Superhero

Chapter 24

Fiolina walked into the shop with a frown.
"What's with the long face?" Addison questioned, looking up from her homework.
"The Superhero's vanished," Fiolina said in a concerned tone. "The last known sighting was last week."
Addison gulped. "What was it?"
Fiolina shrugged. "The guy saved some lady from getting robbed. And then he fled."
"Is there a video?" Addison asked, fearing it might be her.
Fiolina nodded and started rummaging in her bag for her phone. She tucked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear and fished it out. She stared at it for a moment before handing it to Addison.
Addison watched the video of a middle-aged woman being threatened by a masked man pointing a gun at her head. The woman had no choice but to hand her purse over, trembling as she did.
But before the thief could take it, a flash of light sped towards him, dragged him away from the woman, and disappeared with him. The woman dropped her purse in shock. All she could do was stare at where the thief had been standing. She eventually got control of herself, picked up her things, and ran away.
"When was this?" Addison asked, handing the phone back to Fiolina. She was relieved that it wasn't her encounter in the video.
"Last Thursday," Fiolina took the phone stared at it, tucking another lock of hair behind her ear. She eventually got tired of it and tied it up into a high ponytail with the scrunchie she kept around her wrist. "Why are you asking?"
Addison simply shrugged. "I'm just concerned for him. After all, you're not the one who saw the aftermath of him using his powers too much."
Fiolina nodded thoughtfully. "You said the guy was totally drained, right?"
"Yeah..." Addison frowned. "All I'm hoping is that he's okay."
Well, if he managed to steal her favourite cheese bun after his last known sighting, he must be okay, right? Maybe something came up? After all, no one knows about his personal life.
"Eh, he probably is," Fiolina smirked. "Even if he did get himself into trouble, it's not like he can't skedaddle, right?"
Addison nodded thoughtfully. "He'd disappear in a flash. Literally!"
Fiolina laughed, going over to the snack section. She grabbed a rather large chocolate bar, then went to the drink section to grab a soda before returning to the counter.
"Are you sure you can finish that?" Addison looked at the chocolate bar in surprise. "Normally, the only time I eat this is when I'm sharing it with three other people. You're gonna eat this alone?"
"Three other people?!" Fiolina snorted. "Girl, I can take on this alone."
Addison scowled, scanning the barcode for the things Fiolina took. "How are you so thin?"
Fiolina shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I'm actually lazier than you, truth be told."
Addison shook her head and collected the money that Fiolina paid, putting it into the cash register. She counted the money and realised that Fiolina paid with the exact amount with no change. "Huh... this is the first time you've paid the exact amount."
Fiolina didn't in the least look surprised. "Really? Wow, okay."
She just collected her stuff and went over to her usual spot to eat her chocolate while sipping her soda. Addison wondered how she was still so thin despite consuming so much junk food.
"Yo, Addie," Fiolina called with her mouth full of chocolate. "If you see the Superhero again, notify me. Aight?"
Addison just shook her head at her and went back to her homework on the counter.

It was growing colder by the second. The earthy smell of petrichor hung heavy in the air. Though Addison found it quite pleasant, she knew she had to get home as fast as she could.
Or else she'd be caught in the middle of a downpour.
Addison managed to set foot into the rental home's porch just as rain started to pelt down. She heaved a sigh of relief and took out her keys to enter the house. Addison looked at the drenched Fiat parked in the driveway for a second before letting herself into the house.
Mrs. Kennedy looked up from her laptop with a smile, pushing her reading glasses up her nose a little.
"Addie! You made it back right before the rain," Mrs. Kennedy smiled. "I think I'll have to tell our new tenant to park in the garage instead..."
"Is there space?" Addison couldn't help but ask. "I mean, there are two other cars in there, right?"
Felicia smirked. "Oh, I'll just have to remove one. Jordan's car can soak in the rain."
Addison was a little surprised, but just gave her a chuckle before going up the stairs. She had no idea what the beef she had with Jordan was about, but knew that Felicia didn't favour him much. After all, she knows him for longer than Addison, considering that Jake went to the same high school with him.
She went up to her room and saw Mrs. Kennedy coming up the stairs behind her, going straight towards the room where the new tenant stayed. Addison snickered, knowing full well that Felicia wasn't kidding about leaving Jordan's car out in the rain. After all, he always came home late.
She heard the door open behind her as she entered her own room. She snorted and decided to text Jordan to tell him about what just happened.
Add: She's kicking your car out of the garage
Jor: What?!
Jor: Y?!
Add: Because the new tenant came in earlier
Add: And she wants him to park instead
Add: Because it's raining
Add: 🤣🤣
Jor: 😡😡
Jor: But good thing too
Add: ??
Jor: My car's really dirty
Jor: At least now it can be washed
Jor: For free
Jor: 😁😁
Add: Seriously?
Add: 😳😳
Jor: It's called...
Jor: Being Frugal
Jor: 😎😎
Add: 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
Add: Whatever
Jor: ✌🏻✌🏻
Addison shook her head and put her phone on the table, amused and disgusted at the same time. She was beginning to doubt even more if Jordan really had washed his hoodie.
She took a shower and sat down on the bed, turning the television on to see the news. To her dismay, there was no news on the Superhero once again. Addison couldn't help but wonder what the heck actually happened to him after that night.
Then again, she did see him disappear into that light of his, so chances are, he really is safe somewhere.

Addison went down and saw Jake already waiting for her in the dining hall. Felicia came in from the kitchen and put a large bowl of air-popped popcorn and trail mix on the table. She went back to the kitchen and returned with two mugs of hot honey milk.
"Hot milk on a cold rainy night," Mrs. Kennedy smiled, putting them on the table. "Enjoy!"
Addison nodded at her with a smile and sat down in front of Jake, putting her bag down on the chair next to her. She popped some of the dried fruit from the trail mix into her mouth before opening her bag to take out her stuff.
"I think Jordan is really missing out," Jake said, taking a sip of the hot honey milk. "I don't get this much snacks when I'm studying alone."
"He really is," Addison agreed, taking a sip of the hot milk, scorching her tongue a little. "Anyway, do you know that your mom actually kicked his car out of the garage?"
"Yeah, I do," Jake smirked. "Good thing too. He's getting a very high discount."
"Why?" Addison asked, putting her mug aside.
"Because he's my old friend," Jake shrugged. "Demanded for a discount because of that. We couldn't turn him down."
Addison chuckled. "He doesn't mind his car being kicked out of the garage, says he's getting a free wash."
Jake shook his head, frowning. "That idiot's always like that. Such a slob."
Addison remembered the brown stain on his hoodie, followed by how he always wipes his hands on the hoodie instead of washing them, and started giggling.
"I wonder how his hoodie would look like if it was white instead," Addison couldn't help but say. "I saw a brown stain caked onto it once, and I'm not sure if he washed it or just scraped it off."
Jake snorted. "Probably just scraped it off. I've seen him pick his ear and rub the wax onto that same hoodie. And then he used the same finger to pick at his teeth."
"Eww..." Addison cringed. "Luckily he hasn't done that in front of me..."
They were surprised to see Jordan suddenly walk in, wearing the same black hoodie he always did, swinging his keys on one finger.
"Yo!" Jordan greeted, definitely unaware that they had been gossiping about him just a few seconds ago.
"So, how's the car wash?" Jake smirked.
"It's nicely cleaning my car," Jordan grinned, pointing his head towards the front door. "Anyway, see ya!"
Addison shook her head and pushed her cup aside so that she could put her book on the table. "Shall we start?"
They had a study session together, with Addison helping Jake with his paper. She also corrected him a little, teaching him a few other methods to rephrase his sentence.