— Samantha Eve Wilkins (Atom Eve) (Three Minutes Earlier) —

Her hands tapped her arm as she sat in Darius' chair. Her eyes darted to the door and over to Mark and William, who were sitting on Darius' bed, reading the newest issue of Seance Dog.

Her mind raced a million miles a second, and she couldn't stop herself.

Atom Eve's curiosity was piqued. What could Beth and Darius be doing that was taking so long? The question gnawed at her, fueling her restlessness.

She knew of Beth's crush on Darius. It was the whole reason Bethany came along, after all. She wanted to find time to tell Darius how she felt, but she didn't think she could do it in a public place like school. Eve suddenly stood up and headed for the door.

"Is something wrong, Eve?" Mark asked, glancing up from the comic.

"Uh-no." Eve shook her head frantically. "Just gonna head to the bathroom."

"Down the hall to the right," William said with a smile before returning his attention back to the comic.

She nodded thankfully and left the room, leaning her back against the closed door for a second before heading downstairs.

She walked slowly and quietly, trying her best to avoid being heard. She snuck her way to the living room corner and paused when she heard words that beat on her heart.

"I like you!"

Eve stared at the wall in surprise. Her hands clenched as she stopped herself from going out. She didn't know why she felt so upset, just the other day she was completely on board with Beth's plan, and more than that, she was supportive.

So when did she start feeling like this?

"Beth, I'm sorry."

Eve's eyes widened in surprise. Had he said what she thought he said?

"You're amazing. It's just…I have so much going on in my life right now. My friends, my training, school…we both know how stressful school is."

Eve slid her back against the wall until she was sitting on the ground. She clutched her legs tightly, and much to her own anger, she smiled. She knew Darius was busy, that he had practice nearly everyday and didn't have time for other things, but what made her even happier is that even with everything going on, he still wanted to make time for his friends.

A tear left Eve's eye, one she quickly wiped up.

"Yeah…I g-get it." Beth said in a sad tone, making Eve feel bad for being happy at this moment. Bethany was her friend…it was wrong for her to feel like this right now, but she couldn't help it.

"Trust me when I say…you can do way better than me."

Another small smile crossed Eve's face. It was just like Darius to pick someone up emotionally in a situation like this. Eve's hand came to her heart, and she could feel it beating through her chest. Her smile grew larger, and her cheeks turned a rosy color.

Suddenly, Eve heard someone running toward her and quickly activated her powers, floating against the ceiling. Looking down, she saw Bethany run past her and up the stairs.

Eve released her powers and dropped back to the ground, releasing a nervous gasp. That was a close one…She didn't know what would have been worse. Revealing her powers or revealing the fact that she was eavesdropping.

Again she heard footsteps and this time it was too late to activate her powers. Darius walked around the corner, his eyes widening a bit as he saw her.

"Hey Eve…what are you doing down here?"

Eve looked down and stayed silent for a moment. "I-Uh, I was looking for the bathroom." Her words were so blatantly a lie that it wasn't even funny, and as she looked back up at Darius, she realized that he wasn't so easily fooled.

"I see." He frowned. "This is actually a good time, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Her heart stopped and then started beating faster than ever in her life.

He wanted to talk?

"A-Alright." She stuttered out and followed him as he walked back into the living room. He took a seat on the couch and she took one beside him.

They sat in silence for around ten seconds before he spoke a sentence that froze her entire world.

"Are you Atom Eve?"

She looked at him quickly, shocked as he stared at her indifferently. Her hands clenched tightly against her legs as flashes of the end of her friendship with Val came into her mind.

How had he known?! She tried her best to keep her identity hidden, so how?!

She felt like a huge piece of her was breaking. Unshed tears welled in her eyes as she forced herself to nod.

"I had a feeling."

"How…how did you know?" She whispered. Her secret was out, and she couldn't for the life of her understand how.

"A ginger hero around our age, wearing a mask that only covers the top half of her face, and on top of that, the hero's name is Atom Eve…" He explained slowly.

She couldn't stop the tears from falling out, staining the carpet beneath them.

"Woah, Eve, why are you crying?!" He asked, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look at him. She turned her head away, not wanting him to see her like this.

"I…I'm sorry, please don't leave me!"

He stared at her, completely flabbergasted by her words. He gripped her shoulders tighter as anger filled his eyes. "Why would I ever leave you?!"

Her eyes widened as she stared at him. "W-What?"

"Eve." He said, taking a deep breath. "You're one of my best friends. Do you really think being a hero would cause me to avoid you or something stupid like that?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. That's exactly what she thought would happen…so why?!

"If anything, I'd say this makes me want to be even closer to you!" He grinned. "You're Atom Eve, a hero with cool powers! Why the hell would you think I wouldn't want to be friends with a hero?"

That was the last straw for her. The floodgates opened, and tears began flowing out of her in a giant downpour. Darius looked at her surprised but quickly pulled her into his chest. She pressed her head into his shirt and cried more than she had ever in her life.

All her days being called weird, being alone, or losing friends…it all came back to her, and for the first time in her life, she had someone who fully accepted her.

As the tears ran out, she still remained in his embrace for several minutes before finally rubbing her face one last time on his shirt and pulling away. She looked at him, and it was like she was seeing him in a new light. Ever since she met him, she admired and respected him, but now it was different. Throughout the entire world, he alone was the one to accept her.

She knew her face was a mess, but couldn't look away from him. She realized at that moment how much she liked his eyes. They were brown, but it was hard to explain. It was almost like there was a tinge of bright yellow in his eyes that brought her even more comfort.

"Do you feel better now?" Darius asked with a chuckle. Eve snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at Darius' shirt.

"...I'm sorry about your shirt." Eve looked away.

"Don't be." He rubbed the back of his head. "If you ever get upset again, don't be afraid to come here. I'll go through a thousand shirts before I turn you away."

Her cheeks grew red as she stared at him.

It wasn't fair. If he said stuff like that…

"I just realized how long I've been down here; why don't we head up." Darius stood up and walked over to the snacks. Eve followed behind him after wiping her face one last time.

"Yeah…let's go."

— Darius (The Next Day) —

Eve, Mark, and I hopped off the bus and walked toward Mark's house. Today, it was just the three of us, and as we made it toward the front entrance, Eve and I shared a nod.

After yesterday's events, Eve opened up to me a great deal more at school. She explained how her parents treated her and about her old friend, Val, who started ignoring her when she revealed her powers to her.

Reading about her experiences and hearing what she went through were too different. Her father is a piece of shit, and her mother is a submissive bitch that is a fucking coward for staying with that bastard. On top of that, her friend is a little pussy as well. Ignoring her because she has powers is just a different level of wrong.

The last thing we talked about was her experience as Atom Eve, and damn did it make me want to awaken my powers quicker than ever.

From what I could tell, her time as a hero has been fun for the most part and very fulfilling with the amount of lives she has saved. She mentioned that it gets a little dangerous…or creepy at times, and I wondered if she had seen that doctor guy yet.

So, today, we're at Mark's house for one reason.

It was time for her to let him in on the secret.

I suggested she tell Mark about the whole Atom Eve thing while keeping it a secret from everyone else. She was a little hesitant at first, but in the end, she trusted me.

As we sat in Mark's room, the boy looked at Eve expectantly after I had mentioned that she had something she wanted to tell him.

"Mark…I'm Atom Eve."

Mark's eyes widened in surprise, and his gaze shot over to me, getting a small nod, before shooting back to Eve.

"Woah!"

— Chapter End —

Beta Reader: Basilisk Dragonboy1