This is for The Hero

Chapter Two
"Hey." Someone nudged me.

"Hey, wake up."

I recognized the voice, and of all things I didn't want to wake up because of her.

SMACK.

"Get the fuck up!"

The left side of my face was stinging, and I was groaning in pain. I finally opened my eyes. "What do you want, Jaro?"

"You slept through English class." She said, "Again. When are you going to learn that this is your LAST class of the day and that sleeping in here means that no one is going to care enough to wake your stupid ass up?"

"You can't blame me. Professor Graham is boring to listen to." I retaliated.

"Yeah, well, we both know that we can't escape the fact that is whole college is boring and old. Not to mention, it sucks. Come on, Shane, stand up."

"No, I'm comfy."

She raised her hand in the air again, and I swiftly stood up to flinch away from her slap. She got my arm, which was thankfully covered by my jacket.

"You're lucky."

Jaro was that one badass friend everyone had, or at least that everyone wanted. Her full name was Maddie Jaro, but she despised that name and she told people to call her Jaro. When classmates didn't to her in middle school and kept teasing her about her name, which I never understood, she became what I call Super Bitch, and after she was done with them, they never messed with her again. She started to become my friend after she realized that I was one of those people that apparently had something wrong with them to the rest of the student body, so she walked up to me and asked if she could be my 'bodyguard'. I thought she was joking, but she really had a point for asking because I was slammed into lockers and thrown into dumpsters a lot because of me being out of the closet. At this point, we had only known each other as 'that one person'. So I did what any teenager would do.

I fucking said yes, because free bodyguards are fucking awesome.

After a while of her beating the shit out of the bullies, no one messed with me anymore. Then, at that point, we had grown towards each other, and we became best friends.

Yeah, it's a predictable story, but still, it was awesome to see a random person come up to me one day, then next thing you know, we were inseparable best friends.

"Come on," I said. "I'll walk you to your car."

Jaro smiled, and we locked arms while walking.

"So have you decided who you are taking to The Bash yet?" Jaro was joking. Well, at least at hope she was.

"Are you kidding me? I'm sure that no one is wanting to put a glass slipper on my huge foot anytime soon. My size thirteen shoe would have to be a special order from a glass blower. Gay guys are not willing to come out anytime soon in college because they should have done it back in high school. Thank God I came out in sixth grade and got it over with."

"Well, maybe you should get out of your dorm some more. Go to some parties. Live life a little."

"I have a life!"

"Watching reality tv shows and reading the Shades of Grey trilogy is not a life. What about friends?"

"Hey, I ha-"

"Not just me, other people. You need some new friends. I'm not going to be the only one to save the day for you from the jocks when they decide to take out the trash."

She had a point. Oh, well, time to play dumb.

"I'll be able to evade out of any situation. I'm not completely helpless."

"We'll see."

We walked the rest of the way to her car in silence. Everyone thinks that silences with friends are awkward, but I find them to be healthy. As my parents used to say, the people willing to listen to you don't completely care about what you say. Walking in silence showed that the two of you didn't need to talk about everything in order to keep a friendship going. You only needed your presence. That's exactly why Jaro was my friend.

"Hello, car, I missed you." Jaro lightly slid her finger against the new paint job of her black Ford Mustang. "Alright, I'll see you later, Coco."

Holy crap. I started laughing my ass off. "You haven't called me that since junior high."

"Well, you were my male Coco Chanel. Everyone else could go blow a goat because you, my friend, are the most individual person I've met. You're just awesome. Alright, love you lots, bye!" She hugged me, and then she hopped in the driver's seat of her car and slammed the door. I waved my hand goodbye while she drove her bitch down the street.

"Hey, pledge!"

Just when I thought my day was going good...

I turned around to face Randal and his army of dumbasses. "What is it this time?"

"Hey, don't use that tone of voice with me, pledge. You weren't at the meeting today. You know what that means?"

"Rape?"

"Funny. It's time for a punishment ritual. Eight o'clock. Don't be late or we'll hunt you down."

"No." I firmly said.

"Oh, are you wishing to get beaten?"

"Who knows? I might like it. You know, chains and whips excite me, and all that shit." I winked at him slightly, and he grabbed me by the collar.

"You better shut your mouth, pledge! You're getting on my last fucking nerve!" Randal was steaming and turning red.

"I'm sorry, did I trigger a nerve? I didn't know that you were into bondage. Or did I?" Poor Randal. He didn't realize that I basically knew everything around the school, and I knew that him and Swadley were fuck buddies and that their safety word was always 'banana'. He just didn't admit it. What Randal didn't know that I knew was that he was the bottom. I was that one sneaky gossip that knew everything.

Well, I definitely said the wrong thing because he ran me into a nearby car in the parking lot.

"Shut your FUCKING mouth, Shane!"

"Oh, so now I have a name." I was seriously exceeding my limits here.

Randal drew back his fist, and I clenched my eyes shut, waiting for the blow.

"Let. Him. Go."

I opened my eyes to see that Randal's fist was still in the air, but it was being held back. What was holding him was unknown to me, though, because he was struggling to move his arm and fist.

"What the fuck are you going to d-"

A force held me back by my right shoulder, and what seemed to be the same force pulled Randal away from me and into the air. I later heard screams coming from Swadley and Herman, and soon, they became distant.

CRASH.

I looked back into the distance, and a car's roof was inverted with feet hanging off the side.

I muttered, "Holy shit..."

"Are you okay?"

The voice came from the air; I found the source.

"Oh, my God..." I said, "…Superstition?"

His feet descended onto the ground, and his hands gestured in the air. "In the flesh."

"Please don't hurt me." I quickly said.

"That's the thanks I get for saving your face?"

"Sorry." I would have been muttering complete thoughts if it weren't a superhero and just Jaro.

"You're welcome... Keep my face a secret. It would mean a lot to me if you would." He sounded worried.

I slowly nodded.

"Thank you...?"

"Shane Davies."

He nodded. "Thank you, Shane."

With that, he flew off.

Oh, my God...

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Being unsocial is extremely easy. Though there comes a day in everyone's life when what you have been doing with relative ease becomes the most difficult task for you.

Today was that day.

There's a day when you realize that it's time to stop being so closed off from the world and you know that it's time to break out from your self-imprisonment.

Today was that day.

There's a day that you find a person that you couldn't see yourself without, and even though you don't know them that well, you feel an instant connection.

Today was that day.

Sometimes, being the superhero sucks.

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"Wait, you saw him?!"

"Ye-"

"What does he look like? Holy shit, Shane, do you know how big this? This is major!" Jaro was elated.

"I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone. He said that he didn't want anyone to know."

"Come on, Shane, please?" Jaro gave me her failing puppy dog eyes, and I rolled my eyes.

"He's white and somewhat pale, long blonde hair and green eyes. He was really cute."

All lies. He wasn't anything I expected, but he wasn't just cute, he was amazing. He was tan with a somewhat round face, and he had trimmed jet black hair that looked slick. He had a mix of hazel and brown eyes. I couldn't remember a detailed mental image, though.

"Oh, my God, Shane, he sounds adorable! I wish I was there to see it."

"It happened right after you left, too. You should have seen it." I was turning red and I knew it. Thank God the flashing lights were everywhere.

We were at our favorite hangout: Breaker. Breaker was a club that was for adults twenty-one and over, but with the magic of fake IDs, Jaro and I are able to get in easily. We may have been only nineteen, but our brain capacities were over the limit for a thirty year old, so we felt that we didn't need to be treated like children anymore. Dancing here in Breaker is beyond the feeling of ecstasy because all the bodies around you that are dancing to the beat, you can feel their energy. It's one of the best experiences that I have had.

Jaro was the one to talk first after our little silence. "Why don't you get out their and dance?"

"Alright, let's go, then!"

"No, Shane." Jaro smiled. "Without me. You need to start meeting new people. I love you to death, but you can't just always be around me."

"But-"

"Hey." A voice interrupted me.

Jaro had her mouth slightly agape, and I was scared to turn around. Jaro motioned me, and I tilted my head to the left to see behind me.

"You wanna dance?" The stranger said.

I turned around to face the stranger, and I just about died. Jaro got close to my ear, and whispered, "Live life..." I shrugged her chin off my shoulder.

"Yes, I would." I said to the guy.

I turned my head to Jaro real quick, and she motioned her hands from herself to the door. Then, she waved her hand and fled.

The guy grabbed my hand, and he led me down to the crowd of dancers. We stopped somewhere near the middle, and we began bob and step to the beat.

"So, does a fine face like yours have a name?" The stranger said, and I tried to hold back my laughter.

"Nice try, slick. You need some work on your pickup lines. But the name's Shane. You?"

"Trenton."

"Well, hi." I said. I started to get into my dancing.

Trenton smiled, and he asked, "Can I get your number?"

I smiled, also. "We just met."

"I want to get to know you better. Please?"

I hesitated for a short while, and said, "Why not?" I kept stepping to the best while I searched my pocket for a pen. "Give me your hand."

I wrote the seven digits, and I capped the pen. "There you go." I grinned big at him, and we kept dancing.

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It didn't take that much effort, but I got his number.

Now, how hard is it going to be to keep this facade going? It took me forever to remember my actual birth name before Superstition. Let's just hope this goes according to plan.

You, Trenton, are a slick and sneaky one.

We danced for a while longer, then I decided to go to the AT&T store to actually get a phone to call him on.

"Hey, I gotta fly." I said. Puns are probably my best friend at the moment.

"You just got here! Come on, stay a little longer. You're awesome to hang out with." Shane said.

He was being flirty, and even though I've been secluded away from society for a long time, I wasn't blind. Since it was cute, though...

"Okay." I got closer to Shane and he brought his arms around my neck. He put his head on my chest, and I sat my chin on the top of his head while the DJ began to play a slow song.