The Life of a Teenage Hero

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Monday, March 2nd, 7:36AM

Expynos's *REDACTED*

The hum of the elevator vibrates through the soles of my sneakers as I shift my weight, my internal clock ticking away with the rhythm of my heart. A series of math equations swirl in my head, distracting me from the lecture I'm walking into. Maybe algebra wasn't as useless as I thought it was.

School starts in 24 minutes. It's a 15-minute walk from Headquarters to school, but I can divide that time in half if I fly. Then I have to account for changing without anyone seeing me. I have to enter through the student parking lot which is on the opposite side of the school from Mrs. Meyers class, which means I really only have 21 minutes to get to school since it's a 3-minute half-jog to her classroom. Maybe I can sneak in through the teacher's entrance. Although, the security guard told me if he catches me over there again he's handing me over to the principal, Ms. White. And I can't sit through another one of her lectures.

The silver doors slide open, pulling me from my thoughts. I step into the main hall of HQ and Sparky waves at me from his tacky mustard yellow chair at the oversized crescent table in the middle of the room.

"I don't mean to be bratty, but I'm jetting in six minutes whether Leroy is done talking to us or not," I say. I drop my backpack to the floor and take my seat in my midnight blue chair next to Sparky. The eleven monitors in front of us all show different feeds from around the island, flipping through a series of cameras every thirty seconds. The middle screen is ten times larger than all the smaller ones and it's currently turned off, which is unusual, but I don't pay it much mind.

"That's not very heroic of you, Momoko" Sparky replies. He leans his chair back, resting his hands on his dad gut, and the petty part of me hopes it slips out from under him. "And I don't think it was Leroy who called us in. He's working on some gadget thing downstairs."

"If I'm late to English one more time, then I'm going to get another detention," I snap, glancing at the five empty chairs. "Why are we the only ones here? If this 'emergency' is only big enough for two people, I don't need to be one of those two. Where's Quake? Or Blue?" I roll my eyes. "I'm sure she would love to take my place."

Sparky shrugs as he inspects the flour on his black pants. "It's a yellow alert. Not a real emergency. If anything it's a surprise high priority meeting." He pauses and checks his watch. "I will admit I'd rather be at the shop."

He's still wearing his apron from the bakery. Neither of us bothered changing into our Super Hero costumes, because he's right; it's only a yellow alert. It's not like a red alert where we have to spring into action. However, with each passing second Mrs. Meyers's detention slip grows larger and larger till I feel like I'm trapped under its shadow.

"Have you found a replacement for Light, yet?" Sparky asks.

"No," I sigh. I was supposed to find her replacement two months ago before she left for the United States, but I've been putting it off. "I don't need a new partner."

"SHA seems to disagree."

I shake my head and stand. "I'm leaving. Tell Leroy I'm stop by after school or something."

"That wasn't even two minutes," Sparky says. He snaps and a small flame appears on his index finger. He twists his wrist and the flame grows, encircling his hand. "Sit down and stop being dramatic. Tell ya what, if you get detention, I'll just burn down the school."

"That's not a solution," I point out. Then in a squeaky voice I add, "It's also not very heroic of you."

He extinguishes his arm. "Don't say I've never tried to help you."