Mind Over Easy (5 page)

"We trained, we saw, we conquered." He put his hand around her midsection. "Don't look so glum."

Erica looked back at Ted. Her beautiful smile almost hid the feelings underneath. Almost.

"Sorry. You're right, but it looks like we've got some other fish to fry."

Ted allowed himself to look back at the mob. He couldn't believe that so many people would come out just to yell at him.

Didn't they see me save people's lives?

As Sheriff Norris walked over, Ted could tell the intensity of the situation hadn't left him. He wondered how much longer the hostage negotiation would have gone on without his powers.

"Thank you, guys," the sheriff said. "We're really lucky you could get over here. Once again, the city is in your debt."

"How much debt?" Dhiraj appeared on the opposite side of Ted. He gave the hero a similar pat.

"He's kidding, Sheriff." Ted wrinkled his forehead at Dhiraj.

"I am," he said. "Just write us the excuse note for school and we'll be all settled up."

Sheriff Norris smiled as he chewed a piece of gum.

"You've got it." The sheriff looked at the growing crowd behind the trio. "Need any help navigating out of here?"

Ted took a deep breath. The initial several dozen GHA protestors had grown into more than 100. The looks on their faces contained anger, and their chants and grumbles mixed to form an unintelligible wave of hatred. Every single protester had their ire focused on Ted.

Erica made an effort to talk with her eyes, trying to convey that they should consider the assistance. He shook his head.

"Thanks, Sheriff." Ted extended his hand to Sheriff Norris. "I think we'll be fine."

The sheriff shook all their hands before he walked back over to supervise his staff. After Dhiraj packed up the gear, they considered the path to his vehicle.

"The bastards." Dhiraj pointed straight ahead. "They set up right between us and my car." 

The GHA movement began within 24 hours of Ted's emergence as a hero, but it didn't really pick up steam until the deaths of Jason and Phil Torello. The witnesses in Jennifer's theater class and on Ted's team gave so much evidence against the twins that a self-defense claim was unquestioned. After all, it took Sheriff Norris a week to get out of the hospital after he took a beating from Phil Torello. But that didn't stop the Torellos' parents from being all over the news for several weeks in a row. They filed a civil lawsuit against Ted, and while the case was quickly dropped, the damage had been done. The GHA grew stronger than ever with chapters building in cities throughout the U.S.

Erica took Ted's hand, which caused him to jump.

"Let's just get the escort. Dhiraj can come back and get his car later."

Ted squeezed Erica's hand and let it go. He'd just stopped a robbery. It didn't make sense that they should have to run away afterward. Especially from a bunch of people who called him a murderer and a freak.

"I'm not just going to let them win." Ted tried to build the courage inside himself. "I'm in the right, here. It's only fair we should be able to leave without being hassled."

Ted took a step toward the crowd. Even that tiny movement caused the crowd to get louder. Part of him wanted to take Erica's advice and run away. The nervousness grew in his stomach like a balloon. Ted inhaled deeply as his feet moved even closer to the mob.

"Life isn't always fair, Ted." Erica hesitated for a moment before joining Ted's side.

Dhiraj struggled with the equipment behind them. "Sure, take your stand. Life would be a lot more fair if I had a hand truck. Or a wheelbarrow."

The three of them reached the edge of the crowd. Ted's pulse quickened and the crowd's chanting transitioned into more of a roar. Most of the GHAers were middle-aged. Some wore special shirts and brandished homemade posters with anti-Ted slogans. Ted noticed a little girl sitting on her father's shoulders. He caught her eye, and the girl's face scrunched up in anger.

"Excuse me." Ted waded into the mob, which parted enough to fit someone half of Ted's size.

He considered using his powers to spread them further, but he resisted the urge. When Ted paused for a moment, Erica pressed her hand against his back.

"You're the one who got us into this." Erica's voice was barely audible over the buzz of the crowd. "Just keep moving."

Ted complied and doubled his pace. As he held Dhiraj's car in sight, the mob started to press in around him. He smelled breath and sweat and looked around for a possible opening. There was none.

This was a bad idea.

Ted felt his throat close up.

"Now!" The shout came from far off to his left.

By the time he looked toward the noise, a projectile had already struck Ted in the head from the other direction. The balloon stunned Ted momentarily as it unloaded its contents of green paint and water onto him, Erica and several nearby GHAers. In addition to the painful ringing on the side of his head, Ted got the worst of the splatter. Half of his face and most of his clothing was dripping with green paint.

As if it were second nature, Ted used his powers to push the mob backward, creating a circle of space around the three of them. The GHAers who felt the unseen force pushing into them began to scream, while those outside Ted's range jeered at the hero with all their might.

"Ted, don't." Erica did her best to settle Ted, but his head was throbbing. The fear was gone. It had been replaced by focus and anger.  

Another balloon flew through the air toward them. Ted crushed it from afar before it could get half way to him. A half-dozen people were drenched with the paint and flaps of balloon. Ted zeroed in on the source of the projectiles and was about to float the thrower up into the air when a voice burst through the shopping center on a bullhorn.

"This is the Department of Homeland Security." Agent Vott's voice rang loud and clear through the shopping center. "You are in violation of your permit and all of you are subject to arrest. Disburse immediately… or else."

If the mob had been in a city, the participants might not have listened, but the suburbanites quickly walked in the direction of their cars and vans. Ted recognized Agents Vott and Harding in the front seat of the black SUV. Vott stowed his bullhorn and motioned for the three of them to approach. Ted looked back at the two green paint stains in the middle of the lot. His pulse continued to race.

"Get in." Black sunglasses covered up Vott's eyes. "Stay on the towels."

Ted glanced at Erica for approval. When she nodded, he wiped his hand on the clean side of his shirt and opened the door. As soon as Dhiraj secured the gear in the back, the SUV pulled around the dissipating crowd and out of the lot. Ted watched as Erica attempted to assert her popular airhead persona.

"I'm like, literally overjoyed you came to get us." Erica twirled a strand of hair. "Green paint is so tacky."

Agent Harding looked at the three of them through matching shades. "Save it, LaPlante." He removed the glasses. "We know you're the brains of this operation. You can stop playing dumb."

Erica let out a gasp of air. "Good. That made me feel like taking a hammer to my skull."

Agent Harding smiled before his partner hit him with a sharp slap in the shoulder. The grin faded. He threw them a couple more DHS-embroidered towels.

"If she's the brains..." Dhiraj leaned forward in his seat. "What does that make me?"

Harding looked at his partner and then back at Dhiraj.

"It makes you the capital." Vott dismissed the question with his hand and looked back at Ted. "You did good work at the jewelry store. The three of you should be proud of yourselves."

The SUV had gotten far enough away from the lot to resume normal suburban driving speeds.

"Thanks." Ted wiped the side of his face with the towel. "But it sounds like you're trying to butter us up."

Vott and Harding exchanged another glance.

"Ted, we've been monitoring you for the last few months. Originally, we were sent to make sure that you weren't a threat to homeland security."

"And what was your assessment?" Erica crossed her legs and glared at the agents.

"We determined that you could do more good than harm." Vott ignored Erica's body language. "We can make this GHA problem go away pretty quickly for you."

Dhiraj cleared his throat. "All of a sudden, this is sounding a lot like a negotiation." Dhiraj turned on one of the cameras. "Don't mind me. Just recording this to make sure you don't kill us if we refuse."

"This isn't a movie." Harding's face tightened. "It's business. Ted, we want your help in the fight against terrorism."

Ted scratched his head. "I'm 17 years old, guys. I still haven't finished high school."

"We've had operatives younger than you, but none of them had the promise that you have," Vott said. "You could easily blow up a cruise missile before it kills innocent people, float a suicide bomber up into the air or disarm an entire militia before they can fire a single shot."

"Plus, we'd get a bonus for recruiting you." Harding grinned. "And I've got this eye on a great condo in the city."

Vott slapped Harding again.

"At least you're being honest." Erica focused her attention on Vott. "Ted can't really make that kind of commitment. He needs to be ready to save the world."

Erica looked at Ted to indicate that he was supposed to agree with her. He'd never thought that he could save people worldwide. Three months ago, he wasn't sure he'd be able to save himself in that diner. The idea of making people's lives better throughout the world intrigued him.

When a few seconds of silence went by, Erica pinched the skin on his thigh. The pain brought him back to the moment at hand.

"Erica's right, guys." He rubbed at the red skin on his leg. "If I'd been off fighting terrorists when Nigel and his gang attacked the school, things could've been much worse."

Vott pulled onto a side street and put the car in park. "You're right." He turned to face Ted. "But you stopped Nigel, and if another challenge comes, you can face that, too. But if you want protection from the GHA and you want to be a true hero, you should consider our offer."

Erica opened her door. "Thanks for the towels. We can walk from here."

Before Ted could form a cohesive thought, Erica was already out of the vehicle. Dhiraj followed suit.

Vott gave Ted a questioning gaze. "What do you say, Ted?"

Ted felt the leather seat through the towels with his fingers. He wondered if he'd get a car like this if he joined the department. Ted took a deep breath. "Let me think on it." He glanced at Agent Harding. "Good luck with the condo."

When Ted stepped out onto the curb, Vott restarted the engine.

"We'll be in touch." Vott rolled the window up and drove away.

Ted felt his stomach churn and wondered if he should have let them drive away so easily.

"You should've said no." Dhiraj said. "Haven't you seen the X-Files? Trust no one." He pushed a camera into Ted's chest. "Now help me with this."

Ted floated all the camera equipment into the air.

Dhiraj stomped his foot. "Couldn't you have just done that the whole time?"

Ted ignored him and tried to read Erica's mood. Her face appeared emotionless, but he knew that couldn't be the case.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Just thinking about the pre-social media days. Secret identities made things a lot easier."

Erica started to walk toward her house. Dhiraj and Ted followed.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be a hero."

Erica looked out toward the horizon. "Do you want to help a few people here and there or keep the entire world safe?" 

Ted hadn't asked for either. But he supposed he'd have to choose one way or the other. 

Chapter 8

Natalie sat on the edge of her bed and dribbled a basketball between her legs. Her parents, who had always been supportive of her athletic dreams, switched out her longer carpet several years earlier for the short, hard kind to facilitate her bouncing. The walls were covered with posters of athletes except for one poster-sized space that used to sport a homemade poster of her favorite Olympian.

In middle school, Natalie used the bedroom dribbling to ease the stress from daily taunts she received about being too tall and awkward. She hadn't needed the stress relief tactic through most of high school, though she'd found herself resorting to it more and more the last couple of months. Her phone buzzed from the corner of the room for the third time in the last half hour. Once again, she continued to pass the ball from one hand to the ground to the other hand and back again.

Natalie had missed the rest of fall field hockey and half of the winter basketball season while she recovered from her stab wound. The aches and pains hadn't been the most difficult part for her; playing the game she loved took her mind off life, off Ted and Erica and everything she'd experienced with Deputy Daly, Nigel and the war between the dark and light souls. Forcing herself to recover meant being consumed by her mind every single day.

The first time she stepped onto the court for Treasure High, her coaches wondered if she'd be the same player who'd carried the team to a state championship the previous season. They had no need to worry. Natalie scored a school record of 45 points that game and dominated from start to finish. The team repeated as state champion and Natalie had more college recruitment letters than she knew what to do with.

As the season drew to a close, Ted approached her for what seemed like the first time in months. They'd spoken in passing in the hallways, but aside from cheering her on in the stands, Natalie's ex-boyfriend was more or less absent from her life. That changed when he showed up at the end of one of the team's final practices.

"You always have to run suicides like that?" Ted's grin was wider than Natalie had thought possible several months earlier. "Sounds exhausting."

"Not all of us have super powers." Natalie mopped her sweat on a hand towel. "Unlike you, we have to work to get fast."