Slow and Speedy Win the Fight

59. Morning

Haresa

My mornings used to be normal. I would get ready, eat breakfast with my dad, and run to school.

Now I had to wait to use the washroom, and eat breakfast with an irritated villain across the dining table before pretending that we were walking to school together before he disappears into an alleyway and shows up at school before me.

"Are you okay for tonight?" Rudra asked.

He had a bagel in his hand and the cafeteria was starting to get crowded. People poured in from the entrances to make their way to see what breakfast options the school was providing for the day.

"You mean if I'm ready or mentally okay?" I mumbled.

"Um, I would hope both?" Rudra's voice was high with concern.

"I'm good to go," I said quickly. "Do you want me to come over after school so you can pick out an outfit?"

"I'm perfectly capable of picking my own outfit." Rudra crossed his arms and acted offended. "But if you'd like to shower me in compliments before the date happens, I wouldn't mind that."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, I can do that."

"How's everything else by the way? Since, you know." Rudra made some vague hand gestures to illustrate his thoughts.

I managed to interpret it as him wanting to talk about my meeting with Lyra and I gave a tight-lipped smile. "Oh, it wasn't that bad. She just wanted me to participate in this show off—"

"I got you the bagel you asked for, the lineup was really long... When did you get that?" Sheldon's appearance startled me and I see he was eyeing the bagel that Rudra was finishing up.

"I was eating it when I asked you to get it, remember? I wanted a second one." Rudra happily took the plate from Sheldon. "Thank you, by the way."

Sheldon let out a grunt and took a seat beside Rudra.

"What were you saying about the show off?" Rudra asked.

"Oh, they want me to host the kid portion of the show off and then participate in the juniors," I said absentmindedly. "Since we don't have a lot of teen heroes and villains, a lot of the participants are coming from the other side of the country."

"That means Sheldon is going to participate, right?" Rudra asked. His eyes lit up in excitement before they fixated on the boy beside him.

Sheldon tensed up and he was in mid-chew on his own bagel. His jaw began to move slowly to chew on the bagel as if he was buying time to think of a reply. I couldn't believe he was having a second breakfast.

"Sheldon said no already despite there being a five-thousand-dollar prize," I said.

Rudra's mouth popped open. "You have to be lying. There's no way."

Sheldon stayed quiet.

"No, wait, I thought you needed money," Rudra said. "Plus, show offs are awesome, you get to be all flashy and pose for the cameras and stuff. You would be awesome!"

If Rudra's hands weren't occupied by food, I was sure he would've taken Sheldon by his shoulders and shaken him.

"It isn't all fun and games, they're all stressful and annoying," Sheldon muttered.

"When was the last time you were in a show off, though?" Rudra asked. "Weren't you a kid?"

Sheldon and I made eye contact at that moment and I could tell he was thinking what I was thinking. Rudra had no idea of what the reality of show offs looked like but I wouldn't expect him to. Everything was curated, dramatized, and played off for laughs if something serious actually happened.

I shut down all my negative thoughts and sunk further into my seat.

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Rudra continued to prattle on. "And imagine what you could do with all that money, you would be good for rent for a couple of months at least."

I tilted my head to the side and Sheldon shot me a glare. Okay, so he didn't tell Rudra about the new living arrangements.

"Sure, I'll join," Sheldon said suddenly and Rudra perked up at the words.

"Really? Oh my god, would you even be able to get me front-row seats?" Rudra asked jokingly.

"Hey, I'm the one hosting part of the event. Don't you think you should be asking me that?" I replied dryly.

Rudra pouted. "Come on, let me live the romance dream for a little."

Sheldon polished off the last remains of the bagel and I watched with unease.

"I'll see what I can do," was all that Sheldon said.

I pressed my lips together and tapped on my email to relay the news to Lyra. She was probably going to love the news.