Litter duty sucked. Unfortunately, because of the detentions, I’d be doing this for at least the next eight weeks. I sighed. Why did we even have afterschool litter picking club? Who the hell had thought that would be a good idea?
“Hey Lucas, try to keep up with the others” Mrs Nakahama called out to me. I sighed and sped up. I had to wear a stupid hi vis jacket whilst people stared at me picking up trash. They were probably wondering why my hi vis was the only silver one. Well it wasn’t bad enough that I got forced to do this, but apparently I had to wear a different coloured hi vis for safeguarding purposes. Like being forced to be here because of detention made me a threat. I kicked a plastic cup. Stupid.
“Lucas I know you don’t want to be here, but don’t kick rubbish around. I’ll have to report you if you do, and you and I both don’t want that” Ms Nakahama said. I ignored her but didn’t kick anything else. This whole situation was annoying. I could be out right now making hundreds of dollars, but no, because of the stupid principal I was stuck doing this for an hour and a half every Monday. There were other community things she’d scheduled for me to during the other days of the week. God the next month was going to be a drag. I clenched my fists and kicked the wall.
“Lucas!” Mrs Nakahama said.
“It wasn’t rubbish” I mumbled. She sighed and muttered under her breath.
“You shouldn’t be kicking anything. Let’s go, we’re falling too far behind the others” she said. I groaned, picking up the pace.
“You know this would feel a lot faster if you weren’t grumbling every five seconds” she said.
“Ok” I mumbled back. I stuck an orange plastic cup with my poker and then slipped it into my empty bag. This couldn’t end any slower.
-
I trudged down the freshman boys dorm corridor hands in pockets. Some other students milled about in the hallways giving me the occasional glance. Litter duty sucked. Hopefully tomorrow would be better but I highly doubted it. I stopped at my door and unlocked it stepping inside. Rachael and Eric were sitting at Eric’s desk going through homework together. She glanced up to see me and then whispered something to Eric. I ignored her and just fell face first onto my bed groaning. The sounds of utensils and paper being moved around told me Rachael was probably leaving. Did she really hate me that much? I mean I’d only messed with her that one birthday and it seemed like she had a lifetime of hate stored in her heart. There were muffled whispers and the sound of the door opening.
“Uh… see you later Lucas” Eric said before the door slammed shut. Huh? I looked up to see they’d both left. Oh. Sweet! I jumped up, reached under my bed and grabbed my balaclava. I switched out my jumper, threw on my balaclava and grabbed my bag. I climbed out the window and started to close it when my danger sense buzzed. The door. Someone was coming inside.
I didn’t have enough time to open the window, leap inside, take off my balaclava and act natural, so I did the next best thing. I leapt to the bathroom window slipped through the gap and then pulled the door shut with a web.
“Lucas?” I heard Eric say tentatively.
“Yeah?” I called back, my heart thumping loudly in my chest.
“Do you want to come hang out with us?” Eric asked. I heard muffled whispers and then an abrupt silence.
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“Sorry man, I think I ate something funny. I’m probably going to be in here for a while” I said.
“Oh. That’s fine. Join us when you’re… free. We’ll be in the same study room” he said. There were more muffled whispers and then the door closed.
I breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall. I pulled out the burner phone and turned it on. I only had one missed call. I locked the bathroom door and dialled the number back. It rung a few times before someone picked up. There were a few seconds of silence so I spoke up.
“Uh… hello? Did you need some help with something” I asked.
“Sure do” a familiar voice said. It was butterfly girl.
“Oh what the hell, what do you want?” I said back, leaping from the building and swinging through the air.
“Meet me on the Empire state building” she said.
“No”
“Just do it. I want to apologise”
“No thanks. I’m hanging up now”
I hung up and blocked the number. I was staying as far away from the Empire state as possible. She had to be stupid if she thought I was falling for that. Now, time to explore. I hadn’t really been to Harlem yet, and the new flyers in my bag were just dying to get put up.
-
I sat on the side of a building watching the sun between the skyline as I ate a hot dog. The views up here really where something else. I hadn’t gotten any calls today, but maybe I would soon. And even if I didn’t it’s not like I hadn’t made more than enough for two weeks. I mean $400 in one day was just insane. I’d be able to replace that horrendous box of bolts with a proper TV soon. I probably wouldn’t be able to hide that under the bed without damaging it though. There was also the problem with getting Eric in on the program. I hadn’t told him about the ps4 under my bed yet, so I had no idea how he’d react. Maybe I’d have to buy another controller just to make sure he had incentive not to tell anyone.
My danger sense buzzed, and I jumped off the side of the building landing on a street light. I looked around, nothing. Weird.
“I’m up here stupid” a voice said above me. I looked up, and my heart sunk.
“How the hell did you find me? Aren’t butterflies supposed to be slow?” I said, readying myself for a fight.
“I said it already, I’m a dragonfly. And don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s gross” she said, floating to eye level.
“We shouldn’t fight here, there’s too many people” I said, eyeing her.
“Do you not listen. I told you I wanted to apologise” she said annoyed. I frowned, pulling my balaclava over the bottom of my face.
“You could’ve just done that over the phone” I said, still suspicious.
“Fair point, but I wanted to ask for help and show you something interesting” she said. I frowned backing up slightly. This was weird. Very weird. My danger sense wasn’t going off. so things were okay for now.
“Go on then” I said. She grinned.
“Sorry about yesterday. I got excited about the idea of fighting a super villain and I just ignored what you were saying. Also thanks for getting me away from the police, you didn’t have to do that, and that could’ve ended seriously badly for me” she said. Oh. She actually had wanted to apologise. She even seemed kind of genuine.
“Is that it?” I asked.
“No. I wanted to ask for your help taking down this drug ring. I found one of their hideouts and I think a-“
“Woah, woah, woah!” I said waving my hands about. “Did I miss something? Drug ring?! What the hell are you talking about?”
“They’re like the main distributors of drugs in New York. They used to call themselves the Hunters, but recently they’ve started calling themselves the Bears”
“That doesn’t clear anything up!”
“I just want you to help me. I might be able to take their hideout down on my own, but with you, we could definitely take it down” she said.
“Why would I help you take down a drug cartel or whatever?” I asked dumbfounded. She frowned.
“Why not? It’s cool” she said.
“No thanks. It just sounds insanely dangerous”
“Weren't you just swinging around the city like forty feet in the air” she said, crossing her arms. I frowned.
“Why’re you even asking me anyway?” I said, ignoring her comment.
“Because you’re a superhero as well. I’m not just going to ask some random guy on the street.”
“I’m not a superhero.”
“Uh… then what are you? You stopped a pickpocket yesterday, no?”
“Yeah, but that was a one off. I’m a metahuman for hire. Didn’t you read the flyer?”
“Yeah, but I thought that was... I dunno, like a way to get people to call you if they were in danger?”
“Nope, it’s an ad. I tell people what I offer, and they pay me for it.”
“Wait, what? You get paid?!”
“Yeah. Did you not read the flyer? What about metahuman for hire don’t you get?”
She frowned, pausing for a second. Welp, I was done here.
“I’m leaving” I said.
“Wait!” she shouted. I paused, glancing back. “What if I said there’s stolen money at the HQ?” Hmm? Interesting.
“I’m listening” I said. She looked at the people beneath us before turning back to me.
“If you help me, I won’t say anything if you take a tiny bit of money. The rest we leave for the police, ok?” she said.
“Deal” I said. She frowned, before straightening out, a grin slowly forming. She floated a few feet into the air and then waved me over.
“Come on, this is going to be so cool” she said.