The Marvels

Ep. 3 | The Vault Under the Second-Tallest Skyscraper in Los Angeles

Vidya jerked awake and grabbed her new phone from the nightstand. No messages, no missed calls. She frowned. Five days had passed since she left a voicemail on Celestro's answering machine, and they still hadn't called back. The suspense was killing her.

Life went on as usual, but Vidya was distracted. In art class that day she found herself losing focus and sketching Flamethrower and Lady Marvel. The prompt was to practice drawing flowers, but her imagination took over and before she knew it, the two women of the Marvels were on the page.

Amber noticed. "Somebody's suddenly interested in superheroes," she whispered.

Vidya closed her sketchbook. She'd always been interested, but Amber was right: it was different now.

Amber frowned. "I wasn't trying to make fun of you."

"I know."

"They looked really good."

Vidya nodded, turning red. To distract herself from the embarrassment, she reached for her phone and was surprised to see that there was an incoming call. From Celestro.

She immediately raised her hand. "Can I go to the bathroom, please?"

"You should've gone during lunch. Is it an emergency?"

You have no idea. "Yes."

"Fine. Take the hall pass."

Vidya ran to the bathroom, which—for some God-forsaken reason—smelled like rotten lettuce, but it was thankfully empty. She locked herself in a stall and looked at her phone. They'd hung up...without leaving a voicemail.

She dialed the number, hoping they would be kind enough to forgive her for missing their call. Pick up, she pleaded in her head, while the bathroom's empty. Pick up pick up pick up.

The call connected. "This is Celestro's service and information line, Emika Tanaka speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi! My name's Vidya Khan, and I—"

"You're the girl who called and claimed she can fly?"

She sounded irritated, and Vidya realized that Celestro was so famous, they must get hundreds of stupid prank calls every day. Of course they took five days to call back, and of course they wouldn't take her seriously.

"I can fly," Vidya insisted. "And I need to talk about it. In person."

There was a sigh on the other end, followed by rapid typing and a few clicks of a mouse. Finally Emika said, "Come in tomorrow, five in the afternoon. Any later than five-ten, and you lose your chance."

"Of course," Vidya rambled, "I completely understand, I'll be on time! Thank you!"

Emika hung up without saying anything else.

Vidya let out a heavy sigh of relief. Her muscles relaxed so much, it felt like she was melting. She got out of the stall and ran lukewarm water over her hands, nodding at her reflection.

"This is good," she murmured. "This is good."

_____________________

Celestro's headquarters was the second-tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles. Vidya stood at the foot of the steps leading up to the entrance, working up the courage. People streamed in and out of the doors: some of them were heroes in their flashy supersuits, but most were regular employees. Not a single one of them would notice or care if she ditched the appointment. It would be so easy: all she had to do was turn around and walk away.