Adopting The Superhero

Chapter 25

Nyssa's pov (a week later)

I haven't left the house in a week. Not since my last fight with Cyclone. I finally left my room two days ago. The boys didn't mind that much. They brought me food and water bottles when I asked. They never tried to pressure me to leave my room. I think they knew just how much I was hurting and just tried to let me have my space.

"What do you want to watch?" Luke asks me, flipping through the channels. I'm sitting on the couch beside him, my comforter wrapped around my shoulders. I am still holding onto Dolly as well.

"SpongeBob," I answer before shoving another handful of jellybeans into my mouth. I'm miserable and like to drown my sorrows in junk food. Jellybeans just happened to be the first thing I saw.

"Nyssa!" Michael shouts from the front of the house. Luke mutes the television and I groan loudly, mad that I can't eat and watch TV in peace.

"What do you want?" I shout back, not even bothering with trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.

"Your friends are here," he replies, walking back into the room.
Adien, Oliver, Xander, Devon, and Seth, River, and Rylan are all trailing behind him, concerned expressions painted on their faces.

"Nyssa! What the hell? You disappeared on us," Oliver scolds, sitting down beside me. He and Aiden both crush me in a tight hug. River, Rylan, Xander, Seth, and Devon stand back to the side a little bit. Luke, Michael, Calum, and Ashton are watching us curiously. They haven't met any of my friends (with the exception of Lucy, who I'm not thinking about at the moment) before.

"Why are you guys here?" I inquire, confused and slightly embarassed that I was such a mess.

"Well considering the fact that the last time anyone outside of this house saw or heard from you was when you got- nevermind. Bad choice of words. The last time we saw or heard from you was when you had your last fight with Cyclone. We are worried about you, Nyssa," Aiden scolds, lightly punching my shoulder to prove his point. I shrug my shoulders, unable to find the energy to care or apologize. "Nys, I've been texting you like crazy. Both about bad guys and just trying to get a response. Why aren't you answering?"

"Because I don't want to. I don't want to go back out there and fight bad guys or villains anymore," I respond lamely. They aren't about to accept that as a sufficient answer.

"Try again," Seth comments, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Why should I help them when they booed me and threw trash at me?" I demand, wanting to know the answer.

"Because it's what you do, Nyssa. You're Viper. You save people!" Michael pipes up. Luke, Ashton, and Calum nod in agreement. My best friends join in. I roll my eyes.

"Well I don't want to anymore," I retaliate, pouting like a child. I am acting childish but I don't care.

"Nys, it's hard. We get it. Almost everyone hates the two of us. You just have to focus on what you have to do and not worry about them," Rylan tells me.

"They don't matter. Most of them are just jealous assholes," River adds on. I stay quiet.

"Nyssa, look, I know it's hard. People in San Francisco still hate me for the first couple of incidents I had. Hell, my own parents hate Storm. But they need us, even if they don't realize it. We don't have a choice. We were given these powers by fate or destiny or whatever the hell you want to call it so that we can help people," Xander says, walking over to me. Rylan and River nod in agreement with his mini speech. He gently places his hand on my shoulder. I almost give in. But then the fear of abandonment sets in, burning a fresh picture in my mind and I snap out of it.

"No," I say, shaking my head back and forth, "we do get a choice. And I've made mine. I don't want to help a bunch of people who turn their backs on me after I've put my life on the line for them who knows how many tims. I'm sorry guys, but I'm done." I stand up, rewrap myself in my blanket, grab Dolly, then waddle towards the stairs and back up to my room, leaving the group of boys and Rylan alone downstairs.