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“I know… I know we don’t talk about her as much as we should. And that’s my fault. I should—I should have done things different. I got lost a little, I think. And I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s okay—”
Dad shook his head as he pulled away. He looked up at Nick. “It’s not. You deserve everything, Nicky. And someday I’ll tell you everything. But know that she’d be proud of you. Everything you’ve done. The man you’ve become. You’ve done good, kid.”
Nick sniffled. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Now, eat before this gets cold.”
Gibby and Jazz were sitting on the bench in the Franklin Street station the next morning. They both jumped up when they saw him, hurrying over. Jazz kissed his cheek and cooed in his ear, and Gibby admired the sling. “You look better than you did at the hospital,” she said, ruffling his hair. “It was touch and go there for a moment.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “It was a dislocated shoulder.”
“Yeah,weknow that, but you were the one shouting that they were going to have to amputate. It was probably the morphine talking, but still.”
“I regret nothing,” Nick said grandly.
“All right otherwise?” Jazz asked.
“Yeah. How bad is it going to be?”
Gibby grinned. “Pretty bad. I think almost everyone at school is talking about how you cheated on Seth when you had a threesome with Pyro Storm and Owen.”
Nick groaned. High school sucked balls.
“I also heard a rumor that you are actually the evil mastermind behind all of it,” Jazz said, flipping her hair. “Because of your manifesto, which is just ridiculous. You’re about as evil as a puppy.”
Rebecca Firestone was going to get her comeuppance. Nick would make sure of that. “Hey! I could be evil if I wanted to.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Gibby said. “There’s even a rumor that you’re an Extraordinary yourself, and you’re keeping it secret.”
Nick scoffed. “Yeah, if only they knew what I went through to try and be one. I swear I still smell river water every now and then.”
Jazz shrugged. “It doesn’t help that you fell off the spire and landed on your feet.”
Nick frowned. “Yeah, I haven’t quite figured that out yet. Seth thinks I got lucky. I think it was Owen. Cap told me I just… stopped before I hit the ground. I mean, it had to be Owen, right? His shadows. Maybe he’s not totally bad. I mean, he’s still a dick, but…”
Gibby eyed him curiously. “What did your dad say? He saw it too, right?”
“Wouldn’t talk about it. I think it’s still too much for him. He’s a softie.”
Gabby picked up her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. “Well, whatever it was, expect lots of people to be staring at you and whispering behind your back, with nothing but wild speculations.”
“So, pretty much like normal, then. Cool. Cool, cool, cool.”
“Yeah, but think. Now you can tell everyone if they don’t shut up, you’ll sic your Extraordinaries on them.”
That sounded like the best idea ever. “Oh, man. Can you imagine? I’ll tell them that they’ll be lit on fire if they—”
“Who are we lighting on fire?”
Nick said, “Meep.” He whirled around.
There, standing in a pair of chinos and a bright green sweater vest with a pink bow tie, was Seth Gray.
“I want to put my face on your face,” Nick breathed.
Seth blushed brightly, looking down at the ground as he shuffled his feet.
