Chapter 6: A Bit of Advice

On Tuesday evening, Hacker was sitting and looking out over the city, trying to look for any sign of WordGirl. He had had no luck thus far since seeing her yesterday afternoon, and it was getting dark enough that he would have to call off his search for the day soon. It was much more tasking doing this by himself without Buzz and Delete's eyes as well, but he had ordered them to head into the city to find as much information as possible about his new rival.

It finally came to and end when Hacker heard the sound of his minions entering the ship and making their way to the cockpit. When he heard them at the door, he swivelled around in his recharging chair and eyed them expectantly. "So? What did you manage to find out?"

Buzz and Delete were clearly exhausted. They had taken off early in the morning to have plenty of time to walk to town. They had worn disguises so they hopefully wouldn't be found out as robots, each wearing street clothes and wigs. Luckily for them no one appeared to notice, and they had been able to make their way around with little heartache. It had been a long day though, consisting of much walking and many questions to ask to dozens of people.

They both trudged up to their boss, and Buzz pulled out a small bunch of papers. "Here ya are, boss… There's everything we could find out."

"Yeah… We asked tons of people questions and found out as much as we could, just like ya said," Delete added hopefully.

"Hmm… Let's have a look, then," Hacker said, taking the papers from Buzz and leafing through them. All he had been able to tell before was that she was a teenage girl and had powers of strength, speed, and extensive knowledge of the English language. Looking over the papers though, he quickly came to realize there had been much they hadn't known.

According to the information his henchmen had brought to him, WordGirl was actually an alien from a far off planet, and wasn't just a regular Earthling. She revealed herself to the public several years prior and became a widely known crime fighter. It was unknown to anyone what her secret identity was, for obvious reasons.

It seemed she did have a physical weakness - a substance known as Lexonite, which could weaken her powers. Hacker liked the idea of using it on her, but it seemed that it was not a common substance, and who knew how long it would take to find some.

There was one other notable bit of information though: She had never been permanently defeated before, despite there being a few close calls here and there. Hacker wasn't deterred, however. He was willing to bet that most of her opponents had simply never considered thinking outside the box before for ways to defeat her. He knew he had an advantage in this department. She likely wouldn't be prepared for the kind of planning he was doing.

He finally glanced up from the papers and looked at his minions. "Good job, you two. I'm not certain how much of this information we'll actually need, but the more we know, the better. Until I can find out her secret identity, we can only be so prepared."

"But boss, how are you gonna find that out?" Buzz asked as he and Delete laid down on the floor, tired from all the walking they had done. "There are so many people in the city, and she could be anywhere!"

"Not exactly," Hacker argued, turning back to the city on screen and zooming in on a particular building, illuminated by several lamp posts in its large parking lot. "Boys, what do we know about WordGirl?" he asked, continuing to watch the screen.

"Um… she's a superhero?" Delete replied hesitantly.

"Try again."

"Well… she's a girl?" Buzz proposed.

"True, but still wrong."

"She's an alien?"

"No, no, no! You incessant imbeciles!" Hacker cried in frustration. "What we know is that she's young and appears to be a teenager. And do you know where teenagers go every weekday? Hmm?"

"...School?" Delete asked after a short stretch of silent thinking.

"Correct. Now, assuming WordGirl has a secret identity, it only stands to reason that she would go to school just like anyone else, wouldn't you say?"

"I, uh… I guess so," Buzz replied, not entirely sure where there boss was going with this.

"Plus, if a crime happens during the day, she would have to go and fight it, yes? We saw her do just that the other day."

"Well sure, boss, but… what does that have to do with finding out who she is?" Delete asked.

"Rrgh! You two are so dense! It means that if we keep an eye on the school during the day, and a crime happens, we'll be able to see WordGirl leave and take off, then come back and reassume her alter ego! And once we figure out who she is in public, we'll be that much closer to defeating her."

"Oooooohhhh…" Buzz and Delete said in unison, finally understanding what Hacker was getting at.

"Sure, it may take a little while for the circumstance to happen, but I'm confident we'll catch her in time as long as we stay vigilant. Once we know her secret identity, she won't be able to hide anymore, and we can look for the perfect way to bring her to her knees."

…

The past couple days had not been particularly kind to Matt. It had been almost two whole days, and he was still frustrated by how close he had been to telling Inez his feelings. He knew there was no one to blame but himself, though. He had simply taken too long to come out with it, and they had needed to go see what Hacker was up to before they could do anything else, as annoyingly timed as it may have been.

That afternoon during his free period, he was sitting at a bench outside on the school grounds, passing time by playing with his yo-yo. He had never stopped using it over the years, and could now do a good number of rather impressive tricks. It was also therapeutic for him and helped him think.

He was so distracted by it and his thoughts on this sunny autumn afternoon that he didn't notice a figure coming up and stopping next to him until they finally spoke up. "Hey, Matt."

Matt looked up to see Jackie standing there, a sympathetic look on her face. She was wearing her running outfit, and Matt concluded she must have just gotten out of gym and was now on her own free period. "Oh - Hey, Jacks," Matt replied with a tired smile. "How's it going?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," Jackie replied, taking a seat next to her friend. "I would also ask how your outing with Inez went the other night, but judging by what you two were wearing when we got to Cyberspace, I'm guessing it kinda got interrupted, huh?"

Matt sighed, still flicking his yo-yo as he went on. "Yeah… It's alright, it's not the end of the world or anything. But I was THIS close to telling her everything," he stressed, holding up his free hand and holding his thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart.

"Gee, sorry about that," Jackie said apologetically.

"It's okay, it was just kind of frustrating. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get the opportunity to tell her."

"What are you even waiting for, then? You could go up to her today and tell her, couldn't you?"

"Come on, Jacks. It isn't that simple. I want it to be perfect, you know? You're telling me you wouldn't rather tell someone you like them in a more romantic setting than a school hallway?"

"I guess that wouldn't be ideal, when you put it that way…" Jackie supposed, crossing her arms and leaning back on the bench.

"Right? I can't just do it out of the blue. I want to be prepared, to be in a good place to do it and to say just the right thing, you know?"

"Yeah yeah, I get it… So what are you going to do now?"

"I dunno… I guess I'll just have to try again at some point, once I work up the nerve again."

Jackie chuckled somewhat disheartedly. "God, Matt, you're hopeless."

"You don't think I know that? I've wanted to do this for years and I still can't just tell her already."

"Well… I wish I could tell you what to do, Matt, but it's not like I'm a romance expert… Just keep trying, I guess. If you keep at it, it'll have to work out one of these times, right?... I just wouldn't take too long if I were you."

"Why not?" Matt asked, before becoming visibly agitated. "Oh come on, Jacks. Not that feeling you mentioned before…"

"I'm telling you Matt, it hasn't gone away and it's only gotten stronger. It's been OVER A WEEK now, and nothing has really happened, even after seeing that statue. You're telling me you're not even a LITTLE worried?"

"I don't know, I mean… maybe a little…" Matt admitted self-consciously. "But what does it matter? Until we find out what he's up to, is there any point worrying about it?"

Jackie shrugged. "Well I don't want to grow complacent and eventually be taken off-guard. It's been way too long since the guy has done anything. What if I'm right and he IS up to something big? And what if we can't beat him this time?"

"We'll beat him, Jacks, don't worry!"

"But what if we don't?" Jackie persisted. "I don't want you to have never told Inez how you feel about her before something like that happens, Matt. I would feel bad for you."

Matt stopped playing with his yo-yo and was silent for a bit, resting his elbows on his legs and resting his head in his hands. "...I've thought about that too, honestly… It's just that… you know I don't like to stress out about things. I never feel like it helps anything… but you're not totally wrong. I don't want that to happen either."

"I know you don't…" Jackie said defeatedly, patting her friend's back before standing up. "Well, I'll leave you alone now. I'd better get moving anyway." She began to turn around, but looked back at Matt. "I'm not gonna tell you what you have to do, Matt. All I'll say for now is just… be careful, and don't do anything you'll end up regretting..." With that, Jackie placed her earbuds in and began jogging out to the school track field, leaving Matt to his thoughts.

…

Later that afternoon, after most kids had gone home from school, George Lundgren was hard at work in his family's garage. His parents had recently been desiring a new set of end tables for their bedroom. George had maintained his hobby of woodworking over the years, and he had offered to build the set for them, which they gratefully accepted.

He had been going at it for a few days now, and had all the pieces cut to shape. On this day he was drilling holes into them to prepare to screw it all together, when his mother came into the garage. "George, honey!" she called out over the whirring sound of the drill.

Upon realizing his mother had stepped in and called him, he shut off the drill and set it aside. "Hi, Mom! What is it?"

"Fern is here to see you, if you're not too busy."

George raised his brow in surprise. He certainly hadn't been expecting his friend to show up today. It wasn't a common occurrence in general, and usually she'd ask first. "Oh! Well sure, that'd be fine. This can wait a bit. Thanks, Mom."

On that note, Mrs. Lundgren went to get Fern, and she soon appeared in the doorway. "Hi, George. Sorry I interrupted you."

"No, it's fine," George assured, lifting his safety goggles up and dusting himself off a bit. "I'm building a set of end tables for my parents' bedroom, but it's hardly urgent or anything. What're you doing here?"

"There's something that's been weighing on my mind the past few days," Fern answered, stepping further into the garage. "I knew if anyone could help me, it was you."

George smiled. He appreciated how highly Fern's statement suggested she thought of him. "Well I'll certainly try. What's been bothering you?... Oh… You… you haven't been having those thoughts again, have you?" he asked concernedly, dropping the smile.

"What? Oh no, no George, it's fine. It's nothing like that," Fern replied fervently. "That hasn't come up for quite a while now. It's something else."

"Oh, well phew! That's good," George said, clearly relieved as he wiped his forehead. "Go ahead, you can tell me anything, you know."

"Yeah, I know… This is just difficult to admit…" Fern sighed and wrapped one arm around herself, while resting her chin on her opposite fist. "I have kind of a crush on someone…"

"Really?" George asked, rather surprised by this development. Fern had never talked about liking anyone before, and perhaps he was the least a bit hopeful that it might be himself she was referring to.

Fern nodded. "It's pretty recent. But it's just left me really confused about myself."

"Why's that?"

"Well… It's because… you see, I… I..." Fern stuttered, struggling to admit what had quickly become one of her biggest secrets.

George stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know I mean it when I say you can tell me anything, right?" he asked reassuringly. "I would never tell anyone something you didn't want me to."

Fern sighed. "I know… You promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die," George replied without hesitation, making an "x" over his chest.

"Alright… well, the thing is…" Fern took a deep breath before finally getting it out. "...It's Becky."

George might have felt more disappointed upon hearing this if he hadn't been so flabbergasted. "What?! Becky?! Oh wow, I mean… Gosh, Fern… I never knew you liked girls."

"Ugh, me neither, until last week," Fern replied, her face turning red as she nervously fiddled with her shirt. "I never thought I liked girls, it's just that I've never actually liked a boy before. But I just figured I hadn't met the right one yet. I guess there was more to it than that…"

"No kidding," George remarked with a nod. "Well thanks for telling me, Fern. It means alot to me that you trust me enough to tell me something so personal."

Fern half-smiled, looking down at the floor. "It's nothing. It's not like there's a lot of other people I could tell, and I trust you."

"So what is it you like about her, exactly?"

"Well, she's really smart and nice. We both like reading, and… I don't know, she just makes me feel really good in a way no one else ever has. It's honestly really hard to describe…"

"I get what you mean," George replied. He definitely could appreciate where Fern was coming from. He had often felt that way himself about his friend. "I'm guessing you're nervous about telling her?"

Fern nodded. "Exactly. I'm afraid she won't like me back. I mean, when we talked the other day, she began questioning whether she might possibly like girls as well as guys, but that doesn't automatically mean she's going to like me that way. And what if it ruins our friendship? I don't want that to happen."

George scratched his antlers as he pondered the situation. Fern was definitely in a pickle, but he could once again relate to her situation. "Well…" he finally spoke up, "I think there's two ways you could look at it: You can either keep your feelings to yourself and carry them with you, but still be friends; or you can tell Becky how you feel and open the door to her either accepting or rejecting you. And what I think you should ask yourself is if you think telling her how you feel about her is worth risking your friendship. It's not like there's any going back for you, right?"

Fern drank in George's wisdom and debated the questions he proposed with herself. This is why she was glad to be friends with him. He was so good at giving advice. "I do know I wouldn't enjoy never getting to tell her…"

"I'm sure you wouldn't. And hey, there's always a chance, right? Think of what could happen if she says yes!"

Fern giggled and smiled a little at the thought. She had quickly come to like the idea of being with Becky that way. "It would be pretty great…"

"Right?" George said brightly. "But hey, don't let me decide for you. Obviously do what you think would be best."

"Yeah, I should probably think about it a bit more," Fern agreed. "But thank you so much, George. I feel a lot better now. I'll be sure to let you know how things go."

"Great! I'll be excited to hear," George replied, pulling his goggles back on. "You wanna hang around a while?"

"Thank you, but I should probably get going. I'll see you at school, okay?" Fern said, turning back towards the door.

"Yep! See you!" George said with a nod and a thumbs up, grabbing his drill. He then began returning to his project and heard the door shut behind him. He finally allowed himself to frown a bit in disappointment. So Fern didn't like him after all. In fact, it turned out she didn't even like boys in general. At least now he had some sort of closure and didn't feel like he was left hanging, he supposed. And he wasn't about to be selfish. There were plenty of fish in the sea, and he wanted his friend to be happy, even if that meant not being with him. He hoped for the best for her and Becky, whatever that might turn out to be.

…

Fern did as she said she would and spent the next few days thinking deeply about her feelings for Becky. After a long, hard think to herself, she felt she just wasn't ready to decide yet. She wanted to have at least one more conversation with Becky before going any further with this. So at lunch on Friday she asked Becky if she could come over to her house again, which Becky happily agreed to. Becky had been having her own struggles with her own growing feelings for her newest friend, and she also felt another visit with her might help her sort them out.

That afternoon as school was letting out, Becky and Fern met up in the hall close to the entrance and walked outside, when suddenly a loud cry rang out shouting, "HEEEEEELP!" Glancing around, the two girls quickly spotted a man running towards them, who Becky quickly recognized as the same guy who often inadvertently reported developing crimes to her. He ran up to the two girls and hollered, "GRANNY MAY IS ATTACKING CITY HALL!... Wait, is this the police station?"

Becky face palmed and replied as Fern watched. "Ugh! No, it isn't. You were just here last week! You should remember the police station is four blocks that way! Mr. Ratburn told you that!"

"Oh, right… I forgot. Silly me," the guy replied with a shrug before taking off again in a panic.

Fern frowned, puzzled. "How can someone make a mistake like that twice?"

"You never know with that guy," Becky answered before hastily making up an excuse so she could go take care of business. "Oh! I just remembered, I left one of my books inside. I'm gonna go get it. Could you wait here just a minute, Fern?"

"Okay, but hurry back. We don't want to miss the bus again," Fern complied. She would hate for them to have to walk again, and she wanted as much time as possible to spend and talk with Becky at her house. Although looking back, she had to admit it was a rather romantic picture to have Becky walk her home in the rain, even if they were only just becoming friends then.

"Great! I'll be back in a jiffy," Becky promised, running back into the building and darting into the bathroom. Relieved to find she was alone, she transformed into WordGirl and flew off towards downtown, taking care of Granny May within a matter of minutes. The woman happened to be getting quite close to her retirement, so the combination of that along with having gotten older and slower made her quite easy to defeat. In a weird way, Becky was almost going to miss her, though she had no logical defense for this.

Having accomplished her goal, Becky quickly returned to school and walked back outside where Fern was waiting patiently by the buses. "I'm back! Sorry about that. I just didn't want to leave that book behind," Becky apologized.

"It's okay, let's just get going," Fern replied, motioning for Becky to follow.

"Right," Becky agreed with a nod, climbing onto the bus behind Fern and taking a seat next to her.

Little did either girl realize that they were being watched the entire time. Several miles from town, Hacker had been keeping his eyes focused on the school along with Buzz and Delete. He had seen Becky and Fern exit the school along with hundreds of other students, and had seen Becky dart back inside. When he saw the same red streak flying out of a school window, similar to what he had seen earlier that week, his suspicions grew exponentially. And when the streak returned a few minutes later only for Becky to walk back outside the building within a matter of seconds, he smiled widely and chuckled. "Well well well… Look who we found, boys."

"Wow… You think that's WordGirl, boss?" Buzz asked.

"I'm positive that's her," Hacker confirmed without a hint of doubt. He managed to zoom in on the pair of girls as they boarded the bus, allowing them all a better look at Becky. "Take a look at her - Same face, same hair, same size, and she just so happened to appear to be in the building the entire time while WordGirl was downtown, and went in and out within moments of WordGirl arriving and departing - I think it's quite safe to say that that's her."

"So what now, boss? We're just gonna follow her?"

"We certainly are. We're going to observe her very closely until we find out more about her secret identity. Now we know what she looks like, and once we know where she lives, she'll be completely helpless. And the best part is that she won't even know it."