Major Malfunction (Sequel to American Heroes)

Real Fine Kids

The night air blows against Will and El's wet clothes, sending chills over their skin as they stand in the phone booth. Hand trembling, Will holds the phone up to his ear, but all he hears is beeping. He puts the phone down. "It's not working. She must not've set up the new phone."

They step out of the booth. "Should we just walk?" El asks, her voice quiet.

Will nods. The two of them start down the sidewalk, their damp hair plastered to their foreheads and bruises forming on their faces and bodies to replace their fading ones. With each step Will takes, the ground floats further away. If he wasn't staring right down at his shoes slapping against the pavement, he would be convinced the ground simply didn't exist.

They keep to the edge of the sidewalk so as not to get in the way of passerby, preferring to be as inconspicuous as possible. Which is hard with the blood covering their faces. Clutching each other's arms, they hurry down the street. They don't have any money to take the bus – the money they had in their pockets lost in the scuffle on the beach – so they're forced to walk home.

Every time he closes his eyes, Will sees Jake collapsing to the ground. He didn't even mean to do it. Not really. He just wanted to knock him down and attack him. Get back at him for all the crap he did. But somehow, his body took control. He didn't even know how he did it. He's never been able to conjure up his powers with only his hands. He thought he needed electricity present already in order to use them. But the thing that scares him most is how powerful it made him feel.

By the time they reach the apartment building, both of them are exhausted, muscles aching as they slump up the stairs until they get to their apartment level. When they reach the door, Will fishes around in his pocket for the house key then stops, realizing he had it in his backpack. "Oh no."

"What?" El murmurs.

"My backpack. I forgot it at the beach."

Her eyes widen. "Me, too."

"What should we do? We can't go back to the beach... the cops are probably there. Shit." Turning in a circle, he grasps his hair in his hands. "My keys and journal are in there."

"We can... we can go tomorrow?" she suggests. "I have my key here." She pulls it out from under her shirt where it hangs on a string around her neck.

"My journal is in there. As in, I wrote down a bunch of crap about my powers and if someone finds it, they'll know everything."

"If we can't go to the beach now, what do we do?"

Rubbing his forehead, he takes a shaky breath. "I – don't know." His brain buzzes, his gut twisting into tight knots as he tries to figure out what to do, but he can't. His breath quickens, and everything around him blurs.

"Hey." El takes his hand, squeezing it. "We can wait for an hour or two and ask your mom to take us."

He tries to tell her that he doesn't want to have to explain to his mom what happened, but when he opens his mouth, he can't get any words out. A hard lump is lodged in his throat, a sinking feeling in his chest. Inhaling, he slumps his shoulders and nods his head to El. She gives him a reassuring smile, lets out a deep breath, and unlocks the door.

The two of them step inside the dark apartment, closing the door quietly. Will flinches when the light from the kitchen flashes on, and Joyce rushes up to them, face panicked. "Will, El, where have you been?"

Will's stomach drops when he looks behind her into the kitchen. Lonnie sits at the table, a Coke in his hand and a scowl on his face.

"Oh my god," Joyce says, her hand hovering to Will's face, "what happened?"