Superhero

Chapter 16

Addison let herself into the house, brushing off dirt and whatever that was stuck on her hoodie. Part of the fabric had been ripped at the shoulder, much to Addison's dismay. It was her favourite hoodie.
At least she had more of those in her closet.
"Addison, honey is that you?" Mrs. Kennedy called from somewhere inside.
"Yes, Felicia!" Addison called back. "It's me!"
"Come on, join us for dinner!" Felicia called back cheerfully.
"In a jiffy, Felicia!" Addison shouted, taking off her hoodie and tying it around her waist. She fixed herself in front of the mirror in the hall before going over to the dining hall. Not that she actually looked good after what happened. "Hi, Mrs. Kennedy!"
To her horror, every one of the tenants were at the table, besides Jordan, and Mrs. Kennedy's son. Addison hasn't really seen him before, only heard him climbing up the stairs on late nights.
"Hi everyone," Addison said with an awkward wave.
"Addie, honey what happened to you?" Felicia asked, seeing how dishevelled Addison looked. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just... had a fall," Addison forced a smile.
"Come sit down, honey," Mrs. Kennedy called, motioning towards the seat in front of her. "We're only just starting."
Addison smiled and went to sit down in front of her after washing her hands. Mrs. Kennedy started passing her the platters of food.
"Thanks, Felicia," Addison said, helping herself to some food. She didn't really feel like eating much now, especially since there was a throbbing pain in her head. But she still had enough space in her stomach for some stuffed turkey. "It's very generous of you."
"Aww, Addie!" Felicia smiled. "It's just a little something I do all the time, right? Anyway, is something wrong?"
Addison quickly shook her head. She didn't really mind telling her thoughts to Felicia, but now all of the tenants were there. Even the ones she was unfamiliar with.
"Everything's fine, Felicia," Addison smiled. "Ooo that stuffed turkey looks good!"
She tried to act as cheerful as she could, but she knew that Felicia didn't buy it, judging by the concerned look she kept giving her. She gulped and silently ate whatever that was on her plate. She felt her appetite decreasing, with the increasing amount of pain behind her head.
But she still tried to force all of that in.
The sound of the front door opening was heard, making everyone turn in the direction of the living room. Huffing and puffing followed, then loud footsteps came.
"Jake? Honey, is that you?" Felicia called, thinking it was her son. She was soon proven wrong when Jordan appeared instead, taking his hoodie off and tying it around his shoulders. "Oh, it's you. Come on, feel free to join us."
Jordan shrugged and sat next to Addison, who moved her plate away a little so that he could have more room. She passed him the plates of the food and continued eating.
"How was work?" Addison decided to ask. This is the guy that takes her to college every day, anyway.
"Was good," Jordan nodded, filling his plate with food. "Had a few annoying customers, but I'm good."
"Where do you even work?" Addison didn't know despite living under a roof with him.
"Sundeer," Jordan answered. "Barista."
Addison was a little surprised. She thought he might be working in one of the fast food restaurants on the college campus itself. Well, there was a Sundeer cafe on Alford's campus too.
"So you get discounts and free coffee sometimes?" Addison smirked.
"Sometimes, but that's nothing compared to the complicating drinks they force us to make. And the stupid customers we face."
Addison chuckled in agreement. It was true after all, some customers really knew how to ruin her day.
Jordan grabbed the cutlery and started wolfing down his food. Addison noticed a brown patch on the hoodie tied around his shoulders. She wondered if it was mud...
Maybe it was just coffee, considering Jordan was a barista anyway.
Another sound came, followed by a guy around Addison and Jordan's age stepping into the dining hall. It was Jake, Mrs. Kennedy's son.
"Honey, you're finally home!" Felicia visibly lit up upon seeing her son. "How was your day?"
"It was okay," Jake said tiredly, tossing his bag into a corner before making his way towards them, adjusting the sleeves of his white and black varsity jacket. "Was at the brink of falling asleep during class, but here I am."
He ran his fingers through his light blond hair and washed up in the sink before joining them at the table. There was a total of eight people dining that night, six of which who were tenants.
"Hey, my man Jake!" Jordan greeted with a grin.
"Hey Jordan," Jake smiled tiredly and sat next to him.
"You know him?" Addison whispered, leaning towards Jordan slightly.
"Used to go to the same high school," Jordan chuckled softly. "We were good friends too."
Addison nodded and continued eating. The pain in her head begged her to get out of there as soon as she could and go back to her room. She just felt like showering and sleeping. Not even studying. Well, it was Friday, after all.

"Addison, why so late today?" Mrs. Parker asked, frowning as soon she saw Addison's face through the screen of her phone. "Did you spend extra hours at work?"
Addison hesitated. "Yeah, Mom. Besides, the landlady served us a large dinner today. All the tenants were invited."
"That's really nice of her," Mrs. Parker said, nodding at her phone. "What did you eat?"
Addison then went on to explain the dinner she had in great detail, her mouth-watering at the taste she remembered.
"So lucky that you're getting free food," Mrs. Parker smiled. "Does she do that often?"
Addison nodded. "She's always giving us free food. Even the other day, she came in with a jar of cookies!"
"That's nice to hear. Your last landlord was awful, right?"
"Yeah..." Addison sighed. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. The back of her head hurt, but she didn't wanna say anything about it. "Mom, I'm tired... had a long day today..."
Mrs. Parker gave her a concerned smile. "Get some rest, darling. It must be tiring for you to go to school and work at the same time. I'll talk to you in the morning, okay?"
Addison smiled tiredly. "Bye, Mom. Goodnight."
"I love you, darling."
"Love you too, Mom."
"Sleep well."
Addison hung up and heaved a sigh of relief. She reached for her backpack and pulled out her bottle to have a drink of water. Her fingers caught the handle of the plastic bag containing a few things that Addison bought for breakfast. She pulled it out and put it on her table before digging for the flask again. She found it and realised that there wasn't much water left in it. She decided to fill it up again with the mineral water she bought in the convenience store.
She dug in the plastic bag and pulled out the bottle before cracking it open. She emptied its contents into her flask and crunched the bottle up in her hands before stuffing it back into the plastic bag. Mrs. Kennedy always recycled whatever she could and used food waste as fertiliser.
She decided to empty the contents of the plastic bag, leaving only the trash in it. Addison had bought two buns, a carton of milk, and a bar of chocolate, followed by some biscuits and potato chips.
Addison put everything on her table and dug further inside the bag to find her other bun.
But to her surprise, it wasn't there. She knew she bought two of them because she scanned them herself and packed them too. She remembered rolling the plastic bag up and stuffing it into the bottom of her bag.
Wait a second... didn't she pull it out from the top?
There had only been one person who had access to her bag besides herself. She knew the attackers didn't touch her bag, so there was only one person left.
The Superhero stole it!
Addison checked the contents of her bag and found nothing else missing. She figured her saviour was just really hungry if he only stole food.