CAST OF HEROES

Chapter Thirteen

At home, James was on his laptop next to a sliver lamp that had a picture of the zodiac sign crab Cancer. On his wall, he had a black shelf that held graphic novels of many Marvel and DC heroes of Static Shock, Black Lightning, Batman, Superman, and The Flash. There were posters plastered on his wall of the Avengers, Justice League, and Spawn. 

James sighed as he was sitting on a black chair, leaning against the desktop table, finishing up his six-page essay on "Climate Change and How it Affects the Ecosystem." His eyes grew heavy as he yawned, knowing that the paper was due on Wednesday. 

James had his PlayStation 4 Console on and he played his r&b music from a streaming service of his choice, one being, Al B. Sure song "Night and Day." He was bobbing his head, singing along with the lyrics. James rubbed his head as he remembered Millennia for pairing him with Charles. It made his stomach even hurl in disgust. Maybe Charles was right about one thing? How could someone love him?

Self-doubt lingered in the corner of James' mind. He checked his cell phone to look at the time. It was at nine o'clock. James knew in twenty-four hours, he had to listen to Charles talk while traveling to another universe. He rather train with his Sensi Uriee, than listen to the horrid sounds of a class clown jock. James sucked his teeth in annoyance. He heard a knock on his white door. The golden doorknob twisted as it opened.

Chrissy gripped the golden knob of the door and knocked on the door."Hey, James, you've been upstairs all night. Is everything alright?" 

James nonchalantly, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Yeah, everything is okay just writing away on my laptop." 

She opened the door. "You should come down to eat. I made pasta and meatballs that you love with garlic bread." She rubbed it in on him with a wink.

"I'll be right downstairs in a minute, ma, I just need to finish up on my paper."

"Okay, don't take too long or your food will get cold." Chrissy looked at James with a warm smile as she closed the door in James's room. 

 James finished the last sentence of his essay. He took a moment to set up from the table after leaning on it for so long. The first thing that popped into his mind was calling Raya. Without delay, he worked up the nerve and called her. James rubbed his hair. 

Raya turned down the music from the TV she was listening to intently."Hello."

"Hey, Raya, it's James."

"Hi, how are you?" she asked.

James laid on his back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling."I'm good, I just got done with my homework. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not calling you up for the Prep Rally last week. I had a lot going on. I was wondering, if you're interested, in joining me at the Fairview Carnival tomorrow noon. Unless, of course, you have other plans?"

Raya blushed and smiled. "I'll be happy to go."

"Really? I mean that's great! I will see you there then."

"Great, I will see you tomorrow then," Raya said. Was there something else you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes, I... I'm glad that I get to hang out with you."

"Me too, so tomorrow at noon don't be late."

James smirked."Don't worry, I'll be there."

"You better."

"It was good to hear from you, James, I got math homework to work on this week on Functions. "I'm having a hard time with that."

"Oh, Functions...that's my thing. If you need help, just let me know."