You Will Always Be My Hero

“We need to talk. Please, try and understand my side of this. I still want to be friends, and I’ll never tell your secret. I trust that you’ll never tell mine.” Jason sat there stone faced. He didn’t know what I was going to say to him. He didn’t know that I was going to completely rip his heart out and step on it. “I’m seeing someone else. And please, before you yell, let me apologize. You don’t deserve this. I’m so sorry that this is happening. I’m so sorry that it has to happen like this. When I started developing feelings for him, I never thought that this would happen. Please, I’m begging you to forgive me for this.” My eyes were threatening to release years, and his had already started to. Not saying a word, he walked away. I wish he would’ve yelled. I deserved to be yelled at. What kind of girl does that to her boyfriend? What kind of girl am I now? I’m a cheater. I hate myself for it.

My secret is now in Jason’s hands. He is the only one who knows about my powers, except my family. I wasn’t alone, though, because Jason has powers too. Before and during our relationship, he used them for good, but once I cheated on him, he began to act out. His powers became stronger and he became evil, even in his human life.

My new relationship is great. My boyfriend’s name is William, and he is a total catch. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and there is no doubt in my mind that we are meant to be. I used to think that I loved Jason, even though our relationship was only two months long. Now I know that I didn’t even understand what love is when I was with him. With William, it’s real. And unlike Jason and me, we were extremely close friends before we started dating. Jason and I didn’t really communicate much before or during our relationship. This is mostly my fault, because I just couldn’t get myself o be serious with him, unless it came to our powers.

We both have the same basic powers – super strength and being able to fly. It is possible that we may develop other powers as we age, but it is not guaranteed. Personally, I hope that I do not get any more powers. I rarely have to use the ones I have now, and I don’t want to have to learn and practice something new.

It has been two years since Jason and I broke up, but lately Anika and Extreme have been fighting a lot. Anika and Extreme are our non-human forms. It seems like he has left me alone for all this time, but now I’ve learned that he has been practicing to become as evil as possible. I must say, he has come a long way in these two years. The old Extreme was shy and didn’t like having powers, but now he seems to be kicking my butt. Not only is his strength amazing, but I can’t help but feel sorry for putting him through everything with William.

“What happened to you?!” William screamed when I walked into his apartment.

“Nothing. Honestly, I’m okay. I just fell down some stairs,” Oh, and my ex-boyfriend beat the crap out of me. It’s okay, though, he hasn’t killed me…yet.

The lacerations on my hand and legs would leave permanent scarring, but I still have my life. Extreme seems to be trying his best to torture me. It’s obvious that he doesn’t completely want to kill me, because if he did, he would’ve just shot me by now. He doesn’t want me to die, he wants to me suffer. He wants me to know how he felt when I cheated on him. He doesn’t understand, though, that it was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. He doesn’t understand that it wasn’t fair to him that I had feelings for someone else. He doesn’t understand how much I hate myself for doing that to him. Mostly, he doesn’t understand how scared I am of myself. I’m terrified that I’m going to prove myself right about cheaters always being cheaters. I wish I could get him to understand all of this, but I’m not even sure if he’ll take my calls.

William is still concerned about my cuts. He definitely isn’t buying that I fell down stairs, but would he really believe that I am some kind of super hero? I doubt it, and I’m afraid to try it. What if he thinks I’ve gone off the deep end? What if he thinks that I’m just lying to him? The only way to prove to him that I do have powers would be to show him, but what if he totally freaks out? The risk is huge, but it may be one that I am willing to take. If he truly loves me, he will understand. Right? If we are the real thing, he will accept my abnormality. The thing I’m worried about most is that he might tell other people. If people find out, I couldn’t be myself. I would no longer be Anna, I would forever be known as Anika.

“Baby, move in with me. Please, let me look after you. I don’t want you to keep getting hurt like this. I love you. Let me protect you.” William has asked this question three times since my ‘accident.’ I would love to move in with him, but first I need to tell him everything.

“I love you, too, William. I love you so much. You are my world, my everything, but I think we need to talk.” Here I go. Wish me luck – I’ll need it. “I’ve been hiding something from you. Please, don’t be angry. I didn’t want to have to lie to you, but I really had no choice. When I tell you, just please hear me out. I’m going to trust you with my biggest secret, and my life. You’re going to think that I’m crazy,” I pause, laugh nervously, and finish my sentence, “but I have special powers. Wow, I sound like a loon, but please let me explain. I am, and have been since birth, abnormal. I have super strength, and I can fly, but that is only when I am Anika. I always use my powers for good. I have been practicing since the young age of three, and I have pretty much reached my peak. These cuts and bruises are not from falling down stairs. They are from fighting my enemy, Extreme. We have only been enemies for the past two years. In fact, before then, he was one of the good guys. After our break up, though, he started practicing how to become evil. I do not think that he will kill me, but I’m not completely sure. Right now, I just believe that he wants to me suffer like he had to when we broke up. I know that you probably never want to see me again, but if the offer still stands, I want to move in with you. Not so you can protect me, but so I can be with you. I love you.” Tears are now falling from my eyes, and my whole body is shaking. At any moment, he could just walk away. I could lose him forever, and all because of my stupid powers. I never asked for my powers, they were just given to me.

Mentally, I am begging him to speak, but he is silent. He is trying to process everything I just laid on him. He is probably trying to figure out how to leave without me going crazy and using my strength against him.

After ten minutes, he finally says, “I’m not really sure what to think right now. I want to believe that you are crazy, but I know you better than that. I know that you would never lie to me, and I am so happy that you trust me enough to know your secret. I promise not to tell anyone, Anna, but I think I might need some time to think about all of this.” And now, he’s gone. I’m not sure if I’ll ever see him again, but I can only hope for the best.

Here I am, all alone, waiting, hoping. This is the worst feeling I’ve ever felt before. A part of me believes that he will come back, but the other part of me isn’t quite sure. My mind and my heart are saying two different things. Should I trust that he won’t tell anyone, or should I be worried? Right now, I’m not too sure what to think about William, but I know that I need to talk to Jason.

“Hello?” His voice…it seems so angry. I stall, panic, unable to talk. “Hello? Is someone there?” Silence,” Whatever, I’m hanging up now.”

Deep breath, here we go, “Hi, um, Jason? This is Anna. Please, don’t hang up. I think we need to talk. It’s important. Please, just hear me out.” My heart is racing, about to beat straight out of my chest, but this needs to be done.

“The Diner – twenty minutes. I’ll be in the back booth.” Click, dial tone.

It’s been fifteen minutes, but I’m at The Diner anyway. Mostly because of nerves, but also because if I’m not here before he is, I might chicken out and just not show up. This conversation, no doubt, is going to be uncomfortable and frightening, but it should have happened a long time ago.

I’m caught up in my own world when I hear beside me, “What do you want to talk about?” Again, his voice sounds plain angry. Not that I blame him, but it’s scaring me.

“This may take a while, but please just hear me out. I know that you were extremely hurt when we broke up. I understand that. I was hurt too. It shouldn’t have happened like it did, but I can’t take it back. If I could, I would, because I never meant to change you like this. You used to be this sweet, good guy, but now you’re just evil. I don’t want you to be like this. I don’t want to fight with you. I want you to go back to normal, to be my good friend. Seeing you like this hurts me, because I know that I am the reason that you became this way. What happened to the old Jason? I know he’s not gone. He’s hiding in there somewhere, and I think it’s time for him to come back out. Cheating on you is the worst thing I’ve ever done to someone. And it really sucks that I did it to you, but I was so confused. I didn’t know what I wanted. And now, I know what I want and probably won’t get it. You might think I don’t, but I think about you all the time. I think about the good times, but mostly the bad times. I think about how horrible it must have been for you, but I could never apologize enough for what I did. I just ask one thing from you. I ask you to forgive me for what I did. Let me prove to you that I can still be a good friend, even though I was a terrible girlfriend. Let me help you become good again. All I want is for you to be happy, honestly.” Deep breath, exhale. Come on, Anna, hold it together.

He’s silent. Asking him to forgive me is a long shot, but I had to try. I would have regretted it for the rest of my life if I hadn’t tried. His mouth opens, but closes again. His eyes, however, do not seem as dark as they did before I spoke.

“Forgiving you is going to be the hardest thing I’ll ever do, but I can try. I’m not saying that we’re going to be best friends or anything, but it must have taken a lot of guts to come talk to me about this. I understand that it must have been hard for you too, but you will never know how I felt. My whole world came crashing down, Anna. You broke me in half. The least you could have done is talked to me before you started going out with William. Maybe we could’ve worked it out, but even if we couldn’t have, we could’ve discussed all of this before hand. You wouldn’t have had to cheat on me. I loved you, and I wanted you to be happy. If you being with someone else is the only way to achieve happiness, I would have understood…eventually. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have been upset, but I wouldn’t have been as upset as I was. I would love to have a friendship with you, but it may take time to get to that point. Please, just understand that I am still getting over this.” And now, he’s walking out of the door. He didn’t give me time to respond, but I’m not so sure that I would’ve known what to say.

I’ve begun to pack my things to move into William’s apartment. He still hasn’t spoken to me, but I’m going to be optimistic about the situation. I’ve mostly just packed things that I don’t really need on a daily basis, because I’m not sure how long it’s going to be until I finally hear back from him.

“I’m coming, I’m coming. Don’t hang up!” I yell into the other room, running to answer my phone. It’s William’s ringtone. My heart is racing, my stomach is knotting, and my brain is scrambling. “Hello? Are you there?” I answered, breathlessly.

“Hi, Anna. How are you?” He sounds shy, almost like he’s scared to talk to me.
“I guess I’m alright. I miss you, though. Have you been doing well?” Please say yes. I want you to be happy, no matter what choice you make.

“I’ve been doing fine. I miss you, too. I’ve been thinking a lot about what you told me. I still love you, Anna, which will never change. The offer to move in with me still stands, if you actually want to. I want to be with you – forever. And remember, you will always be my hero”

I’m smiling so wide that my mouth hurts. My stomach still has butterflies, and I begin to jump for joy. “I’ll be over tonight. I’ve just got to pack a few more things. I love you.” I hang up, and start to cry - tears of happiness, of course.

Right now, life couldn’t be better. I’m moving in with my wonderful boyfriend, I’ve started to become friends with my ex. I’m so happy that I can barely control it. I’m in the car, dancing and singing along to the radio. Then, a bright light, a horn, and a crash. My life is flashing before my eyes, and before I know it I’m in an ambulance. I hear panic in the paramedic’s voice. He’s not sure if I’m going to make it. Beep, beep, flat line.