Page 37 of The Not So Super Hero

W ith the help of mutants and resources brought in to rebuild Ringgold, they shut campus down for a little more than a week.

Students returned to their dorms, if they didn’t take a break, classes and work resumed.

Though their lives hadn’t completely returned to normal.

A small, though some may argue big, difference occurred in their lives concerning how they spent time after work.

Sometimes Zane sat in Cassi’s Café during Bailey’s shift. Zane listened to music, played on his phone, or munched on snacks. Bailey came over to talk during his breaks, sometimes between them, when the café wasn’t busy. Sometimes Bailey would go to Zane’s apartment to watch movies or play games.

The relationship felt normal, like an everyday friendship—excluding the whole kissing thing. At the same time, it all felt very different. There wasn’t a way to describe, or perhaps the right phrasing was neither of them were really ready to describe it.

The time spent together had increased so much that Amery had to discover what was up.

“Are you two fucking or what?” she asked.

Bailey spit out his drink with the power of a water fountain. Amery sat beside him and thus dodged the mess. Bailey slapped his chest to get the remnants out of this throat while Amery snickered like the devil she was.

“W-What the hell?” Bailey coughed.

“You and Zane, are you fucking?”

“No. What? Why the hell do you ask that?” Bailey’s face hissed with heat.

“The two of you have been spending a lot of time together and you go to his place fairly often.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re sleeping together.”

“How boring. What the hell are you doing, then?”

Bailey was going to slap this child, but they were in public. He would wait until they were alone.

“We’re getting along a lot better now, that’s all,” he said.

“Yeah, I bet you are.” Amery winked.

Bailey held his hands up in defeat. “I’m done with you.”

“Ok, ok, I’ll tone it down,” Amery said while wrapping her arm around Bailey’s, feigning innocence. “Are you two dating? He used to be the evil custodian but now you, like, never complain about him.”

Bailey’s blush reached the tip of his ears.

Amery smiled while Bailey squirmed, incapable of responding for a moment.

That was because he didn’t have an answer since, yes, the two had kissed, but that was almost two weeks ago, and not a single thing had happened since then.

Neither brought up the kissing incident, so nothing happened.

Nothing changed. Maybe Zane got lost in the moment.

Maybe he regretted it and Bailey was too scared to ask.

Shrugging, Bailey replied, “We’re not dating.”

“But you want to be?”

Bailey shoved Amery away, his lips twitching into a smile.

Giggling, she said, “I’m kind of glad to be back on campus.”

She rested her head against Bailey’s shoulder. Her gaze swept over the cafeteria. The number of students had dwindled, though the campus hadn’t lost its lively atmosphere.

Bailey nodded. “Yeah, me too. There’s something wrong with us, isn’t there?”

“Totally.”

Bailey and Amery laughed. Then he got up to head for work.

Amery scowled, insisted they discuss his personal life more later, but let Bailey leave.

He made a mental note to avoid bringing up anything about his personal life in order to keep Amery off his back.

Sure, if she were in his position, he would badger her too, but there wasn’t much to say.

Bailey had no clue what the relationship was between him and Zane.

Was the kiss a fluke, or something more? There was the desire to ask, but the fear of knowing the answer should it not be what Bailey hoped kept him from doing so.

“What’s with the long face?” Darcie asked at work.

“What long face?” Bailey responded while tying on his work apron.

“You look a little lost today.”

“Aren’t I like that every day?”

“True,” Darcie laughed, shaking her head before disappearing into the back.

Bailey approached the register to clock in. Just then, the bell rang, signaling a new customer. Putting on his typical customer service smile, Bailey looked up and asked, “What can I get for you today?”

The customers at Cassi’s Café were often regulars. Each time a new face entered, Bailey tried to make a note of it. He had never seen this woman before; her enticing green eyes were ones he couldn’t forget. To be honest, they resembled a snake, and it sent an unpleasant tingle through his limbs.

“Small iced coffee,” the woman answered, presenting cash pinched between her sharp nails.

Bailey was a little hesitant to take it out of fear of being cut. However, the woman’s ruby lips were set into a soft smile that relieved him enough to take the money.

Grabbing a small cup, Bailey requested, “Your name, please?”

“Leona.”

Bailey scribbled her name on the cup as she walked away to wait patiently for her drink.

He attended to the few customers that were behind her, faces he recognized while Darcie made drinks.

After Leona’s drink was prepared, Bailey called for her and smiled when the woman came up to retrieve it and said, “Have a nice day, Bailey.”

Leona walked away, stepping out of the café as quickly as she arrived. Bailey thought nothing of it until Darcie appeared at his side to ask, “You know her?”

Bailey hummed. “No, why?”

“How’d she know your name?” Darcie asked, pointing to Bailey’s chest. He had forgotten to put on his name tag.

“Must have come in before.” Bailey shrugged. Darcie nodded before returning to work.

Much like the days before, Zane arrived after he finished work. Bailey smiled the instant he saw Zane, flushing when Darcie winked at him because of it. He ignored her, pretending not to be totally ecstatic at seeing Zane at the counter. However, Zane didn’t seem all that pleased to see Bailey.

Zane inspected the cafe. His eyes swept through the room, observing every detail.

His shoulders tensed and his jaw set abnormally tight.

There was an air about the cafe that put Zane’s teeth on edge.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

He removed his headphones to hang around his neck. Something felt wrong.

“Are you ok?” Bailey asked.

“Fine,” Zane lied, ordering his usual, then taking his usual booth, too.

Bailey scowled, not at all pleased with Zane pulling his typical bullshit of keeping things to himself.

He made Zane’s order—twice since he kind of slipped on his shoelaces and spilled the first one.

To prove how out of it Zane was, he didn’t even laugh.

Bailey didn’t want him to laugh, but clearly it meant something was up! He normally always at least chuckled.

“You’re acting weird,” Bailey pointed out after giving Zane his order.

“What makes you say that?” Zane took a bite of his blueberry muffin, which Bailey found odd for him to eat. It seemed like a snack for nice people or something.

“I tripped earlier, and you didn’t snicker.”

He did now, though.

Bailey rolled his eyes. “You came in and looked around the shop like you expected there to be a ghost.”

“Maybe there is one.”

Bailey would have argued, but another customer came in. Pointing accusingly at Zane, he said sternly, “We’re not done talking.”

Zane waved him off, uncaring of whether Bailey tried to interrogate him more.

It wasn’t like he was going to tell Bailey the truth.

What would the boy say or how would he feel if he knew?

Zane scowled at the thought. With Rebirth back, Zane never felt safe, so he wasn’t surprised to find himself constantly worried over Bailey’s safety either.

So Zane’s paranoia remained, his eyes never seeming to sit still for very long.

Bailey found it troubling, but Zane played it off like it was nothing.

That wasn’t shocking, but it was incredibly annoying.

Bailey would have lectured Zane about it except the man left before Bailey’s shift ended.

When asked why, Zane responded in a monotone voice, “Because you’re being annoying. ”

Bailey would have jumped over the counter to punch Zane in the face, but his hand slipped on some coffee on said counter.

Those who witnessed the catastrophe laughed, some groaning after Bailey’s chin hit off the edge.

The poor boy yelped, his glasses flew off across the room and he fell behind the counter with a moan.

“Nice one,” Zane commented, retrieving Bailey’s glasses to set on the counter. The boy hadn’t recovered yet, so Zane took that as his chance to leave, laughing a bit to himself as he did.

Zane’s eyes squinted the moment he stepped outside.

He threw his headphones on before acquiring a headache, then walked towards the bus stop.

He hadn’t gotten himself another vehicle yet, though from what Chris said, he would be reimbursed for the damages and could afford another one.

They needed to hurry because Zane hated buses. Too many people, too much noise and...

Zane stopped. His blood ran cold. His gut churned.

Peering over his left shoulder, he took in the surrounding area.

A normal day, mildly chilling. Students walked to class.

People drove through the streets. Construction hummed in the distance.

Nothing strange or out of the ordinary, and yet his mind reeled.

The bus pulled up to the stop. Passengers piled on.

The bus pulled away. Zane remained in place under the shadow of the bus stop.

With slow steps, he moved in the opposite direction of his home.

That lingering sensation of someone being nearby.

Eyes watching, continued to follow him through the streets and alleys that he rarely ever took.