Shadow

"Looking for the Answers in the Pouring Rain"

It had been two weeks since I had last seen Cole.

He had moved out, taking some clothes and things he would need. I didn't know exactly where he went; probably a friend's house or a hotel that wasn't destroyed by him.

The entirety of Cryptic City was confused, to say the least. Different rumors were milling around. Most of them said that Blaze and I had fought and I had won. Blaze had fled into hiding and I was injured and out of the hero business for the time being. Some said Blaze was dead or I was dead or both of us were dead. Yet others said that we had mutually decided to retire young.

I honestly didn't know what was wrong with my city.

Rumors were also flying around school, and none of those were true either. Everyone knew that Cole and I were avoiding each other. We weren't very subtle about it. We'd gone from hanging out and talking every day, and the days before, he had spent giving me quick kisses throughout the day. Now, he was out of the house. He ditched all classes I had with him. He ate lunch outside with his friends. He never made eye contact, and never came within a hundred feet of me.

You'd think I had a fatal contagious disease.

Rumor has it that the fight between Cole and Daniel was what had driven us apart. That was only slightly true, but they would never find out the real truth.

Cameron didn't know what was going on, either. She knew that Cole moved out, but I hadn't had the courage to tell her that he was Blaze.

These days, all I thought of was a line that I remembered from a play. We'd read Romeo and Juliet my freshman year. I wasn't really into romances, but they definitely added action and adventure to a plot. The quote that had been running through my mind was Juliet's, and she'd said, "My only love sprung from my only hate." If anything was to describe Cole and me at this period, it was that. I'd fallen for him. No, I'd fallen for the other him. Not Blaze. Never Blaze.

Cole.

_________________________

Thursday came. Jase and I stood in front of the class alone, giving our History presentation. Jase was worried about me. Now that he knew for sure I was Shadow, he knew something had gone down between Blaze and me. Jase is smart—really smart. I was nearly sure that he knew that Cole was Blaze. All throughout the presentation, he kept giving me concerned glances from the corner of his eye. Subtle, but I noticed. It made me sad to look at our presentation with glitter on it. That had been a good day. Probably the best day of my life. It was the calm before the storm, Kiera. You should've known.

The bones in my foot were shattered. The doctors at the Agency, including Lauren, didn't know what would happen. Each Super heals differently, but quickly all the same. Ever since the final battle, as most people had taken to calling it, my left foot was in a cast and I had crutches.

You wouldn't hear a complaint from me, though. I was just happy to survive.

"Hey, Kiera!"

I turned from my locker to see Sienna making her way towards me. I smiled at her. "Hey, Sienna. What's up?"

She smiled weakly back at me. Sienna had been strange around me, lately. She was acting like I was . . . fragile. Like I should be handled with care, or I would shatter into a million pieces. I didn't know if it was because of the issue between Cole and me or my foot, but I didn't like how she was acting different. I needed something constant to keep me sane. "How are you lately?"

I looked down at my foot. "Eh, I guess I'm okay."

"I still don't know why you were downtown that day." She shook her head sadly. "You have a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kay."