5

Karen Boyd and William Simpson owned and operated the Galaxy Comics and Collectibles Shop on Twelfth Street in Detroit and in just a few days, young girls were buying up and ordering anything that pertained to the fictional Supergirl character from DC Comics. They had seen the news, they were renting the less-than-grand Helen Slater movie from 1980 and were now all dressing up like their favorite role model. Bridget would beam ear-to-ear to see those little princesses running up and down the block trying to fly, but then she would notice Kerry looking at her with fearful suspicion. Pretending to get distracted, Bridget would then leave her for something else.

While DC Comics was having a field day over the price sales to comic memorabilia from the inexplicable sightings to their character, they were also trying to learn just what special effects engineers were stealing their character. Special effect engineers and computer programmers who specialized in computerized CGI effects were being called upon to analyze amateur footage from Detroit showing this girl flying and lifting cars and were giving their opinions, but no one answer could answer the public trying to learn what was happening. Newspapers were selling out from this character, the Detroit police were going on a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Officially, this person did not exist. They agreed that an unknown young girl or a number of similar young girls were helping out across town, but they would not explain or go on the record on the strange occurrences occurring with increasing intensity. After an anonymous tip about an illegal chop shop off Jefferson Highway, they arrived on the scene to find eighteen stolen cars in various stages of assembly and eleven car thieves strung up by their underpants. When seven-year-old Amelia Fichtner vanished from a playground near her home, an immediate Amber Alert went out in search of her. Less than an hour later, little Amelia was found safe and secure on her parent's porch waving to the blue and red angel that had saved her. After America's Most Wanted announced that child rapist and suspected murderer DeJesus Antonio Ramirez was probably loose in Detroit after fleeing Chicago, he was found hanging from his underwear from a street light outside Detroit's Twelfth Precinct. After elderly Gladys Shoulders was taken forcibly by her deranged son on a run from the police, she was safely found by her daughter and son-in-law by the side of Interstate 75 near the crashed ruins of her SUV as the middle-aged felon hung from a tree by his underwear cursing at "a flying blonde bimbo."

At Oakdale High School, Kyle had started a Supergirl Fan Club not directed to the comic book character but to collecting the newspaper articles about the new local figment and discussing theories on her powers and origins. They even collected cases not directly connected to her but rumored as linked to her. It was first a mere twenty cases, but as possible accounts swelled, there were now almost fifty cases of this blonde superhero. The club had started with four guys and had now reached up to eighteen, getting permission from Principal Ed Gibb to be a school-sanctioned group. Through all of it, Kerry Hennessey was about to lose it. Even her best friends were wearing Supergirl t-shirts and Supergirl posters were going up all over the school. Boys were going crazy describing the latest sightings and girls wanted their hair done just like her. It was a bigger madhouse than before.

"I can't believe all this." Bridget grinned by her side as her ego swelled a bit.

"You can't believe all this?!!" Kerry paused by her school locker, ripped off the Supergirl emblem taped to the exterior of it and shoved it at Bridget before slowly calming. "Bridget, for the last time… are you SURE there's anything you want to tell me?"

"Well…" Bridget paused and thought about it, her blue eyes turned back looking for thoughts in her head before looking back to her sister. "I heard you're going to win the writing contest."

Kerry just screamed under her breath and turned to her locker. Bridget had been dressing less provocatively since her seizure. Gone were the short shirts and hip-hugging jeans and high heels. Dressed in a dark green sweater with violet slacks and dark pumps, she just tried to respect her little sister and looked away to respect her privacy. As she did, Steven Danvers started coming to her. He was wearing his football jersey over a long sleeved black shirt and beamed his steely grin toward her. Reaching out to lean against the lockers, he grimaced a bit abashedly and flipped back his hair as he cleared his throat.

"Bridget," He really was a decent guy compared to several of his buddies, and he really did like her. "I've been trying to get in touch with you for a week. My dad and I got the Mustang going great. Would you like to go out again tonight?"

"I'd love to!" The old Bridget resurfaced and swooned, but then the newer intellectual and secretive Bridget took over again. "But I've got some commitments I can't get out of."

"Oh my god…." Eavesdropping, Kerry missed the self-centered sister she used to have.

"How about Saturday?" Bridget offered.

"It's a date!" Steven cheered emotionally and took her hand. The blonde one beamed and shined like a star to see him. Their hands connected and parted as he turned and headed to gym class. Kerry meanwhile closed her locker and dropped her head against groaning. The sound of her head and her groan got her sister's attention. Pulling her red locks of hair exasperatedly back, Kerry turned her head back to her sister looking at her confusingly.

"Who are you?!!!" Kerry demanded to know.

"I'm your sister."

"Make me believe it." Kerry stared at her waiting for her to reveal her secret, but Bridget just rolled her eyes confusingly. The school bell now rang and both sisters had to go to separate classes. Kerry had to get to Mrs. Cuoco's French class where she sat close to Kyle Brady himself. He had once been Bridget's boyfriend, but now she was his main love interest. It was a better relationship that the self-center relationship he had been trapped in with Bridget. When Kyle looked at Kerry, she lit up as never before as if she were a rose turning up to the sun. Taking her desk, they shared a brief meaningful glance amongst the others piling in late and slowly and hesitantly turned to being high school students. Their teacher noted the clock as the warning bell to class rang out loud and one later student struggled his way into the classroom.

"Good morning, students…" Principal Ed Gibb started the morning assignments over the school address system. "It's another day here and I would like to remind you this is a school and a place of learning. It is not a prison or a sanitarium, but it does have rules to make your lives easier until you all become menaces to society."

Kerry buried herself into her book as the under-achievers and school rejects lined against the back wall applauded in unison their low intelligence and disregard for normal society. They had become disposable human beings and didn't care.

"First off," Gibb went on with announcements. "I would like to mention the school is having a pancake breakfast this Saturday to raise money for the cheerleaders to get new uniforms, but we will not be having sausage or bacon this year due to the Montgomery Haskell incident." He referred to last year's case of food poisoning when one student mixed in rancid meat from home into the previous school dinner and sent over forty people to the hospital.

"The school book store may finally open again." Gibb sounded jovial. "We finally found the other key!"

"Coach Kutcher is asking for information in the theft of twelve stolen basketballs." Gibb paused. "Come on, who stole the basketballs? The school basketball team has nothing to play with!"

"The drama team is proud to announce they have chosen their next play." Gibb was reading from one not to another. "They will all be starring in a stage production of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." Gibb stopped and stared in disbelief at his receptionist. "Oh come on!!! I guess I can predict who will get the starring roles."

Matthew and Marcus Summers, the school's only blonde set of twin boys, were in Kerry's class. They both grinned and slapped their hands together in the same way as Cole and Dylan Sprouse, the show's stars.

"Today is Ashley Kreuk's birthday." Gibb read another note. "Tomorrow is her son's."

Kerry looked over to her classmate and wished her happy birthday. The seventeen-year-old had been a teenage mother for about a year now.

"From now on," Gibb got one more note. "The school computer lab will not allow photo-shopping done without a teacher present. It seems one simulated nude photo of Mrs. Bobbitt, our revered art teacher, was not enough, but two thousand was one too many. If anyone knows the guilty party, please pass along their name. Your tip can be held anonymous." Gibb rolled his eyes on this travesty against the school's youngest and unfortunately most loved teachers among the male students. "Friday is her last day as she is now leaving us for an easier job; she is joining the police academy!"

"Today's menu in the cafeteria is hamburgers on line one, fried chicken in line two and the salad bar will be open today. I am proud to announce we have now started buying only fresh vegetables and they will be cleaned." Gibb paused. "The snack machines will now be turned off during lunch hours, and turned on afterward. This does not affect the soda machines" There was a collective groan in the classrooms.

Principal Ed Gibb continued. "And as you all know, we had a very good response to the literary contest and had several very promising writers, but after mulling over several potential short stories, and several nauseating would-be porn manuscripts, they finally came up with a winner."

"Congratulations, Kerry…" William Samms leaned over and whispered to Kerry.

"Thanks…" She beamed trying to deny her secret crush on him.

"The winner of the 2005 Detroit Tribune High School Literary Contest is…." Ed continued then paused fumbling with the intercom mike. "Is this right? Are you sure?" There was whispering over the school intercoms. "How is this possible?" He came back on. "The winner is… are you ready for this people? Bridget Hennessy????"

There was a pause of shocked silence through the school as student, faculty and even maintenance waited for the joke.

"What!!!!!" Kerry finally screamed.

In Mrs. Davidson's American History class, the room exploded and the boys cheered for the blonde one. Bridget lifted her head from her copy of the Iliad as her face went into shock.