Saving the World

by Katrina Kahler

  I grinned meekly. I shook my head. “I love Jason, but as a great, amazing friend.”

  “You sure?”

  My mind said, NO OF COURSE I'M NOT SURE. But my mouth quietly said, “Yes, I am sure.”

  “Then you don’t mind us getting closer?” Tanya asked.

  I took a deep breath. “I just want what’s best for Jason.”

  Tanya smiled. “Good. He’s one lucky guy. We may be the two most powerful people in the world and we both like him a lot!” Tanya pointed at Kayla and she rewound backward to the point she was before Tanya had stopped time. Tanya snapped her fingers. The world started up again.

  “Shall we get working on your powers?” One of the trainers asked Kayla.

  Kayla jumped up and shouted. “Sure!”

  The trainer showed Kayla a big clock. “Now, concentrate on turning this back a minute…”

  Tanya took Jason by his hand. “Hey, let’s go for a walk.”

  “Sure!” Jason said.

  I stood there and watched them leave. I fought back the temptation to stop them with a fart.

  Dear Diary: OMG!! I really, truly, really have no idea what to think about Tanya and Jason. I mean, I’ve known Jason FOREVER. I think of him as a BFF a BRO. Somebody who is always there for me when I need a friend to laugh or cry with. I should be happy for him. Tanya is an older cool girl. Any guy would be lucky to be with her. I should be so, so happy for Jason. I mean, he’s my best friend. I guess I’m just worried that if he spends more time with Tanya, he might not be there for me when I need him. Yeah, I know that’s selfish. But I can’t help it. I might be super but I’m still human.

  The Rescue

  I walked home from my training session alone. I needed a little me time to get my head on straight. Obviously, I could have leaped home in a single bound. But instead, I walked slowly, just breathing in the air and soaking up the sun. I couldn’t blame Jason for liking Tanya. After all, Tanya was cool, collected and seemed to have total control of her awesome power. Jason would be lucky to be with her. As Jason’s BFF, I should be happy for him. And I kind of was. I guess I just felt sad for me.

  I walked along, wallowing in self-pity when MAC broke my train of thought.

  “Ah, Lia, there is a problem!” MAC said.

  “Of course, there’s a problem! My BFF is hanging out with another girl!” I moaned.

  “Well, ah, yeah, I guess that is a problem,” MAC said. “But this problem is much more life threatening and dangerous.”

  “Say what?”

  MAC spoke fast. “I’ve picked up a mayday from a commercial airplane above Starlight City. They have lost power and they are crashing!”

  I tuned in my super hearing. I could hear the jet plummeting towards the ground and the voices of the scared passengers. Then I heard the pilots’ desperate calls to the control tower in Capital City. I jumped up into the air towards the sound of the falling plane.

  “MAC, activate my costume!’ I cried.

  “Already done!” MAC said.

  I leaped up with so much power, I soon reached the plane and found both of its propellers gushing smoke.

  Luckily, I’d been practicing controlling my air leaps. By shifting my weight in one direction, I could cause myself to float in that direction. I “flew” towards the plane. I realized that even if I caught the plane at this speed it wouldn’t be much different than the plane hitting the ground. Either the plane’s momentum would carry me forward and I’d crash into the plane, or the plane would smash into me. The plane would lose in both cases.

  That meant I had to slow the plane down slowly then catch it and then lower it gently to the ground.

  I inhaled then exhaled super-breath and sent just a touch of freezing air onto the plane. My frosted breath hit the plane and slowed it down while blowing out the flames in the burning engines.

  I dropped down under the plane and pushed upwards with my hands as well as more cooling breath. I wasn’t sure how, but the plane stopped nose diving, and with my guidance, it turned horizontal to the ground. Of course, the plane was still falling, but it was a controlled (by me – mostly) fall.

  I needed to find a safe spot to guide this plane down. The schoolyard was big and at this time of day, pretty empty. It made the perfect landing spot for an out of control plane.

  Looking down, I scanned the landscape and searched for the school. I saw it fairly close to where the plane’s momentum was taking us. I only needed to nudge the plane a little to the left. When the plane rocked to the left, the passengers screamed.

  “Sorry!” I told them. “But don’t worry, I have this under control!” I said this as much for my own confidence as theirs.

  I remember once when Mom and I went on vacation and I tried hang gliding. It occurred to me that this was pretty much the same thing. Only now, instead of a big kite, I had a huge aircraft to guide down. I bore my hands into the bottom of the plane, giving me a really strong grip. Now I could guide the plane down just like that hang glider.

  I took a deep breath. I watched as the ground grew closer and closer. This would be tricky but I could do it. The ground came clearly into view without me needing to use Super Teen vision. We passed over the school’s fence, barely clearing it. I tilted my body just a bit to steer the plane towards the big field. We were falling fast, but it was nothing I couldn’t control. My feet touched the ground first, in fact, they dug into the ground. The force of the plane pulled me forward, digging two ditches with my legs. I held onto the plane. We slid across the field. I felt our momentum slowing down. The plane and I dragged a few hundred feet then came to a stop.

  I had done it. I had landed a plane on my back. I stepped to the side and guided the plane off my hands onto the ground. It hit with a thud. All the passengers cheered.

  I heard police car sirens coming towards us. In minutes, police, fire, and ambulance would be surrounding the plane. Of course, Oscar Oranga was already there with his news crew. He’d arrived even before the emergency personnel.

  Oscar thrust a microphone into my face, “Super Teen, how does it feel to have saved a plane?”

  “Pretty darn good!” I said.

  “Does it worry you that the police consider you to be a criminal?” Oscar asked.

  “I’m not a criminal!” I insisted.

  “Well then…a vigilante who works outside of the system and the law,” Oscar said.

  “Oscar, I just saved a plane full of people from crashing!”

  “True, you did, and I am sure they are grateful,” Oscar said. He pointed to my skid marks on the school field. “Of course, you did totally dig up this field, causing damage to the school grounds which are public property.”

  “But way less damage than an airplane crash would cause!” I insisted strongly.

  “Good point. But that still doesn’t stop you from being wanted by the police,” Oscar said.

  I saw Chief Michaels and a bunch of his men walking towards me. Kalie Hanson stood there right behind them, smirking.

  “Super Teen, I would like to thank you for saving the airplane and its passengers. I am sure the courts will go easy on you because of…”

  Everything froze in place. I saw Tanya walking towards me, flipping all the hats off the police officers as she passed by.

  “Jason said you might need my help,” Tanya grinned. She raised her hand for a high-five. “Man, excellent save of that plane!”

  I returned her high five. I frowned. “Lot of good it did me… I’m still wanted!”

  Tanya looked at the happy faces of the passengers and onlookers. “Yeah, but you scored major brownie points here. The tide will turn in your favor, just give it time. Luckily, when you have me on your side, time is also on your side.” Tanya looked up at the sky. “Now get out of here. Let the events speak for themselves.”

  I took Tanya’s advice and leaped home.

  Dear Diary: Wow, it’s nice to know I had it in me to save that plane. It took a combination of power and planning, but m
an oh man, I did it. I saved the plane!!!! That makes me feel great. Of course, saving that plane didn’t stop the police from trying to detain me. That made me feel kind of lousy. The good news is, watching the news afterward and checking my social media, I could see that most people were way happy that I did what I did. In fact, most of them thought it was ridiculous for the police to try to arrest me. Of course, Wendi thought I was a nuisance and should be stopped at all costs. Sigh.

  Oh, it also feels weird to be saved by Tanya. I know it shouldn’t but it does. Okay, I admit it, I am a little kind of slightly jealous of her relationship with Jason. Yep, I have to share Jason, and I have to learn to deal with that, pronto. I can do it. If I can catch a falling plane out of the air and land it safely, surely I can learn to live with a nice girl getting along really well with my BFF. Man, I just used the word really a real lot. 

  Surprises

  The next morning I looked forward to going to school and dreaded it at the same time. Part of me was so anxious to learn how the rest of the school reacted to Super Teen’s saving of the plane. I wasn’t thrilled though with the idea of watching Tanya and Jason interact with each other.

  While sitting at the breakfast table, of course, Mom had to notice the frown on my face. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “What do you mean, Mom?”

  Mom pointed at my stack of pancakes. “You’ve hardly touched your pancakes!”

  “Mom, I’ve eaten three stacks!”

  “Yes, Lia, for you, that is just a warm-up snack. You need your energy, especially if you’re catching falling planes!”

  I crushed my fork in my hand. “Oops! Sorry, Mom.”

  “Something tells me this isn’t just about the lawsuit and the police trying to arrest you,” Mom said.

  “I’m not a criminal, Mom! I help people!”

  Mom grinned. “I know. Once people understand that, this will blow over.” She shrugged. “Besides honey, the police can’t hold you. The only people who might be able to do that would be those at your dad’s company.”

  “Still, I don’t like being thought of as a criminal,” I groaned.

  “The truth will come out!” Mom insisted. She looked at me as I stared at my breakfast. “But something else is on your mind.”

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “Jason and Tanya are talking a lot. They’re getting real friendly. I overheard Jason telling Tanya how excited he is about comet K-9. The one that’s going to pass just 50,000 miles from Earth. He says he can’t wait to see it on his telescope with her!”

  Mom grinned. “Ah, good for Jason, that Tanya is quite pretty!”

  “Mom…not helping! Just a few days ago, Jason said he wanted to see that comet with me!” I slammed my hand on the table, breaking the table in half. “Oops…”

  “That’s coming out of your allowance, young woman!”

  “Fair enough,” I sighed.

  Mom’s eyebrow popped up. “My keen mom instincts tell me you’re not happy with Jason growing closer to Tanya. Do you like Jason as more than a great friend?”

  I actually thought about my response. “No, yes, maybe…” It was hard to believe I had to think before making such an indecisive response.

  “What you’re trying to say is, you don’t know,” Mom said with her hand on my shoulder.

  “Exactly,” I moaned.

  “Well honey, I hate to say this, but you are being very selfish.”

  My eyes popped open. “Say what?”

  “Just because you don’t know how you feel about Jason doesn’t mean he can’t build relationships with other girls. Especially when that girl is as nice as Tanya. She’s older right?”

  “Not helping, Mom!”

  Mom just smiled. “Not much I can do here to help. Though I can help you see when you’re being selfish.” Mom pointed to the front door. “Jason is here, go walk to school with your BFF.”

  I stood up. My first thought was to get up and walk away. Instead, I leaned into Mom and kissed her. “Thanks, Mom.”

  I met Jason on the porch. I had to admit I was really glad Tanya wasn’t with him. Jason, of course, was all smiles. “Man, Lia, that rescue of the plane by Super Teen yesterday was awesome!” he said loudly.

  I smiled and nodded. “It was,” I agreed.

  We headed in the direction of the school. “Plus, the way you used your head and your powers to slow the plane down, that was amazing!” Jason continued. “Your powers and knowledge of your powers is growing each day!”

  “Thanks,” I told him with a friendly shove.

  “Plus, I loved watching you and Tanya team up like that!” Jason added.

  Yeah, he just had to bring up Tanya. “So, how are we going to stop your dad from arresting me?” I asked.

  Jason stopped walking for a second. “Actually, that one may be pretty easy. The lawsuit says that Super Teen isn’t a deputy of the court.”

  “I am aware. And no, I am not,” I said, dragging Jason towards the school.

  Jason raised a finger and grinned. “But you could be. My dad actually has the power under the town’s charter, to deputize you. Heck, Governor Tom Condor could do it for the entire state if he wished.

  Now I stopped walking. “Wait, so this is possible? How can we make it happen?”

  “Well, we need an online petition,” Jason said. He showed me his phone. There on the screen was a web page: Let’s get Super Teen Deputized. “We already have 5000 signatures,” Jason told me.

  I hugged him, lifting him off the ground. “Jason, you’re amazing!”

  “Hey, just doing my share to help make the world a better place,” he smiled. “Now please put me down.”

  “Right!” I said dropping him to the ground.

  We reached the school with me feeling better than I had since this whole Kalie thing had started. This looked as though it could work out well for me. Of course, my mood shifted when I saw Wendi and Patti rushing over to me.

  “So?” Wendi said.

  “Yeah, so?” Patti said.

  “So what?” I asked.

  “Any progress on changing the school lunches? Adding more green? Maybe getting a vegan option?” Wendi said.

  “Maybe getting more dessert choices,” Patti offered.

  Wendi shot her a disapproving glance.

  “Hey, I workout hard for this body!” Patti said pointing to her hips. “I deserve a little dessert now and then.”

  They both turned their venom towards me. “So?”

  “I have an appointment to talk to VP Macadoo before classes,” I said, lying a bit. But hey, sometimes when it comes to dealing with mean girls, it’s easier to let them hear what they want to hear. Well, it would have been easiest and most fulfilling to drop them with super BO, but not very hero-like.

  Patti and Wendi strutted away, a pleased look on each of their faces. At least, they appeared as pleased as Wendi and Patti can be when they aren’t making somebody else feel miserable. I headed to VP Macadoo’s office. I walked by Jason talking with Tanya at her locker. I gave them both a nod and a smile. Jason deserved to be happy.

  VP Macadoo’s office manager, Barb Bane met me outside of his office. She was a cold, unfriendly woman. I figured she lived with like a million cats.

  “What can I do for you, Miss Strong?” she said in a sharp and irritable tone.

  “I would like to see the VP. It’s official class and school business,” I told her.

  She didn’t even check his availability before replying. “I’m sorry, he’s busy all week working on real issues, not student’s concerns.”

  I pointed at her and said with my command voice, “He’ll see me now!”

  Barb Bane smiled. She waved to his office like she was showing me a prize I had won. “Of course, he will see you now. He’s just playing his morning game of solitaire on his computer.”

  Walking into VP Macadoo’s office, he noticed me and quickly activated the screen saver on his computer. “Ms. Strong, what can I do for you?” he asked.
/>   I sat down in the chair next to his desk. “I’m here on school business.”

  “I would hope so, Ms. Strong.”

  “Many of the students want to see a change in the school lunches. They would like more options, especially more green options. And by green, I don’t mean foods that aren’t supposed to be green.”

  VP Macadoo chuckled. That relieved my stress a little. “I love that idea,” he said.

  “You do?” I asked. He’d caught me off guard. I didn’t expect it to go so easily. Had I worked up a sweat for nothing?

  “I do.” He nodded.

  “So it’s settled?” I asked.

  He frowned and shook his bald head. “I do wish it was, but for that to happen, the order has to come from the school board.”

  “Then let’s make an appointment to see the school board,” I said.

  “Well, there is a meeting tomorrow,” he said.

  “Great!” I smiled.

  He lowered his head. “But they won’t see me.” He sighed. “They never want to listen to me.”

  Wow, who would have thought that big strong Mr. Macadoo could be so easily brushed aside?

  “Wait, weren’t you a navy seal?” I asked him.

  “Yes, I served the country proudly. But the board says I am only a vice-principal and it’s my job to discipline, not to give suggestions….” He told me.

  “That doesn’t seem right,” I said.

  “I agree, but I’m still a good soldier and I listen to orders from those above me.”

  “What about the principal?” I asked.

  Mr. Macadoo shrugged his huge shoulders, “He says it’s his job to keep the school afloat. He can’t sweat the little stuff. But you know what, I’ll ask the board again.”

  “Okay, if they say no I’ll just show up anyhow!” I said. “I can be very convincing!”

  Mr. Macadoo held out a meaty hand. “Let’s hope for the best then, Lia.”

  Dear Diary: Things certainly went differently than I expected. First off, sure Jason may be getting closer to Tanya but he’s still my BFF. He always has my back. I feel great about that. He’s trying to help me become a legit crime fighter. Man, I would never have thought of creating a petition! Second, I always thought of Mr. Macadoo as this big gruff guy who really didn’t care much about the students. He wanted discipline above all else – or so I believed. Turns out he does want what’s best for us, he just has very little actual power. Well, I am going to do whatever I have to do to get into that board meeting tomorrow to convince them we need better lunch choices. Sure, I am kind of doing Wendi’s bidding, but when she’s right, she’s right.