No ordinary hero (Keepers of justice # 1) (5 page)

Dad wanted an update on the mission. So after Lindsay’s
, I rode my bike to the Decoy house—Premonition finally gave me my own key—and went to his office and told him exactly what he needed to know. He seemed proud and relieved that I didn’t screw up. Premonition’s visions are the same, so I’ve still got some time before Earth blows up.

Now I’m on my laptop in my room, trying to figure out some
info about the Great Depression. I don’t know a whole lot about girls, but they like a smart guy, right? Maybe I can impress Linds with some stuff. I copy everything I find into a document and save it. Should I bother reading? Technically...

The door opens and X and Stretch walk in. It’s weird, but I’ve missed them. Stretch and I have been best friends since we were kids, and ever since X joined the League two years ago, we are like the three
badass musketeers.

X doesn’t like to talk about his past.
He looks pretty normal on the outside—long, messy black hair, brown eyes—but when he was little, his parents thought he was schizo because he always saw things that weren’t there. As he got older, he realized he can see through everything. He dropped out of school, got in with the wrong crowd. He came to the League on his own, seeking a better life. He likes to spend a lot of his time in the gym, and he’s got the guns to prove it. He’s buff and taller than me, but I still got time to grow, since he’s a year older than Stretch and me.

“Is she
pretty?” Stretch asks. He sits near me with a plate of nachos. X is standing at the door, concentrating on the wall behind me. He can see all the way to the other end of the building.

Ever since I went to public school, I haven’t spoken much to my friends. They’re busy with their schoolwork and training, and I’
ve spent too much time in Dad’s office, and public school gives so much homework. Sucks.

“Who? Lindsay?”
I ask.

“So she’s
Lindsay
now? You kissed her yet?”

I snort and continue my homework. Stretch munches on his nachos. “Lindsay’s her name, man,” I say. “You want me to call her Volcano Girl? That’s kind of
jerkish.”

Stretch licks his fingers and
laughs. “Yeah, you’re into her, dude. She must be real pretty.” He reaches to high five with X, but X is too focused on the wall. “Dude, whadya see? The triplets again? Didn’t Air threaten to combust your lungs the next time you spy on her?”

X’s eyes intensify as they get black
. “It’s not the triplets I’m looking at.”

“Then what?” Stretch says between bites
. He scratches his head and gets crumbs in his brown hair. “Accelerator and Freeze?”

“Shut up, man,” X mumbles.

Stretch chuckles. “Just teasin’.” He punches my arm and chuckles again. “What you up to?”

I rub my temples as I bend over the computer screen. “Homework. Got to play the part if I’m going to save the world.”

Stretch pops another nacho into his mouth. “Bummer. X and I are going to go hit some Xbox. You in?”

“I said, no
.”

Stretch shrugs. “Your loss. Come
, X.”

He
doesn’t move. “X? You okay, man?” I say.

He breaks his
gaze from the wall and looks at me, eyes back to brown. Shrugs. “Yeah, I’m cool.”

“Sure?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

He seems far from “cool,” but X doesn’t like to be prodded
, so I let it go. Once they’re gone, I push myself to focus on the Great Depression. The words blur together like they’re River—whenever he passes by, I feel like I’m drowning.

The clock ticks. And ticks. Soon enough my foot’s tapping to the beat, and all I’m thinking about is th
e new song that came out this week.

Ah, what the
heck? I can’t do this, not cut out for it. There are other ways to impress Lindsay. I don’t know how, yet, but it’s definitely not going to be through homework. I get up and head for the Game Room to play with the guys.

***

“Can we go to your house after school?” Lindsay asks during lunch the next day. We’re sitting across each other. She’s got a plateful of fries and I’ve got a can of Coke. Still not brave enough to try the school’s food, I guess.

But
those fries look really good. I slowly reach for some, and Linds doesn’t stop me. Man, these things
are
good! Oily and crunchy. Just the way I like them.

“Billy? Hello?”

“Huh?”

Lindsay pulls her plate closer to her and dumps a
handful of fries into her mouth. “Can we go to your house today?”

“Nah, no. Not a good idea.”

“Why?”

Uh...
because you’ll slowly suck the life out of everyone in the Tower? I can’t even take her to the Decoy House because I’m pretty sure she’s not allowed in there, either.

Lindsay
whacks my hand as I reach for another fry. Man. “I’d rather go to yours,” she says. Her eyes lower to her plate for a second before shooting to mine. They narrow. “So we’re going to yours.”

“Can’t.”

“Why?”

“Just ‘cuz.”

Her eyes fill with even more anger
, starting to get red. Oh, no. “My aunt doesn’t want you over. You’re such a jerk. You know what? I’m going to ask Mr. Harvey to give me a new partner. No, I’m going to do this alone. You’ll drag me down, anyway.” She gets up and grabs her plate.

“Wait
—”

“Screw you.” She
storms off.

What did I do? I lean back in my chair and
squeeze the can of Coke. I really thought my charm would work. But who am I kidding? I can’t get any girl at the Tower to play foosball with me. What chance do I have with Lindsay? I mean, I thought this would be easy because I’m normal and she’s normal...except she really isn’t normal. She’s got powers like everyone else back home.

Geez, e
ven when I belong, I don’t belong.

The two League members pretending to be students shake their head
s at me from a few tables away. I give them a helpless look.

I pace
in my room in the Tower. This isn’t good. During history, I tried to get Lindsay to talk to me, but she didn’t even look at me. Like I didn’t exist. How am I supposed to save the world now?

I pull my phone out of my pocket. Lindsay gave me her number the other day. Would calling piss her off?

Ah, whatever. I dial her number. “Hello?” She sounds weird...a mix between excitement, confusion, and annoyance.

“Hey, it’s Ka—Billy.”

“What do you want?”

I know she talked to Shifter at the end of class. When he told her there’s no way she’s doing the project on her own, Lindsay stomped out of the room. Shifter, who’s been looking very tired lately, motioned
for me to follow her to make sure she wouldn’t blow Earth up. Luckily she was okay. But I couldn’t help wondering that maybe Dad made a huge mistake. What if I cause Earth to blow up just by befriending Lindsay? I mean, she clearly can’t stand my guts.

“To talk,” I tell her. “Just to talk.”

A pause. “I have lots of things to do. I have to go.”

“Wait, please. I know I might have said some stupid things.” Not that I know what I did wrong, but you’re supposed to tell the girl that she’s right. Right? “And I want to make it up to you. How about we hang out Friday night?”

Another pause. Longer this time. “I have to go.”

“Linds...
” She hangs up. Great. I throw my phone on my bed and go back to pacing around. What am I going to do now?

There’s a knock on my door and Dad peeks inside.
He’s dressed in his uniform—solid gold with royal blue streaks on his chest, arms, and legs. His matching mask is pulled up on his forehead.

I know the
expression on his face. Disappointment. Shifter must have told him everything. “Rescue mission?” I ask.

“A small group of villains
has been causing trouble on the George Washington Bridge. We took care of it.”

When he says “we” he means the Elites
and himself. I nod. Even though I sidetracked him a little bit, he doesn’t look any less disappointed. “I’m sorry,” I say. “About Lindsay. I don’t know what happened. I’m trying, Dad, honest I am. She’s just so...”

He ste
ps closer to me. “I know.”

“She won’t even talk to me. I don’t know what I did wrong.
I mean, she asked to come to my house and I didn’t know what to do, since Billy doesn’t really have a house.”

Dad sighs a long, heavy sigh.
“Kale, you didn’t listen to me. The night before you left for your mission, I told you we have provided you with a house and fake parents. All you needed to do was ask for the key.”

“You did?” Oh, oops. I must have tuned that out. “Sorry.” I laugh nervously and stupidly.

Dad’s not laughing. “This argument could have been prevented had you paid attention to instructions.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll pay attention from now on. But um, what do I do now? She’s still pissed and won’t talk to me.”

“Sit down. Let me tell you something.”

Dad sits down on my bed and pats the spot near him. I plop down and cross my arms over my chest.
“When I was thirteen,” he says. “There was a girl.”

Dad doesn’t talk much about his childhood. He and Mom and a few others with powers lived on the streets until they formed the League
twenty years ago.

“And it was impossible to get along with her,” Dad continues. “She was spiteful and rude and bitter and all I wanted to do was flee whenever she entered the room.”

“Did she have powers?”

He nods. “She did. The worst imaginable.”

I lift my eyebrow.

“Telepathy,” he says.

Oh. “Are you talking about Mom?”

He gives me a strained smile. “The day I met your mother, I thought it was the last day of my life. You have no idea how strong she was at twelve years old. She hated me so much I expected her to melt my brain.”

“Why did she hate you?”

He wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Because I wanted to help her. Your mother was so stubborn she felt that she didn’t need anyone
but herself. She didn’t trust anyone.” He looks at me. “Lindsay’s alone in the world. She has her family, yes, but she doesn’t trust them or anyone.”

“
So what am I supposed to do? I’m not exactly an expert in this field.”

“You have to earn her trust.”

I scoff. He says it like I’m her therapist or something.

He pats my knee. “
Take things slowly, Kale. True you only have three months to save Earth, but trust is a slow process. She’ll come around. You’ll see.” He holds up a key. “For your fake house. Try not to disappoint me again.” He bends forward and awkwardly kisses the top of my head. What the heck? Dad hasn’t done anything like that since I was like ten. He gets to his feet. At the door, he turns around and says, “I believe in you, Kale. We all do.” And he leaves the room.

***

On Friday night, I ring Lindsay’s doorbell. Even though she told me to
stay away in school today, nothing’s stopping me from taking her out on a date. Wait, not a date—a movie. I want to take her to see the latest movie based on the Keepers of Justice—our League. Lame, maybe, but everyone loves superheroes.

A man opens the door. He must be Lindsay’s uncle.
He’s got balding dark hair, his stomach peeps out from underneath his tight shirt, and he holds a beer bottle to his lips. He grunts at me. “What do you want?”

“
Uh...Lindsay home?”

“Who wants to know?” He scans me like his wife did th
e other day.

“Billy. I’m a friend from school.”

“Lindsay doesn’t have any friends. You gonna break her heart like that last...” He makes air quotes. “Boyfriend?”

“Um...
?” What exactly is he talking about? “There’s this movie playing tonight. I thought Lindsay would want to check it out with me.”

“She doesn’t like movies.”

I don’t know if he’s being rude to me because he’s trying to protect Lindsay, or screw up her life. “Can I talk to her?”

He sighs and widens the door. “Lindsay! Some boy’s here to see you.”

“Tell him to get lost,” her voice shouts from inside the house. The uncle starts to close the door on me.

I use my sneaker as a wedge.
Ouch! He slammed it hard. My foot’s vibrating. Biting back the pain, I squeak, “Wait, please. You don’t understand how important this is to me.”

“Good night.”

“Wait. Give her this.” I hold out a folder with all my research on the Great Depression. “Please.” He takes it and shuts the door after him. I sit down on the top step. I wish I was a telepath like Mom. Then I would control Lindsay’s mind and make her trust me already and let me be her friend, make things easier. Of course if I had telepathy, I wouldn’t be able to survive around Volcano Girl, so I guess that wouldn’t work.

Pressing my elbows to my knees, I rest my cheeks on my hands. This is
nuts. I mean, I don’t want to whine or anything, but I feel powerless right now. Like everything’s working against me. All I did was try to protect the League by not bringing Lindsay to my house and revealing my real identity. Was that so wrong? Do I deserve this behavior from her?

I don’t know much about Greek mythology, but isn’t there a story where one of the gods hold
s Earth on his back or something? Oh yeah, Atlas. I feel like him right now. Everything’s resting on my shoulders.

My phone beeps. I slip it out of my pocket and scan the screen. A text from Lindsay.

Thanks for the paper
s
.

I feel a
smile on my mouth. She actually thanked me?

Another text
:
I didn’t ask or need your help.

So much for the smile.

A third text
:
But, um thanks…sorry I was rude to you. do you still want to see that movie
?

Hell yeah! I can’t stop my fingers from roaming over my cell phone button
s.
im outside ur house.

A few seconds later the door opens and Lindsay walks out. She’s wearing the same thing she wore at school, including her faded gray
coat and matching hat. Her scarf’s covering her entire face except for her eyes. It’s weird, but as I sat outside, the January-below-freezing-temperatur
e
didn’t bother me. It’s like I was too worried about Earth’s future to care about getting hypothermia
.

I leap to my feet. “Hey.”

Lindsay gives me a small smile and shivers. “Hi.”

“
We better hurry or else we’ll be late.” We climb down the steps together. “Sorry, I don’t drive.”

She doesn’t seem to mind as we head for the theater.

“So,” I say. “We cool?”

She stops walking and turns to me. I can’t see anything on her face
except for her gray eyes. They’re really pretty. I know she’s pretty underneath all those zits. Maybe I can ask Healer to zap them? “Why are you being nice to me?” she says in a low voice.

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?”

She doesn’t answer and we continue toward the theater. I want to say more, but I don’t know what to say. “Last year there was this guy,” she says. I have to move closer to hear because her voice is so low and the wind is so strong. Is she cold? Should I like snuggle her? Nah, that’d be weird. “Harry. He asked me out on a date. I was so happy to finally have my first boyfriend.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me.”

“He was so nice to me. When everyone else at school made my life a living hell, he was sweet and caring and kind.” Her face turns serious. “He...he tried to pressure me to...” She shakes her head and her eyes look so sad. I move closer, but I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. So I stay by her side. “And he wanted to take pictures,” she continues. “Uncle Aaron happened to come home from work right then. He caught us together and saw Harry with the camera.” Through her coat and scarf, I see her swallow. The top of the scarf, where it touches her eyes, is wet. “Harry was going to post pictures of me online for everyone to see.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything. Don’t relive it.”

She stops walking. Tears are splattered around her eyes. “I hate guys. You’d do anything and say anything to a girl just to get what you want.”

“Lindsay, pleas
e. I’m not like other guys. I’m...I’m different.”

She swats her tears away. “
You all say that. I don’t even know why you’re hanging out with me when you’re new and can make friends with other kids.”

Uh, gotta think of an excuse fast. “I don’t know. I guess because we sit near each other in history and we’re partners on that project. And I’ve gotten to know you a little and maybe we can have fun tonight or something.”

“Uh hu.”

“What?”

She shrugs. “I don’t understand, that’s all.”

“There’s nothing to understand. People just click.”

She raises her eyebrows. Okay, maybe I went a little overboard, but geez. She’s making this so hard. “I think we could have fun. You seem like a nice person.”

She snorts.

“Because you’re putting up with me. I know I’m annoying sometimes.”

“Sometimes.” Is that small smirk on her lips?
Maybe I’m accomplishing something here!

“So
, to the movies?” I ask.

She nods.
“Okay.”

Maybe
things aren’t moving as well as I hoped, but at least they’re moving.