Not Your Villain

by C. B. Lee

  Emma shakes her head. “Go to work, both of you. Bells and I are gonna watch The Gentleman Detective.”

  Bells lets Emma tug him toward her bedroom. Around the holoprojector, she’s built a pillow fort of large, squashy cushions, complete with hanging sheets and fairy lights.

  “Pajama time!” Emma singsongs and starts to shrug out of her T-shirt.

  Bells blushes, turns around, and busies himself with the projector. This isn’t new; they’ve changed in front of each other before, but it feels new. He tries to not to think about Emma standing in her underwear as her T-shirt and jeans are tossed into the laundry pile. Failing, he blushes even harder, and then grabs his bag and dashes to her en-suite bathroom.

  “I’m gonna change in the bathroom,” Bells says, looking at the ceiling, and then shuts the door. It takes him but a few seconds to change into his own T-shirt and sweatpants, and then he counts the tiles on the floor. He waits for a good two minutes, and, to his relief, Emma’s fully dressed. She’s wearing a too-big T-shirt and fluffy fleece pants and sitting on her bed with a series of files displayed on her holoprojector.

  Emma pats the spot next to her. “Hey, okay, so I’ve got the new episode, which you haven’t seen, because no one has seen it but Mama just started getting the screeners and I was like, ‘pretty, pretty, please can I get the file for Bells’ and here it is!” Emma gestures proudly.

  Bells is suddenly aware of how different this feels without Jess: too close, too intimate. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea; maybe I’ll be more comfortable if—

  “Come on, lie down. I’ll start it. Want some popcorn?”

  “I’m good.” Bells flops on the bed next to Emma so their shoulders knock.

  “You okay?” Emma asks.

  “Yeah,” Bells says. “Is this, um, weird for you?”

  Emma raises her eyebrow. “Why would it be weird?”

  “I—don’t know.”

  “Oh, I get it. You miss Jess and think she’s missing out.” Emma nods. “Well, you know some of these episodes go over her head; you know she would ask you to explain some of the plot points.” It’s the usual friendly teasing, and Bells laughs a little and relaxes.

  He was just nervous, that’s all. Yes, it’s a different vibe, but a nice different.

  Emma rests her head on his shoulder, and Bells throws his arm around her. She curls closer and rests her head perfectly between Bells’ neck and shoulder.

  For so long, Bells has been afraid of telling her, of their friendship changing forever. But change is inevitable, right? And he and Emma have been through so much, from pre-school to schoolyard fights to middle school puberty and even surviving a Captain Orion attack. If she doesn’t feel the same way, then she doesn’t feel the same way. They’ll always be friends. After all, there was that phase when Emma really liked The Hay Hays and Bells didn’t, and when they had that huge fight over Pluto, but they made it through.

  Emma’s eyes close. Soon, her breathing evens out, and she falls asleep. Bells turns down the volume and watches her sleep. He’ll move in a while and get her a pillow, but until then he wants to wait in this moment, this little forever.

  He should tell her how he feels about her. Then he won’t have to wonder what if and spend forever not knowing if they could have gone in that direction.

  But not in this moment.

  Bells closes his eyes, and soon, he too is asleep.

  * * *

  Bells wakes up to the persistent ring of a holocall. He blinks groggily but doesn’t move. Emma is sprawled out on his chest, and he can see his DED shaking furiously on the other side of the room.

  “Nnn, five more minutes,” Emma mumbles.

  The call goes silent, and then Emma’s DED on her wrist chirps. It’s Jess. Bells waves his hand to accept the call, and her smiling contact photo changes to her face in real time, in panic.

  “I’ve been trying to get you guys for the past five minutes! Please! Help, it’s Abby. I don’t know what to do!”

  The next few minutes are a frantic blur. Bells jostles Emma awake, and they stumble out into the storm. Bells tries to calm Jess, talking to her through the staticky call as he holds an umbrella so Emma can charge her car with the emergency battery.

  “She was trying to use her powers, and she says she felt it, and it moved—the cup—she made it wobble, and then she just collapsed!” Jess’ worried hologram wrings her hands.

  “Did she hit her head?” Emma asks. “Is she bleeding? Does she know where she is?”

  Jess shakes her head. “Didn’t hit her head, isn’t bleeding, but she looks really out of it and can’t move,” she says, panning the camera.

  Abby is slumped on the couch; her face is ashen gray. “I… almost had it,” she mutters.

  “Okay,” Bells says. “We’re on our way.”

  “I’ve got the charge up to fifty percent,” Emma says. “That should be enough to get out there and back.”

  “But the whole town is shut down. Where can we go?” Jess asks, wide-eyed.

  “The hospital,” Bells says. “Come on.”

  Emma frowns. “We can’t let them do any tests on her. They’ll know immediately she’s a meta-human. And then they’ll turn her over to the League!”

  Bells opens the car door, gesturing for Emma to get inside. “Are you forgetting who works at the hospital?”

  “Doctors? Nurses? Halebots?”

  “Your mom!” Bells and Jess say at the same time.

  Emma rubs her head. “It’s a really stressful situation, okay!”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon,” Bells tells Jess.

  “Okay—”

  And then Bells’ DED dies.

  With the torrent of rain and the rumble of thunder, the ride is more than a bit terrifying. The car skids and hits the sign that reads, Warning: Now Entering Unmaintained Zone, sending it flying into the night, but Emma just keeps speeding forward.

  They almost miss the turn, but finally get through the canyon. At the last bend, the car lights illuminate a rain-sodden Jess, kicking at Abby’s car.

  The car’s computer tries to boot up. “System starting…” it repeats.

  “That won’t make it go any faster!” he yells at Jess as he tumbles out of the car.

  “It makes me feel better!”

  Jess hugs Bells and Emma. “I didn’t know what to think when the line went dead.”

  “Just ran out of battery,” Bells says. “Were you trying to meet us in town?”

  In the front seat, Abby is groaning, struggling to sit up. Jess tucks a lock of Abby’s hair behind her ear. “Is it getting worse? Are you okay?”

  “Don’t know. Dizzy.” Abby closes her eyes and sways. Definitely not good. She waves weakly at Emma and Bells.

  The three of them help Abby to Emma’s car, and then they speed into the night.

  The hospital is an attractive set of green buildings surrounding a small park with rock formations and a cactus garden. The green comes from swirling patches of algae growing in the water-filled glass walls—one of the town’s many vertical protein farms. Bells always thought the blooming trails of green dancing in the water were pretty, but they seem strange at night, opaque and threatening.

  The lobby is empty, aside from one man talking about his headache to a Halebot hovering near him in the corner. Abby sinks into a chair, and Jess sits next to her.

  Emma eyes dart around. “She recently changed departments. I don’t know where her new one is… Hey, can you tell me where the oncology department is?”

  The Halebot slows to a halt in front of Emma. Unlike MonRobots, the Halebots boast soft features. Their work in medicine is mostly in administration, reception, and taking vitals, and they are the size and cuddliness of pillows. A small panel in the front displays a cheerful, smiling icon. “Hello. What seems to be troubling
you today?”

  “I need to find my mom!”

  The Halebot keeps smiling. “I didn’t quite catch that. Can you repeat your request or select one of the following…”

  “That way!” Jess points at a set of closed doors.

  “Ugh, Halebots,” Abby groans and pushes the fluffy robot aside while it continues to rattle off its list. “They’re good for hugs and taking temperatures, that’s it.”

  “Would you like a hug?” The bot floats toward Abby and adopts a comforting tone.

  “No, get away,” Abby says, pushing the bot. It floats away, undeterred.

  “Your temperature is 100.3 degrees. This is outside the acceptable range. Please follow me to a cubicle, where a nurse will be with you shortly.”

  “Ugh, worst A.I. system ever,” Abby says. “Can’t believe you brought me here. I’m surrounded by talking marshmallows.”

  Bells bites back a laugh. The Halebots are cute, but it’s probably not a good time to say so. “Jess, stay here and watch Abby. Message me if you need anything. Jess, which way?”

  “Right,” Jess says, and directs them to a set of doors. Bells and Emma hurry through to the main hospital. A few doctors hustle past, but they’re too caught up in their work to notice the teens.

  “Mom! Mom!” Emma waves frantically.

  Josephine Gutierrez looks up from the holodisplay in her hands. “Emma? What are you doing here? You should all be home! Didn’t you hear the warning? There’s no power!”

  “It’s Abby,” Bells says. “She’s in the waiting room, and it has to do with—” He lowers his voice to a hushed whisper. “—powers.”

  “Right, right, okay.” Dr. Gutierrez waves over two Halebots and types something into their panels. The Halebots re-form into a fluffy stretcher. “These will follow you to get Abby and then bring you to an empty room. I’ll run some tests there.”

  “How long do you think it’ll take?” Bells asks.

  Emma frowns. “I don’t know.”

  The waiting room’s holoprojector is on, and Bells flicks through the channels until he finally turns off the live feed to look for games, anything to distract them.

  Muttering softly with her arms crossed, Jess paces the hallway.

  Finally, the door opens, and Dr. Gutierrez steps out.

  “Mom!” Emma rushes to Josephine, who hugs her tightly.

  “Well, it looks like your friend is going to be all right. I’m not entirely sure how the meta-powers influenced this. What do you call it when you exhaust yourself?”

  “Being tapped out,” Bells says. “But this is unusual because—”

  Dr. Gutierrez nods. “Yes, Jessica updated me on the situation. Without a way to analyze the serum, I cannot speak to how it’s affecting her. It’s clearly dampening her powers, and her attempts to use them are exhausting her more and more.”

  “But she’s okay?” Jess asks.

  “Yes, she just needs to rest. I’ve given her electrolytes; with some time, she’ll be fine.”

  Abby is pale but alert when they visit her. Jess takes her hand and kisses her forehead. “Don’t do that again,” she says.

  “Eh,” Abby says. “Did you see that cup move?”

  Jess gives her a weak smile and nods fondly. “It did. Just a little.”

  “You scared us there,” Bells says, fluffing up her pillow.

  Emma nods. “You heard what my mom said, right? The more you try, the more you’re going to make yourself sick.”

  Abby offers a weak smile. “But if I don’t try, I won’t know, will I?”

  Ch. 8...

  January becomes February without anyone noticing; time creeps forward with a soft whisper. Winter sweeps across the desert with biting, sharp winds. Bells goes for a run every morning before school starts: an easy amble around the neighborhood and then out to the edge of town on the border of the Unmaintained land. He likes the feeling of anticipation before dawn, when he can still see the sliver of moon and the occasional twinkling star. A sprinkle of hoarfrost is scattered across the ground, pooling in rock piles and the spaces between plants.

  Bells is midway through his morning run when he notices pink everywhere. Streamers hang from the restaurants, and hearts and balloons and stuffed fictional animals like bears decorate all the downtown windows.

  Bells crunches on the dirt path with a little more force than necessary and he almost trips over a rock. Valentine’s Day. It’s a commercial holiday celebrated by the Collective, and people are encouraged to buy gifts and shower everyone they love with holocards and presents and candy. Since middle school he and Emma and Jess have exchanged presents. It’s never been a big deal; he’s never expected it to be. But this year… it’s different.

  First, Abby and Jess have plans, have had plans for weeks and have been talking nonstop about them, especially since Jess has been trying to keep Abby’s mind off her powers. Jess commissioned an artist—Bells—to draw Abby and her parents as protagonists in their own comic book, and Abby bought Jess some vintage DVDs and also several signed posters from the cast of the Vindicated series.

  It was strange being consulted by both of them about their gifts, but it gave Bells an idea. Maybe his gift for Emma can be the start of something new.

  Abby isn’t in school Monday; Jess says she wasn’t feeling well all weekend, and Abby blew off hanging out with her today. Emma offers to ditch volleyball practice, and Bells begs off his afternoon shift at the restaurant, and after school they all go to Jess’ house to hang out in the basement and watch Vindicated to cheer her up.

  “Hey, we can’t have an official you-know-what meeting here,” Brendan says when he sees them heading for the basement. “Abby’s house is the best place, you know that.”

  “Abby’s not feeling well, and this isn’t a meeting,” Bells says. “We’re just gonna hang out with Jess and actually watch some movies.”

  “Oh,” Brendan says. His face falls, and he scoots back a little from Bells, as a blush colors his cheeks.

  Bells tries not to laugh; he knows Brendan has a little crush on him. He thought the kid would grow out of it, but apparently not yet. “How’s it going with finding the R—”

  “Nnn,” Brendan says. He claps a hand to Bells’ mouth, and then snatches his hand back. “I uh, I’ve made some progress. Hopefully we’ll have some results soon.”

  “Hey, Bren-Bren!” Jess calls from the basement. “This is an off night! No business talk!”

  “Okay,” Brendan says, rolling his eyes.

  During the movie Emma is distracted, constantly checking her DED, and then giggling and glancing at Bells and Jess, and then giggling some more. Trying to pinpoint what’s putting her in this mood is making Bells hyper-aware. It can’t be the movie; while Jess loves the action-packed spy series, it’s a bit too cheesy for Emma, and she never fails to make fun of the implausible setups.

  Bells doesn’t care; the most entertaining thing is the banter between Jess and Emma as they debate whether the series is amazing or awful. Tonight, though, Emma isn’t really watching the movie, and, when Bells throws his arm around her shoulder, she grins at him.

  Bells bites his lip and then smiles back; his hope grows.

  Valentine’s Day is this Saturday, and, by Friday, Bells decides to tell her how he feels. He went to the farm earlier this week and picked a bunch of the brightest sunflowers, earning him a glare from his brother. Now he’s staring at the flowers, which stand in a vase. He doesn’t want to risk the flowers drooping, so he messages Emma and invites her over and doesn’t use all caps so she knows he’s serious.

  Bells ties and reties a ribbon on the sunflowers and then paces. Should he pick a different color ribbon? Maybe pink? Emma’s favorite color is purple, though. And which painting should he give her? There’s one he did of the three of them, and there’s one he did of Emma as an engineer in the fu
ture with all of her dreams coming true.

  His DED jolts with a new message: Emma’s on her way.

  His nerves jump, and his heart flutters as he wears a hole in his living room floor. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. He’ll just… say his piece, and things won’t ever be the same. He’s miserable, keeping his feelings to himself. And if he doesn’t tell her, he’ll never know.

  From: Emma 3:33 pm

  here!!! parking!

  Bells flicks the message aside. He closes his other programs and puts the DED to sleep.

  Is he sweating? Maybe he should have changed his shirt. Or his hair, at least?

  Bells goes for a mohawk. Purple, just because. Maybe that’s too obvious, if his hair is purple and the ribbons are purple…

  The doorbell rings. Too late now.

  Emma looks wonderful, as always. Her brown curls, lifted by the wind, seem to float above her shoulders. Her smile dimples her dark skin, and she throws her arms around Bells for a hug.

  “You have something important to tell me, right?” Emma asks. “Oh, also, guess what, I know I’m early for V-day but I brought you your present!” She singsongs the last word and then flicks at her DED. A file projects into the air; the newest complete season of The Gentleman Detective, ready for data transfer.

  “Oh, wow, Em, thank you,” Bells says. “Come on.”

  They chat a bit as they walk to his bedroom, and Emma asks if he wants to watch an episode. She flops on his bed, comfortable and familiar, and the neck of her shirt drapes forward.

  Bells blushes. “No, I, um, can we talk first?”

  “Yeah, absolutely. Oh, I have important news too! I wanted you to be the first to know.” Emma grins at him, and she looks so excited and a bit nervous.

  Could she have the same idea? Maybe she has feelings for Bells and wants to tell him.

  Bells is buoyant with hope. Maybe this will go well after all. “You first,” he says.

  “Okay!” Emma beams. “I have a boyfriend!”

  His name is Carlos Veracruz, and he’s a senior at their school, on the basketball team. Emma and he were lab partners in Emma’s afterschool college prep program last week, and they’ve been texting ever since. They had ice cream once last week and have a date on Friday.