June had just left the hero meeting, already exhausted even though it wasn't even noon yet. She wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl in bed, but a hand on her arm stopped her before she could get across the street.
She turned to find Lilypad smiling at her, and June instinctively smiled back. She knew the other heroes usually hung around after meetings to chat, but June had never been a part of it before. She wasn't very good at small talk, and nobody ever initiated it with her.
"Hey," Lily said, letting her hand drop back down to her side.
"Hi," June said in response, wondering what she must want. Lily, although nice, wasn't the type of person to do anything casually. She was probably the best hero in the group, despite her mediocre powers. June was often jealous of her drive to do good, and how determined she was to save the world.
"I just wanted to apologize. I know I keep bringing up Flame in every meeting, and that's kind of your job, so I wanted to let you know I don't mean to overstep any boundaries or anything. I just want the best for this city. If anyone can stop her, it's you, but I know I keep harping on it, so I'm sorry if that's, like, annoying or anything."
June blinked, smiling awkwardly. "No, it's fine."
"I don't mean to insinuate that you can't catch her or you're not working hard enough, just. You know." She paused to look around, seemingly trying to think of what to say next. "Honestly, I think if the cops just tightened up a bit and actually tried to stop her, it would be so easy, but. Whatever."
She sighed, smiled, then bid June goodbye and started walking in the opposite direction toward a blue car with no licence plate. As she watched her walk away, she caught sight of Mind Mania by the doors of the station, staring back at her.
Uncomfortable, June smiled at her and turned to leave. She wondered what the radius was for mind reading.
*
"Just in time, I'm making cookies!" June's mother said, opening the door and ushering her in.
June couldn't smell anything baking, so she poked her head in the kitchen. There was a bag of flour, some measuring cups, and a clean cookie tray on the counter, but nothing in the oven. June made sure it was turned off before turning to her mother with raised eyebrows.
"Are you sure?"
She started walking toward the living room, laughing, and June followed her. "Well, I was, but then I got hungry and decided I just wanted the cookie dough."
June saw the mixing bowl with the cookie dough in it sitting on the couch half-eaten, and sighed, "You know you can get salmonella from that, right?"
"Oh hush, I used an egg-free recipe."
Based on how well she knew her mother, June doubted it, but didn't bother arguing. After twenty-two years, you learn better. She watched as her mom sat on the couch and un-paused whatever she was watching, grabbing the bowl and spoon and continuing to eat.
Just as she was about to make an excuse to leave, her mom turned back to look at June and patted the cushion next to her. June felt guilty. Her mom just wanted to spend time with her only daughter, and she was already thinking of ways to get out of it. She glanced at the screen, seeing something animated, and joined her mother on the couch. She could suffer through an hour or two.
She loved her mom, but after living with her for eighteen years, she got overwhelmed by her quickly. She hoped that would fade after time spent living away, because she hated the thought of not wanting to be around her own family. Some people didn't even get the chance to know their parents, and June was wishing she could find a nice way to leave. It wasn't fair to those people or to her mom, so she stayed for two Disney films, and left her asleep on the couch with a blanket draped over her. She even washed the dishes before she left.
She lived far enough away that she probably should have called a cab, but she enjoyed walking. Especially at night, when everyone was in bed and the streets were quiet. She often found herself zoning out as she walked, caught up in thoughts about the idea of heroism. What did it mean to be a hero or a villain? How did you decide which to be? June liked to believe that nobody was born evil, but she had trouble explaining why someone would decide to terrorize the world. It made no sense to her.
She hadn't really made the choice to be a hero, but she couldn't imagine waking up one day and thinking she should drown someone, or flood somewhere. When she realized she had powers, she never once thought she could use them for bad. They were tricky to get used to, and a bit annoying at first, but that never made her want to kill someone.
Her house was visible in the distance, and as she made her way toward it, she thought about Flame. She was known as a villain, and she definitely was one, but June didn't know why. All the times they had interacted, she had never come across as cruel. She did bad things, but she didn't seem bad.
June thought about all the good things that could be done with fire, and wondered why someone with such a useful gift would choose to use it to burn down forests instead of keeping people warm. It just didn't make sense.
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If you guys had to guess what june and willows star signs were what would you say and why? And whats yours? Im a libra :)
YOU ARE READING
Hopelessly Heroic (Rewritten)
Teen Fiction"Then do it." June challenged, watching Flame's eyebrows shoot up. "I don't think you're as tough as you want everyone to think. You want to hurt me? Do it." The fire in her hand grew, and June watched it with bated breath. She was inviting the town...
