I woke up at two thirty in the afternoon. Having had only six hours of sleep I can proudly say that it took me just five minutes and half-brushing my teeth to realize that I had slept over at Cassie's. The fact that she had a smaller tooth brush helped. The moment of realization was accompanied by a shrug as I finished brushing my teeth and walked down the stairs to see if Cass had made breakfast.

I found my best friend reading the newspaper with two pieces of toast and mug containing a beverage which was half milk and half coffee in front of her. She looked up from the newspaper as I sat and started munching on the toast.

"You know, most people say good morning to those who make them breakfast." She said.

"Screw you." I mumbled, although it had probably come out as a 'skw yoo.' It was too early and I hadn't had my coffee yet; Cass' shenanigans could wait until I was completely awake.

"Well, down with that coffee then if you're so sleepy. C'mon: I used your measuring cups! It's just the way you like it." Cass, however, understood the underlying complexities of my sleepy mind, so my lack of eloquence didn't impede our communication at all.

I glared at her and, with one hand, I brought the mug to my lips and downed the coffee in one go. After lowering the cup, I kept myself I kept myself as busy with my toast as Cass did with her newspaper, and waited for the caffine to kick in.

I was just finishing my second toast when I felt the effects of the beverage. The room started to get brighter and louder as a wave of energy hit me. I closed my eyes and covered my ears until the worst passed.

I had always had this problem with Caffeine, for some reason the stuff was too damn effective on me. My senses became more sensitive – not sharpened, sensitive – and a wave of artificial energy hit me. Of course all it goes as fast as it comes, but depending on how much I took it can be really bothersome. The one good thing about it was that it woke me up like nothing else. Which was the reason I had left some hand-made measuring cups at Cassie's house: more often than not sleeping isn't on the schedule when I come here.

"It's always amusing to see you drink coffee. Do you think that shit happens because of your powers?" Cass asked while looking at me over her newspaper.

I shrugged. "Who knows? Probably, but you have powers too and you can drink coffee like a normal person, so maybe not."

"Maybe we should test it. Have you ever drank alcohol?" She asked with a smile.

"No, and I hope that you haven't either." I answer and, wanting to change topics, I ask. "What's up with the newspaper?"

"Oh this?" She asks, wiggling it a little. "I always read the news; it pays to stay informed."

"Uh huh. Surely it's not because you're looking to see if two new vigilantes happen to appear in the news, right?"

"Well maybe," She admits sheepishly. "But it's all hogged with a Gotham story."

"Why is there a story about Gotham in a Star city newspaper?" I asked, my interest now somewhat piqued.

"There was an attack on Gotham's mayor and our mayor was involved too because he was there for an event or some other official matter. The article isn't very clear on that."

"So a villain attacks the mayor? Must have been a really crazy one if he did that: for one thing that big Mother Goddess surely put her foot down and they would also need to deal with Batman." After a moment I added "Was it the Joker?"

"Nope! Believe it or not it was Bishop Nature." That gave me pause.

"Bishop Nature? The Bishop Nature? Freaky plants and all?"

"I had the same reaction. Here," She said, handing me the newspaper "See it for yourself."

I grabbed it and skimmed through it. Cass was telling the truth, now it made sense as to why a Gotham story made the news here. Sure, our mayor was involved too, but someone from the Mother cult doing something so subversive was unheard of, much less a bishop herself. The cult had faced off against the authorities before, true, but it had never reached this level of violence without previous escalation.

"Incredible. I wonder why the hell did she would do something like that?"

"Page seventy one, third paragraph. She says that it was the will of the Mother."

"What do you think will happen now?" I asked her.

"I dunno. This looks like she means war, but with Bishop Nature in jail and Bishop Tranquility off the map she only has three bishops left. Like it or not, Fear and Beast aren't as powerful as those two and no one knows what the deal is with Sight. So I don't know, shit is going to hit the fan there but it could end in any number of ways." I started thinking about it when something that Cass said struck me.

"Tranquility is off the map?" I asked.

"Yes, no-one has seen him in almost eight months and their mighty Goddess hasn't said anything about it."

"Hmmm." I didn't know what to say. On one hand, Gotham was in for a hell of a ride; on the other, it didn't actually affect me. "Well Batman will deal with it. He always does."

"That's kind of dismissive you know?"

"What do you want me to say? It's bad, yes, but things like that are always happening. I'll worry if it happens here, meanwhile there's nothing I can do."

Cass sighed "One day I'm going to grow you some empathy"

"I have empathy!" I protested

"For people you care about. Everyone else might as well not exist for you."

"I'm not going to discuss my empathy right now. I have things to do and places to be." I said, and it was the truth. If I didn't get going I would be late to my date.

"Wait, the date thing was serious? I thought you were joking." She laughed.

"It wasn't a joke. My sister set it up, I gotta be at the pier in.." I looked at my watch. "Ninety minutes and 56 seconds."

"It doesn't take that long to reach the pier from here, you've got time to spare." She said, dismissing my worries.

"I know, but I want to take a shower at home first."

"Use the one here; you have some clothes from all the times you slept over." She said pointing at the stairs. "Go, I'll prepare you some clothes for when you get out."

It wasn't a bad idea at all, so I nodded and went upstairs to the bathroom. I undressed myself and set to the task of regulating the shower temperature. It wasn't the first time I showered here so I already knew to turn the hot water knob 65"34'1° and the cold water one 32"45'13°. It would take around three minutes for the water to reach it's peak temperature - it wasn't an exact number though since it all depended from a number of factors which I never took the trouble to calculate.

"So, who is the lucky lady?" Cass asked me from outside.

"Lisa Dauber." I stuck my hand under the water, it was still cold. "Did you shower recently?"

"Yes, just before you woke up." Damn, I started to fiddle with the water trying to make it reach an acceptable temperature. "So Lisa huh?"

"Yep, what can you tell me?" Most people didn't know this, but it was amazing what you could overhear and piece together with a perfect memory. As such, Cass had more information about anyone than the whole rumor mill put together.

"Not much, she is one year older than us and shares some classes with your sister. Her parents must have some serious money because I have seen her with two different phones this year, both the latest model at the time, and she always wears brand clothes. She does soccer in some club or the other which I never caught the name of and sprained her ankle two months ago. She does seem to like smart guys, but looks play a part in it too. Physically, she is your type."

I managed to regulate the temperature and entered the shower enjoying as the water stream washed away all the sweat and grime from last night away. "Type? I don't have a type." I said as I grabbed the soap.

"Yes you do."

"How so?" I asked as I finished soaping myself up and went onto the shampoo.

"You like short girls with big asses. You don't mind tall ones as long as they have some ass, however short without ass doesn't interest you. You don't care much about boobs if there isn't much, although more is better with you. I think you like blondes, but not sure about it."

I stopped rinsing myself. "Where did this all come from?"

"Lots of bits and pieces remembered over the years. Also you stare at my ass when you think I'm not paying attention."

I froze on the spot, refusing to make any sound which could be taken for an answer.

"Hahaha. Don't worry dude, you're my best friend: I don't mind if you stare a little. You would be surprised at how many people do."

"I'm not talking about this with you Cass."

"C'mon! It's all in good fun. You are a healthy young man and-"

"No! Cass stop. Really." I told her.

"Bah. What a pussy."

I stepped out of the shower and opened the door just enough to allow Cass to put her arm inside and give me my clothes. She had chosen some jeans and a T-shirt for me, which is basically my to go choice for most situations. I dressed myself again and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Soooo..." Cass began.

"I'll be going." I said. I was going to be really early to my date, but better that than dealing with Cass.

"We still need to talk about our next escapade!" I heard her shout out to me as I descended the stairs and grabbed my jacket.

"We've got phones!" I shouted back as I passed through the door.

67.8791 minutes later saw me sitting on a bench at the pier and wondering if I actually had a type. I came to the conclusion that I do and God forgive me; Cass was right. I would like to say that there were worse things, but I couldn't think of any. At least it was Cass and not Marie.

Thinking about my sister made me remember the fact that she was the one who organized this date. I hadn't even spoken with Lisa, not even to set the place and time for the date. It was my sister who chose the pier, because according to her I needed something to show off since I wasn't much of a talker. I had obviously objected to that, but after she made me practice holding a conversation as if she were Lisa I was forced to concede the point.

I was abruptly taken out of my thoughts by a pair of hands covering my eyes.

"Guess who it is?" Said a vaguely familiar voice, I had actually met her before if she sounded this familiar.

"Lisa?" I guessed.

"Yep." She said taking her hands out of my eyes, allowing me to stand and turn around to look at her.

She stood at the short height of 165.567456 meters, her blond hair reaching just 3.75675 centimeters past her shoulders. Her green eyes stood out against her lightly tanned skin and her round face wasn't exactly symmetrical – no one's was though – as she flashed me a smile. She was wearing black skinny jeans, the kind that came with rips, which showed of her well worked legs and a light blue blouse.

My first thought was that she was pretty.

"I suppose you're James and not some stranger I just randomly surprised." She chuckled.

"I am. Want to get going?" I asked with a smile and uncertain of what else to say. Luckily for me years of bantering with Cass prevented me from just standing there mute.

"Yeah, let's go." She answered still smiling.

With that she entwined her arm with mine and we started walking through the pier, looking for a stand or something else with which to occupy our time. We went through the basic greetings as we walked, some ice-breakers and inane chatter to get past the awkward part. It was very different from talking to Cass or Marie, who, shamefully, were the only girls my age that I interacted with in a constant basis. There was none of the playful banter and one upping game I had with Cass, nor the wit wars most of my conversations Marie became. It was like talking to a pleasant Zack, one which I was a lot less familiar with but also more interested in. I was having fun, all in all.

"You know if Marie hadn't shown me your photo, I would never have guessed you were siblings. You look so different!" She said.

"That's because we aren't." I answered, surprised that she didn't knew. Marie probably didn't talk about her family much. "We are step-siblings."

"Soo your..." She left the sentence incomplete.

"Dad."

"And her Mom?" She asked tilting her head.

"Yes."

"Hmm" She nodded pensively, before changing the topic. "You know I had never tought that Marie's brother would ask me out through her."

That made me almost miss a step.

"She told you that?" I asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because she told me the exact opposite." I answered.

We then had a moment in which we looked at each other before we kept walking. It was a surprise, but such was my sister and we both knew her well enough to know she meant well. Or at least that's what I hoped that little moment was and that Lisa wasn't thinking something different.

"Hey you used to play Basketball right?" She asked me with a small glint in her eyes.

"Yes why?" I asked back. The question had come out of nowhere.

"How about a little competition?" She asked pointing to a ring-tossing stand.

"Alright." I answered with a small and started heading towards the stand, but she planted her hand on my chest stopping me in my tracks.

"Wait a sec. How a bout a little bet to make it more interesting?" She proposed with a smile. I was quite confused, if she asked me about basketball then doesn't she think I'm going to win? Is she testing to see what I ask for or does she have a trick up her sleeve.

"Alright. What do you want if you win?" I asked, knowing full well that as long as it a throwing competition I had almost no chance of losing.

"When I win," She said. "You'll have to buy me ice-cream for a week!" I looked at her with a strange loopsided smirk. "What? I like sweet things. What do you want when you don't win?"

"If I win..." I said as if I were considering it, when in reality I already knew what I would ask for. "I want a kiss."

"Ooooh. Quite straightforward aren't we?" She said with a twist of her hips that wasn't lost on me. Even so, Cass had inured me to such things.

"Yes." I answered looking at her eyes, not letting her get to me.

"Fine" She said after holding up my stare a little longer. "You're going to lose anyway."

So we went to the stand which was luckily free, and explained the situation to the owner - but not before I had the chance to check that the hoops were actually bigger than the cubes in which you hand to land them. The guy smiled pleasantly and agreed to give us each fifteen hoops for our competition. When it was time to pay I encountered another surprise in the form of two hundred bucks in bills inside my jacket, along with a small paper that tried to pass off as a fifty dollar dressing service ticket. I would like to say that I had a small moment of moral indecision in which I hesitated before using the money, but the truth is that I had no problem paying with the mugger's stolen money. Cass didn't and, in my opinion, she was more ethical than me.

Thus the competition started and I found out why Lisa had been so confident: she managed to land eleven out of fifteen rings. It was admittedly surprising and for a moment I considered losing on purpose, but my sister had said to show off and she probably knew better than me. The look on Lisa's face as I proceeded to nonchalantly land all fifteen rings without any visible effort was priceless, and she wasn't the only one because the stand-owner was looking wide eyed at me too.

When I finished, I turned to her with a smirk, which turned out to be a big mistake because she then called foul and demanded a rematch in another game. This is how we went all over the pier during the afternoon with her choosing different games each time and me beating her and each and every one. It was a bad luck that she happened to chose all games that relied in hand-eye coordination and physics more than anything. I did simulate almost losing by a very small margin towards the end because I couldn't take watching her getting more and more competitive each time. We were both having fun, our little wager forgotten.

To her credit she did smart up at the end.

"Feet!" She shouted while we were looking around for another game after I had beaten her at ball-throwing. " If it's with feet I can beat you!"

"Competitive much?" I asked with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up." She said also smiling, before dragging me off to a nearby arcade and it's dancing game.

We paid and then it was up. To my shame I had to admit that she was right: this game was more up her alley than mine; my footwork was a bit lacking. Even then we were quite closely matched, she had more rhythm and coordination, but my reflexes and timing were better. She was a beast at dancing, her whole body moving along with the music dancing a choreography that she invented in the moment to match the music as it came. In comparison I looked like a log: my upper body was almost completely stiff except for when movement was needed to add or subtract momentum from my feet.

In the end I didn't lose because I was bad at it. The reason for my defeat laid in the fact that, although I could see her dancing at my side with my peripheral vision, I still had my eyes glued to the screen watching the next moves. Or at least I did until the temptation overcame me and I risked a glance to see her.

I can say it was quite worth it. Oh yes I missed the next step instantly, but her dancing was a delight to my eyes. I suppose that Cass was right and I did have a type. Luckily the girl next to me ticked almost every box. She wasn't perfect, when you could perceive and measure the world through it's basic mathematical foundation like I did nothing ever was, but she was close enough. I had to admit that it was very superficial of me, but I didn't care.

"Take that!" She said with a smile gracing her lightly sweat face. I was feeling the exercise too though.

"Well, I have to admit you did manage to win against me at least once." I conceded as we exited the arcade.

"You are a beast James. How the hell did you get that good?"

"I'm just talented." I laughed it off. It was technically true.

"Well it's pretty late." It was actually, the sun had already set and the moon could be seen in the sky. "I had a lot of fun today; you're a blast dude."

"I could say the same. How about movies next time?" I asked her.

"You think there's gonna be a next time?" She asked me with her head tilted, but I could tell she was joking.

"Of course." I said turning away. "See you later."

"Wait! Aren't you forgetting something?"

I turned back to her. "What am I-"

My sentence got interrupted by Lisa pulling my head down and kissing me. I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the taste of her lips on mine. I would like to say that she tasted like strawberry under the moonlit piers, but the truth is that I was clumsy kisser and Lisa just tasted like Lisa. Not that Lisa wasn't a great flavor.

She separated herself from me. "You did win our bet after all." She turned away as she walked towards wherever she was heading as she waved me off . "See ya later!"

I stood there enjoying the taste on my lips for a few seconds more before deciding two things. One: I too had to go. Two: My sis may be a bitch, but damn if I didn't appreciate having her right now. My next thought wasn't so cheerful, because I owed her one now.