Keeping Superman’s Secret

SEVEN

The rest of the weekend was quiet, the only crime in the city being the usual bar fights, minor thefts, or drunk people trying to light things on fire. So there wasn’t much on the news about the city’s superheroes, but they certainly were consuming my mind. As hard as I tried to focus on work or on Joey’s search for the perfect prom date as she continued to rant about it every day, my mind only seemed to drift to Onyx more and more.

Our last conversation was haunting me. Could it really be possible that my perspective of the city's superheroes was entirely wrong? I had always imagined they’d be super arrogant, narcissistic, constantly bragging about their own fame and fortune. Truly, they had every right to be that way, the entire city was at their fingertips. But in the short conversations I’d had with Onyx, something told me he wasn’t like that. He seemed surprisingly easy going.

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a superhero,” Onyx’s very words were echoing in my mind, the humble tone to his voice still surprising me. “But I love it,” his words rang true every time I replayed them in my mind. And that wink nearly took my breath away, his dark eyelashes swept all the breath from my lungs, while that smirk played on his lips. I groaned when I woke up on Monday morning, finally admitting to myself that I was officially becoming a member of the Onyx fan club.

“Hey, so can you introduce me to Matt today?” Joey asked, thankfully interrupting me from where I was lost in my thoughts. I shook my head, urging myself to focus on her, to focus on the school day ahead of me.

“Yes, I can introduce you, he’s in my English class though, so you’ll have to meet me at the door or something after class,” I suggested. It wouldn’t exactly be normal for her just to appear in class with me, and Mr. Meyers would definitely notice her. Not just because he’s super observant of everyone in the class, but because I was sure Joey would hardly be subtle trying to talk to a cute boy in class. Plus, I hardly wanted to meet up with Matt outside of class, I didn't want to be giving him the wrong idea about my intentions.

“Okay, but make it like casual because I don’t want it to be super obvious that I’m there to meet him,” Joey said, smiling to herself in the mirror as she finished applying a fresh coat of red lipstick. I rolled my eyes, nothing about her was casual, but I decided to go with it anyway. I wandered off to my English class, taking my usual seat, and immediately buried my head in my copy of Romeo and Juliet before anyone could engage in any conversation.

Class was long and boring as usual, and I could hear the group of boys behind me snickering and making comments about Mr. Meyers. Matt definitely seemed to be getting more comfortable here and was starting to fit in with all the other boys in our school; hitting on random girls and mocking the teachers. Until suddenly, just as class was ending, I felt another tap on my shoulder.

“Hey, are you doing alright today?” Matt asked me and I looked over my shoulder at him curiously. I was quick to nod my head back before dropping my books back into my bag. “Okay good, just wanted to check since you’ve been kind of quiet today,” he smiled at me, and I had to admit he had a nice smile, and that was a nice gesture to check on me even if nothing was actually wrong. I didn’t normally talk a lot in this class, but it was nice of him to check in.

I smiled towards him once more and walked with him towards the door. “So are you doing anything for lunch today?” He asked me and I shrugged my shoulders as we stepped into the hall.

“Just lunch in the cafeteria, you?”

“Oh well do you-“ he began, and my stomach turned, knowing what was coming next. Then just ahead I saw Joey waving me down and I quickly jumped to face her.

“Matt let me introduce you to my best friend Joey, her and I are having lunch today,” I interrupted him, relieved that he didn’t get to finish his question. I hardly wanted to turn him down and have things be awkward between us for the rest of the semester, but I also really wasn’t interested in having lunch with him today, or any day.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Matt smiled at her and Joey practically jumped forwards, already scooping him up in conversation about their classes and the weather. I took my opportunity and backed out of the conversation. She was such a natural at talking to boys and at that moment I was totally grateful for it. Matt definitely didn’t even seem to notice when I left, so hopefully things wouldn’t be awkward tomorrow in class.

I tossed my books into my locker and pulled out my lunch, then just as I was closing the door, Joey appeared at my side once more. “Okay, he’s totally cute but he’s definitely more into you than me,” she scowled at me.

I squinted back at her shaking my head, “I don’t know about that but you can definitely have him, I’m not interested.” Joey sighed and rested her head against the lockers, obviously feeling the same frustration for me that she had been feeling for months. Joey had been dying to set me up with different guys, she wanted to go on double dates and talk about boys. Yet, all I wanted to do was finish high school and get into college. Joey looked back at me with that familiar look on her face, asking me what was wrong with this one, so I shrugged my shoulders, “he’s not my type,” I said, my usual excuse coming so naturally off my lips.

“At this point, I think your type might be fugly giraffes, because seriously, he’s totally your type. He’s smart, he looks sort of nerdy but in a hot way and he’s nice. There's nothing wrong with him and you’re being too picky. I mean seriously, if not him, then what is your type?” she pursed her lips and shifted her weight onto one hip, but I just rolled my eyes.

“Come on, let's get lunch,” I said, looping my arm through hers and pulling her towards the cafeteria, hoping this would be the end of this conversation but knowing it definitely wouldn’t be. Yet, once more, my mind had wandered to a familiar superhero, those ocean blue eyes, his perfect cheek bones, and I knew with absolute certainty that he was definitely my type.

For the final school period of the day, I was grateful that Joey and I both had a study block. Together we had ventured to the library so I could study for calculus and she could continue her obsession over Matt as she attempted to creep through all of his social media profiles. With me unwilling to show any interest in him, Joey continued to target him as her future prom date. Yet, I knew this would only last until the next hot guy came along.

“Oh my god you have to see this!” Joey suddenly gasped, turning her phone towards me. A video she had pulled up from someone’s f*******: feed was playing across the screen, focused on a shooter opening fire at a bank downtown. As if on cue, a black blur flashed across the screen and I knew it was Onyx. My heart began to race as I watched the camera shot scramble and jump around the screen, losing Onyx’s figure as bullets flew through the air. My anxiety was building, eager to see him again, eager to catch another glimpse.

Then finally the camera settled, and in the distance, I watched as Onyx dodged the bullets with ease, then another came to bounce so easily off of his abdomen, almost in the exact place I had once pulled the bullet from. And as the video came to an end, I realized something that made me shiver. The thing I knew that no one else did, the secret I had promised to never tell.