Ordinary Hero

by Ellis Michaels

  I got Amber a new tee shirt and we finished cleaning up and doing the dishes. Kasie got out of the shower and joined us on the couch. We turned on the TV and put on some crime show that they both seemed to like, but I was finding it hard to pay attention.

  My focus was elsewhere. My mind kept alternating between two different things. For a moment or two, I'd think about the crazy day I'd had. It had been, without question, the craziest day of my life. In fact, if you added up all the craziness in my life from the previous twenty-two years, it wouldn't equal the craziness I experienced that day. That was what took up the majority of my thoughts. But, every so often, my mind would casually wander to something else.

  To my left was my roommate. Kasie was wearing something I'd never seen her in before. It was a beautiful red slip that left very little to the imagination. I'd only seen Kasie in lingerie once or twice before. Her freshly-shaved legs were so close that I could've tickled her feet with ease. From where I was sitting – or, more accurately, from how she was leaning – I could see her cleavage, surrounded by her still-wet, blond hair. In other words, she looked incredibly sexy.

  To my right was Amber. She was wearing my Ozzy Osbourne tee shirt that I'd gotten at his forth farewell tour. The shirt was in rough shape, with several holes in it and the sleeves ripped off. I offered her other shirts but she wanted that one. Again, she clearly had nothing on under the shirt. I could see some serious side-boob through the arm hole of the shirt and even some side-nip. It barely covered her crotch and she was sitting on her legs with her feet touching the side of my butt. Amber looked a little trashy, but I liked it – it was sexy-trashy.

  The three of us watched TV until we all fell asleep on the couch. I almost never fell asleep in the living room but I was incredibly tired from everything that'd happened over the course of the day. I must've been the first one to nod off because I don't remember seeing either of them fall asleep. I also happened to be the first one to wake up the next morning – in an interesting position.

  I opened my eyes and saw that the television was still on. It took me a minute to realize what was under my head but, whatever it was, it was the firmest, most comfortable pillow I'd ever slept on. Amber's bare feet were resting on my legs and they were ice cold. I picked up my head up and looked behind me. That's when I realized what I'd been using for a pillow: Kasie's butt.

  I sat up and gently moved Amber's feet off my legs. Looking back and forth between the two gorgeous women on my couch, I smiled and shook my head in disbelief. The day before had seemed like a dream but it wasn't – it had all really happened. The girls stayed asleep for a few minutes longer and I sat quietly thinking about everything that'd happened over the previous twenty-four hours. It made me wonder what the next twenty-four hours would bring. It also gave me an opportunity to take about ten-million mental snapshots of the sexy young women on my couch.

  Amber woke up first but only by a minute. We whispered “good morning” to each other, trying not to wake Kasie. We didn't succeed because she woke up right after.

  “Good morning, Kasie!” I said with enthusiasm, something I rarely felt in the morning. Actually, it was something I rarely felt at all but especially not in the morning.

  “Mornin',” my roommate replied in a flat tone, looking from me to Amber and back to me.

  “Coffee?” I asked both of the girls.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Definitely.”

  I went into the kitchen and put the coffee on. The girls took turns using the bathroom before returning to the couch. A few minutes later, I brought them each a big cup of coffee and sat down between them. The news was just coming on.

  “Good morning, Boston!” the news anchor said. “We start the day with some breaking news out of Cambridge. Another bank was robbed overnight and police are saying that the crime was most likely perpetrated by the same unarmed man who robbed another bank in Cambridge yesterday. In the footage we're about to show you, you can see the masked man smash through the plate-glass window, tear a locked metal door off the frame, and enter the teller's area. Then, he casually walks out carrying two bags full of money.”

  The three of us watched the footage with wide eyes, sipping our coffees. Just as the news anchor described, a masked man punched through a huge plate-glass window, tore a metal door right off its hinges, and walked out with two big bags in his hands. I noticed something that the news anchor neglected to mention, though.

  “Oh no,” I said when I noticed it. “This isn't good.”

  “What is it?” Kasie asked.

  “What?” Amber added.

  “Did you see that? Did you see what the robber had on his wrist?”

  “No,” Kasie answered. “What was it?”

  “A red rubber band.”

  Both girls looked at me with confused looks.

  “So?” Amber asked.

  “I know who that is,” I replied. “I know who's been robbing those banks.”

  6.

  “You can tell who the bank robber is just by the rubber band on his wrist?” Kasie asked.

  “It's some dude, Carter Livingston, from one of my philosophy classes,” I replied.

  “But how can you know for sure?” Amber asked. “I see people with rubber bands on their wrists all the time. Hell, I often have hair ties and rubber bands on my wrists.”

  “You don't understand,” I said. “I've know him for years. We've had a bunch of classes together. As long as I've known him, he's always had a thick, red rubber band around his right wrist. I don't know why he does, but he does. It's him. I'm telling you.”

  “Should we go to the police?” Kasie suggested.

  “I'm not going anywhere near the cops if I don't have to. Have you forgotten what happened yesterday? Do you not remember me shooting someone?”

  “Of course I remember,” Kasie replied. “I'll never forget it. When I heard the gun go off, I thought it was you that got shot. But then, if you know who the bank robber is, what are you gonna do about it? Anything? You gotta do something, right?”

  Did I? Normally, I'd just sit back and do nothing but fantasize about doing something. If it had been even just a couple days earlier, I probably wouldn't have even mentioned that I recognized the rubber band. But something came over me. I was overwhelmed with something I'd never really felt in my entire life: responsibility. I felt like it was my duty to do something about the bank robber.

  The only question was: what? What could I possibly do? I could go looking for Carter but what then? What would I do if I found him? Ask him nicely to stop robbing banks? Carter was breaking through doors and smashing glass walls down like they were nothing. Even with my newfound fighting skills, I didn't want to have to go up against him. I hoped that the girls would have a better idea of what to do than I did.

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “I don't know.”

  “No clue.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I replied. “Real helpful.”

  “You need to confront him,” Kasie said a moment later. “You need to find him and confront him.”

  “Maybe if you tell him that you know it's him he'll stop if you threaten to go to the police,” Amber said.

  “Do you know where to find him?” Kasie asked.

  “I do, actually,” I replied. “In class. In less than two hours.”

  “Perfect!” Kasie said. “You can tell him that you know it's him robbing the banks after class.”

  “You're so heroic,” Amber said, kissing me on the cheek. “You're my hero.”

  “And mine, of course!” Kasie said and leaned over, kissing me on the other cheek.

  The kiss from Amber didn't surprise me. She had no problem being a little aggressive, physically. But Kasie, she surprised me. Not just the kiss but also calling me her hero. I might not have understood it, but I certainly liked it.

  I took a quick shower and got ready to leave for class. Amber offered to shower with me
but, as hard as it was, I had to decline. I was running late and I knew that a shower with her would not only involve getting cleaned up, but also getting dirty first. I didn't have time to get dirty and clean.

  “I'm off to class,” I said, grabbing my backpack. “You two play nice.”

  “I'm actually leaving in a few minutes, too,” Kasie said. “I got stuff to do this morning.”

  “Amber, you need anything before I leave?” I asked.

  “Nope,” she replied. “I think I'm all set. I'm just gonna watch some TV and chill until you get back.”

  “Cool. Bye girls. I should be right home after class.”

  “Bye James,” Kasie said.

  “Bye hero, I can't wait until you get back!” Amber said twice as loud as Kasie.

  I hopped on the Green Line and took the T down a couple stops to the philosophy building at my school. As always, I hurriedly walked to the room, getting there right at nine-o-clock on the dot. I was coming from the left and got to the door at the exact same time as Krystal, another student, approached from the right.

  “Oh, hey James,” she said.

  “Hi, Krystal,” I said with a smile, then motioned to the classroom with my arm. “After you.”

  “Thank you,” she replied and walked in.

  I walked in right after Krystal. We were the only two students in the room – the only two people in the room. Once again, Professor Amundsen wasn't there. Like the day before, written on the board was Class Canceled. This time, there was nothing on the desk.

  “I can't believe class is canceled again,” Krystal said.

  “I know,” I replied. “Hey, did you show up for class yesterday?”

  “I did, yes.”

  “Was there a scroll on the desk?”

  “Yes, there was,” Krystal answered. “It was strange. Naturally, I unrolled and read it. I mean, you don't see scrolls laying around every day. When you see one, you pick it up and read it.”

  “That's exactly what I thought!” I interrupted. “Sorry. Continue.”

  “So, yeah, I unrolled the scroll and saw that it was the NDA and research permission slip that I agreed to sign for a little extra credit. That's wicked weird, right?”

  “Wicked,” I replied.

  “The last twenty-four hours of my life have been strange, too. And I feel like it started with that scroll.”

  “Wait a sec. Weird how?” I asked, very interested to hear what Krystal had to say.

  “Okay, I know this is probably gonna sound silly to you, but I found a poor dog on the side of the road that had been hit by a car. He had a name tag on him and it said he lived several miles away. I got him to the vet, which wasn't easy since he weighed like a hundred pounds, but I made it. They said he had a broken leg and bruised ribs. The veterinarian and her assistant took good care of him. Then, I drove Miles – that was his name – to the address on the name tag. The woman he belonged to was so excited to see him that she started crying. I know that may sound stupid to you, but it was one of the greatest moments of my life. I love animals so much.”

  “That doesn't sound stupid at all,” I replied. “That's awesome, actually.”

  “But that's not all,” Krystal continued. “That was just one of the weird things that happened yesterday.”

  “Oh? What else?”

  “Mostly little stuff. People I regularly run into seemed a little strange. They were treating me differently. It's hard to explain. I probably sound crazy.”

  “Not at all,” I replied. “The same thing has been happening to me.”

  “Oh?” Krystal asked. “Like what?”

  I gave my classmate the short version of all the crazy things that had happened to me over the previous twenty-four hours. She told me about some of the other strange things that had happened to her. We were both equally shocked by everything that'd been happening.

  “I just can't shake the feeling that it has something to do with that scroll,” Krystal said.

  “I know,” I replied. “I feel the same way. Besides you and me, who else signed the professor's document?”

  “Hmmm, let's see. Out of our class of twelve people, I think only four of us agreed to sign the research permission slip. Me, you, Carter, and maybe one other person, but I can't remember who it was.”

  Interesting. Krystal told me that Carter was one of the people who signed the research permission slip. I wanted to tell her about the bank robberies and the rubber band around his wrist, but decided to hold off. I needed to figure out what was going on before I said anything.

  “Have you seen Carter at all?” I asked. “I ran into him here yesterday morning. We both got to class around the same time. It was weird: When I picked up the scroll, it had my signature at the bottom. When he picked it up, it had his signature on it.”

  “What if...” Krystal said slowly, a look of intrigue on her face.

  “What if what?”

  “What if this is all part of one of Professor Amundsen's experiments? What if that's why strange things have been happening and why people have been acting weird?”

  That was an interesting idea. All the strange things started happening after seeing the scroll. Maybe leaving the scroll for us was the professor's way of telling us that we were part of one of his experiments. I knew that he was involved in all kinds of groundbreaking research but didn't know any details.

  “What kind of research does Professor Amundsen do, exactly?” I asked.

  “I'm not totally sure,” Krystal replied. “All I've heard is that it's highly experimental and cutting edge. He's part of a team that is working on some super-secretive virtual reality project. Or augmented reality. Or maybe it was simulated reality. I forget what it was called, exactly. But something like that.”

  “And you think that maybe he's experimenting on us right now?” I asked. “But how?”

  “No clue. I haven't figured that out yet. Maybe he's found a way to change the way we experience reality and he's testing it out on us. I really don't know but I intend on finding out. You know, we should exchange information. If you learn anything, let me know. And, if I learn anything, I'll let you know.”

  “That's a good idea,” I said.

  As Krystal and I exchanged numbers, I couldn't help but look her up and down. Up until that point, my mind was too focused on our conversation to pay much attention to her body. Krystal was tall with black hair and brown eyes. Aside from checking her out once or twice in class, I never really paid much attention to her. It wasn't that I didn't find her attractive – Krystal was smoking hot. But she was so obviously out of my league that I tried not to think about her.

  Krystal was wearing a red dress that really showed off her figure. Her skin was a gorgeous golden brown and the contrast with the red was amazing – it made her skin look like it was glowing. Krystal was of Mexican ancestry but was raised there in the city and had a thick Boston accent. She was tall and lean with large breasts and a round butt. And her face was as flawless and beautiful as the rest of her body. The girl was a knockout.

  “Cool,” I said after we exchanged numbers. “We'll be in touch. One last thing: You wouldn't happen to know where Carter lives, do you?”

  “No, I don't. Sorry. That guy's always given me the creeps.”

  “You and me both.”

  Krystal and I left the classroom, each heading in different directions. I couldn't get the idea that this was all part of some kind of experiment out of my head. That's all I could think about for an hour until my next class started.

  Nothing out of the ordinary happened in my next class. No strange scrolls, no missing professors – just a normal, boring lecture. It was nice for a change after everything that'd been happening.

  From there, I had to get to work. I took the T down a few stops to Tune Town, the musical instrument shop I'd been working at for a couple years. I played guitar – or at least tried to – and had always loved music. It was the perfect job for me.


  My shift went by quickly and quietly. Well, maybe not quietly. After all, I did work in a music store. But it went by quickly and uneventfully.

  “You sure you're all good?” Rick, my boss, asked. “Cause I'm going to take off if you don't need me for anything.”

  “Come on, Rick,” I replied. “I've closed up by myself dozens of times before. I'll be fine. Go. Enjoy your evening.”

  “Thanks, James. Make sure you...”

  “Double lock the door and turn on the alarm,” I interrupted. “I know.”

  “Thank you. Goodnight.”

  My boss took off, leaving me alone to close up the store. I turned the open sign around so it said closed and put the blinds down. It wasn't a very large shop and it only took me a few minutes to clean up and get everything done that I had to. A couple minutes before I was about to leave, there was a knock at the door.

  “Sorry. We're closed,” I yelled. “Come back tomorrow.”

  I could see someone peeking in through the front door between the blinds. Again, there was a knock.

  “We're closed,” I said, this time even louder.

  “Please,” a woman yelled back. “Are you James Callahan? I'm the woman you saved from the burning car wreck yesterday. I just came by to thank you.”

  That certainly got my attention. I walked over to the door and looked through the blinds. Sure enough, it was the woman from the car accident. Aside from a few small bandages, she looked perfectly fine. I couldn't believe that she was not only there at my work but out of the hospital at all.

  I unlocked the door and let the woman in. The first thing she did was wrap her arms around me, squeezing me tightly. She took a step back and smiled.

  “That really, really hurt – but you deserved it,” she said, pulling up her shirt, showing me that her ribs were wrapped up. “I have three bruised ribs but I wanted to give you a hero's hug.”