I expected her to say no. Why would she want to come to my house for Thanksgiving? Wouldn't it just make her miss her family more?
But it's not like Emily to give a predictable response.
Her eyes light up, "Really?" She pauses with a frown, "Wait, what's the condition? Do I have to pretend to be your girlfriend?"
I raise an eyebrow, "You're the one that gave yourself that title back at Frozone," I chuckle as she purses her lips at the realization. "I'm requiring no such condition."
Emily's still hesitant, as she crosses her arms and asks, "You're going to make me listen to One Direction and Big Time Rush the whole ride there, aren't you?"
I smirk, "And on the way back, the Jonas Brothers."
Emily rolls her eyes, but she throws on a smile, "I guess that's a small price to pay for a good Thanksgiving meal."
I blink a few times, "Wait, so, you'll come?"
Emily laughs in my face, "Unless you're retracting your invitation. When do we leave?"
I'm still in shock, but I compose myself. "Wednesday around 11 a.m. I'll pick you up here?"
She claps her hands together, beaming, "Sounds good to me! Do I need to make a dish or something?"
My mouth parts slightly as I ask, "You can cook?"
Emily looks offended, "Is that so hard to believe?"
With a small smile, I lower my head, shaking it all the while. "You're incredible, you know that?"
When I look back up, she's smiling sheepishly. "Um, what do you want me to make?"
I shrug, trying to match her shy smile, "Surprise me."
Suddenly, the door to the dorm bursts open, and in walks Noah and Jessie. Only, Jessie isn't really walking, she's storming into the room. Emily and I exchange a knowing look, rolling our eyes as the two of them ignore our presence and continue bickering.
"I told you, Noah, I can't cook. If your mom told you to bring a dish, you're going to have to make it yourself." Jessie crosses her arms over her chest and parades over to the mini fridge beside her bed to get a drink. She slams the door shut and plops onto her navy blue comforter.
Noah leans his hand on the door frame, seemingly exasperated. "Jess, I have two tests the night before we leave. I don't have time to make anything."
Emily jumps up from her seat, startling all of us. "Okay! That's it! I'm already making something for Thanksgiving, I'll make yours too. Just-" She closes her eyes and huffs, "Stop bickering."
Jessie's eyebrows knit together, "Who are you going to Thanksgiving with?"
Emily and I give each other a cheeky smile, and I see Jessie is about to start asking a ton of questions. It looks like it's time for me to bolt. If there's about to be an immense amount of girl talk, it's probably best that Noah leaves with me.
"I'll see you in class tomorrow, Em." I wave goodbye and turn towards the door to see Noah making kissy faces at me. He's trying his best to hold back his laughter despite the fact that he's puckering his lips.
Just because I escaped the girl talk doesn't mean I'll escape the Noah talk.
***
"Yes, mom, she's still coming with me. We're leaving by 11 tomorrow." My hands are busy packing up my bag, so I have my phone pressed to my ear with my shoulder.
"And you say she's just a friend?" I can hear the suggestive tone in my mom's voice.
I breathe out a deep sigh, "Just a friend. It's still okay that she comes, right?" When Maggie stayed with us, it was like I had to sign a waiver and go through a legal process to get my parents to agree. I know they didn't really know her, but I gave them plenty of heads up. I'm hoping three days notice is still enough time with Emily. After all, she is bringing a pie.
"Your dad wants to know what dish you two are bringing."
My eyebrows furrow, "Is that the deciding factor?"
"For your dad it is."
I look around the room, trying to remember if Emily mentioned during class yesterday what she was going to make. "Uh, I think it's a surprise. But she's an excellent cook." I make up on the spot. Emily seems confident enough in her abilities, so I'll put my trust in that.
Mom sighs, "Fair enough. She better be more friendly than Maggie was, though. I don't care if she makes the best pumpkin pie in the universe. If you don't treat the Colemans with respect, we can literally end you."
I'm about to laugh at the accuracy of her last statement when something catches my attention.
Maggie was disrespectful to my family? I don't remember that being an issue. Was I really that blind to her true character? How did that go unnoticed? "What'd Maggie do?"
I can imagine mom is rolling her eyes at me through the phone. "She was spoiled, Beck. She didn't want to have to sleep on the couch, she wanted the guest bedroom that my parents were staying in. She just seemed like a brat."
I pull the phone away from my face, lowering it to mumble a quiet "What?" where my mom can't hear. Shaking my head, I put the phone back to my ear and zip up my blue duffel bag.
"Well Emily is nothing like Maggie, I can assure you that."
Mom snorts, "Well, duh. You always friendzone the nice girls."
I sigh, realizing my mother may be onto something. "I'll see you tomorrow, mom. And please tell dad not to do any of his mind reading tricks while we're there." With that, I hang up.
All of a sudden, a piercing alarm makes its way to my ears. When I notice the pile of laundry in my desk chair is vibrating, I quickly realize my sidekick alert device is going haywire. Digging the black screen out from under the laundry is a chore in itself, but I finally unearth it to see Jenga is in need of back up just a few blocks away.
Okay, Beck, you know what you have to do. Find Jenga and bring her to The Undergrounds.
It still makes me queasy to think about kidnapping her when she trusted me with an alert device.
That's her mistake! Now grab the ski-mask and bring her in!
My eyes dart over to the black ski-mask I have in the corner of my cedar wood dresser. I know I can't go as Switch, because Jenga will recognize me in that suit and so will all of her other sidekicks. They'll take Switch down in a matter of seconds. However, if I wait until all of her sidekicks are gone, I can swoop in and steal her away without her having any idea of who I am.
Of course you're going to have to knock her out so she doesn't pull the Jenga card. She could literally go "What're the odds that you reveal your identity?" and you take your mask off right in front of her.
Reggie, I don't need this stress.
Nonetheless, I hastily grab the mask and slip on my black sweatpants as well as a solid long sleeve black shirt. Being that Noah and Derek are at the gym right now, I don't have any reason to worry about giving them an explanation for why I'm heading out the door looking like this at six p.m. Thankfully, I'll never have to do this again, so I'm in the clear all around.
In one swift movement, before I can talk myself out of this, I grab the sidekick alert device and make a dash out the door. The map shows that Jenga is at the old Hero Headquarters, the building that used to be government funded for superheroes to have access to higher levels of security and surveillance. My parents as well as my aunt and uncle probably worked there back in the day. When the S.E.A was put in place, Hero Headquarters all over the country were closed down.
I'm not going to lie, I'm scared to find out why Jenga is at one of the old headquarter buildings. What business does she have there? I haven't gotten any news alerts that there's a disaster in the area. There's no news about another bridge collapsing.
Beckett, quit stalling.
Okay, Reggie, I'm running.
When I get to Hero Headquarters, I hear a lot of yelling coming from the top of the building. This isn't a crime scene - there are no police officers around at all. From what I can tell, there are other supers on top of the building. I can see the silhouettes as the sun sets behind them. What is this? A sidekick meeting?
"Geo, where's Jenga?" An unfamiliar voice rings out.
"I don't know, Duo," Geo throws her hands on her hips, "We all got the same alarm at the same time."
It dawns on me that Jenga called for help, not for backup. She has to be in the building. Is she being held hostage? That's supposed to be my job!
As I make a mad dash towards the front doors, I see something dashing between the alleyways around me. Oh, so Jenga is being chased, and she wanted all of her sidekicks to be in the place that she leads her attacker to. I suppose that's smart. It makes my task a little harder, but I understand why she did what she did.
I hate to be the one to do this, but when I see her make her way around the corner, I build up the energy within me to zap her on the spot. Sparks of blue and white light emit a bright glow, and her chaser comes up short just to stare at the explosion of light. The figure is dressed similar to the one who dropped Jenga from the roof the other day, complete with a shiny, full black suit. They're wearing a black ski-mask just like me. Without a single word, I zap the attacker.
What? I can't have any witnesses.
However, I didn't think about how I was going to get her unconscious body out of here. Up above, I can hear the sidekicks still bickering on top of the five story building. I can't exactly call on them for help. At least I know that The Undergrounds is just a block away. Maybe I can carry Jenga on my back for that long. As I begin to pick her up and toss her over my shoulder, I realize she weighs nothing. Honestly, it feels like I'm carrying around a twig on my shoulder.
When I get to the old warehouse, I reach in my pocket to pull out the slip of paper Dr. Hayes gave me with an address on it. Yep, this is it - a decaying brick building with a tattered sign dangling from the front of the building. This place just screams 'classy'. I barge in the doors and see that there's nothing in here but the remains of an old factory mill. This has to be the right place, but where are all of the villains?
Hmm, I don't know, Beck. Maybe... Underground?
Reggie, I am 100 percent done with your sarcastic remarks.
Storming down the only flight of steps in sight, I try my best not to hit Jenga's head against the tiny walkway walls or against the skinny black railing. I'm still carrying her like a hobo bindle, which is no more comfortable for her than it is for me because her head keeps slapping against my back with each step I take.
"Hello? Anyone down here? I've come to deliver Jenga." I inwardly laugh at how ridiculous I sound. What am I doing? Delivering a pizza?
When I reach the bottom of the concrete steps, I enter a room full of bright fluorescent lights. It reminds me of a school classroom. Ugh, school - the only reason I'm here.
"Who are you?" Suddenly I'm very aware of the handful of villains lurking around the place. They weren't kidding, they really do hang out underground. The villain that's approaching me with childlike curiosity in his eyes is a villain I haven't seen in years. I can't even be bothered to remember his name because he's been out of the public eye for so long. However, I can't forget his notorious black and yellow suit. He's like a bumblebee.
"I, uh, came to drop off my extra credit. So here she is..." I awkwardly place Jenga down on the dingy tiled floor, making sure to sit her up against the closest wall. "And, uh, just tell Dr. Hayes that the psychology kid completed his assignment."
The villain's eyes grow wide. "You're the A- Villain?"
My cheeks puff out as I realize my reputation proceeds me. "That would be me. So you'll tell him?"
Bumblebee villain nods thoroughly, "Of course. But we'll need your help tying her up since she's awake now."
I spin on my heel to see Jenga waking up, slowly, but surely. Crap! How was I supposed to know how long my energy blast would knock her out?
"What's going on? Who are you people?" I have to give Jenga some credit, I don't usually have the energy within me when I wake up to ask a lot of questions.
Bumblebee rushes to the back of the wide open room, leaving me alone with Jenga. I gulp, because I know I have to knock her out again before she uses her powers on me.
"You're in The Undergrounds, and that's all I'm going to tell you. Also, I'm sorry." I lift my hands up and aim directly at Jenga's body, and within seconds she's out cold again. I make a dash for the steps once again. By the time Bumblebee comes back with a rope, I'll be gone. I came, I saw, I held up my end of the deal.
As for Jenga, she'll never know the difference between me and the other ski-mask guy. She'll never have to know that Switch betrayed her. She'll never know that she entrusted the wrong guy with a sidekick alert device.
With a clean slate, I make a dash out of The Undergrounds.
The A- Villain has done his job.
A/N
It may look like the story is done, but it's far from over. Buckle your seatbelts - it's just getting started now😎
Once again I'm sorry for taking forever to update, but I have a lot of school work on my plate at the moment. Not for much longer though! Hopefully my updates will become more frequent once my schedule clears up. Until then...
Thanks for reading!
Always, Sunny