Ted Saves the World

by Bryan Cohen

  Chapter 21

  Natalie didn't know how to feel. It wouldn't take long for word to spread through school that she'd been beaten at basketball by the new resident superhero. She liked her undefeated reputation, but it wasn't so much about that. Winning was a higher priority than how people perceived her. Then again, it was Ted. He'd been the guy who'd made her feel like she wasn't just a brute. The first time the two of them openly held hands in school, it didn't feel better than winning, but it still felt amazing. Not only was she a beast of an athlete, but she could find somebody to love her as well.

  She watched the video of Ted using his powers, like everybody else in the world. It was amazing to see him stick up for himself and Sandra. His powers were incredible, of course, but she'd never seen him take control of a situation since she'd met him. It was sexy. And she hated that she thought it was sexy.

  Natalie saw Ted surrounded by his adoring fans in the hallway in the morning. Looking at him, you couldn't tell that anything was different. He was still awkward and adorable. When he smashed the cell phone, however, Natalie felt something different about him. In addition to loving him, now she respected him as well. She regretted that things ended the way they had.

  When Natalie fouled and fell on Ted, it took all of her willpower not to look him straight in the eyes. She would have had a hard time not kissing him if she had.

  All these thoughts were circulating through her head as she walked the halls before the bell rang. Physics had let out a couple of minutes early because the teacher had to go on an acting audition. She wondered when her school would have a full roster of real teachers. Natalie's parents had always pushed her to keep up with music, and she continued to play the trumpet twice a week.

  A few extra minutes of practice couldn't hurt, she thought.

  As she reached the band room door, she noticed the two figures kissing inside. It didn't take her long to figure out who they were. She stared at the boy she loved kissing the girl who'd indirectly caused their breakup. She knew Ted could never give himself completely to her. Now he and Erica appeared to be even closer than former neighbors. After the initial wave of rage subsided, she needed to be alone.

  She almost knocked a freshman girl over in her sprint to the ladies room. She locked herself in a stall and slammed her bag on the ground.

  "It was yesterday," she said. "A day later and he's already over me."

  Natalie began to cry, and she hated every tear. She thought the break-up was a good idea at the time. Now she felt like it was her worst decision since the infamous 4th grade buzz cut. At least her hair grew back.

  Natalie wondered if she'd been fighting a losing battle from the start. It was obvious that Ted's feelings for Erica ran deep. Natalie didn't like it, but she knew people were a combination of all their previous experiences. Ted and Erica had been best friends, and Ted wouldn't be the person he was without his time spent with the popularity queen when she was still a peasant. Natalie had taken comfort in the fact that Erica wouldn't speak to her former friend. But apparently Erica's reappearance and Ted's newfound popularity changed the game. The end of the period bell rang. Natalie tore off a handful of toilet paper and dabbed her eyes when the ladies room door opened. She kept quiet. The last thing she needed was a rumor to spread that the toughest girl in school was sobbing on the toilet.

  "What are you doing? This isn't a good idea. Or is it?"

  Natalie couldn't believe it. She could have identified Erica's voice through a cement wall – it was easy to remember the sound of a former tormentor's voice. During a freshman field hockey game, Erica and her friends attended to watch Jennifer. Instead of watching, they spent the whole time taunting Natalie. Calling her "Nadre the Giant," and other non-clever monikers. Natalie took out her anger on an opposing player and sat on the bench the rest of the game. If the bench wasn't on the far side of the field, away from her tormenters, she might have climbed into the stands and strangled the three of them.

  She once again wanted to injure Erica, envisioning herself slamming the girl's head against the mirror.

  "I'll tell him who I really am, where I was and what's coming next," Erica said.

  Natalie's tears stopped.

  What is she hiding?

  It had to be something big. Natalie sniffled and immediately realized that making a sound was a bad idea. She heard Erica move toward the stall. Natalie quickly lifted up her backpack and pulled herself to a crouching position on the toilet seat. She held her breath as Erica peaked under. She didn't like hiding, but she knew if she was going to defeat Erica, she'd have to use stealth instead of power.

  Erica didn't see Natalie and walked back over to the mirror.

  "Back to reality," Erica said, as she left the bathroom.

  Natalie gave it two minutes in the same position before she did the same. She walked into the hall. There was no Erica, but she did spy a trio of freshman girls who were no doubt Erica LaPlante wannabes. The three of them were whispering about something glib and laughing to themselves.

  "Girls trade in secrets," she said to herself. "And Erica has some big ones."

  Natalie's train of thought was interrupted when she saw Ted amble out of the band room. He looked dazed. If he isn't out of it now, she thought, he will be. As Ted walked in the opposite direction, Natalie caught up to him and pulled her ex into an empty chemistry classroom. She shut the door behind them and pushed him into a bulletin board.

  "What the hell are you doing, Ted?"

  She pushed him again. Natalie half expected him to push her away with his powers, but he let her shove him backward and press him up the rattling banner of the periodic table of elements.

  "I'm... I'm sorry about gym class."

  Natalie's growl echoed throughout the room.

  "This isn't about your stupid magical powers," she said. "I saw you kissing Erica."

  Ted went white. The closest Natalie had seen to that color was when she convinced him to climb to the top of a 30-foot cliff to jump into a nearby lake.

  "It was a very emotional moment," he said.

  Natalie pushed him back again into the bulletin board.

  "I heard her talking, Ted. She's keeping secrets from you. Where she's been. What she's dragging you into."

  Some of the color came back into Ted's face.

  "You broke up with me, Natalie. Why do you even care about this?"

  Natalie knew that Ted had a point. She was pretty close to chickening out on the breakup the previous morning. Everything would be different if she had.

  "I still care about you," she said. "You don't know her, Ted, not anymore. You don't know where she was or who she was with. For all you know, she's using you because you're trending online."

  Natalie's points hit home and she saw them sink in on his face. She wanted to hurt him and kiss him all at the same time. Natalie didn't appreciate the confusion.

  "I do know her," he said.

  "No you don't. But you're going to."

  Natalie gave one last push and turned around. She spied a student taping the exchange on his phone through the window. Her instinct was to rush out there and smash the device, but instead she walked out and slammed the door. She later learned that the force of her exit caused the table of elements to come unhinged and land on Ted.

  Natalie stomped to her next class and shut the band door behind her without looking back. As she pulled her trumpet case out of the brass closet, she decided on her new mission.

  "I'm going to expose her for who she really is," she said. "She'll never show her face at school again."