Scott Mason: Gay Superhero (boyxboy)

Chapter 3

Trust me, the last thing that I wanted to do to start my weekend is battle a hippie florist holding a mother and her son hostage.
But as you can tell, through some romantic foreshadowing, that is probably what I did Friday night. I was just about ready to spork my eyes out when the florist was just getting started on the subject that no one cared about his flowers and plants anymore and that someone needed to pay.
So I knocked him out with a bolt of electricity, like a taser. It was one of my more successful shots, compared to the poster on the side of our apartment building, testifying my horrible shot with holes peppering it like a connect-the-dot drawing. That poor mother and her son could have been hurt, but...they weren't so it was ok!
So, the aftermath of the flowery situation was two saved citizens and an angry florist that possibly had some new heart problems. I was sorry about that, I really was.
Not.
Right now, though, Will and I were sitting in my bedroom, too afraid to admit that each of us was bored out of our minds.
"I'm starting to think that this Samandriel guy is a badass." Will said, lounging on my bed while I did my new Advanced English Literature homework at my desk. I smiled, pleased that he thought that.
"You know what? Me too," I stuck out my tongue and circled a multiple-choice answer. With deft movements I slapped my folder closed and twirled around in my swivel chair. I The world turned into a myriad of colors like I was looking into a washing machine as I went around in circles.
What to do, what to do...
"I envy your hand-eye coordination." Will said, twisting off of his stomach and sitting up to cross his legs like an Indian. He would look almost majestic, sitting there, if it weren't for his t-shirt that had a chili-cheese dog stain on it and red eyes from his allergies. He looked like he had smoked too much dope.
"What do you want to do?" He asked, flopping on his back and splaying his arms wide. I stopped, letting the ball bounce off of my forehead and onto the floor as I thought.
"We could terrorize the lady across the street again." He suggested, but I shook my head. I didn't want to go all the way to Pet Smart to buy a bunch of grasshoppers that were meant for some lizard. Besides, the lady's screams had gotten old. AND it was kind of rude.
"I reject that idea," I said in mock seriousness.
"I reject your rejection." He came back, tapping his fingers on the wooden headboard of my bed. I could see the gears turning in his mind.
"Do you want to go superhero hunting?" He asked, sitting up.
I groaned.
It was a stupid idea in the first place. My dad had taken me to work in his police car one time and to keep me quiet, he had told me to 'Look for the superheroes for me, will ya?'. I had unfortunately told Will the same thing, while we were driving to get burgers for lunch on a day where the traffic was normal (also known as you-were-inches-away-from-the-cars-in-front-and-back-of-you). Unfortunately, some superhero that's long gone by now had flown right over us, so Will now had the deranged thought that superheroes were as common as house flies.
"Sure," I said reluctantly, getting up and pulling my car keys off of the nail that I had pushed into the wall. "Where do you want to go?" I slapped my hands on my thighs, looking down at him.
"Let's get burgers." He said, bouncing off of the bed and tip-toeing out of my room, careful not to wake my mom.
So the truth came out! Will was just hungry.
My mouth watered at the thought; it was like he read my mind. I followed him, not tiptoeing but still being quiet.
My car was crappy and secondhand, just like so many other things that I owned. Nevertheless, I liked the battered-up white Volvo. I had gotten it last year, just at the same time as my driver's license. It came from the last bit of insurance money that me and my mother had left after my father's passing. The screeching sound that happened whenever I started it was like music to my ears—and soul.
It was purely mine.
The burger place that we were going to was named 'Rock and Rules!', and probably had the best burgers in the world. I mean, the best. We were heading there the first time we were 'superhero hunting', and now I guess Will was craving a burger and feeling a little nostalgic.
The door to my car creaked noisily, screeching in protest to my opening it. I smiled. "Nice to see you too, baby," I whispered, seeing Will shudder as he slid into the passenger seat.
"What you see in this car is beyond me." He slammed the door shut with a loud squeal and a silent but rough-sounding click. He reached back for the seatbelt, tugging at it when it locked. I laughed, putting on a serious face as he yanked on the belt, only making it lock more.
"She doesn't like you talking smack about her," I admonished as I started the car with a loud and rickety shudder. I felt the engine hum beneath my feet, the few wires that it did have only having to do with the radio and the headlights. That was what I liked about this car and its motor, it was purely mechanical, no electricity needed for it to drive.
I pulled out of the parking space, my focus on the backside of the car as Will fiddled with the radio.
"Ow!" He yelped when it shocked him. I smiled. Yeah, she really didn't like him.
The way there was slow and difficult, forcing me to weave through traffic and around big trucks, making sure that the Volvo wouldn't break down in the middle of the road, but closer to the curb, where I could pull into a parking spot before I blocked anyone. (Really, don't judge me) Heaven forbid I break down in the middle of an intersection!
Will peeked hopefully out of the window, hoping to see a superhero, but just as my unconscious and unspoken words had predicted, there were no superheroes to see. I didn't care, I was in it for the burgers.
The parking lot to Rock and Rules! was nearly full, and it took me a few minutes to find a decent parking place without wheelchair icon painted on it. I pulled the keys out of the ignition, seeing that the windshield was starting to get lightly peppered with rain. I frowned. I hated the rain.
Will hopped out, urging me on so we could find good seats by the largest window of the diner, which was his favorite sport to dine.
Rock and Rules! was a bit old fashioned, with a jukebox that only had rock music options to choose from, giving it its name. It sat on the corner of one of the biggest intersections in Denver, giving the diner an arrowhead look, with the smallest booth that had the biggest view of the large intersection sitting at the tip of the restaurant, and the kitchen at the back.
The place was jam-packed, just as I expected it to be during lunch time. I peered across the tables to look for an open spot, and lo and behold, the smallest booth at the tip of the diner was vacant.
"Hurry up!" Will whined, and I was annoyed by his impatience. He took me by the wrist and dragged me over to the booth, pushing me into the opposite seat. I swear, he could be a five-year-old sometimes! I righted myself and glared over at him from across the table, but he was too happy to notice. All the boredom from my room had been left there, and he was now as giddy as a child, as he always was when we did this sort of thing.
I sat there, gazing out the window at the grey, rain-laden clouds, which drooped downwards and started to open up, letting out the water encased inside them.
Tap. Tap. The rain started to pelt the window, and I watched as it grew steadily heavier, trailing little lines down the glass. Everything outside was blurred, the yellow and green taxicabs mere blotches of color. I shivered, glad that there was the window to separate me from the water.
Water was my weakness. You know how they say water is a conductor of electricity? Well, for me it was too good of a conductor. It sucked every last drop of electricity out of me, no pun intended. I was a normal human when it rained, helpless and vulnerable. If only my supersuit was waterproof!
Will kicked my shin, and I jumped slightly, giving him my best--or worst--bitch face that I could muster. "You need to see a counselor if you drift in and out of reality like that daily." He muttered quietly, and I was about to ask him why he was whispering when I saw that someone was here to take our order. He must have already taken his order.
"Umm," I said, looking down at the table, thinking. "I'll have my usual," I said, eyes glazing over when I thought about my Mushroom Swiss burger with steak fries and a vanilla milkshake.
"I'm afraid I don't know what that is," the waiter said, and I let my eyes travel across the table and down to the floor, the voice deep and hypnotizing. It sounded so pretty, like a siren call. I would die for a voice like that.
My eyes came to rest on a pair of neon green converse shoes.