Falling for a Superhero

A Target on Our Backs...and on my phone

“Come here,” a voice said literally right after I stepped out of fourth period history. A tight grip was placed around my wrist and I was pulled down the hall, being towed by a muscled guy with dark hair who I hadn’t associated with this entire day…which is why I dug my boots’ heels into the ground to prevent him from moving me any further. I didn’t care about the students that bumped against us.

The guy turned around, looking down at me with bright blue eyes that I didn’t expect from dark hair. Can confirm: all the boys were handsome here.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“I don’t even know who you are,” I reminded.

“Aren’t you the girl that’s—”

“Angela!” someone suddenly called from the cafeteria. My assumption of it to be Nik was proved to be true with the aid of Cheyenne waving me down.

“Hey,” I greeted.

“So I heard that—”

“Ahem,” someone cleared their throat. Whatever Cheyenne was about to say was lodged deep in her throat because all she could do was stammer and look up at the person behind me. I looked up and finally saw the girl that had talked to Dastan in second…um, Mickie?

“Can I help you?” Nik asked rudely. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Not you,” she spat. Then she looked to me. “You.”

“Me?” I asked for confirmation. What was with people thinking they can just talk to me? I wasn’t some unapproachable b***h, but I had just gotten here, people! And considering that she had seen my blow-up with Dastan, you’d think she wouldn’t want anything to do with me…right?

“Yeah. Come here,” she ordered. I looked to my only two friends for a decision. Cheyenne stared up at Mickie as if she was some goddess that had never ever approached her before, but Nik…he glared in utter hatred in the same way he looked at Dastan earlier. I stood up and followed her to a table where Chad waved lightly, his smile making me cautious of what Mickie would say only because the crooked grin wasn’t as inviting as earlier.

“What you did in class was unacceptable,” she started.

“I’ve only had one class with you,” I reminded. Thankfully.

“Good, so you know which one I’m talking about,” she pressed. Dastan.

“You’re getting mad because I back-talked Dastan?” I asked. She glared at me as if I wasn’t worthy of even saying his name. I let out a pathetic laugh. “We’re teenagers, we get in arguments. It’s not personal though. Clearly. I mean, I just met him.”

I was lying. It was personal. Only, I didn’t want what I said to get back to Dastan as a motive to kill me. Mickie pressed her hands on the new table in front of me, making me fear that she’d just off me herself.

“This is what’s going to happen. You insulted him and he’s pissed. You’re secretly scared of him and questioning when exactly he’ll come after you. After a while, it’ll become a game and then you’ll start falling for him. Well I’m here to tell you that it’s not going to happen because it’s impossible to happen, alright?” she told. I stared at her in shock and horror. Was Dastan really that scary? No. She just wanted him to seem that way in order to scare me away from her boyfriend. However, I wasn’t looking for that in Dastan anyways. I had Kenneth.

“Look, I just got here. I don’t really think it’s norm for assumptions to be made off of a stupid interview—”

“That’s the whole point of an interview,” Mickie scoffed. Fair point…

“Either way, I was just stating facts. It’s not like he’ll take it to heart because, as I proved, he’s selfish and he shouldn’t care,” I said. Chad and Mickie exchanged glances and their face relaxed from their on-end guard put up. Chad, however, looked at me like he was studying my face.

“What?” I finally snapped at him

“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked.

“Something like that,” I blushed. His eyebrows raised.

“Really? Damn,” he commented. What was that supposed to mean?

“You can go now,” Mickie hissed, sitting down in the seat next to me at what seemed to be her rightful seat. I stood up to leave and saw my brother through the window, having a conversation with Dastan. It wasn’t some oh-hey-nice-to-meet-you talk. It was like…I-already-have-a-bone-to-pick-with-you-so-let’s-settle-this-now kind of talk. It seemed as if the whole cafeteria watched them. Even Nik and Cheyenne watched.

“What’s the deal with everyone lurking?” I asked Nik and Cheyenne. I turned to see for myself as their conversation got more and more intense from the sight of it.

“Vega has a tight-knit group he talks to.” Is that including or excluding the dozens of girls?

“They look like they’re about to fight,” Nik commented. He was right. I hadn’t seen Sebastian this mad in forever. Dastan said one other thing before the boys simultaneously smacked shoulders to shoulders in order to leave. And no, it wasn’t in a friendly way.

“He’s coming over here,” Cheyenne squeaked.

“I don’t even know who that guy is,” Nik said.

“That’s because he’s new,” I commented, starting to eat my food.

“You know him?” Nik asked. Right on cue, the chair beside me was pulled out so that a stressed-out Sebastian could take his seat.

“What was that about?” I asked. He looked at me with dull blue eyes. “With Dastan.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he grumbled, picking food off my plate. I glanced over my shoulder to Mickie’s table and saw Dastan hiss something to Chad and Mickie, angered at something. Probably Sebastian. I guess I’m not the only one on Dastan’s hit list.

***

“Why do you keep checking your phone?” Cheyenne asked me after school. “Is my touring experience that boring?”

“No…” I lied. “I’m just waiting for Kenneth to call me.”

“Didn’t he say he’d call when they got home?”

“Exactly. It’s only a three hour flight and they left last night,” I notified. That’s it. I pressed the call button.

“Hi, this is Kenneth Bergen. I’m sorry I can’t get to the phone right now—my phone is probably off so it doesn’t spook the horses, but leave a message and I’ll call you back,” he said, his country accent charming me through the receiver. “Beep.”

“Hey, I was just wondering if you were home yet. Neither you or Kylie called,” I started. “You’re probably at the stables, so I’ll just call Kyls. Bye.”

I did as I said I would and called Kylie’s number, which was embedded into my heart.

“Angela!” she exclaimed.

“Um. I should be saying ‘Kylie!’ to you. You never called when you got home and it’s almost been a whole day,” I said. There was a slight pause.

“Sebastian didn’t tell you?” she whispered.

“Tell me what?” I asked.

“Our flight got delayed and then once we were able to board, our pilots were drunk. We crashed on the water,” she spoke. I gasped. No. That can’t be true.

“You were flying inland,” I reminded.

“And now you know how drunk the pilot was,” she commented. Drunk enough to fly the plane in the opposite direction…

“Are you and Kenneth okay?” I asked. Now my heart raced especially because Kenneth didn’t answer his phone.

“Surprisingly yeah, but Kenneth was the only passenger to get hurt,” she said. My heart stopped.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. “Kylie, tell me.”

“He was standing when the plane was going down so he was thrown around a bit,” she explained. “He tore up his back pretty well and got a few bruises.”

“So a crashing plane’s biggest injury was Kenneth getting bruised?” I asked, letting go of my held breath. His back injury wasn’t very new news. He worked on a farm. He already had a strained back from carrying heavy things and training to ride a bucking bull in the rodeo twice a year. I still couldn’t believe that story, though. You can’t just get that scotch free from a plane crash

“One of the pilot’s head smashed into the window,” she added. “But if it wasn’t for Proliator, damn, we wouldn’t have made it at all—”

“Wait, say what? Proliator?” I asked, confused.

“Yeah. He stalled our fall. I don’t know how, but he did,” she told. Unbelievable.

“Isn’t the sky sort of out of his jurisdiction?” I asked. No one can fly.

“Apparently not,” she said.

“So where are you now?” I asked her.

“At some hospital in Michigan,” she answered.

“Where’s Kenneth?” I asked.

“He’s—”

“Angela,” I heard his voice breathe into the phone.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” I exclaimed.

“Me too,” he said. “Has anything happened up there?”

Unbelievable. He’s the one that was in a freaking plane crash and he still thinks Manhattan is still more dangerous for me.

“Just school and obnoxious people,” I humored. I even heard him laugh once. Then he hissed in pain. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he lied just like countless other times when I caught him bandaging his sides from being trampled by a bull or horse. “I gotta go sign some papers.”

“Alright well get better,” I wished because I knew he couldn’t accept anything more concerning.

“I will,” he stated.

“Bye!” I heard Kylie from the background.

“What happened?” Cheyenne asked.

“Plane crash,” were the only words I could make out. I was still in shock.

“Please don’t tell me Kenneth and Kylie were on that plane,” Cheyenne said with wide eyes. I sighed and nodded and then she hugged me. Truthfully, I needed it. I was this close to losing Kenneth and Kylie and I felt like it was my fault. If I wasn’t here, they wouldn’t have had to fly on the plane in the first place. Great. Even more guilt. “On the bright side, Proliator saved them.”

“No he didn’t,” I denied, pulling away from her comforting. “The plane stopped on the water. The WATER. Not some superhero.”

“That’s totally gotta stop,” she said, staring at me wide-eyed.

“What?”

“Not believing in Proliator. He’s real alright? Everyone knows that. Citizens know it, law enforcements know it, and—hell, even criminals know it. Stop denying his existence,” she said to me.

“Where I’m from, there are no such thing as superheroes if you’re not talking about comic books,” I reasoned.

“Newsflash, we’re not in Frankford, Angela!” she yelled. I pressed my lips together, mad that some stupid mythical creature was getting in the way of my first and real friendship I had gained here. It was hard to be mad at her—because I was clearly being stubborn—and I knew that as soon as she yelled, she wanted to take it back. “I’m sorry. It’s just that…aside from the fact that I’m one of the many girls obsessed with him, I’m one of the few that actually cares about what he stands for.”

Her words were clear and understandable. I just couldn’t understand this town’s obsession about some guy that could hardly ever be described because he escaped too swiftly.

“Fine,” was all I said before it took her two minutes to be distracted into showing me more sites in Manhattan.

***

“Our fine arts program is really good,” Cheyenne shrugged when I had asked her if our school was known for anything. She took a sip of her soda, now that we were eating at a small 50’s diner. I nodded and put my head back on the booth’s cushion, only to hear the roar of engines. Looked out of the window to see two motorcycles—a black and gold ninja and a nice Harley—and a black and pink mustang pull up. I saw Mickie and Chad climb out of the Mustang—of course Mickie was driving—and then the two motorcyclists talked to each other without taking their helmets off.

“Great,” I breathed. Mickie and Chad walked in and she glared right at me before taking a booth on the opposite side of the restaurant.

“So what happened between you, Mickie, and Chad at lunch today?” Cheyenne asked as I pried my eyes away from the beautiful popular girl and the attractive boy next to her.

“She was giving me some sort of warning all because I back-talked Dastan in class,” I answered. Cheyenne said nothing. “That’s uncalled for. I mean, who cares? It was an observation in a journalism class!”

“Everyone cares,” she gulped with wide eyes. “As much as everyone would like to hate him, Dastan Vega is just…a god. No one can say stuff to him like that…ever. Not even teachers.”

“Because they all seem to love him,” I scoffed. “Well, I’m assuming.”

“You’re right,” she assured. “They all love him. He’s an asshole to us and a kiss-ass to them…”

“That still makes him an ass,” I commented, grinning along with Cheyenne. Suddenly, her smile dropped.

“Speak of the devil,” she muttered and then suddenly, I didn’t have time to search for Dastan before he appeared at the end of our table. “Uh…uh…mmh—we weren’t talking about you! I swear! I mean—ugh!”

Dastan seemed to enjoy Cheyenne’s stammering without looking over to her, because his dark eyes stayed focused on me. He just stayed there and looked at me, not saying anything as I wished his eyes would encircle with a golden ribbon, like in the hallway earlier.

“Can I talk to you?” he said in a somewhat kind voice that I had not yet heard directed towards me.

“Why?” I asked him, politely. Maybe he was going to lure me into a conversation that would potentially harm me for sassing him in class. He only nodded his head towards the door and I looked to Cheyenne, who was sending me signals to go with him; so I did. “What is it?”

“I think we got off on the wrong foot—” That’s when I tuned him out. I couldn’t believe this guy was trying to act pleasant after scaring me half to death during passing period. I shook my head out of a dozen different scenarios as to why the hell he wanted to be so nice now. I wasn’t the kind to hold a grudge, but something about him… “Warden? Listen to me.”

“Why are you talking again?” I asked, confused. “Wasn’t it you angry that I called you selfish?”

“Yeah…but you don’t seem like the kind to hold grudges so—”

“You don’t even know me,” I reminded.

“Exactly. This is me trying to get to know you,” he said, reaching out to touch my arm, but I pulled it out of reach.

“And why is that?” I asked. Okay, I didn’t want to make an enemy out of him that was very easy to fear, but something wasn’t right about him. However, something was interesting in a sense that I couldn’t put my finger on.

Although I stepped back when he neared me and held my breath.

“Because of that right there,” he said in a whisper. “You held your breath because I excite you when I’m near. And there’s no way in hell that I’m letting that go.”

He backed away from me, smirking at his charm, but I had to quickly deflate his ego.

“I hold my breath because I’m scared you’ll hurt me,” I blurted. One, to deny his assumption that had actually been true. And two, because I was truly scared that he could possibly hurt me. Suddenly, he had taken one large step to seize my waist and place me against the brick wall, adjacent to the diner’s entrance.

“If you honestly think I’d hurt you you’re wrong,” he said, his breath hitting my face. That’s when the golden ribbons had encircled his pupils and I tried to press my back even more into the wall to create space between us. Instead of looking as if he needed to redeem himself, he looked utterly pissed that I had, yet again, insulted him. However, the intensity on his face started to change into a look of maybe discomfort.

Thankfully, my phone started ringing and the sight of Kylie’s name was enough for me to remove Dastan’s grip (which was easier than I thought) and answer it.

“Kylie!? What’s happened? Are you alright? What about Kenneth?” I asked. I heard a deep chuckle. “Kenneth?”

“I called you to say that you’ll be staying the entire Thanksgiving Break here and you assume something’s wrong with us?” Kenneth asked. I couldn’t help but smile. I know you weren’t supposed to turn your back on your enemy, but I had in order to blush to myself about Kenneth and Kylie’s announcement. I didn’t want Dastan to see my source of happiness.

“You never know! The last time I saw you, everything was fine and then I find out you were in a plane crash hours later—”

Suddenly, the phone was taken from me and I turned angrily at Dastan.

“Give it back,” I hissed. He held it up to his own ear. No. No, no, no, no, no!

“Look, Kenneth, I was busy trying to—”

His interruption was well…interrupted when my hands had pushed him back into the wall, making my phone fall to the ground as the only thing between us. I looked from the phone to Dastan, ashamed and shocked that I had actually acquired enough strength to push Dastan’s built body backwards.

“Angela? Angela?” I heard Kenneth’s voice address from the speaker, even though the screen was cracked. I was scared to pick up the phone. Not because Kenneth would be mad that I was here with some guy, but because I feared that when I’d bend over to pick it up, Dastan would have enough time to physically beat me. “ANGELA!?”

Dastan sent me one last cold, dark glare—eliminating any gold in his eyes—and then backed away. That’s all I needed before I definitely knew I was on the top of his death wish list, and he wouldn’t try to mend (or begin) our “friendship.” As soon as he rounded the corner to go back inside the diner with his friends, I bent over to pick up my phone, feeling the glass slide off of the spider web crack.

“Kenneth, I’m—”

“Who was that? Are you alright? Cough twice if they’re forcing you to say you’re fine,” I heard Kylie’s voice question. “Angela!?”

“This douche bag guy just tried to—never mind,” I tried to contain my rant. “Where’s Kenneth?”

“He’s pacing and trying to convince himself that you weren’t abducted and assaulted,” she answered before calling her brother to the phone.

“Don’t you dare do that to me again,” he said with a broken voice.

“Ken, I didn’t—”

“You need to come back here,” he said. “…where i***t guys won’t try to rape you or—”

“Dastan wasn’t trying to rape me—”

“Oh, so you know him?” he asked, shocked.

“He goes to school with me…” I informed. “He’s a complete ass though. One day here and both Sebastian and I are on his hit list—more me than him.”

“Why’s that?”

“I called him selfish in front of the entire class,” I replied.

“So what?” Kenneth asked in the tone mocking my every reason as to why people at this school were overreacting to my back-sass.

“Apparently no one messes with him because of some over-praised popularity,” I muttered.

“Dang,” he whispered.

“Hmm?”

“That just makes it that much more of a challenge to kick his butt when I get there,” he humored. I giggled slightly at that and then decided to start walking back into the diner. As a new conversation started, I reached to open the door and it came back to smack my body, causing me to fall back and drop my phone, this time its pieces scattering onto the sidewalk with no ability to salvage its use.

Well that goes my conversation with Kenneth.

“Whoops,” Mickie said, being the one that opened the door with her milkshake in her manicured hand. After her was Dastan. He didn’t laugh in my face like Mickie had wanted; he only sent me the same intolerable glare. However, he shocked me because as I started to lift myself from the ground, he pulled me up by my waist and immediately turned his head once my feet were securely on the ground. But then he walked away with Mickie waiting up for him.

“I’m sorry for that,” Chad suddenly said, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed by his friends.

“It’s fine,” I lied. He sent me an adorably cute, crooked smile and then continued to follow his friends to the mustang. However, Chad wasn’t the last to leave in their group. Instead of acting like the jerky, aggressive-looking guy that his composure and his first impression to me portrayed, he actually bent down to pick up the pieces of my dismembered phone.

“s**t. I’m so sorry. Did Mickie do this just now?” he asked as if he actually was concerned.

“Well a combination of Dastan and her, yes,” I answered humbly.

“I can’t say she didn’t mean it, but she probably—”

“You’re the guy that pulled me out of fourth period,” I recognized. He sort of stiffened as he picked up the remaining shards of glass. He finished in silence and then stood up. I followed the action with pieces of technology in my hand. “What was that about anyways?”

“I thought you were someone else,” he said with his eyebrows combed together.

“Sure…” I said. He held out his hand and gestured for me to give him my broken phone. For some reason I did and it made him study the remains.

“So a bump from a door caused this?” he asked.

“Well a bump from a door, a drop to the ground, and a few tramples from a herd of sheep here and there,” I summed up. He broke out into a gorgeous smile and I couldn’t help but smile myself. I had seen him around school and he seemed to be the kind of person that would never dare smile—not even a self righteous smirk—but right now proved that theory completely wrong.

“That’s cool,” he commented. I still felt daggers being stared at my back and then the guy looked over my head (easily, because he was so much taller than me) and then bid me farewell to hop on his ninja motorcycle beside Dastan’s.