“Whoa,” I whispered.
There were only three doors in the entire space, not including the main entrance. The first door I opened was a bedroom, obviously the one occupied by Andy. He was right. There was a stack of clothing lying on the bed. I was thrilled to see that it wasn’t something stuffy but a casual tee and jeans.
After a long shower in the decadence of his single bathroom, I tugged on the jeans, though they were a little tight for my taste, and headed out into the main area again. Andy was at the bar, snacking on a giant stack of pancakes. He shoved a plate in my direction and I sat down with one last glance at my phone.
“Don’t worry, Travis will get you there on time. Danielle makes the best pancakes in the world.”
I was famished and didn’t argue. They could have tasted like cardboard and I wouldn’t have noticed. I scarfed them down. After a few bites, I slowed down so I could talk to Andy.
“Dude,” I said through a mouthful. “Why would you ever want to leave this place? Forget college, man, just stay here and live like a king. This apartment is bigger and better than my parents’ first house!”
He chuckled. “It’s nice, I’ll give you that. But it’s still my parents’. I don’t want to mooch off them my entire life.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, thinking of the trust fund I’d declined until I was older. “I can understand that. Still,” I said, whistling as I looked around. “This place is something else.”
He laughed. “One of these days, we’ll take a break from playing superhero and just chill for a while. I’ve got just about every game there is.”
A knock at the door made me jump, but Andy just grinned as he went to open the door. Travis appeared on the other side and stepped in.
“Ready?” he asked me.
I nodded and jumped off the bar stool. “Hey, thanks for everything, man. I’m gonna need to rest up after school, but you want to hook up later?”
“Absolutely. I’ve got a full day of picking egg out of my jetpack anyway,” he said.
Travis spun away from me and looked at him. “Did Buzz do something? I knew I should have stayed. I’m going to kick that little shit’s ass. He thinks he’s so tough now, but just wait until I get him alone.”
“Easy, killer,” said Andy with a laugh. “You should know better than to let him get under your skin. Another year and I’m out of here, remember? Eighteen can’t come soon enough, am I right?”
Travis, who couldn’t have been more than twenty-three, nodded his head in agreement. I turned around to unplug my phone and grab my book bag, but not before I saw a brief but strange look cross between them. I didn’t have time to think about it. I was going to be late for school if I didn’t get out the door. I knew that the school was closer to their house than my grandparents’ apartment, but I wanted to get there early and see Hen. I jogged ahead of Travis and down to the waiting car. When he followed behind me and cleared his throat, I looked up.
He shook his head. “Clients ride in the back.”
“Oh, yeah?” I muttered. “Good thing I’m not your client. Sorry, man, I’m not riding back there and letting you chauffer me around. Front seat is just fine.”
“Not an option.”
“All right,” I said with a shrug. “But I get carsick if I eat, and Andy just force-fed me about a dozen pancakes.”
He glared at me and jerked his head for me to get in the front. I smiled a little and slid in next to him. “Cool, can I pick the station?”
The look he shot me told me that he wasn’t appreciating my sense of humor. “Put on your seatbelt.”
“Sure thing,” I said, doing as he demanded. “So, how long have you been with Andy?”
“What are you talking about? He’s my client.”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “That’s what I meant. What were you thinking?”
I could see a bead of sweat on his brow. “I’ve worked for his family for six months now.”
“Huh, so you and Andy are pretty close then?”
“It’s my job to be close to him,” he muttered.
“So, you know everything there is to know then?” I asked carefully.
“If you’re wondering if I know about the jetpack, of course I do.”
“Anything else?” I asked carefully.
He shook his head. “Not that I’m going to discuss with you. So far, you don’t seem like you’re after his money or blueprints, but I don’t know you that well yet, and neither does he. I hope that I can trust you to be a friend to him, but that has yet to be seen.”
“Well,” I said with a heavy sigh as we pulled into the school. “I certainly haven’t made his life any easier.”
Hen waved to me from the sidewalk, a brief moment of confusion on her face as she recognized Travis.
“I’m not worried about your fling with his brother’s ex. I think that we both know what I’m talking about. If anything happens to him because you think you’re some kind of hero, you’ll have me to answer to.”
I glared at him. “I didn’t ask Andy to come along. Hell, I tried to talk him out of it, and you can ask him that yourself. He’s a lot stronger than you give him credit for.” I ground my teeth together. “And another thing. I expected his parents to treat him like some kind of wallflower, but not you, not after hearing how highly he speaks of you.”
Without another word, I got out of the car and slammed the door. I was already on edge from not sleeping. The last thing I needed was someone trying to tell me whom I could and couldn’t be friends with.
“Hey, new ride?” asked Hen.
I did my best to plaster a smile on my face as I nodded. “Andy lent it to me. We got a little carried away last night working on projects, so I just crashed at his house.”
Her eyes grew wide. “You mean, with Buzz home too?”
“Have you seen his place? We weren’t exactly rubbing elbows with his brother and the goonies. Plus, we were out in the woods most of the night, experimenting.”
“Andy was always so good at all things mechanical. I’m happy to see that you’re a friend to him,” she said, her voice a little sad.
“Hey,” I said to her as I ran my hand across her shoulder. “What’s wrong? You just got sad all of a sudden. Is it because of Buzz?”
“No!” she exclaimed quickly. “I won’t ever shed a tear over that pig again. I just . . .” She paused, picking her words carefully. “I love that you and Andy are friends, but how can I ever go over there again? I mean, I broke up with Buzz and now I’m dating his brother’s friend?”
I swallowed hard, her words running through my mind at a million miles per hour. She did just say we were dating, right? Maybe sleep deprivation was harsher than I thought and I was losing my mind or hearing things. Dating? I thought that we were just studying together, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I cleared my throat, the blush reaching my cheeks as she wrapped her arm through mine and starting walking into the building.
My mind flew back to the problem at hand. “Listen, Hen. I don’t think that anyone will give you grief if you come out there. Plus, it might be fun to piss off Buzz a little more. Andy’s parents don’t really seem like the attentive type, and after this morning, I don’t plan on doing anything to make Buzz’s life any easier.”
“What happened this morning?” she asked carefully.
I went into details of the egg and flour attack as we walked. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t ignore the sideways glances that we got from just about everyone we passed in the hallway. She grew tense.
“Hey,” I whispered to her. “If you’re having second thoughts about this, it’s okay. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”
Hen turned to me and her eyes softened at once. “Oh, Benji, it’s not you at all. It’s me! I can’t believe how much I let Buzz get away with over the years! He’s so horrible to poor Andy. Do you think Andy will ever forgive me?”
I smiled and pulled her closer, wrapping her into my arms and
ignoring the rest of the world. “If I know Andy, he will welcome you back with bells on.”
Chapter 20
By the end of the day, word had spread like wildfire that Hen and I were an item. I was just as shocked as everyone else, to be honest, but each time I saw her after class, the sweet reality settled in a little more. Andy messaged me during the last period of class and asked if I needed a ride back to my apartment. I was about to tell him ‘yes’ when I saw Hen waiting for me at the bus stop. Buzz was storming off to get into a private car, and I quickly shot Andy a message declining. I promised him I’d come out later that night.
I went into the bus first and sat down in my regular seat. To Hen’s credit, she sat down next to me without once looking back at her cheerleading friends near the back.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
She nodded, but I could tell there was more to it than that. “Hey, you can talk to me.”
Hen smiled. “I know. Some of the girls were giving me a hard time at practice for moving on from Buzz.”
“You mean being with me?” I asked pointedly.
Hen nodded. “But I don’t care. I told you last night that I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that anymore. There is this art school that’s taking new applicants.”
“Then I don’t see what the problem is. Let one of those other girls keep Buzz happy. You’ve got the real prize now,” I said to her playfully.
“I know I do,” she said with soft eyes. “Hey, do you want to come back to my place and study? Whatever you’re doing is working. I didn’t feel left behind at all today in class.”
I wanted to tell her yes. There wasn’t much else I could think of doing besides spending some alone time with her, but I knew that I had to get some sleep and meet up with Andy.
“You don’t know how great that sounds, but I’ve already promised Andy I would come out and help with a few projects. Of course, now I’m not so sure that I want to do anything besides follow you around like a puppy,” I said carefully. “But he’s been a good friend to me. I owe it to him to keep my word.”
She wasn’t mad. In fact, she laced her fingers through mine and leaned her head on my shoulder. “You really are wonderful, do you know that? Not many men would give up the chance to be alone with me for a friend. I can’t believe I was such an idiot to ignore you for so long.”
I chuckled softly. “It was only a couple of weeks. I survived okay, plus, you’re the reason Andy and I really hit it off. I like that kid. He’s smart.”
“Yeah, he is. Hopefully, that bodyguard of his knows that too,” she muttered.
“Travis?” I asked. “What’s going on with that?”
She looked at me knowingly. “Seriously? Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it. I don’t know how his parents are so blind.”
I shrugged. “I guess I haven’t really paid attention to it that much. He’s my friend. I don’t want to talk about him like that.”
Hen nodded. “Okay.”
I could feel the chill between us as she said the word. She was so used to gossiping that it would take some time for her to realize that wasn’t the type of person I was. Of course I knew about Andy and Travis. That morning had been the nail in the coffin of my curiosity, but it wasn’t any of my business. If Andy wanted to tell me what was going on, he would. Until then, I just wanted to stay out of it.
I squeezed her hand and smiled. “Hey, I don’t want you to think that I don’t care about you or want to talk, okay? I just don’t want to speculate about Andy. I know how it feels to be on the other end of gossip, and it’s not fun.”
“I guess I never looked at it that way,” she said honestly. “That must suck to have people talking about you.”
“Stay with me, kid,” I said playfully, “and you’ll find out.”
“I don’t care. I like hanging out with you. So, will you text me later?” she asked as we pulled up to her stop.
I nodded. “You bet I will. We will get together tomorrow, okay?”
“Sounds perfect,” Hen said as she slipped out of the seat and off the bus.
I took a breath to steady myself. It had been one hell of a wild twenty-four hours. As the bus came to the stop in front of my apartment complex, I leapt from my seat and jogged up the steps. I was running on fumes at that point, and I knew that my grandmother would want to visit. I owed her that much. When I walked into the apartment, she was sitting at the kitchen table. My grandfather was snoring quietly on the couch. As always, she smiled when I walked in and sat down.
“I was wondering if you were going to come back tonight,” she jabbed with a grin.
“Yeah.” I blushed. “Sorry I didn’t come back last night. I was at Andy’s and totally lost track of time. I’m not really comfortable navigating the city at night yet.”
“Andy?” she said skeptically. “Sure there wasn’t a girl involved?”
“Um,” I said. “I went to study with one, but after that, I went to Andy’s. You don’t have to worry about me, Grandma. I’m not going to lie to you about whom I’m with. Andy is pretty cool. I think you’d like him.”
“And the girl?”
I blushed. I couldn’t help it. Every time I thought about Hen, a thrill shot through my body. “She’s cool too.”
“Just friends?” she pressed.
“Well,” I said, swallowing dryly. “Um, I’m not really sure what we are right now.”
“Ahh, well, that didn’t take you very long, now did it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that you’re making friends and have a lady friend. I just don’t want you to get distracted. You’re the one who told me you were gone as soon as you graduated.”
“I know,” I said quickly. “I don’t know. This city is growing on me. I finally found a place that isn’t covered in smog too. Kinda the best of both worlds, if you think about it.”
“No smog? Are you sure you were still in New York?” she asked.
My grandfather snorted loudly and woke himself up, making both of us jump.
“Shit,” I muttered.
Her eyes grew wide. “Now is this the friend’s or girlfriend’s influence on you? Language like that?”
“I’m sorry,” I said carefully. “We were up pretty late. All I can think about right now is getting some sleep.”
She reached over and patted my hand. It was becoming a familiar and comforting sensation. “Go get some sleep, honey. I have to take your grandpa to the doctor for a checkup anyway. I’m happy you’re making friends though.”
“Thanks, Grandma,” I muttered, barely able to keep my eyes open.
I left my book bag on the floor and went into my room. I don’t know if the door closed behind me or not because all I could focus on was the comforting bed that was calling my name. In a zombie state, I plugged in my phone, killed the volume, and collapsed onto the bed. I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
“Hey, man,” said Andy. “You awake over there?”
“Yeah,” I said with a yawn. Scratching my eyes, I took the coffee he had in his hand and slowly sipped it. “I just need some caffeine to wake me up the rest of the way.”
“Any problems with your grandparents? I bet they aren’t thrilled you’re gone so much.”
“Nope, they went to bingo, much to my grandpa’s protest,” I said with a grin. “They won’t get back until probably one, and I plan on beating them home. That still gives us a few hours to practice.”
“Well I think you’re going to like what I worked on today,” he said with a grin as we climbed out of the car and walked into his part of the garage. “They aren’t perfect yet. I only had a few hours to work on them before I crashed too, but give me a few more days of tinkering and they will be on point.”
Andy ran ahead of me like an excited puppy. I followed behind as he entered a passcode on the large black box that was sitting on the table. It hadn’t been there when I’d left a few hours ago. He reached inside and pulled out a full-length bodysuit. At first, I thought it was a scuba div
ing uniform, but the material was noticeably lighter. It had a glistening black exterior that seemed to flow through the air as he showed me the front.
“What is that?” I said. A large purple bolt of lightning was sewn professionally across the chest.
“Well, it’s a new material I’ve been toying around with. I was going to see if I could make peace with the government and create a lightweight but customizable bodysuit for elite soldiers to wear.”
“What now?” I gulped.
“Yeah, then I realized what a cool design it was and reconsidered. The government would never spend that kind of money. So, I thought,” he continued, “why not customize it for you?”
“I just meant the bolt across the chest.”
“Right. Well, I couldn’t let you go flying around in all black. You aren’t batman, after all. Plus, I know you hate that name, so I started dropping a few hints around the internet that you were called Strike.”
“Strike?” I said, instantly liking it. “That’s a hell of a lot better than Electric Boy.”
“I thought so too. So, let me show you how this bad boy works. I made one for myself too. It’s basically the same with a few more bells and whistles.” He grinned. “Not all of us have cool superpowers, you know.”
He lifted the material in his hands as he continued. “So, the entire suit is protective armor. The soles make shoes obsolete, and the entire structure grounds out electricity. You won’t be surprised by any electrical surges trying to link into you while in action.”
“That’s amazing!” I said. “And you did this in one afternoon?”
Andy shrugged. “It’s not like it’s hard. Oh!” he said. Draping the bodysuit over my arms, he spun around and grabbed two more pieces made of the same materials out of the chest. “So, you’ve got a matching facemask and a cape!”
“A cape?” I grumbled. It was actually pretty cool looking. The outside was the black material but the inside was the same vibrant purple as the bolt of lightning. “I don’t really need a cape, do I?”
The City Superhero (Book 1): Rise Of The Super Strike Page 15