Broken Hero

Chapter 22

The next morning, Anna woke up feeling more well-rested than she had in a long time. She sits up, rubbing her eyes as she looks at the empty bed beside her.

“Eclipse?” She looks confused at the empty bed before finding a note on the bedside table.

Morning princess, hope you slept well. I had something to do before our date today. Go ahead and get some breakfast, then meet me out front. — Eclipse

She smiles as she jumps up and runs to her room to get dressed. The cafeteria was as busy as always as she grabbed a tray.

“Oh, Anna!” Fire, a hero who enjoyed cooking for the students, stops her. “I was told to give these to you.”

She places a plate of steaming pancakes on her tray with a smile.

“What’s this for?” Anna looks at her, confused, but she is already walking away.

She shrugs, spreading butter and syrup on the pancakes before finding Azura. “Ooh, I didn’t see those!”

Azura looks at her. Anna shrugs, cutting into the pancakes to reveal chocolate chips and strawberries inside.

“Fire gave them to me, but she ran off before I could ask her about them.” She takes a bite. “Oh, my gods, these are amazing!”

Azura grabs a fork. “Let me try!”

She takes a bite and hums. “Damn girl, those are some of the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted. If you find out who made them, tell them to make me some next time.”

Anna laughs as the rest of their friend group joins them.

“Ooh, Volt looks nice today. Got a date?” Blitz grins as she sits down.

Anna smiles at Azura before responding. “Actually, yes, I do. I’m going out with Stronggirl.”

The other girls quieted down, exchanging looks.

“Anna, I know I said she was hot, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Echo begins.

Blitz scoffs. “Think? I know it isn’t. If you’re into the silent, punk type, then all power to you, girl, but Stronggirl is a walking disaster.”

The others nod as she continues. “You should try someone else. Onyx is cute!”

Anna didn’t even look as she motioned towards the rock-type hero. “Look, I understand you guys aren’t Stronggirl’s biggest fans. But I like her... a lot. And she likes me. She makes me feel safe in a way that nobody else has.”

“Yeah, because she’s using you. She’s manipulating you.” Blitz argues back.

Azura places a hand on Anna’s shoulder as she looks at the table. “I think we should just support Volt. I've seen how they act around each other, and they have chemistry that I’ve never seen before.”

Blitz scoffs again. “Of course you’d stick up for her. You’ve been making excuses about her from day one. I’m telling you she’s bad news, but if you don’t want to believe me, then that’s fine. Just don’t come crying to me when she turns on you.”

Azura starts to say more, but Anna puts a hand on her arm, shaking her head. “It’s OK. I need to go now. See you guys later.”

She takes her tray to the trash can as she makes her way outside. Blitz’s words echoed in her mind as she walked, unable to shake them. She looks up at Eclipse leaning against her car as she waits. A smile spreads over her lips at the sight. Of course, she wore the usual black T-shirt with ripped jeans, and her jet-black hair was styled with a flip in the front.

Her blue eyes lock onto Anna as she smiles and stands straight, moving to the passenger door and opening it. “Morning, princess.”

Anna giggles as she walks towards her.

“Why do you keep using that pet name?” She asks curiously.

Eclipse shrugs as Anna sits down. “You just look like a princess to me, I guess.”

Anna giggles again as she shuts the door. She watches as Eclipse walks around to the driver’s side, noticing her friend group watching from the doorway with disapproving stares. If Eclipse noticed, she didn’t let it show, but Anna felt a bit hurt. Eclipse glances at her out of the corner of her eye as she starts the car, but keeps quiet.

Anna fiddles with her phone case for a moment before speaking. “I told them about us.”

“Oh? And I’m guessing it didn’t go so well.” Eclipse sighs.

“No... they didn’t approve at all and think you’re manipulating me.” Anna leans her head against her seatbelt as they pull up to a stop sign.

Eclipse watches her for a second. “And what do you think?”

“That you’re the best person I know and that you’d never manipulate me like they said.” Anna answers quickly.

Eclipse smiles in relief. “As long as you believe in me, that’s all I care about.”

Anna studies her for a moment before turning on her phone, frowning at the cracked screen as she types a message into the group chat before leaving it. Her phone immediately starts buzzing nonstop with messages from her friends telling her that she’s making a mistake. Only Azura sent her a supportive message, approving of her decision to drop the friend group and agreeing to do the same.

Eclipse looks at her curiously as it keeps buzzing.

“I told them I was done being friends with them.” Anna gulps, the messages starting to make her second-guess herself.

Eclipse nods and reaches over, taking her phone as she lightly protests. “You can have this back later. It’s going to do you no good to dwell on what-ifs. Take a break and you can figure it out later.”

Anna smiles and nods. “Thank you. You don’t have to hold onto it, though.”

“No, but I can if you want.” Eclipse offers it back.

She took a moment to consider it before shaking her head. “No, it’s OK.”

Eclipse nods again and drops the phone into her pocket dimension. “So, where would you like to go? We don’t have to pick up the groceries until two pm.”

Anna thinks for a moment. “Isn’t there a new anime movie showing downtown? Let’s go to the mall. We can watch the movie and then walk around and window-shop.”

Eclipse nods. “Sounds good to me. I have something I’d like to get while we’re there anyway.”

Anna turns on the radio and hums as Eclipse drives, zoning out while looking out the window. It didn’t take long to get to the mall, and Eclipse quickly found a parking space. She gives Anna a look as she tries to open the door, sending her into a fit of giggles as Eclipse comes around and opens it for her.

She leaned on the door frame. “Now you may get out.”

Anna giggles even harder as she gets out. “Thank you.”

“Any time, princess.” Eclipse smiles as Anna takes her hand and walks beside her.

The cinema wasn’t very busy since it was so early in the day, and they were able to get their tickets quickly. Anna orders some popcorn and a drink, which Eclipse insisted on paying for, but didn’t get anything herself. She leads Anna to the theater and lets her pick a seat in the middle row. As the room grows dark, Anna scoots closer to Eclipse, who puts her arm around her.

The buttery popcorn melts in her mouth as the movie plays, but she can barely pay attention. Eclipse doesn’t react much other than small smiles, but she isn’t tense either. Her body stays completely relaxed as the movie plays. The only time she tenses up is when Anna offers her some of her popcorn, but she just refuses before giving her a tight smile. As the credits roll, Eclipse stands up and stretches before offering her a hand.

“Ready to walk around for a bit?” Eclipse smiles as Anna takes her hand.

She holds her hand tightly as they walk, pressing up against her arm. Eclipse seems surprised but smiles, squeezing her hand gently. The sun was bright in the sky as they walked from building to building until Anna stopped, looking at the bears in the Build-A-Bear shop. She had always heard of these places but had never been there herself. Her dad didn’t believe she deserved toys, and they were too expensive for her to buy after joining the academy. Eclipse stops with her and sees what she’s looking at, a wide grin spreads on her face as she tugs at her arm and pulls her inside.

“Eclipse, I don’t...” Anna protests.

Eclipse sticks her tongue out at her; the first time, Anna saw a playful gesture on her face. “Good thing you’re not paying then. Let me spoil you a bit.”

Anna bites her lip as she looks around, a bright pink bear grabbing her attention.

She goes to look at its price when Eclipse clears her throat. “None of that. I’ll worry about the price. Just pick the one you want.”

A worker smiles at them as Anna blushes. She hands off the bear to the worker to fluff, following the silly motions as Eclipse watches with a smile. The outfits didn’t appeal to her, so she named the bear Sparkle and had the attendant box it up. Eclipse doesn’t even wait to hear the price out loud before swiping her card. She hands the box to Anna, who hugs it to her chest like it's a prized possession as they leave the store. Eclipse leads her towards a phone store.

“Do you have a preference?” Eclipse tilts her head as a*****e clerk heads towards them.

Anna gives her a confused look. “On phones? I guess Samsung, since they are harder to break. Why?”

“I noticed your phone was badly cracked, and I’d rather you not cut yourself on it.” Eclipse answers as if it were natural to offer a new phone on the first date.

She turns to the clerk and gives her information while pulling out the cracked phone.

Anna finally finds her voice while the guy is grabbing a box from one of the drawers. “That’s way too expensive! I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t ask.” Eclipse hands over the phone and her card before turning to her while the man sets up the new phone and transfers the old one’s data. “Anna, I want to do this for you.”

“I know... But...” Anna looks at the ground, not used to being spoiled like this.

“But nothing. Just let me do this for you.” Eclipse smiles as she takes the new phone and holds it out to her, along with the old one.

Anna takes it, hugging her tightly. “Thank you, Eclipse.”

Eclipse stiffens up for a moment before hugging her back. “You’re welcome, princess. It’s one pm, so is there anything else you want to do before we need to be at the pickup area?”

Anna shakes her head, but her stomach growls, contradicting her. “Well... maybe we could stop and get some fast food or something?”

Eclipse laughs as she nods, leading her back to the car and holding her door open for her. They go through the drive-through, and Eclipse pays for the food before stopping at the grocery store. She signs in on the app while Anna eats her burger. Once again, Eclipse hadn’t gotten anything for herself. Anna chews thoughtfully as she watches her help the worker load the groceries. She waits till they are heading back towards the academy before she speaks up.

“Do you not like eating in front of people?” She watches as Eclipse’s shoulders stiffen.

She rubs the back of her neck. “You noticed, huh?”

“I mean... You never eat in the cafeteria, and you haven’t eaten while we were out either. It’s the only thing I can think of... though I don’t know why.” Anna pops a fry in her mouth.

She sighs. “As much as I hate to admit it... Some things that Lindsey used to say and do still affect me. Making fun of my eating habits, especially.”

She keeps her eyes on the road as Anna slowly understands. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that with me. How about we go slow?”

She holds a fry to Eclipse’s lips.

Eclipse contemplates her words before taking it from her and swallowing it. “OK, deal.”

Anna smiles at her as they pull up to the academy gates. She notices her friend group waiting, and the smile falls away as she remembers the text messages.

Eclipse notices and takes her hand. “Need me to be the bad guy for a bit? I don’t mind holding them off so you can figure out what to say.”

Anna thinks about it before shaking her head. “No... It’s ok. I can handle this.”

Eclipse nods and opens her door. While Eclipse starts unloading the groceries, Anna turns to face Blitz.

“It's about time you got back. How dare you ignore us?!” Blitz crosses her arms, and Anna notices Eclipse tensing up at the angry tone in her voice.

She takes a breath before confronting Blitz. “I told you everything I wanted to say. I like Eclipse, and if you can’t support that, then I don’t want to be friends. I won’t be with people who disrespect my partner.”

Blitz looks between the two of them. “Wow... So, you’re taking her side? After we took you in?”

Anna straightens her shoulders and walks over to Eclipse as she turns with her hands full.

“Yes, I am. You’ve done nothing but put her down since she arrived, and I’m tired of listening to it.” She stands on her tiptoes and kisses Eclipse on the cheek.

“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Blitz growls as she walks away.

“Well done, princess.” Eclipse smiles as Anna takes the bags.