by Bryan Cohen
"Beth, I have a very important mission for you." Redican felt inside her mind for any resistance. There was none.
"Yes, Mr. Redican." Beth's eyes remained focus straight ahead.
Redican took his hand off the book and leaned over in front of his student. "Can I trust you to do whatever I ask of you?"
Beth nodded three times, each one slower than the last.
"I'm afraid this is like an airplane emergency exit, dear. I'm going to need a verbal confirmation."
Beth's eyes moved away from the board and focused on Redican. "Yes. I'll give you my life if you need it."
Redican's cheekbones rose with a wide grin. "Good. I just might."
Chapter 11
Ever since Ted asked her to join the team a few weeks ago, Natalie had re-worked her day to avoid seeing the superhero. Gym was the only class they shared, but she made a deal with Coach Fowler to spend the entire class training for next basketball season. Natalie had enjoyed beating up on the less athletically gifted, but with Ted's powers becoming more and more of a participation requirement, she didn't mind staring at a motivational poster while doing barbell squats.
After gym, they used to meet up to walk over to Hall C. To take away the chance they might bump into each other, she went out and around the opposite side of the building. Instead of going to the cafeteria near her fourth period math class, she took a 10-minute stroll to eat at the freshman cafeteria. The students gave the lunchroom that nickname because the upperclassman had taken all the tables in the newer, brighter location across the school. The room was where gym class was held in the 80s, but now it was where the youngest students ate and where Natalie did her hiding.
The plan had worked for almost a solid month, until Ted went out of his way to follow her. She was eating alone at a small table in the corner when he sat down across from her.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that you've been avoiding me." Ted's grin was just a shade shy of cocksure.
"Did you pick up mind-reading during your morning training sessions?" Natalie gazed at another table where a freshman was doing his best impression of Principal Stoll. If only he'd known the principal was watching from the entrance.
"All that time working out alone has made you snippy."
Natalie attempted to shoot laser beams out of her eyes and into Ted's face. It didn't work, but the glare was enough to take his grin away.
Ted changed his approach. He looked down at his tray and started to eat.
Natalie watched him open up the plastic container and chow down on the same chicken salad his mother had always packed him. All the little tics that used to make him seem endearing were getting on her nerves. She'd seen him chew with his mouth open nearly a hundred times, but a part of her wanted this to be the last.
"Close your damn mouth."
Ted, along with several students at the nearest table, stopped what they were doing to look at Natalie. She came off angrier than she intended, but maybe that was the tone she had to take. Maybe it would get Ted to leave her alone.
"Sorry." He made sure to chew the next bite of chicken salad with his mouth as closed as could be.
Natalie dropped her fork and let it clack against her plate. "What are you doing here, Ted?"
He looked up at her with his big, round eyes. "Checking on you."
Natalie wished he were lying. "I don't need anyone to check on me. I'm doing great, actually."
Ted smiled. "Really? Did you hear from one of your top five choices?"
Natalie growled. "Why do you care, Ted? You've got someone else now. You can finally leave me alone!" She stood up and began to walk away. Natalie felt herself being turned around as if hand grabbed her shoulder. But it wasn't a hand. Ted had used his powers on her.
"Natalie!" Ted hopped up from the table and followed after her.
She felt her fists clench tight. "Did you just use your powers on me? Did you just turn me around against my will? You're walking a fine line, Finley."
Natalie realized that everyone in the freshman cafeteria had their eyes and phones trained on her.
Let them watch.
Ted's eyes held nothing but fear. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to say I still care about you."
Natalie pushed the center of Ted's chest. Her ex-boyfriend went flying to the ground, back first. The crowd of freshman gaped in horror.
"You care about me, Ted?" Natalie tried to approach him, but she could feel herself being restrained by the lunch aid and Principal Stoll. "You care about me? If this it what it feels like to be loved by Ted Finley, I think I'd rather get stabbed in the heart this time."
Principal Stoll tried and failed to get a hold of the strongest girl in school. "That's enough, Ms. Dormer."
Ted's eyes were as wide as she'd ever seen them. "I was just hoping we could–"
Natalie lowered her voice. "There's no we. Not as friends. Not as more. We're done, Finley."
With that, Natalie let herself be led out of the lunchroom.
She ignored most of what Principal Stoll told her during the next 15 minutes of lecturing. The end result was three weeks of before-school detention, a cruel trick Stoll had devised to hit his students where it hurt: in their number of hours slept. Natalie ignored two calls from Ted and a call from Dhiraj after she got home from school. When a different number came up, she let herself answer.
"Hello?"
"Few people go viral as often as you, Ms. Dormer," an unfamiliar voice said.
"What can I say? I have a talent for yelling at superheroes. Who is this?"
"Someone who wants to have you for an ally. You asked if you could help. And we're interested."
When Natalie parked her car outside the abandoned factory, she didn't expect to see the lot as full as it was. Three people smiled at her and wished her a good evening as she walked past the other. She returned the gestures with more of a happy grimace than a smile and walked onward. A makeshift sign above the front door pointed out her destination and she willed her legs to move forward. She knew that what could be found beyond that sign was exactly what she needed.
Natalie walked through the door and waited in a line of three. To her left, she saw several classmates laughing together as they built up a true story into fiction. A group of moms to her right were showing either baby or cat pictures to each other on their phones. There was even a group of elderly folks playing checkers in the corner. Natalie was too busy checking out the variety to notice she was the next in line.
"Welcome to Go Home Alien's Treasure Chapter." The perky woman at the table looked proud of every word she'd uttered. "How can I help you, young lady?"
Natalie stood up straight. "I'm Natalie Dormer. I believe you guys are expecting me."
PART TWO
Chapter 12
Natalie realized she must have been a little early to the GHA meeting, as at least a hundred more members showed up to the abandoned factory after she had. She probably couldn't even call it an abandoned factory anymore – after all, the inside looked more like a posh country club than a dilapidated example of the state's crumbling industrial work. The massive space had been broken down into expansive rooms with white walls and chandeliers. She expected the facility would see more wedding guests than factory workers, going forward.
A crowd of parents with their young children gathered around a video monitor. Natalie adjusted her trial member's badge and walked over. The screen showed two teenagers laughing with an upbeat, excessively happy song playing in the background. Natalie recognized them immediately. A graphic on the screen memorialized the Torellos' deaths and intercut a touched-up photograph with the security footage of Ted throwing one of Nigel's goons through the jukebox.
They're teaching everybody to hate Ted, she thought.
Natalie felt a hand on her back. After suppressing her instinct to punch whoever it was, she turned to find herself face-to-face with Travis Conner.
"I'm in that video, you know." Travis tugged at the bandage on his free hand. "It's
being used in every GHA meeting in the U.S. I'm kind of famous."
Natalie wanted to ignore him. She knew exactly how he'd injured that hand, and even though she wasn't speaking to Dhiraj, there was nothing manly about three-on-one odds.
"Fame can be good." Natalie looked away from him and back toward the video, which was starting over from the beginning. "If you're famous for the right reasons."
Travis stood in front of her to block the view. "I've been told I'm supposed to show you around."
"They trust you with that much responsibility?" Natalie let out a chuckle. "You can't even throw a decent right cross."
Travis rubbed his bandage. "You know, I'm surprised you're even here." He placed his hands on Natalie's shoulders. "Using your real name, too. That's bold, seeing as you used to date the 'hero' himself."
Natalie placed Travis' hands back by his sides.
"Trying to be with the new Ted has gotten me stabbed in the back, literally, and double-crossed, figuratively," she said. "I think I'm in the right place."
Travis stuck his lips out a bit as he nodded. "Can I see it?" Travis gestured toward her back.
Natalie raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?"
Travis grinned. "Scars are cool."
Even though she tended to stay away from jocks, the smile helped Natalie understand why Travis rarely found himself without company. The way his face lit up compelled her to comply.
Natalie obliged, turning around and lifting up her shirt just enough to show the scar.
"Ted did that?" Travis asked.
Natalie pulled her shirt down quickly and glared at her peer.
"You know he didn't," Natalie said. "It was Nigel. The murderer who was working with your two friends, one of whom tried to kill Dhiraj with a rock."
Travis looked around in either direction and led Natalie away to a quiet corner. Natalie was surprised to see such concern on his face.
"Hey, you need to be quiet about that kind of stuff here, OK?" Travis looked convinced that someone would discover them at any moment. "I know about Jason and Phil. I realize Ted was only protecting you and your friends."
It didn't seem to add up for Natalie.
"Then why are you here?"
Travis looked at his watch. "We have a few minutes. Why don't I show you around?"
Natalie considered sticking with the crowd. After all, she didn't know what Travis was capable of. Then again, he didn't want to throw her out for speaking the truth about the Torellos. She figured that was a good sign.
Natalie nodded and Travis opened a door to an unpopulated part of the building.
He showed off the building's various renovations, including a state-of-the-art cafeteria, a conference room and several holding cells. The row of cells caught Natalie's attention. With the musty smell and the dim lighting, she wondered if the hall was one of the few parts of the building that had avoided renovation.
"Why would you need these?" she asked.
"If any of our members go out of bounds, we give them a little time to cool off." Travis tapped a metal door with his good hand. "The gentleman who threw the green paint balloons spent a couple of hours in this one."
When they reached the door they'd first entered, Natalie stopped her tour guide by the arm.
"I appreciate you showing me around, but you haven't told me why you're willing to lie about the Torellos."
The mild smile on Travis' face went away. He let a shallow breath out of his nose.
"Jason and Phil's parents needed something to latch onto." Travis paced away from Natalie and back. "I'd been over their house a hundred times. The movement gave them exactly what they wanted: someone to blame. It's a lot easier to blame Ted than something you can't see."
Natalie watched Travis as he moved back and forth. She wasn't sure what made the sympathy rise up inside, but her once-brash tone had faded to sincere.
"I'm sorry they had to deal with that, but why are you here if you know the truth? You know that Ted isn't an alien."
Travis chuckled. When he did, Natalie could see his slightly crooked smile. She found herself kind of liking it.
"I was in kindergarten with Ted. I know he's not an alien. GHA isn't nefarious or evil. It's about pride and safety for people who are afraid of change."
They shared a moment of eye contact before a knock on the door startled the both of them. A scrawny classmate of theirs by the name of Nick poked his head around.
"It's time to meet about Operation Home Front." Nick turned his rat-like face toward Natalie. "What's she doing here?"
Travis walked up to Natalie with a knowing smirk. He took her hand. She felt a pang of nervousness in her stomach. Natalie knew Travis had hurt Dhiraj, but she didn't want him to go away. When he moved his face toward hers, she could have pushed, punched or kicked him so he never tried anything like that again. Instead, she let him. The chance to feel something like she'd felt with Ted was too good to pass up. His lips parted and they shared a deep kiss. Natalie closed her eyes and put her hand around the back of Travis' neck. The way his mouth moved made her feel alive. When he pulled away from her, Natalie kept her hand on his neck.
"She's a special guest." Travis gave her other hand a squeeze. "I've got to meet with some of the higher-ups about an outreach thing. Find you after the meeting?"
Natalie smiled and let a small sigh escape her lips. Travis seemed to enjoy her reaction a lot more than Nick did. The rat-lookalike gave Natalie one last wrinkle of his nose before the two GHA youth leaders exited. Natalie leaned against the wall and tried to dissect what just happened.
He's terrible. Why did I even let him near me?
Natalie wondered if Ted was right that being alone was getting to her. She ignored the thought and walked back into the main area. Chairs had been set up for some kind of presentation, and Natalie found an empty one toward the back. The seats were pointed toward a makeshift stage and a man who seemed to think he was important. When he spoke at the microphone, the tone in his voice was one of vanity and self-congratulation.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you have gone above and beyond the call of duty tonight," he said. "Your recent recruiting efforts have gained us more than 200 local members. Give yourselves a round of applause."
To describe the clapping as thunderous would be selling it short. Fanatical might be the better word, with a few hollers thrown in for good measure. The man at the front of the room held up his hand, and the crowd grew silent.
"Since Ted Finley has emerged with powers seemingly plucked straight from the devil, we've lost a local landmark and several jobs in the process." The man moved across the front, as if trying to connect with every row and column of the group before him. "We've also lost two teens who were very near and dear to our hearts."
Natalie wasn't sure if the man had seen much of the last few years at high school, but the closest the Torellos got to most people's hearts was when they were punching them in the chest.
He continued.
"Truth be told, we don't know what Ted can do. We've seen that he can move objects with his mind, turning anything into a weapon. But who knows what else he can do? Can he control people's minds? Turn a safe area into a radioactive wasteland? And if he can do more than meets the eye, how do we know that he's on our side?"
The man stopped his pacing. "Until we know more, Ted Finley needs to go."
The last bit got a rise out of the crowd. Natalie considered how her life in Treasure would change if Ted were gone. She had trouble convincing herself that it wouldn't be much, much simpler.
"I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that with your help, we will get Ted out of Treasure and protect you and your families from the menace that he has wrought."
Natalie joined into this round of applause, which matched the fervor of the first. She wondered what Ted would think if he saw her clapping at a man who wanted to uproot and dispose of him.
She resolved to no longer think of Ted's feelings and sat on the edge of her chair to listen to the
rest of the speech.
Chapter 13
Ted flipped through his old social media photos using his mind to control the keyboard. Erica had told him to practice using his powers for fine motor skills whenever possible. She didn't say he couldn't use that practice to look at pictures of his ex-girlfriend. Dhiraj had taken many of the shots during multiple third-wheel date situations. Ted kept flipping back to a picture of Natalie sitting in his lap at a bowling alley with a goofy smile pasted on her face.
We were happy, he thought. She was happy.
Ted kept the picture up on his screen and leaned back in his computer chair. While Natalie was his current top concern, he had a lot that he was still trying to process. There was a growing mob of people who hated him and wanted him to get out of town. The federal government was willing to help him deal with the problem if he left his normal life to fight bad guys full time. And he still had yet to secure his girlfriend as his date to prom.
He was so lost in his thoughts that when his mother knocked on his bedroom door, the computer chair fell completely backward. Ted stopped himself from falling before the chair reached the ground. His mother walked in to see him hovering several inches over the carpet.
"You know, I'm not sure if I'm every going to get used to that." Ted's mom picked up a few stray socks and tossed them into the hamper. "I've called you down for dinner three times. What's going on?"
Ted floated the chair and himself back to an upright position and then swiveled to face her.
"Natalie hates me. The GHA hates me. I still need to ask Erica to prom. I'm overloaded."
Ted put his head in his hands and felt his mother walking toward him. She put her hand on his knee.
"Natalie will never hate you," she said. "These GHA people are scared of the unknown. Your father and I are ignoring them, and we think you should, too."
Ted looked up from his lap. "What do you mean you're ignoring them?"