Jackson Humes is Not a Superhero

CHAPTER THREE

"That's insane," I said.

"Tell me about it. I don't even know if I'll be able to change back. I've tried everything I can think of." For all his bravado, I could tell he was worried. He just wasn't the type to say it out loud. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, a little confused.

"Your little flying act."

I dried the last dish and put it away before sitting on the floor a few feet away from him. "I have no idea. It just sort of happened."

He nodded in commiseration with the weird turn our lives had taken. "So why was Alex chasing you? He looked like he wanted to kill you."

After I told him the story, the mountain lion rolled around the ground roaring with laughter for a solid two minutes. It was a dry, brittle laugh that could have easily been mistaken for a choking hairball-in-the-throat sort of sound. "You definitely should have taken a picture of that."

"So what should we do now?" I asked, feeling a little defensive. One day I might find the story amusing, but today wasn't that day. "Do you think we should go to the police for help?"

"Only if you want to end up as a science experiment for the rest of your life." He let out a big yawn, and I realized my entire head could easily fit inside of his mouth.

"What do you mean we?"

He shut his eyes and rested his chin on his paw. "If you rat me out, I'll find a way to implicate you as well." It wasn't a threat, just a statement of fact.

I was seriously regretting my decision to get tangled up in all of his drama. I was about to ask if he wanted me to call his parents, but he'd fallen asleep. I wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or the whole being a cat thing, but I'd never seen anyone fall asleep so quickly.

"Umm, Marv?"

The big cat continued to snore unperturbed. I was about to shake him awake but realized it might be an epically bad idea, so I sat and watched him for a few minutes. From head to tail he was way over six feet in length. Even though he'd been in the woods for three days, his coat was shiny and looked very soft. I had the sudden urge to reach out and touch it, but I valued my hand way too much.

I checked the time and decided it was safe to let him rest for a little while, so I quietly left the room and headed upstairs to my bedroom. I wanted to take a shower more than anything else, but I didn't want to leave Marv unsupervised in case someone suddenly came home. Instead I opened up my laptop and saw I had thirty-four text messages from Amy. I was guessing she was mad at me for missing the audition and was about to read her messages when Facetime popped up. I clicked connect and Amy's pale face filled my screen. Her wavy red hair was mussed and looked as if she'd just stepped out of a tornado.

"Jackson!" She was relieved to see me for some reason. "Where have you been? I have been calling and texting you for the last hour."

"I left my phone in Spanish class," I explained, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Marv hadn't sauntered into the room.

"The cops are searching for you."

"What?!" My head snapped back around. "Why?"

"Alex Cole said he saw you walking into the woods and went in after you to protect you. He told the police that before he could find you he was attacked by a huge mountain lion. His fist is all bloodied up from fighting it off. Everyone is calling him a hero." Amy hesitated for a moment before she continued, "Your aunt is here with my dad and about a dozen cops. There's also a news crew, and I heard they are bringing in helicopters. Everyone is freaking out."