I Failed

II. I'm Still Failing

I crouch above the sidewalk, high in one of the oak trees that grow around the campus. Why am I in this position? Another extra-credit job, of course.

Somehow, my flimsy arms had grown enough muscle in the past few months to haul me up here. I still wasn't sure how to get down.

Muscle, as it turns out, does not just appear the first time you walk into the university gym. It take effort, something I don't particularly favor. But you gotta do what you gotta do. In this case, I had to pass Developmental Biology.

There. Out of the corner of my eye I spot the perfect target, a confident freshman girl I'd been following for the past few days- in a t-shirt and jeans, not in tight black leather spandex. She'd definitely scream loud enough.

You see, Professor Holmes' orders still stood. I still have to annoy the crap out of the hero that came to stop my fake robbery a few months ago. I haven't impressed the evil biology teacher yet.

Crosswinds (or Brian) has been hanging out at campus lately. My fault, I'm guessing, since I told him I went here. This is the opposite of what the biology department wanted, which meant I had extra extra credit.

I tense and move slowly down the branch that overhangs the sidewalk. The girl continues to walk in blissful ignorance, with pink headphones the size of my little brother's head clapped over her ears. She grows closer... and closer... until...

"Nice night," I say, dropping down in front of her and yanking the headphones off her head. Her eyes widen. Any dumb freshman recognizes a villain in this town. I'm not one of the well-known ones with superpowers and their own Wikipedia page, but I'm dressed in black, she's on her own, it's night, and I have brass knuckles.

I promise, I can punch better now then I could a few months ago. But alas, I want her to scream, so there was no point in knocking her lights out just to stop the wailing.

I feel a gust of wind behind me and the girl stops screaming long enough to start running. I smirk and turn around.

"Oh, you can fly now, huh?"

He hovers a few feet in the air and touches down. "And you're a koala now, huh?"

I grin. "Get over here and fight, you great lump. She's got her phone out." Indeed, the poor little freshman has her pink jeweled phone out and recording.

"I hope you got better at this," he says, rolling his eyes.

I duck under his first blow and deliver a kick to his side. "You can count on it," I tease.

"You remembered you have two other limbs," he says, eyes narrowing. "Congrats."

I shrug, which is not easy while trying to punch someone. "Kickboxing Club," I joke. "Who knew."

"I'm sure they had an easy time with you," he grins, matching my moves.

I raise an eyebrow. I don't think he saw it, though, because of the tiny black mask. "I don't recall you being much better."

He laughs. "No," he concedes. He narrows his eyes again. "I've been looking for you for three months, Jackie. Three months! I haven't been on campus since I graduated, and now I can't stay away!"

I stick out my bottom lip. "Oh, I'm sorry," I tease. "Has the big bad hero been frustrated?"

Brian glares. "Not funny."

"Sorry, Brian," I says. "I'll spend more time attacking students."

He smiles. "That a girl." He relaxes and puts his fists down. "She's gone."

I straighten and stretch. "How long do think it'll take to go viral?"

"Depends on how many followers she's got." He scans the walkway and tenses. "Student at 12:00."

"Brian, it's only 11:47," I say.

"You know what I mean," he growls. He grabs my wrist and starts to drag me into the bushes. We wait in silence until the boy passes.

"Can't you fly or something?" I ask, slightly annoyed. He had to choose the holly bushes. All I can feel is those spiky leaves.

He looks at me like I'm an idiot. "You know how obvious that is?"

I pretend to think. "Knowing heroes? Probably very obvious. You seem to like the spotlight."

Brian laugh. "Fine, you have a point. One thing: I thought you weren't interested in the hero-villain scene."

"Hey, you wear a suit long enough, it drills itself into you," I laugh, tugging at the black spandex. "Literally. This is the most uncomfortable and revealing attire I've ever worn."

"You look great, if somewhat ridiculous, if that makes you feel any better," he says. "Besides, how do you think I feel? Men don't usually wear spandex."

I let my head swing around, as much as it could in the confining space. "What men? I don't see a man around here."

He pushes me out onto the grass, and I tuck into a roll, laughing. "I'll have you know I'm older than you are, and you don't seem to have trouble calling yourself an adult," he points out.

"It's acting like one I have trouble with," I quip. "Besides, how do you know I'm not older than you?"

"22," he says.

"Fine," I concede, sighing. "21."

"It's okay," he says, clapping me on the shoulder. "You'll get there someday."

"No thanks to you," I say, rolling my eyes.

He brushes off his hands. "So, same as last time? I won, you ran?"

"Excuuuuse me, but I have to win sometimes," I say. "No one's going to scream if you beat me up every time. Besides, I definitely was winning."

"In your dreams, Jackie," he says. "You can win- just this once."

"Hmm," I say. "What's my prize, then?"

"Last I checked, you don't get one."

I tap my chin. "How's about you take off that mask?"

He waves a hand at me. "Naw. Better we don't know each other in real life yet."

"You realize it would only take a few hours of Googling to find you, right?" I smile.

"And it would take me five minutes to pull you up on the student registry," he shoots back. "Hey, did they give you a villain name yet?"

I grin. "You should be afraid. Your worst nightmare- Night Howler."

"I didn't think you howled," he says, chuckling.

I flip my hair over my shoulder. "Obviously, you haven't heard me when my chocolate stash runs out."

He grins. "I'll have to listen for you, then. See you soon, and not in a few months?"

"I suppose," I smile. "Good night."

"Good night, Jackie." He lifts off the ground dramatically and the clouds swallow him whole. I let out a small laugh and disappear into the night. Well, technically to my dorm, but they're one and the same. I better get extra extra credit for winning.