True Sidekick - *Sequel to Hero by Day

Chapter 4 - The Man of Steel?

"It's The Flash? Did I know we knew The Flash? We know The Flash. OK. I didn't know we knew The Flash."

~ Thea Queen (Speedy)

:Aden:

This past week has been crazy.

First, I get in a car crash because I had the audacity to save Dylan from being crushed by a truck. I ended up straining my arm and sitting in the hospital for almost a week because of him. And then Dylan gets away without a scratch. He isn't even any nicer to me. I mean – you save a guy's life and how does he repay you? By bullying you even more.

Secondly, that girl Elise Howerton in Oliver Storm's grade gets kidnapped. Of course, White Lightning saved her, but my dad was convinced it wasn't the whole story. Elise's father sold the story to Dash Corp, so I would expect that any day now the terribly exaggerated story of Elise's kidnapping would be published in the magazines, websites, and papers my father owned.

And then, Oliver Storm and Ian Thompson were kidnapped and held for ransom by some Remedist Extremists. (But, if you asked me, there was nothing extreme about them. All Remedists were just as crazy as those guys if they thought getting rid of the superheroes was a good idea.) And then Delinquent saved them. Delinquent, the girl my father was still trying to sell as a villain. I mean – when you save the Secretary of the State's son, you're not really a villain anymore.

It was Monday now though, thank god. The weekend at my house had been horrible. My mother kept bugging me to see if I was alright, and my father kept offering to invite Dylan over. The last thing I needed was his face smirking and laughing at me after a traumatic incident.

At least at school I had friends to hang out with and a way to hide from my family.

"Hey, Aden!"

I turned around at the sound of my name. Standing under the Freshman Tree was my best friend, Tyler Thorne. He was rebelliously wearing combat boots instead of the uniform dress shoes and his dark hair was crazy and wild, per usual. It was a relief to see such a familiar face.

"So, you survive the weekend with your folks?" Tyler asks.

I shrugged. "As much as I could. All I had to do was barricade my door shut and survive off of old pizza and soda."

He chuckled. "Yes, because you'd rather hide away than face your folks and tell them what's really on your mind."

"Would you do it if my folks were yours? Besides, the last time I tried to tell them how I felt, I got hit by a truck. I think that was a message from the universe to stop trying."

"At least Dylan also got hit." Tyler offered.

I scoffed, "No. I pushed him out of the way, for some strange reason. All he got was a couple scrapes and bruises. He was more worried about that green goo from the barrels ruining his nice shirt and hundred dollar shoes. I mean – he didn't even thank me for saving his ass from being crushed by a truck."

"Some people are just assholes."

I agreed.

Ever since we were little, Dylan hated me. His father and mine were the best of friends, so we had to see each other a lot more often than either of us actually wanted to. Like the dinner that Friday when I got hit by that truck instead of him.

I had been fed up with my father's constant nagging at me to be more like Dylan. I yelled at them and stormed out of the overly expensive restaurant, unknowingly leaving my book inside. Dylan chased after me, book in hand. He taunted me and then ran out into the street. I ran after him, only wanting to get my book back, when I noticed a swerving truck heading straight towards Dylan with no sign of stopping. I made a split second decision and dived at Dylan, pushing him out of the way of the truck while I got most of the impact.