- Hey ya'll, it's Chapter 2! Please enjoy.
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Chapter 2: Lunch Date
The cafeteria was noisy… it was constantly noisy.
There was always that grumbling drone going on in the background that made talking to the person next to you impossible; a guy could barely hear himself think in here. Then there were all the potentially irritating people that could come and intrude upon my thinking time. I mean, with me, it was always thinking time… but still, I hated being bothered in the middle of a great idea.
So that's why I never sat in the cafeteria,—Yeah, too noisy—we usually went to the courtyard just outside; they had smaller tables, and you could avoid the inconveniences of the overwhelming masses. We'd sit out there in the peaceful, relaxing environment in a place where we could discuss superhero stuff without eavesdroppers. Sometimes those were vital meeting points since we wouldn't get a chance to talk about it until after school.
Well, we normally sat outside.
I had already gotten my lunch and had been waiting at our designated spot for a while; it had probably been like, five whole minutes since I sat down and still no sign of Virgil… I couldn't help but feel ditched.
Ah well, I should have expected it… the way those two were carrying on, I'd be surprised if he remembered that I exist, and that he's a superhero.
Then an idea struck me.
I could increase Backpack's computer memory capacity and capabilities exponentially by applying some of the principles gleaned from Odium's nanite research! By implementing the overall efficiency of the tiny robots into Backpack's design, I'd be able to add even more functions without increasing its overall mass… I'd probably even get it to be lighter—Yes! This was going to be totally awesome!—I could get Backpack to do even more stuff, maybe add a few weapons here and there… And then it'd be lighter, allowing Gear to be that much more graceful…
I produced my notepad and began furiously scribbling my ideas down; I've gotten into the habit of carrying one around ever since my powers manifested. I never knew when I'd get one of my brainstorms—or "Brain Monsoons" as Virgil put it—so I always have to be prepared or I'd loose the idea, quickly replaced by another.
It was at these moments that I completely lost contact with what was going on around me…Everything was just at flurry of numbers, formulae, and equations, and maybe a little diagram thrown in for illustration purposes. I wouldn't notice if someone called my name or if the bell rang, or if a nuclear explosion had just occurred and my flesh was now gone—Yep, I'd just be a pile of bones writing down my ideas—I ignored my lunch, growing cold in the metal tray before me. I certainly didn't notice the presence approaching the table and calling my name a couple times. Then a small, dainty hand appeared and snatched my notebook.
That did it.
Confused, I quickly looked up and saw Frieda's smiling face peering down at me, holding the notebook over my head…the notebook with lots of juicy little superhero secrets in it…
"Hey, what the…gimme that!" I reached up, snatching it back possessively.
She giggled. "Well hello to you too. So… what's in the notebook?"
"Hey Frieda…," I closed the note pad and stuffed it into my backpack, "nothing you'd be interested in."
"Sure…whatever…" She sat down and placed her lunch tray on the table, opposite me.
"Uh…don't you usually sit with Daisy and the rest of your clique?"
"Richie, are you saying I'm an unwanted guest?"
I threw up my hands defensively. "No, no, no…'course not. Just wondering what brings you to our neck of the woods..."
"Well, you're right, I do normally sit with Daisy," she took a sip from her juice and sighed, "She said she was going to be sitting with Virgil, so I came here instead."
Great. Wonderful. Just Peachy.
Although again, I should have guessed.
"So, yeah, where is Virgil?" she asked.
"Beats me. As you can see," I made a wide, exaggerated motion around me, "he's not here. Probably off with Daisy somewhere…"
"Ah, speak of the devil. Hey Virgil! Hey Daisy!"
I turned around and saw Virgil and Daisy coming from the direction of the cafeteria, both holding their lunch trays—Exciting. More company.—well, at least they weren't holding hands.
Frieda and I scooted over to make room as they sat down at the circular table. The arrangements allowed Virgil to sit next to me and Daisy, while she had the privilege of being next to him and Frieda.
"Hey Frieda, hey Richie, what's up?"
I looked at him with what I hoped was a serious expression. "What's up?! Where have you been? I've been waiting here for…" I pull down my sleeve to glance at my watch, "ten minutes! Did you know that it takes exactly 8 minutes for this goop the cafeteria serves to coagulate into a cool gelatinous substance? It completely loses appeal after that…" Crossing my arms with a huff, I peer over at Daisy. "Oh, hi Daisy," I said cheerfully, twiddling my fingers at her.
She smiled genuinely, "Hi Richie."
"Relax Rich; I just got my lunch with Daisy. If it makes you feel better, you can have my goop…It hasn't coagulated yet."
"Thanks, you're too kind."
"You didn't have to wait for us…now your food's all cold," Daisy said, the concern in her voice chipping away at my sarcasm.
I pushed the tray away from me and leaned my arms on the table. "Don't worry about it. I just lost my appetite anyways."
They all gave me a strange look—a disbelieving stare even—their burning gazes causing me to sweat. "Wh-what? Hey, I'm not always hungry…"
Virgil threw back his head in laughter.
I narrowed my gaze at him. "And what's so funny about that, V?"
He wiped away moisture from his eye, "Are you sure we're talking about the same Richie Foley? Man, I actually considered getting a guard dog just to watch over my plate!"
Frieda and Daisy chuckled at this. What was he talking about? I did not eat that much… Oh wait, V did warn me about my future weight problem… damn fat gene!
I cracked a suave grin and straightened my glasses. "Hey, growing boys and all that…" I said, patting my stomach.
"Oh, Richie, that reminds me, you have Mrs. Flagg's class, right?"
Frieda's mind must have been as jumpy as mine... my potential obesity reminded her of physics?
"Um, yeah, but, I don't know what that has to do with-"
"Great! Do you think you could help me with those awful formulas? I just don't have the mind to remember them all."
"Sure, I guess, but-" I found myself scratching the back of my head.
"Yay!" she squealed, "How does next Monday sound? You could come over to tutor me for next week's test!"
Did I have much choice?
"Sure thing."
"Oh Richie, you're a lifesaver!" Frieda reached over the table and softly grabbed my hand.
Her hand was small, thin, and warm.
I glanced down at them.
Now, it always made me uncomfortable and nervous whenever a girl touched me like that. It was innocent enough, but it always came off as manufactured with a particular purpose in mind. A purpose I was wholly not interested in pursuing, at least not with Frieda. Her hand seemed to stay there, waiting for me to respond to its presence. It was bordering on the verge of being frightening. Was she provoking me? Distracting me? Was it just me? I presently didn't feel that close to her for it to mean anything.—it seemed totally unnecessary—How long had I been staring? Oh geez, it felt like forever. Did her hand just die there?
"Um, uh, ha ha…" I eventually manage to spit out nervously, my trusty voice still cracking a bit, "Don't mention it." I patted her hand firmly, unsure if that would interpret anything.
"Thanks," she said, removing her hand as quickly as she had placed it.
Now Daisy spoke up, "Oh, Virgil, got any plans this weekend?"
No.
No, no, no!
What was with these girls? They were driving me insane!
We have plans!
At any moment, I was expecting my intelligence to increase so dramatically I would develop telepathic powers. 'Virgil! Remember, we had plans already!' I screamed in my head, praying it'd be loud enough for him to hear.
"Well, Richie and I were planning to go to Dakota Springs tomorrow…"
Yes! V always pulled through in the end!
"…but you guys are welcome to come if you like!"
No!
…This called for drastic measures…
"But, uh…V….remember, we had that other…thing…we needed to do?" I raised my eyebrows, as if they would add to the urgency of what I was saying.
"Hmm? What other thing?"
"You know…stuff…we do…," still nothing, "…at night…," he looked even more confused, "…just in case something might…happen…"
His eyes squinted at me, before shooting open in realization. "Oh, yeah…that…stuff…"
He turned to the two girls and flashed them a toothy grin, "Um, would you excuse us a moment…" He grabbed me by the sleeve and pulled me aside, out of earshot. He looked slightly annoyed with his brows furrowed like that, and hands on his hips…
"I thought we were gonna take a break from that this weekend, Rich?"
"Well, yeah, but, what if something comes up? You never know when one of Ebon's gang or some new bang baby's gonna show up…" 'Or when two crazy girls want to ruin everything…'
"But we're going to Dakota Springs, just to have fun, what's the difference if they come along? Besides, you yourself told me I was working too hard on patrols…You're the one saying I need to relax…that's what I'm trying to do!"
"Yeah, but listen V, you know it's harder when a metahuman starts terrorizing the place and we've got them tagging along…"
"I guess we're just going to have to take that chance. Come on Rich," he places a hand on my shoulder reassuringly, "We never get to do anything with them… It'll be fun, and nothing's gonna happen." He put on his best, most charming smile.
And I sighed.
I couldn't argue with him.
No matter how hard I tried, he'd always win. It was because I always want to trust him and believe what he was saying.
It was easier to just go with the flow like he did and face one day at a time; he didn't see the dangers and possibilities… I guess it was my job to worry.
I always dwell on the possible outcomes of any given situation, a habitual action heightened by my powers. He'd go in headfirst into any crisis without thinking twice, and I'm the one left worrying if he'll be able to get out of it.
Funny how I suggested he get into this business…
"Scout's honor."
It took only one of his pleading, sympathy-inducing looks and I caved.
"Fine…"
He moved in closer to give me a pat on the back. "Great, you won't regret it, Rich," he said with all confidence, as if he was so sure...
I wondered why he wanted me to comply so much. Was it because he honestly wanted me to be a part of it, or did he just want me to shut up and sit down? Did he want to have his cake and eat it too?
I also wondered why I was thinking so negatively. Virgil and I are the closest of friends and I should trust him more. Sure, sometimes he makes mistakes—and displays a disappointing lack of consideration at times—but he doesn't mean to…it's not as if he does it maliciously anyways. The voice of reason (namely, me) always gets through to him in the end, so what was there to worry about? Maybe I just think too much, over-analyzed things too much.
So why not? Maybe it would be fun to just hang out, all of us.
We returned to the table and sat back down. I stared longingly at the rejected food, suddenly realizing how hungry I was.
"You guys sure do that a lot…" Daisy stated bluntly.
"Well," I said, quickly stuffing my mouth with the various unidentifiable matter on my tray, "we just don't want to bore you with the details." I wonder if that was as unintelligible as it sounded to me.
"Yeah, you know, guy stuff… like when you two run off to the bathroom," Virgil said.
Frieda and Daisy looked at each other and laugh. "I doubt it's anything like that…," Frieda said.
I scoffed amidst what tasted like corn bread, "You don't know the half of it…"
I grabbed my juice and took a long draught, washing it all down.
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So what'd you all think? Please Review, all of your comments are always appreciated. And just for the record, this will eventually deal with issues with Richie's questionable sexuality, but I urge you to read it anyway, because it's not exactly slash. It's just what I see from the show and a little nod to the comics. Also, I'd like to thank the wonderfully talented and charming Isabelle, a.k.a Destiny's Creator, for being my Beta Goddess, and for her enlightening wisdom and caring friendship! ^ - ~
