I shut off the kitchen light and retreat to my bedroom for probably the night and I change into comfy pajamas and find a decent station on Pandora on my laptop to waste time by. I lay down on my queen bed and stare up at my light red ceiling as I think. What if I was to become a superhero one day like my dad? I could fight the bad guys and i'd get to see my image on the front page of the newspapers the next morning after, like I so often see with my dad. I know it's dangerous and all, but what about the thrill of it? I bet it's exciting and something to feel so proud of, fighting off those criminals and putting them behind bars at the end of the day.
A knock at my door interrupts my thoughts and I sit up to face Alfred who walks in with a silver tray and he hands me a small mug of hot chocolate that i accept with a smile. I reach over to my laptop to turn off the music and the song currently playing which I'm not so fond of.
"Going to bed already, are we?" he asks with a friendly smile and I nod my head as I sip at the warm liquid.
"Well I hope you have a good day tomorrow and I'm sorry about leaving so abruptly at dinner. I had to go see if your father needed any help with his work on Stone, hopefully that bloke will be caught soon and back in jail." Alfred states.
"Thanks, and it's alright, I understand. Yeah let's hope so." I reply and he flashes me a smile before he exits and closes my door behind him.
I blow on the brown liquid while I stare down at it and I think as I do so. I wonder if they'll catch Stone or if he'll be appearing on the headlines of the newspaper with a picture of some dead civilian in the coming days. I finish my hot chocolate and set the empty mug on the table beside my bed and I look to my door as my father enters with a small smile.
"Hi dad."
"Hi honey. I'm surprised you're going to bed when it's only 9 o'clock." he says and he sits on the end of my bed facing me.
"Yeah, I just thought I'd get a good nights sleep." I reply and he nods his head and I cross my legs.
"What are you and Ryan going to be studying for tomorrow afternoon at the library?" he questions and I meet his eyes.
"Uh we both have tests in English on this book 'A river runs through it' by Norman Maclean." I answer and he nods his head with an interested look.
"Oh. Didn't you have a math test today, how'd it go?" he to my surprise asks, he half of the time doesn't know I have a test or quiz.
"Yeah I did, and I think it went okay. I won't know what I got on it for a few days though." I tell him.
"I'm sure you did fine on it Sam, you're a smart girl." he compliments me and I smile at it.
"Thanks dad." I reply and he smiles at me.
"You're welcome honey, I'm very proud of you Sam with how you do so great academically and having turned into a beautiful woman who's so nice and talented. I know your mother would be very proud of you too." he comments and I smile at his words.
"Thanks." I simply say and silence follows my thank you.
"Have you had the chance to check out that college I was telling you about the other day? They have a lot of great programs and you could take your generals there." my father brings up.
"No I haven't, but I've been thinking of maybe a different career path." I respond and a confused look comes onto his face and he doesn't say a thing.
"What if I was to become a superhero like you are, dad?" I announce and the sudden look on his face says it all.
"Sam-."
"Dad, just let me explain. I could do it. I'm tough and since I've taken all of those martial arts classes I could-." I interrupt but then he does the same to me, we sure are father and daughter.
"It's not that easy, Samantha. You don't know how much it takes to be in that position. It's more than just saving people from harm and putting the bad guys in prison. It involves a lot of threat and risk. I don't want you getting hurt and taking that big risk." he objects and I sigh, I knew that he wouldn't agree yet I thought there was the smallest chance he might.
"But you do it!" I argue.
"Yes I do, but I've been trained to handle those situations of fighting people and doing what I do, Samantha. It's not a simple task to go catch those criminals. I get hurt in the process and it's nowhere near easy! I know how fun it may sound and the adrenaline rush people talk about, but it's not a good time and the rush doesn't last long." he continues to voice his opinion.
"Oh so it's okay that you do it, but it's not if I was to?" I state and he exhales a frustrated sigh and scratches his chin.
"I don't want to have worry about you being in harms way." he tells me and I shake my head and toy with the tassel on the blanket I sit on.
"Being stricken with that worry would be horrible to live through." he continues.
"I know. I already experience it because my dad is a superhero." I reply sadly and I know he surely understands by the realization on his face.
Nothing is said for a minute until Alfred comes to my door to interrupt my father and I's argument.
"The phone is for you, sir. It's from Lucius and its important." Alfred announces and my father looks back to me with an expectant look as if I would object, but i stay silent and he looks back to the butler.
"We'll continue this conversation another time." he concludes calmly before standing up from my bed and leaving the room, I hate how we so often get interrupted by some phone call he has to take.
I groan and fall back onto my pillow and cover my eyes with my arms. That conversation turned sour quickly, he was happy and complimenting me one minute and angry and judging of me the next.
I passed my dad the next morning as I entered the kitchen for breakfast and he was exiting. We said nothing to each other and I made something quick before going outside to catch a ride with Ryan.
School passed with its classes that dragged on and others that were decent and maybe enjoyable. I walk to the local library a few blocks away from the high school and enter to see the front desk across from me and a mother with her young daughter checking out books. What a seemingly normal town I live in, or so it seems at times. I pass the children's section with the bean bag chairs, pictures books, computers for games and little area for story time on my way over to the assortment of tables with chairs surrounding them. I walk down the short flight of stairs to the lower level to find my blonde boyfriend sat at a table with his back pack set on the floor next to him.
"Hey." I greet him as I sit in the chair beside him and he turns to me with a smile.
"Hi, how were your last two hours?" he asks since we have our middle two hours together and we don't see each other for the rest of the day, well we do see each other at lunch actually.
"They were alright, how about yours?" I reply and I set my bag down and lug out my notebook and copy of 'A river..' then I find a pencil sitting at the bottom of the bag.
"Fine I guess. Do you have all of this review sheet finished for 'A river..'?" he responds and I take that folded up sheet from the book to unravel and look over.
"Hmm, I have all of them except a few. Did you get number thirty six about who said that quote?" I comment and we end up finding the sayer of the quote, after googling it.
We get to finishing the worksheets questions and we then review it twice and quiz the other on some of the harder questions. We both felt pretty confident when we finally finished studying the sheet and it's answers.
"I'm gonna go return these quick, and look for a few books. Okay?" I tell him as I get up with two novels in hand and he just nods his head.
I drop off the two books I recently finished and travel over to a computer to search an author and which books of theirs they have available here. After finding what I needed I take a glance towards the spacious window to my left and my eyes run over the desk where it has a computer and a lamp, but also it has wood panels for privacy. I take a quick look at the person sitting there before they shield their figure by the panel and their eyes are so familiar.
I leave the computer to go find the authors few books and I think about the person I had seen at the desk, and I conclude who it was but there's now way it could've been them. There's a possibility, but I'm sure it's so slim. I find the shelf where the author should be and I look up to see those eyes again looking at me from afar behind this bookshelf and a few more behind it. I look back to my finger that sits on the spine of book with a faint scared feeling and I remove the book I've been looking for. I hesitantly look back up and i expect to see those blue eyes again, but they're no longer there and I'm puzzled.
I walk back to the small table Ryan sits at and I place the book by my stuff. There's no way I could've just seen Stone here at the library, right? I think that's impossible, but he did escape from jail yesterday and as far as I know he's still on the lose and on the polices radar. I wouldn't think he would be in such a public place in broad daylight, but I did notice him to be wearing a ball cap over his blonde hair and nicer looking clothes, very different from his scrappy looking clothes he wore yesterday.
Ryan and I soon leave the library and we drive through town until we arrive at my large house and he parks and we walk inside to find a two pizza boxes to be sitting on the counter, how odd.
"Oh good afternoon, you two. Your father ordered pizza for your three and you came home just in time, it arrived not even five minutes ago. He should be with you soon, but told to me to tell you that you can help yourselves for the time being." Alfred enters the kitchen and informs us teenagers.
"Thanks Alfred." I reply and he nods with a grin before exiting the kitchen.
"Your dad got us pizza? That's new." Ryan states as we grab paper plates that sit by the pizza and I open one box.
"Tell me about it." I respond and I open the top to the other to find one plain cheese with stuffed crust and the other with onions, black olives, pepperoni, chicken, ranch, of course plenty of cheese and stuffed crust as well.
Ryan takes a piece of cheese and I take a large piece from the second box, it's my dad and I's favorite kind of pizza. I wonder if he was just being generous by ordering this kind of if he maybe wants to make up and forget about our fight from last night.
This kind of pizza reminds me of the plenty of memories I have of my dad and I over the years from what we did every other Saturday together until Batman happened. We would first have chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, then veg out in our pj's until we felt like getting on with our day, when we left our laziness behind us we'd drive into town to visit our favorite stores and the arcade. Next we would travel to the local movie theatre to see a new movie that came out, sometimes we would see the same once twice if we liked it that much and then we would go to the local pizza place for this pizza that probably only us get. It's the Wayne special.
Those really were the days. I think we even would do it as a whole family too, with my mom coming along or at least that's what I've been told. I looked forward to those days with such passion. My dad never missed one of those days of ours until the Batman came along, I was so disappointed and confused when he told me that we wouldn't be doing our usual on that Saturday. It grew to more excuses and then I got used to it and never asked if we could have another Saturday like that ever again. Oh how I miss those Saturdays of ours when we would have so many laughs and pig out on that delicious food.