I'm Not a Hero: The Story of Sean

Chapter 3: It's Friends Like You

"Hey, Dani."

I looked up from my library computer to see Liam standing above me, looking a little less than happy. I quickly exited a tab with the headline "Who Is The Green Hood?" because I didn't want him to know how obsessed I was.

"What's up?" I said. "You don't look too happy. And I haven't seen you in a while. What's going on?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Usually I text back at lightning speed, but something happened." He said. I tried to look him in the eyes, but he wouldn't look directly at me. "My uh, my cousin went missing. We were really close, you know? She's like a little sister to me."

I gasped, eliciting a few 'shhs' from the other students around me. I closed my mouth but my eyes were still huge.

"Wait, you don't mean Madelyn, do you?" I asked. He took a couple seconds to respond, visibly hurting.

"Yeah, Mads.." He trailed off quietly.

I got up from the table and pulled him into a hug, and for the first time in forever, he started to cry on my shoulder. When we were younger, crying wasn't as weird for him and he did it a lot more often, but being in highschool, he usually kept his tears in. I patted him on the back until he calmed down a bit. When he was finally ready, he pulled away, wiping the tears off of his face.

"Hey." I said, lifting his head. "They'll find her. I know it."

My blind faith made him smile.

After we left the library, I headed to my Advanced English course, where I ran into Green Eyes, my nickname for the green-eyed dude I believed was a superhero. When I actually thought about it, I could definitely remember seeing him plenty of times. For what I assumed was the first time ever, he sat in the chair right next to me towards the back of the class.

He looked nervous. I actually thought he had to use the bathroom and was just trying to be closer to the door, but then he handed me a note.

We need to talk after school.

I gave him a confused look to mask the utter joy I was feeling. He was the hood! I quickly scribbled a note on a wrinkled piece of paper.

Why?

I knew I wasn't doing too good of a job concealing my happiness when he gave me a concerned look and scrunched his eyebrows.

It's about you friend Liam.

Oh.

Didn't see that coming.

I spent all class sitting impatiently, waiting for the bell to ring. It seemed like it was centuries later, but the bell finally rung. Green Eyes walked out of class almost immediately, and I couldn't find him in the hallway, so I went to my locker. I stood there for a good 7 minutes before he showed up.

"So, what about Liam?" I asked, somewhat impatiently.

"Is everything okay with him? He seems a little off." He replied, concerned. I wanted to roll my eyes but I didn't want to come off as uncaring towards Liam.

"You made me wait here to ask me that? Why didn't you just ask Liam himself?" This time my tone made it clear that I was 100% done with him. Don't get me wrong, I love Liam to bits, but Green Eyes and I were not gonna be friends until he admitted who he was. I know he's the Green Hood. I just want him to admit it.

"Look, I overheard him talking to some other guys about trying to pull of a theft, and I know he's your friend so I thought you could talk him out of it before he does something he'll regret." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at me earnestly.

"What kind of theft?" I asked, a little more concerned. He took a deep breath before answering.

"I'm not sure. Sounded like a gas station." He said. But something about his face told me he knew more than he was letting on.

"Well, I'll talk to him. Now if that's all-" I said, motioning towards the now-empty hallway. "I've gotta go."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

During the drive home, I decided to call Liam. He didn't answer, so I left him a voicemail.

Hey, Liam. Funny story. Remember that guy I told you about, with the green eyes? The one who's lunch I spilled all over him? Weird guy, really. But, uh, he met me after school and started saying a bunch of crazy stuff about you, like that you were planning to rob someone or something crazy like that. I laughed him off but he seemed dead serious. Anyway, just wanted to tell you so you'll know who to blame if rumors start tomorrow. Call me back, okay? I didn't see you at all after you left the library. Talk to you later.

My stomach felt a little weird. I mean, there was no way Liam would do anything as crazy as that, right? He was an honor roll student in at least three different clubs at school and was constantly doing volunteer work. He was afraid of letter openers, for pete's sake. He didn't like crime. He wouldn't ever rob someone. Right?

I pushed it out of my mind as I pulled into the driveway next to my brother's car. I was a little surprised that he was home since Jason usually didn't get home until late. He was either a Divisional Specialist or Special Agent at the FBI, but I honestly could never remember. Either way, his job made it clear that I had to keep myself in check. No underage drinking, no late night partying, no inappropriate boyfriends. And yeah, I know it's only to protect me. He just wants to make sure I succeed in life since our parents were no longer around to push us along.

When I walked in the kitchen, I saw him sitting at the kitchen table with a bunch of papers in his hands, looking a lot less than happy.

"What's up, Jay?" I asked, before pouring myself a bowl of cereal.

"I'm going out of town for awhile." He said, not looking up at me. "New case."

"Where are you going?" I asked, this time unhappily.

"Los Angeles."

I sighed. Suddenly, I didn't have an appetite anymore. I was used to my brother not getting home till late, but it was nice to know he was only in Virginia. But Los Angeles? That's over 2,000 miles away from our Maryland home. And the fact that he couldn't even look me in the eyes and say that?

Forget everything nice I said about my brother.

I stormed up to my room without grabbing my bowl and slammed the door. Some might say I was overreacting, but this wasn't the first time he'd done it. The first time was when I was 14, and he called me after school to tell me I'd have to go with Liam's mom. Did he tell me I'd be there for 2 weeks? No.

The second time was my 15th birthday. I'd been begging to go to Myrtle Beach, and we were finally going to go, when my brother was abruptly called in for an assignment in, ironically, South Carolina, and he waited to tell me until the day of.

The third time was the summer of the next year, when he "forgot" to tell me he I would be spending an entire month with Liam's family while he was off in Florida. No wonder Liam and I were such good friends.

And it's not that he was going away that bothered me. It was the fact that he always waited to tell me at the most inconvenient times. If he could just tell me when he found out, I could prepare myself. Everytime he left, I was reminded of what happened to mom and dad. But I didn't want to get into that. I was already in a bad mood.

Before I fell asleep, I turned the tv on and put it on sleep timer. The last thing I remember was the news headline "Masked Vigilante Saves Girl From Serial Killer."