A Blank Page: Static and Gear
After what had seemed like years to Virgil, the bell finally rang, causing him to jump after being so absorbed in thoughts unrelated to physics.
In a trance-like state, he slowly stood up and collected his books and stood alongside Richie, who was also taking his time. Neither wanted to face Frieda.
Unfortunately for them, Frieda's first hour was just down the hall from theirs, and they were silently hoping that Frieda had forgotten the whole ordeal, and would simply pass them by as she made her way to her second hour class.
However, they knew her better than that, and unless some hot football player or anything regarding her journalism club distracted her, she was already heading to McGill's room right now.
The thought of Frieda made him remember how easy it had been freshman year, how she hadn't even suspected Virgil nor Richie had any connection to the bang babies. Virgil had even shown up to the school dance as Static and had tried to impress her, back when he had had a crush on her. But now, everything was spiraling out of control. He knew how nosy Frieda was, and how persistent she was to get to the bottom of any potential news story that came her way. That wasn't to say he didn't value her as a friend, but he had a difficult time trusting her with secrets, especially Dakota's biggest secret of all. There was no way she'd be able to resist telling at least someone, if it gave her a chance to prove herself as a reporter. He guessed that was what he deserved for being friends with a wildly ambitious person.
Zoey had also stood up from her desk and had collected her things. She eyed the boys strangely as she slowly walked over to them, wearing an expression Virgil couldn't quite decipher. He suddenly felt extremely self-conscious, his paranoid mind automatically assuming she was putting two and two together. Logically, he knew that was silly, since she had only been in Dakota for a few months, meaning she barely even knew who Static and Gear were. Frieda was his main concern at the moment.
His train of thought was broken when, as expected, the hurricane herself came bursting through the door. "Virgil!" she barked, her voice causing him to cringe as she entered the room.
Like she had done before, she marched up to the boys, with Daisy and trailing behind her. Virgil noted the distance the she was keeping from her. She didn't want to tangle with Frieda either, which made him especially nervous. Frieda was on a mission, and she was not be interfered with.
"Virgil, you better tell me what's going on."
Virgil glanced anxiously around the room, avoiding Frieda's intense gaze. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed McGill was sitting at his desk, watching the teenagers intently. McGill would definitely know something's up, and Virgil couldn't afford to have him overhear any piece of information that would cause the teachers to delve deeper into their business. As with Frieda, there was no way he'd get her to go away unless he gave her some kind of explanation. But the classroom wasn't the place to do it.
"Let's talk outside," Virgil whispered to her, and quickly ushered the group into the crowded hallway.
Virgil walked next to Frieda, with the rest of them following close behind. There was an uncomfortable tension amongst the group. No one wanted to be the first one to talk, especially since Frieda was around. She was like a stack of dynamite that was about to explode any minute, and no one wanted to be the spark that set her off.
However, Frieda's attention was focused on Virgil and Virgil alone. She studied the boy curiously, determined to find out what he and Richie could have possibly done to make Hotstreak come after them like that. It soon became clear to her that Virgil was not going to be the one to break the unbearable silence; therefore, she took it upon herself to speak up first.
"Did you know about this Virgil?"
Virgil glanced at her, then quickly turned away, her gaze burning deep inside his skull. He nervously tugged at the neckline of his shirt. He knew she wasn't going to drop the subject until he gave her some kind of explanation. However, he just couldn't tell her what was truly going on. His identity, Richie's identity, and everything that he and Richie had built within the past couple years, would be ruined if the knowledge fell into wrong hands. And if those hands were Frieda's you could bet it would spread like a wildfire. So much was at stake; he couldn't afford to slip up.
"Um...sort of...?"
Frieda narrowed her eyes. A typical response from Virgil. She had been through this enough times to know that he was hiding something. Now if that something was the same something he had been hiding all those times before, she didn't know, but that wasn't important. Virgil was impossible to read, and deep down she knew only in her wildest dreams would he willingly tell her what was going on. Otherwise, she would find a way to extract the information from him, a challenge she'd eagerly accept. But that was for another day. The desire to know what he had done was nothing compared to her concern for her friend. He could be so dense sometimes. Hotstreak was a bad guy, evil, who thrived on the pain and torment of others. What was he thinking screwing around with someone like that? He and Richie were lucky to be alive. And who was to say that Hotstreak wouldn't come and try to exact his revenge again?
Even if she didn't get a clear answer from Virgil, she wasn't about to let him get into trouble.
"Virgil, this is crazy! You and Richie could be in some serious danger! Aren't you worried at all?"
Virgil took a moment to process what she had said before he realized that the worst part of the interrogation was over. He relaxed, seeing she was more interested in what Hotstreak would do to them than in what they had actually done to Hotstreak.
Little did Frieda know that he and Richie could handle Hotstreak themselves. They were more than regular, defenseless civilians.
Virgil waved Frieda's worry aside.
"No, not really. Static and Gear got our backs."
At the mention of the two superheroes, Zoey's ears perked up. She had constantly heard about the infamous Static and Gear dynamic duo, saving citizens from the crazed metahumans known as the bang-babies. However, it wasn't until yesterday that she had actually seen them in person, and in action. And had fascinated her. The scene had been so surreal, the two flying around Hotstreak and dodging his fireballs almost effortlessly, as if they had been doing their entire lives.
And now she was hearing that her two friends knew the heroes personally. It was a lot to take in after only being in Dakota for a few short months.
Frieda obviously had a different perspective. She was around Static and Gear and the other meta humans all the time. None of this was new to her, still, she was not convinced that Richie and Virgil actually knew Static and Gear well enough for them to be at their beck and call at a moment's notice.
"And how do you know that? The next time Hotstreak breaks into the school looking for you guys, Static and Gear, the two busiest guys in Dakota, are just gonna swoop in and save you?"
Zoey couldn't contain her curiosity any longer.
"You know Static and Gear?" she interrupted, her eyes wide at thought that maybe the heroes were closer than she would have imagined.
The three girls stared at Virgil and Richie, awaiting an answer. Frieda, still skeptical, was tapping her foot impatiently.
Virgil nervously glanced back at Richie. He may not have said the right thing. In his mind, he might have just opened a whole new door for Frieda to scrutinize and analyze, which would, undoubtedly, lead to her to the conclusion that Virgil and Richie were Static and Gear.
"Uh, yeah...kind of. They've saved us once or twice," Virgil said, trying to brush the comment aside like it was no big deal, hoping that it would be overlooked.
Unfortunately for Virgil, Zoey's interest in the superheroes had heightened tremendously. How amazing it would have been to have been rescued by them. Frieda herself, in fact, had been rescued by them yesterday, and just in the nick of time too.
Zoey opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it when she heard Frieda stamp her foot in frustration.
"Virgil, I worry about you." She sighed in defeat. "Just...be careful."
At the sound of the warning bell, Frieda turned and started walking to her second period class. Zoey turned and nodded at the boys, then reluctantly followed her to Business Essentials, her mind racing.
She supposed she could talk to Virgil and Richie later, when Frieda wasn't around.