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Nick blinked. “That’s because you’re Seth. You’re my favorite person in the world after my dad. I don’t need to be stupid around you. You already like me as I am.”

“Eh. Mostly.”

“Don’t be mean,” Nick said. “I’ve had a traumatizing day.”

“I’m sure. A group of super soldiers, was it? And they wanted to take your virginity?”

Nick sighed. “It was two men and they were trying to take my bag. One was balding, and the other had a get-into-my-ice-cream-truck-little-boy mustache.”

“Maybe you should have given it to them.”

“But it’s mine.”

Seth sounded aggrieved. “Shadow Star can’t always be there to help you, Nicky. Or any Extraordinary, for that matter. What if something happens again, and no one’s there to save you?”

Oh, that wasn’t irritating or anything. “I can take care of myself.”

“It’s not about— You could have been hurt. What if one of them had gotten you with the knife before Shadow Star stopped them? You need to be more careful.”

“Way to victim blame, man,” Nick said. “It’s not like I asked for this to happen. Why can’t you be happy for me? I got to meet Shadow Star.”

“I just—” Nick knew Seth was gnawing on his bottom lip. Seth did that when he was trying to think about what to say. “I need you to be okay. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Nick knew loss. He did. He knew what it meant when something happened that shouldn’t have, when life was wholly unfair and took and took and took. Sometimes, he was so wrapped up in himself that he forgot Seth knew about that too, probably better than anyone else. It was why they could be the way they were with each other. That and the fact that Seth picked Princess Daisy when they played Mario Kart because he didn’t believe in the patriarchy and didn’t complain too much when Nick cheated with the red shell like a dick.

“I’ll be careful,” Nick said, because Seth needed to hear it. “I promise. And besides, it wasn’t as if there actually were super soldiers. Itwas two goons with—” Nick frowned. “Wait. How did you know they had knives? I didn’t tell you that.”

Seth hesitated. “Pretty sure you did.”

“No,” Nick said slowly. “I was saving that part for the dramatic reveal toward the end.”

“Oh. Uh, I thought you said knife. My bad. Must have guessed. Didn’t mean to ruin the dramatic reveal. Sorry.”

“Good guess, then,” Nick said. “Because theydidhave knives. But they were more like machetes. And they came at Gibby and me and demanded our belongings, but I pushed Gibby behind me like a man does—”

“Gibby is stronger than the both of us.”

“Oh, right. Good point. And I’m totally equal opportunity, because I’m a feminist. Also, I lied because I was behind Gibby. Anyway, so there we were, standing side by side and they demanded we hand everything over, and I saidno way,and Gibby saidI know karateprobably, and when we were about to save the day because I amnota damsel in distress no matter what Rebecca Firestone says, Shadow Star came and beat them up, and his voice was so deep and strong.”

“And you got his autograph?” Seth asked, sounding strange. “That must have been… cool.”

“Oh, it was. Hold on. I’m going to go upstairs so I can read it to you. And then I’ll send you the picture that Gibby took of us where Shadow Star said I’m cute, or something similar.”

“Okay, but I can’t talk long. I’ve got homework, and I’m going to try and go to bed early tonight.”

Nick took the stairs two at a time. “You should have done what I did and gotten detention. It’s the perfect place to do homework.”

Seth sighed. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

Nick ran back into his room and found the paper that had once been held by Shadow Star. “Okay, are you ready for this?”

“I wait with bated breath.”

“It says,Nicholas Bell: Always remember to keep… to the… shadows…”Nick squinted down at the paper.

“Wow,” Seth said. “His catchphrase and everything. That sure is… something.”

“Yeah,” Nick said slowly. “Except…”