If I thought it couldn't get any worse, I was so wrong.
Two hours after I tried to phone Max, two reporters came to our door for an interview. Mom turned them away and said that our lives were not for sale, no matter what Ian Peek said. Nobody's lives were.
"The old man won't answer my phone calls," I said, slumping on the couch.
"Do you expect him to?" asked Mom.
She was right. I shouldn't have expected him to answer me.
"The old man wasn't the only one who knew," I said after a few minutes. Over the past few days Mom had been asking me who else knew but I didn't want to tell her Max knew. I wanted to keep her out of trouble.
"Who else did?"
I looked down. "There was a girl named Max. She was friends with Dana and Chelsea. One day she decided to try to find out who Batman was. It was around the time Terminal tried to kill her. I saved her life and that's how she knew." I looked up.
"I already knew that. I went to her house while shopping for groceries after Dana told me about her trying to find out who Batman was. Before I left I told her parents not to call us."
Mom plugged in the vacuum.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I yelled.
"I don't trust you," she simply said. "You kept being Batman a secret."
I could tell Mom didn't want to argue.
"Fine," I said, and went to my bedroom. I shut the door and lay on the bed.
I wanted Mom to trust me and I knew she wouldn't.
Why did I keep it a secret? Why did I even become Batman in the first place?