This is for The Hero

Chapter Three
I was in the bistro for my morning coffee at four in the morning, and Jaro had once again become so ecstatic that her veins were practically showing throughout her tensed up arms that were clenching my face. "Oh, my God, I can't believe it! You had two awesome things going on at once! You met the Unmasked Hero and got a fucking boyfriend! I can't believe it! Karma has seriously taken a sudden interest in you. I'm jealous."

I was smiling, and Jaro's intense, hazel eyes were staring at me, just waiting for an answer.

"It was an amazing night, but right now, I'd rather focus on getting caught up on my Calculus homework. Plus, he's not my boyfriend. I only gave him my number." My smile faintly disappeared, and I looked back down at my textbook while lightly moving Jaro's hands.

"Hey, who stuck a bee up your ass? You should be glowing right now!" she said with a twinge of annoyance.

"Nothing's wrong, Jaro. I'm just stressed." I tried to play it cool.

"I'm not a retard, Shane. Now, tell me what the fuck is wrong or else I will take this stool and shove it up your ass."

If I thought I was getting out of this conversation before, it was going to be impossible now. "He Who Will Not Be Named was there last night after Trenton left me by the bar in Breaker." I muttered.

Jaro's face lit up. "Oh, shit..."

"Yeah." I kind of felt iffy on this subject and didn't want to stay on it long. Jaro knew this, thankfully.

Her face began to mope. "Well, that's the past, Shane. It's time to let that go."

"It's not the fact that I can't let it go, it's that he got away with it without getting the proper punishment." My voice began to raise it's volume.

Jaro lifted her hands in surrender. "Hey, calm yourself. I'm just trying to be helpful."

"...I know. Sorry."

"It's fine." She gave me a goofy smile. "I love you lots, Shane."

I grinned back at her. "I love you, too."

She changed the subject. "So about The Bash?"

"If something happens, and if he ever calls me, I may ask Trenton to come with me." I said.

Jaro's smile was huge, and I nearly laughed because of it. "That's awesome. I think I might ask this one kid in my History class that I think is cute, but I don't know yet."

She went on to talk about his looks and how cute he looked when he was chewing his gum, and even though she was my best friend, it sounded kind of stalker-like.

As for myself, though, I should've asked for his number because I highly doubt he is going to remember to text or call me anytime soon if I haven't gotten anything so far. I had all Saturday and Sunday to wait, though, so I decided to remain patient.

There was still something bothering me about Trenton, though. We only started dancing for about five minutes, then he asked for my number, so it kind of scared me of his intentions to what he was going to do with it. Considering what happened with--

I immediately shook that thought away. Like Jaro said, there wasn't any reason to dwell on the past if it has already happened. I can't change anything of what happened, and that was final.

...Still, it meant too much to me to know that he would do something like that. I wish that I would have-

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Crap, I was too deep in my thoughts to listen to her. I had to stop doing that...

"Sorry." I said. "It's just that my brain won't shut up."

"It's fine. I understand. Since you ran into him last night, it's just bringing bad memories back to you." She took my hand and placed in both of hers. "Calm down."

I had realized that my hand started to clench into a fist, and I quickly got rid of my grip.

My voice didn't come out, but I mouthed to her, "Thank you."

"Anytime." She stood up from the bar that we were on, and I joined her walking outside. She held the door open for me to walk though.

"Such a gentleman." I chuckled. She lightly slapped the back of my shoulder as I walked through the door.

"Shut up."

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I was in my dorm room, and I sat on my bed, flipping through channels and keeping a close eye on my phone while it was on the charger. I knew that things like this took time, but I was afraid that he might never call. As everyone says, though, patience is a virtue.

I quickly pulled back my arm to look at the buttons on the remote, and I pushed zero-five to change it to the news.

"-seemed like he was left overnight before he was found in the Barcarole University parking lot, laying on a caved in car roof. The victim had a few injuries, such as a fractured collar bone, a broken forearm, and a concussion. Police say that they aren't sure what happened, but do have a lead since fingerprints were found on the victim's gold bracelet, which matched to BU's student Shane Davies. Authorities have begun the investigation, and we'll keep you updated."

Fuck! I fled a crime scene yesterday, and Swadley and Herman didn't bother to call the authorities at all. Those selfish bastards...

Then again, I didn't do anything about it either, so I wasn't in any position to say anything.

My phone began to vibrate, and I started to panic. I looked at the number, and it was unknown, which scared me of it being the police. Not wanting to be a coward, I picked up my phone.

"Hello?" I muttered.

"Hey. It's Trenton. I saw your name on the news, and it reminded me to call you up."

That's a great first impression with someone. I slapped my forehead and wanted to scream, but I kept myself collected.

"Shit, you saw that?"

"Yeah, I was just watching the local news as usual and I saw that a kid named Randal got pummeled in the parking lot. Whoever did it must have been pretty strong to break a car roof."

"Yeah, well, let's just say that he wasn't your average person you expect to see. It was Superstition. He apparently decided to fly by and save my face from Randal's fist without even touching him. I forgot what that was called, though..."

"Telekinesis." Trenton said. "The power to control objects with your mind."

"Well, since when are you the expert?" I said while smiling.

"Since I was born, boy." His voice just got fifty times sexier over the phone.

My TV began to blare again. "This just in, the Springside Public Library has caught on fire, and the fire department has just been notified. Let's go to the helicopter camera for a look." The screen panned to an aerial view of the library, which had flames on the entire west wing. Damn, there went my chances on picking up Fifty Shades of Grey in the Adult Fiction section.

I heard noises coming from Trenton's side of the line. "Hey, I, uh, gotta go. I'll call you as soon as I can. Bye!"

Before I could say bye back, the line went dead. Rude, much? I threw my phone back onto the end table.

I watched on the screen, and as I thought, Superstition was there to save the day. He flew by the camera swiftly, then flew inside the west wing. I took the remote and pushed the power button.

This dumbass most likely got me in trouble with the fuzz. Irony at it's best.

There was a knock at my door, and I jumped at the sound. I opened the door, and two men were standing behind it.

"Hello. I'm Officer Horowitz and this is Officer Bryan. We need to ask you a few questions."

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I, Maddie Jaro, am uber pissed.

Fucking Shane. He needed me to pick him up from the police station, and whatever he did, I'm going to kill him for. He said he would explain, so he better fucking explain.

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I saw Jaro, and from the looks on her face, I was in for it.

She stopped in front of the entrance and opened the passenger door without getting out of the driver's seat. "Get in, bitch."

I sighed. When I sat down, I was handed an immediate slap to the face before I could even shut the car door. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why the hell did you have to go to the fucking police station?"

I shut my door, and Jaro floored it while I started talking. I explained the whole Superstition predicament again, and how Randal was found on the car roof with a bunch of broken bones.

"They found my fingerprints on some of his bracelets and they thought I had something to do with it. I told them everything, yet they still have their doubts since they don't have any evidence of it."

"Alright, well, let's just go to Breaker and just forget tonight. Okay? It looks like you need a stress reliever." Jaro tried to be on the lighter side of the situation, but after being interrogated by the police, the idea didn't seem so keen to me.

"Just take me home. I don't feel like going tonight." I massaged my head for a second from the headache that was approaching.

"No, you're going tonight. I don't care what the fuck you say, you're drinking with me." When she stood her ground, there wasn't any changing her mind. I had to try, though, because there was no way that I was walking into Breaker with this kind of attitude and look on my face.

"Please? I'm tired."

"Take some DayQuil and get over it."

"I don't see any lying around."

"Glove compartment." She reaches over and opened it. "You got aspirin, DayQuil, 5 Hour Energy shots; everything you need to stay awake."

I looked through and the whole time, I was thinking, 'This bitch is insane. She has enough shit in here to overdose a horse.' I grabbed a 5 Hour Energy and chugged it down. There was a feeling in my stomach, though, that this wasn't going to mix well with the Shirley Temple that I was going to get at Breaker.

I got my phone out of my pocket, and sent a text to Trenton, asking him if he could hang out with Jaro and I. As soon as I sent it, I got an immediate reply.

'Be there soon.'

"Trenton's coming." I said.

"Fine with me."

Alright, so I guess this night won't be as bad as I thought it would. We pulled up to a parking spot near the club and climbed out of the car to wait outside for the bouncer to let us in.

"So did Trenton call you? I see you finally got his number." Jaro asked.

"Yeah," I muttered, "but it was only because he heard my name on the news when they were talking about finding Randal in the BU parking lot."

Jaro started laughing, but I didn't see what was hilarious. "It wasn't funny! It was embarrassing as hell, and I definitely don't want to go through that again. He probably thinks that I'm a psychopath, now."

"Have fun with that." She was still smiling, and I could tell that it was a challenge for her to keep her laughs in.

"Are you going to be okay?" I smiled at her, and her face was red. "Let it out."

As soon as I said that, her signature laugh burst out, and she wouldn't stop until we got to the entrance. Even then, though, she was still giggling to herself. I didn't see how one could find something like that so funny.

The bouncer held out his hand, and we both handed our IDs in unison. He clicked his flashlight to see better, and then handed us back the IDs and gestured his hand towards the inside.

"How long do you think until someone catches on about these IDs?" I asked.

Jaro smacked my arm. "Don't jinx it."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Just asking."

We got to the bar, and Trenton was already leaning on it, looking around. I unlinked arms with Jaro and ran towards him.

"Hey." I smiled at him, and he grinned back.

"Hey. How are you?"

"Oh, you know, I got interrogated by the police, bitched out by my best friend, and I'm on an adrenaline rush from a 5 Hour Energy. The usual." Hopefully, he got that sarcasm.

He chuckled. "Well, hopefully, you last long enough to stay with me tonight."

I wanted to faint, but I'll keep that thought to myself. "I have it in me."

"You sure? Those energy shots only last so long. I don't think you have it."

I got closer. "If things don't work out here, we can crash at my place tonight. I mean, if you're cool with it."

"I'm fine with that." Trenton didn't have a problem with me in his personal space. In fact, he moved even closer to me.

"'The fuck is going on here?" Ugh. Fucking Jaro. She always had to be the first cockblock. Usually, it's my alarm, telling me to get my ass out of my one night stand's house and get ready for school.

I turned to her and set my stare from stun to kill. She waved her hands in the air to show her surrender. "Just remember that I'm your ass's ride home."

"How many drinks have you had already?"

"Are you referring to actual beers or shots? Those are two different things."

Shit. "Jaro, we're going to have to do our technique."

"What? I can drive. We haven't done the technique in forever. What's the technique, again?" Jaro was staggering.

"You get a taxi, I drive your car, then I give it to you tomorrow."

"Oh, you're talking about your One Night Stand technique. Okay." If looks could kill, she would be dead.

"Jaro!" I turned red in front of Trenton, who was still staring at me with those certain eyes that make you feel awkward. It seemed as though he wasn't even listening, and I was thankful for that. I gave Jaro a 'shoo' notion, and she walked away.

When she moved out of the way, though, I immediately wished that she hadn't. I retreated to Trenton, and he stared down at me. I didn't stare back, though, because I had to keep my eyes on 'him' to make sure he didn't see me.

"What's going on, bro?" Trenton asked.

If I were wanting to pay attention to him, then I would have laughed at him for saying 'bro', but I was being distracted by someone else.

"It's just someone I don't want to run into. Stay still and be quiet." I commanded.

"Why would I have to be quiet? We're in a club, remember?" Trenton said slowly.

"Shut up." It sounded harsh when I said it, but I didn't mean for it to come out like that. Lucky for me, though, Trenton listened.

'He' was talking to some guys, but they looked like friends, so I wouldn't be too worried about them being victims. He nodded, and he began to walk towards the bar that Trenton and I were at.

"Shit! Get in front of me. Just basically hide me from him. I can't him see m-"

"Is that who I think it is?" a voice called out to me.

Shit, I was spotted. I turned around to look at him, and he was drunk, I could tell.

"Hi, Stephen." I said, irritated already.

"Damn, you got fat."

"Well, I'm sure your less-than-willing fuck buddies aren't any better." We both kept staring each other down.

"Is this your new boyfriend?" He asked, and I stepped in front of Trenton.

"That's none of your business. I would appreciate it if you left us, now."

He looked at Trenton. "Watch out, whoever the fuck you are. If you touch him wrong, he'll press charges."

My face turned red, and the irritation that was building up in my body was about to reach it's boiling point. "Your idiot ass tried to take advantage of me. When I told you 'no', you didn't stop, and when I finally got your ass off of me, I drove away. You wouldn't leave me alone after that, and I had no other choice but to press charges. We were going great, but then you became an asshole, and you really hurt me."

He lit a cigarette, and he blew the first cloud of smoke into my face. "You didn't have any proof."

"I had your text messages in my phone and I even recorded a conversation of us when you were threatening me."

"Yes, but my lawyer proved all of that proof forged and mimicked to sound like me." He smiled and kept smoking his cigarette.

I looked at Trenton, and he looked like he was about to blow up. "Come on, let's go, please? I don't want to deal with him."

Trenton looked like he wasn't going to budge without leaving a bruise on Stephen's face. He looked down at me and lightened his anger. "Okay. Lead the way."

We walked past Stephen while I held Trenton's hand to guide him out.

"A word of advice: You chose the wrong guy to date. I had him for seven months, and he still wouldn't put out!"

Trenton let go of my hand, and before I knew it, Stephen was tackled onto the ground by him. Trenton kept slamming his fist into Stephen's face, and I ran over towards it fast.

"Trenton, stop, come on, let's just go to my place for now!" I grabbed his arm before it ran into Stephen's face, and he stopped dead on. "Let's go."

The music stopped in the club, and everyone was staring at us while Trenton got up off the floor and off of Stephen.

At the time I got Trenton's hand again, Jaro came from one of the bathrooms. She saw me going away from a beaten Stephen with Trenton in hand. "What the hell did I fucking miss this time, Shane?"

"Nothing, hail a cab!" I called out.

Before we walked out completely, I heard Jaro yell out, "Play the fucking music again! Jesus, what is this, a fucking monk monastery? Turn that shit up!"

There's classic Jaro for you.