Superheroes Suck

Chapter 7: The Classic, "Wrong Place, Wrong Time"

The receptionist at the front desk was the first thing that greeted me when I entered the doors to The Advocate's office. The chaos came in at a close second.

The perky brunette was a stark contrast to all the running around that was happening behind her in the press room. She greeted me with a smile and the offer of a cup of hot coffee as people were rushing back and forth around us. Her name was Michelle and she explained that "Mr. Matthews" had told her I was coming in and he was a little busy at the moment.

I took a seat in one of the leather chairs and waited. It was maybe half an hour or so before a young guy was in the lobby, asking Michelle for a "Nora something."

"Nova Renier?" I offered.

The guy turned on the balls of his feet when he saw me. He was pretty cute; he had shaggy brown hair and doe-like green eyes that seemed relieved when he saw me. His glasses fell down to the bridge of his nose as he gave me a once over.

The boy let out a nervous laugh and checked over the tablet in his hands. "That might be it."

I pushed off from the leather chair, it squeaking as I did so. I certainly wanted to make a good impression and that, my fine friends, was not it.

"I'm Nova." I offered the boy my hand. "I didn't catch your name."

The boy jumped backwards, his glasses falling to the floor as a result. We both kneeled down to pick them up and our hands met just as we reached for them. We pulled our hands back and I turned away, trying to hide the creeping blush on my face.

He nervously shot up and put his glasses on, offering me a hand up. "I'm Harry Thawne, one of The Advocate's staff photographers and Trevor's right-hand man. Trevor sent me down to retrieve you."

The tablet in his arms flashed for a moment. Harry looked down at it with wide eyes as he read the message's content. When he was finished, he sighed and nodded towards the newsroom.

"We had better get going and let me preface this by saying we are usually not this hectic. You just have really bad timing." Harry led me down the halls and past the most chaotic parts of the office to a much quieter area.

The glass walls were lined with photographs, each better than the next. I had to stop myself from lingering too long on the photo of Rapid Remix, it was just so awe inspiring. If I could a photo that went on to have even a fraction of the impact this photo did, my life might be complete. This photo ushered in a wave of superheroes in mainstream media and it redefined the way newspapers covered these heroes.

Harry noticed my lingering glances, "It's one of my favorites too."

"Really?" Another reason to go after Harry, even though I have a zero chance with him.

He has got to be in his early twenties while I am a lowly high school senior. What a waste.

"Yeah." Harry just shook his head and took a step forward. "Trevor hates that shot though so I suggest you don't mention it to him."

"Trevor Matthews hates his most iconic shot?" I was beyond incredulous.

"You got that right, he has a good reason for it though." Harry shook his head again, as if he couldn't believe it either. "Trevor is just pissed that the single best photo of his career was a reflex shot."

"That was a reflex shot?Wow." The colors, the framing, the emotion, and that photo was just dumb luck? "So what is Trevor like? I already know not to bring up that photo but is there anything else I should know? Do you have any pointers because I swear my hands may never stop shaking like this."