Hey, before this chapter begins I need to clarify that I made a major mistake regarding the exams Emmet and his class will be taking later in the story. I stupidly wrote in that they'd happen on November the 1st of their school year, when my own outline for this story explicitly states it takes place much later. I edited the chapter a couple weeks ago after it came out, so if there's any confusion about the exam, that's why. I just thought I'd say it so that there's no seemingly glaring continuity issues. Anyways, onto this chapter.
Chapter Fourteen
Halloween
The days leading up to Ri's Halloween party didn't go by like most of the other days this school year. The time around Halloween was usually pretty relaxing for me, and this year proved no different, which was nice compared to the last couple of months. After I got my costume upgraded with Amy we became a bit more friendly. By that, I just mean it didn't seem like she was actively trying to get me beat up anymore. I hadn't seen Jason for a while and by the looks of it, neither had she, so that was nice I guess.
A couple of days before the Halloween party, Ri added me to a group chat with everyone else in class so we could discuss our plans for Halloween. She quickly found out that none of us had Halloween costumes, which she informed us was 'sacrilegious'. Personally, I hadn't worn a Halloween costume since I was maybe ten, so the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. But, she proposed to us all that we wear our hero costumes to her house for Halloween as an easy fix. I and everyone else agreed. I specifically agreed because I thought it would allow me to break the newly redesigned costume in and give feedback on.
Over the past couple of weeks, my habit of contemplating the use of the quirk vial became less prevalent. Day by day I thought about it less, and eventually, I stopped even grabbing it. Of course, I indulged in the daydreams about what I would do with a quirk if I had received one, but sooner or later it just… Stopped bothering me.
That's not to say that everything has been completely fine. I knew Voss was still planning something. But… I guess that I decided I wouldn't let it get in the way of what was supposed to be a normal school year. I wasn't exactly sure what ignoring the situation was going to do, but I wasn't exactly sure what else I could do. So, I just pretended everything was normal. And it worked. I fell into my normal Halloween mindset. Cool-weather, nice decorations, horror movies. All of my normal comforts for this time of year.
So that was that. I was just ignoring everything bad and living in the moment. The jury's still out on whether that's a healthy coping mechanism or not, but I was feeling okay. More okay than I've felt in a bit.
So, on Saturday, October the 31st, I suited up in my hero/Halloween costume and got a ride to Ri's house with her and her dad.
"So… That's your hero costume?" Ri's dad asked as I got in the car. I smiled awkwardly and nodded as I tried to find a way to fit my bo staff in the back seat with me. "And what's your quirk again?"
"Dad!" Ri hissed at him. He sighed as he got into the driver's seat.
"Sorry." Her dad said. The car was silent for a bit as I awkwardly got my staff to fit in the back seat, which just meant I sacrificed a comfortable seating position for it. My face was red hot, it felt like they were both staring at me as I fiddled with it. When I finally got the door shut, Ri's dad started driving us to their house. "So all your classmates have quirks, right?"
"Dad, stop-" Ri began, but I cut her off.
"Yeah, they do." I answered. "But they don't have one of these, do they?"
I laughed at my joke in an attempt to make things a bit less awkward, but I just caused an even more awkward silence. I couldn't see it, but I imagined my face was beet red. The rest of the ride was eerily silent.
Ri's house was so big that looking at it made me nervous. It was three stories tall and looked like it could house two or three separate families.
As Ri and her dad talked for a bit in the car about ground rules in the house, I got out of the back seat and unwedged my bo staff from inside the car, which took longer than I'm willing to admit. As soon as I got it out, I gave Ri's dad the go-ahead to leave.
"You've got a really big house." I blurted out without thinking. If I could have kicked myself in the face just then, I would have. Ri laughed awkwardly and brushed some hair from her face.
"Yeah…." She said quietly. "My dad works for a hero agency that makes support items."
That checks out. The bigger hero agencies are just that, big. They probably pay the higher-ups comparable to what they pay even the heroes. Of course, I didn't know what Ri's dad was paid, but judging by the size of the house it was probably in that ballpark.
Together, we walked into the house and hung out while we waited for everyone. There was a big TV in the living room surrounded by shelves and shelves of movies ranging from old VHS tapes to modern discs. Upon closer inspection, I realized most of them were martial arts movies, things with Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee. I scanned over the collection while Ri was changing into her costume. Nearly covering the whole wall were action movies. Some of them were famous, but most were ones I had never even heard of. I heard Ri coming down the stairs and decided to ask about it.
"Have you seen-" I began to ask as I pulled one of the movies from the shelf.
"Yep." She cut me off. "Seen every one of them. I remember every line, every scene, every single one of them by heart."
"How many times have you watched them all?" I asked as I slipped the movie back. I turned around and saw Ri in her hero costume standing very close to me.
"Most of them, only once." She told me. I leaned against the shelf to make some space between us.
I nearly asked how she could memorize these movies by heart, but I remembered she had a photographic memory as part of her quirk.
"You're really close to me." I blurted out again on instinct. I gripped my bo staff tightly in my hand as I felt her breath on me.
"I know." She said. "I was doing some thinking and I wanted to ask you something."
I nodded nervously as I started to put some pieces together in my head.
"Do you wanna be-" Ri was cut off by the front door opening.
"Do I wanna be what?" I asked quickly. Ri smiled and giggled as she stepped backward. "What were you gonna ask?"
"Stick around and I'll ask you later." Ri said as a few of our classmates arrived, the first of which was Jordan, who was dressed in her hero costume, which was a red armored bodysuit with a yellow chest piece and yellow accents, which I guess was to go with her fire quirk. She and Ri hugged and started introducing more of our classmates, who were all in their costumes too.
I sighed and leaned against the shelf of movies, waving at everyone who entered. It took about forty-five minutes for everyone to get there, but eventually, the house was filled with my classmates. Somehow I don't think I'll ever be prepared to see them outside of class. I certainly never had seen this many of my classmates at once outside of school before.
I was surprised to see Amy in her hero costume, considering how relatively moody she was compared to everyone else. I didn't think she'd be the type to dress up on Halloween at all. Her costume was one of my favorites in the class, a green bodysuit with navy blue arms, legs, and boots. My favorite part was the bright red goggles on her head. She still had all the upgrades from when we got our costumes changed, too. Her boots had titanium on the toes and she also had armored shoulders, along with a metal mask that covered her mouth that hung around her neck.
Almost immediately, all the guys were asking for turns messing with my bo staff because they weren't allowed to in school. Luca was the first to ask.
"Whoa, this is heavy!" He exclaimed as I handed it over to him. I laughed and shrugged. "You're a beast dude!"
He started twirling it in his hands but dropped it almost immediately. I caught it and showed him how I did it, which got everyone to watch me. For all I know, they could have watched me mess with it for hours, but I forced myself to stop showing off after about five minutes.
With no entertainment, Ri was forced to pick out a movie for us to watch. Surprisingly, she did have movies besides the ones on the shelves. In a cupboard under the TV were plenty more movies, and by the looks of it, there were some horror movies.
I placed my staff by the couch and plopped down right in the middle of it as Ri put the movie on. Amy sat down next to me, making me tense up.
"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you, dude." She said, clearly able to tell how tense I got. "Loosen up, man."
She tapped my leg with the back of her hand, making me melt into the couch immediately. Her touch seemingly sent a jolt of electricity through my body. But, like, good electricity. Maybe that's not the best analogy.
"You good?" Amy asked, apparently noticing that too. I nodded, unable to say anything. "Alright."
Ri turned the lights off and everyone got comfortable. Ri, specifically, got comfortable by sitting close next to me, which made me freeze up.
"Are you gonna ask me that thing now, or…?" I whispered as the movie started.
Ri turned and smiled at me.
"Don't worry about it." She whispered back. I was disappointed, but I let it go and watched the movie.
I mean, I tried. Around halfway through the movie, a bunch of the guys started to make fun of the movie.
"Kick his ass!" Max yelled as the villain of the movie stalked the main character through the woods.
"Max, shut up." Luca laughed.
"Dude, all I'm saying is that if I were in this movie, I wouldn't be in this situation." He defended himself.
"Please, tell me what you're gonna do in this situation." Vana said loudly.
"I'm gonna kick his ass." Max said with full sincerity.
"Dude, he's like seven feet tall and unstoppable." Claire argued.
"And I'm part cat, what's your point?" Max fired back.
"Max, if you can kick my ass, I'll give you this one." Ri spoke up as she paused the movie.
"Done deal." Max said as he hopped up from the couch, Ri doing the same. Max hopped up and down on his toes, staying nearly silent as he did. His tail flicked the light switch on as everyone cleared the floor for him and Ri.
I smiled and looked over to Amy, who wasn't paying attention to anything going on. She was on her phone and looked stressed.
"You okay?" I asked as I tapped her leg. She quickly stood up and shut her phone off.
"I need to go." She said hurriedly as she walked by Max and Ri. Without thinking, I followed as Max leaped into the air to kick Ri, which she easily dodged. I stepped between my classmates, making sure not to step on any of them or their costumes. I looked back at Ri before I followed Amy out the door, causing her to lose focus for a second and get knicked by one of Max's claws. That snapped her back into the fight and she looked away. I slipped out the door and followed Amy as she walked to the sidewalk.
"Are you okay?" I yelled to her. She didn't answer. "Hey, I'm not gonna force you to answer, but I really would like to know."
I walked over the lawn to catch up to her.
"Why?" Amy snapped and turned around before I got too close. "I have done almost nothing that would make me seem even a tiny bit approachable to you, why do you even care?"
"I-I thought we were friends…." I admitted. Amy stayed silent. "You gave me that flower and stuff."
"Emmet, I'm fine." She eventually said. "Go back inside, I am going to be fine."
I felt a lump form in my throat as we looked at each other in silence.
"Can I at least make sure you get back to the dorms okay?" I asked, trying my best not to let my voice break and cause me to break down.
"I'm not walking." She said as a pair of headlights rounded the corner down the street. "Please go back inside."
"Is that him?"
"Emmet."
"Is it?"
"Yes." Amy said immediately as the car drove closer. I looked her in the eyes as the headlights grew brighter.
"I'm gonna watch you get into the car safely." I said. "I don't want him to hurt you."
"You're not my guardian, I'm my own person." Amy argued.
"You're my friend and I want to make sure you're okay." I told her. The car eventually pulled up and came to a stop. Amy and I never looked away from each other's eyes, even as Jason stepped out of the car antagonizing me. I drowned out what he said, none of it registering in my brain as he came around the car.
From the very corner of my peripheral vision, I saw him step to me and prepare to shove me, but I stepped aside and tripped him. I finally broke eye contact with Amy as I turned around to see Jason stumbling.
"I don't want to fight you, I just want to make sure she gets into the car safely." I tried to reason with him. He said nothing and he came back around and swung at me, which I narrowly dodged.
"Don't think just because you've had some training that I can't kick your ass." Jason snarled at me. Amy put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him away before he could swing again.
"There's a house full of kids in there who have superpowers." Amy said sternly. "Get back in the car and I will too."
Jason looked to the house and seemed to reconsider his actions, but he seemed to throw that away pretty quickly, considering he swung at me again. This time, I couldn't dodge, so I took it square in the jaw, sending me stumbling backward. I groaned and reached behind me for my bo staff, but only found air. I'd left it in the house.
"What's the reject pile gonna do to me, huh?" Jason taunted me as he grabbed my collar and pulled me, throwing me into the fender of his car. I smacked my face against it, leaving a dent and causing my nose to start gushing blood. I wasn't out of commission yet, though, because of my costume. One of the upgrades I requested was insulated fabric to protect from electricity. The other upgrades were carbon fiber armor plating on the chest, arms, shoulders, and legs.
I heard Amy clamoring for Jason to stop, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. The sound of my heartbeat in my ears drowned everything else out. Before Jason could do anything else, I stepped backward and drove my elbow into his face. Immediately following that, I turned and punched him the cheek, which should have hurt even more because of my new gloves with carbon fiber on the knuckles.
"Emmet!" Amy turned her attention to me and tried to push me off, but I ignored her and punched Jason again, catching him so off guard that when he went to grab my fist, he missed entirely.
My heartbeat was so out of control I'm not convinced you couldn't see it through my costume. These were some of the cleanest hits I'd ever gotten on Jason, which made me confident. That was a bad thing. Before I could deliver my third blow, Jason opened his eyes, which were now glowing a solid white. I hesitated for just a second, which was enough for him to release a big blast of electricity that threw me backward onto his car, shattering the back window and knocking the wind out of me.
I suddenly snapped back to reality and all the pain hit me at once. My face felt like it was going to fall off and my back was on fire. Jason took one big step towards me, but Amy used her quirk to make weeds sprout from the ground and wrap around Jason's wrists.
"I'm going to get in the car and we are leaving." Amy hissed at him, clearly tired of all of this. Jason hesitated for a moment before turning around. Amy loosened the weeds and Jason went back into the driver's seat as she got in the passenger's.
"I'm sorry." Amy said to me before she shut the door and they took off down the road. I leaned my head back, letting it smack against the lawn. I only had one thought in my head at the time.
Why do I bother?
I told myself I didn't have an answer. But I did.
I was in love with Amy against all my better judgement.
I layed there for a good five minutes before standing up and heading back inside, which was fun for me because everyone dropped what they were doing and crowded around me. Just kidding, it wasn't fun at all. Like, not even a little. I knew people were saying stuff, but it all blended so badly I could never hope to make any of it out. The only thing I could make out was Ri, who pushed herself to the front and spoke clearly to me.
"Who did it?" Ri demanded to know. I stayed silent, causing her to roll her eyes. "You're going on the couch."
Ri said as she put her arm around my shoulder and walked me to the couch.
"I'm fine." I mumbled.
"No, you're not." Ri told me. I got onto the couch and leaned my head back, but she grabbed my head and leaned it forward. "Your nose is bleeding, keep your head like this. I'm gonna go get some stuff to clean you up, okay?"
I didn't say anything again. I just wanted Amy to be okay. Ri tapped my forehead gently before walking upstairs to get things to clean me up with. I was swarmed with everyone trying to get a look at me for a good two minutes before Ri came back down and shooed everyone away.
"This became a downer real quick." I said quietly after noticing how silent the room had gotten after Ri began wiping the blood off my face. Everyone laughed nervously.
"Where did Amy go?" Ri whispered to me quietly, trying not to let anyone hear.
"She didn't do it." I said. "She got picked up and I was wondering if she was gonna get home safe."
"Then who picked her up?" Ri whispered back as she grabbed my face so I'd hold still.
"Her boyfriend."
"He can drive?"
"He's eighteen."
"Eighteen?" Ri asked, clearly shocked. "He did this?"
"That's not what I said." I argued.
"Then who did it?" Ri demanded. I went quiet again. She dropped it after that.
After my nose stopped bleeding, I finally leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Ri eventually put the movie back on, which filled in the silence and kept everyone entertained. This time, though, everyone stayed silent throughout the rest of it. Except for when every now and again when someone would get scared and yelp. Most of which were Claire's, I think, but I'm pretty sure Max was responsible for a few judging by how he would immediately blame a girl for it when it happened.
After the movie ended, everyone started talking about it and movies in general, which got me to start talking too. The conversation shifted so many times that eventually we got onto the topic of our hero costumes. James was the first to show his off, which was a red bodysuit with black accents on the torso and limbs. The black armor on his chest and shoulders had a scale pattern on it, reminiscent of scale mail armor. On his chest was a big white X that acted almost as his logo. He mentioned that he didn't bring it, but he also had a shield recently made by the costume designers that he could constantly use his quirk on and keep indestructible.
Everyone eventually got to show off their costumes, with mine being last. One of my favorite costumes of the bunch was Claire's, which was cool because a lot of the costume was her own skin; she had an exoskeleton on her arms and legs that looked like black armor panels, which was mimicked by her costume in the rest of her body. Her torso was adorned by a big white spider that wrapped around to her back and was mirrored there.
Vana also had a cool costume because she was wearing a black skintight catsuit made of a substance that absorbed most visual light, so she looked like someone had just cut her out in Photoshop. I guess normally she would have a mask that covers her entire head, but she didn't bring it so her pale skin and platinum blonde hair almost looked like it was just floating if you looked at her in the dark.
We hung out like that for a few hours before people started leaving and going home. We all wanted to spend the night, but Ri's parents weren't exactly okay with having seventeen teenagers sleeping in the living room. The only exception was me. Ri convinced her parents to let me stay, which they weren't thrilled about, but she guilt-tripped them because I got beaten up. The first to go was Claire, which was then followed by everyone else until it was just me and Ri again.
"You feeling okay?" Ri asked after saying bye to the last one to leave and shutting the living room light off. I kicked my boots off and pulled my legs onto the couch, laying on it.
"Yeah, I'm better. Hanging out with everyone else really took my mind off the burning pain." I chuckled.
"You ready to tell me what happened?" Ri asked. I sighed as Ri sat on the couch by my legs.
"Listen, it's really not a big deal, there was just a misunderstanding." I explained, trying to get her to stop asking about it.
"Emmet, it is a big deal, that's assault on a minor and I'm starting to put the pieces together about the last couple times this has happened." Ri said. I didn't want to say anything, but I knew she was right.
"What am I supposed to do about it?" I asked as I sat up and made eye contact with her.
"Call the cops? Anyone?" Ri suggested.
"And get him arrested? Amy wouldn't forgive me if I-"
"Amy is a big girl. And she shouldn't even be dating him, to begin with, she is fourteen. We are freshmen, Emmet." Ri cut me off. Again, I knew she was right. "How many times has he done this?"
"Three times." I admitted faster than I wanted to. "Including tonight. He thinks I'm trying to… He hits her."
"Emmet-"
"I know. I know, I know it better than anyone." I explained. "If I talk to her about it, I know she is going to get angry and upset. I know she doesn't get that it's good, but she's going to make excuses for him, I've seen it. So many times. She already has. I only want her to be safe, so-"
"Emmet, it's not your responsibility to keep her safe." Ri said as she turned to me and grabbed my hands. "You can help her by being a good friend and getting her the help she needs-"
"I don't want to feel helpless like I used to." I blurted out. "I'm at this school to help people. When I was a kid I watched this happen to my mom more times than I even want to remember, trust me when I say I don't want to. I could never do anything about it, but I feel like I can now."
"Emmet, this isn't the way. It feels like it because you're directly involved. This isn't your only option for helping her." Ri pleaded with me. "You can't keep getting yourself hurt for her."
"If I just get better at fighting, I-" Ri cut me off again.
"Emmet, trust me. You're not protecting her. Not like this. What are you expecting to come out of this?" Ri asked.
"I just want the hurting to stop."
"I promise you, Emmet. This isn't how it's going to happen." Ri told me.
"..." I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I closed my eyes and pulled my hands from Ri's to hide my face. She pulled my hands away.
"Emmet, I'll help you. I know that you think you're helping her all on your own, but you don't have to do that anymore."
"O-kay." I said quietly as my voice broke. I pulled my hands away again to wipe my eyes, but Ri stopped me and did it herself. Her hand was soft and warm, making me involuntarily push my head into it.
"Calm down, tiger." Ri whispered as more tears rolled down my face. "I promise it'll be okay."
Ri leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me, putting her face in my neck. I reciprocated and wrapped my arms around her, causing her to squeeze me tightly. I buried my face into her as well.
We stayed like that until I stopped crying about five minutes later, at which point we let go of each other.
"Thank you." I said quietly as Ri put her hand on my cheek again, wiping away the rest of my tears. I put my hand on hers and pressed it into my face. I felt really fuzzy inside as her thumb gently caressed my face and my hand rested against hers. The room was dark, only illuminated by the TV screen paused on the credits of the movie. Ri's eyes wandered over me, inspecting me like I was a painting. I looked down to see if my costume had any blood on it, which it did. Before now, I hadn't realized how much I needed this kind of physical contact. For the first time in years, I felt content. Ri's touch made me feel okay.
Ri took her other hand and placed it on my chest, feeling the carbon fiber plating on it before pushing me so I was laying on my back. For a split second, I thought that was it and she had gotten tired of me or something, but she climbed on top of me so that our noses were almost touching and put her hand on my cheek again.
"Do you wanna know what I was gonna ask you earlier?" She asked with a slight smile on her face.
"I-I almost f-forgot." I stuttered, nervous because there was now a girl on top of me. She smirked and put her lips very close to my ear as she whispered.
"Do you want to be my boyfriend?" She whispered before pulling away and giggling.
Suddenly, a lot more pieces started to fall into place. Of course, she'd had a crush on me. I almost asked her why, but I stopped myself before I made a fool of myself.
I opened my mouth to answer, but I hesitated. What about Amy? Up until now, I'd only ever thought of Ri as my friend. It was only ever Amy before tonight. I blurted out my answer before I could think it through entirely.
"Of course." I blurted out. Ri smiled and kissed me, causing me to freeze and start laughing out of nowhere.
"What?" Ri asked, pulling back a bit.
"That was my first kiss." I admitted.
"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" She asked. I shook my head, making her giggle a bit. "Well, I'm honored."
I laughed nervously as she kissed me again before resting her head on my chest.
That was gonna take some getting used to.
Here it finally is! I've been struggling with this chapter for weeks now, and it's good to finally have it in a state where I can be proud of it. I'll try my best from now on not to to contradict anything I have planned, so I don't cause any more confusion. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter, writer's block has been hitting hard lately and I wanna know if i've done good. Be good people.
