goodbye to
the girl before the authorities can take care of things from there.
Lily
watches the aftermath from her penthouse, see that monster be taken away. A
feeling of pride fills her soul.
It
felt good to do something worthwhile for a change.
Thirteen
Emma
dumps the handful of mixed berries into the blender. She turns it on. It roars
to life.
She
strains the purple and crimson mush into a bowl. It was going to go on the
cheesecake she was preparing. Emma had seen it made on one of those competitive
cooking shows on television; she was hoping it would turn out at least as good
as it looked on TV.
It
certainly was getting there.
She
dips her finger in the bowl. It tastes sweet. She hears the sound of footsteps
behind her.
“Seth,
if you’re here for lunch just give me a few minutes and I’ll be out of your
way...”
She
turns around, coming face to face with a stranger: Lily. There’s a distinct
moment of awkwardness, of not knowing how to exactly react.
“Hi?”
Emma asks her.
“Hey.”
Lily replies.
“ Sethhhhh! ”
Emma calls out at the top of her lungs.
Through
the blinds of the kitchen window, Emma watches Seth and their uninvited guest
talk out in the backyard. Judging from his body language, he’s clearly not very
happy that she’s here.
“What
are you doing here?” Seth asks her. “How do you even know where I live?”
“You
come to my house; I should be able come to your house.” Lily replies like the
smartass she is. “Nice place by the way.”
“What
do you want?”
“I’ve
been thinking. I’ve been thinking that I want to do what you do.”
“What?”
“I
want you to help me get into this hero stuff.”
“So
you want to be my sidekick?”
She
waves her arms in protest. “No, I never said that.” she tells him. “I want to
do what you do. I want to help people.”
“Well
it seemed before like you only cared about yourself.” he retorts,
“Well,
things change. I don’t know why you do it, but now I know I want to stop some
of the awful shit that’s happening out there too. Just give me a chance.”
Seth
takes a moment. He sighs.
“I
can offer some help. Meet me at the rooftop later tonight and I’ll see what I
can do.”
“Which
rooftop?”
“ The rooftop.”
She
nods in acknowledgment.
“Okay.”
She looks over to the house. “Is that your girlfriend?”
“Sister.”
“Oh.
Tell her I’m sorry I scared her.”
“I
will.” Seth tells her. “Though I doubt you actually did scare her.”
Relieved,
she smiles.
And
like that, she’s gone.
Lily
waits for Seth on that same rooftop they first met almost a week ago. She’s
already been up here for an hour; probably should have set a time she thinks to
herself.
A
flash of light. He’s here. Finally, and all dressed up in full uniform.
“Anyone
tell you you kinda look like a douche in those orange specs of yours?” she asks
him.
“Yeah,
a couple.” Seth replies bluntly. “You got a smartphone?”
“Of
course! Who doesn’t?”
“If
you need to call the cops use this instead.”
Seth
throws her a burner phone. Lily reaches out to catch it; it bounces off her
palms and onto the concrete.
“Great,
now it’s broken!”
“It’s
a Nokia, they never break. Got a whole drawer of them.”
Lily
picks up the phone. Presses the rubber power button at the top. It works fine.
“Jesus,
my parents must have had a phone like this fifteen years ago.”
“Yeah.
There’s no geo-locating, GPS, any of that stuff they can use to track you. I
see you have some appropriate attire, but I got you these too...”
Seth
throws her another object; Lily makes sure to catch it this time. It is a soft
bundle of cloth. She unrolls it: they’re padded gloves.
“Again,
I’ve found out they’re pretty useful. No fingerprints, they’re fighter’s gloves
in case you need to bust some heads...”
“That
happen to you often?”
“No,
street fighting isn’t really my kind of thing. Also you
the girl before the authorities can take care of things from there.
Lily
watches the aftermath from her penthouse, see that monster be taken away. A
feeling of pride fills her soul.
It
felt good to do something worthwhile for a change.
Thirteen
Emma
dumps the handful of mixed berries into the blender. She turns it on. It roars
to life.
She
strains the purple and crimson mush into a bowl. It was going to go on the
cheesecake she was preparing. Emma had seen it made on one of those competitive
cooking shows on television; she was hoping it would turn out at least as good
as it looked on TV.
It
certainly was getting there.
She
dips her finger in the bowl. It tastes sweet. She hears the sound of footsteps
behind her.
“Seth,
if you’re here for lunch just give me a few minutes and I’ll be out of your
way...”
She
turns around, coming face to face with a stranger: Lily. There’s a distinct
moment of awkwardness, of not knowing how to exactly react.
“Hi?”
Emma asks her.
“Hey.”
Lily replies.
“ Sethhhhh! ”
Emma calls out at the top of her lungs.
Through
the blinds of the kitchen window, Emma watches Seth and their uninvited guest
talk out in the backyard. Judging from his body language, he’s clearly not very
happy that she’s here.
“What
are you doing here?” Seth asks her. “How do you even know where I live?”
“You
come to my house; I should be able come to your house.” Lily replies like the
smartass she is. “Nice place by the way.”
“What
do you want?”
“I’ve
been thinking. I’ve been thinking that I want to do what you do.”
“What?”
“I
want you to help me get into this hero stuff.”
“So
you want to be my sidekick?”
She
waves her arms in protest. “No, I never said that.” she tells him. “I want to
do what you do. I want to help people.”
“Well
it seemed before like you only cared about yourself.” he retorts,
“Well,
things change. I don’t know why you do it, but now I know I want to stop some
of the awful shit that’s happening out there too. Just give me a chance.”
Seth
takes a moment. He sighs.
“I
can offer some help. Meet me at the rooftop later tonight and I’ll see what I
can do.”
“Which
rooftop?”
“ The rooftop.”
She
nods in acknowledgment.
“Okay.”
She looks over to the house. “Is that your girlfriend?”
“Sister.”
“Oh.
Tell her I’m sorry I scared her.”
“I
will.” Seth tells her. “Though I doubt you actually did scare her.”
Relieved,
she smiles.
And
like that, she’s gone.
Lily
waits for Seth on that same rooftop they first met almost a week ago. She’s
already been up here for an hour; probably should have set a time she thinks to
herself.
A
flash of light. He’s here. Finally, and all dressed up in full uniform.
“Anyone
tell you you kinda look like a douche in those orange specs of yours?” she asks
him.
“Yeah,
a couple.” Seth replies bluntly. “You got a smartphone?”
“Of
course! Who doesn’t?”
“If
you need to call the cops use this instead.”
Seth
throws her a burner phone. Lily reaches out to catch it; it bounces off her
palms and onto the concrete.
“Great,
now it’s broken!”
“It’s
a Nokia, they never break. Got a whole drawer of them.”
Lily
picks up the phone. Presses the rubber power button at the top. It works fine.
“Jesus,
my parents must have had a phone like this fifteen years ago.”
“Yeah.
There’s no geo-locating, GPS, any of that stuff they can use to track you. I
see you have some appropriate attire, but I got you these too...”
Seth
throws her another object; Lily makes sure to catch it this time. It is a soft
bundle of cloth. She unrolls it: they’re padded gloves.
“Again,
I’ve found out they’re pretty useful. No fingerprints, they’re fighter’s gloves
in case you need to bust some heads...”
“That
happen to you often?”
“No,
street fighting isn’t really my kind of thing. Also you
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