Superheroes Suck

Chapter 30: The Awkward Chapter

The silence in the room was deafening, neither of us said a word as we watched each other. Murphy seemed so stricken by what I had admitted to him. I, on the other hand, wanted to let him come to terms what he he had just learned. I knew he had to have quite a few questions for me, not nearly as many questions as when I found out about him, but he had questions.

The silence began driving me crazy and, seeing someone had to initiate the very necessary conversation, I spoke up. Honestly, if the silence hadn't been boring me to tears, I probably would have remained quiet until Murphy felt so inclined as to speak up.

Oliver." I spoke softly, only realizing my mistake a few moments later.

His head whipped around to look at me with eyes so vulnerable, "What did you call me?"

"Murphy-"

"How did you know?" The slightest tint of malice shone through his eyes, "When did you figure it out? How long have you known about me?"

"Next time, don't change your costume on the top of the goddamn school roof where everyone in the parking lot can see you." Ouch, that came out a lot nastier than I wanted it to.

That wasn't true, I was probably the only person who saw him do changing on the rooftop. The only person who noticed those green eyes peering over the edge of the roof, scouting the area for real threats. Still, it was stupid for him not to be doing that in costume.

His eyes bugged out of his head, "You saw me?"

"Yes," I admitted slowly, "But I imagine I was the only one who did."

He breathed a sigh of relief and took a heavy seat on his bed. I sat to his side, unsure of how to proceed as I watched him antagonize over it. In my defense, having the crayon out was a dumb idea because after seeing it, I probably would have figure it out anyway.

Oh my god. I'm a moron, I should have figured his identity a long time ago. I had everything I needed to figure it out, or at least suspect it. His nickname came from my freaking crayon! The same crayon I make a point to mention at least twice a day because I'm still so butthurt he stole it from me over a decade ago.

Seriously, I am usually pretty good at calling out obvious things like this. Trust me when I say I'm honestly mortified of how stupid I've been. You've met me, I call out all of the ridiculousness that surrounds me. Side note, let's hope I end this thing with a power or two myself. I've been looking into where I can get a radioactive spider because a vat of acid seems a little...painful. I'll get back to you with that.

"That's good," He admits, "We wouldn't want a whole host of villains knocking on my doorstep." He froze, "...or yours again."

"That's not...don't blame yourself Murphy." I wrapped an arm around him, "I do have a question though. You talk about how much you hate superheroes, that's one of your defining character traits. You and I used to bond over how ridiculous heroes look in their spandex, and now I learn that you are one of those idiots running around with a permanent wedgie."

"You think we didn't figure out how not to get a wedgie in your spandex? Do you have any idea how dangerous that can be?" He replied, although it just sounded ridiculous to me.

"Whatever," We definitely did not need to get in an argument over spandex, so I decided to just change the subject, "Anywho, how did you gain your powers? I feel like that's the logical next question."

"In the accident with my father, or that's what my mother said. They checked me out at the hospital and I...I may have almost burned down the waiting room at the hospital. Of course my family paid for the damaged, but I passed the Xavier Test," He explained. "I don't how exactly I got my powers but, it was because of the car crash."