We were once again seated in World History class bathing in our own eagerness as we awaited the bell to signal the beginning of the day. Lance was, like yesterday, scribbling away in his little notebook that he’d placed on my desk. Only this time, rather than taking the time to practice his signature, he was drawing something rather uncharacteristic of him.

  I had been using the moment to practice meditating once again. I hadn’t planned on hacking anyone this time, but the spirit did explain that more experience with meditation would make me able to hack others while conscious more effectively. Unfortunately, I was having trouble focusing thanks to the scratching of pen on paper. It was almost as if he was trying to be as distracting as possible. Eventually, I had given up on even attempting and decided to look over his way.

  “What is that?”

  “Well I’m glad you finally asked Trist. See, I was thinking. I liked the movie Gwen wrote for us last time. It definitely had some flair to it, you know? A certain, je ne sais quoi, if you will.”

  “What’s je ne sais quoi?” I asked.

  “Hey man, let’s not get bogged down in the details, ‘kay? Here’s what I’m trying to say: It was good, it was cool, but I’ve been thinking… we should go bigger for the next movie, you know?”

  “Bigger? Like… what?”

  “I’m thinking… drum roll?”

  I roll my eyes and begin tapping my desk rhythmically with a smile.

  “Our next movie’s gonna be… a superhero movie!”

  My hands froze in place as I stared dumbfoundedly at my best friend. His smug grin as he announced his brilliant idea had only compounded my confusion.

  “A superhero movie,” I repeated.

  “You heard me right.”

  When he said superhero movie, the large budget Hollywood films involving millions of dollars worth of CGI and practical effects came to mind, which only made the whole idea seem unrealistic the second it escaped his mouth.

  “Uh, yeah. Sorry if you mind me asking, but… why?”

  He wagged his finger at me. “Tristan, Tristan, my good friend. Don’t you know? Superhero fiction is IN right now. Vigilante justice is sexy. Who doesn’t want to rid the streets of the dredges of society? The superhero archetype is… it’s like… it’s just about every law-abiding citizen’s secret fantasy. Yes, every one of them. Even the pretentious film-buffs like you who pretend to hate superhero movies.”

  “I don’t hate them…”

  “Yeah yeah. With you it’s always Godfather this and Citizen Kane that. I’m sure boomer films are great and all, but you need to appreciate the classics too. Tobey Macguire Spiderman? Christian Bale Batman? That’s some good stuff right there, eh? Every guy who grew up watching those movies wanted to live that life, and for good reason. In fact, if you have that kind of power, I’d say it’s your moral obligation to do your best to help society out.”

  I found myself unable to respond. Your moral obligation?

  When he put it like that, it felt like I have probably been underutilizing Dream Paralysis. In theory, I could use it to rid the world of all its evil. Just how easy would it be to deal with someone from across the globe with a power like this? Corrupt politicians, gang leaders, just how much good could I do in the world if I used it?

  But… it was difficult to convince myself to do it. I couldn’t entertain the idea no matter how hard I tried. After all, I was terrified. The incident with Ben still weighed heavily on my conscience. Regardless of how I felt about him personally, I had still permanently altered the trajectory of his life. I had initially ignored it thanks to Zoey, but I realize now that that was a mistake. The guilt from that day hangs over me and holds me down every time I think about using Dream Paralysis.

  Still, I overcame that fear and used it twice yesterday thanks to Laura. And I managed to do it because she believes in me. If she thinks I can become the superhero that Lance is describing... If such a thing really is possible, then… is it so wrong for me to give it a shot? It’s much nobler than what Zoey had in store for me, isn’t it?

  “Hey Trist, what do you think?” Lance asked. “Think Gwen could cook us up a superhero script?”

  “Huh? Uh… I don’t know. She hasn’t responded to my texts.”

  “Oh. Well, not much you can do then. Women, man.”

  He shrugged then returned to doodling in his notebook. The comment struck me as odd, so I turned to Naomi’s seat on the other side of the room where she was staring down at her phone with a bored expression.

  “Hey Lance, is Naomi okay?”

  “Huh? Her? I dunno. We just got back together but a day later she starts acting real cold all of a sudden. What’s up with that anyway? It’s not like I forced her to get back with me.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Oh really?”

  That’s strange. Everyone knows how much she likes Lance. What could have possibly changed in such a short timespan?

  “Hey guys. Have you seen Zoey today?”

  Jaz popped into the room wearing white jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. Her braids danced as she popped out in front of our desk with a curious expression.

  “Give it up Jaz, neither of these dudes care about Zoey being absent.”

  “Ugh, but it’s weird!” She stomped her feet, drawing some nearby gazes in. “She’s never absent, and she’s never late! I’m not crazy for thinking that something’s off, right? Once is a coincidence, but twice?”

  I shrugged. “She could be sick. Have you tried calling her?”

  “Nonstop! I can’t seem to get to her at all. She won’t respond to my messages or anything. I can’t even tell if she’s alive or not.”

  “Oh she’s alive,” Lance said. “She followed me on Instagram last night.”

  “Oh really?” Jaz said, heaving a sigh of relief. “Did she say anything?”

  “Nope. Nada. And I don’t plan on asking her about it either. She would’ve told someone way more important than me by now if she was gonna tell anyone. Like her boyfriend, for example.”

  “Tristy,” Jaz said, leaning forward onto the desk. “You really haven’t heard anything from her about this?”

  “No…” I looked away. This all felt like some new tactic for her to get me to go to her. Of course, she would definitely respond if I contacted her. I’m what she wants right now. More specifically, the spirit attached to my soul is, anyway. But I refuse to give her any of the attention she’s so desperately craving for. I’m sure Laura will have more luck getting to her than those other two anyway.

  “Hey Lance, do you think you could go ask Naomi?” Jaz asked.

  “Huh? Why me? You go do it.”

  Jaz scratched the side of her face. “She’s your girlfriend, you ask her.”

  “Well, she’s not talking to me right now so you go ask her.”

  “Huh? How’d you manage to mess up this badly already?”

  “Shut up dude, I don’t know. Either way I’m not going, okay? She won’t talk to me so that’s that.”

  “Well I can’t go either now. She’s gonna know you sent me.”

  “Huh? That makes no sense. Did you hit your head this morning?”

  “Wha- shut up! God, you’re so annoying!”

  Not wishing to sit there and listen to their bickering for much longer, I got up from my seat and went over to where Naomi was seated, still staring at her phone. I sat at the empty seat in front of her desk and turned to face her.

  “Hey Naomi, did you hear anything from Zoey today?”

  “Nope,” she said, not looking up.

  “I… I see…”

  Like smashing a tennis ball into a brick wall. She really did seem to be in a bad mood. I could see why Jaz didn’t bother coming over here, especially since they weren’t particularly close.

  “Jaz hasn’t heard anything from her lately so she was getting worried. Oh, but Zoey apparently followed Lance on Instagram yesterday so she’s alive at least.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  Naomi lifted her head to take a look over at Jaz and Lance, who were still arguing over who knows what. That they could go at it so early in the morning was something of a testament to how much they got on each other’s nerves when they wanted to.

  “They get along well, don’t they?” Naomi asked.

  “Huh? No, I don’t think so…”

  Naomi chuckled briefly. “It doesn’t look that way to you?”

  “It… kinda just looks like they’re getting on each other’s nerves.”

  My words appeared to cause Naomi to look back down at her phone. “I see.”

  I wondered if I had said something wrong. That’s really how it looked to me. Unless she was upset that he was talking to Jaz at all, then I truly didn’t get it. Did she think that Jaz is into Lance or something?

  “Uh, you know, they’re not like that…”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  I bit my tongue. I couldn’t tell Naomi about Jaz’s secret. It wasn’t my place to. But if I couldn’t do that, then how would I explain my certainty?

  “Because… Lance likes you.”

  Naomi didn’t respond. She just kept looking down at her phone, staring at something I couldn’t see from where I was seated. Could it be? Did Zoey… plant something in her mind? Is that why she was absent?

  “Naomi, has Zoey said anything to you recently?” I asked.

  “Huh? No, we haven’t spoken since last week. Why?”

  Come to think of it, Naomi herself was suspicious of Zoey’s twisted personality. There’s no way she’d get led on by something that girl said about Lance. So then what was it? What was causing her so much doubt?

  “It’s nothing, sorry. I guess I just don’t see what you see.”

  She looked up at me and smiled. “No, it’s okay, I know I’m being weird. I just need a little bit of time to myself to process this.”

  That smile wasn’t filled with the same joy that Naomi had enjoyed during the filming on Sunday though. It was a bitter acceptance. It was like she’d been trying to get used to something hard to swallow.

  “Hey, let’s make more cool movies together. Okay?”

  Naomi looked at me in surprise. “But… I thought you wanted to quit the photography club.”

  “I do, but when Zoey does come back we could always just make a film club together. Just the three of us. And maybe some people from the lower grades too.”

  I deliberately hadn’t included Jaz in our ranks, naturally as her passion had been for photography, not necessarily film, so she might have preferred to stay with her own club. But also, because I wanted Naomi to know that things would be fine. That she was worrying for nothing. Lance wasn’t Ben or Lawrence. Lance is Lance. And it’s always going to be the three of us. Together.

  “You mean that?” she asked.

  “Never meant something more. I had fun making that film with you guys.”

  She smiled. “Wow, look at you trying to cheer me up.”

  “Is it working?” I asked, and she poked my forehead.

  “Just go back over there and tell them I don’t know anything.”

  I smiled. “Okay, and thanks.”

  On my way back, I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly Zoey’s end game was. She obviously wanted me to call, but the current circumstances lacked any… urgency? Initiative? I didn’t know, but there was something missing. This wasn’t like the Zoey who orchestrated all of the devious things she’s accomplished in the past month. And the truth was, I was terrified of finding out what that missing link was. Because whatever it was, I knew that it had the potential to change the trajectory of my life forever.