Susceptible

Prologue

It started back in middle school. When I had braces on my crooked teeth, and my hair was never well styled. When I wore hand-me-downs that had gone through two people before me, long out of fashion. When I wasn't completely aware of all these things, before society could make me hate my image.

Yes, it was just a young awkward innocent me that fell in love with today's most desirable bachelor.

Of course when I fell in love, nobody would have guessed he would have turned into who he is today. I fell in love in the middle school computer lab. He was a total geek. Dark hair that fell into his eyes, and probably hadn't seen a brush in a week. Glasses too big for his face that had not yet become defined, so always fell to the bottom of his nose. Overall slightly poor hygiene like most middle school boys, covered by pounds of Axe. And the same five t-shirts he seemed to wear every week.

None of that sounds like it should get my heart pumping, but it did. I mean I was just as big of a mess.

But what really made my hands sweat and my heart work just a little bit faster was when we were in that computer lab, and he was in his own world. He was known for being one of the smartest in our grade overall, but where he really excelled was computers.

It was just a basic intro computer class for us twelve year olds. But while the rest of the class was learning how to type, he was programing. It was unbelievable how much he knew about computers, and the teacher praised him giving him his own assignments, and encouraging him to think about majoring in it in college. He never bragged about it though, and in fact most of the kids in our grade at this time did not know about his skill.

Not me though. I turned in my seat every day and watched him in the front of the other aisle typing away. I watched him squint and push up his glasses, so absorbed he often didn't hear the bell ring. I learned nothing in that class. I just watched him hypnotized by his intelligence.

My crush grew and grew where I learned his whole schedule, and knew who he walked with to his classes. I was just getting into the world of boy stalking, but was too shy to ever speak to him. He wasn't popular, I was probably more so than him. But everytime I would tell myself I would go say hello I got so nervous I bailed.

My middle school dreams finally came true though when we were the last kids waiting for our parents to come pick us up from school. It was just the two of us standing in the front of the building when we made eye contact. I quickly looked away because of course I had been staring.

But he did something unexpected and said hello, and I asked about his programing, and soon enough we were talking so much I never wanted my mom to come pick me up. After that we clicked.

And the rest is just history between me and my Christopher Samuel Walker. Me and my Sam.

Well, it's actually pretty important history. The summer before eighth grade we shared our first kiss. The summer before ninth grade he got his powers. The summer before tenth grade his superhero ego The Midnight Hour was out there stopping crime. The summer before eleventh grade Midnight Hour was being worshipped for his heroic acts. And the summer before twelfth grade is where we are now, he's the most famous superhero in all of the city, girls swoon with just one look.

Superhumans are a relatively new development. Over the past decade superheroes and an occasional supervillian have being popping up around the world.

They get their abilities from having triploidy, an abnormality that use to always result in death. But in these superhumans the extra set of chromosomes remain inactive until puberty. Once they are stimulated your average kid turns into one with amazing abilities.

I was with Sam when he first discovered his powers. We were at the park under a large tree. I was laying on my back looking at the light shining through the leaves, and Sam was sitting up reading a book beside me.

I heard a snap and saw a branch break off from from high above tumbling to the ground. Sam saw it too and before I even had the chance to move he had caught it.

Well, he sorta caught it. The branch was just floating there five feet off the ground above my head.

"Sam," my voice was shaking, "Is that you doing that?" I looked over and he was staring at the branch. Sweat dripped down his face as he calmly nodded his head. He moved his eyes over and lowered them, the branch following his motion, and landed a few feet away from me.

"Do you know what this means Adriana?" Sam asked now looking into my eyes.

"Yeah, you're about to be the greatest superhero this country has ever seen."

Sam trained all of that summer and with the help of his new genes he easily got more fit. At first I was trying to count all his ribs, but before I knew it I was trying to count all his abs.

I tested him trying to to find what all he was capable of doing. His main power was his telekinesis, but he also had superhuman reflexes. He learned how to control objects better and move them exactly where he wanted. Every day he tested trying to move a bigger object.

When the leaves changed color that ninth grade year is when he got into the big objects, the ones he thought that mattered.

I remember the first time he moved a car.

"C'mon!" He said grabbing my hand and quietly leading me down the stairs of his apartment and out his balcony.

"No Sam are you sure we should, your mom could wake up from her nap." I was panicking, his mom was pretty uptight about his still new powers, scared he would be discovered.

"Addy calm down." He said, "It will be a minute tops."

I followed him out in the brisk air. Looking around the side street we faced nobody was out, but he still stayed in the shadows. He let out a sigh then focused on the car parked beside a brick building. He clinched his eyes in concentration, and slowly I saw the car come a few feet off the ground.

"Oh my gosh Sam!" I exclaimed. He opened his eyes startled, and the car fell to the ground setting off its alarm. He quickly pulled me into his home.

I looked at him and he had panic written all over his face. We stared at each other for a minute until we both collapsed in laughter.

That was a good day for us both because he doesn't laugh much, especially not anymore. Because once the snow from the winter melted away, and the flowers started to bloom, he had to grow up quick at only fifteen. He started saving lives, he started being The Midnight Hour.