Cassandra

Promotion?

"So you're thinking about becoming a full-time hero? You didn't even want to help us in the first place?" said Alice, after Aurora had filled her in on everything.

"But she has been helping us out a lot and I can't always be around, so it's good to have some help," explained Aurora. She was right about that – her schoolwork and social life were suffering a lot, because of having to save the city all the time. Not that I really wanted it to happen to me, when I started being a full-time hero.

"Just because she managed to stop a car gone crazy today, doesn't mean she has what it takes to become a superhero," argued Alice, who had never really believed in me. It was pretty much impossible to make her think of me as anything else, but a liability.

"About that car... I have a theory," I intervened. "I think the car was a distraction from something else."

"It sure kept us distracted," said Patrick.

"Why are you telling us this now? Couldn't you have said that in the morning, when it would have been a lot easier to find out, what was going on?" Of course, now Alice was really mad at me. There went my chance at being a hero.

"Well, I was distracted too... Not because of the car, but I actually got to use my powers for something other than transport. That was so cool! .... And obviously distracting, because I wasn't really thinking about anything else. Major adrenaline rush... Besides you are supposed to be the geniuses, not me. How come you didn't figure it out?" That sure kept Alice's mouth shut for a while. I had figured it out, while I was in one of my quite boring lectures, which was actually a great place, where to think about things. It could have been a terrorist attack, but our city just wasn't important enough to grab such attention.

"It doesn't matter anymore how distracted anybody was. If it was a distraction, then we have to figure out, what the real target was and who was controlling that car." When Aurora got bossy, then everybody was listening. "And also, Cassy will be a superhero from now on... if she wants, so she is going to need a suit."

"What?! No, no, no. I'm not going to wear a silly costume." Being a hero, not a problem, wearing a costume, definitely a problem. If I was going to save the city, I wanted to do it in clothes, that I felt comfortable in.

"You think I look silly?" She was honestly hurt.

"No, it suits you, but costumes aren't really my thing. I don't think I could ever save the world wearing a skirt and having my hair open like that. How come you don't get your hair everywhere?" My hair was all over my face, when a little wind came by and she saved the day without getting them tangle at all – now that was a superpower.

"It's my secret power. But you don't have to wear a skirt, you don't have to have the same costume as me. I'm sure Alice can make something special for you."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Alice can make really good costumes." She was a mechanic, so I didn't actually get, where she got her interest or skills to design costumes.

"But she doesn't like me, so she'll make me wear something stupid."

"Hey, I'm right here," declared Alice.

"Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not."

"Come on Alice, she needs something, people can't find out who she is."

"I don't think it's going to be that hard to figure out. I mean I figured out who you are behind that mask. I also saved Seth from a bunch of criminals and they saw my face and powers, so they can pretty much go and tell everybody, plus my hair is a dead giveaway."

"Well if you save the city and become really popular, then you can just say you're a fan and that is why you have the same hair."

"But everybody at least in the university knows my hair was like this before and I'm not exactly a fan type of person."

"Trust me nobody is going to put the two and two together, because they just don't believe it. I've been a hero for years and not even my friends at school had any idea, even though I kept disappearing all the time." So her friends were not the brightest crayons in the box. "But now to the important stuff – you also need a superhero name."

"Why can't it just be Cassy, since everybody already knows or will find out." I didn't get the excitement she had.

"Having a secret identity is a way to protect yourself and the people you love. If everybody knows who you are, they are going to find out about Aurora, about us. We will never have a normal life again. Not just because of the villains, but reporters can be quite annoying too. If you want to be a superhero, you have to follow our rules or we won't help you." I really didn't like, when Alice was acting all smart, unfortunately she was kind of right for once. And without them, there was really no point in being a hero.

"Fine, but I'll only wear a costume, that suits my style, which means no skirts or capes or heels or pretty colors. And no stupid hero name."

"How about Stardust?" offered Aurora.

"Wasn't there already a book and a movie?" Actually, that just made me think about Seth and how we were supposed to watch the movie together. Stupid head – out of all the things I could have thought about, why did I have to think about him.

"Now there is a hero too."

"It's actually pretty good, sums you up pretty nice and since sun is a star too, then you guys even match," agreed Alice with a hint of mockery, but I ignored it. I still wasn't very sure about the name. It sounded very unoriginal and cliché, but I didn't have any better ideas at the moment.

"Thanks Alice, I think that's the nicest thing you have ever said."

"Don't get used to it... And figure out, what was with that car today, while I try to figure out a silly costume for you... Maybe you should just put a calypso on, that would match your wish list pretty well."

I was about to say something mean back, but Aurora stopped me and dragged me to the command room.