Chapter 14/Margaret and Alex Newton

The next day my face hurt even worse. The swelling had gone down some but it was tenderer and even the slightest touch made me yelp with pain. I could only splash some water on it when I washed my face. It stung terribly but I wasn't about to let that stop me from going to school. Dad had a day off of work and was going to be at the house all day.

I hurried to school and managed to make it through the day without bumping into Stronghold's group or Ana Lucia. Something unusual did happen during the second to last period. A man from the Bureau for Superhero Assistance entered the Mad Science Lab.

"Is there a Stanley Silbernagle here?" He asked in a loud voice.

My face turned deep red as Mr. Medulla lifted a hand and pointed right at me.

"There he is. Is there something you want with him?"

"I just need to take him over to the hospital. There's an emergency."

I stood quickly. My embarrassment at everyone knowing my real name fading and being replaced with fear for Sarah. I grabbed my bag and pushed past the snickering students to follow the dude from the Bureau outside of the classroom. I had long legs but the guy was walking so fast I had to stretch my legs to keep up with him.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Is there something wrong with Sarah?"

"You're sister is fine." The man said, taking a sharp corner.

"Then why are you taking me to the hospital?"

"Because Margaret Newton just died."

I slowed my steps but the guy kept walking so I stretched until I was next to him. "Who?"

"Margaret Newton. She was in ICU. She is a retired superhero."

"What does this have to do with me?"

We were outside now and he led me to a very nice black BMW. He opened the door on the passenger's side.

"Get in." He said.

I stood still. "Why do I need to go to the hospital for someone I don't even know?"

"Her son Alex told us to get you. We assumed you two were friends. Now get in."

I was too stunned to disobey. I sat down hard. Alex's mom died? And he wanted me to come see him? I couldn't figure it out so I stayed quiet and waited for us to get to the hospital. The BMW was a specially made kind that could fly like the school buses. It would have been really cool but I was too preoccupied trying to figure out why Alex had sent for me.

When we arrived at the hospital I was surprised when the Bureau dude led me right to Sarah's room. Outside in a waiting area directly across from the room, were Alex and Ana Lucia. Ana Lucia was crying and Alex was staring at the floor. He looked worse than usual. His face was paler than normal (if that was possible, he was really pale to begin with) and he was fiddling with his lip ring in an anxious manner. Ana Lucia looked up and rushed towards me as I came into sight of them.

She reached to grab my arm but I pulled away slightly. She dropped her hand but didn't back away.

"Lash, I see you got Alex message. Please talk to him."

I looked over her shoulder to the gloomy boy. He lifted his head and looked at me. Seeing my frown he jerked his eyes back down. This concerned me a bit. Alex wasn't one to seem jumpy and shy. Then I remembered that he had just lost his mother. I felt my throat constrict as I thought of my own mom. She had died four years ago but thinking about her made my chest ache.

I knew I had better get this over with so I pushed past Ana Lucia and approached Alex. Grabbing his arm I pulled him away from the others.

"What were you thinking, sending for me? Did you know that because of you the whole school knows my real name?"

For once in his life Alex looked hurt. He did not seem to be trying to hide his emotions. "I-I-I thought you might help me get through this. Since your mother died too."

My face paled. I shook him roughly. "How do you know about my mother?"

Alex's dark eyes looked frightened. "Your sister told me."

I dropped Alex's arm and stormed into Sarah's room which was right across from us. She looked surprised to see me.

"Stanley?" She said softly, struggling to sit up. "What are you doing here so soon?"

I sat beside her. "How do you know Alex?"

"His mother was my roommate. When he came to visit her he talked to me. I like him. He's funny."

I raised my eyebrows in shock. "Funny? Alex funny?"

"Yeah. He tells me stories and gave me this giraffe." She held up a stuffed giraffe. "He said it was his brothers. I called him Stanley." She looked up at me which wide innocent eyes.

"Did you tell him my real name?"

She nodded.

I groaned and placed my head in my hands. Great. Now this Goth kid knew all about me. That was just what I needed.

"Are you okay, Stanley?"

"I don't want you talking with Alex ever again."

She looked surprised. "Why?"

"Just don't!"

"Stanley, what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing!"

I stood quickly. "Why does everyone thing there's something wrong with me? Why does everyone have to investigate my life? Why can't everyone just leave me alone?" I was shouting and flinging my arms wildly.

Sarah looked a bit alarmed. "Because we care about you, Stanley."

"Yeah, well, I wish they'd just mind their own business. I'll see you later."

I left. When I came back to Alex I glared down at him angrily. "Look," I growled. "Just because my mom died doesn't mean I have to care a whit about yours. So she died, so what? People die every day! Do you have to get so upset about it? I'm not some sort of counselor so leave me alone!"

Alex took two or three steps back, his eyes filling with tears. I just stomped away.

I had just gotten outside when I felt a hand on my arm turning me around. Before I could see who it was a palm shot out and slapped me on the left side of my face. I yelped in pain and tears gathered in my eyes. I looked down and saw Ana Lucia's face scowling up at me.

"What was that for?" I cried.

"For what you said to Alex. How could you be so cruel and heartless? The kid just lost his mother for heaven's sake! Couldn't you have been a bit kinder to him?" She started rambling on in Spanish and although I couldn't understand her, I knew she was very angry.

"Why should I care about what happens to Alex?" I asked, turning around to leave.

She ran in front of me and held out a hand. It hit my chest and stopped me. "I'll tell you why. You think we're being trained to be heroes just so we can think about ourselves? That's not what heroes do, Lash. They help people. That's what makes them different than the villains."

I started a bit. Where had I heard those words before? I shook my head to clear it and walked around the girl.

"Yeah well, whatever." I muttered.

As I walked down into the parking lot, I could hear Ana Lucia's angry voice hit my back like a machete.

"You know what, Lash? I think you'd make a better villain than a hero."

I did not retaliate. I couldn't see how I could have ever thought her attractive. I tried to keep her voice from hitting any nerve but I had to admit that it hurt. I didn't want to be a villain, not exactly. I just wanted to finish high school. If that was Sky High then so be it. I wasn't sure I was ready to go out and save the world. I wasn't sure I wanted to.

I realized that I had left the Bureau dude in the hospital. Well, I wasn't about to go back there. I started walking home. I drew inward and did not say anything to anybody, or even look up. My face had stopped throbbing and I forgot about it. I stared at the ground and when I crossed the street I did not wait for the crossing light to turn green and got hit by a car.

The car hadn't been going very fast so I just fell against the hood and slid to the ground. I wasn't hurt. I could still hear the horn in my head. As I sat up a familiar and unwanted voice broke through the roaring in my ear.

"Lash! Lash, are you okay?"

I felt a small hand tugging mine and looked up into the bright blue eyes of Jacob. I groaned and flopped down on the asphalt.

"Ahhhhh, just let me die." I said.

Jacob giggled. "You're not going to die. You're not even hurt. Here, let me help you up."

He struggled a bit before I relented and got up. He brushed off my clothes, ignoring my protests, then pointed to the car that had just hit me. "My foster parents," he said.

A tall blonde women and her heavy-set husband clambered out of the car and rushed to me.

"Are you okay?" The women asked. "What do you think you were doing, crazy young man? You could have been seriously injured."

"He's fine Karen." Jacob said, smiling up at her.

She blinked down at him. "Yes, of course." She turned back to me. "Do you need a ride somewhere? Perhaps the hospital?"

"No!" I said a bit too quickly. She gave me a queer look. "I mean no thank you. I can just walk home."

"But that's what you were doing before and look what happened." Jacob said. "You'd better let us take you."

"I don't want—"

"Oh no, it's no trouble at all!" Jacob interrupted me. I glared down at him but he just looked at me innocently.

I growled my consent and got into the car. I had to pull my long legs almost up to my chest to fit in the small thing. Jacob sat beside me and grinned. I ignored him.

"Hey!" He said suddenly. "What happened to your face?"

"You know what happened to it." I said irritably as the car started again. I gave the man the directions to my house and tried to relax.

"No, I mean 'what happened to it since then?'"

"Nothing."

"It's not swollen anymore."

"What?" I lifted a hand to my face and touched the left side of my face.

"It looks normal." Jacob said.

It was true. My face was as smooth as it had ever been. It didn't even hurt. My eye was perfect and when I peeked into the rearview mirror I saw I had my handsome face back. What had happened?

"Did you do something?" I asked Jacob, suspiciously.

He held up his hands in defense. "I didn't do anything. I can only read minds, not heal wounds."

Huh. That was interesting. The last thing I remembered that concerned my face was Ana Lucia slapping it. Wait a second . . . Ana Lucia. I didn't know what her power was. She had never told me. Could it be . . .? Nah. It couldn't be. Besides, why would she want to do that for me after what I had said to Alex? I knew that if I wanted to know the answer I would have to talk to her. And that was something that was not on the top of my to-do list.