Then it was my turn. I didn’t have my cape on, but my super speed still worked nicely. I taped up that basket before that mean, old cat could escape. The cat still hissed, but it could not escape the hold of the mighty duct tape.
“We did it!” Li yelled.
Princess Lady Diva started climbing down the tree, and I helped her. She sure seemed mad though. Then I saw she was bleeding. “Are you okay?”
“You weren’t supposed to look! You made me visible again, Felix!”
“But I think the cat noticed you before that,” Li said. “It was making a bunch of angry noises.”
“Of course it was,” she yelled. “It was a dumb plan. Cats have noses. They can smell; animals smell better than humans, Felix!”
I didn’t think about all that. I thought my plan was flawless, but I made a big mistake. “I’m sorry I got you hurt.” I felt terrible.
She calmed down. “Let’s just finish the mission so I can go get a bandage from your mom.”
I ran to my backyard and got a red wagon so we didn’t have to carry the angry cat home. It gave up its wicked ways by the time I got the wagon. It was a nice and normal cat by the time we got it home. It didn’t even make a fuss when Li took it out of the basket.
“Thank you guys so much!” Li sure was excited, and he should have been. He was the first person to ever witness true awesomeness. “I’m not gonna forget this. Ever!”
I picked up my cape and put it on so I could do one final heroic superhero pose for him. Then I made my voice really deep. “It was no problem, citizen!”
Princess Lady Diva smiled and did her superhero pose too. “Keep that thing on a leash next time.”
Li nodded while he held his cat in his arms. “Bye!”
I had a grin that stretched across my whole face on the way back to my house. Princess Lady Diva wasn’t so happy. She kept holding her arm and looking at her scratches. “It stings.”
I really did feel bad. I should have been the one to climb the tree. Princess Lady Diva wasn’t super strong or invincible like me. I shouldn’t have put her life at risk. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”
“Hmm…” She thought about it for a second and then she smiled. “You could kiss my booboo and make it all better.”
“You want me to kiss your scratches?”
“No!” She tapped her cheek. “Kiss me right here. I bet it’ll be better than when Mom does it.”
I didn’t get why kissing her cheek would make her arm feel better, but I did know that when Mom kissed my booboos, I always felt way better. I owed it to Princess Lady Diva to help her out. “Stand still.”
Then she got all red and giggly. “Oh, Felix!”
I hadn’t ever kissed a girl who wasn’t my mom or grandma. I only kissed my aunts when they told me to. I liked to avoid them because their lipstick would get all over my cheeks! I didn’t know if kissing Princess Lady Diva was right. Something about it seemed yucky.
But if it was wrong, I was sure she wouldn’t have asked me to do it. I closed my eyes and pecked her on the cheek as fast as I could.
Then she started giggling again and then she touched her cheek. “I think you might have healing powers too.”
My eyes got real big and I started to gasp. “Really?” I never even would have thought about it.
“I mean I still got scratches,” she smiled, “but I sure do feel really good.”
I wondered if I did have some kind of healing powers. I obviously couldn’t heal a lot, but I could help take pain away. “So do you think I should kiss sick people?”
Princess Lady Diva took my hand and held it kind of tight. “Your healing powers are so limited. I bet it could only work on people you have a connection with.”
“What do you mean?” I asked confused.
“You know! Like me and your mom.”
I guess that made a lot of sense. I didn’t know if I wanted to use my healing powers a lot anyway. When I kissed Princess Lady Diva, I felt all mushy inside. I didn’t feel sick or anything. It was just a weird feeling.
Mom was waiting for us by the stairs. I thought she was gonna be mad because I left the basket over at Li’s house on an accident, but she was smiling really hard. “Aw!”
Then I noticed Mom was looking at our hands holding. I suddenly felt embarrassed and tried to take my hand back kind of sly like a fox, but Princess Lady Diva still had a tight grip. It was actually starting to hurt a little bit.
Then she saw the cut. “Kiara, did you get hurt?”
She shrugged. “Li’s cat scratched me.”
Mom started to freak out a little bit after that. She made us play inside and made sure she cleaned Princess Lady Diva’s scratch before putting like a million bandages on it. Then she wouldn’t leave us alone. She always had her eyes on us, like we were babies or bad kids.
We still had fun the rest of the afternoon. It had been a good day for us. We helped someone, and I wasn’t going back to that dumb kid who hit his head and got laughed at by the whole playground. I was gonna be a real hero. I knew that I could really do it.
Chapter 10
Superkid and Princess Lady Diva were officially in the hero business. We did lots of cool stuff around my street and hers when we had play dates. We would help old people cross the street. We would clean up trash around the neighborhood, just in case Dr. Clutter was a real fiend. We helped Girl Scouts sell cookies so they could raise money for homeless kids. It was real heroic stuff. We also helped Kiara’s aunt pass out flyers for a blood drive. We went to every single house on every single street she took us to, except for one. Kiara had a creepy neighbor; I was sure he was a vampire, so he wasn’t invited to the blood drive. I was never gonna use my powers to help the forces of evil.
We might have been super cool superheroes during the weekend, but we were normal Felix and Kiara at school. Things were actually better than normal. Brock and his friends didn’t bother me ever since we defeated them. They barely looked at us. Brock must have been really scared.
I was actually starting to become a cool kid at school again. The parents were talking about how nice I was, and then the teachers heard about it. Ms. Hucklebee gave me gold stars every chance she could. I was worried that she still had feelings for me, so I didn’t have any alone time with her. Dad said it was never nice to lead a girl on. I didn’t want to have to break her heart or get cooties.
Other kids started to warm up to me and Kiara, but most of the time it was just the two of us. She liked it that way, and I liked spending time with her.
I was worried about one thing that could ruin my reputation as an upcoming star. We had a career day coming up, and Dad was gonna come to my class and talk about what he did. When the kids in my class found out that my dad took boys and girls and told them not to eat candy and drilled in their teeth, I just knew that I would be crowned a freak. Then there was another thing too. My dad might have been the king of adults, but he didn’t know the first thing about kids. He didn’t know how to have fun, and if you can’t have fun, kids will eat you alive! Kids are tough.
I wanted Mom to go. When I told Mom and Dad about it, I told them together so she’d ask to go and it wouldn’t hurt Dad’s feelings. Dad said he’d go and Mom said she couldn’t. She said she didn’t have a job. She must have been confused, because she was always doing stuff and she always had some money. Wasn’t that what grownups did? They do boring stuff and have money? Mom could do boring and fun. Dad couldn’t!
It was a good thing I had powers, because it was probably gonna take every single one I had to force him to be cool!
Then the dreaded day came. It seemed like a normal day, but Dad had on his white coat that he used at work. White coats were only cool when you got to mess with chemicals and explode stuff. Everybody would probably think he was a doctor—someone who saves lives—and he’d have to disappoint them.
“Do you have to wear that?”
“What?” Then he laughed about it.
&nb
sp; Mom came to the door and kissed Dad on the lips. It was pretty yucky. “Isn’t that adorable? He’s already embarrassed, and he’s not even a teenager.” Mom thought it was really funny.
I didn’t like what she said, and I could tell that Dad really didn’t like it either. “I and my boy are going to have a great day.” Then he looked down at me. “Aren’t we, Felix?”
As long as my dad followed my lead, we’d have a perfect day! “Sure, Dad.”
When we got to my classroom, a lot of grownups were there. Plenty of extra chairs were available, and Ms. Hucklebee had the classroom set up nicely. We had prepared for Career Day all week long. We did special assignments and drew pictures of what we wanted to be when we grew up. Kiara drew a picture of herself as a doctor. I figured she’d want to save lives. It was too bad that she couldn’t draw a picture of herself as Princess Lady Diva. We couldn’t draw our superhero selves or our parents might get suspicious.
When my dad saw my picture, he stopped and looked at it for a while. He didn’t smile or anything. I didn’t know what his face really meant. “You want to be a police officer, Felix?”
I shrugged. “I kind of didn’t make up my mind. A fireman is always nice. A doctor is always nice too.”
“You want to help people?”
I nodded. Maybe helping people wasn’t what I wanted at first. I wanted to be special. After helping Li, everything changed. I liked making people happy and the world a better place.
“I used to have a lot of big dreams like you when I was little.”
“Then how did you end up becoming a dentist?”
Dad laughed to himself a little bit. I don’t know why. It was a serious question. “There were plenty of incentives when I became a dentist.”
“What’s that word you said?”
“Incentive. It’s like a reason why you do something. It’s like when your mother tells you that you can eat dessert if you eat all your vegetables.”
I hated eating my vegetables! Mom was lucky that ice cream was so amazing. I sure did get what the word meant though. Ice cream could make you do crazy things. “What was the incentive to become a dentist?”
“I wanted to make good money.”
I liked money fine, but I would want a job that was gonna be really fun. Dad had to go to school for forever to be a dentist, and they didn’t color in grownup school. Nobody seemed really happy at his work. I didn’t like going there at all.
If I had to grow up, I didn’t want to be miserable just to make some money. “Is it all about money?” I asked Dad.
“Most things are, but it’s the reasons why people need money that are important. I needed money to take care of my family.”
I had a lot of stuff that I wanted. I had nice toys, and I got to eat candy as long as I was brushing my teeth really good. When I asked for my shoes, I got them. I had a bunch of stuff that made me happy. I was starting to wonder if money was the best incentive. “Mom says that money doesn’t buy happiness.”
“It doesn’t,” Dad said, “but it buys certain safeties.”
I looked up at my picture of the policeman. He looked really heroic, because he was saving a baby from a burning car. My dad didn’t do anything like that, so I didn’t think his job was really important. “Do you like your job?” I asked.
“Yes. I do.” He smiled and bent down so he could look me right in the eye. “I know I don’t save lives like your picture, but I help people smile. Sometimes that’s the greatest super power a human being can have.”
Smiles were cool. They made me feel better when I was down in the dumps. I guess it was an okay power for such an uncool guy.
I lost track of time and forgot to sit in my seat before the bell rang. Dad and a bunch of other parents were still looking at pictures for a while, and Ms. Hucklebee didn’t say anything. Why did the parents get the special rules?
Kiara wasn’t in class yet, and she didn’t come in until ten minutes after the bell. She came in with her dad, and they both sat in chairs across from us. Our dads sure did look silly sitting at our desks. They were way too old to be in school.
Kiara leaned over and whispered in my ear. “My dad is always late. It doesn’t matter where he goes.”
Then her dad started grunting, which meant that Kiara was doing something he didn’t like. I don’t think Kiara’s dad liked me all that much. He didn’t really talk to me, and he always wanted us to not be too close when we played together. He didn’t want us to be friends at all.
Our dads didn’t really talk a lot or hang out. Mom was usually the one who took me to hang out with Kiara, and her mom would always be home. Our dads barely knew each other, but they didn’t say anything besides, “Hello.”
A big whistle came from the classroom, and I realized it was Ms. Hucklebee trying to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s begin Career Day.”
Lots of parents spoke. Some parents came in school at different times. Dad didn’t need to be there all day. He could have come in sometime after lunch, but I heard Mom saying that if he didn’t get the whole day off work, he might not make it at all.
Most of the parents were really boring. I don’t remember all of the things that they said they did. Some of them had counting jobs and some worked at stores. Most of them were stupid though. Who starts a clothing store or sells cars?
A police officer was there. I asked him a bunch of questions. He had never pulled a baby from a burning car before, but he said he stopped plenty of bad guys. I wished I could have told him about all the super things I did. I knew he’d be impressed.
When Brock’s dad got up to speak, I started to really pay attention. I wanted to know what kind of horrible things Brock’s dad did for a living. For Brock to be so mean, he probably did something bad like killing puppies.
All the kids introduced their parents, so I had to hear that stupid Brock talk. “My dad builds stuff. Last year, I built a tree house with dad and my two brothers. It was the best time ever, and now I always have a place to play!”
It was weird. Brock’s dad wasn’t the evil villain I thought he would be. Brock was also acting weird. He was being nice and really happy. He was a whole new person with his dad around. I guess he didn’t want his dad to know he was a bully or something.
Having a tree house must have been nice. I always wanted one when I saw one on TV. I could have a private place to meet with Kiara, and we could keep a bunch of secret stuff in there. I would love it.
Brock’s dad talked about his job some more, but I got distracted. I kept thinking about how amazing my tree house was gonna be. I would keep treats and toys inside, and it would have a secret password to get in. Then when it was warm enough, I would sleep in it.
After Brock’s dad left, it was time for lunch. Kiara’s dad took her out for lunch, so it was pretty much only me and Dad in the cafeteria. I didn’t eat alone with him a lot. Sometimes when he picked me up, he took me places. He would always have a newspaper, so it was kind of weird.
I didn’t know what to say, but he was busy eating anyway. I think all the grownups ate faster than the kids, and Dad had a big lunch. Mom made him a really big sandwich and some tortilla soup. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Mom made sure to cut off the yucky crust. Dad was already digging into our cookies by the time I was finished with my sandwich.
“You eat a lot.” That’s what I told my dad. I didn’t mean to. It was just a thought I had.
He wasn’t upset or anything. He kind of laughed. “When you grow up, your appetite tends to get bigger, especially if you’re a boy.”
Then I thought about it, and that didn’t seem to be true. “But Mom’s dad, Grandpa Emillio, doesn’t eat as much as you. He eats a little bit and falls asleep in front of the TV.”
Dad laughed again. “Your body isn’t the same when you start getting really old.”
“But you’re really old.”
Dad covered his face and started making some noises. I thought maybe he started crying. Then he took h
is hands down and laughed some more. “I’m really not that old, Felix.”
“Really?” I didn’t think Dad was a liar, but he wasn’t really that much fun. Old people weren’t fun. He usually read the newspaper and watched the news when the best cartoons were on.
“I’m only a few years older than your mother,” he said. “We’re actually both pretty young to have all the things that we have.”
If Dad were really as young as he said, then he needed to do something really fun to prove it to me. “Dad,” I said. I knew what I wanted, but I was kind of shy about asking.
“What is it, Felix?”
“Well…” It was hard to look at him while I asked him about it, but I pushed through it anyway. “Do you think maybe we could build a tree house together, like Brock and his dad?”
Dad made a funny face. He wasn’t happy or angry. I don’t think he was upset or scared. He looked kind of shy. “Felix…” Dad never stuttered or didn’t know what to say. It was his thing. “I’m not really good with my hands.”
I got really worried. “Don’t you put your hands and drills in people’s mouths all the time?”
Then he shushed me until I quieted down. I didn’t mean to be loud, but he had put his hand in my mouth before.
“I am good with my hands in certain tasks, but not when it comes to building and crafts.” Then he sighed really heavy. “I can’t help you build a tree house.”
I can’t say I really expected him to do it. I figured he wouldn’t. He doesn’t have a lot of fun. He doesn’t really have a lot of time to himself either. I thought it would be nice though. Maybe if I let him know how important it was to me, he would do it. “We can ask for help or we can look it up. I just wanna have it.”
Then Dad got a really focused look in his eye and he promised me. “I’m going to get you a tree house.”
I got so happy! Dad was gonna pull through! “It’ll be so cool!”
“I’ll pay the best guys to do it,” he said.
I really did want it, but Brock and his dad had something special. He was really excited about building his tree house with his dad. They must have had a good time, but Brock was evil. His dad must have been evil too. If they could find happiness, then I would have the greatest time in the whole universe with my dad. After all, my dad is only boring—not evil.
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