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“Couldn’t you fly a little closer to the ground?!” Kirk pants, his arms locked in a choke hold around Andrew’s neck. The wind buffets his ears, but he can hear Kirk’s panic loud and clear.
Andrew drops to a slightly lower altitude, swerving around an antenna on one of the downtown buildings. “Any lower and we might be seen, remember?”
“I remember…” Kirk groans.
“Are you gonna make it? Should I land now and call an ambulance?”
“I’m gonna make it.” Kirk’s voice barely rises above the wind now. “Just… hurry.”
One week ago
Andrew bends at the knees, shifting from foot to foot. His eyes narrow as he analyzes the competition. Jennifer is quick, but slow to react. Matt has a wicked throwing arm. And Kirk…
“Ow!” Andrew clutches at his side in pain—the dodgeball hit him just above the hip.
“Ha! Got you, Clements!” Kirk crows. He does a little dance and also manages to scoot away from another ball thrown at his legs. “That ten dollars is mine!”
Andrew shakes his head in amused defeat as he makes his way to the sidelines. Dodgeball is Kirk’s game—he’s surprisingly good at it. Andrew doesn’t know why he took the bet in the first place. Especially since he wants to take Cindy out this weekend and every dollar counts.
As Andrew sits on the bench, he watches Kirk systematically take out most of his team. “Say goodbye to Saturday night,” he mumbles.
“What?”
He turns to the voice. It’s Lisa, one of the girls on his team. She’s pretty cute, and if he didn’t have his eye on Cindy—or know that Kirk has the hots for Lisa—he might try to make a play. He points at Kirk, prancing around the court as he picks off another teammate. “I made a bet with Kirk that my team would win. Looks like I’m out ten dollars.”
She laughs. “Good thing you didn’t bet twenty.”
“You’re telling me!”
Suddenly, by some miracle, one of his remaining teammates catches a ball. The people on the bench beside him cheer loudly. “You’re back in, Andrew,” Lisa says, shooing him onto the court. “Go!”
Andrew jogs back in, careful to avoid a couple of thrown balls. “Okay, you can do this,” he tells himself. “Think of Cindy.”
Kirk’s eyes narrow from across the court. Andrew knows that look. It’s the you’re-going-down look he gets when he’s ultra-competitive. So instead, as he just barely dodges the balls Kirk seems to be saving just for him, he starts taking out Kirk’s teammates. First Jennifer, then Matt, then, even though he hates doing it, Cindy. She’ll pardon him, he hopes, if he asks forgiveness with dinner and a movie.
Soon it’s just down to Kirk and Andrew, pacing each other like wild cats. Cats with a ball in either hand. The cheers on either side are almost deafening. A ball comes flying straight toward him, and without meaning to, without thinking about it at all, Andrew sidesteps it with a burst of superspeed and hammers one of his own balls back at Kirk.
The ball glances Kirk’s shoulder.
Andrew’s team erupts in victory. Kirk slumps down to his knees with a moan.
As the students start to talk and mingle, getting ready for the end of gym class, Andrew walks up to Kirk and holds out a hand. “Good game.” He feels a twinge of guilt that he had to resort to his superpowers to get an edge, but it wouldn’t be the first time. Or even the tenth.
Kirk takes his hand and comes to his feet. “It was a lucky break. Next time, you’ll be the one on your knees.” It’s a joke, but it sounds like a promise. They walk toward the locker room together, laughing and talking about the coming weekend. One of the great things about his friendship with Kirk is that they might have conflicts now and again, but neither one of them holds a grudge.
Andrew waits until Kirk’s got his street clothes back on before holding out his palm. “I’ll take my winnings now.”
“Sure, man, just a minute.” He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and opens it. Andrew doesn’t need X-ray vision to know that it’s empty. “Oh, sorry,” he apologizes with a grin. “Got any money I can borrow?”
The school parking lot is swarming with cars, as usual on a Friday afternoon. But so what if there’s traffic? He’s got a date with the prettiest girl in school for tomorrow night—he was right about that apology—and he’d be floating home if it wasn’t a total no-no. He catches up to Kirk, chatting up Lisa in front of her car.
“Who doesn’t love a picnic?” he’s saying, gesturing broadly at an imaginary field of grass, or perhaps a dream beach. “Just us and nature, nothing but time to talk…”
She gives him a small smile. It’s working. Sometimes Andrew wishes he had Kirk’s touch with the ladies. He doesn’t need it this time, not with Cindy’s ‘yes’ still ringing in his ears.
“Yeah, a picnic sounds awesome.” Andrew pats Kirk’s shoulder as he passes, unable to hold in a chance to gloat. “Maybe not as awesome as a double date to the movies, but…”
As he moves away, toward the street, he hears Kirk say to Lisa, “So you’ll think about it? Catch you later!” Then the sound of Kirk jogging to catch up. “Didn’t know you were such a sore winner, Clements.”
“Didn’t know it was possible for you to lose at dodgeball, Stevens.”
“I’m still not convinced that it is.” Kirk cuffs Andrew on the arm. “You just got lucky.”
“I guess I am a lucky man… I mean, look at how I scored a date, and you struck out.”
Kirk stops cold, clutching at his chest. “Ouch, man. Hit a guy when he’s down, why don’t you.” He starts to walk backward, dragging his feet as if in great pain, his face screwed up in agony.
Even though Kirk’s just playing around, Andrew feels another twinge of guilt. He doesn’t even have to imagine Dr. Jeffcoate’s disapproving voice in his head, he’s developed a conscience entirely on his own. “Hey, look, Kirk, I’m sorry, I—”
“No. No. Don’t pity me,” he groans. “I know when Lady Luck has left me high and dry. I just never thought I would be so young…”
At that moment, his eyes closed in mock-despair, he steps off the curb and into the street. Andrew’s eyes go wide. There’s a huge bus heading toward Kirk on a collision course. “Kirk, look out!”
Kirk opens his eyes and turns toward the danger, but Andrew can see that he’s not going to react in time. He speeds into action, zooming to get Kirk, and move him back, just out of harm’s way. The bus screams a horn call at Kirk as it passes.
Kirk’s completely still, white as a sheet, for five full seconds. He blinks, his mouth open like a fish, before shaking a fist in delayed reaction. “Watch where you’re driving, you maniac!”
Andrew’s running to Kirk’s side again to catch him when he slumps. “Kirk, are you all right? That was close!”
“Yeah…” Kirk says shakily. “Too close for comfort.”
“Maybe your luck has come back, my friend. Anyone else would be street pizza by now.”
“Maybe it has,” he says, still in a daze. “But I could swear I felt someone pulling me back.” He turns toward Andrew and his puzzled look becomes one of suspicion.
Andrew laughs, but it sounds false, even to his ears. “Lady Luck has hands now? Get real.”
Kirk’s eyes stay narrowed for a couple more moments, and then, just like that, he shrugs. “Eh, what does it matter? I’m alive to see another day, and the ladies can rest easy. Even Lady Luck.” He winks.
Andrew sighs internally. Saving Kirk from the bus wasn’t the only close call today. His secret identity remains intact, for now.
Kirk hops back up onto the sidewalk, grinning. “I think I’ll give Lisa a call when I get home. I bet this time, she’ll say yes.”
“That’s the spirit.” Andrew catches up to him, already thinking about where he’s going to take Cindy to dinner. Should he take her to Jerry’s or to Lick’s? Naw, it needs to be someplace really special…
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees that Kirk has wandered out onto the street again, directly into the path of a truck. “Kirk!” he yells, but he’s already in motion, pulling him out of harm’s way, and back to the sidewalk. He turns Kirk to face him, shouting, “What in the world do you think you’re doing?!”
Kirk smirks. “Just testing a theory. It’s like you said, Lady Luck is on my side.”
Andrew opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, at a complete loss for words.
And then Kirk delivers the kicker. “Or to be more exact, Gentleman Luck.”
“You dog!” Kirk says, clapping Andrew on the shoulder and bouncing on his heels. “It is true!
“What’s true?” Andrew nearly yells. “That you’re completely out of your mind?” He sweeps a hand around Kirk’s shoulder to lead him far away from the street. Did the dodgeball loss tip him over the edge?
“That you have superpowers!”
“I have whaaaa...?” Andrew puts on a mask of confusion, but moves them out of anyone’s earshot just in case. He’s had two years to practice denying this, but he’s churning with worry. How is he going to get out of this? Kirk is his best friend; he knows Andrew better than anyone in the world.
“C’mon, Clements. You stood there and told me you had powers a year ago, and then when we were trapped in that cabin, you and Jeffcoate told everyone the same thing. Did you think I’d forget that between one week and the next?”
“I was just joking!”
Kirk raises an eyebrow. “Twice?” He shakes his head. “No way. You’ve got some sort of superspeed… and what were the other things you said? You can fly or something? You invulnerable, too?” Then he punches Andrew in the arm, hard.
“Ow!” Andrew shouts, holding his arm. That really hurt! “I don’t have that anym—” He bites his tongue before more spills out.
“You do have powers!” Kirk points accusingly. “I knew it!”
“What? No. How is that even possible?” Kirk just stands there, expectantly. Andrew throws up his hands. “I give up! Throw your crazy theories at someone else! I’ve got a date to get ready for.” He turns and stalks off in the other direction. The wrong direction for home, but he doesn’t care.
“Why won’t you tell me the truth? It was okay then, but not now?”
Andrew doesn’t turn. He can’t cave in to pressure, he just can’t.
“Fine!” Kirk calls after him. “You won’t admit it? I guess I’m just going to have to make you.”
Andrew tries to keep Dr. Jeffcoate’s warnings in his mind, to stay strong. He picks up speed, but not superspeed, even though he fully expects Kirk to come chasing after him.
He makes it an entire block before he realizes that Kirk really let him go. He turns around. Kirk is nowhere to be found. “Whew, thank goodness he dropped it.” Andrew relaxes, halfway, and then stiffens. “Did he drop it?”
“Dr. J!” Andrew calls ahead, hurrying into the lab. “I think we’ve got a big problem.”
There’s no response. Is Dr. Jeffcoate gone? Busy? He looks around the room. It certainly seems like he must be close by—the lights are on, a chemical is simmering quietly in its beaker over a burner, there’s an odd helmet with a bunch of wires spiraling around it, the computer monitor is on and covered in glowing letters.
“Dr. J?” he tries again, making a slow circuit of the room. Maybe he’s around the corner, or on the floor looking for a dropped item. “Kirk’s onto me. He asked me about my superpowers. I swear I was trying to be careful, but I slipped just a little during dodgeball, and—”
“Caught.” Kirk steps from behind a cabinet, folding his arms across his chest. “I knew I couldn’t have lost fair and square.”
Andrew opens his mouth, sounds of mute protest starting to rise from his throat, but then he just slumps against the counter, defeated. “Dr. J is gonna kill me.”
“Forget Jeffcoate. I’m gonna kill you. How could you keep something like this from me?”
Andrew looks up into Kirk’s eyes. He’s hurt, really hurt, not the dramatic kind he uses on girls or the school secretary. Like Andrew had kept the biggest secret in the world from him and he can’t understand why. Andrew had done exactly that. He wants to answer ‘Dr. Jeffcoate told me to,’ and even though it’s true, it feels like a cop out. So instead he says, “I don’t know.”
“Pretty lousy thing to do, if you ask me.”
“Well, you didn’t believe me the first time, after all…”
“Because you never showed me. Instead, I had to put the pieces together here and there, and puzzle out things that didn’t make sense.” He takes a couple steps closer and lowers his voice. “How many times have you used them against me?”
“Hardly ever! Today was a fluke, I promise! Usually I use them to help people, or just to make things easier, like chores. Dr. Jeffcoate doesn’t even like it when I do that.”
“Why does Jeffcoate know and I don’t? What does he have to do with it?”
“He—” Andrew breaks off, looking around in confusion. “Where is Dr. J, anyway?”
Kirk shrugs. “He had some urgent business. He’ll be back later.”
Andrew narrows his eyes. “Urgent business of his own? Or that you sent him on?”
Kirk shrugs again, not looking guilty in the slightest.
“And you wonder why I never told you?”
“C’mon, Andrew. Why is your middle-aged neighbor in on it, and not your best friend in the whole world?”
“It’s because...” Andrew swallows. He’s really going to do this, to tell Kirk everything. “It was his device that gave me the powers.”
Kirk glances around in interest. “One of these?”
“It’s not in here anymore.” Andrew peers around to make sure. “After a close call last year, Dr. J packed it away somewhere. I don’t even know where it is.”
Kirk frowns. “Dang.”
“Kirk!”
“Can I help it if I want in? I mean, come on, all the things I could do...” At Andrew’s look, he backtracks. “That we could do together!”
Andrew runs a hand over his face in despair. “What am I going to do...?”
“Well, for a starter…” A slow smile grows on his lips. “...you can give me a little demonstration.”
“Here?”
“Why not?”
“There’s just… a lot of breakable and dangerous stuff…”
“Okay, then. What about your house?”
“And risk my mom or Erin seeing us? No thanks.”
“Then my place.” He holds up a hand to stay Andrew’s next argument. “Right, right. My mom.” He gestures broadly. “Then pick a place. Where were you going to show me the first time you tried to tell me?”
Andrew glances at the clock. He really does have to get ready for his date with Cindy, but it shouldn’t take too long. And then maybe he’ll have Kirk off his back for a few hours. “It was—”
At that moment, he hears the sound of the lab door opening, Dr. J mumbling worriedly to himself. “Why would someone call and tell me I was needed at the university science department if it wasn’t true? It just doesn’t make sense…”
Andrew’s first reaction is to duck down below the lab table. He sees Kirk in his peripheral vision; he must have done the same thing. “Why are we hiding?” Kirk whispers.
“I don’t know,” Andrew mouths back, “maybe because you tricked him into leaving so you could ambush me?”
“Yeah. Right.” Kirk tilts his head toward the doorway. “Get us out of here.”
“How? I can’t turn invisible or phase through solid objects.” Though that would be completely awesome. “The best I can do is speed us out, and the wind that creates will make Dr. J suspicious.”
Dr. Jeffcoate begins to check his experiments, fiddling with the beakers and equipment while making a slow circuit of the lab. And as he moves, Andrew and Kirk crabwalk their way around the opposite side of the table. Andrew expects to get caught at any moment.
Then he thinks, so what? Are they really doing anything wrong right now, other than being in the lab without Dr. Jeffcoate’s knowledge? Why did he even hide in the first place? Andrew shakes his head, annoyed at himself, and starts to stand.
Kirk’s hand shoots out to stop him. Andrew stands up anyway, pulling Kirk up with him. Andrew waves. “Hey, Dr. J.” Kirk smiles sheepishly.
Dr. Jeffcoate shouts in surprise. “Andrew! Kirk!” He stumbles backward and almost into a jumble of sharp-looking metal parts.
A millisecond later, Andrew is catching him, lifting him gently out of the way. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Andrew, you know full well there are any number of dangerous materials in this lab. If you hadn’t caught me when you did, I might have…” Dr. Jeffcoate trails off, his eyes widening like saucers as he looks between Andrew and Kirk. “But you—you just—I can’t—”
“Yeah, he just did his super-thing in front of me. Dr. Jeffcoate, I know all about it.”
“For h—how long?”
Andrew can see the wheels spinning in Dr. J’s mind, but it’s no use pretending. “Since today.”
“He didn’t want to tell me, believe me.” Kirk comes to stand beside him. “But I put two and two together…”
“Andrew!” Dr. Jeffcoate’s eyebrows draw down in consternation. “How many times have I told you to be careful! If this gets out, you could be in great danger!”
“Danger?” Kirk asks, looking genuinely confused.
“He’s my best friend, Dr. J. It was killing me to keep it from him.”
“Killing you?” Kirk echoes.
“And what if it really does kill you, Andrew? If we’re not completely ready to reveal this discovery to the world, and someone tries to use you for nefarious purposes, what then?”
“Nefa—” Kirk begins and then with a grimace, gets between Andrew and Dr. Jeffcoate, placing a hand on each man’s shoulder. “How does telling me do that?” He doesn’t give anyone time for explanations, though. “You act like the first thing I’m gonna do is go to Cassie at the school newspaper, or turn him in to the authorities. Give me more credit than that.”
Andrew feels a smile creep onto his face. Of course, Kirk wouldn’t do anything that would put Andrew in danger.
Dr. Jeffcoate’s worried expression softens as well. “I know you wouldn’t.” Kirk smiles, but Dr. Jeffcoate continues. “Not intentionally. But the addition of even one more person who knows increases the chances of discovery exponentially.” He looks between Andrew and Kirk. “You might be tempted to use the powers as a crutch, or a quick fix, when they should only be used in extreme circumstances.”
“Don’t worry, Dr. J, I understand,” Kirk says. “No messing around with the powers.”
Andrew searches Kirk’s face. He really seems to mean it.
A device attached to the weird helmet begins to beep insistently and he glances toward it. “Boys, I must get back to my experiments.” He levels a warning finger at both of them. “Remember what I said.”
“You can trust us, Dr. J.”
Kirk puts an arm around Andrew’s shoulder. “Absolutely.”
Andrew is awakened from a lovely dream of Cindy and the perfect kiss they’d shared before he said goodnight by the sound of a tap… tap... on his window. He groans and opens his eyes just enough to look at his alarm clock. 6:13 AM.
Andrew sits up just in time to see another rock hit his window. The only way he could get Kirk to let him go on his date in peace was by promising to take him somewhere private to demonstrate his powers on Saturday, first thing. Kirk is apparently taking it literally.
He feels a twinge of guilt. They had just promised Dr. J that there would be no messing about with powers. But this isn’t technically messing around, it’s just a demonstration. So that Kirk knows what things Andrew needs to avoid, right?
Andrew drags himself over to the window and opens it before Kirk cracks the glass. “You couldn’t call?”
Kirk shrugs. “Didn’t want to wake your mom.” He points downward impatiently. “Get down here.”
“This is just going to be a demonstration, okay? Nothing else.”
Kirk nods eagerly. “Got it. Now what’s the hold up?”
Andrew sighs dramatically, then closes his window and the curtains for good measure. Then he’s dressed and at the front door in three seconds flat. The astonished look on Kirk’s face makes it all worth it.
“Whoa. Did you eat breakfast, too?”
“No. But I could have. For getting me up this early, you owe me a donut and coffee at Tim’s.”
Kirk laughs. “With what money?”
“Fine. Then you’re going to watch me eat.” For a brief moment, Andrew considers picking up Kirk and speeding to the donut shop. There’s no one around, not even joggers. But just the thought of what Dr. J would say is enough to put the idea out of his mind.
“Cruel. But I guess I deserve it,” he says easily, setting off with Andrew down the sidewalk. “Now tell me all about your date…”
They end up on the edge of town a couple hours later, having walked the entire distance. Andrew half hopes that Kirk will just give up before they even get there, but instead, he walks beside Andrew, talking about everything and anything except the subject of Andrew’s powers and how long it’s taking them to get there. Kirk must be saving the third degree for the demonstration.
Andrew takes a sudden turn into an apple orchard, figuring the foliage of the trees will block whatever he does from the casual observer. Kirk doesn’t question it, he just follows.
Then Andrew stops. “Here we are.”
“Is this place safe?”
Andrew thinks for a moment. There might be workers in the field this morning, but the reason he picked it in the first place was that he hadn’t seen any signs of activity. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check... “Just a second.”
Then without warning, Andrew rises into the air, prompting a gasp of surprise out of Kirk. Andrew floats above the treetops, spinning gently to look in all directions. As far as he can tell, they’re all alone. “Looks good from up here.”
He floats back down, touching down gracefully in front of Kirk. “Whoa. That is completely amazing.” He tilts his head. “Can you take a passenger?”
“Sure. I’ve flown a couple of kids before. Shouldn’t be a problem.” Andrew scoops Kirk up into his arms as easily as a doll.
“Hey, hey, wait a minute, buddy!”
“What?”
“I’m not your blushing bride to carry across the threshold. Isn’t there any other way you can do this?”
“You could ride piggyback...”
Kirk makes a face.
“Do you want a ride or not?”
“Fine. Piggyback it is.”
He steps out of Andrew’s arms, and after a couple of awkward attempts to settle comfortably, Andrew tells him, “Just put your arms around my neck.”
“Won’t that choke you or something?”
“Don’t hold that tight! Sheesh.” As soon as Kirk’s arms lock around him, they rise into the air. He starts at a gentle speed, letting Kirk get used to the sensation. Once they clear the treetops, he speeds up a little. “How high do you want to go?”
“Uh…” Kirk says in a small voice. “Sky’s the limit?”
“You got it.” He floats higher and higher, far above the trees, so high that they can see for miles around. He slows when the cars on the roads around the orchard start to look like ants. “That high enough?”
“I don’t know. How high are we?”
Andrew turns his head to see Kirk shutting his eyes tightly. “Kirk, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he says, his gritted teeth telling a different story. “Just learning something new about you as well as something new about myself.”
“What’s that?”
“That you can actually fly… and that I’m afraid of heights.”
Back on the ground, Andrew lets Kirk catch his breath. “Sorry, Kirk, I thought you’d be okay. You’ve been up in a plane before, you’ve been high in the mountains.”
Kirk bends over, propping his hands on his knees, chest heaving. “It’s a... little different when... there’s nothing but... air... between you and the ground.”
“Should we go home?”
“Go… home? No way, man. You promised me a... demonstration, and I’m getting it.”
“Okay, then. Superspeed or super-strength?”
“Speed.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Oh, no, not after that. Bring me... something from across town. Get me… one of those special vanilla milkshakes... they only make at Jerry’s.”
Andrew raises his eyebrows. “Is this another ploy to get me to buy you stuff?”
“Hey! I almost... died up there!”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I felt like I did. Just… put it on my tab.”
Andrew shakes his head, grinning. “Your tab is getting so long I’m going to have to bind it into a book.” Then he speeds off before Kirk can add anything else to his order.
He’s back five minutes later (as fast as he can move, he can’t grant the waiter superspeed), two milkshakes in hand. Kirk is sitting against an apple tree, head on his knees.
“Two vanilla milkshakes, as ordered.”
Kirk puts out his hand to take his without lifting his head. He takes a long pull… “Ahhh. That’s colder than they bring it to the table!”
“I aim to please.” Though Andrew’s already wishing he’d brought more than the twenty dollar bill he stuffed in his pants this morning. Maybe it’s good he doesn’t have more.
They sit there under the apple trees for a long while, enjoying the fresh spring air and the milkshakes. Andrew watches the color come back to Kirk’s face, and his breathing slow to normal. Kirk just stares off into space, thinking. But what about? Is he amazed? Scared? Serious? Andrew wishes telepathy were one of his powers.
“Kirk,” he tries, “are you okay now?”
He plants the empty cup on the ground beside him. “What do you mean?”
“You… you were pretty freaked out there.”
“Me?” He places a hand on his chest, adding a look of utter indignation. “Are you kidding? I was just caught off guard. Next time, I’ll be prepared.” He stands, then, brushing off his jeans. “So. Let’s see some of that super-strength.”
Andrew searches his friend’s face for a moment, just to make sure everything is really all right. Then he shrugs. “Okay.” He starts to grasp Kirk around the waist to lift him.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”
“I thought you said you were okay!”
“I’m okay after the trip through the air, but c’mon, there’s gotta be something heavier than me to lift around here.”
“I think I saw a tractor over on the other side of the orchard…” And before Kirk can protest, he grabs him around the waist to speed him there.
Andrew sets him down in front of the tractor, giving him a second to get his bearings. Kirk opens his mouth… and then laughs. “I think I like that better than the flying so far.”
“Good!” he says, though it’s more an exclamation of frustration. He would never have guessed that Kirk would be so difficult to please! He’d honestly expected awe or excitement after the disbelief had passed. But this?
“What’s the hold up, Clements?” Kirk says, breaking Andrew from his thoughts. “Do you have to recharge in the sun or something?”
“Ha ha, very funny. I’m not Superman.” Andrew starts to circle the tractor to find the best hand hold. “I could probably go all day and not get tired. Though I’ve never really tested it…”
“So there’s no Kryptonite, either?”
“No…” Then Andrew stops. “Well, yes, if you mean something that temporarily takes away my abilities. X-rays.”
“Like, any X-rays? From the dentist or doctor?”
“Yeah, that’s when I discovered it, after a dentist visit.”
A light seems to go on in Kirk’s eyes. “So that‘s why you couldn’t save me on that bridge! They were X-raying it!”
Andrew nods.
“Huh. And I just thought you were a good actor.”
Andrew huffs. “Thanks a lot.”
“Hey,” Kirk says with a lopsided grin. “What are friends for?”
“Friends…” Andrew growls. “Can get into the driver’s seat of that tractor.”
Kirk holds up his hands. “Okay, okay.” He starts climbing onto the tractor, adding in a low voice that is not too low for Andrew to hear, “Didn’t know superheroes were so touchy.” .
The title of ‘superhero’ slides right past Andrew. “I’ll show you touchy…” He lifts the tractor by the grill easily, and then climbs beneath to place the machine between his shoulders. “Ready to be impressed this time?”
He starts to float again, the tractor and his friend balanced above him. A proud smile slowly grows on his face.
Until Kirk’s shrill yell comes from above. “Now you’re just showing off!”
“C’mon, I was just messing with you.” Andrew resolutely ignores Kirk, walking just quickly enough that Kirk has to jog to keep up. “What’s a little ribbing between friends?”
Andrew bites his tongue to keep from blasting Kirk. How could he have been so stupid to tell Kirk the truth? He clearly thinks it’s all a big joke. The most important scientific discovery of their time, and to Kirk, Andrew is just a two-bit magician performing parlor tricks.
“Not so fast, buddy!” Kirk’s starting to sound out of breath. Good. “You know I was only really testing what you could do, right?”
Andrew stops, and spins to face Kirk, fists planted on his hips. “Testing me?”
Kirk catches up, huffing and puffing. “Yeah. Jeffcoate probably hooks you up to wires and machines and stuff.”
“He does. Gathering data for when the time is right.”
“And that’s important, sure. But has he really taken you outside, and tested your abilities against real world frustrations?”
“Like an annoying, knuckle-headed best friend?”
“Exactly like that!” He gets in front of Andrew and puts out his hand to stop him. “Would you have gone that fast, lifted that much, or flown that high if you hadn’t had me egging you on?”
“I—” he begins, and then thinks about it. He’s done a lot of things with his powers, used them to help people, used them to solve problems, used them for personal gain—but he’s never been so annoyed and angry that he pushed his powers to the limit like he did today. Of course, maybe Dr. J’s tests could show otherwise, but outside a lab, how do you test that? “Maybe you’re right.”
Kirk smacks Andrew’s chest with the back of his hand. “Of course I’m right.”
“Don’t get too cocky. That was the last time you’re going to see the powers in action.”
“What?” Kirk goes still. “Why?”
“We promised Dr. J there would be no ‘messing around’.”
“Dr. J said they could only be used in extreme circumstances. You hid your powers from me, your best friend, for two whole years.Today absolutely qualifies.” Kirk saunters ahead of Andrew, whistling happily to himself.
This time Andrew has to catch up, calling after him, “I don’t think that’s what he meant.”
The next week goes something like this.
Monday
“I forgot my science project at home! I’m going to fail if Mr. Walters doesn’t see it by noon! Extreme circumstances, Andrew, the most dire ever!”
Tuesday
“Seriously, see this from my point of view. If you could surprise a girl with her favorite flowers right after fourth period, wouldn’t you? This might be my last chance. If that’s not an extreme circumstance...”
Wednesday
“I swear, this lock is always catching. Could you, you know, pull it open for me. After I almost forgot my science project earlier this week, I’ll be in even deeper water if I don’t have my homework. Extremely deep water.”
Thursday
“What do you mean not an extreme circumstance? This pencil is extremely broken!”
On Friday, just before the weekly dodgeball game, Andrew is completely fed up.
“Now, you focus on taking out the tough players. Simmons, Walling, Heckman. Just whip it at them before they can blink. With you on my team, we can’t—”
“No.”
Kirk turns to look at him with surprise. “No what?”
“No, I won’t use my powers to win dodgeball.”
“Extreme circumstances, Clements!”
“Hardly.”
“Oh, but you could do it last week? When we were on opposite teams?” Kirk folds his arms across his chest. “Nice.”
“Last week, I didn’t mean to—” Andrew balls his fists in frustration. “You know what? Dr. J was right. Telling you was a bad idea.”
“A bad idea?”
“The worst! When he warned me that others might try to take advantage of me, I never thought it would be my own best friend!”
“Take advantage? It’s just a game of dodgeball…”
But Andrew is already walking away, going back to the locker room to change. He’s long past caring that he might get in trouble for ditching school. He’s sped into his street clothes and out the exit before anyone even notices the wind of his passing.
Andrew sits on the edge of the railing, the railing of the same bridge where he once tried to prove that he had powers to Kirk the first time. Cars pass by, mostly paying him no mind. Every once in a while someone blows their horn at him and he waves them off, falsely cheerful. There’s no crew here today, the repairs long ago made. So there’s no chance of getting hit by X-rays by accident. He could probably fly over town, try to find another survey crew, but what then? Will he have to take them every day, like a prescription drug?
He never thought that he would ever wish the powers were gone. Nor that it would be because he admitted the truth to his best friend.
He thinks about all his comic book heroes, the stories he used to pore over in the days before the proton beam hit him. How did they handle it when people found out the truth? There was Peter Parker—Norman Osborn, the first person to ever know, ended up trying to kill him, but ended up dying instead. And his best friend, the son of the man? Harry hated Peter’s secret identity, and then eventually died over his grief. His first girlfriend Gwen died without ever knowing.
What about Bruce Wayne? Sure, Andrew’s not exactly rolling in dough, but he could try to convince Kirk to become a Robin to his Batman. Bruce made a little bat-family out of all of his sidekicks. Except that so many of them ended up injured, defeated or dead.
He shudders. Maybe there’s a more hopeful example to look at: Clark Kent. His father died, just like Andrew’s dad. His mother supported him. His partner and love interest Lois found out about it. She even took advantage of Clark’s powers to help break stories, right? But it was all for the greater good, not this unimportant stuff like broken pencils and dodgeball games.
As he stares off into the distance, he doesn’t notice as the light fades. He doesn’t notice how there are more and more cars passing behind him as people start to make their way home from work.
He almost doesn’t notice when a pair of legs appear beside him. “I thought you might be here. Your mom was getting worried about you, you know.”
Andrew doesn’t answer Kirk. He doesn’t want to talk to him right now. He could speed away, but what’s the point?
“I told her you were on your way to my house, that we were going to go get burgers.” He carefully sits beside Andrew, his legs swinging a little when he unbalances slightly.
Without thinking, Andrew puts out a hand to steady him. “Sounds about right.”
“What does that mean?” Kirk asks when he’s comfortable.
“You speaking for me, making my decisions for me.” Andrew keeps his eyes steadfastly on the horizon.
“Andrew…” He blows out a breath. “I came here to apologize. You’re not making it easy for me.”
Andrew can’t keep a touch of bitterness out of his voice. “Good.”
“I’m sorry, I was treating your powers like a free pass at the candy shop. It’s just… I couldn’t understand. How could you have these amazing abilities, and not use them, like, all the time? Why are you not the richest guy in school? The track star, the hockey ace? Why don’t you have girls hanging off both arms?” Kirk shifts uneasily. “‘Cause that’s what I’d do if I had them.”
Andrew doesn’t doubt that a bit, but he doesn’t say it aloud.
“So I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have them. I don’t deserve them.”
Andrew’s head whips toward him in shock.
He sees a face wracked with guilt. “Clearly fate picked the right guy. I would have probably turned into a supervillain instead of a superhero.”
This time he doesn’t let it slide. “I’m no superhero, Kirk. Just a guy doing the best he can. And even I slipped a couple times. A lot of times.” Andrew chuckles. “I wasn’t always this paragon of virtue you see before you.”
Kirk’s pained expression softens into a grin. “So can I have another chance? Or are you going to have Jeffcoate slip a memory-erasing helmet on me?”
Andrew lightly punches Kirk in the shoulder. “Of course you can have another chance, you goofball. And Dr. J doesn’t have anything like that.” He remembers the strange helmet lying on the counter. “I don’t think he does, anyway.”
“Thanks,” Kirk says.
“You want me…” Andrew glances at the road, there’s break in the traffic. “...to ‘give you a lift home?’ I promise I won’t fly too high this time.” He floats out a couple of inches from the railing, and holds out his hand.
“Nah,” he says, studying Andrew’s feet hovering in midair. “I think we should walk.”
Andrew smiles. “Okay.”
Just as they step onto the road, a car comes careening down the road, a second car following in hot pursuit. The two friends jump back in time to avoid being hit.
“What the heck is going on?” Kirk shouts over the sound of screeching tires.
“I don’t know!”
As they watch, the first car slams into the barrier on the other side of the bridge, the front axle jumping the metal guardrail. The second car almost crashes into the first, but slams on its brakes and fishtails wildly. It comes to a stop horizontal to the road, only inches from hitting the first car.
A man jumps out of the second car, shouting and waving something that might be a gun. Andrew’s no longer impervious to bullets, but he can’t just stand idly by. “I have to do something!”
“But you might get shot!”
“And whoever’s in that car definitely will… if they don’t go headfirst into the ravine instead!”
“That sounds like real life extreme circumstances to me! Go, man, go!”
Andrew speeds just behind the madman with a gun, trying to assess the situation quickly. The driver of the first car is slumped over the steering wheel, his tires spinning in midair. He must have been knocked unconscious with his foot still pressing the pedal. The man with the gun is stalking carefully up to the car, gun coming down to take aim. If Andrew swipes the gun from the man’s hand, then he can push the car back from the railing. But then the man might see him lift the car with his bare hands. He’s going to have to swipe the gun and knock the guy out, all before he can react.
Andrew snaps into motion, speeding past and knocking the gun from the man’s hand. It goes flying out over the railing and down, down, down below. The man doesn’t get out any more than a startled, “Hey!” before Andrew is punching him in the face with just enough super-strength to send him tumbling to the ground, unconscious.
Andrew speeds around to the other side of the car. He hauls the car up and back, straining to do it quickly and gently, but the wheels are still spinning. Somehow he has to get the unconscious man’s foot off the gas pedal without letting the car go over the railing.
He sees Kirk jog up from the other side of the bridge. “His foot’s stuck on the pedal. Can you move him?”
Kirk’s eyes go wide, but he nods. “I can try.” He puts his hands under the door handle and pulls with a grunt. “I think the door is stuck, too!”
Andrew tries to think while holding the car in his arms. How long before someone comes along and sees? They don’t have much time. But before Andrew open his mouth to ask Kirk for ideas, he sees Kirk smash a large piece of broken-off concrete barrier through the back windshield of the car. “I’m gonna crawl through!”
Andrew nods. “Hurry!”
Kirk picks his way through the windshield, climbs over the bags in the back and pulls the man into the back seat. The wheels stop spinning. Andrew carefully lowers the car to the ground.
When Kirk emerges from the car, hauling the driver out, he’s beaming with pride and satisfaction. “We did it!”
“We definitely did, buddy.” Andrew speeds around to help him, laying the man carefully on the ground. “I wonder why that guy was after this guy.”
Kirk goes still. “I think I might know…” He points inside the back seat, where one of the bags he’d climbed over has come unzipped. There are numerous colorful bundles of dollar bills. “A bank robber?”
“Uh oh,” Andrew says, and then tiptoes over to peel back the gunman’s jacket. There’s an official-looking badge clipped to the belt buckle.
Andrew and Kirk look at each other in dismay, which turns to outright terror when the Mountie begins to awaken, groaning loudly.
Andrew zooms away, snagging Kirk under the arms, and not stopping until they’re at least five kilometres down the road, and out of sight under a stand of trees. He sets Kirk down and steps away, pushing a hand through his hair. “Whoa, did we just make that better... or worse?”
“Better. He couldn’t have gotten the guy out of the car on his own—it took two of us and your superpowers to do it.” He steps forward to clap Andrew on the shoulder. Then he winces in pain. “Nnnn…”
Andrew looks down. There’s a long tear in Kirk’s jeans. He crouches down to look… and it’s not pretty. “You must have cut your leg on broken glass. I think I’d better get you to a hospital. Now.”
“What? No. I can just clean it up and put some antiseptic on...” he says bravely, but his face is going pale.
“I think it needs stitches.” He threads Kirk’s arms around his neck, and rises into the air. “Sorry about this, but it’s the fastest way.”
The ride is pretty rough, what with all of Kirk’s panicked protesting. They land about a block away, and it takes all of Andrew’s willpower not to speed Kirk to the hospital entrance. So he lifts Kirk into his arms—there’s no protest from Kirk this time. In fact, his eyes are falling shut, his face going slack.
A couple of paramedics are hanging out by the entrance when they arrive. “Can I get some help?”
One immediately fetches a stretcher, the other goes straight for Kirk’s leg without even asking what’s wrong. “That’s a pretty bad cut there. You know your friend’s blood type?”
“No,” Andrew answers, feeling more helpless than he has in years.
The two paramedics work together to settle Kirk on the stretcher. “How’d it happen?” the taller one asks. “An accident?”
A version of the truth is all he can give. “He cut his leg on a broken window.”
The paramedic tilts his head oddly, looking into Andrew’s eyes, and then nods. “Well, it’s good you brought him as fast as you did, he’s lost a lot of blood. But don’t worry. We’ll get him all fixed up.” Then they roll Kirk off to the emergency room, leaving Andrew standing alone just outside the doors.
“It’s not your fault, you know.”
Dr. Jeffcoate’s words are only half-getting through to Andrew as he watches Kirk sleep. Kirk’s mother is off getting some coffee for herself, and a sandwich for Andrew.
“Kirk chose to help you out, Andrew.”
“He may have, but we would never have been there at all if he was still in the dark about my powers. You were right, Dr. J, as always. No one else can know.”
Dr. Jeffcoate pats his hand in response, and then stands. “I think I’ll see what’s keeping Mrs. Stevens.”
“I’m so sorry, Kirk,” Andrew says once they’re alone. “I never meant for you to get hurt. I promise I’ll keep you far away from danger from now on.”
“What would be the fun in that?”
Kirk’s voice is weak, barely audible over the sound of the beeping monitors. But it sounds like the pealing of victory bells to Andrew’s ears. “You’re awake!”
“Seriously,” he says, his eyes blinking open and a half-grin turning up one corner of his mouth. “You’d better not go about saving the world and leaving me behind. Helping to save that guy, even though he was a bank-robbing creep, was the best feeling ever.”
Andrew nods. He’s so relieved that he would agree to anything right now. He sees Dr. Jeffcoate and Kirk’s mom coming down the hallway, cafeteria food in hand. “You feeling hungry? Your mom’s bringing a sandwich.”
Kirk makes a face. “Hospital food? No thanks.” Then he gets a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “I could definitely go for a Lick’s burger and fries…”
They both know the closest one is all the way across town. “Kirk,” Andrew warns.
Kirk winks. “Extreme circumstances?”