Hero by Day

Chapter 7 - A party fit for a superhero

"No capes!"

~ Edna Mode

"C'mon, Daniel! Can you drive at a normal pace for once?"

"No, not unless you want to show up late. This was your idea in the first place, you know?"

I sighed. Today was Elise's little brother's birthday, and since he was obsessed with Captain Impossible I decided that what a better present for a six year old than a visit from his hero?

Now, don't get me wrong, convincing Daniel to actually agree to show up took some work. He thought we had better things to do than show up at a little kid's birthday party, whilst I thought it provided the good publicity he craved and made a little kid's dream come true.

It was a win-win situation in my mind.

As to how we explained how we knew there was a party going on starring a six year-old who loved us? Well, I was just going to claim that a friend of a friend gave us a call. People like those in Elise's family knew powerful people who could pull some major strings, so it shouldn't be too weird that they might know someone who knew us.

(And technically Elise and her family knew me, just not as White Lightning.)

Daniel took another sharp turn, causing me to draw a huge dark line across my pre-calculus homework, which I was trying to finish on the ride to Elise's house. "Dude, really?"

I saw Daniel's shoulders shrug in the front seat. "It was the other guy's fault. When you see a superhero's car you get out of the way, not in the way."

I didn't remind Daniel that the car was currently in stealth mode, so no one really knew it was a superhero's car per se. But by the way we were driving, you'd guess Daniel was either trying to get somewhere fast to save someone's butt or to hurt them, so it wouldn't be too bad of a guess to say we were supers.

But that wasn't the point.

When we got to her house, I stiffened up. I'd only visited a couple times, mostly for projects with her and Mary or Ian, I also attended her birthday party last year, but even those few times at her house weren't enough to get me used to the sheer size of her home.

Elise lived in a mansion, to say in the least. It wasn't as large as some of the others owned by many of the Eldredge Academy students, but compared to my puny apartment with the paint chips on the walls and a barely functioning TV, it was daunting.

I took a deep breath before heading up to her doorstep, a couple steps behind Daniel. I wondered for a moment who would answer the door and what their reaction to two supers on their front porch would be before Daniel rang the doorbell.

Elise answered only seconds later, annoyance passing on her face until she realized who we were.

"Um . . . hi?"

I almost laughed at Elise's surprised and shocked nature, but stopped myself.

You see, when we put on our masks, Daniel and I ceased to be ourselves. It was like acting in a play. We became these sort of characters, Captain Impossible and White Lightning, supers here to save the day. To keep our identities safe, and to keep us from looking weak in front of villains, we put on an act. I wasn't the same person with the mask on as I was with it off.

The mask gave you a feeling of invincibility, unless you were Daniel, who was already invincible. It made you feel like you could do anything. You were no longer the scholarship kid at the prestigious high school who lived in a crappy apartment with a mom who could only afford rent because the landlord was your boss.