Superhero

Chapter 85

Jordan was practically dragging himself up the steps. His tote bag swept the floor as he pulled it behind him, clinging onto it with the end of its handle.
"Jordan, you okay?" Addison asked, closing the room door behind her.
The redhead merely grunted in reply.
He finally reached the top and unsteadily made his way to the room.
'Is he drunk?' Addison thought to herself as she passed his room. A faint smell caught her nose, making her eyes widen in surprise. 'He is drunk!'
Addison smirked to herself and went downstairs to start with Galante class. She made a beeline for the dining hall and saw Jake having his dinner instead, not studiously sitting down with his books and stationery.
"Hey," Addison greeted and sat down in front of him. "So where's Galante?"
Jake simply shrugged. "I have no idea. I just got home and took a shower before dinner."
"Wait... he hasn't told you anything about class?" Addison asked in surprise.
Jake shook his head. "I texted him just now to ask, but he left me on read."
"That's odd..." Addison frowned and took her phone out. "I'll try asking him again."
She shot him a text to ask and put her phone back down on the table before turning to Jake, who was still eating his dinner. "Is Jordan okay? He looks drunk..."
"He is," Jake frowned. "I offered to bring him home, but apparently he's just 'a little tipsy'."
"Yeah, he didn't look so good, did he," Addison sighed. "I hope he's okay, though."
Jake shook his head. "Whatever's happening with him, it's not something good. He's not opening up to anyone, he's trying to seem like everything's fine when it so clearly isn't." He sighed and put his fork down and rested a hand against his forehead. "Poor Jordan... I hope everything gets better for him soon."
"I hope so too," Addison agreed.
Jake soon finished his spaghetti and stood up with his plate, going over to the kitchen to put it away. Addison frowned and looked at her phone again to see if Giuseppe had replied to her text.
To her surprise, the Italian man merely left her on read without leaving a reply
"What?" Addison muttered to herself. She frowned to herself and put her phone back down, turning to the kitchen to see if Jake was done with his plate. She soon saw the blond exit and sat up straighter. "Jake... Galante left me on read..."
Jake shrugged. "Looks like class isn't on, then."
Addison frowned and shook her head. "No. We're having it. I was your teacher before Galante entered the picture. Tonight, it's gonna be the same."
To Jake's dismay, she forced him to get his books so that they could study. He wasn't very keen on it but was forced to join her since Felicia appeared with his backpack.
"Here are your books," Felicia said, putting the bag down on the chair beside him. "Study with Addie. At least for half an hour."
Jake sighed and agreed, briefly leaving to get his glasses, before seating himself down in front of her.
"Can I see your latest essay?" Addison asked. "I know you've greatly improved, especially because of Galante's extra coaching, but I just wanna see."
Jake fishes it out of his bag and handed it to her. Addison was impressed by his little to no mistakes and ended up deciding on doing a new essay instead. They didn't really get to finish it since Jake ended up falling asleep on the table.
Addison sighed and started packing up. She woke Jake up and told him that their study session was over.
"Jake, let's wrap up," Addison gently said. "Go to bed, you must be tired after your long day."
The blond sat up and took his fogged glasses off, returning them to their case, before putting his things away into his bag. All of a sudden, a loud bang came. Addison and Jake were both startled, with the latter jolting out of his sleepy state in an instant.
"What was that?!" Addison gasped.
Jake got up and started making his way out of the dining room since the sound seemingly came from the living room. Addison quickly followed too, not really sure what the sound was and hoping it wasn't anything bad.
To the youths' surprise, the front door shakily opened, revealing a staggering Giuseppe.
"Mr. Galante?" Addison muttered in surprise.
"Giuseppe, are you okay?" Jake asked, concerned. "What was that sound?"
"Fell," Giuseppe slurred, having a battle with the front door since the knob just didn't seem to leave his grasp. "But I get up."
He said something else, but that was all in Italian. The two couldn't understand a word since his words were so slurred that even a fluent Italian speaker would have trouble understanding whatever he was saying.
"Sir, are you okay?" Addison decided to ask.
"Fine, fine," Giuseppe mumbled as he went up the stairs.
The two exchanged worried glances as he went upstairs and into his room. Even Jordan came out of his room to see what was happening, now dressed in a tank top and sweatpants.
"What's going on?" Jordan asked when he saw Addison coming up, now looking a lot soberer.
"I honestly have no clue," Addison shrugged. "But I think he's been drinking. A lot."
Jordan shook his head in surprise. "And I thought I was bad after just a few beers."
"A few beers? It looked like he had at least five rounds of wine!" Addison chuckled. "Also, you okay? You didn't look so good when you came in just now."
Jordan smiled. "I'm fine. Like I said, I only had three beers. That's barely enough to get you drunk."
"I know," Addison chuckled. "Three rounds for beer, two rounds for wine, ten shots of vodka, and at least two ounces of rum to get you drunk."
"Good, you know your alcohol," Jordan nodded. "So you know how much to not drink. And I do not wanna see you drunk. You're already tipsy without anything as it is."
Addison sighed. "Thanks. Get some sleep. It will help reduce the effects of alcohol."
She gave him a small wave and left, going back to her room. Jordan simply shrugged and retreated into his room too.

Addison spoke to her siblings through a video call as she sat at her desk, writing in her case file.
"So what was it this time?" Madison asked, crunching onto some nachos.
"Superhero saved me from a monster car," Addison said as she wrote. "It was a blackout and the stupid driver didn't have his lights on. I didn't see and tried to cross but Superhero grabbed me, transporting me to the other side of the road."
"You mean he hugged you?!" Edgar practically popped out beside his sister. "Dude! The Superhero hugged you?!"
"Technically," Addison shrugged, sighing. "I almost saw his face, though. His mask was on top of his head, but he quickly covered his face when I shined a light on it."
"What did he smell like?" Madison smirked, leaning forward slightly. "Vanilla? Lavender?"
"You read too many love stories, Maddie," Addison rolled her eyes. "He smelled like liquor. Like beer or something, I'm not really sure."
"Eww..." Edgar uttered in disgust. "The Superhero's an alcoholic?"
Addison nodded. "Seems like it. You wanna know who else is an alcoholic?"
"Jordan?" Madison correctly guessed. "Well well."
"Galante too," Addison snorted. "He practically fell into the house. Jordan was drunk too, but just a little tipsy. This guy looked drunk as a skunk!"
Her younger siblings burst into laughter.
"Oh wow..." Madison chuckled. "Did you guys try to ask him to do the chicken dance?"
Edgar gave her arm a slight backhand. "Never mind chicken dance. Addie, stay away from him whenever he comes like that. There's no telling what he may do."
"You sound like Dad," Addison snorted. "But yeah, I got what you're saying."
They ended up debating on who the Superhero might be, Jordan or someone else, before finally hanging up.