Blue Masked Hero

by Dee J. Stone

  She smiles. “Want to go inside and try it on? Your family didn’t return from visiting your grandfather, did they?”

  “Nope. Let’s go.”

  I lower us to my window and we climb into my room. The room that hasn’t been cleaned in a while. Good thing it’s just Maddie in here who’s seen it a million times because it’d be embarrassing for a girl to see it. And smell it. Yep, it reeks. I think I have some old pizza under my bed.

  I take the uniform out of the bag and stare it up and down. Wow, Maddie did some cool stuff. I never realized just how talented she is. She’s an awesome student and a great gamer, but this, too? Wow.

  “Why are you staring at it like that?” she asks. Maddie doesn’t like getting compliments.

  “Nothing. I like it, thanks.”

  “You already thanked me.”

  “Well, I’m thanking you again. You mind going somewhere so I can try it on? Go ransack the fridge or something.” She knows Mom buys good snack. She rushes off. I feel bad that she likes to eat at my place because her family can’t afford much, but it’s not like I could do anything about it. Maddie’s family doesn’t like getting help from anyone.

  I get into the uniform and face the mirror. It fits perfectly and like I hoped, it’s really comfy. I try the mask next. It’s blue, very simple, and has no design on it. It covers the top half of my face, ending right under my nose. There’s enough room for me to breathe and see. It’s perfect.

  “Are you decent?” Maddie’s voice asks from behind the door.

  “Yeah, come in.”

  She’s holding a huge bag of potato chips and is dumping one after another in her mouth. She scans me. “Does it fit okay?”

  I run my hand down my chest. “It feels amazing. How’d you do it?”

  She shrugs.

  “Did your mom help you?”

  “No, no one knows about it and that’s how it’s going to stay, right?”

  “Yeah. You’ve told me over and over and over again how important it is that no one knows my real identity. I got it.”

  “Good, because you’ve been known to do dumb things.”

  I drop down on the bed. “Yeah, I know.”

  She sits beside me and offers me the bag. I take a few chips and throw them in my mouth. The room is quiet except for our munching.

  “You’re going to have to hide the uniform from your family,” she says after a few minutes. “I should probably make you another one. And you’re going to have to wash it. You know how to use the washing machine, don’t you?”

  I give her an innocent look.

  She rolls her eyes. “Such a guy.”

  “It’s not my fault Mom doesn’t let me touch anything. I think I broke the machine once, or was it the stove? Anyway I’m banned from anything housework related.”

  “I’ll show you how to wash your uniform.”

  “Thanks.”

  She rolls her eyes playfully. “What would you do without me?”

  “Make a complete idiot of myself. Oh, wait. I do that already.”

  She laughs and rests her head on my shoulder.

  “But really,” I tell her. “Thanks for everything.”

  She nods. “Try flying with it on.”

  I stand and hold out my hand. “Come with me?”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know. We can fly around or something. Dunno, but it’ll be fun.”

  She looks at my hand, then backs away. “I probably shouldn’t. You need to get used to flying on your own.”

  I step toward her. “Come on, Mads. Why are you being weird?”

  “I’m not being weird.”

  “Okay. Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

  “I should probably head home.”

  “But—”

  “Have fun.” She climbs out of my window. I stare after her, wondering what the heck is up with her. Why’s she shutting me out? She’s flown with me before, so it’s not like she’s scared or anything.

  “We’re home!” Mom’s voice calls from downstairs. Oh, shoot. They’re going to come into my room and find me like this. I quickly turn myself invisible, grab whatever clothes I have lying around, and jump into the bathroom.

  Mom knocks on the door as I throw my shirt on. “Nick, are you in there?”

  “Yeah. How was granddad?”

  “He missed you very much and expects you to call him tonight.”

  “Okay.”

  Stupid me is still invisible and I can’t see where the legs of my pants are, since they’re invisible too. I crash to the floor with a loud bang.

  “Nick?”

  “I’m fine!”

  Matt chuckles. “Bet he has a girl in there.”

  “He’d better not.” Dad pounds on the door. “Nick, open the door.”

  Why won’t these people leave me alone? Either they ignore me or they give me too much attention. Ever heard of a medium?

  I turn visible and open the door. I motion around. “See, there’s no girl in here.” I narrow my eyes at Matt, who laughs harder. He knows I’ll never get a girl. Just said that to poke fun at me. To rub it in.

  “Don’t you have sports to watch on TV?” I say to Bro. He’s still laughing as he and Dad walk away.

  Kaylee peers into the bathroom. “What are we looking at?”

  I pick her up and set her on my shoulders, using my telekinesis for help because the kid is not as light as she looks. “Nothing, Kaylee.” I leave the bathroom and run around the hallway, prompting giggles and squeals from her.

  “Wee! Fun. Faster, Nick. Faster!”

  I go as fast as I can, not paying attention to where I’m going.

  “Careful,” Mom warns.

  But it’s too late. I trip over something in the hall—probably one of Kaylee’s toys—and we go flying to the floor. I quickly stop her from hitting the ground, but I don’t take care of myself so I tumble down the stairs and slam my head to the floor. It feels like a million people are ramming their fists into the side of my head. The only thought that goes through my head before I black out is that Kylee is okay.

  Chapter Ten

  Words are all around me. I hear, “Hit his head,” and “Hospital.”

  My eyes open, and it all comes back to me. I have powers. Maddie made me a uniform so I could be a hero. My giving my little sis a ride. Us collapsing to the floor. I saved her, but I didn’t save myself.

  My parents are the ones talking around me. They’re wondering if they should take me to the hospital because I hit my head.

  “No.” I sit up, but everything sways. And hurts. I hurt all over. Dad helps me. “No hospital. I’m fine,” I say.

  Mom rests her hand on my forehead. “You don’t seem fine, honey.”

  Hospital. Doctors. They’ll perform all these tests on me. Who knows what they’ll find? No, I need to convince my parents I’m okay.

  I stand, but then fall. I’m too groggy and disoriented to keep balance. Mom gasps. “Should we call an ambulance?”

  “No, I think Matt and I can take him. Matt!” he calls. “We’re taking your brother to the emergency room.”

  “No—no,” I say, but my voice is so weak I can barely hear it. I bet Dad didn’t hear it.

  Mom’s hand is on my back. “I need to stay here with Kaylee. Let me know the minute you learn anything.”

  Dad flings one of my arms over his shoulder and Matt takes the other. Everything is so hazy and blurry, like I’m underwater. Their voices sound so far away.

  I’m pulled somewhere, then lowered down. Probably the back seat of the car. Dad’s holding me close to him while Matt drives.

  I must have passed out because the next second I see many faces staring down at me. Doctors and nurses. One is telling Dad that I had a very serious accident. Another says I’m lucky to be alive.

  I flex my fingers. The headache is gone, so is the pain. Is it because they drugged me?

  When Dad notices I’m awake, he rushes over and grabs my hand. “N
ick, can you hear me?”

  “Yeah. What happened?”

  “You fell down the stairs and hit your head. The doctors are amazed at your speedy recovery. You could have…” His voice trails off. He squeezes my shoulder. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you well.” He gives me a hug.

  He pats my arm, then goes back to talking to the doctor. I peer down at my hands. I’m pretty sure there were bruises there when I got here. Or internal bleeding or whatever. How in the world did they disappear? And the pain? If I was as injured as they claim, how did I heal?

  I look at my hands again. Come to think of it, I didn’t get too hurt when I banged into the building when I first started flying. Could it be I have healing powers?

  “Dad?”

  He rushes over to me.

  “Can I go home?”

  “The doctors are stumped at your recovery, but they see no need to keep you here. You’re as healthy as ever.”

  Healthy as ever. That must mean they didn’t find anything abnormal inside me. I sigh in relief.

  I feel stronger than ever, too. I’m almost one hundred percent positive I’ve got healing powers.

  ***

  Maddie and I are sitting on the roof of my building. It’s after midnight, the only time I’m able to escape. Mom gave me a little too much attention, fussing and all that. I think she’s been overcompensating ever since she forgot my birthday. It’s nice, I guess, but it’s a little much. She’s hardly giving me room to breathe.

  “So you can heal,” Maddie says.

  “Looks like it.”

  “But you’re not invincible. If you were invincible, then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt in the first place.”

  I didn’t think about it like that. “I guess.”

  Quiet.

  I want to ask her why she acted so weird earlier, but decide to drop it. Maybe she was going through something personal and doesn’t want to talk about it. Just because we’re best friends doesn’t mean we don’t have secrets. Even though she knows all of mine, it doesn’t matter.

  “It’s a good thing no one suspects anything,” I say. “My parents and the doctors think I was healed by some miracle.”

  She shoves her shoulder into mine. “Right. Because their first thought would be that you have superpowers.”

  I laugh. “Right.”

  “When are you going to take your uniform out for a spin?” she asks. “Or did you do that already?”

  “Didn’t get a chance to fly with it because of the whole hospital thing. I didn’t even save anyone yet.”

  “You can’t go around looking for people who need to be saved.”

  “Then what do I do?”

  She pushes her knees to her chest. “You need someone to tell you when there’s trouble. Or I guess you can fly around. I don’t know.”

  “How exactly do I find someone to tell me when there’s trouble. I’m not 911.”

  “No, but if someone were to hack in…”

  “You can’t hack into 911!” I say.

  She shrugs. “Why not?”

  “Because…well, because…”

  “Let’s say there’s this major catastrophe going on. The news only finds out about it a few minutes later. Do you know how many people could get hurt or die by then? You’d have to get there earlier to save as many people as you can.”

  She has a point.

  “Of course you can’t be everywhere at once, so it’ll be hard to decide where to go and who to save.”

  I puff out my cheeks. “This is too complicated.”

  Her hand is on my back. “I know. It’ll be hard at first, but we’ll figure it out.” She gives me a small smile.

  “But hacking 911…”

  “It’s for a good cause, isn’t it?”

  It is. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if people got hurt because I was too late to save them. I want to be the best I can be, to make a difference.

  “Okay,” I tell her. “That’s the plan for now. Until we come up with a better one.” I stand.

  She’s on her feet, too. “Where are you going?”

  “To get my uniform.”

  “Nick, you had an accident.”

  “Which I healed from.”

  She shifts from one foot to the other. “I know, but you need rest. You can start tomorrow.”

  “But the people…”

  “I know.”

  “I need to do this.” I was lucky to be healed. There are others out there who might not be so lucky. I need to help as much as I can.

  She doesn’t argue as I lower us to my window. She turns on the TV. “Nothing major seems to be going on right now.” She watches some more as I get into my uniform. “See, I told you. The news gets the stories too late. There was a guy who beat up two other guys half an hour ago.”

  I push my mask down my face. “Okay, I’m out of here. Wait, let me help you down. I’m gonna take off from the roof.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Fly around. You know, there’s always crime going on. It sucks, but some people suck. I need to help.”

  She nods. “I’ll work on hacking 911.” She shrugs helplessly when I give her a look like I’d rather not do that. But she’s right. How else could I find out if people are in trouble?

  “Good luck,” Maddie says.

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t forget there’s a small pocket in your uniform for your phone. Oh, and your mask is supposed to have a communication device, but I couldn’t get it to work. I’ll try it out tomorrow.”

  I gape at her. “You’re amazing, you know that?” She’s, like, good at everything.

  She smiles shyly. “Just go.”

  I lower Maddie to the ground, then climb out of my window and levitate onto the roof. Before turning invisible and lifting off, I wave. She waves back.

  I shoot in the air. I’m still very wobbly, but I think I’ll be okay. My body doesn’t seem to be weak from my fall. In fact, I feel like I’ve been zapped with energy. Although the wind pushes me, I push back, focusing on flying and searching around for someone who may need help.

  I don’t know how long I fly and still find nothing. It’s after two AM when my eyes start to get heavy. I want to go on, but I don’t think I can. As much as I hate school, I need to wake up early and get there on time. Mom’s real pissed that I got detention twice. I hate disappointing her.

  It seems like forever until I get home. I’m not sure how fast I can fly, but it’s not as fast as a rocket. I slip into my window, change into pajamas, and go to bed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Maddie manages to get the communication thing to work. She and I meet at her house after school since her parents are away on some business trip. Her stepsister moved in with another roommate. Maddie’s alone a lot, and claims she likes it that way. But I know better. That’s why I’m here often.

  “All you have to do is switch on this button.” She points to the red button on the right side of my mask. “And you can talk to me. I’ll be your sidekick…” She gives me a warning look before I have a chance to talk. She was against the idea of being my sidekick, but I guess she changed her mind. “And I’ll be telling you important things, like where there’s trouble and stuff like that.” She pauses. “You can turn the switch on and off, but it’s better for you to keep it on. You know, in case you get hurt or need help.”

  I nod, too nervous to talk. This whole communication thing is making everything official now. I was kind of relieved that I didn’t find anyone to help last night. Not because I don’t want to help, but because I’m glad no one was hurt and because I’m worried I’ll screw everything up. I’m not exactly the best person to do this.

  Maddie snaps in my face. “Nick, focus.”

  “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

  “What?”

  I swallow. “Maybe we can find someone else who has powers and he could be the one saving people. I’m not cut out for this.”

  “Nick, y
ou’ve helped so many people already.”

  “Beginner’s luck.”

  She shakes her head. “You need to believe in yourself. It’s like when you were learning how to swim. Remember how the teacher didn’t give up on you? Well, I’m not giving up on you. You can do this.”

  I swallow again, but it feels like a rock is in there. “I know this might be my destiny or whatever, but I can’t do it. What if I cause people to get hurt or die?”

  “You can’t worry about things like that. You just need to try to do whatever you can to help people. To protect people.” She points to the window. “It’s a crazy world out there and people need you.”

  Looking at the determination on Maddie’s face fills me up with determination. “Okay. I can do this. I can.”

  “Yep, you can. And I’m going to be with you at all times.”

  “Thanks.”

  She shrugs. “What are friends for?”

  “I dunno. Making uniforms and driving me insane?”

  She rams a pillow into me and I topple off the other end of the bed. “Hey! Don’t mess with a guy who has superpowers.”

  She rests her hands on her hips. “I’m not scared of you.”

  I laugh. “Okay, okay. No more messing around. Am I ready to start my rounds?”

  She peers out the window. “I think it might rain.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Nothing and no one can stop me.”

  “See, there’s your confidence.”

  She’s right. I don’t know where that came from. Deep inside me, I guess.

  “Your uniform is water resistant,” Maddie tells me.

  “Cool, thanks a ton. I know I keep saying it, but I really appreciate all your help. I couldn’t do this without you.”

  “Duh?”

  I chuckle, then frown as a thought hits me. “Wait, when are you going to do your homework?”

  “What?”

  “If you’re gonna be helping me all the time, when are you gonna do your homework?”

  She waves her hand. “Don’t worry about me.”

  “But college, scholarships…”

  She waves her hand again. “It’ll be okay. I can handle it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Very sure.”

  I nod unsurely. Maddie cares about people, more than anyone else I know. She might not show it, but she does. I don’t want her to fall behind in school. And me? Well, screw homework.