Superhero

Chapter 29

Addison gulped and made her way towards the alleyway she loathed. She completely avoided the path she got attacked in. After all, this was the shorter, more safer route compared to that way. And she knew her way too, without using the GPS on her phone.
So now, she pulled her coat on tighter and continued walking, passing the junction that led to the dingy alleyway she got attacked in. She shuddered at the thought and continued walking on.
It didn't help that the wind was freezing too. Addison sighed and adjusted the straps of her backpack as she walked. She suddenly heard a car slow down behind her, but continued walking anyway.
"Miss!" A man called.
Addison turned around and saw a car parked at the side of the road with a man leaning out, beckoning to her.
"Miss, can I get you a ride?" The man called again.
Addison shook her head and continued walking. The guy wasn't even driving a taxi, but yet, he was calling to her.
"Sorry, no thank you," Addison said politely, glancing back at him. "I can walk, my place is pretty near."
"It's okay, I can drop you," the man insisted. "I'm on my way back too, and I've seen you walk here a couple of times. Your place is just on the way to mine. It's not a big deal."
"Please, no," Addison said, walking at a brisker pace. "I rather walk, really."
But the man kept persisting her to get in, even resorting to guilt-trip her by saying how long of a day he had, but still decided to help her.
If that was the case, why didn't he just drive away?
Addison started running. She wasn't sure if she could be fast enough to shake him off, but this was her only hope.
"Oh come on, just get in!" The man urged. "It's not hard at all!"
Addison ran down the street, silently praying that the Superhero would come and save her this time, just like he always did.
All of a sudden, a car skidded to a stop right in front of her. For a moment, she thought the man overtook her to catch her.
But to her surprise, it was a different car, a black Kia Optima. The passenger window rolled down, and Addison saw Jake behind the wheel, hurriedly asking her to get in beside him.
Without thinking twice, Addison swung open the door and leapt into the car, her heart racing. Jake started driving off without a word, keeping an anxious look on his rear-view mirror to see if the man was still following them. He hit the accelerator, making the car zoom into the main road. The strange man's car soon disappeared from view.
"We lost him," Jake heaved a sigh of relief. He slowed down and turned to Addison. "Are you okay? I saw that man driving slowly by the road. And then I saw you running away, thanks to your striking white backpack."
Addison nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for coming in when you did."
"It's nothing," Jake said. "I just happened to pass that road on the way home. Mom asked me to get some last-minute groceries, so I had to stop by the nearest Speedmart to buy them. And then I bumped into you."
"I'm glad that you did," Addison smiled, hugging her backpack close to her. "I was praying for something to happen, and it did."
Though Jake technically wasn't the Superhero, he still saved her life. Who knows what that man could've done to her.
Jake drove straight home and parked in the garage. For the first time, Addison saw what the inside looked like. She was kinda amused when she saw the red Fiat instead of Jordan's sedan parked inside. It seemed like Mrs. Kennedy had permanently kicked his car out of the garage. Addison couldn't even blame her for doing that.

"I'll be down for group study later," Addison said before going up to her room.
Jake shook his head. "Nah, it's okay. You can rest tonight."
"But Jake, I'm not doing this for free anymore," Addison pointed out.
They were having a slight argument about it when Felicia came out of the kitchen, evidently hearing snippets of their conversation.
"What's going on?" Felicia asked. "Why don't you want to study with Addie today, Jake?"
Jake looked at Addison before turning to his mother. "Mom, Addie was stalked. Luckily I jumped in when I did and brought her home."
Mrs. Kennedy looked at him in surprise before turning to Addison. "Addie, you better rest."
"But... I'm getting paid..." Addison argued, slightly satisfied that she was getting the night off, but worried that a part of her discount might be taken away. "I can't just skip class, Felicia."
Felicia shook her head. "No, Addie. You're getting a paid rest tonight."
Addison tried to argue, but ended up going up to her room.
She smiled to herself as she closed the door.
'A well-deserved rest...' Addison sighed. 'But what it took to achieve it...'
She shuddered as she remembered the incident that happened not long before.
Addison had just finished her assignment a few days prior and was looking forward to celebrate it. And now she decided to treat herself by watching her favourite movie.
But that was after having her daily conversation with her mother.
"Hey Mom," Addison greeted. "How are the rest?"
"Well, your father just came back from his business trip in Greenhills, and is now forcing me to make him an apple pie tomorrow," Mrs. Parker sighed. "Madison and Edgar are cheering on him too."
"Yeah!" Addison's younger siblings squealed in the background.
Addison let out a snort. "How come I don't get apple pie?"
"Hey, you want us to ship you some?" Mr. Parker appeared beside his wife, his hair still wet from showering. "It's not hard, we can just HaHaMove it to you."
Addison frowned. "Isn't that expensive? I mean, Dad... Petal Valley is quite far from Spring Valley."
"Nah, it's fine!" Mr. Parker grinned. "It's only an hour away. How expensive would it be?"
"Send me the whole pie," Addison joked, smirking. "I can keep it for days."
"No!" Edgar whined. Alison chuckled and panned the camera over to him. "If you take the whole pie, then what's left for us?"
"I dunno, nothing?" Addison smirked.
"Addie!" Madison and Edgar exclaimed together.
Addison snorted. "How are your dreadlocks, Ed?"
"Amazing!" Edgar said proudly.
"How you wash them, I still don't know," Madison said, pulling a strand of his wooly hair. "I find it hard to wash this hair, and now you have dreads?"
Edgar rolled his eyes. "It's called style."
Addison chuckled. "It actually looks really good on you."
"Only I know how much it cost to get them done," Mr. Parker sighed. "Addie, dreads do not come cheap."
"I know," Addison nodded. "Ed, what made you suddenly want dreads? I know that's the reason why you grew your hair long, but why?"
Edgar shrugged, smirking. "Why not? As you said, it looks really good on me."
Madison smacked his back. "Don't let it get into your head."
"You're just jealous because you have pin-straight hair," Edgar smirked.
Mrs. Parker frowned and stepped between them, her phone still in hand.
"I rather have straight hair rather than having dreadlocks!" Madison argued, looking over her mother's shoulder. "It's a lot easier to maintain too!"
Edgar was about to argue too, but ended up leaving the room.
"Oh great..." Alison sighed. "Edward...?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll go bring him back," Mr. Parker said, disappearing into the background.
Madison grabbed the phone from her mother and grinned at Addison. "Ah, leave him be, Addie."
Addison shook her head. "The two of you... I'm not sure who's older. You or Edgar?"
Madison gave her a cheeky grin. "Oh come on, it's obviously me."
"I know, but doesn't seem like it," Addison chuckled.
Mrs. Parker leaned over Madison's shoulder with a grin. "Addison, your siblings have really been torturing me ever since you left for college."
"Wait till my term break," Addison smirked. "I'll get them off your hands, don't you worry."
Madison pulled the phone towards her. "Good thing too. You're a lot more fun than Mom..."
"Hey!" Mrs. Parker frowned.
"It's true!" Edgar chimed in, evidently cooled off. His father burst into laughter in the background.
Addison chuckled and talked to them a bit more before hanging up. She sighed and thought about her scary encounter on the way back.
She was grateful that Jake jumped in when he did. Or else...
She shuddered at the thought...
Addison ended up watching a short movie before going to bed. After all, she still had classes the next morning.