Excerpt: I That You

Zero

Have you ever loved? Was your first love with the green-eyed boy on the playground, or was it the first boy to ever ask you to dance? Did you two first meet at work, or were you high school sweethearts. Does it matter which one of you is older? Younger?

Everyone loves. It is not always the great love that is written into history books or songs or even wedding announcements in newspaper. Just because it’s a love that exists between two people instead of two people and the world doesn’t make it any less important.

Love can be that thing found on the playground between two children on the first day of preschool, or it can be that strange connection between two enemies who still, for whatever reason, tolerate each other’s presence. Love can be the thing of high school romances or simply of two people willing to accommodate each other within their own separate lives.

Love can call for great sacrifice, but more often than not, it just takes a little bit of compromise and sacrificing of egos. Batman has been in love, but so has Britney Spears. Just because it doesn’t last a lifetime, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

But love is also ongoing. Even though you’d like to decide when to start falling in love, it’s not really anything that can be controlled. Sometimes what seems like the beginning of the story is, in fact, the middle, or perhaps even the end. Other times, what seems to be the bulk of the action, does not indicate a story already being in progress, but of one just starting to take off.

One: Not a Sound on the Pavement

“I once heard the sky compared to cat vomit.”

Lightning Lad doesn’t even bother turning to face her. “You’re starting to sound like Starla.”

“I guess that might because I’ve been spending so much time around her.” Arch Cherie knows she is being disgustingly passive aggressive, but for some reason, the usual filter that exists between her brain and her mouth has abandoned her, leaving her to just spout whatever it is that comes to mind. And right now, she is feeling very…abandoned.

Lightning Lad continues studying the scenery laid out before them. They both know he’s thinking of his next response. He’s always been so careful with what he’s said, but most would miss the subtle change in his posture that indicates a shift from brooding to more light hearted consideration.

“Why do you think that is?” he finally asks her.

“I’m not going to bother answering that. You and I both know the answer to that and I’m really not in the mood to play this little song and dance number with you.”

“Tough day at school?”

“I give up.” She finally settled down next to him, laying her bow next to her. Together, they stared out at the city that lay below them, a city they had both sworn to protect years ago.

Admittedly, being several hundred feet above ground when she had no powers whatsoever to save her from certain death, unlike her companion, was a bit nerve-wracking. And yet, most people would never experience the rush of sitting on the ledge of the tallest building in their home city completely legally and staring out at the place that had shaped them into who they were. It was a thrill she relished.

“Look, Lightning Lad, I’m proud of you—we all are—and I am so glad that you were finally accepted as a full League member. I mean, I know what it took to get you there, and neither of are happy about what had to happen to get you there, but…” she trailed off. She was rambling. She really needed to learn how to be more concise with her words. No one would ever catch Power House rambling like some sort of a fourteen year-old asking her crush to a Sadie Hawkins dance.

“We miss you, Lightning. Not just Maverick and me, but Starla. She really looked up to you, you know. And she lost Spangled Starr. She really… I don’t think she knows where to go with her life right now.”

Arch Cherie turned towards him, but he didn’t move or say anything.

“Just think about it, okay?”

She picked up her bow and stood.

“It was… nice seeing you again.”

Two: Effortless

When they first meet, she tells him she is a vampire. But he never really knows because the next day she's a fae and last week and yesterday she was just a normal human girl. Bu today she's wearing her Chuck Taylors and a short formal dress and little martian doodleboppers on her head.

"I think you're a little lost," he says as he sits next to her, unsure of whether he's talking to the alien antennae or the girl wearing them.

"I think I am," she says, and he's unsure if it's the doodleboppers or the girl who says it.

Three: I Think We’re Cool

“Hey guys, do you know where Dr. Koenig is? He’s usually here by now.”

Fiona Fenchild and Elizabeth Rider turned to Christina Chaplewood, surprised at the interruption.

“Um…no idea, Christy,” Liz offered up.

Fiona rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, because that is really helpful.”

“What can I say, I live to serve.”

“Oh I’m sure you do—“

“Oooh…! Who’s that? He’s…dishy.”

The two turned to Christy again. “What?”

“Who actually talks like that anymore?”

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

In front of the classroom stood a young man who was definitely not their usual elderly instructor. He was tall with broad shoulders and slightly mussed hair, as if he had just come from a quick run around campus. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than any of them.

Liz leaned in towards Fiona. “Fi, it’s—“

The stranger spoke. “Um, okay. If I could please, um. If I could please have your attention please?”

The classroom turned its skeptical eye upon the newcomer with the general attitude of a cat observing a blade of grass on a windless day while lying in the sun.

“Uh, thank you,” he added on. “I am, uh… I’m Lucas—Luke—Johnson and I will be replacing Dr. Koenig who will be out…due to, uh…him having to get hip replacement surgery.” He paused to regard the classroom warily. “I guess I will, uh…call roll.”

Luckily the geology class was small, since most students chose the more familiar sciences like chemistry, biology, and physics over the lesser-known physical science. A few names stood out for the celebrity attached to them, Fiona Fenchild and Elizabeth Rider, namely and Luke furrowed his brow as he came to the former and stuttered miserably when he announced the latter.

“So, uh…any questions?”

Christy’s hand shot up quickly.

“Um, yes, uh…” he bent down to consult his copy of the class roster. “Christina Chaplewood?”

She beamed at him. “Everyone,” she gushed, “calls me Christy.” She looked up at him expectantly.

He looked back at her uncomfortably. “Okay. What is your question…Christy?” His voice cracked a bit at the end of his sentence.

She smiled back at him. “How old are you and what is your current relationship status?”

“Uh…” Luke floundered and looked slightly panicked. “I am twenty-four.”

Christy leaned forward. “And…?” she pushed.

Somewhere in the distance, an explosion sounded.

“And that sounds like an explosion,” he started. “Class dismissed.”

At his words, Liz vaulted out of her seat and ran out of the classroom. She raced through the quad, pulling off her clothes and shoving them in her school bag as she ran.

As she turned into the courtyard, she ran into Lightning Lad. Literally.

“Lu—Lightning Lad!”

“Maverick.”

They stood, staring at each other as sirens rang in the distance.

“So, uh…what are you doing here?” she asked, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence between them.

“Finishing the requirements for my grad work and working as a T.A. to for the geology department to fund my…”

“Extracurricular activities?” she offered.

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess we can call them that.”

They stood, watching each other as the sounds of an emergency rescue continued to reach their ears from several miles away.

“We should get that,” Liz finally pushed.

“Uh…yeah. I guess you’re right,” Lightning Lad relented. “I guess I’ll be seeing you around from now on.”

“Yeah. At least until Dr. Koenig gets back.” Liz studied him critically before pulling her goggles on. “It was good seeing you again…Luke.”

He smiled at her. “You too, Maverick.”

Four: The World Can End and That is Fine

“So she went through your coffee table?” Roy ran his fingers through his hair as he surveyed the damage.

Fiona rolled her eyes and flipped a page in her magazine. “Well she went through the sky light first.”

Roy rolled his eyes and finally sat down next to her. “Oh yes. Well, obviously.”

“Obviously.” Fiona flipped another page. “How do you think I’d look with bangs?”

“You look fine,” he murmured as he moved to lean his chin on his clasped hands. “So is she alright?”

Fiona glanced at him. “Of course she’s alright; she’s Maverick.” Roy glared at her. “Oh fine. She’s got a few bruises and she may have been walking a little funny at school today, but I’m sure she’s used to it. Anyways,” she added, “the table broke her fall. And it’s not as if I’ve got a vaulted ceiling or anything. You keep complaining yourself that the ceiling is too low and that it makes you feel claustrophobic.”

“Fiona,” he lectured, “she fell through your roof and landed on your coffee table. Aren’t you even the least bit concerned?”

“Why should I be? She’s Maverick; she can do anything. It’s like Kim Possible without the creepy mole rat and the loser ass boyfriend.”

“Fio…”

“Oh don’t Fio me!” she snapped as she turned at him. “You’re not the one who’s best friend died because she wasn’t there to save her.” Fiona threw her magazine down on what should have been her coffee table. “She’s not the one that just abandoned you after discovering she had some sort of great new talent. You’re not the one who had to plan the entire senior prom and yearbook and explain to all of your friends why she suddenly didn’t have the time for any of us! I’m sick of everyone saying how great she is. So what if she saves people? She’s so full of herself that it’s totally not worth even caring anymore.”

“Fiona.”

“What?”

“She’s not…the only one who’s had to make those sacrifices, you know. And if it’s really something that—“

“Don’t you dare and try to compare yourself to her, Roy. You actually try to be here. You apologize when you can’t be here. And every time you aren’t here, I know you want to be,” her face softened. “Her eyes were always somewhere else. She never cared about us.”

“And I love you,” she added as she moved closer to him so she could wrap her arms around him. “And no matter what happens, if the world ends tomorrow, or we both get abducted by aliens, or whatever… I love you.”

He smiled. “I love you too, Fio.”

“But…?”

“What makes you think there’s a ‘but’ attached to the end of that? Love is supposed to be unconditional.”

She raised a delicate eyebrow at him, “Roy, you are secretly Long Shot, masked sharp shooter and hero extraordinaire. There is always a ‘but.’”

“Okay fine.” He sighed and slipped out of her grasp. “I love you,” he kissed her, “but I promised Steve that I’d help him track a lead he had on the drug cartel responsible for last week’s—“

“Roy?”

“Yes?”

She kissed him. “I love you. You can go.”

Five: Easily Made Comparisons

Liz stalked up to the chic little café and threw her over-sized purse on the ground and dropped herself gracelessly in a chair and glared sharp death daggers at her sharp-faced companion seated across the table.

He smiled at her and leaned forward.

“Something wrong, Princess?”

She yanked the menu open violently.

“What the hell do you want, Flexion?”

The man rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses before turning his attention back to his own menu. “Please, since we know each other on such an intimate level, you can call me Thomas, like every other girl I have—“

“I don’t care about all of the girls you’ve managed to seduce in the past year with your vile, slime-coated tongue.”

“Tsk tsk, Princess…”

“Did you actually just say, ‘tsk tsk’?”

The villain smiled idly and sipped from his glass.

“I can’t decide between the grilled chicken spiedini or the shrimp primavera…” He looked up at her. “What about you?”

“I’ll have the chicken ravioli,” she deadpanned.

He smiled thinly at her. “Right, then. I’ll have the chicken fettuccine alfredo, myself.” He motioned to the waiter.

“Now then, care to share why you’re so snippy today?”

“Maybe because you killed Maree?”

“Are you still crying about that?” Their waiter approached their table.

Thomas turned to him. “She’ll have the chicken ravioli and I’ll have the chicken fettuccine alfredo, and have the chef throw in some extra spinach there, will you?”

Liz waited until the young boy left to continue. “She was my best friend,” she hissed.

He shrugged. “She would have died anyways. At least this way, she got a memorial named after her.”

She threw her hands up. “Why am I even here talking to you?”

“Do you really want to know?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “You agreed to come here to meet with me today, just as you did last week, and the week before that, and the week before that, because I am all you have left of your dearest Maree. I was the last one to see her vibrant little eyes alive and I was the last one to hear what she had to say and I was the one that took that all away from you. And you don’t have any proof other than the word of a villain. And so you come here, week after week after torturous week, because these little luncheons with me are all you have to remember her by.”

He smiled at her as he ended with that little flourish.

She glared at him and took a sip of her water.

“Now, you know,” he began, “I had the most scintillating interview today. You’ll never guess with whom.”

He waited for her response.

She twiddled a bread stick between her fingers.

He smiled again and leaned forward.

She glanced at him idly and continued to play with her food.

“Fine then,” he acquiesced, “since you are just dying with anticipation, I shall tell you.”

Liz began stacking the breadsticks in an unsteady tower.

“I had an interview today with little Miss Starla.”

The tower tumbled down.

“What?”

“Oh? So you do care about my life.”

She glowered at him. “Stay away from her.”

“Why, my petulant little buttercup?”

“Because—“

“If you are going to say ‘Because you are a bad person,’ you can stop right there.” He took another sip from his glass. “You don’t have the authority to label me as a ‘bad guy.’”

“I just don’t want you to hurt her.”

“Which is why I come bearing news that you will find most enlightening and helpful, my dear.”

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and skeptical expression.

“Ah, but here is our food. Shop talk can wait for a bit, can’t it?” He smiled at their waiter. “Thank you.”

Liz picked at her food absent-mindedly, trading glares for angry mutterings beneath her breath. Thomas, however, dug into his food with vigor.

“You know,” he said, “spinach is very good for your health. You should have gotten—“

“Why were you even talking to Starla?”

He shrugged. “I’m a reporter; it’s what I do. I talk with people.”

“Really.”

“Oh yes. I talk with people and I learn about them.”

Liz’s head began to reel. Starla may be young, but surely she wasn’t stupid enough to give out information about her secret identity—

“Don’t worry. She didn’t share any sensitive information with me,” he conversed.

She narrowed her eyes. “Then just what did she share?”

“It’s more of what she didn’t share.” He took a bite of his pasta. “I asked her to tell me about her personal life. You know, school, friends, extracurricular activities—beside the obvious, of course. Just the usual things I ask about in a personal interview.”

“And?”

“And she didn’t have much to say.” He took another bite of his food.

“Good.”

Liz finally began to eat in earnest.

Thomas eyed her. “Doesn’t that concern you?”

“Why should it? She didn’t tell you anything. You don’t know anything. Everything is fine.” She victoriously shoved a forkful of food into her mouth.

“She didn’t have anything to say,” Thomas reiterated.

“Exactly,” Liz agreed. “She didn’t tell you anything. She kept her head on her shoulders and didn’t tell you anything. And now you’re angry because that’s one less girl for you to debauch and-or murder.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Don’t you get it?” he asked. He pulled a notebook out of his rucksack. “I asked her—and I quote—‘Tell me about you, as a person. Just what is Starla like behind the mask?’”

“Yes, and then she shut you down and now you’re angry you didn’t get any juicy information from her—“

“No I’m not!”

The other patrons around them turned towards their table at his sudden outburst. He moved his chair closer to her and leaned in.

“Do you know what she had to say to that?” he asked, lowering his voice.

Liz feigned interest. “No. What?”

“She said,” he bent down to flip through his notebook. “She said,” he repeated, “’Well, my family and friends don’t really know about the whole saving the world thing, so there’s not really much to tell.’”

“Really?”

“There’s more.” He bent back down to read from his pad again. “She went on to say, ‘Saving the world doesn’t exactly leave much time for anything else, you know? I mean, I used to be on my school’s wrestling and lacrosse and volley ball teams but…I don’t really have time for that stuff anymore.’”

“Fascinating.”

“You just don’t get it, do you?” he asked, beginning to get frustrated at her lack of response.

“What is there to get? You tried to take advantage of her, she refused to give in, end of story. What’s the big deal? You lost. You’re a bad guy. You’re supposed to lose.”

He rolled his eyes. “Ignoring your blatant stereotyping of me as the villain—“

“Because you are!”

“Just because I—“

“Killed my best friend—“

“And what would you do if I said I wasn’t the one who killed Maree?” he asked quietly.

“What?”

“I said—“

“Um, excuse me?” Their waiter tentatively interrupted them.

“What?” snarled Liz.

Thomas patted her on the arm and handed a few bills over to the frightened looking young man. “Don’t mind her,” he said, leaning in to him. “Lover’s spat, you know,” he smiled.

“We are not having a lov-“

“Isn’t she adorable when she’s absolutely furious?” Thomas asked as the flustered waiter attempted to make change. “Oh forget about it. Just keep the change. Treat yourself to something nice.”

The waiter fled.

Thomas glanced down at his watch. “Oh, look at the time. Our little date is over for now. I’ll see you next week sweetheart,” he said, moving to kiss her before jerking back violently as she tried biting him. “Oooh…frisky, are we?”

He gathered his bag and stood.

“I’ll see you later, darling.”

Six: I Think We’re Cool

“That was stupid.”

“Lightning Lad—“

“You’re not invulnerable.”

“Lightning Lad—“

“You can’t help anyone if you’re dead.”

“I know that.”

“Really? Because sometimes I wonder—“

“Luke!”

His head snapped towards her. “Don’t,” he snarled, “call me that when I’m dressed like this!”

“What are you trying to hide?”

“Everything, okay?” He glared at her, daring—begging—her to stand down with every fiber of his being.

She looked at him sadly. “You’ve never had to hide anything from me before.”

Luke sighed and ran his hand over the back of his neck reflexively. “I’m sorry, okay. I was just worried about you.”

Maverick turned away from him. “That wasn’t what I asked.”

“I didn’t hear a question.”

“That’s never stopped you before.” You used to know me so well, I never had to ask, hung unsaid between them.

“That’s, uh. You have Stephen for that now, don’t you?” he asked, unsure of which answer he actually wanted to hear.

“And you’ve got Arch Cherie for that yourself, don’t you?” her reply surprised him.

“That’s not—no! I don’t…” he floundered.

“Then what do you mean, Luke?” She turned back to him.

“I…don’t know.”

Seven: Effortless

Looking back on that day, he realizes there are so many more things he should have said. If he could have done it all again, he would go back and ask her what she meant by that ubiquitous, "I think I am."

This morning, it took him half an hour just to leave his driveway. Even now, he can feel every fiber of his being screaming at him to turn around.

It just isn't right. It just isn't right.

And he just can't stop thinking. He has no right to be going there now.

Eight: Not a Sound on the Pavement

Arch Cherie headed back to the warehouse that served as her personal base of operations. She listened to the police scanner for a few minutes (a robbery foiled by Maverick, a carjacking turned high speed chase that Lightning Lad handled easily) and then changed and headed back to her dorm.

She had always been careful to keep her relationship with her fellow masked heroes professional, but now that they were each accepting more and more solo assignments, she was beginning to realize just how much she was alone.