Tim had promised to walk me to work that day considering everybody else seemed to busy, Kelly and Mitchell were at some kind of family dinner with Kelly’s parents and Walden had to go shopping with his mum. The walk with Tim was nothing to snub though aside from his horrendous sense of humour and a slight arrogant charm that was slowly being revealed.
“And this is Abby and I,” I said. I showed him a picture on my phone of me and my best friend from back home. He’d filled the conversation with talk about before I moved and Abby seemed to be the only thing I was comfortable talking about.
“She’s cute.” Tim smirked. “Think I can get her number?”
I reached out to whack him on the arm but he caught my wrist before I could and laughed.
“Don’t be such a pervert.” I glared. “Especially when it comes to Abby. I will hurt you.”
“Oh I’m so scared,” he said rolling his eyes and snorting a laugh.
“Rude,” I huffed and jogged on a head. He laughed and caught up with me in no time.
“You know,” I frowned, “we’ve spent a lot of timing talking about me. What’s your story?”
“Oh please,” Tim laughed, “you haven’t given me a clue about your story. All I’ve got from you is divorced parents and an attitude.”
“Oh how you read me so well,” I muttered with an eye role. “Seriously, if you expect me to share then you have to too.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands in defeat. “You want the whole sob story?”
I nodded.
“My dad was a firefighter back when superheroes and villains were first emerging. They worked together a lot more back then in the actually crime fighting aspect. So some villain, well High Voltage, which was stupid because he was just this kid who was trying to prove to everyone that he mattered, started a fire in this warehouse and so Dad went in there. He never came out. The building collapsed around him and the person he was in there saving died from smoke inhalation. High Voltage got off scott free and I was out a dad.”
“I’m sorry Tim,” I sighed.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’ll get my revenge one day.” He gave a lopsided grin. “And I’ll do it the right way. The good way.”
“Good for you.” I smiled.
When Tim had left me to work I found myself stacking games once again. People wandered in every now and then but it seemed as a newbie that I couldn’t be trusted behind the register and so Max ended up handling the customers. It was odd seeing him for a split second, not be friendly and sociable and yet not be rude and vague either. He almost behaved like an actual person.
I started to hum as I worked my mind keeping itself occupied while I carried out the dull task of stacking games onto the shelves. Max was working behind me and I could feel the tension in the room build as he became more and more irritated.
“Can you stop,” Max grumbled.
“Jesus Maximus give it a rest,” I growled. “It wouldn't kill you to be even remotely happy for like two minutes.”
“And it wouldn't kill you to use my actual name either,” he countered.
“I'll use yours when you use mine.” I glared.
“Avery, would you please stop being so annoying and shut up.”
“I will when you stop being so annoying and shut yours.”
I stacked my games in silence giving him a false sense of hope before belting out the loudest song I could think of.
“Oh my god,” Max gasped. “Are you aware that comparing you to a dying cat would be a complete insult to the dying cat?”
“If you're implying I can't sing then yeah I'm aware.” I shrugged. “Not everyone can sing you know. I bet you're no better.”
“Anything is better than that noise you were just making.”
I tried to ignore Max but he was pacing back and forth the shop with boxes in complete silence and even that was irritating me. I turned to him finding my hands pause at my stacking.
“What?” he asked uneasily.
I said nothing.
“Why do you keep staring at me?” he pressed. “Please refrain yourself Avery.”
“Shut up,” I snapped flustered. “I’m staring because…because…”
“Because what?” he asked a hint of amusement in his tone.
“Because you bother me,” I said with an exasperated sigh.
“What?” he laughed.
“You’re like this big mystery that everybody wants to solve, it’s irritating, and you enjoy it.”
“Maybe,” he laughed, “but really there’s nothing to solve. I just want people to leave me alone.”
“Why wouldn’t people leave you alone?” I asked.
“You’re not leaving me alone,” he mumbled. “Look, I’m not the mystery of this town okay. There are villains and heroes out there, they’re the ones with the tragic back stories and the mysterious auras. Go try and figure one of those guys out. I don’t matter.”
“So that’s your problem then.” I leaned against the gaming shelf. “You think you don’t matter, that you’re irrelevant.”
“No,” he said. “Quite the opposite, I think I matter too much. I think I’m too relevant. The fact that I don’t matter is what I’m trying to convince myself.”
“You’re making no sense,” I said, “and that’s exactly what I mean. You enjoy having an air of mystery about you.”
“Maybe I like meeting someone who doesn’t think they know me.”
“Stop it,” I whined. “Stop playing games.”
“You’re incredibly easy to wind up you know that?” he laughed. “We may be in a town of superheroes Avery, but not everything is a magical mystery okay?”
“I don’t believe you,” I said and I returned to my stacking. “Why did you quit the rugby team?”
“Jesus someone’s been doing their research,” Max scoffed. “Your stalking me aren’t you?”
“You wish.”
“I quit because I didn’t want to play anymore, is that so hard to believe?”
“Why did you shut yourself off from everyone? Why are you still shutting yourself off from everyone?”
“I’m going through a goth stage.” He smirked. “Are we done with the interrogation now?”
“Do you like superheroes?”
“Yes,” he said simply.
I crinkled my nose. Somehow that hadn’t been the reaction I was expecting.
“Which one’s your favourite?”
“Flexi,” he said after a moment of thought. “She’s pretty hot.”
I scoffed and scowled.
“Okay I was officially giving you way more credit than you deserve.”
He just laughed and disappeared into the back room chuckling.
That night when I got home I called Abby and spent an hour talking about the town. I chose to leave out the part about the superheroes, typically the part I wanted to tell her about the most. But the supers were Bantfell’s little secret and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be the one to ruin that. I couldn’t help but ask Abby how Mum was going, them living just across from each other. It turns out I wasn’t ready to hear the answer. That mum had been promoted and yesterday she had brought a man back to the house.
“Maybe we were just holding her back,” I scoffed.
“Don’t be stupid,” Abby insisted. “You’re Mum’s horrible and it’s her loss. She’ll come running when she realises what a mistake she’s made.”
“Yeah well she can stuff off,” I growled. “I hate her.”
“Don’t say that,” Abby said softly.
“Well I do.” I held back the tears that threatened to spill. She wasn’t supposed to move on that quickly. She wasn’t supposed to move on at all.
“Hey it’s okay,” Abby said. “You’re happy there right? Tell me about your friends again.”
And so I did. Over and over and over I talked about every person I’d met in Bantfell including Robinson and Max. She listened and laughed and at least I knew Abby wasn’t going to forget about me.
My window flew open that night sending me into a scream again. A mere yelp had escaped before The R’s hand was clamped over my mouth and his lips were against my ear.
“Shh,” he whispered. “They’ll find me.”
“Who’ll find you?” I hissed.
“Everyone. We need to talk.”
“We need to talk?” I scoffed. I scrambled from under my covers across my room pulling my pyjamas back down over my stomach and brushing my air over my right shoulder. “You need to stop crashing into my room. It’s creepy and more villainous than heroic. I swear your talking me, Leave me alone.”
“Oh you’re being stalking alright,” The R said, “but not by me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“High Voltage has got his eye on you. You want to tell me why?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” I gasped. “You must have it wrong. He has no reason to be following me around.”
“Well he is,” The R insisted. “He’s watching you Avery and I’ve been watching him. I have no idea what he wants from you but I know he won’t stop until he gets it.”
“High Voltage isn’t all that dangerous is he?” I found myself rubbing my own arms bringing them around myself in protection. “I mean he’s just a kid.”
“Don’t under estimate him Avery,” he said. “You never know who he might be working with.”
“Excuse me? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Nothing that I don’t know for sure,” he promised. “Just be careful okay?”
I nodded and feigned confidence.
“I’ll be fine. I can handle myself.”
“Sure you can.” He smiled. “But these people are dangerous.”
I shivered but nodded. The R still stood there staring at me. His mask covering the areas surrounding his eyes seemed to conceal so much of his face. It baffled me that I could see the majority of his features and yet I really had no idea who was hidden beneath that mask. Which ordinary person that I passed in the street had reflexes that enabled them to save lives.
“Just this once,” I said slowly. “I’ll say it.”
“What?” His forehead crinkled.
“Thank you,” I mumbled. “For the warning.”
“Oh I’m so going to milk that,” he joked.
“Shut up,” I growled. “If that’s all. You should be leaving.”
“Are you sure you want me to leave?” he asked with a subtle smile. “Sure you want to be left alone?”
I rolled my eyes denying my fear and as if to prove a point walked back over to my bed and climbed under my covers. I brought the duvet right up to my neck and snuggled my head into my pillow facing the wall opposite my window and The R. My eyes stayed peeled open but I hoped that The R would think I was completely ready to go back to sleep.
“Avery?” His voice sounded from across the room beside the window.
“What?” I said feigning sleepiness.
“I won’t go far okay,” he said. “I’ll stay in the neighbourhood. I promise.”
“Whatever,” I sang and I pretended like I didn’t appreciate it.