Blue Masked Hero

by Dee J. Stone

  Mom freezes in place. I don’t know why I said that. I’m over the whole forgetting my birthday thing.

  “Nick.” Mom’s arms come around me. “My poor baby. How could I forget my little boy’s birthday?”

  I pull free, or try to. She’s got a strong hold. “I’m fifteen.”

  Her hold tightens. “I know. My little baby is growing up so fast.”

  Matt chortles. This is so humiliating. Why does she have to treat me like a little kid? I think I liked it better when she forgot I exist.

  “Mom, you’re kinda killing me here,” I say.

  She loosens her hold, but doesn’t let go. “I want to hold onto you as long as I can. Before I know it, you’ll be going off to college and getting married—”

  “Too much into the future,” I say. “Come back to the present.”

  She finally lowers her arms and lets me breathe. “I’m so, so sorry, honey. Yesterday was a crazy day.”

  “Don’t worry. I get it.” I smile. I thought I’d like seeing her guilty, but it just makes me feel rotten. Mom tries so hard to make us happy. I shouldn’t have been so negative about the whole birthday thing. It happens, right?

  “We’re going to celebrate this weekend,” Mom says. “And I expect both of you to buy your brother a birthday present.” She slaps Matt in the back of his head. “How could you forget your brother’s birthday?”

  He gives her an innocent face. “Me? You’re the ones who brought him into this world. Isn’t it your responsibility to remember that special day? Besides, I have a lot on my plate.”

  Mom shakes her head like she can’t believe it.

  “It’s okay,” I say.

  “Yeah, Mom.” Matt grins. “Nicky says it’s okay.”

  I hate when he calls me that. He called me that when we were little and only uses it now when he’s making fun of me. I wish I could punch him, but those muscles could crack me bone by bone.

  As I finish up my food, my eyes play tricks on me. One second my hand is there and the next it’s gone. What the heck? I look up to check if anyone sees, but they’re too busy with their own thing. I stare at my hand again. It’s back to normal. What the hell is happening to me? Why does my hand keep vanishing?

  “Nick. School,” Mom says.

  I have to take the bus while Matt gets the car. He refuses to drive me because he has to pick up his buddies and girlfriend and wouldn’t be caught dead with his loser brother in the car. Most kids at school don’t even know we’re related.

  This time, I make it on the bus and sit next to Maddie. I’m about to tell her about my weird morning, but stop. She’s my best friend, but I can’t tell her about that. It’s too weird. And I’m not sure it even was anything.

  She bumps my shoulder. “You okay?”

  “Yep. Totally okay.”

  She watches me for a second or two. “How was the game?”

  I slap my forehead. “I forgot about it.” I pull it out of my bag. I can’t believe I didn’t play it last night.

  Maddie turns her head to the window.

  “Sorry,” I say. “Last night was a madhouse. Seriously, I can’t believe I’m still sane after living with those people.”

  She shrugs. “It’s fine.”

  This time I bump her. “Hey, now we can play it together.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “You don’t want to?”

  “I guess.”

  I bump her again. “Maddie, come on. Why’re you being so weird? I said I was sorry.”

  “And I accept your apology. Can we ride in silence now, please?”

  I puff out my cheeks. “Sure.”

  I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s never been moody like this.

  “Anything you want to talk about?” I ask. “Like issues in your life, maybe? We always talk about me.”

  She keeps her gaze on the window. “Because my life is boring.”

  I snort. “You’re talking to the most boring person on the planet.”

  “If you were so boring I wouldn’t be your friend.”

  “Same with you.”

  She finally turns to me. “I didn’t say I was boring. I said my life was boring.”

  I laugh. “Fair enough. So what did you do last night?”

  “My stepfather’s daughter is going to stay with us for a few days. Apparently her roommate threw her out of their apartment because she stole her boyfriend.” She shrugs. “Something like that.”

  Maddie hates her stepsister because she’s just an evil person. She hardly talks to Maddie at all and when she does, she treats her like a second-class citizen. She treats Maddie’s mom the same way.

  “Just ignore her,” I say.

  “Can’t because she’s taking my room. I have to sleep in the attic.” She rolls her eyes. “Mom’s been trying to convince me how fun it’ll be up there and how I’ll have all this privacy. Yeah, right. The place is crawling with bugs. It’s nice to know how much I mean to them.”

  I gently clap her on the shoulder. “I know exactly how you feel. But at least now you can sneak guys into your room.”

  She snorts. “What guys?”

  “You know, guys.”

  “Do you ever see any guy going after me? Wait, don’t answer that.”

  Well, she’s right. Guys tend to stay clear of her. “Only because you scare them.”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “I what?”

  I hold up my hands. “See, like that. I’m trying to help you and you’re snapping at me. That intimidates guys.”

  She thinks for a bit, her long black ponytail slapping her shoulder. “Really? So you think if I become nicer, guys will like me?”

  “Hey, you never know.”

  She doesn’t say anything as she stares out the window. I hope I gave good advice. I don’t know anything about anything. I can’t even get one girl at school to notice me.

  Do I have to change something about myself? Be more confident, sure. But what else?

  “Hey, Maddie? You think I should cut my hair?”

  Her eyes circle it. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe if I did, Nicole would—”

  “Ugh. I hate Nicole.”

  She’s said that more times than I can count. “But why? What did she do to you?”

  “She’s just not a nice person.”

  She’s wrong, but I’m not going to tell her that because I don’t want to fight. Nicole is one of the nicest girls in school. I know she laughed at me yesterday, but I did have toilet paper stuck to my sneaker. Even I would have laughed at myself.

  We reach school and get off the bus. I spot Nicole and her friends in the parking lot, talking to some older students. I wish I had Matt’s charm and confidence. Wish I had Kaylee’s cute factor. Those would help me ask Nicole out. I really, really, really, want to. I dream about it every night. Every day. Every second. She’s the girl of my dreams. I especially love her smile and the way she flips her golden hair.

  “Why do you think she doesn’t have a boyfriend?” I ask Maddie.

  “Who? Oh. Right. Who else would you be thinking about?” She turns to me and must see the look on my face because she says, “Man, you have it bad.”

  “She’s just so amazing.”

  Maddie rolls her eyes and heads toward the school doors. I stay behind watching Nicole some more. As I push some hair out of my eyes, I don’t see my fingers. Oh, no. Not again. A second later, they appear. Seriously, what’s going on? Yesterday I told Maddie I feel like I’m invisible. Now all of the sudden it’s happening?

  The bell rings, but I don’t seem to hear it. It’s not until Maddie pulls me inside that I realize class is going to start any minute.

  “You should just give up,” she tells me as she drags me down the hall. “A girl like Nicole is never going to go out with you.”

  “Ouch, maybe be a little rougher next time.”

  She throws me into my chair and sits down next to me. I should be thinking about the girl of my dreams, b
ut I’m thinking about whatever’s going on with me.

  Maddie talks about this and that and I pretend to listen. I can’t understand why my body is disappearing. But I can’t ponder it for too long because my bio teacher walks in and tells us he’s giving us a pop quiz.

  As I clear my desk, my pen falls to the floor. I bend down to pick it up, but something strange happens—the pen shoots to my palm. It was a few feet away and I would have had to stretch to get it. But it flew to me. It’s sort of like what happened yesterday at lunch when I reached for some chicken. The tray backed a few inches away from me. I didn’t think anything about it then, but now with all these crazy things happening…what the hell?

  “Mr. McGuire,” Mr. Vasquez says. “We’re waiting.”

  I sit up and find everyone’s eyes on me. I smile sheepishly at the teacher and sink a bit in my seat.

  Throughout the quiz, I can’t concentrate. Something weird is going on with me. My hands are turning invisible, and things are flying to and away from me. How can that be?

  The day passes in a blur and I find myself standing in front of my house with Maddie at my side. “Why are you here?” I ask.

  “We’re gonna play the new game. Duh?”

  The new game? What new game? Oh, right. Of course. “Oh, I don’t know.” I kind of have a lot to think about and figure out.

  She throws her hands up. “We talked about this all day. How we were going to do our homework together, then play all night. Seriously, it’s like you’re not even here.”

  I should tell her. But how can I when I don’t know what it is?

  “Nick, hello? You know, never mind. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” I say. “Good night.”

  She waves her hand. I wish I didn’t have to blow her off, but this isn’t something I can push aside. Weird things have been happening all day, and I’m convinced there’s something wrong with me. Things don’t just move on their own and bodies don’t just disappear.

  I peer into the kitchen, where Mom and Dad are reading the paper. As I watch them, I try to look for signs. Are their limbs disappearing? Can they move things without touching them? So far, nothing. Everything seems perfectly ordinary.

  I climb up to my room, passing Kaylee who’s playing with her dolls. Matt is probably at practice.

  “Hey,” I say.

  She looks at me, then away. I sit down on the floor, since I don’t like sitting in her little chairs, and cross my legs. “You’re still bummed about the dance thing, huh?”

  She nods.

  “Want me to play with you?” I know I’m supposed to figure out this whole invisibility thing, but my sister needs someone to play with.

  Her eyes widen. “You don’t like to play with dolls.”

  “I know, but—”

  “Piggyback ride.”

  “What?”

  “Piggyback ride!”

  She can’t be serious. The last time I gave her a piggyback ride, she didn’t get off me for an hour. My back ached for days.

  “How about we do something else?” I ask.

  She bangs her fists on the table. “Piggyback ride!”

  I tell her no again, which makes her yell louder. Mom and Dad rush into the room. Dad takes my sister in his arms. “What’s wrong, sweetie? Did Nick hurt you?”

  Of course. Blame me.

  Kaylee nods, pressing her nose to his chest. Mom’s hands go to her hips as she gives me the disappointed mom look. “Nick.”

  “I didn’t hurt her. I swear.”

  Dad rubs Kaylee’s hair. “What did he do to you?”

  She hiccups. “He doesn’t wanna give me a piggyback ride.”

  Both parents look at me. I can’t believe this. “Why won’t you give your sister a ride?” Dad demands.

  Having the two of them glare at me like that…there’s no point in trying to fight it. “Okay,” I say. “I’ll give her a ride.”

  Her tears are gone and a huge smile captures her face. It’s like she didn’t cry just two seconds ago. Mom kisses her cheek and Dad her forehead before they leave the room.

  She looks at me expectantly. I drop to my knees and she leaps onto my back, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Go fast!” she says.

  I do as she says, running around the house, up and down the stairs, wearing myself out.

  “Again!”

  Man, I’m not a superhero.

  I’m dying, wanting to drop her, when something weird happens. My back feels lighter, like Kaylee’s not pressed against it. Panicking, I look back, but she’s still there. She’s in the air, like someone’s holding her from below. My arms are there, but I don’t seem to be holding her. Some force is holding her.

  She drops to the floor. What in the world?

  “Mommy! Daddy! Nick dropped me!”

  Before my parents have a chance to come in, I reach for Kaylee, but she flies onto my back. It’s like she was pulled by an invisible rope.

  Like I have…

  Telekinesis?

  Chapter Three

  Don’t panic. Don’t panic.

  I don’t have telekinesis. That doesn’t exist. Only in comic books and movies.

  I lie down on my bed and rub my forehead. I don’t ache as much as I expected to. Kaylee rode on my back for an hour before she got bored. Instead of offering to do something else with her, I ran here. Because I need to make sense of this.

  Telekinesis? Invisibility? How can that be?

  It has to be a dream. But I’m wide awake. No one else in my family seems to have these…these powers. Unless they’re hiding it well. Do I talk to Mom or Dad about this? No. Hell no. This isn’t something you can just tell your parents.

  Telekinesis. Whoa.

  Sitting up, I examine my room. I’ve got many clothes strewn on the floor, posters of video games I’m into.

  Video games. Maddie’s gift. I don’t have time to think about that right now. I can’t believe I’m saying this but games seem dumb compared to what’s going on with me.

  Stretching my hand, I reach for the broken clock on my desk. Nothing happens. I try again, but get nothing. Hmm. Maybe I don’t have telekinesis? Then what’s happening to me?

  Something smacks me in the face. The clock. I stare at it, my eyes probably wider than the moon. This thing actually flew across the room. And I didn’t touch it.

  I place it on my palm and shut my eyes, telling it to return to its spot. When I open my eyes, I see the clock floating across the room and landing on my desk.

  I almost choke on my spit. I can move things with my mind. I try with many more objects. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I guess I’m going to need more practice if I want to…

  Want to what? What exactly am I supposed to do with these powers? Powers, wait. What about my invisibility?

  I hold a sock on my palm and focus on making it disappear. It doesn’t work. I do it again and again until it’s gone.

  “Wow! That’s the most awesome thing ever!”

  The door to my room opens and Matt sticks his head in. He’s scarfing down some pizza. “What’s awesome?”

  I look around and sigh in relief that nothing’s floating around. “Nothing,” I say. “Is that pizza?”

  He munches. “Yeah. Oh, Mom told me to tell you, but I must have forgotten. You might want to hurry before it’s all gone.”

  Older brothers.

  As he’s about to take another bite, I flick my hand to the left and his pizza drops to the floor. “Hey!”

  I run, duck, and dash out the door with him at my heels. I can’t believe it worked. I actually used my powers. It came so naturally, like I’m meant to do this. That’s so weird, but I’m not going to question it because it’s awesome.

  Because I’m smaller, I reach the kitchen faster than my bro and grab the last slice of pizza. Matt swoops in and locks my arm behind me.

  I try to wiggle free, but I can’t. “Let go!”

  “Give me the pizza.”

  I w
iggle some more, but he’s got arms of steel.

  “Hey, hey,” Mom says. “What’s going on?”

  “He was going to take the last slice and I didn’t get any,” I say.

  “Mine fell on the floor.”

  Mom moves closer to us and pulls my brother’s hands off me. How the hell does she manage that when I can hardly move? “Honestly, you two. There’s another pizza box right over there.”

  We look to where she points and lunge for the box sitting on the table. Matt shoves me and grabs two slices. Then he leaves the room. I sit down at the table and take a bite. I’ve often thought about working out or playing a sport so I could get as strong as my brother. But every time I tried, I failed. Sports and I just don’t mix. I’m more of a sit-on-your-butt-and-smash-zombies type of guy. It’s too bad I’m no match for Matt.

  I sit up. Or am I? Now that I’ve got these powers, could I actually be stronger than my big bro?

  Mom lowers herself next to me with her own slice. “I’m still so sorry we forgot your birthday.”

  I don’t care about that anymore. I’m still not sure about these powers and what they mean and what I’m supposed to do with them.

  “Hey, Mom?”

  She nods, chewing.

  I open my mouth, then shut it. Open it again and shut it. I don’t think I can get the words out, but I’ve got to. I need to know. “Are things…I mean, are weird things supposed to be happening to me?”

  Her eyes widen. She shifts in her seat. “Maybe your father is better suited for this discussion.”

  Oh, man. No, I didn’t mean…

  “No, not that!” I quickly say. “I didn’t mean those kinds of changes.”

  Her shoulders relax. Mom and I never talk about this sort of thing. It’s just too weird. Many moms do, but mine gets so uncomfortable. Good thing because it’s super awkward.

  “Then what are you talking about?”

  As I look at her closely, I conclude that she has no clue what I’m getting at. That means she can’t help me with these powers. Looks like I’m going to have to figure it out on my own.

  “Never mind,” I tell her. “Maybe you’re right and this is better suited for Dad.” There’s no way in hell I’m going to talk to him, but at least it’ll get Mom off my back.