Sudden Superhero

6. I Probably Shouldn't

DURING HOMEROOM, I signed up for the dance preparation committee so I could live up to what I told Mom I was doing. I even convinced Ben to join it with me. He was surprised, but he agreed.

After the bore that was math, I was hyper all throughout gym, and Ben didn't refrain from telling me so. I refused to look at the rope and spent most of the time doing drills with him and a few other kids. With every sit-up, I glanced at Dana. She hadn't waited by the locker room door for the snarky remark of the day. She hadn't looked at me at all. Maybe she'd finally decided to leave me alone.

Things were looking up.

Ben and I found ourselves back in the gym during lunch for the first prep committee meeting. Fei was here, too, sitting next to me. She twirled her hair around her finger, looking down at her lap instead of up, but I knew she was listening intently.

I leaned over and whispered, "How long is this?"

"Until the bell," she murmured.

I straightened in my chair; the guy sitting in front of me was blocking my view. I could hear the head of the committee talking, but no matter what configuration I put myself in, even going so far as to lean into Ben, I couldn't see her. I finally gave up and slouched, fiddling with my sleeves.

The head of the committee was our class president, Kelsey. She explained the decorations and the chaperones and the food and the fundraising, all of which would be finished by next Friday afternoon, a few hours before the dance. I nodded absentmindedly, listening but zoning out at the same time. I had every intention to do my part, but I was more focused on the clock, something I could actually see, than on the words coming out of her mouth.

The bell rang, and the rest of my classes flew by. I was on my knees at my locker at the end of the day, packing for home as people filed out to the buses.

"Do we need our history book to do the homework?" Ben asked, standing next to me with his arm in his locker.

I nodded and grabbed mine, resorting to holding it because it wouldn't fit in my backpack. I moved my locker door a little and saw Dana's face. "Hi Dana," I said blankly.

She immediately froze, lips pressing into a thin line, eyes narrowing just a tiny bit. Then she blew her blonde hair out of her face and slammed her door as she got up and left.

She was still rude, but she hadn't yelled at me for daring to speak to her.

Ben slapped my shoulder when I stood up. "Why did you say hi?" he asked as we walked down the hallway toward the front door. "You don't poke a sleeping bear!"

"Relax." I understood what he meant, but I wanted to see what she would do. "I think she's done with us."

Ben considered that for a moment. "I think she's scared you'll rat her out for making you fall."

At the mention of the fall, I shook my head. "I don't care about that."

I wanted people to forget about it. I wanted Ben to forget about it, but I knew he wouldn't. At least he hadn't brought up my little post-fall episode; I wanted to smooth over that little bump.

Speaking of bumps, that infernal mosquito bite finally healed. Now it was just a tiny red dot on my neck that even I had a hard time seeing.

I realized too late that I wasn't supposed to be walking with Ben. We were already outside, and my bus was right there. He would notice if I went into the awaiting black car instead.

"I'm gonna walk home," I said, inwardly cringing. Sure, I walked home often, but I never announced it out loud like this.

He shrugged and went to his bus. I glanced at Kavanagh's car as I walked right past it, hoping the agent understood what I was doing. I headed toward home, knowing that Ben could be watching me from his seat window. Anyone could be watching, actually, and I shouldn't have gotten into Kavanagh's car right away yesterday.