Charlotte desperately didn't want to go to school today. She was tired of pretending to be in a fake relationship with Henry -- Kid Danger. No one else besides her coworkers knew that Henry was Kid Danger. She hated all the attention she got at school because of Kid Danger. Couldn't her classmates mind their own business and stay out of hers? No, they couldn't because she was dating a local superhero. She hated it every second of it. Well, besides hanging out with Henry as Kid Danger. She was already best friends with him, so it wasn't that much different, only adding in the romantic bits of a relationship.
Every girl at school would look at her like she was the worst girl on the planet and that they wanted her dead all because she was dating Kid Danger. Charlotte didn't like how they whispered to each other whenever she was around them, like she couldn't tell who they were talking about. Every boy at school was suddenly interested in her, too. They all would talk to her when she wasn't with Henry as Kid Danger, flirting and trying to hold her hand until Henry told them to leave her alone.
What was wrong with people when it came to celebrities? Didn't they realize that celebrities were normal people, too, and that they deserved privacy just as much as the regular person? Sure, there were some celebrities that loved being the center of attention, like Captain Man and sometimes Kid Danger, but she hated being in the limelight because of who she was dating. Charlotte didn't think these people were capable of having those kinds of thoughts, though. They were too focused on their obsessions to even care about other people.
With a sigh, Charlotte rolled out of her bed, the only place she ever felt like herself. The hardwood was cool beneath her feet, waking her up more. Even though she dreaded going to school, she knew she couldn't miss a day just because she didn't want to go. She did have to maintain her near-perfect attendance. Besides, she didn't want to miss any of her classes just in case the teachers went over something important. She would fall behind if she missed a single day, and she didn't want that to happen.
She grabbed the clothes she had picked out last night that were sitting on the vanity in her room so she could take a quick shower before going to school. Maybe she would have enough time to get something quick to eat after she showered. She wasn't sure just yet because she wasted a lot of time lying in bed and dreading the upcoming day instead of getting ready.
When Charlotte made it to the bathroom, she was surprised to find the light on, and the door was barely cracked open. Pressing her ear against the door, she strained her ears, trying to hear if anyone was in there. She didn't hear anything, so she assumed that her mom or dad left the light on for her to shower. They usually did that if she was running late, which was rare. She hated running late.
Charlotte entered the bathroom. She shut the door behind her before setting her clothes on the sink. Charlotte was about to start undressing when she heard a noise coming from the shower to her left. A scared tremor went through her body when she realized that she might not be alone in the bathroom. The question was who would be in there right now?
"Mom? Dad? Is that you?" she asked, hoping that her voice wasn't shaking.
No one answered her. She let out a sigh of relief and shook her head. Maybe she was just hearing things coming from another part of her house. Since the far bathroom wall connected to the kitchen, she thought that her parents were doing something in there. At least, that was what she thought until a loud clatter came from the shower.
Charlotte almost screamed when she saw the shower curtain flutter ever so slightly. There was someone in her house. Not just in the house, though. They were in her shower, about to attack her. Seymour Butts had already found her. He sent someone after her already to silence her before getting to Kid Danger and Captain Man.
She was about to grab a brush to defend herself with when the curtain opened slightly, revealing Henry's bruised face. He still had a black eye where Jasper hit him, but it was looking much better. His hair was soaking wet, and a surprised look appeared on his face as he tried to hide himself behind the curtain. As far as she could see, he wasn't wearing anything, not even his face mask. This was not good.
"You scared me so bad, Henry!" Charlotte hissed. She definitely didn't want to yell at him for showering in her bathroom at her house because her parents would definitely hear it and see Henry alive and well and not burned nearly to death. Plus, he was naked in her shower, and she was in the bathroom. How would she explain that to her parents? "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? I live here!"
Henry held the shower curtain over his body besides his face to cover everything, and Charlotte was grateful for that. She didn't want to see anything that she didn't need to see just yet, especially on him, her best friend. It was awkward enough to know that he was naked behind the shower curtain.
"You have no idea how awful it is to live in the Man Cave with Ray and Schwoz," Henry said with a groan. "It's terrible. It gets worse when I have to shower because there's only two showers in that place, and I have caught Schwoz coming into the bathroom while I'm showering. Much like what you're doing to me right now."
"Hen, this is my house." Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest, trying to give him her best stare down. He continued staring at her like he wasn't afraid of her. She dropped her arms to her side with a sigh. "Would you just hurry up? I have to shower, too, and my parents haven't left for work yet. I don't want them to find you here."
"If you have to shower, you can just hop in here with me."
Charlotte really wanted to slap that grin off of his face. She couldn't believe that he would actually suggest that to her. What in the world was wrong with him? Maybe fighting crime for a few years took away a few of his brain cells. It did seem like he shared one with Ray whenever they were together. "Ew, gross." There was a hurt look on his face, but she didn't care. "No. Hurry up, Hen."
"Fine. Could you get out of here so I can get dressed in peace?"
"Can't you just blow a bubble to get dressed?"
"That takes all the fun out of it, Char."
"Does it look like I care, Hen?"
Henry stuck his tongue out at her, so she did the same back to him. At least they could still act like they did before her kiss dream about him and their new relationship they were forced into to keep Ray alive. She didn't want to lose their friendship at all because it was one of the most important relationships in her entire life.
"Are you still going to shower?" Henry asked, shutting the shower curtain so she couldn't see him anymore.
"No, you ruined my mood. I'll just get dressed while you blow your bubble. Don't you dare come out until I say to."
"Got it." As Charlotte quickly slipped out of her shirt, she heard Henry mutter to himself, "Get this bubble blowed so I can get clothed."
Charlotte burst out laughing. She couldn't believe that Henry said a rhyme while blowing his bubble. Sure, he did it every time he had to go somewhere with Ray, but did he really do it when he was alone? "That rhyme was awful," she said, giggling. "That's the best you could do?"
"Hey, give me a break," Henry said. He sounded like he was laughing, though, so that was good. "I don't have Ray here to help me."
"Right. That's why."
"Could you let me blow my bubble in peace? I want to know whether my underwear will appear with my suit or not."
"Okay, I did not need to know that, Henry."
"You deserved to hear it, Char."
"Thanks."
She pulled her regular shirt over her head and quickly slipped out of her pajama pants. A multitude of colors appeared behind the shower curtain, so she knew that Henry was ready before her. She had to hurry up before he opened the curtain and saw her nearly naked. It would be very bad if he did that, especially since she had nearly seen him naked.
"Are you decent?" he asked.
"Give me a minute." Charlotte pulled her jeans on, buttoning them. She reached over and grabbed her deodorant stick to put it on before he got out of the shower. "Okay," she said after putting on deodorant, "I'm decent. You can come out now."
Henry threw open the shower curtain with a grin on his face. His Kid Danger suit was starting to look not as strange as it did for the first few days. It looked more normal now. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.
"It provided me with underwear," he announced to her. "I thought I would have to go commando all day, but that's not the case."
"That's good," she said with a small laugh. She opened the vanity above the sink and pulled out her toothbrush. "I would not have been in your presence if you didn't have underwear on beneath that suit."
"You really brush your teeth before you eat?" Henry asked her, leaning against the sink closer to her.
"I don't think I'm going to have time to eat breakfast this morning."
She quickly brushed her teeth, but when she had to spit into the sink, Henry stood in her way. Charlotte shoved him to the side while he laughed so she could finish up getting ready before going to school.
"What is going on here?"
Charlotte slowly turned around to find both her mother and father standing behind her and Henry. When did they get there? And why didn't Charlotte hear the door open? She blamed Henry for distracting her. Her parents had their arms crossed over their chests, looking just like she did when she was angry at the boys in her life.
"Uh, Kid Danger decided to walk me to school," Charlotte said very quickly. She was very surprised that her voice didn't betray her at all.
"Yeah, but I really had to go to the bathroom," Henry added with a nod. "That's why I'm in your bathroom right now."
"Why is Charlotte in there with you?" her mother asked with a stern voice.
"He ran out of toilet paper," Charlotte added. "I had to give him some toilet paper."
"That's exactly what happened."
Charlotte forced a smile on her face so her parents wouldn't get too suspicious about her and Kid Danger. She glanced quickly at Henry to find a similar smile on his face. She doubted that he wanted to explain anything to her parents because he would have to find a way to lie to them about his identity and his reason for actually being there.
"Okay," her father said. She let out a soft breath of relief, though she knew she wasn't out of the woods just yet. "Kid Danger, could we talk to our daughter for a minute?"
"Of course, sir. I'll wait outside for you, Char."
"Thanks."
Charlotte watched as Henry walked down the hall toward the front door. He glanced back her with a wink before disappearing from her sight. Anger rolled through her veins at the sight. She desperately wanted to go with him even though she was upset with him instead of being with her parents right now, but she knew that she would have to face her parents sometime.
"We didn't know that you were the mystery girl that was talking to Kid Danger," her mother said with a frown on her face.
Charlotte wasn't sure why she was acting like that. She had been on a couple of dates with Jack Swagger. What was the difference with Kid Danger? "Yeah, I am that girl," Charlotte answered her mother. "You don't have to sound so against this, Mom."
"I'm not against you talking with Kid Danger."
"You're against me dating him."
"He's a superhero!" her father hissed, probably so Henry wouldn't be able to hear him talk about him. Henry wasn't in the house anymore, though, so he didn't need to whisper. "What if he gets hurt? What if he dies? What if you get hurt because of him?"
"You didn't act like this when I was going out with Jack Swagger," Charlotte countered. She crossed her arms over her chest. For some reason, she wasn't happy that her parents didn't approve of her and Kid Danger, probably because she knew it was Henry beneath that outfit while they didn't know that. "He is famous, and people would flock from around the world just to see him out and about. I could've gotten hurt with him."
"This is different, Charlotte."
"No, it's not. I'm never going to get out of potentially getting hurt in this world if I'm with Kid Danger or Jack Swagger or some nobody on the street."
"We should probably get going to school," Kid Danger said, poking his head back inside. Somehow, he had made his way back into the house without her hearing. If she couldn't hear when her parents or Henry came, how is she going to make sure Seymour Butts wouldn't get her? He glanced at Charlotte. She could read his eyes, asking her if she was okay, so she quickly nodded, flashing him a small smile. "Mr. and Mrs. Page, you don't want your daughter being late to school, do you?"
"Of course not." Her mother plastered a smile on her face. It nearly fell off when Kid Danger grabbed Charlotte's hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. Charlotte couldn't believe that he would hold her hand in front of her parents, either. It was okay at school to do it, but here with her parents who were already angry with him? Henry was very brave. "Have a good day at school, Charlotte. We love you."
"Love you, too," Charlotte mumbled as Henry pulled her outside.
"So, what were they lecturing you about now?" Henry asked her.
"Obviously you, dummy." She glanced around them, glad that no one was around to find them walking together. The only things watching them were the green trees and the silent houses along the street. "They kept saying how I could get hurt by going out with you since you're a superhero and all."
"Imagine if they knew what you really do every single day."
"I know. I told them that they didn't mind me going out with Jack Swagger, so they shouldn't mind me going out with you."
"Wait." Henry pulled her to a stop, and she frowned up at him. The sun was shining directly behind his head, giving him a small halo of light around his golden hair. For some reason, her heart fluttered at the sight of him looking like an angel. "You know Jack Swagger?"
"How many times do I have to explain to you that I knew him before he was famous?" she asked with a quick roll of her eyes, trying to get rid of whatever just went on inside her. It seemed to her that Jasper, Henry, Ray, and Schwoz never listened to her when she talked. She was tired of it. "We went to summer camp together."
"And you went on a few dates with him?"
"More than a few. They were fine, but it wasn't amazing. It wasn't like being with you, I guess."
They began walking again, with Henry not really smiling much anymore. She wasn't sure what was going on in his mind, but she didn't want to ask him right now. It was already feeling a little awkward between them. It didn't help that she nearly saw him naked earlier in the morning. She hated how awkward it had gotten between them in the last few minutes. She wanted things to go back the way they did before her kiss dream. It was way simpler.
"Being with a superstar is more dangerous than being with me, I would say."
Charlotte remained silent. It felt strange to have his hand in hers while they walked to school together. What didn't make any sense to her was the strange warm feeling spreading through her chest. There was something weird going on with her heart the longer she held his hand. It was thudding against her chest a million miles a minute, like she was nervous. What was she nervous about, though? She wasn't really sure about that. She wasn't really sure about much of anything right now, which scared her. She was usually the most knowledgeable person in the room, and now, she knew nothing. It sucked.
Henry squeezed her hand slightly when they approached the school, throwing a smile over to her like this was something normal for him. He was acting like he was better now than he was when she was talking about Jack Swagger, too. She couldn't figure him out. Was he just faking everything he was doing with her at school and in front of her parents? They did have to present to the world that they were together and do a good job of it to hopefully draw out Seymour Butts. But was everything he did fake? Or was some of it real? Was some of this real for her? Charlotte wasn't sure about that, either. She was already getting confused between the lies and the truth, and this plan just started. Maybe things would get easier with time. Maybe Schwoz would find Seymour Butts before they had to be together for a long period of time. The only thing she could do was hope that this would end soon instead of later.