Some Kind of Hero

I awoke the next morning with an arm around my waist and a blanket over my body. I heard a phone vibrating somewhere near my head, but chose to ignore it. Instead I snuggled closer to the body next to mine in hopes that the horrible buzzing noise would stop. When it didn’t, I opened my eyes, found the phone, and placed it on Stephen’s face before pretending to go back to sleep.

It took him all of three seconds to answer his phone.

“What?” he growled quietly, presumably trying not to ‘wake’ me.

I could faintly hear a much happier sounding male voice, likely John, on the other end. They bickered about something for a few moments before Stephen gave a final “No,” and hung up the phone. His last word was loud enough to have woken me up, so I decided to make my conscious presence known. I wanted to say something witty, but one thing dominated my thoughts.

“I’m hungry.”

Stephen had moved to a sitting position beside me, and looked down at me with raised eyebrows. “When was the last time you ate?”

I sat up and tried to think. My face contorted into many strange expressions as it often does when I am concentrating. Eventually I relaxed my face and shrugged, giving up on trying to recall these days that had been such a blur.

“I guess we should go get you some food then.”

---

We eventually ended up at a diner that served all-day breakfast. I had a hard time choosing what to eat. I was so hungry that I wanted every menu item in sight. Stephen eventually talked me out of getting a giant breakfast platter, so I settled on some crepes with a side of bacon.

We made small talk while we waited for our meals. I was glad things weren’t awkward between us because of what happened the previous night and that I could trust Stephen.

We ate our meals in silence until there was an alarming bang on our table, almost causing me to choke. A body shimmied it’s way into the booth next to me, and another did the same on Stephen’s side. I did not recognize the boy next to Stephen, but the one that had latched on to me was very familiar.

“Elsie! I’ve missed you!” John squealed, dangerously close to my ear. I awkwardly patted his head before glancing across the table. Stephen looked very unimpressed by our visitors while the boy beside him was staring at me curiously.

When he noticed me glancing his way, he smiled. “I’m Josh, by the way. And you’re Elsie. These two talk about you so much that I feel like we’re already best friends!”

I raised my eyebrows at Stephen, who just put his head in his hands.

“I’m sorry I can’t say the same about you!”

Josh looked like he was about to respond before his phone beeped. He looked at it before exclaiming, “Shit! We have to go, John,” and dragging John out of the restaurant.

By this time, we had finished our meals, so we paid the cheque and headed out. We were almost back to our houses when a car slowed down on the street beside us. It didn’t stop, but it kept creeping forward at the same pace as our steps. Tinted windows prevented us from identifying the driver, but I had a bad feeling creeping through my body. Stephen must have noticed I was getting anxious because he put his hand on my back and quickly led me to the safety of his house.