A Guide to Being Super

Rule #19

Rule #19: Protect your friends, especially your best friend. Contrary to popular (and sexist) belief, damsels aren't the only people who can get caught up in trouble. So don't assume that anyone is completely safe and watch out for them.

I'm not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty good when I walked over to Ike's house the next day. We hadn't made up, not yet, but we were in an infinitely better place than the last time I had seen him and that was a great sign. Once Ike was feeling better about spending time with me, he might start feeling better about me in general. I knew it would most likely be a while until he forgave me and I understood that. I mean, I'd feel the same way if he lied to me about, well, everything.

The funniest thing about the whole thing was that I had Rachel to thank for all of it. As always, I had messed up everything and then she had somehow found a way to fix it. Not to say that I approved of her methods, they were a little extreme for my taste, but she had gotten results and she deserved the credit for that.

Also, before we go any further, I feel like I should tell you something. You know how I said that this boring angst stuff would help lead into the important, superhero-related part of our story? Well, I wasn't kidding about that. It does lead into the superhero stuff, the REALLY IMPORTANT superhero stuff, and you're about to get a taste of how everything ties together. So please prepare yourselves.

Anyway, I was even feeling good enough that I was walking to his house instead of flying. Not only was it ridiculous for the obvious reasons, it was even weirder because I never would have walked anywhere before I could fly either. I was a horribly lazy person after all so why would I walk somewhere when I could convince my mom to drive me or bike over or something? But it was a nice day, one of those days where all the birds were singing and the sun was shining and the whole world basically looked like the first five minutes of a Disney movie, and it wasn't that far of a walk.

Looking back on it now, I realize two kind of important things. One, that day was too perfect for something to not go wrong. Two, if I had flown over to Ike's house (or gotten a ride or done anything faster to get there) instead of walking, I might have gotten there sooner and that might have been very helpful later on.

It wasn't until I got to Ike's house that I realized something was wrong. On the outside, everything looked normal. I couldn't see Faye in her window, but the window was shut and she was probably out with friends anyway. And it was a little surprising that none of Ike's siblings were out playing in the yard on a day like this but maybe they were out as well. There was no car in the driveway but Ike's parents were the type of people that kept their garage super clean so it must have just been in the garage or maybe they were out somewhere. There was no reason for me to think that anything in the world was wrong until I knocked on the door and no one answered.

To be honest, I wasn't entirely surprised when this happened. Ike had changed his mind once, who was to say he wouldn't do it again? But it did seem kind of weird that he wasn't even opening the door to let me in or that absolutely no one in his family was home to answer the door and tell me that Ike hated me and that he wanted me to fuck off or die or something. Had I gotten the wrong day? No, I checked my texts again and I was on time on the right day. I was even a little late, thanks to my walking over. So why was no one answering?

"Hello?" I said, knocking more loudly. "Anyone home?"

Still no answer.

"Ike? Is anyone there?"

Or maybe he just couldn't hear me. He had been watching Game of Thrones before and that show was super loud so it was possible. But hadn't I been knocking loud enough for him to at least look up? He surely wasn't playing it that loud.