“A friend. Dad, meet Tina. Tina, my dad.”
She offered a hand and they shook. She then handed him a napkin from the French fry restaurant and a pen.
“What’s this?” Myron Reece asked.
“Sign it, please. It’s not every day you get to meet the Drone King.”
They spent an hour strolling in the park, trying to ignore the triple-digit heat. Brendan talked about class and his mom. His father listened, although he kept checking his phone and replying to text messages. Eventually Brendan took out his own phone. “Time to go,” he texted Tina, who was giving them some space and poking around at the edges of one of the ponds.
“I’m going to get back,” Brendan said.
“Already?” Myron asked. “I just got here.”
“There’s a bunch of stuff at school I need to take care of. I’m using the week off to get some extra credit done, and I don’t want to fall behind.”
“You’re the smart one. Learn it. Learn it all.”
“I will.”
They hugged and his dad made promises to keep in touch. They said a final goodbye. Brendan walked with Tina back to the hyperloop station. He sent his dad a “Drive safe” text and didn’t get a reply.
As they stood waiting for their pod, Tina looped an arm around Brendan’s.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“About as expected. At least he showed up.”
“So we’re doing this?”
He looked at her arm in his. “I…sure.”
“No, I mean going back to school. This is above our pay grade. A power level above anything we can muster. Boss monsters that outclass us. We could get our parents to foot the bill at another school, and the headmaster will gladly do the paperwork. We can bug out with our heads held high.”
He rubbed his eyes. “We’re the only ones who understand what’s happened. We need to watch and keep track of both the headmaster and Charlotte. Eventually, the world will need to be informed. It’s not fair to the families who lost loved ones to keep it to ourselves. We’ll keep a record. And one day, we’ll tell what we know. So yes. We go back, and we do this.”
Tina nodded, a satisfied smile on her face.
Brendan checked his phone one more time, even though he knew he hadn’t received any messages. Then he put it away and watched as the pod pulled into the station. The school was two short stops away, and he couldn’t wait to get back.
I hope you enjoyed reading Supervillain High. Please consider leaving even a short review.
Brendan, Tina, Charlotte and the A.V. Club’s adventure continues in Supervillain High Book 2: The Headmaster’s Shadow.
Author’s Note
A big thanks to my wife Abby for her suggestions including the idea of different desks in the headmasters’ offices to help keep the worlds straight.
Once again, my editor Brittany Dory came through with fantastic suggestions that kept me out of the weeds. Any remaining errors herein are all mine.
I’m grateful to my beta-readers as well for input and spotting various mistakes, some of which got fixed. You guys and gals make me look good. A shout out to Paula Hanlon (great observations on Southern California geography), Steph, Sarah Adam, Pat Eroh, G.G. (best initials ever), Amy Jones, Jordan Jarak, Dorothy Ross, Corey Steele, and Adam Albanowicz.
To my readers, please keep in touch! You can find me on social media and get updates and freebies via my newsletter at my website.
Contents
Dedication
1. Daddy Was a Bank Robber
2. Dorm
3. Interview with the Headmaster
4. Idiot Box
5. Missed Call
6. Just a Schoolgirl
7. Strange Girl
8. The Disconnected Blues
9. New York City
10. The Nurse’s Office
11. The Attack
12. Scouting Mission
13. What Crime?
14. The Truce
15. Dorm Rules
16. Stardust
17. Are You Teasing Me?
18. The Headmaster’s Office
19. The Break-In, Take Two
20. The Headmaster
21. Overt Operations
22. The Break-In, Take Three
23. Not-Earth
24. Two Headmasters Are Better Than One
25. The Morning-After Bitter Pill
Author’s Note
Supervillain High Page 24