Carrie Vaughn - Dreams of the Golden Age

“But don’t you want to do something with it?” Teddy said. “Not just have it sitting there?”

Right. That was the whole question. They could be heroes, if they could just figure out how. “We have to show Teia she’s wrong,” Anna said. “Getting on the front page of the papers isn’t the way to do the most good.”

Teddy said, “So, what? Does that mean you’re finally ready to go out and do something, as long as we avoid publicity?”

She took a deep breath and said, “Yes.”

They looked at each other, then back along the building to the stairs, to their rivals. A warning bell rang, summoning them inside. They’d have to talk about it later, but already Anna felt better. Like she had a plan.

Teddy said, “So when do we show them how it’s done?”

“Tonight.”

He grinned. He’d been waiting for her to say the word.

Back in front of the school, just a few minutes before the final bell was due to ring, a car pulled up to the drop-off zone. A latecomer, except that Anna recognized the car and the driver who stormed out, leaving the motor running: Ms. Baker, Teia and Lew’s mom. She came around to the sidewalk, hands on hips, glowering in an expression of fury.

“Teia, Lew, get over here!”

They did so, because how could they argue with that? Warily, Anna and Teddy approached the twins.

“Mom, school’s starting in a minute,” Teia said. Her brow was furrowed, confused.

“You’re not going to school today. Get in the car.”

That should have been great, but something was wrong. Teia hung back, glancing at Anna.

“What’s up with her?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know. Okay, wait, I do know. She was all in a fit this morning and asked if that was us in the picture, and of course we told her no. But you don’t think she suspects, do you?”

The words “I told you so” were on the tip of Anna’s tongue, and she bit them back. “Even if she did, what has that got to do with school?”

“Teia, into the car, now!”

“I’ll call you later,” Teia said, running to climb into the car after her brother.

Teia and Lew didn’t come back to school for the rest of the day.

Teia called that afternoon, and Anna hid out in her bedroom to talk so no one would overhear.

“What happened?”

“Mom’s completely freaked out but she won’t say why,” Teia explained. “Something about Elmwood not being what it’s cracked up to be, how we’d be better off in public school—”

“But she was so excited when you got the scholarships,” Anna said.

“I know, and I don’t want to go to a different school! All my friends are at Elmwood! I’m thinking this isn’t about the picture in the paper—she found out something about Elmwood.”

“If this was about Elmwood, my mother would be freaking out.”

“Then I don’t know what it is. All we can do is play dumb until she cools down.”

She was right—her only other option was to tell their mother that they had powers. Who knew what would happen then? Celia and Arthur could handle their kids having powers. They expected it. But Ms. Baker?

“Maybe you should cool it with going out. Lay low for a while.”

“Hell, no,” Teia said, vehement. “She’s not going to stop us.”

“Maybe … what would she do if you just told her you have superpowers?”

“She would lock us up forever,” Teia stated. “After what happened to Dad. You weren’t totally wrong, we couldn’t help but think about him. But it felt … good. It felt right. But yeah, Mom would freak. She couldn’t actually stop us from going out. But she’d never talk to us again.”

That sounded about right, from Anna’s experiences with Ms. Baker. Not an optimal outcome.

Teia went on, “If Dad were still here, I’d tell him. He’d understand. Convince Mom, you know?” More than sad, even, she sounded regretful, imagining that other life where he was still alive.

“Yeah, I know. What are you going to do?”

“Keep doing what we’ve been doing. Can’t stop now.”

“If you could just be careful for the next week or so—”

“ You be careful. You stay home twiddling your thumbs. That’s what your real power is, isn’t it?”

“I’m only trying to help—”

“I gotta go. Mom wants to have a family night. Bye.”

She’d already clicked off before Anna could reply.

Anna knew how to go out and fight crime without drawing attention because of her grandparents. Or she thought she did. The others wore the masks as much because they looked cool as to hide their identity. They didn’t understand how important hiding their identity really was. Things had pretty much fallen apart for the Olympiad when their identities had been revealed.

Teddy’s observation about them having all the firepower had clarified an issue for Anna: It was easy for Teia and the others to be brazen and forward with their powers, to look for publicity and appear in pictures on the front page of the paper all high and mighty and badass. Their powers were offensive. They could actually do crap. All she and Teddy could do was duck and stay out of the way. How were they supposed to look badass in a picture that way? They couldn’t. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to help people, stop bad guys, protect the city. The best heroes didn’t need publicity. Publicity was a by-product, not the point. Finally, she figured out how to prove that.

At dinner that night, her parents were distracted. Even Grandma noticed and bustled around the kitchen and chatted more than usual. Anna had planned all kinds of excuses about staying up late studying and not to worry if they saw her bedroom light on, she had to write an essay for tomorrow, and so on. But nobody even asked her how her day went. She stayed quiet and tried not to act too weird. Bethy kept looking at her, like she knew Anna was hiding something, and Anna almost yelled at her for it. But she kept her mouth shut, hunkered in on herself, and studied the lasagna on her plate.

Even if Bethy had powers, Anna wouldn’t have taken her little sister along. She didn’t think Bethy was getting powers. She wouldn’t be able to shut up about it if she were.

Late, after everyone else had gone to bed, Anna put on black pants and boots, a black long-sleeved T-shirt, and found a stocking cap and mask to hide her hair and face. Didn’t look like much when she stood in front of the mirror to check herself out. She looked like a bank robber. Strands of red hair kept slipping out from under the hat. Like that wasn’t a tip-off. Oh, well, it would have to do.

She pulled off the hat and mask and shoved them in her backpack with the rest of her gear.

She and Teddy didn’t plan to meet at City Park. That was the old meeting place, and it had become too obvious. Too tainted. Teia and the others were at home, so Anna wouldn’t run into them. But it was as if the park was their place; Anna and Teddy had to find a new spot now. Fine. They could do this on their own. As an alternative, they went to Pee Wee’s, the popular all-night coffee shop near the university campus. They wouldn’t stand out there—they’d look just like any other pair of kids studying.

The glass-fronted café had dim lighting and stainless-steel fixtures, hip and retro, a menu written on a chalkboard and baristas with interesting facial piercings. The music was something new and aggressively independent, and Anna didn’t want to look like a freak for asking who the band was. She pretended she already knew, like she’d heard it before.

The place was cool, too cool for her, and she tried to act like she belonged as she walked in, shoulders back and expression blasé. The bus ride had taken longer than she expected, and Teddy was already there when she arrived. Also dressed all in black, he sat hunched over a coffee while his foot tapped a rapid beat, and he looked sidelong at the rest of the room. She slid into the booth across from him, furtive, wishing she could disappear, like Teddy.