The SVE Club

6. Hat

    It was early in the morning. Midas was boarding the public bus to get to his second day of school, wearing the same getup from yesterday.

    The rest of his first day had gone without another incident. Detention was a new experience for him, one that Midas didn't particularly like, but he stuck it out until the hour was up and he could go home.

Today he had higher hopes. He had a plan. And it involved the wrinkled sticky note in his jacket pocket.

    The bus was crowded today. There were no seats open except for by strangers, which made Midas uncomfortable. He was about to grab one of the straps on the ceiling and stand when-

"Hey, Midas!"

Midas turned to find the guy who had done the card trick yesterday, Nate, who was with another student he recognized from Mr. Lee's homeroom. Midas hadn't even recognized Nate at first; maybe it was because he was wearing a hat now, a red plaid fedora. Nate waved him over to the empty seat between him and the window. Midas reluctantly walked over.

    "Sit with us," Nate told him. "Oh, this is my brother, Winston."

"Hey," Winston said. Midas nodded, looking at the two of them. They had to be twins. They both had reddish hair, pale skin and a lanky build.

"So you take the bus too, huh? You live around here?" Nate asked Midas.

"That's a nosy question," Midas replied, regretting his decision to sit with them.

"Hey, if you don't wanna tell me anything, that's cool with me. After all, I do owe you my life; Mrs. Ortiz would have slaughtered me if she'd seen that card," Nate laughed.

"What makes you think I had anything to do with that?" Midas asked casually.

Nate elbowed Winston. "Look how modest this guy's trying to be," he cackled sarcastically. He turned back to face Midas. "Dude, everyone either saw or heard about the exploding mask incident. We all know you're a Dynamopsych."

Midas held back a curse. Another downside to the incident yesterday. He should have never gone off the wall like that.

"So, Midas? Why wear the mask?" Winston asked all of a sudden. The question sounded like a challenge somehow. "We all know who you are. Why hide your identity?"

Midas stiffened, surprised with Winston's forwardness. "What makes you think," he said slowly, "That it's my identity I'm hiding?"

The three were silent for a moment, all trying to process the words just spoken. It was as if the conversation had been frozen by ice. Naturally, Nate felt the need to break it.

"You know what makes me mad?" he asked. He pointed at Midas' mask. "That you can wear that, but if I wear my hat it's 'against school dress code'."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure masks are against the rules too," Winston said. "They probably made an exception for an ISH student, though."

Nate thought about this for a moment. "Okay. That's it. I have just as much right as him. I'm wearing my hat to school today, and nobody's going to tell me not to!"

<><><><><><><>

"Nathan, take that hat off!" a teacher ordered.

Nate groaned and pulled off his hat.

"So much for that brilliant idea," Winston chuckled as they walked through the school.

"Hey," Midas said, suddenly remembering his plan. "Is there a message board or something around here?"

"Sure," Nate said, "What do you need it for?"

"I'm starting a club."

Nate and Winston stared at him.

"That's neat..." Nate muttered. "Um, what kind of club?"

"Probably a cosplay club," Winston said under his breath.

"A club for super villains," Midas answered, looking severely at Winston, who coughed nervously.

"Super villains?" Nate asked, sounding incredulous. "You're at the wrong school for that. Did you forget that nobody here has powers? Any villains you find around here won't be super, they'll just be middle-of-the-road villains. How much thought have you given this?"

Midas stopped short. It was true he hadn't thought out everything yet. Aside from what he'd scribbled on a post-it this morning, he had no idea where he was going. But Nate brought up a good point; How did you make a club of super villains when nobody in the school was super?

"Enough," Midas finally answered. "Do you mind telling me where the board is now?"

"Oh, right. Down the hall, take a left and you should see it," Nate said.

    Midas took off walking, leaving a confused Nate and Winston behind. Once he found the message board, he took the note out of his pocket and pinned it to the board.

    Join the Super Villain Enterprise
Only those with unique abilities and skills will be accepted.
See Dynamidas (Midas Aldridge) for more information.

Midas stood back and nodded with satisfaction before walking away.

Sam, who had watched Midas pin the note to the board, waited until he had gone before going over to the board and reading the note. It was a disaster.

"Aw, jeez," she groaned, rolling her eyes. She glanced down the hall to catch a glimpse of him before he disappeared around a corner. "You wanna start a club, huh?" she whispered. "You're gonna need more than a sticky note."

Suddenly, a sly grin spread across her face. She headed to the copy room to grab a piece of white paper and prayed she wouldn't regret what she was about to do.