Mind Over Easy (3 page)

"It's Sheriff Norris." Erica's popular girl grin was gone. She'd gone right into game face mode. "There's a robbery and hostage situation downtown."

Ted felt like he'd just heard Erica speak Greek. "In Treasure?"

She nodded. "We better go."

As Erica turned, Ted grabbed her hand. "But, what about sixth and seventh period?"

"Sheriff Norris'll write you a note."

She tried to leave again, but Ted held her firm. He looked back at the locker and wondered if he should just ask her right then and there. "Wait!"

Erica rolled her eyes. "What is it, Ted?"

For a moment, Ted couldn't help but see the old Erica in his girlfriend. The one who'd be willing to end their relationship in a heartbeat. "I... I was wondering if–"

"Whatever it is, we'll talk about it after. Duty calls."

Erica took Ted's hand again and began leading him in a fast-paced walk toward the parking lot. He looked at Erica's locker.

Then Ted used his powers to move the card under a stack of books inside. "You know, sometimes I kind of hate duty."

Chapter 4

Dhiraj knew he had checked the PayPal balance of Super Ted Finley LLC about 20 minutes ago, but he felt the need to check it again. The numbers were clear: Ted's superhero practice was a million-dollar enterprise. The crowdfunding campaigns came fast and furiously after Ted's heroics at the diner. There were endeavors to create a costume for Ted, a lair for him to plot against villains, and a sort of heroic tour in which he'd go city by city for a one-night-only action/adventure show. Dhiraj corralled every single one, and the end result was seven figures in the account, even after the construction of the lair.

As Dhiraj leaned back in the white, plastic chair, he remembered how he'd dreamed of the day he could manage a million bucks. Soon enough, he'd be able to do his thinking in a high-rent office with glass walls like his father's practice. He figured it would make the study hall room with its boring, taupe paint and its short, green carpet to shame. As the daydream continued, Dhiraj tapped his pencil against his desk so loudly, his neighbor had to catch the pencil in mid-air to stop him. Dhiraj nodded and moved his thought process back to the inside.

What the hell am I going to do with this money?

Ted would have to fulfill a few milestones between now and the end of the summer, and the tour was already shaping up. In three attempts to approve costume design ideas, Dhiraj had struck out with Ted.

"I'm not wearing any of those... things." Ted looked like he was about to pull his hair out.

Dhiraj sat on the edge of Ted's bed. His room was as clean as he'd ever seen it. Mrs. Finley blamed it on the fact that Erica tended to visit multiple times per week for study sessions.

"Ted, you have an obligation." Dhiraj affected his best CEO voice. "These people dropped a hundred grand on this design. You have to at least pose for pictures in it."

Ted launched two green stress balls into his hands. The second they arrived in his palms, he started to squeeze the life out of them.

"You seem calm."

"I'm not a brand, Dhiraj. I'm not a corporation. I'm a person."

Dhiraj was about to chime in when Ted chucked a stress ball at his sternum. Dhiraj caught it before it could do any damage.

"I know." Ted groaned. "Corporations are people, blah blah blah. Between school, training and all this business stuff, I haven't exactly had a lot of time for friends." Ted floated a soda his way and slurped through the straw. "When's the last time we met where we didn't talk about hero business? Heck, when's the last time we saw Natalie outside of school?"

Dhiraj knew the answer to the last question. They saw Natalie at the mall over a month ago, but it was only because they ran into her by chance. Dhiraj knew Ted was right. The social encounters had been scarce.

"I promise if you pick one of these costumes, we can go get a smoothie after."

Ted let out a small sigh. "Just go with the least spandexy one."

Dhiraj had hoped that after basketball season, which Natalie missed half of after recovering from her stab wound, the three of them would once again be thick as thieves. Since the season ended, however, Natalie had been missing in action and took days to respond to most texts.

Natalie wasn't the only woman missing from Dhiraj's life. Dhiraj switched from his email to social media and took a glance at Jennifer Norris' profile. He'd planned on waiting just a few days after the dark souls incident to ask Jennifer out. But when she returned to school after a week off, the typical carefree smiles he'd come to expect from his golden girl had evaporated. When he attempted to start up conversations with her in school, her responses were curt at best. He opted to wait to ask her out until she'd emotionally recovered from the incident. Three months had passed, but the old Jennifer had never returned.

When the study hall proctor came around to check on computer screens, Dhiraj quickly switched to a decoy paper in a writing program. He sighed as the beep from a text caught his attention. The proctor was about to admonish him when he showed her the text.

"Official hero business." Dhiraj puffed out his chest. "Check the five o'clock news for more info."

Less than a minute later, Dhiraj had packed up and spun his blue subcompact car around to pick up Ted and Erica. He laughed at the rows of luxury vehicles that would need to remain in the lot past three o'clock.

"Suckers."

His passengers were waiting under a red metal awning just outside of Hall B. The three of them had run multiple drills to exit school in an orderly fashion, but this would be the first one with real crime on the other end. Erica sat shotgun while Ted took the back.

"Everybody buckle up." Dhiraj clicked his belt into place. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

"Why?" Erica followed his advice. "Do you need to get your shocks fixed?"

Ted did the same. "Are we going off-roading?"

Dhiraj glowered. "I just wanted to say something cool." Dhiraj pulled out of the Lexus showroom-like parking lot and gave the gas pedal a push. "Let's be the superhero team that has fun."

Dhiraj merged onto the highway and got into the fast lane. He wondered if he'd be able to employ any of the skills he'd learned from using a stunt driving Groupon.

"Actually, Ted and I are the superhero team." Erica typed a few words into her phone.

"What does that make me?"

Ted chuckled. "The superhero team's driver?" 

Dhiraj knew he wasn't supposed to pass on the right, but seeing as innocent people were in danger, he did so with gusto. "I don't know what you guys are talking about. I bring you gadgets. I take care of all the back end. I'm like Q and M rolled into one."

Dhiraj caught Erica's puzzled look in his peripheral.

"Why does everything have to connect back to movies for you?"

"Everything I know, I've learned from pop culture."

Ted laughed and squeezed Erica's shoulder. "Same here."

Erica let out a groan. "Why even try to save the world?"

Dhiraj changed lanes and took the curve of an exit a lot faster than he should have. The tires made a skidding sound. The car was about to spin out of control when Ted steadied it with his powers. Dhiraj could feel the tires moving into the right position without his steering command.

When they'd stopped skidding, Ted returned control to the driver. "Careful there, buddy."

"Just warming you up." Dhiraj put on a fake smile. "Nobody should superhero cold."

"Uh huh." Erica pointed toward the sign outside the shopping complex. "Pull in over here."

Dhiraj parked and scampered around the car to open the door for Erica. She stuck out her tongue at him and exited. Ted followed, and the they were about to dash away before Dhiraj held up his hand.

"Guys! Don't forget the gear."

"Oh yeah." Ted rubbed his hands together. "All the secret agent stuff. Did you ever have this as a kid?"

Erica raised her eyebrows. "Sorry, we didn't have plastic yet when I was growing up." 

Dhiraj opened the trunk to reveal some of their crowdfunded goodies, including night vision goggles, bulletproof vests and fiberoptic cameras. When the equipment had arrived, Sheriff Norris said it was better than anything they had in the office. Dhiraj grabbed the cameras and locked the car.

Sheriff Norris and the rest of his squad were camped outside the jewelry store where the situation was taking place. The shopping center consisted of a chain Thai restaurant, an ice cream parlor, the jewelry store and a couple of knick-knack shops Dhiraj had never entered. The jeweler was the smallest store on the strip, and it looked unremarkable from the outside. Dhiraj tried to picture how they'd shoot the movie version of the scene. It wasn't as glorious a location as he would've wanted for their first organized team outing, but it would have to do. Besides, Dhiraj assumed they'd make the store look way bigger and cooler when Hollywood put it on the big screen.

When the three of them walked in, Sheriff Norris and the rest of the department parted like the Red Sea. Ted was in front, with Erica and Dhiraj flanking him. Dhiraj imagined the trio looked pretty awesome; that is, until Ted tripped on a power cord that led into one of the department's vans. He fell forward so quickly that the hero didn't even have time to deploy his powers, landing face-first on the ground. There was a gasp from the onlookers. Dhiraj saw Erica shake her head as the sheriff ran over to help Ted to his feet.

"I'm okay." Ted brushed some dirt from his face. "I'm good."

Sheriff Norris chuckled. "You three sure know how to make an entrance."

"Once we're done learning how to walk–" Erica glared at Ted "–how about you tell us what we've got, sheriff?"

Ted nudged Erica. Dhiraj overheard the whisper.

"Shouldn't I take the lead on this in public?"

Erica put up both her hands and smirked before taking a step back.

Ted took her place. "What've we got, sheriff?"

"It's a robbery gone bad. Six hostages, one of whom has a potentially serious injury. At least three kidnappers. All of them armed."

Ted squinted. "I don't remember the last time there was a robbery–"

"Four years." Sheriff Norris looked past the three of them to the jewelry store. "Discounting the occasional house burglary, it's been four years since anything like this."

Dhiraj presented the cameras. "You want some eyes on the inside?"

The sheriff's eyes twinkled. "And it isn't even my birthday yet."

Dhiraj set up the equipment as the sheriff and his men guided two of the cameras in through an air conditioning vent on the back of the building. They flipped the devices on and Ted used his powers to maneuver them through two storage closets and into the jewelry store. Before long, they could all survey the scene. Dhiraj flipped a switch, and the sound from inside the store played through a speaker.

"Will you stop crying?!" A scrawny kidnapper stood over the body of an injured hostage.

There was a puddle of blood beside her, and Dhiraj wondered if it was from a knife or a glass wound – shards of glass from the jewelry cases were spread throughout the room.

"Stop looking at her!" The scrawny man gestured to his fellow robbers. "Get the cops back on the phone."

Judging by the way he gave orders, the man seemed to be in charge. That didn't seem to stop him from nervously pacing back and forth.

Ted cleared his throat. "What's the play here?" 

Before Erica could say a word, a noise came from the other side of the parking lot. There were voices, one of which echoed louder than the others through a bullhorn. A group of about 50 people marched in unison and began to surround the sheriff's forces.

"Here they are." The sheriff looked over at his squad. "Set up the barricades, boys."

Erica placed her hands on her hips. "Do they have a permit?"

The sheriff nodded. "It just came in before you got here. I was hoping we'd be through already, but they work quickly."

Dhiraj marveled at the growing crowd. He recognized some of them from outside the school parking lot. Most of them were middle-aged or older and carried signs. Dhiraj wondered how any of these folks could maintain a day job while harassing Ted. He looked through the crowd to see if any of their slogans were clever. Most of them said one thing and one thing only.

"Go Home Alien!"

The Go Home Alien movement had grown from a hashtag into something much more annoying.

Dhiraj shrugged. "If only they were protesting robberies."

Nobody laughed at the joke. Erica looked angry enough to punch somebody.

Chapter 5

Erica watched Ted as he reacted to the arrival of the GHA movement. She'd seen him grow in a lot of ways over the last few months, but this was always going to be the toughest part.

How are you supposed to feel like a hero when it seems like everyone is out to get you?

Erica recalled the protestors knocking on the Finleys' door when she was over for dinner. She almost welcomed the confrontation of calling the sheriff to get them off the lawn. Erica was built for conflict, not for small talk. There were only a dozen people in the local GHA group at first, but a few advertisements here and there coupled with constant anti-Ted chatter on a few choice news channels caused the movement to grow. Now there were thousands of people who met throughout the world to talk about getting Ted to go back to his home planet, as if there was such a thing.

Erica leaned in toward Ted. "Are you alright?"

Ted squirmed and gave the crowd a final glance before turning to her. She could already see the sweat starting to bead on his forehead.

"Never been better." Ted's voice cracked. "I'm glad all my fans are here to see it."

Erica put her hand on his back and took a soothing tone. "Hey, it's okay. It's just like the lair. Just you and me."

"And a hundred protestors." Dhiraj looked around as if he were playing a game of I-Spy. "Oh, and the local news just got here."