Super

25 - The Short Second Life Of...

"Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives, or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can."

– Philip Zimbardo

"Ben Ashat, Rachel Carver, Annabelle Collins, Tucker Callahan, and Luke Hemmings." I racked my brain to remember where I'd heard that name before. I knew I recognised it from somewhere! My question was answered when-

"Hi."

I turned distractedly to notice a very familiar, scrawny boy standing behind me, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he chewed his bottom lip uncomfortably. His shoulders hunched over just a little so his blonde hair tickled his neck, curling around his ears, and his icy blue eyes flickered everywhere, focusing on anything but me.

"Um, hi..."

"Luke."

"Right, Luke," I acknowledged, mentally kicking myself. Of course! Luke Hemmings from my math class! Frankly, this Luke Hemmings looked like a smaller, scrawnier version of my future husband; aka THE Luke Hemmings. "Wait... You work here too?"

Luke nodded, not saying anything.

It made sense, I thought to myself. The kid had some of the best grades in my math class.

"So how long have you interned here?"

Luke shrugged.

"Um... Did my uncle hire you?"

Another shrug.

I let out a phlegmatic sigh. Obviously I was getting nowhere with this kid. I craned my neck to scan the room for my other team mates. About forty teenagers, myself included, were currently huddled in one of the seven wings of Blaze Labs. Our team mates had just been announced by Supervisor Garrett Geyser. Strange name, I know.

Everyone wore name tags, but since they were handwritten in red ink, it was a little difficult to discern from the messy writing who was who. Eventually, though, I identified Rachel Carver and Tucker Callahan. Now it was just Ben something-or-other I was looking for.

I let out another phlegmatic sigh as I turned back to four fifths of Team Unenthusiastic. Allow me to introduce the other members:

Rachel Carver: very pretty girl. Long, auburn hair and round, curious blue eyes. Her plump lips and rosy cheeks would have given her a "popular" image if not for the large, thick-rimmed glasses perching on her Roman nose that kind of defeated the "cheerleader" status quo. Still, she was gorgeous. Luke was already staring at her.

Tucker Callahan: this kid was ADHD for sure. With perfect mocha skin and a wardrobe his mom had clearly picked out for him, he looked every bit the part of a college frat boy. He wore a collared, button down shirt and khakis accompanied by a grey fedora. To be honest, though, he wore it well.

Ben Ashat: currently making his way over and probably noticing my analytical stare. Tall (at least six feet), lanky, and obviously double jointed. He was the colour of buttercream icing with loud, red freckles peppering his face and arms. His scruffy red hair fell in a mop over his big brown eyes and he wore a smile that was more like a combination of a snarl and a grimace, and could only be described as ugly. And he was "smiling" (cough, snarl-grimacing) straight at me!

"Alright team, we have a month. Let's just get this over with," he said in a high, squeaky voice that was clearly meant to sound bored, but instead sounded like a grizzly bear had inhaled three helium balloons.

Everyone went through introductions before we set to work brainstorming ideas good enough to impress Uncle Clyde. If I'm honest, my heart wasn't in it at all. I kept biting my lip and glancing at my phone every five minutes.