Finally Heroes

Chapter Nine

                I tried my best not to trip as I marched up a mulch-covered hill. We'd been searching for Ben for what felt like hours, but in reality had just likely been a few minutes. Regardless, having to work with Harry and be in the same vicinity as him didn't exactly make me want to keep going. The only reason I put up with it was because I cared about Mal, and she wanted us to find Ben, so that's what I would do.

"Dude." Carlos kneeled down and clapped his hands, summoning his dog back to him. "Come on. Nothing?"

"Nope." I sighed, placing a hand on my boyfriend's shoulder. We'd stopped momentarily, just to catch our breath, so I didn't want to sit down and risk not wanting to get back up.

"These things just grow everywhere." Gil made his way over to a bush with wild berries and picked a couple off, popping them into his mouth. My eyes widened, hoping they weren't poisonous, but his demeanor didn't change at all.

I had to admit, he could be a little lacking sometimes, but of all of Uma's friends, I hated Gil the least.

"Hey, we should play that icebreaker," he suggested. "Um, Jay, I like the way you can bounce around and jump off things." Jay seemed caught off-guard for a moment, but ultimately smiled a little, his defenses falling down a little. "These are free, right?"

"Yeah. Um..." Jay made his way over to Gil and laughed awkwardly, trying to come up with something to say back. "I like how you can get a kick out of a berry bush." The two of them laughed again, but Gil's expression quickly fell before he popped another berry into his mouth.

"I guess you've probably seen everything by now, huh? Furry rocks, giant fish. You're probably used to grabbing lunch off a bush."

"No. I mean, no, not really," Jay confessed. "I mainly just use the vending machines at practice. You know, Tourney kind of eats up most of my time. So..." From the trees, Harry's laughter cut through the genuinely sweet moment.

"Tourney, that's a wee boy's game," he taunted. The two of them glanced at Harry in disapproval for a moment, but quickly turned back to their conversation. I tried my best to hold back a satisfied smirk as Harry's expression fell.

"Hey, you know what would be fun? To go rafting on a jungle river," Gil suggested.

"Find a lost civilization."

"Oh, or maybe a penguin." Jay paused for a moment, seemingly confused by Gil's lack of a grasp on basic geography, but it really didn't deter him at all.

"Oh, well, you'd find those more in, like, icebergs, but I'd love to see one of those."

"You guys are killing me," Harry groaned, stepping in between the two of them. For a moment, my bravery rose, and I turned and crossed my arms.

"Come on, Harry. Just because you're incapable of making a genuine human connection doesn't mean you should interrupt theirs."

I expected Harry to shoot back with some sort of low blow, or at least get up in my face in an attempt to intimidate me, but instead, he just shook his head and started to walk away. Confused, Carlos and I exchanged a glance, unsure of how to take that. I hadn't expected such a mild response from Harry.

"P.S., your mutt went that way." He glanced back at Carlos, pointing out in front of us. For a second the two of us glanced at our feet. Neither of us had realized Dude had slipped away when we weren't paying attention. Carlos reached for my hand as he shot up, pulling me along behind him as we rushed after Dude.