by Chara, Mina
“They can’t do this to me! Frank can’t do this!” said the Captain as he lurched from his bed. On screen the crowd of reporters yelled for more information.
“Captain you’re going to hurt yourself,” I said and pushed the Captain back down.
He groaned, but it wasn’t all pain. “I’m not the Captain anymore, didn’t you hear?”
“We’ll worry about that later,” I told him, “right now we need to worry about you.”
“No! Friday you don’t understand, he-” Coach Flat began to speak again and this time there was someone else on stage with him. Jake stepped forward dragging three men behind him.
“Jake!”
“This is my new apprentice,” Coach Flat announced, “you may know him, as The Figure In The Flames.”
“Call me Hellfire.” Jake said and briefly displayed his fire while Coach Flat grabbed one of the men Jake had dragged on stage.
“With the Captain’s retirement, I will become the acting head of the Hero Channel, and as you can see, my apprentice is already killing it at as a superhero.” Coach Flat gripped the back of the man’s head showing his face to everyone. He was a notorious thief but had never been caught; the man was beaten bloody, his eye black, his jaw askew. Tears were running down his face.
The Captain grimaced at the sight and I covered my mouth. It was like seeing a prisoner of war brought on TV to demand a ransom. I had never seen anything like it before, all I could do was try not to vomit. “That’s why he can’t be in charge,” said the Captain in a quiet voice.
“He can’t do that, can he? They won’t let him!” I looked over to the Captain, hoping to see him agree, hoping he’d tell me what to do, but he said nothing. I tore out of the room into the corridor and grabbing Veronica by the collar, I yelled, “You can’t let that man be in charge!” I had meant to sound intimidating, but it came off like a child trying to reach something in an adult’s hand. Veronica sighed and rolled her eyes as she scrolled on her phone.
“Listen to me!” I demanded, “he’s beaten those men within an inch of their lives! You can’t let him do that!”
“Why not?” she asked, turning her phone round. The screen displayed a graph with a line lurching upwards by the second. The line was labelled ‘viewers’. “The public sure seems to like it, so I’m gonna keep him, makes good television.”
“You can’t,” I said
“I can, and I will,” Veronica insisted. “If I have my way the Captain will never run the hero channel ever again. He’s boring.”
I stared at her, confused and scared. The Captain had to know what to do. I burst back into his room and he looked at me as though he’d heard the whole conversation. “There has to be something we can do Adam, something!”
On that point we were agreed, “You have to stop him, Friday,” the Captain said, but when I asked him what to do, he had no answer. “I don’t know, I don’t know!” he said, as he grabbed my hand and pulled me down, eyes wide with fear. “Promise me, whatever you do-”
“Captain? Can we come in?” It was a voice I’d never heard before.
“They’ve come for me,” said the Captain, “you have to go.”
“What? Who’s come for you?” for a moment I had no idea what he was talking about, but then I realized, the hallway was silent.
“Run!” The Captain pushed me as much as he could from the hospital bed, and I grabbed the window sill, ready to jump out.
“Captain? We’d like to come in,” the unknown voice repeated.
“Just a minute,” the Captain replied, waving me away.
“I don’t want to leave you,” I told him.
“They won’t kill me, they need me, but Friday, promise me you won’t hurt him, Frank I mean, or the Doctor.”
I pushed away the anger and the fear and focussed on the look in his eyes; a look of life-long regret, and nodded. “Promise.”
“Good. Now, run!”
The door collapsed with a bang and I pushed myself from the window, only catching a glimpse as the lawyers and superheroes that worked for Coach Flat rushed the Captain. Every one of the Heroes had a gun in their hands. They weren’t taking any chances.
Falling to the grass outside was like jumping off the swing as a kid, I knew the fall wouldn’t kill me, but it could definitely hurt. I did my best to land with both feet, and roll. My back ached as I landed on the ground, I hadn’t done a roly poly in years. I scrambled into the bushes just as the men above looked out the window. My ankle ached, but it wasn’t broken. I crawled through the bushes, the skirt of my dress scraping along the branches until I heard a voice.
“Friday?” a hand reached into the bushes and pulled me out. Ashely patted down my hair, and pulled a branch out as he sighed. “What are you doing out here, Fitz?”
“The Captain! And Coach Flat, he-“ Ashley gulped. “-he’s the principal now, and he beat some guys up, and the Captain’s in danger!”
“Okay, okay,” he put his hands on my shoulders, not sure of what to think until he heard the voices coming round he corner.
“Find the girl.”
Ashley grabbed my hand and started to run but his legs were so much longer, I couldn’t keep up so he picked me up and kept running towards the car park.
“Put me down!” I demanded.
“Don’t shout,” once hidden, he set me down, and pulled me towards an old rusted car. “Get in.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“School. Obviously,” he told me.
“I can’t go back there,” I said grabbing the front of his shirt. He was dressed like he’d been working at Ang’s all day, his hair half up, and clad in an old T-shirt. He stopped to look at me for a second, still stuck in my stupid dress, and then looked down at my hand, balling up his shirt just above the waist of his trousers. He sucked in a deep breath, and nodded.
“We’ll go to my place, or, rather my Nana’s place.” I was about to run to the other side of the drivers seat, until he stopped me. “No, stay in the back, keep your head down.”
Ashley’s car was rusted, but it was no newly bought junker, it had been passed down, still going strong. By the time I thought to ask how long it would take, we were there. Ashley pulled up, opened the door, and the cold air made me curl up against the worn leather seats.
“Xiao-Ley?” called a weathered, shaking voice.
“Nana! Get back inside! It’s cold out here,” Ashley replied.
“What are you doing here?” his grandmother asked. “It’s too late. Go home, you will get in trouble.”
“Nana no.” the door creaked and the old woman peered down at me, and then back up at her grandson.
“Friday?”
“I’m sorry, Nana.” Ashley explained, “She needed somewhere to stay. The school’s a bit out of whack right now.”
His grandmother tutted, and prodded my cheeks. “Her pretty face is all black and blue.” It was an exaggeration, I had a small bruise on the side of my face from Short Fuse, nothing serious. She picked up my fingers, and tutted again. “Why is she wearing such an expensive dress?”
“She had to go to a party,” Ashley explained.
“Can she speak for herself?” asked his grandmother with a shake of her head.
“Yes Nana.”
“Then let her. Why are you wearing a dress?” she asked looking back at me.
“I didn’t have time to change…” I said.
“And why are you helping her?” she asked Ashley, slowly straightening her back as though it hurt to lean over.
“Because she’s my friend.”
His grandmother looked me up and down, lingering a second too long on my chest. She looked like she wanted to laugh as she walked away. “Well, bring her in then.”
Ashley let out a heavy sigh, and hoisted me into his arms, as his grandmother nodded in approval. He was warm, and big. The heat from from his body made me feel like a cat, lying in the sun. He moved quickly up the stairs from the restaurant and into the a
partment on top. His grandmother’s home was decorated the way an old woman would decorate her home, with history, pictures, and plenty of furniture from other homes she couldn’t bare to part with.
“You take her up and tuck her in,” she instructed.
“Yes, Nana.”
“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine in no time.” The comment was directed at Ashley rather than me. She tutted again before wandering down one of the narrow hallways. Ashley pushed in the closest door and I caught my first glimpse of his bedroom.
Small and simple, tidy, and old. He hadn’t slept there in a while. His grandmother must have been devastated when he moved out. He set me down on his bed and turned on the bedside lamp as I sat up.
“I’ll get you some fresh clothes.” he said as he rummaged about in his drawers. “Trouble is, I don’t have any girls clothes, and I think Nana’s would probably look and smell pretty weird.” He pulled out what looked like one of the many shirts he used when working downstairs at Ang’s, and handed me a pair of boxer shorts he claimed he’d never worn. I nodded and hurried into the bathroom to change. It felt nice not to be soaked from the rain, or wearing a tight dress, but it was only once I put on one of his T-shirts I realized I didn’t have a bra.
“You okay in there?”
“I’m fine!” I hated not wearing a bra, it was so frustrating, sometimes I had to hold the girls in place while I jogged upstairs. I turned to the mirror just to gauge how bad it was, and nearly considered killing myself.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” he yelled.
I sighed, pulled on the shorts, and wrapped my arms around my chest in a way I hoped looked natural before coming out.
“Sit down-” he said, “-you can stay here tonight.” he looked around the room the same way he had the night he’d made me soup, like he was checking the place for weakness. I nodded sheepishly, and sat on the side of his bed, with my arms still crossed.
“How are you feeling?” he asked and leaned down to take my temperature.
“I’ll be fine.” in truth, my face stung, but nothing worse. “You’ve called me Friday twice now.” I said biting back a smile.
“So?” he asked, inspecting every inch of my face to make sure there was nothing worse.
“So, you always call me Fitz.” I told him.
“Do I?” He scratched his chin. “Huh.” his grandmother hobbled up the stairs with a tube of something green, handed it to her grandson, and stood by the door.
“Get well soon.” she said as she closed the door behind her, and gave a wink to Ashley.
“What does the wink mean?” I asked.
“Nothing. Ignore her.” He said and to my surprise, pushed me down on the bed and pulled the sheets over me.
“I’m not cold,” I told him.
“No, but if I put the sheets over you, you can stop covering your chest in a way you think I won’t notice.” My face flared red as I pulled the sheet a little further up. “Now, don’t move,” he said. “I’m gonna rub this on your bruise.”
“It’s not that bad, I don’t need tube goop,” I protested and tried to sit up, but he pushed me back down.
“Tube goop?” he smiled, trying not to laugh, and continued regardless of my protests. It wasn’t exactly soothing, but at least it didn’t sting. He rubbed it in carefully and thoroughly before looking at me again. “Does it hurt?”
“Not because of anything you’re doing,” I replied.
“What about your legs? You jumped out a window.”
“They’re fine.”
“Can I look?” he asked and once again, I told him not to bother. “Friday,”
“Don’t Friday me, you never call me that.”
“Well maybe I should,” he replied, “now let me look.”
“No.” I said jolting back.
“Friday, please,” he said, insisting.
“Why are you helping me!? You don’t even like me!” I yelled.
“Are you angry at me?” he asked.
“Yes! Why are you doing this!? Stop taking care of me!” The anger I felt was still there, forming a wall that kept the sadness from becoming overwhelming, only the wall wasn’t strong, the anger faded and I cried.
“Friday?”
I cried like I should have when my mother died, when I was separated from my father and sister and when I realized my childhood was over. My vision clouded with tears, blurring each color into the next. Like a child I crawled over to where Ashley knelt and wrapped my arms around him. I gave no thought to whether or not he would mind, and sobbed my heart out onto his shirt.
“Friday?” It was the most concern I’d ever heard in his voice, and it prompted a word salad of emotions.
“I’m so tired!” I told him.
“What are you talking about?” He asked as his hand came round to rest on my back.
“No one ever lets me be the goofy one!” I said. “No one ever lets me be the screw up. I know you don’t like me, but you cooked for me, you went looking for me, you carried me to bed and tucked me in! You’re putting weird ointment on my face!” That was all I could say before I collapsed into an ugly, wailing heap. Ashley didn’t say a word, he just picked me up, and sat with me on his bed. It was like every inch of awkward had melted away and turned into warmth and comfort. He closed his eyes and rocked me back and forth like my tears were the rhythm of a song.
Once the tears had cleared, he stopped, and we just sat, I’m not sure for how long, long enough for me to feel normal again and for the clock to say two a.m. He leaned into the embrace, his mouth slipping down to rest over my ear as he said. “Idiot.”
“That’s me.” I confessed.
He dropped a kiss onto my cheek that left me more than a little bit shocked. “What was that for?” I asked, looking up.
“For being so sweet.” His smile was mind numbing, so beautiful. Like it was something he did every day and I just hadn’t noticed.
“I’m not sweet,” I protested, “I’m angry and bitter.”
It was like his eyes clouded over, the glare of the lamp pressing up against his glasses as he leaned down. It wasn’t so much a kiss, he pulled my bottom lip in-between his like he was licking the foam left over from a hot drink. His eyes came into focus behind his glasses as he pulled back, and my pulse quickened. “Tastes sweet to me.”
It was like he could flip a switch to go from the plain gangly boy behind Captain Fantastic to sinfully attractive. Even though his features stayed the same, he’d grown more and more handsome each time I saw him. He chuckled, but not the way I’d heard him do it before, not when talking to fans or producers, this was completely different, it was a deep, satisfied laugh. “You scream, shout, and condescend. Risk you life for a toy, and run into buildings moments away from blowing up…”
Something flicked across his face, something painful. Then there was only hard resolve in his eyes. He pushed me back onto the bed and dropped down onto all fours above me, like a cat carefully walking along a narrow fence. I froze, wondering. Did this mean he liked me the same way I liked him?
He drew closer until I could feel his breath against my lips. I forgot about everything, all I wanted was that kiss.
“And yet,” he continued, “the moment I touch you,” Like he could read my thoughts, his lips stopped hovering above mine and moved lower. He tasted the skin on my neck. As a gasp left my lips, he sighed against my skin, as though he ’d been waiting.
“Ashley.” I said in a sharp intake of air.
He left hot kisses up my neck as he held onto me, his fingers moving up to my hairline. My hands gripped his shirt, I had to fight to keep my common sense. He pushed closer, like he was on auto pilot, only feeling and wanting, never thinking too long. His lips came down on mine, and I was lost completely. There was no sense of urgency in the way he kissed me, like he wanted to savor every second, like he’d planned it in advance. His hand lifted me up, and stroked the deep curve in the small of my back.
He hissed into his kiss as
he dragged me closer down the bed. I grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt as though I needed it to anchor me. I wanted to taste him, his skin was so warm, I couldn’t help but touch.
He groaned against me as my hand slid up his back. He pushed his body closer to mine, like everything depended on how close we could get. He pulled at the back of my shirt, my skin still damp from the rain, his hand moving lower while mine searched for every inch of his bare skin. I needed him closer, I needed-
“Are you kids okay in there?”
My hand stopped and Ashley pulled back. My face had turned a bright cherry red. He looked utterly disheveled, his usually organized hair stuck up in tufts, his shirt was pulled up half way and his lips were bright red.
“Yeah, yes!” he replied, “we’re fine, Nana."
His grandmother gave a slow sound of approval from outside, as though she’d known exactly what we were doing. He looked down at me like I was something that had to be committed to memory, and I let him.
“I should go. Let you get some rest, but, I was wondering, could I sleep here? On the sofa?”
His eyes searched mine, I didn’t want him to leave, I wanted him to stay and hold me a while longer, but the atmosphere in the room came with a sense of dread that was reflected on his face. I couldn’t say no, I felt I’d need him next to me in the morning.
“Okay.”
He nodded and sat back up at the edge of the bed. Pulling down his shirt he smoothed his hair before turning round again. With a sigh very different from the one from moments ago, he pushed off, placing pillows and cushions on his small sofa.
“Get some sleep,” he said and leaning down, he pulled the sheets around me. This was the serious, studious Ashley; he’d locked away the other guy for now. Maybe now I could stop thinking about Dr. Dangerous.
✰✰✰
The morning sun was heavy, there was a weight on my back. I made to stretch my arms, only to find them held in place by Ashley’s. He should have been on the sofa, but had clearly decided otherwise during the night. His eyes opened. He seemed so much more at ease as he woke, compared to the rest of the day.
