The Crazy Adventures of Aqua Girl

Chapter 33 - A Shower Head, The Perfect Weapon

What do I do?

What do I do?

What do I do?

My thoughts were scattered like leaves on the sidewalk on a autumn morning.

Someone else was in my house, and it wasn't my mother.

By my feet, Rufus seemed oblivious to the intruder, licking his paws intricately. If only I could be a carefree dog like him. Anyway.

I could easily use my powers to capture the intruder and let the police handle the rest, but then it would result in a million questions. I could think of the headlines now.

'AQUA GIRL FOUND IN SAN FRAN APARTMENT'

'AQUA GIRL IS CASCADE BROWN, SCHOOLGIRL'

'CASCADE BROWN IS AQUA GIRL, LIVING ON 8TH STREET'

I was not going to give away my secret identity just like that. Realizing I had no other choice, I frantically scanned the bathroom, searching for a weapon of some description. My eyes landed on the shower head, which I had accidentally broken a few months before. It was currently attached to the water pipe like normal, but I knew that a quick unscrewing would result in it coming loose. The perfect weapon. 

Conscious of my every move, I tiptoed towards the shower and gently opened the shower door, thankful for the grease Mom had put on the hinges to stop it creaking. Nice one, Mom. Rufus watched from outside of the shower as I reached up and unhooked the shower head from it's usual position on the wall. Then, I began unscrewing the shower head. After about 10 seconds it began to wobble, before detaching itself from the water pipe. I silently closed the shower door behind me and walked over to the bathroom door, leaning against the wall to snatch a peak down the hallway towards the living room. My breath was quick as I now realized the TV was on, and I heard the annoying voices of American sitcom stars echo through the apartment.

Seriously, I hate sitcoms.

I'd rather watch paint dry than watch a sitcom.

Anyway.

My hand was slightly shaking as I began to pad down the hallway towards the living room door. Luckily for me, the living room was laid out so the whole room was on display from the living room door to the hallway, and there was another wide entrance to the kitchen from the other wall. I would be able to spot the intruder, who was obviously making themselves at home. I wouldn't be surprised to catch them digging into a bag of crisps from the kitchen cupboards or something.

As I approached the living room door, with Rufus in tow, my thoughts were whirring around my head like flies swarming a light. What if this intruder was armed? What if I died? I was only 15, and my birthday was in a few months. I didn't want to die before the age of 90. When I grow up, I dream of becoming a Star Wars cosplayer at Comic Con, along with having a boring day job. But most importantly, who the heck was this person in my apartment? Mom and I aren't criminal masterminds, and we're not famous or anything (well, Aqua Girl kinda was, but Cascade Brown isn't). Furthermore, our apartment wasn't decked out in fancy furnishings, with world-class paintings covering the walls. Sure, it was a pretty nice apartment, but it was only because Mom was an interior designer, and she gets offers and new furniture straight from suppliers and shops. We normally change the whole scheme of our apartment every year anyway. Mom gets bored easily. 

With a final look down at Rufus, who seemed to think we were going to start playing ball in the living room or something, I pushed my back against the wall directly outside the living room door, and braced myself to attack. With all the recent fighting and superhero shenanigans, I was a lot stronger than I was a few mere weeks ago, and I felt that as a reassurance as I composed myself. C'mon Cass.

Slowly, I leaned over and looked through the open doorway, ready to pounce, when I noticed it was none other than...

Brian.

Sat on the sofa, in my spot, watching a trashy sitcom, with his feet on the coffee table.

Well, blow me away.

All that excitement, because Brian was here.

Hang on a minute...why was he here? Mom wasn't home yet.

I placed the shower head on the floor outside the living room door and charged in, glaring at Brian as he looked up from the TV to glance at me.

"Oh, hello Cascade. Did you have a good day at school?" Brian asked, pausing the TV.

"Why are you here?" I replied, ignoring his question.

"I...what happened to your face? Are you ok?"

"I asked you a question!" I bellowed, causing Brian to look concerned.

"Your mother gave me a key." Brian stated, before looking at his watch. "She should be home any minute now."

"A key?! She gave you a key?!" I cried, outraged by this stupid behaviour. I groaned loudly and stormed towards the front door as I heard a key turn in the lock. I stopped by the door as Mom entered the hallway, dumped her bags on the floor and gazed at me.

"Hello sweetie. Ouch, what did you do to your face?" She said, her eyebrows creasing with worry.

"Never mind about that, Mom." I replied, leaning in closer so I could whisper to her. "Why the heck is Brian here?!"

My mother blinked at me for a second, before replying.

"I gave him a key."

"Unbelievable." I declared, storming towards my bedroom door. Before I could open it and enter my haven of geekiness and peace, Mom yelled at me.

"Cascade! Come here!"

Reluctantly, I turned on my heels and followed Mom as she entered her bedroom. Uh oh. If she wanted to talk to me in her bedroom, this was serious. The bedroom was for period talks and serious stuff, like boys, only. My mother plonked herself on the edge of her double bed and ran her hand through her hair.

"Cascade, you need to understand that..."

"What?! I need to understand that Brian is just allowed to barge into our apartment, our lives, without you warning me?!" I shouted, looking down at my mother. She looked surprised by my outburst. I would've felt sorry for her, but I was fuming. For all I knew, Brian had only been with Mom for about a month. In my books, that certainly wasn't enough to be trustworthy.

The room fell silent for a few seconds, as my mother worked up her reply.

"Cascade, I'm sorry, okay? I gave a key to Brian on a whim. I haven't been in love for a while, you know."

Ew, gross.

I didn't ask for a walk-through of my mother's love life.

"We'll figure something out soon, okay? Just...try to get along."

Still annoyed, I felt cooped up in this small apartment with Brian and Mom. I decided to go for a walk. Maybe a skate. Sighing, I walked out of my mother's room, called Rufus and grabbed my skateboard, before slipping into a pair of dirty Vans and slamming the front door behind me.

That's when I wished I had brought a hoodie.