After I phoned Mom, Dana and I took the train home. As usual, it was very crowded, and in a crowded train, you'd think people would've noticed me, standing out like a sore thumb for being Batman. But just like at school, they didn't unless someone mentioned my name.
I didn't expect to make it through the whole day without being noticed. Not that I wanted to be noticed, since if just one person did notice me, the whole town would want my autograph. And that's not hyperbole.
Dana and I sat down next to each other. She wrapped her arm around me and put her chin on my shoulder. It was like she still loved me.
"You want to break up with me, do you?" I said, as the train stopped at the first station.
"No. I don't." Dana kissed my cheek. I peered at her through the corner of my eye. She looked like she genuinely meant it.
She brushed a lock of her behind her ear. "My dad doesn't hate you as much as he used to. He thinks he can trust you now. He says you can stay over for dinner if you want."
Mr. Tan trusted me? Even though I went to juvie hall for three months and didn't want Dana to date me because of that?
Dana rang the doorbell. Mr. Tan answered.
"I'm not surprised to see Terry here," he said, letting us in. He closed the door behind us. That was the first time he called me Terry.
"We're going to my bedroom to talk, Dad." Dana put her hands on my arm.
"Make sure you're down before supper. I want to talk with him before he leaves."
No surprise there.
Dana shut the door to her bedroom. She put her hands on her hips. I sat on her bed, which was much more neatly made then my bed. Her room itself was a lot cleaner than mine.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked. She looked like she was going to cry.
"I didn't want you to get hurt. The more people that knew, the more likely it was that someone would find out or use someone who did know to get to me." I leaned forward. "It happened once with my brother. He didn't even know I was Batman. Even after I saved him, he didn't know."
"Until Ian Peek revealed who you are."
"Yes."
She sat on the bed. "You didn't want to hurt me. You just wanted me to be safe."
"Yes."
"If I had it my way, I would not have just taken back how I treated you because of Batman, but the fact that Ian Peek did what he did."
"I used to call Ian Peek's show entertainment. Mom said that if you were on the receiving end, you wouldn't find it entertaining."
Dana rested her forehead on my shoulder. I could feel tears on my jacket.
"I did too. Now I wish I hadn't."