SuperVillain

17

Ahh, Saturday. No school, which means me and my friends had the whole day ahead of us.

"What's up, Lei?" Mason shut the door to (where else?) City Hall behind him. Lei. Cute.

"Hey," I responded. "Seen Sunny yet today?"

Mason shrugged. "I assume she's coming."

"Probably," I agreed.

Mason propped his elbow on my desk, something he'd done from the beginning. "Well, what about us? What are we doing tonight?"

I smiled. "You're planning that. I'm working."

Mason smiled back. "Well, you're sure doing a good job."

I frowned at him, but I could still feel the blush. He was so cute.

Ugh. I'd been stricken by love, and there was no escaping it. But... it was a nice change.

I snapped out of my thoughts to see Mason leaning in, his face an inch from mine, and it caught me off guard. I stumbled out of my chair onto the floor, and Mason walked around the desk to help me. "Let's try that again," he whispered, and I giggled. Yes, I actually giggled. Mason leaned in. I leaned in. I closed my eyes, and-

"What's goin' on here?" We heard from the door. Mason grimaced. It was Sunshine.

Quickly, I pushed Mason away. "Heyyyyyy, Sunny? Where ya been?" Mason and I had decided to keep our relationship a secret from her, because we didn't want her to feel like a third wheel.

Sunny put her hands on her hips and frowned. "I think the better question is, where have you guys been?"

Mason and I retreated to our seats, and Sunny pulled up a chair next to Mason. "What do you mean?" Mason asked nervously. "We've been here, waiting for you."

"What about last night?" Sunny asked. "I know Leila's always here unless she's with us, and Mr. Madison said you guys ran off and were gone for hours."

That's when I grimaced. "I'm so sorry, Sunny. I guess we were distracted."

"By what?"

I exchanged a nervous glance with Mason. "Uh, we were hanging some more advertisements. Leila made some flyers last night."

Sunny furrowed her brow. "I didn't see any."

"Uh, they're in... a different part of town, that's all." Mason grinned sheepishly, and I couldn't help smiling.

"Okay..." I could tell Sunny was suspicious, but I thought it would be okay. I was used to lying all the time, anyway. I was practically an expert on it. "So, what are today's plans?"

"Uhhhhhh...." Mason and I looked at each other in panic. We couldn't exactly tell her about today's plans.

"Uh, I need to print some papers," I said frantically. "Mason come with me!"

Sunny stood up at the same time as Mason. "I'll go with you, Leila," she offered. "I'm an expert when it comes to printers."

"That's okay," I said, yanking Mason's arm. "This is a paper for Mason, and I gotta make sure he likes it."

"Well, I'll come wi-" While Sunny spoke, Mason and I ran towards Mr. Madison's office, where the printer sat. Luckily, it wasn't too close to his desk, so we could talk in peace.

"Hello, Mason. How've you been?"

"Um, good, I guess. Thanks for-"

I was still tugging on Mason's arm. "Sorry, Mr. Madison, we need to print something. We're on a tight schedule today." I grabbed my phone from my pocket and began printing a random paper, just so the printer would make noise, to make sure Mr. Madison couldn't hear our conversation.

"Should we just bring Sunny along with us tonight?" I asked. "I feel bad about ditching her again."

"I know," Mason replied, frowning. "But we've had to reschedule so many times. I don't wanna wait anymore."

"Neither do I," I said. "But I'm worried she'll feel like the third wheel."

"Yeah..." Mason said. "Okay. We can go next Friday."

"'Cause she has Spirit Club?"

"Yup. We can do..." I saw Mason blush a bit. "Kinda like we did yesterday. But it can be more formal and planned if you'd like,"

I smiled. "Okay." The printer stopped just then. "Let's go," I mouthed, and jerked my head towards the door. Mason nodded, and we headed back to where Sunny was. Except Sunny was nowhere to be seen.

"Sunny?" We called. "Sunny?" "Cover your ears," I whispered to Mason. Then I yelled, "SUNSHINE CARRINGS!"

"Boo!" Sunny shrieked from behind us.

"Great googly cupcakes!" Mason yelped.

I made a face. "Great googly cupcakes?" I echoed. Then I smiled. It was so random. He was so weird, and I loved it.

"Oh my gosh! Your face, Leila! And what the heck, Mason? Googly cupcakes?" Sunny wheezed, she was laughing so hard.

Mason got all flustered and embarrassed. "Oh, I don't know where I got that..." Sunny and I share a smile. Being around so many girls must have finally taken its toll. "...That's something my aunt used to say," Mason finally admitted quietly.

"What's wrong?" I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. His jacket was really soft and worn, like it had been washed many times.

"I miss her," he said.

"Oh, Mason," Sunny and I hugged him. "I understand. I really miss my mom, too. Although, I don't know what I would do if I knew she was..." I didn't really want to say the word dead, because I didn't want to upset him.

Sunny let go and looked at us, still leaning against each other. "Wait... what?"

"My aunt... passed away," I heard Mason sniffle.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Sunny looked at me from behind Mason's back, and gave me a sour look that said did you know about this? 

I smiled sadly and shrugged. Sunny narrowed her eyes even more. "Where will you go?"

Mason hiccups. "I'm not sure. They're taking me to a lawyer to decide."

We sat there for a moment, silently hugging Mason. Then, I decided to change the subject to a happier topic. "So, who's up for burgers tonight?" I gave a Mason a meaningful glance and nodded at him.

"O-Okay," Mason replied. His breath was all shuddery.

"Uh..." Sunny mumbled. For a minute, I thought she wouldn't come, and Mason and I could have our date. But then she said, "I'm a vegetarian. Could we eat somewhere else?"

Of course, the three of us hadn't known each other that long, so Mason and I were surprised to hear this tidbit.

"Uh, yeah, of course. A new subway sandwich place just opened down the street. Why don't we go there?" I suggested.

Mason and Sunny nodded, so I said, "Alrighty. 6:30 sound good?" They nodded again as I rose from my seat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go talk to second graders about the election. Text me if you want to do anything before dinner. I'll be done in like an hour." Just before I opened the door, I said, "Bye, Mr. Madison!"

As I walked towards the elementary school, I thought how lately I felt like an actual teenager, a normal kid. Not a mayor, not a supervillain, not a superhero, just... me. I had friends, and even a boyfriend. And I was grateful as heck. Things were starting to look up.