The Marvels

Ep. 15 | Everything's Fine

Vidya plopped down her lunch tray. Amber was in the middle of squeezing the guts out of a ketchup packet, which splattered against her designated sauce-section.

The cafeteria, like always, was loud. The noise gave Vidya a headache on most days, but today she was hoping that it might distract her. She couldn't stop thinking about Jonah. He'd barely said a word at the museum, but she'd been Frostbite then: a hero and the object of his sister's affection, not someone he'd talk to beyond an apology for Emma's tenacity and a thank you over his shoulder. But what would he say to Vidya?

What else would he have said that other day, if he weren't interrupted by her pager going off?

"What are you thinking about?" Amber asked. "Calc?"

Vidya shook her head, a little embarrassed. It wasn't just Jonah she thought about—she also kept replaying the swing incident over and over again in her head. It felt pathetic to want a connection with him so badly that she held onto the only thing they shared: a decade-old memory of a playground.

She sighed. "I'm thinking about Jonah."

"Do you like him?"

"I don't know." Vidya dragged a french fry through ketchup. "Aisha told me that's a great answer."

"Maybe so," Amber said, "but it's not going to get anyone anywhere."

Vidya shrugged, too newly in love with the complexity of I don't know to be overthinking it already. Amber had already been told about David and Mask-aka-Aisha. Vidya got their permission first, and she trusted her best friend to keep her mouth shut. If anything, Amber was way too thrilled to be involved in the superhero life to risk telling anyone.

"Did you hear back from SVA yet?" Vidya asked.

"No."

They went silent, staring at their lunches. Amber was going to move across the country if she got into her Manhattan dream school, the School of Visual Arts, and Vidya planned to stay in California. These last few months of high school were the last time in a long time they would be this close, and even with all the encouragement they threw in each other's faces, they were sad.

The unstoppable progression of time was freaking scary.

"Anywho." Amber rubbed her fingertips clean of french fry salt and got to work on her chicken nuggets. "How's Marvelling going?"

"Please don't make that a word."

"I saw it on Reddit."

Vidya laughed, shaking her head. "It goes well."

"Come on," Amber implored. "Give me details! I'm living vicariously through you."

"There's not much to say." Vidya shrugged. "I'm starting to get missions more regularly, so that's cool, I guess."

"What are the Marvels like?"

"Phase is nice."

Amber raised an eyebrow. "Is that it? Is he the only one you've really talked to?"

Vidya wished that were the case. Instead, she'd fallen victim to Flamethrower's nasty attitude, Lady Marvel's cold indifference, and Juggernaut's questionable way of leading. As for Echo...he hadn't even made eye contact since the induction, but he was rarely around, anyway.

"They're different from what I thought," Vidya admitted. "But let's talk about something else. I get enough of them already."

"Alright, then. Let's go back to Jonah."