by Dee J. Stone
The whole class is staring at us.
“No,” I quickly say.
Maddie raises her hand. “Can I go to the bathroom?”
Mr. Vasquez nods. Maddie doesn’t glance at me before she leaves the room. I want to yell after her, to tell her we need to discuss this further. But I guess there’s no time. People are dying as we speak.
Maddie. Being a hero. But how? We never practiced her powers. I believe in her, but what if things go wrong? That fire’s eating houses like a kid eats candy.
Trying to be as discreet as possible, I hold my phone in my lap and check the news. The inferno is even stronger than I pictured. It’s blazing through the houses with no mercy. Maddie hasn’t entered the scene yet.
Mr. Vasquez continues to talk about atoms, but I’m not paying attention to him. I can’t help worrying about Maddie. I should be there, too.
Watching the news some more, I don’t see anything, but then something tiny hovers over the blaze. It’s a person. Maddie. She’s wearing the same red uniform with that mask that covers her face, and the armor that will protect her from the fire.
She waves her hands over the flames, trying to lessen them. The fire only gets bigger and she’s thrown a few feet back. My heart jumps out of my chest. Is she hurt? Does she—?
“Nick.” Mr. Vasquez is at my side, holding out his hand. “You know the rules about cellphones during my class.”
He doesn’t get it. I need to know what’s happening to Maddie.
“Nick.”
Once again, all eyes are on me. “But Mr. Vasquez,” I find myself saying. “I need my phone.”
A few kids chuckle and snicker.
“Then you can get it back after class.” He bends close. “After you apologize for disturbing my class twice.”
The chuckles grow louder. Sighing, I hand him my phone and stare straight ahead, trying not to think that Maddie’s out there all alone. Should I go help? Nah, I can’t do that for two reasons. One, Mom doesn’t allow it. Two, I don’t want Maddie to think I don’t believe in her. I do, it’s just hard to see your girlfriend floating over an inferno.
Getting through class is torture. When the bell finally rings, I leap to my feet and rush over to Mr. Vasquez’s desk. A few other kids are already there, asking him questions about the Regents exam at the end of the year.
I shift from one foot to the other. Try to get the teacher’s attention, but he’s too busy.
“They’re thinking it’s Blue,” a kid says as she and a few others pass the classroom. I peek out and find them gathered around the water fountain.
“How can it be Blue if he’s right there?” A guy points at me.
They all turn and stare.
“What?” I ask.
“You have a twin or something?” the guy asks.
“No.”
The girl shows me her phone. The same images play, of Maddie waving her hands over the fire. After she’s thrown back many times, she goes on, trying to get rid of the flames. She manages to contain one house, then moves on to the next.
“Who is that?” the guy asks.
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I shrug. “I don’t know. I gotta go.”
Back in bio class, I find Mr. Vasquez’s desk clear of students. He looks up at me with a disappointed look on his face.
“Nick,” he says. “You’ve been doing so well. It’d be a shame for me to have to deduct points because you’re disrupting my class.”
“Sorry. It was an…an emergency. But it’s okay now.”
He lifts his eyebrow before reaching into the drawer and pulling out my phone. “Don’t let me catch you with it in my class again. Emergency or not.”
“Thanks.”
As soon as I make it out of the classroom and sit down in the cafeteria for lunch, I check the news. Those same images play over and over again. The reporter is telling the public that the fire has been contained, and the hero is nowhere to be found.
“Is he or is he not Blue?” she asks. “Officials haven’t made any comments and we believe the hero ran off. Witnesses describe the scene.”
The cameras shift to people talking. “He came out of nowhere and started putting out the fire. I didn’t know Blue could do that.”
“Do you think it’s the Blue Masked Hero?” the reporter asks him.
“Who else could it be?”
The reporter says, “Blue doesn’t have fire abilities.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Or maybe he’s been keeping it a secret all this time. Does it matter, anyway? Blue’s back and we desperately need him.”
Desperately need me? This isn’t good. The world is supposed to be getting used to life without me.
I continue watching more people speculate and try to figure out what’s going on.
“Boo!”
I drop my phone. Maddie stands before me, not a burn mark on any part of her body.
“Maddie, you could have…” I stop talking and pull her into my arms. “Maddie! You’re okay.” She’s back in normal clothing, not her hero uniform.
She pulls out of the hug. “You thought I wouldn’t be?”
“Of course not.”
“I’m kidding. I’m glad you were worried about me.”
We go into a supply closet for privacy. Maddie leans her head against the wall and shuts her eyes. “Wow. I never expected it to feel so good.”
“What?”
She opens her eyes. “Being a superhero. Seeing the look on everyone’s faces when you help them. Save them. Wow.”
She’s not saying what I hope she’s not saying. “You don’t plan on…you know, doing this full time, do you?”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “And what if I am?”
I place my hand on her arm. “It’s too dangerous. We’ve got people after us. Your mom will know it’s you. You need to stay hidden from her. From everyone.”
“No, I don’t. Your mom banned you from being a hero, but no one banned me. And we already talked about my mom not figuring out it’s me. I’m a guy, remember?”
True, but is that enough?
“And we have tracking devices on all the people we care about,” she continues. “No one is going to blackmail me into working for them.”
I’m about to say something, but she holds up her finger. “I know what you’re going to say. That I might be ambushed like you were in the bank, but that’s not going to happen. I’ll be careful.”
I shake my head. “I don’t like this. It’s too risky.”
She’s quiet for a few seconds before, “There’s another reason why I need to do this.” She hesitates, her eyes scanning mine. “You won’t like it.”
Dread nestles in the pit of my stomach. “What?”
Again, she hesitates. “If there’s a new hero in town, that’ll force the organization to act and we can finally learn who they are and what they want. We’ll be able to stop them.”
“No. We’re not gonna use you for that.”
“I knew you’d say that,” she mumbles. “And I’m not asking permission.”
I turn away from her.
She takes my hand. “Nick, listen to me. If I take your place, you won’t have to feel guilty about not helping people. There won’t be a strain between you and your mom. No one cares about me like that, so I won’t really be risking anything. Also, we can finally do something about those people who are after you—”
“They’ll be after you, too.”
“But that’s what we want, isn’t it?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “What if we keep ourselves hidden? Maybe they’ll forget about us.”
She rolls her eyes. “You and I both know that’s not going to happen. I’m doing this, Nick. You have no idea how good it felt to finally do something good with these powers.” She fists her hands at her sides. “To make up for all the damage I caused.” She adds that with a whisper.
I get it, all of it, but it doesn’t feel right.
I open my mouth, but kids making noise in the
hallway distract me.
“He burned people,” one kid says. “They just said it on the news.” He snorts. “Some hero. He’s been lame from the start.”
“What did he just say?” Maddie slips out of the closet. I follow.
“Some people don’t think it’s Blue,” a girl says as they walk by. I can’t hear his retort because they turn the corner.
Maddie grabs my phone. “What do they mean I burned people? The fire did, not me.” She scans the news. “Are you kidding me?”
“What?”
She hands me her phone and scoots down to the floor. I watch the news. Apparently, as “Blue” carried the people to the nearest hospital, he burned them.
“I did the same to you,” Maddie says. “When I saved you from the bank. But you healed right away.” She swallows. “Are those people going to be okay?”
I sigh and sit down next to her. “I hope so. They didn’t really say.”
She shuts her eyes. “That guy was right—some hero I am. No matter what I do, I always hurt someone.”
I rub her arm. “It’ll be okay. We have to train you to control it. That’s all.”
Her eyes open and she looks at me, surprised. “So you’re okay with my being a hero?”
Aw, man. I just shot myself in the foot, didn’t I?
A shadow looms above. “You.” It’s Brandon. Nicole stands behind him. Both look disgusted and annoyed.
“Me?” I ask.
Nicole shakes her head. “He was in bio class with me. I told you a million times it wasn’t him.”
“Then who was it?” he asks—no, demands—me.
I hold out my hands helplessly. “No idea.”
He tilts his head to the side. “You can clone yourself?”
“Not that I know of.”
He glares at me. Nicole pulls his arm. “Let’s go,” she says. “He’s an idiot.”
Brandon gives me another glare before they walk off.
“Looks like they got together,” I say. I guess she ditched that other guy who messed with me a few days ago.
“Who cares? I’m hungry.”
“How can you even think about eating now?”
“I’m hungry.”
“We have so much to think about. To talk about.”
“No, we don’t. I’m going to be the new hero and you need to get used to it.”
I nod. “Of course. Whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean I won’t freak out every time you fly off to help someone.”
She smiles. “I wouldn’t expect you not to.”
“Were you worried every time I went?”
“Yeah, but I knew you could do it. I believed and trusted in you.” She gives me this look. Like she’s worried I don’t believe and trust in her.
I slip my hand in hers. “Of course I know you can do it. I’m just worried, because of everything going on with that organization. Who knows what they’ll do when they learn there’s another kid with powers out there?”
“That’s exactly what we need. It’ll be okay, Nick.”
I hope she’s right.
Chapter Seventeen
The people who Maddie accidentally burned are going to be okay. A woman was a little more burned than the others, but she’ll make a full recovery, too.
The news hasn’t stopped talking about the new hero. Or as they dubbed her (him), The Red Masked Hero. I thought my name was lame. But this one is just ridiculous.
Experts are going back and forth, trying to determine if this new hero is Blue. Many claim he’s not for a few reasons. Blue doesn’t have fire power. Blue isn’t clumsy and would never hurt someone. Blue’s a little taller. Red has a new uniform.
I bet my house is swarming with reporters, all trying to figure out who this new hero is.
Maddie and I are in the park after school. She doesn’t stop looking at her phone. “Hey, look at this.”
I walk over to where she’s sitting on a swing and peer at the phone. Breaking news is that the Red Masked Hero is not Blue. A few kids from my school have pictures of me sitting in class while Red was off saving those trapped in the fire. The time is stamped on their phones.
“This is good,” Maddie says.
“Why?”
“Because now your mom can rest assured that you’re not defying her. And your name isn’t tainted because I hurt people as I brought them to the hospital. And most importantly, the organization should be very interested now.”
I hate when she brings up the organization. Kinda want to pretend they don’t exist.
“Did you hear what they’re calling me? The Red Masked Hero. Really?”
I shrug. “After a while it kind of sticks.”
She shakes her head.
“The name’s not important. What’s important is that you’re putting yourself at risk and we need to make sure you’re in control of your powers.”
“You mean I’m putting other people at risk.”
“That, too.”
She swings back and forth. “So how do we do it?”
“I’ll help you the same way you helped me. And I’ll be your eyes and ears, telling you when someone needs help. I’ll be the sidekick.”
She furrows her forehead. “You’re okay with being the sidekick?”
“I have to be. I mean, it’d be cool for both of us to be the heroes, but like you said, this way I get to keep my promise to my mom and the world will still have a protector. But.” I hold up my hand. “Only once we’re sure you’re in control. What if you’re trying to break up a fight and you accidentally burn everyone? We need to train you.”
Maddie’s focus is back on her phone. She laughs. “Some people don’t think that guy sitting in bio class is you. They’re dead set on you being Red and Blue.”
I wave my hand. “Can we focus here?”
She slides her phone into her pocket. “Yeah. Sorry.”
“You’re nervous, but that’s okay. It’s okay to fail on the first try. You just need to keep going.”
She nods slowly. “I’m not nervous. I’m fine.”
Liar. “Okay, stand up.”
She looks around. “People might see us.”
The park’s pretty much empty. Besides, like usual, no one is going to pay attention to us. “Come on, Maddie. Stop stalling.”
She jumps to her feet. “I’m not stalling.” She holds out her hands. “See? Nothing’s on fire. I’m in control.”
I point behind her, where the gate surrounding the swings is catching fire.
“Shoot,” she mumbles.
“Put it out.”
She waves her hand around, but that only makes the fire worse.
“Oh, no!”
I lift my hands, holding the fire in place and stopping it from spreading. “Get rid of it. You can do it. Just take a deep breath and focus.”
She inhales, then lets it out. Waving her hand another time, she manages to put out most of the fire.
“Good job. Now the rest of it.”
Gritting her teeth, she tries, but it’s not working. It’s just getting bigger. Any more and it’ll burst through my shield.
“Hurry, Maddie. I can’t hold it for much longer.”
“I can’t. It’s not working.”
“Focus.”
With her eyes glued to the gate, she holds her palms up. The flames are basically gone now.
“Just a bit more. You’re doing great.”
Once all the flames are gone, Maddie falls to the ground. “That shouldn’t have taken so much of my energy,” she says. “It was just a small fire. The inferno was much stronger and I didn’t get as tired.”
I drop down next to her. “It was because I was holding the fire and you had to break my barrier.”
She stands. “Let’s go again.”
“Maybe that was enough for today.”
“And what if I’m needed tomorrow? Or tonight? I can’t risk someone else getting hurt because I can’t control this stupid power.”
I throw my hands up.
“Fine. Let’s say someone’s picking a fight with you. Let’s say I’m your biggest enemy—”
“Nicole.”
I give her a look.
“What?”
“Fine, I’m Nicole. And we’re fighting. You know what happens when you get mad, right? So let’s see if you can control it now.”
She smiles evilly. “Oh, I’d love for Nicole to see what I can do.”
I groan. “Maddie.”
She says, “Just kidding. Okay, Mr. Hero Expert. Fight me.”
With our fists raised, we circle one another. “You’re a loser,” I say.
“So are you. Wait. What if I burn you?”
I flex my nonexistent muscles. “Invincible, remember?”
She frowns. “Let’s just hope you heal. Okay. I’m ready.”
“Hold up. I’m not gonna hit my girlfri—”
I fly to the other end of the park, my body burning up. Man, I feel like I’m on a barbeque grill. The fire’s tearing me from the inside.
A few seconds pass before I don’t feel pain anymore. I’m completely healed.
Maddie’s at my side a second later. “Oops?”
I sit up. “Did you mean to do that?”
“No. Sorry.” She helps me to my feet.
“Mads, you can’t throw a fire punch every time someone pisses you off. They can’t heal like I can.”
She nods. “I know. And you don’t have to worry about hitting me. Let’s just do this. I need to control this thing.”
“Okay, but no using powers right now. We’ll battle with them later.”
We face each other, our fists raised. Maddie takes the first punch, getting me in the stomach. Pain explodes all over my body. Man, she’s stronger than I thought.
I aim for her eye, but she bends to the right. I fly into a tree, smashing my nose against it. I hear a crack. Aw, man. I broke my nose. Good thing I can heal or else I would look like an even bigger toad than I do now.
“Sorry!” Maddie says after I’ve healed my nose.
“No, it’s good you moved out of the way instead of slamming another fire punch. You’re getting better. Let’s go again.”
We go back and forth, punching and hitting one another. Every time I slam my fist into Maddie’s skin, I feel the heat inside her. Also like the fire’s begging to come out. Maddie doesn’t let it. I’ve got to make sure not to be too rough with her, since she can’t heal like me.
