Page 111 of No Capes
Fox stretches his arms above his head, uncovering the bottom planes of his abs. “If you want to get big and strong, sleep helps.”
“Fine,” says Jamie.
“I’ll come,” says Fox. He squeezes my hand again as he moves to leave the room. Does talking about swim team not pertain to him? Arielle’s harsh stare stays on me, so I guess it doesn’t.
Arielle paces across the tiled floor. “The team won’t be the same this year. I can’t believe I’m losing all of my most talented swimmers.”
“Wait.” I tense. “What do you mean, all?”
“Supers can’t compete on school teams.”
“But I was on the team before as a Super. You still let me on.”
“Yes… But you didn’t know you were a Super, and I thought I could make an exception. If you didn’t understand your powers, it was less likely that you would use them, and I couldn’t ask you to quit the swim team without giving you a reason.”
No.I imagine what my life would be like without swimming. Competing is the only time I feel calm.
“I need to swim,” I say. “I need to. You let Fox swim when he knew he was a Super, and how will I get a scholarship if I can’t swim?”
“I let him stay on for the same reasons as you. I administered his test and caught his powers, but until he appeared as Dark Static, I didn’t have a problem. The day after he burned down Milligan’s house, I went to talk to him about leaving the team. And I can help you with college.”
I bite my lip, confused. I remember the conversation she had with Fox. It was the one I had walked in on when I thought Arielle was giving Fox extra workouts.
“You and Fox were working together the whole time?” I ask.
“No. I didn’t know what he was up to until your powers came out. A few days before Hallowfest, I reached out to see if he could help you. That’s when we realized we were on the same side.”
Oh.That makes more sense. Neither of them was a step ahead of the other, as much as they’d like to say they were. Instead, Phil had been leaps ahead of all of us.
“Why was Fox allowed to swim?” I ask.
“To discover if Aaron was a Super. I didn’t get to administer Aaron’s test, and something seemed very off about him. As it turns out, I was right, and Fox doesn’t need to swim anymore.”
My heart sinks, dragging my entire life with it, because of rules.
“You’re not the first person to be upset about this,” says Arielle. “But we can’t fight back without exposing your identity.” She pushes away from the counter. “I’m going to check on Dad.” Classic Arielle. She said her piece and now she would leave me to figure it out. She made one thing clear: she won’t see me at the next practice.
I need a change of scenery. I heave myself up and grab an old jacket of Arielle’s from a hook by the back door. Arielle’s mansion has many porches, but the back porch is the smallest. It has three deck chairs, a small wooden table, and stairs going down to the garden. When I step onto the deck, someone else is already there.
“S’up?” says Damian. Besides his sling, a brace bumps out under his tennis sweatshirt.
I hobble to the chair beside him. “Sorry about all that.” I gesture toward his injuries.
“Me too. And about your mom and everything.” He slides his chair so we’re sitting side by side. “I have some of my powers, but they’re not all back yet.”
Crying comes easily these days, but Damian’s words hit different. First, becausetheGolden Ace lost some of his powers, and that in itself is tragic. Second, because I believe that Damian and I are friends now, and as his friend, I realize he must be going through the worst.
“Was this the first time that’s happened?” I ask.
“Being smacked by a giant piece of gold?” Damian groans. “Yup. I’ve had some close calls before. My mom’s jewelry, my grandma’s dishes. Got a little dizzy near that stuff, I’d itch if I touched it. Nothing like this. No clue what I’m going to tell my parents.”
“They don’t know?” I ask.
“They think I’m studying,” he admits. “ But they might guess after this.”
I may be new at the whole Super thing, but I understand that battles like the one we’d just been through don’t come along often. But being exposed to your weakness on top of it?
“The worst part,” Damian says, “is that I have no idea how long I’ll need to recover. There’s no data on Supers because noneof us can risk our identities. I might not get all of my powers back. Not that saving everyone wasn’t worth it,” he adds.
