Chapter 2

“That is a stupid idea.” Joe threw his bag on the bus floor. His face scrunched up as his Mexican features flared. His voice was controlled, but it had a force that seemed louder than it was. He was taller than me. We were both skinny and undersized for our age.  At least he had the height. “An alien that goes around flying and punching and saving everyone?”

“You can’t be serious.” Jonathan laughed, his hair flopping from side to side. He was a little more solid, but not by much. He wore blue denim shorts and a loose black Under Armour shirt. “That’s what Superman is, so what’s stupid about that?” His voice was several decibels over Joe and felt like warmth. He didn’t mean any malice behind his words. Not like Joe, who most likely meant Jonathan was stupid. 

This is normal. Joe, the quiet snarker; Jonathan, the loudmouth; and me, as always, in the middle. I like it that way. I was never right, but I was also never wrong, and eventually, they took my option. 

“I think what Joe means is that Superman’s concept is done to death. Goku from Dragonball Z,  Martian Manhunter, Silver Surfer.”

“Exactly,” Joe pointed at Jonathan, who swatted it away.

“Exactly why it would work.” They continue to go back and forth and I almost wished I had sat between them like I normally do. Joe and I get on the bus at the same stop, but Jonathon’s comes later, so he usually sits outside. Plus, it stops some of the more useless arguments they have. When Jonathan got on today, I noticed Tracy sitting across from us on the outside. I don’t know where she normally sits, as when we get on Joe and I usually take the first couple of seats. So this is one of the few times I get to see her up close. She was tall for our age, slender, no “curves’ but her face, was the stuff of supermodels. I had a crush on her since the start of the school year, way before I started dating Jessica. We had reading class together, and I made her laugh when I acted out my lines when we read plays out loud. Outside of that, we sat on the bus once, and well, that was embarrassing. So today, with all that was going on in my head, she was a nice distraction. So, I had Jonathan sit in the middle so I could be next to her. 

I felt an elbow in my ribs and turned to see both Jonathan and Joeeo staring at me. When did they stop arguing about aliens? 

“You better not let Jessica see you looking at Tracy,” Jonathan whispered so Tracy wouldn’t hear. “I may not like her, you know that. But you don’t want to be a cheater.”

“Like your dad,.” Joe shot, also whispering. 

I almost reached across to punch him, my anger almost getting the better of me. But I stopped. I should have confronted him, but he was right. I looked at Tracy and back at them. 

“I’m not like him,” I stressed.

“How are things at home? Are they still arguing?” Jonathan asked. 

I balled my fist and wanted to talk about anything else. I gave it some thought. Jonathan and I have been best friends since 6th grade., so we knew each other pretty well at this point. 

“No, they still are. Actually, last night, my dad packed his bags and left.”

“Where did he go?” Joe asked.

“He didn’t say where, but my mom thinks he’s going to the other woman’s place.”

“So, he is cheating.” Jonathan elbowed Joe this time. Joe looked like he didn’t say anything wrong, just the facts.

“I don’t know that,” I said, “and neither does my mom. This is all one big misunderstanding. They need to talk like adults. Like they used to.” I didn’t believe that myself. Up until a few months ago, I never knew my parents to fight or argue. Maybe small ones like what for dinner, but not others like how it’s been.

“Look, Lonnie, that’s serious; your dad wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t bad,” Jonathan said, putting an arm around me. 

“That’s all I meant,” Joe said, leaning over so that I could see his face more. “If your mom thinks he’s cheating, and they are arguing, and he left, it means something is there.”

“You guys don’t know my parents.” I shot back this time and realized my anger wanted to come out. At Joe for thinking he was some kind of therapist, at Jonathan for his presumptions, at my dad for leaving, and at my mom for accusing me. My anger wanted out, and my sadness, no, my life is good. I refuse to let those negative feelings show. I got myself together and put a smile on. “Like I said, everything will work out.”

They both sat in silence before Jonathan spoke. “Maybe you should let the counselor know? Ms. Hightower loves you. I mean, your grades have been slipping since they started arguing.”

“My grades are fine, Jonathan. We can’t all be Einsteins like you and Joe. I need to work harder. That’s all.” My smile almost hurt, and Jonathan looked into my eyes. He knew I was angry, sad, and worried.

“Lonnie, Joe’s right, man, you have some serious shit going on. Ignoring it is not going to make it go away; you need help with it before your grades get worse.”

Joe pointed at Tracy, “Or before you make the same mistakes.”

Again, anger flowed into my fist, but I pulled back and looked at Tracy. She happened to have looked at me at the same time and smiled. She even waved. I almost forgot to wave back but did so; my hand felt weak, as if something was holding it down. Tracy made me feel something, something positive I think. I don’t know, but I didn’t have this feeling with Jessica. Not like I did when Jessica and I dated for that one day before she broke up with me. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m saying hi. I looked back at my two friends, Donald and Goofy, as I liked to think of them. Took a deep breath and let my anger cool itself down. I still smiled, a real one, because of Tracy. That wasn’t a bad thing.  “So, let’s talk about the alien thing again; I think you both are right. How about our characters being half alien and half human? That’s also done, but I don’t think it’s as prevalent as Allen’s superheroes.

They both looked at me and down at the drawing pad of the character we each drew for our comic. 

“I can do that, works for me,” Jonathan said.

“Okay, X-men meets Superman, I guess,” Jonathan said. I looked at both of them, and my smile never left. At least this part of my life hasn’t changed.