Unlikely Heroes

Mikaela listened to Cal's story, and grimaced.

"You, invisible?" She shuddered. "That's the most distressing thing I have ever heard. As if you weren't annoying enough as a normal conceited jerk."

Cal rolled his eyes. "I am not conceited. I'm confident and comfortable in my own skin, thank you, and it's most empowering."

Mikaela gave him a stony stare. "You gonna follow that speech up with some dark chocolate and a chick flick marathon?"

"Your attitude leaves a lot to be desired, Your Highness."

Mikaela cocked her head and scrunched her eyebrows in concentration.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to find one."

"Find one what?" Cal frowned.

"A fuck to give. Nope, sorry. All out." She stood and dusted off her skirt, sauntering back to the fence. She stopped in front of the hole in the chain link, focusing and waving her hand. The hole tore open further, metal snapping as it curled back. Feeling oddly pleased, she stepped through it and trekked back toward the car, Cal falling in step with her.

"So you've mastered this little talent of yours, have you?" he asked, glancing back at the fence.

"Not yet," Mikaela replied. "But I'll get there."

"And you call me the conceited one?"

"I make it a point to excel at things I have to do in life," she said coolly. "Not a concept I'd expect you to understand."

"Mommy and Daddy must be so proud of their perfect little princess."

Mikaela kept her expression neutral but felt her entire body tense as ugly thoughts and memories began to surge forth from the dark corners of her mind.

"Don't presume you're an expert on my life," she said haughtily, jerking the passenger door of his car open.

"Hey, be careful," Cal snapped. "You'll hurt her."

Mikaela stared at him. "That's the weirdest thing you've ever said."

Cal shoved her hands away from the door and closed it gingerly.

"You have to be gentle with her," he said as he got behind the wheel. "She needs respect, and-"

"Stop. This is a conversation you should be having with a professional psychiatrist."

"It's okay baby, she just doesn't understand us." Cal lovingly patted the dashboard and Mikaela was starting to think she should catch a bus home. She bounced her knee restlessly as she stared out the window, lost in thought. She was so absorbed in her own mind it took her longer than it should have to realize Cal had passed the school and was driving her straight home.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Driving, obviously."

"You don't have to take me home." She frowned. "You could have just dropped me at the school and I would've walked."

"Why do you walk to and from school anyway?" Cal asked, shooting her a curious look. "I think that meathead jock of yours would be willing to give you a ride."

Mikaela snorted. "Please. Derek is even worse than you."

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

Mikaela felt her lips try and twitch into a smile and quickly forced them to stay in a straight line.

"So, you really intend to become some telekinetic warrior woman?"

"Why not?" she asked defensively. "If I don't gain some semblance of control over this thing it's going to wreak havoc with my life. Besides, I don't know, maybe I could find some way to put it to good use."

Cal smirked. "You mean some with great power comes great responsibility kinda bullshit? Like a superhero? You're gonna roam the alleyways protecting the city from uber villains and giant robots?" He snickered.

"Yeah cause our giant robot problem is really getting out of hand," Mikaela dead panned. "But yeah sure, a superhero. Sounds great."

Cal started laughing harder and Mikaela would have smacked him if he weren't the one driving.

"You don't think I could do it?" She narrowed her eyes.

"I just really can't see you as a superhero."

"Because you know me so well," Mikaela scoffed. "Frankly I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Cal slowly turned his head and squinted at her. "Did you...did you just make a Star Wars reference?" he asked incredulously.

"What? Of course not. Shut up." Damn. This is what she got for watching the entire series over the weekend while she was practicing her "gift" and referring to it as using the Force. The last thing she needed was Cal knowing about her secret Star Wars obsession.

"I suppose you intend to use your weird invisibility thing to help you sneak out of girls houses before they wake up," Mikaela said, in an effort to change the subject. "Or play practical jokes on your teachers."

"Both excellent ideas." Cal nodded and Mikaela sighed, shaking her head.

"Typical. You suddenly inherit a freaky ability no one else has and you're going to completely waste it on stupid shit."

"Because you're so noble and charitable, Your Highness?" Cal retorted.

"At least I actually would try to help people with it, once I figure out exactly how to use it."

"You seem to have throwing shit at me down pat already."

"That was the first thing I practiced," she replied, batting her eyelashes. Cal rolled his eyes and pulled up in front of her house. Mikaela grabbed her bag and scooted out of the car.

"See you later, Super Girl," Cal smirked. Mikaela stuck her tongue out at him and flipped him off but resisted the urge to slam the door shut, closing it relatively gently. She retreated into the house. Super Girl she most assuredly was not, which she found incredibly unfortunate as she went into the kitchen and tried hard not to glance at the liquor cabinet against the dining room wall, which she kept covered with a sheet when her dad was gone. If it weren't for the fairly impressive entertainment center in the living room the house almost seemed like no one lived there. No photographs adorned the walls or the mantel and the furniture mostly looked unused.

Mikaela sighed. If she was going to wind up with a super power, she really wished it had been flight instead. Or maybe the ability to transform into someone else entirely and slip into a new life.



"I'm throwing a huge party on Saturday," Devon announced. "Spread the word. Assuming I can still stand up, with the way Mikaela puts us through the damn cheer routine. My legs still feel like jelly from yesterday. My brother's semester at college doesn't start till next week so he's visiting with some of his friends, and they're getting a ton of beer. I'm expecting to see everyone there. Maybe even Mikaela will finally deign to grace us with her presence, even if she is a square who doesn't drink."

"Yeah, I'll be there," Mikaela said without hesitation. Her dad would be back on Saturday. He was never in the best mood when he got home after a job and the less time she spent around him the better. It took less than a day for news of Devon's party to circulate through the entire school and Friday afternoon it was practically all Mikaela heard about. On Saturday she dressed in a white tank top, tight black mini skirt, black Converse and an aviator jacket while she waited for Sadie to come pick her up. She heard the front door open and felt herself flinch almost reflexively.

Her dad was home. Heavy footsteps trekked through the kitchen, and then almost on cue she heard the refrigerator door open and a can hiss open. He wasn't wasting any time today. Mikaela was actually relived to get a text from Sadie saying she'd arrived out front. Heart dropping, Mikaela ventured downstairs. Her dad was already on the couch in front of the TV, beer in hand. He must've been in an okay mood, if he wasn't starting off with the hard liquor.

"I'm going out," she said as she reached for the doorknob.

"Did I fucking ask you where you're going?" Her dad gave her a brief, annoyed look. "Just don't wake me up when you bring your sorry ass home."

She doubted that was even possible. He'd probably be passed out cold by then. But she said nothing else, just went out and got into Sadie's Jetta. She was silent on the drive to Devon's house, letting Sadie's inane chatter wash over her. Devon's house barely had breathing room, so many people had shown up. Mikaela felt slightly claustrophobic as she pushed through the crush of dancing bodies, lucking out and snagging a seat on the couch. Sadie and Janice soon joined her; Sadie offering her a Solo cup full of Corona. Mikaela shrank back, wrinkling her nose.

"Please, keep that shit away from me," she said. "It smells rank."

Janice rolled her eyes, chugging from her own cup. The three of them sat for a while, Janice and Sadie getting tipsy and Mikaela people watching. A drunk couple practically fell on her, their tongues jammed down each other's throats until Mikaela shouted at them to get a room.

"Ohmigosh!" Sadie gasped, almost spilling her beer on herself. "Cal and his friends....Brian and Larry or whatever. They came! How do I look? I gotta go talk to him."

"Sadie, there's this trait that most people are born with. It's called shame. Have you ever felt it at all, or were you somehow born without it?" Mikaela asked.

"Hold this for me!" Sadie shoved her Solo cup into Mikaela's hand and sprang off the couch, smoothing her clothes and hair.

"I guess that answers that question," Mikaela muttered, holding the cup as far from her face as she could. Janice had somehow found some guy Mikaela didn't recognize to make out with and they were all over each other on the other end of the couch.

"Mikaela Chase. Damn girl, you grew up hella fine."

"Hi, Trevor," Mikaela said warily as Devon's older brother sat beside her. He had been a senior when Mikaela and Devon were freshmen, and she had been glad he graduated and went to college because he had always had a tendency to leer at her whenever he had seen her.

"Been a long time, Mikaela."

"Has it? It seems like it hasn't been long enough."

"I don't know if I ever told you, but you looked so good in that cheer uniform it made me wish I had gotten into football instead of soccer." Trevor winked.

"How terribly romantic."

Her scathing sarcasm seemed to go right over his head. He draped an arm across the back of the couch behind her and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm glad you're here tonight," Trevor went on. His arm snaked down around her shoulders and a hot flash of anger coursed through her. She shrugged off his arm and he laughed.

"Come on, Mikaela. Don't play hard to get. You must be bored with all these high school guys. You should be hooking up with a man."

Mikaela stood up, turning to glare at him. That sounds great. You know of any?"

"Mikaela loosen up." He stood too, trying to wrap his arms around her waist.

"Oh, now you're touching me. Trevor, I'm going to say this once with the smallest words I can think of so you can keep up. You have exactly three seconds to get the fuck out of my face," Mikaela said calmly.

"Or what?" Trevor asked teasingly. His hands slid lower on her waist and Mikaela balled the hand that wasn't holding Sadie's beer into a fist. Then she punched Trevor square in the face. Trevor reeled back, looking stunned. Heart pounding, Mikaela tossed Sadie's beer at him, soaking him in warm Corona and chucking the empty cup at his head. Pressure built up in her forehead, and then her ears popped and all the beer bottles sitting on the kitchen counter shattered.