted out.

“No,” I blurted. Then, I thought for a second. He hung around me quite a bit over the last couple days. It could be because he liked me. “At least, I don’t think so,” I amended.

“What was all that about yesterday? He quits the football team. He sits with us. He practically starts a fight with Sam.”

“Actually, I think Sam was the one who wanted to fight.”

“I think he likes you,” Tiffany ticked off a series of reasons why she thought so.

I stopped paying attention when Savanah walked in. It was the first time I’d seen her since that article in the paper. I wanted desperately to hear her thoughts. The newspaper said she was in the car with Bruce. I wanted to know if it was true or not.

I wonder if anyone knows, she thought as she nervously looked around the class.

“Hey Savanah.” Brianna Johnson gave her a big hug. “Are you okay?”

“I’m better now.” Better that Bruce isn’t around anymore.

“So, what happened?” Brianna asked. “They said you went out with him again.”

“He said he wanted to talk, but he never showed. Then I saw the news the next day.”

“How did you feel?”

“Ugh,” I muttered. Who does Brianna think she is, some kind of counselor or something?

Tiffany must have thought I was making fun of what she was saying, because she huffed, “Fine. Maybe I won’t give you any suggestions at all.”

It took a minute to convince her I wasn’t dismissing her. She started her speech again, which I tuned out, as I turned my attention back to Savanah. …car up in a tree. Then she walked away from Brianna and sat down.

Damn, I missed it.

“…think that would be the perfect first date,” Tiffany concluded.

“What?” I said, rejoining our conversation.

“A movie would be perfect for you two. I swear, Chris. You don’t listen at all.”

I was quite literally saved by the bell. I pulled out my homework (which was only half done), as Mrs. Blank took roll. I tried tuning into Savanah’s head again, but couldn’t get inside. I was still pretty weak, mentally at least, from my exertion yesterday.

I don’t know what compelled me to learn what Savanah knew about that accident. I just needed to know.

The bell rang, too quickly it seemed, but the clock said exactly what it should have. Where did the time go?

I made for the door. In all of two steps I stopped and waited. If I was going to find anything out, I had to follow Savanah.

Ten seconds later she walked past as if I didn’t exist. Typical. Today though, her snottiness would work to my advantage. She was heading for the history hall, nowhere near where I had to go. I didn’t care about being late, as long as I got the information I wanted.

Savanah halted in the middle of the crowded hallway. I took a breath to prevent myself from hyperventilating. That’s when she ducked into a bathroom. I followed.

 Another girl was just leaving. What’s wrong with her? she thought as she passed Savanah.

She had to be thinking about Savanah. The girl had to be troubled whether or not she was responsible for Bruce’s accident. As much as I hated Savanah, I felt horrible for her.

She leaned on the farthest sink, peering in the mirror. Her eyes were red. Her cheeks were wet. Tears literally streamed down her face and plopped in the sink with little drip drip noises. She hadn’t seen me come in.

“What have I done?” she asked herself. “I’ve done something terrible.”

No, you haven’t, she argued with herself. He got what he deserved.

“I could have killed him.”

He raped you. That’s worse.

“That doesn’t make it right.”

The voice in her head hardly sounded like hers. Savanah tried desperately to justify what she had done, but her moral side refused to accept it.

I stood there, barely breathing, waiting for that one piece of information that would confirm all my suspicions.

You did what you needed to do. He’ll never hurt anyone again.

“I don’t know that,” she commented to her reflection, tears flowed freely. “I didn’t need to be so violent.”

He barely had a scratch on him.

“What if they find my fingerprints on the car?”

You were his girlfriend. Your fingerprints should be all over the place. No one will suspect a thing. You did the right thing.

“Then why do I feel like crap?”

You know he deserved to die.

“No!” She glanced around. For some reason she didn’t see me there.

Next time throw the car AT him, instead of into a tree.

Holy crap! The car crash was no mere accident. It was an act of revenge, not unjustified in my eyes. If I could, I would torture anyone who did that to me and then probably kill them—nice and slow. Or worse, make them think they died over and over again until they quite literally went insane.

“Savanah?” I called. Why I decided to talk to her, I don’t know.

She jumped about five feet in the air. She looked at me while trying to wipe evidence of tears from her eyes. “What do you want?” Her voice would have sounded condescending she hadn’t sniffled twice afterwards.

“Are you okay?” I knew what her answer would be. Despite the fact that we were practically enemies, I wanted to let her know someone cared.

Do I look okay! she thought at the same time she said, “I’m fine. Leave me alone, Loser!”

I shrugged and turned away.

“Wait!” I wasn’t entirely sure if she said it or thought it. Nonetheless, I faced her again. “Thanks for asking,” she sniffled. Loser, she added in her mind.

 “If you need to talk, come find me. Believe me, I understand what you’re going through. With Bruce and with… everything else.” I put special emphasis on the “everything else” part, hoping she would understand.

She didn’t. I don’t think so, she thought. “Sure.”

The bell rang for second period. I was late. I wouldn’t press the matter regarding her powers right now. I would have enough trouble talking to her without all the extra stress. She was a stuck up, rich girl, after all.

I walked to class in the empty hallway thinking, And then there were three.

Chapter 10

Conventionality

Of course Savanah never took me up on my offer. Not that I expected her to, but it would’ve made bringing up the subject of super powers a hell of a lot easier. Two weeks later, she was back to her normal self, treating me like trash, like our conversation never happened.

On the other hand, my new best friend, Ethan, treated me as if I were his queen. Except for his annoying habit of bringing up superheroes every five minutes, he and I were really becoming good friends.

He thought about sports a lot. Every time I got a glimpse inside him, he was watching a baseball game in his head. It was very disconcerting. But I chalked it all up to him having a one-track mind, which really did explain a great deal about the boy.

“Green begged me to come back this morning,” he said as we sat at lunch. “Apparently the whole team asked him to get me back. I didn’t know I was that loved.” That wasn’t true. The whole team had been pleading for weeks and Ethan pretty much ignored them.

“So, then go back.” Sam swallowed a bite of the sandwich. His tone told Ethan he would like nothing more than for the boy to leave me alone.

“Why don’t you go back, Ethan,” I asked. “At least the team will get off my back.”

Right then, a handful of spaghetti smacked me in the back of the head. Third time this week.

Two of the football players, Derrek and Cody, were laughing.

The football team was none too happy with me. They hadn’t won a game since Ethan left and they blamed me. I felt their glares in the hallways, and heard their agitated thoughts, not to mention the food I had to wash from my hair on a daily basis. To them, I cost the team the state championship.

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to,” he explained. “The last game’s this Friday and I’m booked solid for the weekend.”

“What do you mean the last game’s this Friday? The season goes until December.”

“Only if we make the playoffs.”

“We won’t make the playoffs?” Tiffany asked. “We were undefeated before you quit.”

“Yeah, but we’ve had three losses since. This week will make four. Not a very good record.”

“Oh.”

He had never mentioned anything to me about having plans for the weekend, and it was already Wednesday. “What are you doing this weekend?”

“I can’t tell you.”

I wanted to shout, You know I can read your mind, right? The idea of trying to hide something from me was ridiculous. I refrained, simply sitting with a disgruntled expression on my face instead.

“Why can’t you tell us?” Sam asked. “Is it something illegal?”

Ethan never rose to any of my friend’s rude or obscene remarks. It bothered him, but somehow he ignored the comments and went on with the conversation. “No. It’s a surprise for Christine.”

“You can tell me, can’t you?” Tiffany leaned over so he could whisper in her ear.

He looked at her for a moment, then at me and raised his eyebrows in an “all-knowing” gesture. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

I couldn’t tell if he meant me or Tiffany. “As soon as I told you, Christine would know.”

I groaned. He knew I would read her mind as soon as he told her. The thing that bothered me was that I was trying to do that exact thing to him, but all I got was an old Yankee game. Apparently Derek Jeter had just helped perform a double play.

“Where are you going?” I put some venom in my tone to tell him I wasn’t playing games.

He shook his head playfully. “I’m not telling. Besides, you’re going with me. So, you can find out on Friday.”

Of all the nerve! He hadn’t even asked if I wanted to go anywhere with him. He assumed I would. I probably would have if he’d asked, but now I was spiteful. “No.”

“Sorry. Your parents already said it was okay.”

WHAT? As far as I knew, Ethan had never met my parents. How could he have asked them?

He must have read my thoughts because he chuckled. “I asked them while you were at work on Sunday. They were quite pleased, actually, that I was asking permission.”

“They don’t even know you.”

“Actually, they do. Apparently someone in your house talks about me all the time.” He gave me a wink that felt like a knife going into my heart.

My own parents and my friend were conspiring against me. Tiffany gave Ethan a high five. “That was good.”

E’ tu, Tiffany, I thought, pulling a line from Julius Ceasar.

I would never do something like that to you, Chris. For the first time in a couple of weeks, I was glad to hear Sam’s thoughts.

If I could, I would have reached across the table and choked the life out of Ethan. He was fortunate his power was super speed, otherwise I might have tried. Instead, I threw the crust of my sandwich at him, which he easily dodged. It hit Maggie Walker in the back of the head. “Sorry!” I shouted, then ducked in case she retaliated.

“I’m sorry if I upset you, Christine.” Ethan tried to grab my hand, but I pulled away.

I got up and left, thankful when none of my friends followed.

I refused to talk to Tiffany or Ethan later on, still holding my little grudge against them. By the time the final bell rang, my anger had abated, but I still hadn’t forgiven Ethan. I ran to my mother’s car as fast as I could so he couldn’t find me.

My mother looked better than this morning. She was actually pleasant. Singing along to one of my songs on the radio, which she never did, I laughed at her for just a second before joining in.

At home, I grabbed a snack and went up to my room to do my homework. I only had Math and English today. When I had all four subjects, I wouldn’t finish until 9 o’clock, or later (if at all).

I was about halfway through Math when my mother called me from downstairs. I groaned and got up from my bed. “What is it, Mom?”

She had the biggest smile on her face that I think I have ever seen. Oh, God. What am I in for now?

I heard it from her mind only a fraction of a second before she said it. “You have a visitor, honey.”

Ethan was downstairs. My mother was excited because she thought I had finally gotten my first boyfriend. I rubbed the bridge of my nose as my head felt like it would explode. “Mom, please…” I trudged down the stairs wincing as my mother’s grin grew wider. “He’s just a friend.”

“I know, honey,” she said, but her thoughts betrayed her.

Ethan was sitting on our couch looking at a few family pictures my mother had on the coffee table. Why is he doing this to me?

“Can I get you anything, Ethan?” my mother asked. She gave me a wink.

“No thanks, Mrs. Carpenter. I’ll only be a minute.”

With yet another wink, my mom went to the kitchen under the pretense that she was giving us some privacy. I knew, however, that she stood in the doorway listening to every word we said.

I pointed to the doorway and then to my ear. Ethan got the message. There would be no superhero talk this afternoon.

“What’s up?” I snapped. I hoped he sensed my tone.

“I just wanted to apologize about before.”

“Thanks. Goodbye.” I turned to leave.

He jumped up, and before I could take another step, was in front of me, grabbing my arm. “Don’t I get a chance to explain?”

“No.” I jerked away and tried to walk around him.

He blocked my path again, and smiled. There was no way I could get around him unless he let me. I contemplated yelling for my mom, but the thought vanished. She was already thinking we were having a lover’s quarrel, no need to make her think I also couldn’t handle myself.

“I don’t want to hear it, Ethan. You embarrassed me more than you know. I can’t believe you came here and talked to my parents without me knowing.”

“That’s kind of the point of a surprise, Christine.” He smiled at me in a way that made me want to punch him. My fists clenched tightly so my nails dug into my palms, but I kept my arms firmly at my sides. I couldn’t hit him anyway.

“Listen. Every year I go to this thing in Philadelphia. My dad takes me, but lets me pretty much wander around by myself. I thought you might enjoy it, so I asked if you could go.” He held up his hands in a sort of defeated gesture. “I really wanted it to be a surprise.” He lowered his voice. “I’ve even been thinking about old baseball games all week so you couldn’t pull it out of my head.”

“Oh. Thaaat’s why.”

Mad as I was, it was nice to have at least one mystery solved. I figured I would go for another, so I gave Ethan the best pouty lip face I could muster. “Will you tell me where we’re going now?”

“Nope.”

Before I could pull the information out of him, another baseball game started. And with the 0-2 pitch… fastball strike three, and the side is retired.

At that moment I finally realized I could never win with this boy. “I hate you, by the way.”

“No you don’t.” His smile said he had claimed yet another victory. I really wanted to hit him.

“So, when are we leaving?” I asked.

“Friday. Right after school.” He looked toward the kitchen where my mother was still eavesdropping. Then he did something I’ve been waiting for since I first saw him. He leaned in to my face.

I closed my eyes and just waited for it, waited for his to press up against mine.

He whispered in my ear. “I would pack a bag.”

I felt so stupid. Ethan only saw me as a friend. And if I was completely honest with myself, after the past few weeks, I only saw him as that too. Sure, I wanted more, but it was never going to happen. I wanted to kick myself, but that would have to wait until after he left.

“Why?” I whispered. The question was asking about my own idiocy, but he took it to mean why should I pack a bag?

“It’s a surprise.”

****

I have never, in all my life, seen a more ragged bunch of mindless mutants. Everywhere I turned there were more of these retards, dressed up as… God knew what. I recognized a few of the costumes, like Batman and Wonder Woman, in the crowded convention center, but most were completely foreign. I swear, the girls dressed up just for the sake of looking like prostitutes. I even saw one girl in what looked like black underwear with a leather jacket and fishnet stockings, with knee high black boots. Ethan swore she was a real superhero, but the words I would use for how she looked were not suitable for polite company.

Ethan’s father had picked us up from school on Friday and took us to the Philly Comic-Con. The trip took five hours. We got to the convention at almost 8, after we registered at our hotel and had a bite to eat. I’m glad we ate dinner beforehand because the only food there was some kind of Japanese Candy with a name I couldn’t pronounce.

Why Ethan took me there was obvious. He wanted to show me all the people that wanted to be superheroes, and that how our culture needed these heroes to exist. We had the power to be what all the rest of these people couldn’t. We could be great.

These people were sad. They had the worst kind of hero worship, idolizing people that didn’t exist.

“Oh, excuse me.” Some blonde chick bumped into me. She was ten times better looking than anybody I’d ever seen. She was dressed as Supergirl with a flowing red cape and a way too short skirt.

“I can’t believe you think a girl would actually fly around in one of those,” I mentioned to Ethan, who hadn’t left my side since we arrived.

“I didn’t make up the character.”

“No, some forty year old man who still lives in his mother’s basement did.”

He hadn’t heard me, he was still gawking at Supergirl as she bounced away. I heard the wolf whistle in his head. I decided to punch him while he was distracted, shocking him back to reality.

“Ouch!”

“You’re sick, you know that!”

“What? Why?”

I wanted to tell him he had a beautiful girl standing by his side the whole evening and all he could do was look at other girls. The only problem was, with all the others in the room, dressed in their tight, revealing outfits, and me in my usual black attire, I felt less than beautiful.

I waited around as Ethan went to all the little booths, looking through the comic piles the vendors had for sale. He had already sent his dad back to the hotel with a box full of comics, but he was determined to buy more.

I, on the other hand, was determined not to spend anything. I wouldn’t waste my hard earned money on this nonsense. Ethan bought more comics, then we walked around the different booths for him to get some of the writers and artists to sign them. “It’s always good to get as much of this done on Friday night, because Saturday is insane.”

I nodded, absently. I was too busy listening to some guy about a hundred feet away, dressed like a high tech Robin Hood, talk to some girl dressed in a really tight Spider-Man (or should I say Spider-Girl?) outfit.

So, what’s your secret identity?

I can’t tell you that, the girl answered.

But, why not? We’re both heroes here. We’ll have to take our masks off eventually.

“Oh my God!” I laughed, causing both Ethan and the artist signing his books to look at me.

If that was the best pick-up line the guy could muster, I felt truly sorry for him.

As the night wore on, the convention got more and more crowded. I grew uncomfortable, but fortunately it wasn’t any worse than navigating the crowded hallways at school, so with some deep breathing I was able to handle myself.

We went back to the hotel room at 11 o’clock. I took a quick shower while Ethan and his dad had a field day going through their purchases. I stood under the water wondering why Ethan thought I would even remotely enjoy this. By the time I was dressed in a pair of PJs that was a lot more conservative than I would ever wear at home (my mom’s doing), I still had no answer.

“You take that bed, Christine,” Ethan’s dad pointed to the one nearest the door. “Ethan and I will take this one.”

They woke me up bright and early. I wasn’t even sure the sun was up yet. Ethan and his dad were already dressed and ready to go. They had let me sleep a little longer, but impatience radiated off them.

I groggily stepped into the bathroom to get ready.

She’s so slow, I heard in Ethan’s head as he spoke the words to his father.

She’s a girl, son, his father informed, that’s what girl’s do.

Argh! I don’t take too long!

I rushed through my preparations. I wished I had a few minutes longer to run a brush through my hair, it felt like a mess of knots. We didn’t have breakfast as the two of them wanted to get there as early as possible. Looked like I would be trying that Japanese candy after all.

When we arrived I understood their rush. The line was already out the door even though the convention didn’t officially open for an hour. Ethan said that most of them were autograph hounds that came early to see some of the top artists. Why would anyone torture themselves for something like that? I could see if it was Brad Pitt, but someone who draws pictures of men in tights?

The November morning air was frigid and I was thoroughly frozen by the time they let us inside. Thousands of people clamored over each other in an attempt to be the first person to greet their favorite artists. The only problem was, half the artists weren’t even there. Not that I blamed them. If I could, I would have still been sleeping myself.

I walked around with Ethan, completely bored after his father decided the best strategy was to “divide and conquer.” His father was as big of a geek as he was. At least now I knew where Ethan got it from.

I barely noticed the scantily clad girls and the overweight guys. I was very busy concentrating. There were more people here than I had ever been around in my life, so it was much harder to keep their thoughts from invading my mind. I tried my best not to panic, but it took everything I had.

At that point, I couldn’t wait to get home. “When are we going?” I asked Ethan several times.

“In a little bit,” he would answer, then drag me to the next table to get yet another autograph.

He wasn’t paying attention to me. He didn’t care that I was uncomfortable. He was completely engrossed in his nerd activity. I wondered again why he even brought me along. He could easily have brought me pictures of the freak show.

As the day wore on, my discomfort grew. Each minute seemed to draw more people into the already crowded room. It was ten times worse than the night before. I found it hard to breathe. I stayed as close to Ethan as I could, using him as my lifeline. 

“Hey, check out the action figures!” Ethan raced over, ducking between people until I couldn’t see him anymore. I tried following, but some large man in a kilt nearly knocked me to the ground. That was it; the only thing keeping me from completely losing it was gone. I held my chest as I hyperventilated. The walls I had erected crumbled.

The crowd swarmed around me like a hive of angry bees. I couldn’t see straight. I scanned for Ethan’s face in the crowd, but he was gone. 

Wow! Tim Sale… That Batgirl is smokin’ hot… Superman could kill… Hey, bub… Stan Lee… I don’t… He isn’t… I love… Cool… Awesome… Great… Spider… Goblin… Doom… Side-kick…

Blackness filled the edges of my vision. My mind was literally going into overload with so many thoughts running through it. I wanted to call for Ethan, but no words would leave my lips. I couldn’t even remember what direction he went.

Voices filled my head. 

Unbelievable… I can’t believe they have this… Where did you get that suit… Stark… My card… Comic… Will you… Have you… Last one… First issue…

I collapsed and willed my brain not to let me pass out. They still surged toward me. I concentrated on just one thing: staying conscious. I willed myself, but my own voice was lost among the voices of everyone else in the room.

Then, someone screamed. For a split second I thought it was me, but realized that I was having too much trouble breathing to whisper a single word, let alone scream. The scream was soon joined by others, and then more.

Everyone in my immediate vicinity was screaming. 

My rational mind kicked in, and I knew I was the cause of the screaming. Somehow, without even trying, I was making these people see their greatest fears. The worst part was, I couldn’t stop. It was as if my body had gone into full defense mode.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the nearly empty steps outside the convention center. How had I gotten there? Did I pass out? Maybe I can teleport too. I wouldn’t put it past myself.

The sun was out, but it was cold. A chill run through me as I wrapped my arms around my chest in a tight hug. At least the voices were gone. All I heard now were a few stray thoughts of the people on the convention center steps.

A couple of people around me—dressed up and obviously heading inside—did a sort of double take.

“Was she there a second ago?” one of the boys whispered to the other.

“Sure she was.”

I looked the other way and saw Ethan standing over me. Had he grabbed me and run me out of the building? Even with my breathing returning to normal, I couldn’t speak.

He sat next to me with nothing but concern on his face. “What happened in there?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. I closed my eyes and shook my head, while all my mental functions got back under control. It took a few minutes. “I… get edgy… when I’m in a crowd.” I never told Ethan about myself, especially not private things like that. Not that I didn’t trust him— it just never come up. “Ever notice how I rush out of classes as soon as the bell rings?”

“Yeah. But I always thought that was because you didn’t want to hear their thoughts.”

“That’s part of it now. The fact is, I have what I call ‘people claustrophobia’. Don’t ask for the technical term for it, because I don’t know. I can’t deal with crowds.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“I didn’t think it would get that crowded.”

Ethan’s concern was replaced with a smile. I didn’t know why he was smiling. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

“Just like a real superhero,” he said as if on cue.

“What? Since when do superheroes collapse in the middle of a crowded room for no apparent reason?”

“I meant your weakness. Every superhero has a weakness.”

“Oh God, not this again.” I looked away.

Ethan stood up, but I didn’t look in his direction. Even after a near crisis, he still couldn’t let the matter drop. “I’m going to get my dad. I’ll tell him we need to get you home.”

I still didn’t look at him, or even respond. Then I thought of something. I turned to see Ethan’s retreating back. “Wait!” I called. In a second, he was standing next to me again.

“What’s up?”

“I thought you said if you ran with me, my skin might rip off.”

He considered the question for a second, then gave me the most charming smile I had seen on him yet. “I wasn’t running that fast.”