Falling for a Superhero

"Just trust me," he says

No one knew anything. No one knew how the boys were fighting over me. No one knew that Dastan and I could even tolerate each other. No one knew that my brother secretly hated me now. No one knew that I secretly wished for Proliator to come back into my room and assure me that things would be okay. Only I knew…so only I could solve it.

In second period, my eyes went straight to Dastan’s. Right when I wanted them to lighten and enhance the smile on his face…it didn’t happen. He only tore his eyes away from mine and focused on Mickie, who I hadn’t worried about since Thursday.

“Students, take your seats,” Mrs. Hayes ordered when the bell rang. “Once again, our football team made it to playoffs; therefore we need to extend on our sports page.”

“I thought the newspaper printed every two weeks,” I said.

“That’s true, but the next issue comes out this Wednesday and on top of that we need to print the programs that will be sold at games that include all the organizations involved with football season,” she answered.

“I’ll work the programs,” Dastan volunteered.

“I’ll take pictures,” I voiced.

“No need,” Mickie said. I glared. “We just use the pictures from the football team pictures and some that we already have.”

“Don’t you think we should have new pictures?” Cheyenne smiled.

“No,” Mickie snapped. Cheyenne slid down in her seat.

“That’s not your decision,” I said to Mickie.

“I’m being realistic,” she sneered.

“You’re being a b***h,” I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut.

“New pictures or old pictures, I need the template design by tomorrow,” Mrs. Hayes said. That’s all that was needed before there was a debate and argument between the photographers and writers in the class. No. I couldn’t even say that because Cheyenne was a writer and even she was on the “new pictures” side.

When the bell rang for the next period, I was the first one out of the room. To my surprise, Dastan was waiting on the near wall. I thought he was waiting for me, but I was shoved from behind for Mickie to near him. However, they still waited there looking at me.

“What?”

“Come here,” Hayden said out of nowhere, taking my hand and pulling me away. He pulled me against the traffic of the hallway and down a set of stairs and then left down a dead-end hallway that I had never been down before. It was cleared of all people though. Well…all people aside from me, him, Dastan, Mickie, and now Chad.

“What’s this about?” I asked them with wide eyes. This was it. They were going to kill me.

“We have a question for you that requires your consideration,” Hayden told me with swirling blue eyes.

“Well we’re in a high school hallway so—”

“And you really want to deal with this?” Mickie asked, looking at Hayden before sneering up to Dastan. Dastan scoffed at her comment and then walked away altogether. Deal with me?

“What are you doing after school today?” Hayden asked after his eyes shifted in contemplation.

“Nothing that I know of,” I answered. Hayden looked over me easily because I was short compared to him. But then he looked over to the others. Then he looked down to me once more. “Why…what’s going on?”

The warning bell rang, shocking me that it took five minutes to get here, and then the others departed from the secluded hallway. I gave a confused look to Hayden.

“We’re going on a date,” he declared and then left me as well. Unlike with Dastan, I knew I couldn’t argue so there went that so called “consideration” he mentioned. Or maybe he meant something later on because he didn’t exactly ask me a question about anything or this date. But this was Hayden Marshal who got his way regardless of whatever he requested so I had to clue in that the date was his inquiry…especially when I hadn’t gotten to talk to him for the remainder of the day because he seemed busy and distracted

***

“Hey. How was your day?” Proliator asked, sitting on my fire escape when I arrived home.

“Don’t you ever worry about getting seen sitting out there?” I asked him, amused. How long does he even wait here?

“I haven’t got caught yet,” he smirked while standing up and stepping through my window. I started putting my school stuff away and when I turned to go into my closet, Proliator stood a foot away from me. “On the bright side, I think you’re getting used to me being here.”

Well what’s the worst that could happen with you here?

“You’ve only been here five times,” I reminded. He raised an eyebrow. His hand floated to a place over his heart.

“You’ve counted,” he smiled. I rolled my eyes and his smile dropped. “I’m sorry about leaving so abruptly last time. There was a—”

“Gang related fight on the other side of town,” I finished with a nod.

“What can I say? There’s no rest for the wicked in the city that never sleeps anyways,” he laughed.

“Mmh,” I hummed and then went to my closet to find what I would wear to this “date” with Hayden. I don’t even know why I wanted to go. Maybe because I owed him that for spending time with Dastan on Saturday.

“I didn’t know we were going out somewhere…” he commented as I threw possibilities onto my couch.

“We’re not,” I agreed with a sigh. I turned back to him. “I have a date with Hayden.”

Immediately, Proliator frowned.

“First I have to deal with some jerk that hates you and now I have to deal with someone that actually likes you. Great,” he sighed, pacing around.

“Wait, what do you mean?” I asked.

“Have I not made it clear that I like you?” he asked. “Because I do. A lot…and I want you. I don’t like it when people are in my way of what I want.”

Surprisingly, he didn’t sound like a power-hungry narcissus. He sounded…romantic in a way.

“You have nothing to worry about,” I assured. “Dastan and I are…changed…somehow…and this date with Hayden isn’t even really date.”

He took a seat on my bed.

“Care to explain?” he asked. I hesitantly sat next to him.

“Where do I begin?”

His deep eyes connected to mine and then his lips produced one word: “Saturday.”

***

I told Proliator about everything. I started with Dastan catching me taking out the trash. It quickly moved into Dastan and Jem pretending to be animals, Sebastian calling, and then up to me falling asleep on Dastan’s lap. Of course I had to add how protective and accusative Hayden was over the phone late Saturday night which led to his insistence of our date.

“Want to know what I think?” Proliator asked when I finished.

“Well I didn’t waste all this time talking to you about it for nothing,” I scoffed. He winced. I produced a crooked smile. “I mean…what do you think?”

“I don’t think you should go to this date with Hayden,” he mumbled.

“But I owe him.”

“No you don’t,” he denied.

“Yes. I do,” I pressed. “I was supposed to go out with him last Friday but I didn’t because he fought Sebastian, yet—”

“Yet you still went out with Dastan,” he reminded or maybe finished. I couldn’t read the emotion in his eyes. I knew he didn’t like me talking about other guys if he so clearly “liked” me, but he never denied me of it. While I tried to forget and settle all of the boy drama, he was the one that reminded me about it. As if I needed him to.

“Exactly,” I stated. “I owe Hayden the same—”

“Not everything has to be even and fair, sweetheart,” he whispered to me. He reached up to touch my face, but then put his hand down. “I wish I could show you what I mean, but I can’t. You can’t please everyone…therefore you can wait until some other time for him to ask you whatever he’s going to ask you.” So he didn’t think the date was what Hayden had to “ask”…

“But he said—”

“Forget what he said and just trust me,” he said, standing up from my bed.

“You don’t even know him,” I said. My phone vibrated and I didn’t need to look down to see that it was from Hayden. Proliator didn’t need to look at it either. His face held turmoil and torture. Of course I felt immediate guilt. I stood up, initially to grab my purse to leave with Hayden, but then I turned to see Proliator halfway through the window already, looking back at me. He shot me a look for a second before exiting.

“Wait. I’m sorry…” I found myself whispering too late. “Come back…”

I felt like an abandoned puppy when he left me…aside from the extreme happiness I felt when he kissed my cheek once.