Keeping Superman’s Secret

THREE

The sun shone brightly through my windows as the next morning arrived. Today was Monday, so that meant going back to school for me. I was already counting down the weeks until graduation. I jumped from my bed and into the shower, then brushed out my hair, applied a little make-up and pulled on a t-shirt and jeans. Looking myself over quickly in the mirror, I shrugged, this was as good as it was going to get. My dirty blonde hair fell over my shoulders and straight down my back, so I grabbed a hair tie in case I decided to put it up later.

I grabbed my school books from my desk and shoved them into my backpack. Slinging the bag over one shoulder, I jogged down the stairs to see my dad already waiting at the kitchen table. “Hi sweetie, how was your sleep?” My dad said as I walked into the room and set my bag down on a chair. He sipped his coffee and had his eyes glued to the newspaper in his hands.

“Good, your night?” I replied. This was our usually routine, awkward small talk in the morning shared over my bowl of cereal and our cups of coffee. Usually our conversation centred around the articles in the paper and while it had only been just the two of us for as long as I could remember, we never seemed to get better at conversation. Although, I think we were both okay with that now, I was much closer to my grandmother and my dad preferred to keep his distance. Truly, I think I reminded him too much of my mother who left us when I was just a baby, or maybe he never really wanted kids, but here I was.

My dad worked nights at the hospital, and because he was a doctor, his usual 12 hour shifts usually dragged on longer than intended. He always made it home on time though for our morning coffee talks, and that was enough for both of us.

“I heard you were still helping out last night at the hospital when the shooting victim came in,” he said, shifting off our normal course of conversation. Volunteering at the hospital had given us one other thing to talk about, which I guess I was sort of grateful for, since it made the conversation less dry. “That must’ve been pretty interesting for you to see,” another sip of his coffee.

“Yeah it was cool,” I said, thinking back to last night. The nurses had hurried around the shooting victim. I left. I pulled a bullet out of Onyx’s abdomen. He snuck into my bedroom last night. He had only been a few feet from me. My eyes getting wider and wider as the events of last night replayed in my head.

“You okay?” My dad asked, looking up at me over his glasses. I snapped up to meet his gaze, realizing I must’ve missed his last conversation starter as my mind wandered off.

“Um yes sorry I just have a test today, a little distracted is all,” I mumbled out, then scooped another spoonful of cereal into my mouth. And with that, my dad closed the paper, wished me luck, then went to his bed. While his day was coming to an end, mine was only just beginning.

I stepped out the front door of my house, locking it behind me, and turned to see my best friend Joey already waiting for me. She sat in her blue convertible punch buggy, bobbing her head along to some music and applying a fresh coat of lipstick. She swung her short brown hair over her shoulder as I approached and dropped my bag into the backseat of the car.

“Seriously Ali, how are you going to find a prom date looking like that?” She said, eying over my simple t-shirt and jeans. I rolled my eyes at her and hopped into the passenger seat. It wasn’t that I looked bad, but it was nothing compared to her ambitious sense of fashion. Today was just the average school day, but she was all dressed up in a vintage green dress, a clean pair of tights, and a stylish pair of ankle-high boots.

“I plan on sweeping them off their feet with my charm and wit,” I laughed, pushing my hair back out of my face.

“Yeah yeah I’m sure you will,” she rolled her eyes at me but laughed along. The prom was still a couple of months away, but I doubted I would find a date. My last boyfriend, Nick and I, had broken up last summer, and truly, since then, I hadn’t really been interested in dating. It wasn’t a bad break up in any way, we were just better as friends. I just wanted to enjoy the remainder of my senior year with my friends, and look forward to my future next year in college. Although I still hadn’t gotten accepted to my number one choice school, the University of San Francisco, I had faith that I would be receiving it soon.

Joey and I walked together to our lockers, then went our separate ways for classes just as any other day. My classes for the day dragged on and I was beyond grateful when the final bell for the day rang. I returned to my locker to meet up with Joey, watching the crowds of people walk by me in the hall.

“God, could Mr.Meyers be any more boring? I mean I swear his Shakespeare rants get worse and worse every time,” she groaned, coming up beside me. I laughed knowing I had already lived through today’s rant this morning, whereas she didn’t have English with him until this afternoon.

“Trust me, calculus this morning wasn’t much better,” I shook my head. Joey exchanged her books in her locker, then refilled her backpack and turned to face the now dwindling crowds.

“Oo he’s cute,” she pointed forwards to the crowd, picking out a boy with curly brown hair who I’d never seen before. Although his skateboard shirt and lack of a backpack told me he was way too young for us. Only 9th graders could afford to skip the backpack. By grade 12, we had way too many books.

“Come on, we have to get to work,” I rolled my eyes at her and we made our way back towards the car. Joey and I worked together at Fiona’s Diner for most of high school. A friend of her family’s owned the place and had offered us jobs as soon as they found out we were looking. While the place surely had it’s busy days, I didn’t mind it. I got the hours I wanted, good pay, and plenty of tips. And getting to work with my best friend was definitely a plus.

That night at the diner continued uneventful. Being a Monday, there were a few of the usual older couples in for dinner but by 8pm the tables were all empty. With only 1 hour left until closing, I perched myself on a barstool and flipped on the TV.

“Woah, that place is just down the street!” Joey exclaimed, coming to sit on the bar stool beside us, setting down a plate of hot fries for us to share. The owners never cared if we ate while we were working, as long as the customers were taken care of first. Another reason I love my job here.

As I looked up to the TV, there had been a robbery reported at the electronics store which was less than a couple blocks from here. And sure enough, a video followed, showing the mysterious shadow known as Onyx moving towards the robbers and disarming them with two swift movements. I watched in amusement with how smoothly he was able to disarm them - those robbers clearly didn’t realize we have a superhero in our city.