The Super Jerk Trilogy (Now 3-in-1)

1. I Forgot That You Existed

{Zachary}

So probably the first thing you should know about me is that I'm terrible at telling stories. Written or spoken. Especially when it comes to talking about my dad, who, in all actuality could possibly be the world's most evil supervillain. At least that's what everybody thinks.

   I get back up to BU the day before the second semester starts. Apparently they'd been having snow worse than the past couple years, which I don't think has anything to do with natural weather patterns. If anyone had the power to manipulate the weather, it would be Dad. Trevor Watson, my roommate — and also Green Phoenix — gets back to our room right in the middle of my nap. Jet lag was, and still is, a bitch.

   "Hey, Phoenix." I roll over in bed to look at him. "Good break?"

   "Hey," he says, dropping his suitcase on his own bed and sitting down next to it. "Good as it can be."

   "You feeling okay?" I sit up, stretching one arm and then the other, touching the wall with my fingertips.

   He shrugs. "Turns out I can't actually heal myself. Ironic, right?"

   I nod, but say nothing. Right at the end of last semester, Dad went a little psycho, abducting numerous supers and taking away their powers with a green serum he'd been secretly concocting. Previously, they'd only been villains, but now there were some heroes too. Like our friend Cam, also known as Blue Bolt. Wonder how he's faring, by the way. Phoenix had been collateral damage, getting shot in the stomach and rupturing an intestine.

   His phone buzzes right then, and he looks down at it, sighing.

   "Who is it?" I rub the back of my head with a palm, taking care to avoid the nasty bump I'd gotten. It wasn't swollen anymore, but it was still sore.

   "Kitty. Again. She wanted me to call her when I got up here." He sighs, getting up again. "Be back in a sec."

   That makes me check my own phone, but there's nothing. I'd thought that Sarah, Trevor's best friend and Cam's ex, and I were getting serious. But just like that, Cam disappears and suddenly she's back to ignoring me. Especially since she's taking the first week of the semester to stay home. Her doctor won't let her fly yet, not when she's got all those stitches in her from her injuries. I guess being a super did have its perks. We healed twice as fast as normal humans.

   Right then, Trevor pokes his head in, showing me the watch-like device on his wrist. It's blinking red, which means there's trouble nearby.

   "Tsunami," he says, using my super name. "Time to go. We got company."

≈≈

Our "company", as we soon find out, is a super dressed in a bright purple, able to shoot flames from his hands. He's already blown craters in the quad, most of which are smoking. Anyone in the quad has been sent running for cover, probably calling 911. I summon all my power, kneading the air so insistently it's not surprising how fast my sphere of water forms. He has some kind of blasters on his feet, so he hovers aboveground glaring at us with his purple eyes.

   "You don't need to do this," I call up to him, distracting him from his next target, a kid with a heavy-looking bookbag and more in his arms. "Yeah, I'm talking to you."

   "And you don't know what I need to do," he sneers, swinging his flaming hand towards us. "How are you always everywhere at once?"

   "Sure I do." My sphere of water gets bigger, beginning to fill in. "Who are you, anyway? Have we met?"

   "They call me Gremlin," he says, his lip curling. "How about you? Who are you?"

   "That." I wind up, the sphere in my hand like a football. "Is none of your business."