SUPER-OKAY

THIRTEEN

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
Blue Flame

"Are they seriously calling her The Flame?" Nichole Johnson cringed, standing up from the table and taking her empty plate to the sink. Lewis barely paid her any attention. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the T.V. and the story that was all over the news as soon as he woke up that morning.

"Why not? She was on fire, it makes sense." He subconsciously bit his nails as he watched The Flame get tackled to the ground much like he had when he saved Maura on the night he was shot. His hand came up and touched his shirt over the spot on his chest where it happened. He was still reeling from it—not the fact that he was shot, for some reason that didn't faze him a bit, but the fact that his bullet wound had healed completely. Not even a scar was left behind.

Perhaps whatever had happened to him didn't just leave him with super-speed.

"Yeah, but they could've been more creative. Azure sounds mysterious and cool, but The Flame? Nah." Nichole set her plate into the sink and ran the tap.

"I think you're overlooking the most important part of all of this," David mused as he cut up his pancake. "There's an actual super-villain in Elton."

Nicole waved it off. "We have a superhero, though. We'll be fine." She squeezed a dollop of liquid dish soap into the sink and turned the faucet off.

Lewis stared down at his bowl of cereal, trying to suppress the smile that fought its way to his face.

David whistled lowly after he finished the last of his breakfast and carried his plate to the sink.  "What a world we live in. When I was in high school, the closest thing to superheroes we had was . . ." he trailed off, frowning. "Actually, I can't think of anything."

Nicole moved to grab the sponge, kissing David's cheek as she passed him. That's when Lewis decided to snap out of his Azure and The Flame trance. He pushed his chair back and grabbed the backpack that sat at his feet. It was Saturday, which meant a free day to be Azure without having to sit through seven hours of school first.

"I'm gonna head out," he announced as he stepped backwards towards the backdoor, hoping his mother would be too focused on kissing David that she wouldn't question him.

"Now hold up." To Lewis's misfortune, she immediately pulled away from her boyfriend's arms and gave him a look. "Promise me you won't get into trouble."

He groaned and clenched the straps of his backpack. "Mom, I'm just going on a run."

She eyed the bag over his shoulders with narrowed eyes. "Why do you need the backpack?"

Lewis's mouth bobbed open, but his voice left him. His makeshift Azure suit sat underneath a couple textbooks, along with some cash for new running shoes that hopefully wouldn't wear out as fast as his other ones did. "Because . . . it's not socially acceptable for a guy to carry a purse." He patted his bag. "So, backpack."

"He's got a point," David pointed out. Nichole gave him a look and turned back to her son.

"So you're just going to run with the backpack on your back? The whole time?" she said, crossing her arms. Lewis reluctantly nodded. He had to admit, it did sound pretty weird, but he didn't know how else to convince his mom he wasn't doing anything suspicious. Obviously, his plan was going according to plan.