Page 11 of The Not So Super Hero

“Really.” Zane pressed the clock, and the time started ticking by. Bailey had exactly five minutes and Zane was watching the clock more than he was Bailey.

With a deep breath, Bailey said, “Since you won’t let me thank you any other way, I have come up with this. If you come in during my shift, I will give you free coffee until the end of the semester.”

“Deal.” Figuring Bailey was done, Zane grabbed his phone with every intention of leaving. However, Bailey quickly shot his hand out to grab Zane’s wrist. Like before, Zane smacked away the touch, retreating both hands and his phone.

“I still have, like, four minutes,” Bailey said, pointing at the phone in Zane’s grasp.

Who knew five minutes could be so long? Sighing, Zane sat his phone down and leaned back into the booth with his arms crossed. He really didn’t get why Bailey kept speaking to him.

“Are you ok?” Bailey asked, causing Zane to give his own incredulous look. “Sorry, I mean, after what happened, you were ok, right? I didn’t get to ask.”

“Obviously.”

“Good, I guess that is…obvious. You didn’t have to help me at the store, but you did and I’m really grateful for that.”

“You realize I left you there, right?” Zane inquired, watching how Bailey’s eyes widened for a moment, like he was finally realizing the truth.

Zane rolled his eyes, though before he could be sassy about it, Bailey said something that sent a shiver down his spine. “You helped me too.”

He couldn’t bring himself to respond because Bailey was right. Zane blocked him from the blast. Zane helped him up. He led Bailey out, had every intention of taking him to safety, bailed, then made a dumb decision. Bailey’s eyes were saying that, more like screaming it, and that made Zane squirm.

Bailey’s lips pulled into a smile at Zane’s reaction. Zane hated seeing that knowing look, so he averted his gaze. The clock showed the time ticking away, though far too slow for Zane’s liking.

“If you don’t mind me asking, did you see anything strange?” Bailey asked.

“Strange?”

“Something that may have seemed like nothing but could be something. Things happened so fast that day and I could have seen wrong, but I swore I saw letters etched into the buildings. I wanted to know if you saw them too.”

Bailey wanted to pat himself on the back when he saw Zane’s eyes seem to sparkle with interest. He did his best not to look at the timer.

Instead, he focused on the blue gaze that had actually locked itself onto him.

It was true, Zane was human with human-like tendencies, like curiosity, even if he told himself he didn’t have it or didn’t care.

“Letters?” Zane asked.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I swore I saw a R carved into the building. It’s probably nothing, but I really feel that it’s more than we think. Call it a gut feeling.”

It did not surprise Bailey to catch Zane’s expression that basically said ‘a gut feeling? Are you stupid?’ Was it sad that Zane’s anti-social nature had become so strong that his facial expressions actually formed coherent sentences?

Bailey actually wondered if sad was the right term, maybe more like fascinating because, somehow, Zane could do it.

Hell, his eyes pulled it off with the way he cocked a brow to show both disbelief and confusion, while the side of his lip pulled back to show a very bemused smirk.

“At least think about it,” Bailey mumbled while twiddling his thumbs beneath the table.

Zane appeared to give into Bailey’s request. Perhaps he remembered something, or perhaps he was actually curious because the man leaned back into his seat as his eyes darkened in thought.

He was looking out the café’ window at the students passing by, not paying close attention to anything by the look of thought on his face.

Then, as if a bucket of cold water was dumped on his head, Zane stiffened.

It wasn’t much more than that. He didn’t furrow his brow, shiver, tap his feet or widen his eyes.

He simply sat frozen, then the stillness disappeared.

“I don’t recall seeing anything like that. You were probably just seeing things.” Zane didn’t even bother to give it any more thought. He grabbed his phone, turned off the timer, and slid it into his pocket. Again, he couldn’t bring himself to look at Bailey when he abruptly stood.

“Huh?” Bailey watched Zane move out of the booth with obviously every intention of leaving. “Wait a second!”

“Don’t need to. Your five minutes are up,” Zane replied, finally looking at Bailey with those blue eyes that had darkened considerably.

Bailey knew, in that moment, Zane had to know something or had seen something.

Bailey saw his reaction, knew his gut was telling him the truth, and Zane possibly had an answer or another clue to the puzzle.

His response, his eyes, the slight tension in his shoulders spoke more than words could.

But Zane was not someone easy to crack. It was going to take more than the promise of free coffee to crack his shell.

Bailey would probably tell someone his entire life story if they offered him a pizza.

Zane turned towards the door to leave. Bailey shuffled after him, falling in his moment of panic.

Zane had a piece of the puzzle that had been bugging him for a week!

He wanted the answer, so Bailey stood up with little thought, or rather, he tried to.

He pressed his hand near the edge of the table.

Said table couldn’t handle the weight, so it tipped forward, then towards the floor, sending both it and Bailey crashing down.

The attention of the café was now on the boy, who slammed his nose into the floor. Some laughed, others asked if he was all right, while Bailey groaned and rolled onto his back. His nose throbbed when he dabbed his fingers against it. Oh, that was gonna be a nasty bruise.

“Bad Luck Bailey, indeed.” Zane snickered, shaking his head as he did.

Bailey pursed his lips, then sent a glare Zane’s way. While Bailey glared at the man who dared laugh at his misfortune, something clicked in his head. His eyes widened, resulting in Zane’s smirk slipping.

Bad Luck Bailey, Zane called him that the other day too but…

“I never told you about that name,” Bailey breathed out, hardly above a whisper. He pushed himself onto his feet to stand before Zane. “How do you know that nickname?”

“I overheard your friends call you that,” Zane claimed.

“I don’t believe you.”

Shrugging, Zane walked out the door. Bailey was too busy watching Zane leave to hear Darcie asking if he was all right.

Honestly, if he had heard her, he wouldn’t have known what kind of response to give.

Sure, he was technically all right, but his mind was currently running at its highest capacity, trying to solve the puzzle and Zane, and he couldn’t describe which was more difficult.

Solving the mystery of R was proving to be impossible.

Even after speaking with Zane, Bailey remained at a loss.

His curiosity had only grown, yet his motivation to discover what R meant diminished day by day.

His hope diminished because he contemplated whether the R meant nothing.

Bailey decided it was best to drop this crazed chase.

Besides, there were more questions Bailey had concerning a certain silver-haired janitor.

Bailey was slightly surprised to see Zane enter the café two days after his offer.

He suspected Zane to avoid him a bit longer, but he was glad to see him.

Bailey had formed a few assumptions after discovering that Zane knew his childhood nickname.

There was the chance that he was telling the truth, that he overheard Bailey’s friends, but it seemed unlikely based on his reaction.

Say that Zane had some sort of mutation that allowed him to read minds.

That meant his level was likely high. Most with any type of mutation that had to do with the mind were high levels.

It wasn’t all that common either; and some had such specific complications that Bailey wasn’t sure there even was a person who was full on telekinetic or telepathic. The mind was a tricky thing.

If that were true; why would Zane work as a custodian?

He could make millions, be famous, set for life if he wanted, so that made Bailey lean towards Zane having a different mutation, or he was truly that damn lazy.

Though he wasn’t lazy enough for free coffee.

Maybe if Bailey threw a muffin in there, the guy would actually talk.

“I didn’t think you’d actually take my offer,” Bailey said when Zane approached the counter, looking as listless as always.

Zane merely asked for his free coffee. Frowning, Bailey retrieved Zane’s order.

Zane snatched the cup and walked off without another word.

Bailey almost chucked a muffin at the back of his stupid head, but Zane would probably pick it up and eat it.

Maybe Bailey should invest in a nerf gun to shoot the bastard when he walks off, though Zane wasn’t worth getting fired over. Whatever, he will try again tomorrow!

Except Zane was even grumpier the next day.

He grumbled out his order, didn’t acknowledge Bailey’s existence, then walked out of the café.

To say it angered Bailey would be an understatement.

He could have at least said hi! However, Bailey couldn’t help but notice the slight bags beneath his blue eyes.

“Why do you want him to say hi?” Amery asked after she found herself talking to Bailey about the Evil Custodian yet again.

“Because it’s a nice thing to do!” Bailey explained, throwing his arms wildly through the air before returning to doing his homework. He typed away on his computer, attempting to get a paper done that was due in an hour when he had a week to do it. Hello procrastination, everyone’s old friend!

Amery giggled from her spot on Bailey’s bed. “Or because you have a crush.”