Ophelia

pre prologue: part two

0:0:2
Hero

The sound of the news comes through the hallway as I make my way down the stairs. I open the door to the kitchen and am greeted to the sight of my dad cooking breakfast whilst my mother frantically scribbles on a note filled note pad and my half asleep brother spooning chocolate flavoured cereal into his mouth with a scowl on his face.

"What's on the news?" I yawn, stretching my limbs before drinking a glass of cold water. Instantly, I'm refreshed.

Yeah, refreshed from the memories of yesterday.

From the news on TV. Seriously, I am not a morning person. I read the title of the newspaper on the table.

Trallinger City's new SuperHero Lenna Hartley defeats The Inferno

I scoff at the title.

"I did not defeat The Inferno, I just sprayed the guy with water."

Riley's head looks up from the cereal, a huge grin on his face. Wow, his mood did a complete 180°.

"Who cares? My sister saved the city!"

I blink at him. This was not the response I was expecting.

I flush red and pour myself another cup of water. My parents were both ecstatic yesterday, calling me a hero and saying how proud they were of me saving the city and how now they now have two children that blah de blah de blah. But secretly, I was really proud of myself, that I was finally out of my younger brothers shadow.

My dad places a plate of scrambled eggs, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and potato waffles on the table in front of me as my mother looks up and grins at me with pride. I place a kiss on his cheek as a thanks and begin to devour my food.

"The whole city is talking about you, honey. Everyone's so grateful towards you." My mum winks at me before diving into her furious scribbling.

"Yup, my SuperHero little girl," my dad winks at me, "I won't tell them that you still like to blast High School Musical songs in your room."

"Dad! High School Musical is amazing, okay?! Better than your oldies music!" I whine, stabbing a mushroom with my fork. My dad holds the oil glistened spatula at me in a joking threatening manner.

"My music is not old!"

"Yes it is dad, you still sing along to Paul Simon in the shower when you think no ones home." Riley snorts, mum giggles.

My dad gapes at him like a fish.

"You- you," he stares at him with shock in his eyes. I grin.

"Um dad?"

"Yes?"

"Something's burning."

-

The school is bristling with excitement as people keep coming up to me, begging for me to sign pictures of my picture that was splattered across every newspaper in the city. It's not even that nice a picture, it's just me in a long cardigan and a pair of jeans holding a hose that shoots out water at The Inferno. My makeup is a state and I'm pretty sure that's toothpaste on the front of my shirt. Whatever it is, it looks a little dodgy.

People in my year begin talking to me, as if they haven't been ignoring my existence since forever. The popular guys flirt at me and the girls pretend that they're my best friend.

My real best friend, however, is so angry she could basically be mistaken for fire boy yesterday.

"They don't even know you!" Lucy exclaims, throwing her arms up in the air to try and prove her point. "And they pretend that they know everything about you! Who the hell's favourite colour is vomit green for gods sake!"

I chuckle at her anger. With her fiery red hair and green eyes decorated with freckles, she looks like a squirrel. An extremely angry squirrel.

"Hey Lenna!" A guy calls from a table away. "Is it true? Did you really call The Inferno a red condom?"

My cheeks flush.

"Um, yeah?"

The whole table erupts into fits of laughter and I look at Lucy, wide eyed at their reaction. Are they laughing at me?

"That-" the guy wipes a tear from his green eyes, "that's fucking gold, oh my god, what was his reaction?"

"I um-"

Luckily, the bell goes off, saving me from responding as Lucy feels the need to escort me out of the building like a personal bodyguard, not that I'm complaining.

The lessons are filled with how amazing and brave I was to go up against a SuperVillain, conversations in corridors are about how great I am. Seriously, now I understand why my brother is so bigheaded.

By the time the bell rings signalling the end of school, I've deflected way too many requests to hang out, binned way too many phone numbers, signed too many things and taken so many pictures with people that I think my eyesight has been damaged. I am officially exhausted from that zoo that I call school, but that doesn't prevent me from inviting Lucy back to my house. She refuses, saying that her crazy uncle is staying over and that she's missed him so much.

I laugh inwardly and begin walking home, taking a quick detour to spend some time by myself. A man in the street is handing out free newspapers and hands me one, I look at the front page and see the same picture of me on the front. An exhausted sigh escapes my mouth and I stuff it into my bag, wow, being a superhero must be so hard.

I wander around the streets, my thoughts drift from subject to subject. Completely forgetting the sunset or the missed calls on my phone until I hear my dad yell when I open the door.

"The hell have you been, Lenna?" He demands, shaking my shoulders before closing and locking the door, then he pulls me into a tight hug. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? Jesus Christ don't scare me like that!"

I mumble an apology and hug him.

"I'm sorry, I lost track of time."

He sighs in defeat.

"You're back in one piece, that's what matters, there's leftover food from dinner."

I drop my bag onto the floor and pick up my dinner then head to my room. With every action that I do from getting changed to switching on the light sets paranoia that runs though my head as I settle down and stare at the picture on the newspaper.

There's something not quite right.

I stare harder.

Then it hits me, making me freeze as if someone has just poured freezing cold water over my head.

The fire hydrant wasn't there when I had scanned the area when my brother and The Inferno were fighting. And there certainly wasn't a hose, the closest fireman was lying a good five metres away.

The fire hydrant wasn't there.

What the hell does that mean?