“Thanks. It was tough at first though. But I guess it’s just like anything else. Practice makes perfect, right?” I smile at him as we make our way along the sidewalk towards the Aquarium.
I hear the faint sound of a helicopter in the distance hovering somewhere. I stop to listen. Stuart stops and looks in the same direction as me.
“What is it?” He asks.
“Helicopter.” I say, then continue walking.
“Where?”
“You didn’t hear that?” I ask and he shakes his head.
It’s only been a few minutes since we left the train, so it’s probably just a news helicopter. We walk to the front of the Aquarium and sit down on the grass. I cross my legs and look at the phone still in my hand.
“You think we should call them, see what’s going on?” I ask.
Stuart shrugs and checks his watch. He shakes his wrist, then holds his watch to his ear.
“Damn it, not again.” He mutters and rolls his eyes.
He shrugs his shoulders and frowns at me.
“Electricity and watches don’t go together.” Stuart moans.
I flip my cell phone open and press redial. It’s picked up after two rings.
“Not now, guys.” Paul’s voice answers quickly in a hushed tone.
I can hear many voices in the background and a rumbling sound.
“Who’s that?” A stern male voice asks in the background.
“It’s just my Mum. I’ll try not to be late, alright.” Paul chuckles and hangs up.
“I think they’re still gonna be a while yet.” I say and stretch out on the grass.
It’s unusually warm for February. The blue skies and glorious sunshine has beckoned everyone to the water. We’re lucky we hadn’t been spotted. The rumbling in my tummy suddenly brings me out of my reverie. Ooh, I was suddenly very hungry. I haven’t had breakfast and it was starting to hit home now. I quickly get up and look around to get my bearings.
“Come on.” I say and start walking.
Stuart catches up and walks in step with me. I make my way towards the path that runs parallel to Lake Shore Drive and head north at a quick pace.
After about fifteen minutes, we’re walking through the harbor. I lead the way towards the harbor wall and the lock.
“Where are we going?” Stuart asks as he tries to keep up with me.
“We’re taking a short cut.” I say as we approach the lock mechanism.
I stop and look around. I can’t see any boats nearby. No one’s looking in our direction. I grab Stuart and hop over the fifty foot gap. I set him back down and then walk back along the lock towards the corner on the other side.
A few minutes later and we’re walking along the south side of Navy Pier. I make a B-line for the food court.
After I wash down the two beef burritos with an ice-cold Coke, I sit back and sigh in contentment. Wow, I’ve never been that hungry before. Stuart sat wide-eyed as I devoured them in front of him. I doubt I could have done that in front of Mitchell. Speaking of which, I wonder where they are?
“Here they come.” Stuart gestures over my shoulder with his drink.
I turn around in my seat and see them walking quickly over.
“Hey, I thought I was buying you breakfast?” Beth asks as she sits down.
“You guys were too slow. I couldn’t wait any longer.” I say and sip the remainder of my Coke.
“Well, that was interesting.” Mitchell says as he sits down next to me.
He gives me an odd look.
“Yeah, you didn’t tell us you can fly.” Paul leans over and whispers.
“It’s only recent. I only got to grips with it last night, actually.” I reply. “Can anyone else fly?” I ask.
They all shake their heads sadly, while Paul folds his arms and frowns.
“Damn it. Of all the powers there are, that’s the one that I wanted.” Paul moans.
“Hey, don’t be sore. You can do stuff that I can’t.” I say.
I get up and grab Mitchell’s hand, then pull him after me.
“Come on, guys. Let’s have some fun.” I say as I lead Mitchell towards the amusement arcade.
One of the first things that I want to try is the Time Freak game. You have to push buttons as they light up and it gets faster and faster. The more buttons you push, the bigger your score. I was never any good at it before, because I couldn’t reach the top lights, due to being in a wheelchair. But now? With my heightened senses and lightning fast reflexes, I blow the top score out of the water.
Stuart wants to go on the Wave Swinger next, so we follow him outside. I almost feel embarrassed standing in line with the younger kids. They look at us with amused faces and chuckle. But once we pay and get on, all is forgotten. There’s something liberating about being spun through the air. I can hear Stuart laughing as he’s spun behind me in the next seat.
We decide to avoid the L going home. We all agree to race each other to my house. We walk to Lake Shore drive. Paul starts the count.
“One….two….THREE!”
I shoot up into the blue sky and head northwest at breakneck speed. I hear the sonic boom behind me, but it’s soon lost in the roar of the wind as I rocket through the sky towards my street. In just a few seconds, I land in an alley near the corner of my street and walk towards my house. As I reach the gate, I hear a roar of wind and feel the earth tremble slightly. Then Mitchell appears and skids to a stop by the tree outside my house, followed by Paul, then Stuart and finally Beth.
“Hey, I thought we were supposed to be racing on foot?” Paul complains.
“You did.” I point out. I laugh as I open the gate and head up the steps.
“Yeah, but…..that’s not fair. You had the advantage.” Paul says as he follows me up the steps behind Mitchell.
“That’s right.” I say and chuckle as I unlock and open the door.
“Man….I can’t believe I don’t get to fly.” Paul grumbles as he follows Mitchell and I into the living room.
Beth closes the door, while Mitchell grabs the TV remote and switches on the flat screen television. He channel hops until he finds the news channels.
“I wonder if there’s anything about last night on.” Mitchell mutters thoughtfully with a small smile on his handsome face.
“What about last night?” Paul asks.
“Yeah, what did you do?” Stuart asks.
“Ah, ha. Here we go.” Mitchell announces happily and points to the screen. “That.”
I look at the screen. A female reporter is interviewing some old guy at a gas station.
“….I’m telling you. He moved so fast, the robbers didn’t know what hit ‘em. It was like watching a movie, but real. I saw the whole thing.” The old guy says and scratches his head in wonder.
“Can you describe the man who prevented the robbery?” The female reporter in a Turquoise suit, (which so doesn’t suit her) asks as she holds the microphone to him again.
“Sure. But it won’t help none. He was wearing a black motorcycle suite. You know, the leather ones. It was mostly black, but it had a red stripe going down each side of the fella. He was also wearing a black helmet. But it was the speed that stood out though. He was like lighting. I’ve never seen a fella move so fast.”
“Thank you for your time. We also have some video footage, showing the mysterious hero in action.” The reporter states.
They cut to some black and white surveillance camera footage of inside the gas station. The camera is looking down at the counter where the cash register is. Three men wearing ski-masks enter carrying shotguns. There’s a dark blur, then all three gunmen are lying on the ground unconscious. The blur stops near the man behind the counter for a few seconds. Then he blurs again and is gone.
“What did you say to him?” I ask.
“Just that I’m a friend and that he should call the police.” Mitchell says and then switches off the flat screen television.
“Since when did you get a motorcycle outfit?”
Paul asks.
“Why do you have that suit if you don’t have a bike?” Beth asks.
“I wanted one, but didn’t want my dad to know. So I hid the suit under my bed until I could afford a motorcycle. I found the suit and helmet in an abandoned car at Dad’s junkyard.”
“You looked pretty cool.” Stuart says and slaps Mitchell on the shoulder.
“You think so?” Mitchell asks.
“I thought we were still practicing?” Paul asks and nudges Mitchell.
“I was practicing. But when I saw those men walk towards the gas station with guns drawn. I had to do something.” Mitchell replies.
“What you did was amazing.” I say and smile up at him proudly.
I hear something flop down on the coffee table. I turn and see a large brown envelope.
“It was on your mat.” Beth says. “It’s from Washington D.C.”
Thirteen
“What is it?” Mitchell asks when he sees my excited face.
“Yay. It’s my death certificate.” I announce gleefully, as I pull the document out.
“What?” Everyone asks.
“You got a copy of your death certificate? That’s pretty grim.” Paul says.
I sit down and check it carefully. I fish my cell phone out of my backpack and enter the coroner’s name, Dr Stephenie Martin, then the name of the informant who gave the information to the coroner, an officer Joseph Paloma, of the Metropolitan police department.
“What are you doing?” Mitchell asks as he sits down next to me.
“These two people…” I say and point to the names on the certificate. “…were the ones who reported our deaths. I want to know which one lied.”
“I can help you with that.” Beth says and smiles proudly.
“Okay. But we’re going to need costumes too, I think.” I say. “If we start turning over rocks, there’s no telling what’s going to crawl out.”
“Right. Well, then you and I should go shopping.” Beth heads for the door.
“What, now?” I ask.
“Why not? But we do need to sketch some ideas first, don’t you think?” Beth says.
“Okay. I guess we’ll see you guys tomorrow.” I say.
I wave goodbye at the door.
“Just do me a favor. Be careful. Okay?” Mitchell says before leaving.
“Of course.” I say and roll my eyes as he sighs and heads down the steps.
I ask Beth to wait for me in the kitchen, while I race upstairs and grab some pencils and a sketchpad. I zip downstairs and sit at the kitchen table. I pass Beth some sheets of paper and a pencil.
“You think we should have masks?” Beth asks.
“Oh, definitely. Remember the footage of Mitchell, earlier.” I say.
“Right. Okay.” Beth says and then gets busy with her piece of paper.
I start drawing various costume ideas, with and without capes, some with short skirts, others with pants. Then I think of Catwoman’s costume and an idea strikes me. I can modify that costume and make it my own. Problem solved.
“I’ll be right back.” I say as I get up and zoom upstairs.
I grab my laptop and hurtle back downstairs. I switch on my laptop and set it on the kitchen table. I do a quick search for local costume stores and find plenty. I check the time. Great, it’s 4:25p.m. The costume stores are still open and there’s one only a few blocks away. I look up from my laptop. I’m about to say something to Beth, but she’s already up and grabbing her bag.
“Okay. Let’s go.” Beth says and heads for the door.
Her mind reading is gonna to take some getting used to.
We leave and head towards the intersection.
“You’re not really going for the black X-Men look, are you?” Beth asks as we walk.
“No. I was thinking purple.”
“Why purple?”
“I love purple.”
“Okay.”
“And you?” I ask as we cross a road.
“I might go for the same outfit actually.” Beth replies.
“What? You can’t have the same costume as me.” I complain.
“Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ll dye mine white.”
“Hmm. That sounds nice, actually.”
“Uh, uh. I called it first. I get white.” Beth says. “There it is.” Beth says and points to the costume shop.
“Well. Here goes my savings.” I mutter as I open the door.
Beth and I emerge over $100 worse off, but with the makings of a really cool costume. We both have black leather catsuits and I also bought five pale-pink glittery eye masks. Next stop, color dye. We walk down the street as I look for an alley, when something catches my eye in a store window. Its shiny metallic exterior catches the sunlight and glints, like it’s winking at me. It’s a tape recorder, the kind you see reporters thrust into people’s faces. Hmm.
“I know a craft shop just over the river.” Beth says as we exit the store.
“Enough walking, already.” I say and grab Beth from behind and launch into the air.
“Hey, are you nuts?” Beth complains, as we soar over the buildings and head towards the west river.
“No. Just impatient.” I say.
I chuckle as she looks over her shoulder at me and frowns.
“There it is.” Beth says and points to a large complex just across the west river.
I swoop in and land by some trees, then set her down.
“Isn’t this better than the bus?” I ask as I grin and begin to follow the path.
“Yeah. But what if we were seen?”
“We were moving too fast.” I argue as I reach the front of the complex and look around.
I see the sign for the craft store and head towards it. Beth leads me to the dye section. I grab a bottle of liquid purple dye. It’s a deep purple. Perfect. I grab some bags of blue glitter too.
“You not getting any dye?” I ask as I head to the checkout.
“No, we’ve got bleach at home.” Beth says and follows me outside.
“Okay. Up, up and away.” Beth says as we reach the trees by the river again.
She grins as I hand her my shopping bags. I wrap my small arms around her waist and kick off from the ground. I soar over the river and back to my neighborhood. I land in an alley and walk back to my street.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Beth says as she hands me my shopping bags.
Then she flashes a smile, before disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving me standing outside my house with my purchases.
I take a shower, then watch the movie, Thor, while I wait for the dye to do its thing.
Mmm, Chris Hemsworth. Now that’s a man. Looks a bit like Dad, actually, just with longer hair and he’s a bit younger. Oh, no, take it back. Damn, too late. Now when I think of Chris Hemsworth, I see my dad. Great. When I take the wet costume out of the washer and hang it up in the basement, the color looks okay, just a bit dark ‘cause it’s wet, so it’s hard to say. I wait a few more hours for it to dry afterwards. Then it’s time for phase two.
I take it upstairs. I’m halfway up the stairs when Dad comes home.
“Hi, Pumpkin.” Dad says as he removes his jacket.
“Hi, Dad.” I say as I quickly head up to my room and shut the door.
I grab my can of glue spray from the shelf in my closet, which I use for putting up posters. I have a signed Smallville poster of the cast from Season 4 above my bed. I then grab a bag of the blue glitter. I take everything into my bathroom and hang the now purple catsuit on my shower rail. I spray the whole of the back, arms and legs. Then I throw lots of the blue glitter at it.
I repeat the same process to the front, until the whole thing is a mass of purple and blue glittery awesomeness. I leave it hanging there and open my window a bit to let out the fumes. Then I head downstairs. I find Dad in the living room. He’s sitting in his comfy armchair, with my death certificate in his hands.
“So, it arrived.” He says solemnly and holds it up to me.
> “Yep.”
“Why do you want it?”
“Souvenir.” I say and shrug nonchalantly.
He shakes his head and switches on the news.
“What the hell?” Dad says. He sits up as the news plays out in front of him.
I check the television and see what’s shocked him. They’re telling the story about the L train incident earlier. There’s even footage from some guy’s cell phone on a train platform, as the train rattles by, with me hanging on to the front. I’m hovering in front of the train and so my back is to the camera. Oh, my god! My back isn’t the only thing facing the camera. My short red plaid skirt is blown over my back. My white panties with small red strawberries are clearly visible. The camera is showing my legs and knickers to the whole world.
I hope Mitchell and the others don’t see this.
The thought that people are seeing my panties on television makes me want to cry. I feel heat rising to my cheeks, so I quickly exit the living room and go hide in the kitchen. How embarrassing. I could just curl up and die right now. I knew a short skirt for the costume was definitely not the way to go. This clip proves me right.
Cosmic Girl Rising Up Page 11
