Super

The Man that went "Poof"

Chapter 6: The Man That Went "Poof"

A week confined to your apartment with only your little sister to keep you company can really screw you up for life. I could never ever find anything. She'd practically destroyed the place! I've never been the cleanest or the most organized person on the planet but she was ten times worse than I have ever been. She left her bras hanging in the bathroom, socks and clothes everywhere; she uses up all the pancake mix and leaves me with the crusty old cereal. It sucks! And if it wasn't for the stupid burn mark on my back I probably would have kicked her out already...which is a terrible thing to say...but is kind of the truth. So I did the one thing I could do without making myself look bad, I went back to work early.

I stomped in to Dorson's Books at exactly 8:58 ready to do something other than watch old reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is fun but gets old real fast. Ashley appeared from the backroom meeting me halfway.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well that's a nice welcome..." I muttered, and she pinched the bridge of her nose trying to remain calm.

"You're not well, you should be home resting."

"Well I'm fine and ready to work!" I said excitedly, plastering a fake smile on my face. But she wasn't buying it. "Ok fine. I'm losing my mind at home I can't take any more. I need to do something. I've got cabin fever. Please, god let me stay." Her face twitched slightly in what was probably the beginning of a smile.

"Fine but no heavy lifting." I nodded hauling myself into my stool, sending a small spark of pain shooting through my back. Ashley's eyes narrowed.

"I'm fine, totally fine." She opened her mouth and closed it again. Thankfully most holiday shoppers started their frantic shopping later in the week so it was a fairly easy day. A cute nerdy college couple stopped in and picked up their books on astronomy and a few old people staggered in throughout the day. It was a great break from the holiday rush and anything was better than being stuck at home.

The college kids, who were probably my age or older, lingered in the shop forcing me to watch how adorable they were being. I mean they shared a chocolate milkshake for Christ's sake. Some people in life get cute boyfriends and milkshakes others get landed with powers and run into burning buildings. Life just isn't fair sometimes. The bell dinged again letting me know another customer had walked in.

"Welcome to Dorson's Books how may I-what are you doing here?"

"Hey that wasn't very friendly."

"Joey what are you doing here?" He gave me his classic grin and leaned on my counter. He hadn't changed much over the past few months. He'd finally gotten around to getting his hair cut. Now you could clearly make out his light brown eyes which were usually covered by his bangs. "Skipping school again?"

"It's winter break genius...we miss having you around you know. Are you okay?" His eyes shifted down to my back and I sighed.

"I'm okay but there'll be scar damage." He cursed under his breath and gave me a sad look. "Its fine, I'm doing okay. Cara's taking care of me-shut up." I glared at him but he just laughed.

"I'm surprised you haven't killed each other yet."

"We're fine...so far. But you've got to get out of here. It's my first day back." He sighed looking at the clock over my head.

"Fine I've got somewhere to be anyway. But we're gonna hang out at Ray's Pub. You should go. You need to get out more. Less work more play."

"I need to eat."