Upbeats 2: Crime After Crime

by Erin Sheena Byrne

  Chapter Seven

  Brooke

  The reporters and journalists continued with their reports, furiously writing notes, bombarding teenagers with questions and taping anything they could on their little handheld audio recorders.

  The disappearance of the two heroes didn't seem to stumble them for too long.

  Most of the girls that had been on the bus when it had nearly plummeted to its doom were more than willing to answer questions and have cameras flashing at them from all angles. They were going to be on the news all over the planet tonight.

  That did not help ease the churning feeling in my stomach. It was a brave and noble thing to save the bus. The girls on that bus were my teammates; they were my friends. Nevertheless, even if they were all complete strangers, and if I could have gone back in time, I would have done the exact same thing, all over again.

  I just wished there had been a way for us to stop the journalists and reporters and cameras.

  That story was going to go international, and there was nothing I could do about it.

  It was a small comfort, but at least Robyn and I had been wearing our wigs and masks. No one would figure out too quickly that it had been us.

  But the Upbeats weren't ready to go public. We were the secret defenders of Earth. Angela Spike, the Intergalactic Police Force lady who tried to capture Gemini, said that humans weren't ready yet to know about aliens. Just about every other planet in the universe knew about other people on other planets, but Earth was completely ignorant.

  The planet wasn't ready for superheroes. Humans didn't even know how to cope with ordinary people saving other humans, how were they going to react when the Upbeats came along?

  I didn't want to be famous.

  For two hours, I sat around, waiting for my brother to come and pick me up. When journalists started getting too close, ready to ask a hundred and one questions, Robyn and I dodged them and moved to another spot. It worked brilliantly, we lost them all... except one.

  Sabrina Ride, Rockwell High's very own Lois Lane.

  She had come along with the basketball team to write about it in the school's paper next week.

  And, boy, was she going to have a story now!

  Robyn and I had a hard time shaking her off.

  I don't believe in gambling, but I would bet my last buck, if anyone was going to figure out who the Upbeats were, it would have been Sabrina Ride. And I did not like her one bit.

  She came bounding up to us: a pencil resting over her ear, a notepad in hand and a professional photographer's camera hanging from a thick neck-strap and bouncing around as she jogged over to us.

  "Hey, did you guys get a clear look at those two superheroes?" Sabrina asked, barely able to contain herself. She sounded like a little kid in a candy store with a hundred dollar gift card.

  We were hanging around some stranger's car. Robyn was sitting in the back seat, the car door open and her legs dangling out the car. I was standing, leaning on the boot of the car.

  "We weren't on the bus," Robyn said, without thinking. I kicked her, imperceptibly.

  "What my friend meant to say was: no, we didn't get a good look at the superheroes."

  And it was true: I didn't see myself.

  Sabrina wrote it down, faster than a speeding bullet.

  "Do you have any idea what they call themselves?"

  "Idiots," I muttered under my breath.

  "Huh?"

  Robyn kicked me, discreetly. "What my amigo meant to say was, no, we don't know what they call themselves."

  This was also true, I didn't have any cool superhero name.

  Though, it did give me an idea...

  "Do you think these two heroes will show up sometime in the near future? Do you think they want to save more people? Who do you think...?"

  Sabrina's constant drone of questions faded to the background noise as I watched the cars that kept coming and going, waiting for my brother to arrive.

  Losing myself in my thoughts, I was trying to think of reasons why this whole publicity thing could be useful.

  I wouldn't add optimist to the long list of words I use to describe myself, but I'm no pessimist.

  I like to think I'm realistic. And there had to be some good that came from the unwanted publicity.

  Maybe the world could use some superheroes... it might even prove useful to us. We would have to be extremely careful, though. One false move and we'd be toast.

  My thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when I saw my brother's Ford pull over beside a police car.

  "No comment," I said, hastily excusing myself. I grabbed Robyn and yanked her out the car she had been peacefully residing in for the past ten minutes.

  Leaving Sabrina behind, I marched over to my brother with a confused Robyn trailing behind me.

  When Arthur caught sight of me, he dropped his conversation with an officer and hugged me so fast and so tightly, I thought I heard something crack inside me. The air was squeezed out of me, I could barely breathe and my arms were pinned to my sides. My brother is stronger than he looks.

  I didn't have the nerve to protest, though. When he buried his face in my hair, I could feel him start crying.

  Relieved was too light a term to describe my brother at that moment.

  "I'll, um, catch you later," Robyn said, feeling more and more like a third-wheel the longer she hung around the happy reunion.

  I heard her walk away, her shoes crunching snow as she swiftly left from the touching scene.

  I was pinned so tightly, I couldn't move even an inch to bid my friend goodbye.

  I suppose she went off to find Smithy and I guess he took her home. I don't know, I never asked her.