Hero

Chapter Eleven

He'd promised me one week and instead, it was two weeks later and I'd yet to get a call from Tempus Manum.  Today was not going to be a good day, if the lack of contact from the POWER group meant anything.  Combined the storms that were wrecking havoc outside and the lightning that lit up the dark sky, my bad mood was just having a field day.  Every time the thunder rumbled, I flinched and closed my eyes, much to Ezra's delight.  "It's so adorable," he said incredulously as he stroked my hair.  "You're really afraid of thunder and lightning?"  I nodded, shoving my face into his shirt as the sky crackled again.

"It's this weird thing of hers," said Nova, taking a sip of her water.  "Never been afraid of anything except storms.  It got a little worse after the accident, but it's been pretty constant as long as we've known her."

"I have metal all over me!" I said, glaring at my friends from across the table.  Even though I was trying my best to shoot them with lasers from my eyes- a power I lacked, unfortunately- I wasn't very frightening to them when I had Ezra's shirt balled up in my fists and was clutching him so tightly.  "I think it's perfectly understandable to be afraid of something that is deadly and attracted specifically to you."  Ezra chuckled at the statement.

"Oh, is it now?  I had no clue that being a wuss was socially acceptable."  I punched him in the side gently and he pulled me closer to him so I couldn't do it again.  "I guess I'll just have to protect you from the rest of the world.  What do you think?  Be my princess?  I can lock you away in an ivory tower."

Nova whispered something to Simon while pointing at Ezra and eye; Simon grinned and chuckled in response as he raised a pretzel stick to his mouth.  A second later, his eyes went wide and his mouth went slack jawed.  He poked Nova in the arm and did some weird thing with her eyes.  She must have gotten the message he was sending her, though, because she stiffened for a second before returning to normal.

"Hey, Ezra...would you mind grabbing a round of coffees for us all?" Nova asked sweetly...too sweetly.  Suspiciously sweetly.  "I'd go, but Simon and I need to just have a quick word with Mina here."

"Sure," said Ezra.  She reached into her purse to grab her wallet, but he chuckled and touched her arm gently.  "Nova, it's fine.  You've got money, but I'm rich, too.  I'll be back in a second."  He bent down to kiss my cheek and walked away.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" I asked, frowning.

"We're saving you," she whispered.  "Wanted to get him away before..."  Just as Nova was about to explain why, I heard the voice I'd been dreading all my life.

"Hello, Wilhelmina."  I whirled around to see my mother standing behind me, with Molly and Sam at her side.  "Simon."  His name held as much contempt in her voice as mine did.  "Britta."  Although my mother's tone for Nova was sickeningly sweet, Nova still winced as my mother used her real name.  Nova was a family nickname that she'd adopted into her normal life; she shared her birth name with her grandmother, and the two had never quite seen eye to eye.

"You know, Mina, I have to go," said Nova, rushing to stand up from the table and pushing her chair back slightly too far.  Her backpack tipped over and she scooped her class work back in messily, slinging onto her back as she backed away from us.  "Italian homework and...math.  You know.  I'll see you."

"Yeah, I have that...thing due in...Art or something," added Simon, gathering his trash and dumping it into a nearby bin.  "So, uh...I'll just join her and leave.  Bye, Boo."  I glared at them as they practically ran away.  Cowards.  Now my family occupied their open seats across from me.

"Wilhelmina, we have to have a serious discussion about your future," said my mother, a frown wrinkling her eyebrows.

"About?" I asked, raising my own eyebrow.  I had to focus on remaining calm.  This was the most effort I'd had to exert over keeping my emotions in check in weeks.  Even though I had amazing control over my reactions nowadays, my family always did manage to bring out the worst in me.