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“Dad!”

“Yes, Nick. I saw Shadow Star. I even talked to him. In fact, I got his autograph for you. And his phone number. He gave it to me after I told him about your crush on him. He said he’d love to go out on a date with you, because he thought you were dreamy when I showed him a picture of you—”

“Please tell me I was adopted,” Nick begged. “It’s the only thing that could possibly salvage the wreckage that is my life.”

“Sorry, kiddo. You came from my loins.”

Nick groaned and dropped his head to the table. “Why did you have to phrase it like that?”

Nick felt a hand on the back of his neck, squeezing gently. “Because I think it’s adorable when you get flustered. Especially when talking about your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Nick muttered into the tabletop. “He doesn’t even know I exist.”

“Probably for the best. He’d most likely be scared away when he saw the Tumblring you do about him. Nobody likes a stalker, Nicky.”

Nick knocked his dad’s hand away as he sat back up. “I amnota stalker—”

“No, I didn’t see him. None of us did. And he’s lucky we didn’t,or we would’ve arrested him on the spot. Damn Extraordinaries. All they do is—”

“Make your job harder, yeah, yeah. I know. You say it all the time. But, Dad. He can climb walls and control shadows. I don’t think you fully grasp how amazing that is.”

“Oh, I fully grasp it, all right. But he needs to let us do our jobs. Life isn’t like one of your comic books, Nick. This is real. People can get hurt.”

“He’s one of the good guys!”

Dad scoffed. “Says who?”

“Everyone.”

Dad shook his head. “This isn’t black and white. It’s not about heroes and villains. Shadow Star is as much a pain in my ass as Fire Guy—”

“Pyro Storm, and don’t you dare compare them like that. Pyro Storm is Shadow Star’s archnemesis, and the fate of Nova City hangs in the balance as Shadow Star fights for us against the tyranny of—”

“They’re douchebags who wear tights they bought at a thrift shop.”

Nick glared at him.

Dad shrugged.

Nick decided to be magnanimous. “I’m going to pretend you never said that.”

“What a blessing.”

Maybe notthatmagnanimous. “This is the worst start to a school year ever.”

“Speaking of.”

Yeah, that was his fault. He should’ve seen it coming. “We’re not going to do this again.”

“I think we are,” Dad said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. Nick saw the bags under his eyes, the wrinkles on his forehead that hadn’t been there a couple of years ago. He felt a sharp pang in his chest. He forced himself not to look at all the ghosts that still haunted the kitchen: the spice rack neither of them had dared to touch, her favorite towels hanging off the front of the stove, the ones with little cats embroidered onto them. “Just so we’re on the same page.”

Better to get it over with. “I’ll pay attention.”

“And?”

“I’ll do my homework every night.”

“And?”