He almost didn’t recognize her. Rachel’s brown hair, once short and curly, now fell down to her shoulder in several long braids. Gone was the girl who hated putting on make-up and got a nose-ring just to piss off her dad. In her place stood a confident and poised woman with smooth foundation and dark eyebrows complimenting her brown skin. She looked as though she was about to enter an interview, or more likely, conduct one.

All of that vanished the moment she locked eyes with Zack.

“Zack!” she cried.

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap….

What is she even doing here?

“What am I doing here?” Rachel pushed towards, stepping in his house without question. “I’m going to college. I’m not the one who ghosted everyone in his life without a single word!”

Zack felt Rachel’s psychic pressure within his mind, as a familiar sensation crept into the space between his skull and his brain.

This is bad. This is really bad.

“Oh so you think this is bad?” Rachel said, her voice dripping with fake concern. “You think being found out after all this time is bad? We looked everywhere for you. We thought you were dead! We figured some supervillain with a grudge against your dad must have snatched you up!”

Zack tried to calm himself down. He was obviously making things worse.

“You think?” replied Rachel.

Zack breathed in and breathed out. He had to calm down. Rachel was a psychic, but not a very powerful or skilled one. She couldn’t read minds. She could only catch one or two psychic impressions at most, generally whatever was on the uppermost surface of someone’s mind.

“I am a damn fine psychic, Zack,” Rachel peered up towards him. Even so she stood a foot shorter than him, she still scared the hell out of Zack. “The only reason I’m not peering into that dirty little brain of yours is I don’t want to see who you were with, or what you were doing these past two years.”

“Rachel, look, I can explain!” Zack said, even if that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Rachel knew this, but she didn’t say this. Instead she just brought one hand to her hip and stood absolutely still.

“Well, Zack, I’m waiting,” she said, gesturing with her hand.

Puppies. Kittens. Puppies. Kittens.

Rachel made a disgusted clicking sound with her tongue.

“I’m not sixteen any more. You can’t just distract me with pet pictures,” Rachel said with a sigh. “ “I have TikTok for that.”

Corgi butts and tabby cats. Corgi butts and tabby cats.

Rachel shook her head. “This isn’t a game, Zack. What were we supposed to think? In our line of work…the worst can happen, especially when you’re just a sidekick. We thought you were dead. And then…”

Zack peered down at her.

“And then…what?”

Rachel gave another shake of her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not doing this tonight. I have a story to write, and you’re just a distraction."

Zack found himself torn. All of these years of wondering what his friends were up to, all of the lonesome nights spent on some godforsaken mission wondering what she was doing . . . and here she was, standing right before him.

But her being here raised other questions.

Why was she here? And why was Scott for that matter? Journalism was always a passion of Rachel’s - that much didn’t surprise Zack, but why work for a school for superheroes of all places?

He didn’t realize Rachel was looking at him again, if only to give him a stern side-eye.

“I went where I’m needed, Zack,” she said. “You know how many of my coworkers are just capes looking for a lead. Half of them can’t string two sentences together, much less follow a beat to save their lives.”

“And I remember you were pretty good at following a beat on the dance floor,” Zack said. “If I remember homecoming…”

“Don’t do that, Zack,” Rachel said, her voice cold and stern.

“What?” Zack shrugged.

“Try to distract me,” she said. “We’re not together anymore. We’re not even friends anymore after what you pulled.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

That last part hurt. Maybe she read his mind. Maybe she immediately regretted saying it. Whatever the case, Rachel immediately softened her tone.

“Look, I should go…” Rachel said.

“Wait,” Zack said, against every fiber of his body. His mind, sharpened by the past two years, told him this was a mistake. A distraction, by her own words. He didn’t need this, not when he was so close.

Only that wasn’t true, at least, not completely. Some part of him did need this. He needed the closure he couldn’t give two years ago. The only problem was, he had no idea of how he could give it, much less receive it.

Instead, he was trapped in an endless cycle.

A feedback loop, as Dad always put it.

Still, he had to try.

“You want answers, but so do I?” Zack said. That made her stay, but not in a good way. She spun around, her eyes flashing at him.

“This isn’t on me, Zack. This is all on you!” Rachel said. “You don’t get to ask me anything.”

“I know,” Zack said softly. “I know.”

He knew he’d hurt her. He’d always known. But he also figured she’d move on with the rest of his friends. High school wasn’t forever, and even Sideclique would disband the moment graduation hit.

Honestly, he thought they’d just put two and two together. His father was Knightbrand, one of the most powerful superheroes in the world. It was a little like growing up in the military. Zack had moved six times before settling down within the Chicago suburbs, and even though he had deep friendships with Sideclique, another move was never out of the question. Still, he thought Rachel and the others would just…move on without him.

Clearly he had been wrong.

Rachel looked back at him, her green eyes lacking the flashing venom they had previously held. But she still looked away from Zack. She wasn’t staying, but she wasn’t leaving yet either.

“What do you want to know?” she finally said.

“I saw Scott Stephens earlier today. He goes here too?” he said. Rachel nodded.

“He was the most determined of us to make it at a supe. But he’s always at that Sigma Alpha frat. We hardly see him anymore,” Rachel said.

“We?” Zack asked with peaked interest.

“Zack…the entire team goes to school here. We all landed here. Me, Scott and…Perry,” she said.

Zack remembered Perry Adams, the small nerdy kid who formed the brains of Sideclique. He had microscopic vision. He could see everything down to a molecular level. He could tell when a construction cable was about to snap, endangering bystanders, or what bones were the weakest among the crooks holding up a bank.

“That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while,” Zack said.

“He’s doing well here. He’s dating my roommate,” Rachel said.

“Perry Adams has a girlfriend?” Zack in actual amazement. Rachel chuckled.

“He couldn’t even be in the same room with Gloria Brooks. He had a crush on her so bad,” Zack said. “And now he’s got a steady girlfriend.”

Rachel laughed, but soon the silence returned.

“Where were you, Zack?” Rachel said, after a long pause. “After all this time. And why now?”

Zack thought about how he wanted to answer. And if he wanted to answer at all.

“It’s complicated,” he finally said. Rachel pivoted away with a bitter laugh.

“Everyone’s favorite answer,” she said sarcastically. “It’s complicated.”

“I’m just…I’m working through…things,” Zack said.

“You had two years to work through things,” Rachel replied. She turned to leave but Zack reached out for her, his hand brushing against her wrist as he briefly remembered what the touch of her skin felt like.

“You’re a journalist. You know when there’s more to the story,” Zack said. “Don’t you want to know mine.”

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve got plenty of deadlines. I don’t need more work, Zack.”

“I want to tell you everything, Rach,” he said. “I do. I just…I need more time.”

At this, Rachel shook her head with bitter anger.

“Take all the time in the world, Zack. You clearly have all of it you want,” she said as she stormed off.

“Rachel, wait!” Zack said.

Rachel turned to him, her flashing eyes making his blood run cold.

“And pay your freaking heating bills, Zack! It’s freezing in here!” Rachel said before storming out.

Zack watched her go. As she disappeared from view, Zack couldn’t tell if this was the optimum outcome or yet another complication he didn’t need.

This mission was becoming steadily more complicated. The entire Sideclique team was here? Zack had hoped he could get in and get out before anyone knew he was there. After all, it wasn’t like Zack was planning to stick around once he caught his father’s killer.

The presence of Sideclique raised several red flags. Rachel alone was a distraction he couldn’t afford. Perry Adams could jeopardize his entire operation if his powers let him peer behind the Knightbrand armor.

A chill ran down my spine. One glance from Perry Adams and this whole charade would be over.

To keep that from happening, Zack would need to find ways to avoid his friends.

If that was what he truly wanted.

Zack suddenly shivered, and not from his frustration.

Rachel’s right. It’s freaking freezing in here.

“Just so we’re clear, that was incredibly uncomfortable to sit through,” a craggy voice called from the kitchen. Zack moved through the hallway to see the source of the voice drinking a beer at his small table.

Icer sat at the head of the table, a short distance from the fridge. He had a beer in his hand, with his mask pulled up at the mouth.

“Also, you’re out of beer,” the supervillain said.