Brooke
Brooke had a bright pink box of donuts in one hand, and a styrofoam collection of cup holders with three coffee cups in them in the other. She trotted up a set of soft stairs, her white sneakers with gold plastic highlights thumping in a satisfying way that pleased Brooke. White socks, white leggings with gold lines up the side and around the waist, a white hoodie with gold inlay, unzipped to reveal a black shirt. Thick rimmed, circular black glasses sat on her nose. Her frazzled, curly dark hair was pulled up and to the side in a sort of combover.
She was travelling intently to the shared apartment of Brianna Hart and Jamie Stewart, Static and Quake respectively. Jamie had received some injuries during the final encounter with Seraph’s forces at HERO One. So Brooke figured she might as well try to brighten up her recovery. Also, she had read their file and deduced that these two were among the best to introduce herself too, first. Both personality ways and connections wise. Other than that, the choice was kind of arbitrary. Hopefully it went well. Donuts improved every social interaction from what she had gathered. She felt like the new kid at school. First impressions were important! Hopefully she didn’t screw this up.
Having memorized their apartment number it didn’t take long for her to track down the room. Once she was there, she paused to gather her composure. She rolled her shoulders and kicked out her legs, swaying back and forth.
”Okay. You got this.” She said to herself. She looked at her hands, full of coffee and donuts, and briefly raised her foot to kick-knock the door. But then she remembered she had super powers. So instead a spectral hand, the color of the neutral lighting of the hallway, appeared out of thin air. It rapped it’s knuckles on the door for her. Brooke looked at the peak-through thingy on the door and smiled. She probably smiled too early because she ended up having to hold it a bit, but she didn’t want one of them to come to the door and see her smile fade so she kept it up.
It was 7 AM on a Sunday, and Jamie absolutely did
not want to be awake. She laid sprawled out on her bed on her side, groggy. Laying on the wounds was still painful, despite having healed, so she preferred to sleep on her side. It had almost been a week since she had been injured, but everything still ached and the painkillers made her sleepy and she had to be careful, so she preferred to sleep in. Which was why the knock at her door so early wasn’t well-received. At the sound of a sharp knock, she opened her eyes and groaned. Her eyes flicked to the digital clock on her nightstand, and she groaned even louder.
“Oh, come on!” she yelled, voice filled with the grogginess of being woke up. She laid down on the bed and sighed, waiting for the knocks to abate and whoever it was to go away, but they didn’t.
“Ugh. Seriously?” Seeing no other alternative, Jamie climbed carefully out of her queen-sized bed and onto the carpet. She took a swig of the water on her cluttered nightstand and then cinched her cornflower blue bathrobe around herself. She probably shouldn’t be half-naked in front of a solicitor or a missionary or whatever. Castleburg summer was hot, and her air conditioning sucked, so she was currently sleeping in her bra and exercise shorts, plus the bandages and stitches on her wounds.
So, that’s how Jamie dragged herself to the front door- in a bathrobe with only underwear underneath, tangled blonde hair pulled into a messy bun, and looking like a zombie. As Jamie was Jamie, she didn’t look in the peephole before swinging the door out… only to see a smiling woman? With coffee and donuts? She looked kind, but was smiling strangely. Jamie briefly wondered what the box was, before realizing it was
donuts, and a smile creeped on her face. She loved donuts! If only Brie was here… she loved donuts nearly as much as Jamie did.
“I’m Jamie Stewart,” she started, at least remembering her manners. She leaned on the doorknob a bit as she spoke.
“Did you knock on the wrong door or something? I wasn’t expecting anyone at, um, 7:00 AM, and this building has a no-solicitors policy, I think? So, um, who are you? Or, like, what’s your name. Or whatever. And why are you here with donuts?” Brooke’s smile quickly turned into a nervous one as soon as she got a look at Jamie in her zombified state. As Jamie spoke, Brooke forze up.
”Oh, my God. It’s, like, 7 AM.” She said through grit teeth as if the full realisation of what that meant just occurred to her.
“And you just got out of the hospital!” She hissed. Her eyes widened further.
Quickly she turned to leave.
”I’m so sorry,” She began. She got four steps before she turned around.
”Here, take these, they’re for you and Brianna Hart.” Once they were in Jamie’s hands. Then she turned around again, then immediately completed it into a 360. Her movements were erratic. She pointed at Jamie.
”I’m sorry!” Sweat was beginning to build on her forehead.
”I’m Brooke! Brooke Everette!” She blurted, her fingers grasped the open space as if social grace was an airborne resource she could draw upon if she tried hard enough.
”I’m not some villain! The donuts definitely aren’t poisoned!” She stated emphatically.
”Okayokayokay, now it sounds like they are poisoned. But they aren’t. They’re a gift! I-I’m-,” She exhaled.
“God- is it- is it? Is it hot out here or what? She said. Brooke tugged at the collar of her shirt and nervously chuckled. It was as if Jamie had opened the door and stumbled across a fish out of water, flopping around and dying from a lack of oxygen.
Jamie watched all of this unfold with an incredulous look growing on her face. This Brooke girl was having… an utter and complete meltdown on her doorstep. To Jamie’s brain, this was
hilarious. She took the donuts and coffee from Brooke’s hands, but frowned at the mention of Brie. Her roommate had been told of her imminent transfer to California just a few days ago (on her 21st birthday, no less!) and was spending some time with Will before she had to leave. Upon finding out, Jamie had (predictably) sobbed her eyes out and clung to her friend. But the good part was… well, there wasn’t a good part, but maybe more donuts for Jamie?
At the end of Brooke’s little meltdown, though, Jamie giggled and smiled.
“No, not really. The hall’s air-conditioned. But maybe you’re just a sweaty person?” Jamie laughed again, and then opened the door fully. Maybe she shouldn’t invite this random woman inside, she didn’t really know what she was after, after all, but Jamie didn’t really have any plans with anyone today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day. So it might be nice to have somebody over. Especially if they had brought donuts.
“It’s alright, Brooke. It’d be nice to have someone over, especially if they have donuts! Brie’s not here today, so it’s just really me and the TV.” Jamie stepped aside, gesturing to the door.
“You can come in if you want. It’s a bit of a mess, but, like, I’m not supposed to be moving around anyways.”Without waiting for a response, Jamie headed into the apartment, flicking a light on as she entered. True to her word, it was a bit messy. There were cardboard boxes (presumably Brie’s) strewn about the room, and a lot of miscellaneous things on the surfaces and chairs. It was a nice apartment for Castleburg, though. Jamie made a pretty good salary as a well-known S-Tier hero, so she had been able to rent out a two-bedroom. There was a kitchenette and a small dining table just off the living room. The sink was filled with dirty dishes. The living room itself, though, had brown wallpaper and beige carpet. There was a blue three-seater sofa and a grey armchair sat in front of a TV and a coffee table. Notably, both chairs’ legs and fabric had been scratched to oblivion. There were a couple pieces of trash on the coffee table, and the sofa was covered in blankets. Just to the left of the kitchenette, there was a hallway leading to what was presumably the bedrooms and bathroom.
“Sorry,” Jamie apologized for a second time as she headed inside.
“I’ve been a bit of a mess lately. Do you wanna, like, sit down and chat?” Jamie led them both to the sofa, cleared the blankets off, and sat down. She put the donuts down, too, and uncovered them.
“Ooh, Boston Kreme… so, why’d you, like, come to my apartment at 7 AM? Sort of a funny thing to do.”Brooke smiled nervously, happy that Jamie hadn’t taken the opportunity to be mean. Already she was feeling more at ease. At the very least, Brooke knew donuts were a good call. Donuts could do the talking for her! Donuts were never wrong! The stranger glanced around the apartment she was graciously invited into and smiled.
”Wow, don’t worry it’s…” She caught sight of the dirty dishes in the sink.
”...really nice!” Brooke blinked and finished her genuine complement. Brooke wiped her forehead, her heart-rate de-escalating. By the way Jamie was acting, Brooke surmised she hadn’t totally screwed this up.
Brooke searched the place for any sign of Brianna Hart, but no luck. Just a bunch of boxes. Brooke raised an eyebrow and began to make some conclusions.
Brooke sat down on the couch and let Jamie have at the donuts first. She crossed one leg over the other.
At the question, she winced.
”Yes, well...I-, uh...y’know, jet lag, and all that. Oh! I just flew in from California! Yes, I should tell you-” She laughed.
”I should tell you why I’m here, before getting into how I got here at seven in the morning. Obviously!” She thwacked her own forehead.
”I’m a transfer hero!” Brooke announced proudly. Her round glasses had fogged up.
”I’m a hero that signed up with LATCH, and now I’m here! In Castleburg. Because of the whole, y’know,” She gestured vaguely.
”...Terrible...ness...”“My hero name is Victory. My middle name is Victoria, too! Some people call me Vicky. You can, uh, if you want. Brooke works, too, obviously.” She shifted uncomfortably.
“B-but yeah, we’re going to be working together! I’m going to be living here in Castleburg, probably at HERO One, for the foreseeable future. So I’m really excited to get to know everyone. And I picked you first.” Brooke pointed at Jamie. Brooke clearly talked with her hands. Most people would consider it a distracting amount of hand movement.
“Oh, you’re from California?” Jamie took a sip of her frappuccino and then a bite of her donut.
Delicious. It was nice to know that this Brooke girl wasn’t just some rando fan, but a coworker!
“I went to LA once, it was nice. I’ve heard it’s really nice there. That’s where they’re transferring Brie, actually...” With that slightly awkward comment, Jamie finished her donut and picked up another one. This one was plain jelly.
“So, like, what’s your power? And like your tier and stuff? I’m S-Tier, and my thing is sort of like… well. I make earthquakes?” Her power was a bit hard to explain, so Jamie just left it at that. Plus, Brooke had seemed to know quite a bit about her earlier, so chances were she already knew everything.
Brooke’s eyebrow twitched as she looked down at the third cup of coffee for Brianna Hart. How had she missed that!?
At the talk of superpowers, Brooke brightened up.
”Of course! You’re Quake! I’ve read all about you guys. Seismokinesis!” She geeked.
”So cool!” Brooke put a hand to her chest and sighed.
”I’m what you guys at HERO would call an A-tier.” She said.
”I can kind of control light. Basically, when I see light, I can make it hard!” Without warning she reached out towards an open window behind Jamie. The natural light streaming in solidified into a transparent orb of the same color. It hit the ground with a dull thud and began to roll around. It came to a stop at the foot of the couch. Brooke winced.
“Oh, like Starbright!” Jamie said immediately, defaulting to the only other person she knew who used light. She didn’t quite understand how light became “hard”, but it was cool, she guessed? Jamie tried to kick the ball of light, and to her surprise, it actually felt like a ball.
“Cooool! This is so much better than Starbright’s power. His is sort of lame. But all he really does is sit around and look pretty, so eh.” Jamie picked up the ball and sort of bounced it… which didn’t really work, since it wasn’t bouncy. She quickly gave that up once she realized it wasn’t going to bounce like a dodgeball.
“Do you wanna see a demonstration of my power? I could- ohhhh, wait. Nevermind. Doctor’s orders, can’t use my powers for a bit or I’ll explode my intestines. I guess you’ll just have to watch some videos!” As a part of her recovery, Jamie had been order not to use her powers for an entire month lest she fuck up her intestines, which were recovering from massive internal bleeding. She smiled, though.
“They’re really everywhere. The videos, I mean.” She sat forward and took another sip of her drink.
”Oh yeah, I know all about your power. I’ve watched like, all the videos.” Brooke said excitedly, nodding as Jamie complimented her powers.
”And my powers are very cool...if you ask me.” Brooke beckoned the ball toward her with her finger and it rolled.
”With a little bit of focus…” She picked up the ball and squeezed it. It compressed in her hands and before long it was much smaller, small enough to fit in one hand. It was also much harder to see through. Brooke turned to the side, and threw it at all the wall, where it bounced with a rubbery ‘thock’ sound and travelled back to her hand.
”Now it’s a bouncy ball!” She practically squealed. She handed it to Jamie.
Jamie
actually squealed, and took the bouncy ball of light into her hands.
“OhmyGod, that is so cool!” She chucked it at the wall, and it came back… so Jamie proceeded to do that about ten times. Until she remembered that Brooke was still there, she didn’t seem to get bored of it. But when she did, she turned back to Brooke and laughed.
“Haha! That’s super fun. My power just sort of makes things shake, so it’s not really as fun unless you want to make a smoothie? I can’t make anything, is what I’m trying to say. I can make cracks in walls! Like that one over there…” Jamie pointed to a thin crack in the wall of the living room. Jamie finished off the jelly donut and took a sip of her frappuccino. She curled up on the couch.
“You should tell me about yourself!” she said, suddenly, after a moment of silence.
“We just started C.R.E.W or whatever, so… tell me about yourself!”Brooke was pleased that Jamie was enjoying her power. The novelty of it made it more fun than regular bouncy balls...unless Jamie just really liked toys like this. Not that there was anything wrong with that! Brooke looked over at the crack and the wall and put a hand up to her mouth, exhaling a laugh.
”Oh, me?” Brooke asked, pointing at herself.
”There’s not too much to tell.” She said dismissively.
”But, I guess it’s only fair, since I read your file.” She said that last part more to herself.
”Well, I was born in Los Angeles. I have three little brothers. I always wanted to be a superhero, pretty much. I own 322 comic books, 28 graphic novels, and 156 regular books. I’m left handed...” Brooke began using her fingers as a reference for how many facts she was rattling on about herself.
Jamie blinked.
Woh. This girl was a nerd!
“That’s a lot of books,” Jamie commented. After that, though, she couldn’t find anything to see She could rattle on facts about herself, and opened her mouth to do so, but hadn’t Brooke said she had read Jamie’s file already? So she probably knew everything about her already… Jamie took a long sip of her coffee instead of saying anything.
This was an odd silence. She hadn’t really been expecting guests today, so Jamie wasn’t quite… on, so to speak. The coffee was helping, but she was still waking up.
“... I don’t own any books,” Jamie eventually added, which was technically true. Brooke didn’t respond to that, so Jamie just munched on her second donut and stared out her window awkwardly.
Brooke nodded.
”I guess it is.” Brooke scratched her head. She still hadn’t touched her donuts or coffee.
”Um...so...I was under the impression that Brianna Hart was going to be here? My intel must have been wrong.” Brooke said, glancing around the boxes.
”Is she moving or something? Jamie sighed, long and loud. This was somewhat of a sore topic for her. It had only been a few days since her roommate and good friend had started the moving out process, not to mention that all this had happened when Jamie had just gotten out of the hospital.
“Yeah, she is,” she said, rather sulkily.
“ICOSA’s making her transfer to California. I think she leaves in a few days? She went to her boyfriend’s house last night, though, so she’s not here…” She trailed off a bit, adjusting her spot on the couch.
“I guess that sort of makes you her replacement! Since you’re coming here and she’s, well, going there…” Jamie laughed at her own joke.
Brooke furrowed her eyebrows, frowned, and nodded.
”I guess that makes sense. ICOSA can be cold, sometimes, but…” Brooke trailed off. She refocused her eyes on Jamie and smiled.
“It’ll be alright, though. I’m gonna miss her, but I just really have to find a new roommate. Can’t be that hard, right?” She quirked a smile, but it was short-lived. Unfortunately, finding roommates was usually a struggle for Jamie, but she wasn’t about to say that to Brooke.
”I’m sure you’ll find a roommate. You’re super famous, you have super powers, and- well, you seem really nice.” Brooke shrugged. She smiled, one of her front teeth chipped.
That made Jamie smile. The corners of her lips ticked up. This Brooke woman was super nice!
“Thanks!” she said.
“Doesn’t really help me find a roommate though.” Jamie’s eyes then flicked down to the donuts and coffee, and she narrowed her brows in confusion. Had Brooke not eaten yet?
“Are you gonna eat anything?” she asked, pointing to the donut box.
“If you don’t want this stuff you bought, I could whip us up some pancakes or eggs or whatever. I haven’t set a fire in, like, a couple months!”Brooke shook her head apologetically.
”Oh, no, it’s nothing, it’s fine. I- I didn’t even realise I was waiting.” Brooke reached out for her coffee and tipped the cup up. It was hot, and she exhaled into the cup.
”Wait, did you say fire?” She giggled.
Her round glasses had entirely fogged up from her interaction with the coffee, so much so that eye contact was difficult for the both of them.
Jamie giggled, too. If Brooke glanced at the kitchen, she’d notice that several parts of it seemed… slightly singed, and some even entirely new.
“Yeah, I did! I’m not super good at cooking, so… but I can make some killer scrambled eggs if I don’t burn them.” She ran a hand through her straw blonde hair and blushed a bit.
“You any good at cooking?”Brooke laughed.
”There’s a difference between being bad at cooking and setting your kitchen on fire.” She said, looking at the replaced parts of the kitchen.
”Oh, I’m sorry. Was that mean?” She apologised, feeling bad.
”I bet your scrambled eggs are really good, for real.” With a nervous energy Brooke took off her fogged up glasses and rubbed them with her hoodie. After a moment, her right eye drifted lazily toward the center of her face as her left eye remained focused on the task. She put the glasses back on, and the eye corrected itself.
“No, no, it’s fine!” Jamie was fully aware of how shit she was at cooking.
“I think I tried to put out a fire with vegetable oil. I guess that makes me really bad at cooking. But we all make mistakes!” Obviously, this “mistake” was very, very dumb, but Jamie wasn’t going to say that.
“If you hadn’t brought these awesome not-poisoned donuts, I probably would’ve made scrambled eggs. Lucky me!”Genuine concern briefly flashed across Brooke’s features.
”V-vegetable oil, huh?” She said.
”Haha, yeah, lucky you!” She cleared her throat, glancing down at her unpoisoned donuts. Then she laughed, covering her face.
”Right, vegetable oil. Obviously!” She shook her head, assuming Jamie was joking.
”I’m so stupid. My friends tell me jokes always fly right over my head. Phzooo, you know?” She pantomimed the motion of an object flying over her head.
Oblivious, Jamie didn’t notice Brooke’s clear concern and confusion. She, in fact, looked confused when Brooke tried to say it was a joke.
“I’m not joking!” Smiling despite the ridiculousness of what she just said, Jamie giggled again.
“I’m being totally serious. I thought it would put out the fire. Apparently, that’s not how vegetable oil works… whoops!””Nope!” Brooke squeaked.
”It sure doesn’t!” Brooke shifted in her seat. After a moment she erupted to her feet and walked over to the kitchen, looking over the damage. She was frantically checking for gas leaks and open flames at this point.
Jamie’s gaze followed Brooke to the kitchen, curious.
“Whatcha doing?” she shouted. After a minute, she stood and followed Brooke into the kitchen. This was a bit odd. She stood over Brooke, who was crouched down and investigating the pipes under Jamie’s sink.
“Are you looking for like, snacks or something? My water’s in the fridge… I don’t keep my food under my sink, you know.””You don’t make toast while you’re in the bathtub, do you?” Brooke asked, voice sounding echoey and distant from under there. She twisted her back, making sure nothing was clogged or sabotaged or- jammed with knives and duct tape or gum. No open wires, either. There were sounds of rattling and fiddling.
“... No? I don’t have a toaster in my bathroom, silly. Plus, it would get soggy.” Jamie wrinkled her nose, and then crouched down to see the inside of the sink. A shot of pain went through her abdomen, and she hissed, straightening up again. Right, right. The hole in her stomach.
“Can I like… help you find anything?” she asked, hovering over Brooke. She wasn’t quite sure what Brooke was doing with her sink.
“If something’s broken, I can call my landlord…”There was a moment of silence.
”...Uh, no. No, I’m good.” Brooke emerged from underneath the sink and closed the doors.
”You...uhm. Well,” Brooke began stumbling over her own words again.
”W-well, th-the main reason...the main reason you shouldn’t make toast in the bathtub is because if you drop any electronics in the water you’ll zap yourself.” Brooke said, knitting her fingers together.
”A-and, if you use sleeping pills or painkillers, don’t drink alcohol at the same time!” Brooke added quickly. She looked down at Jamie’s abdomen.
”I know you-- it might be tempting- but, don’t do it! How- how are you, by the way? With the injury? I heard you got it pretty bad.” Brooke said.
A puzzled look flashed over Jamie’s face. Was Brooke giving her… advice? Weird. This was totally stuff she had already heard, though- totally. She winced at the mention of her injury, and her hand instinctively went to touch her abdomen. There was still a bandage there and on her back, covering the stitches that the doctors had used to make sure her guts didn’t fall out.
“Well, I, uh, I just got out of the hospital… it was pretty bad, but I’m doing fine now! It’s a long story, but I got shot through the intestines with a sharp, fast icicle,” Jamie explained.
“This one lady tried to heal me on the battlefield by sticking her hand inside of me and it actually sort of worked, but I had to be taken to the hospital afterwards. I got a lot of stitches, and, now, uh, I’m on leave for a month!”Brooke nodded, sagely.
”Icicles can be a killer. I know it was a long story- I read the report. Crazy stuff.” She blinked.
”I’m sorry, is it weird that I keep bringing up reports and stuff?” She asked. Before she could answer, she cut herself off.
”Sorry you got almost killed by the way, Ohmygod!” She slapped her own forehead apologetically, re-orienting her priorities.
“No, no, it’s okay!” Jamie rushed to comfort Brooke, patting her on the shoulder. Brooke was being a bit awkward, Jamie could tell, but she seemed so nice that it was endearing.
“That’s not weird at all. Director Powers is always telling us to read the reports. Of course, I never listen because reports are boring, but… like… if you like them, that’s cool!” That was a lie. Liking reports was not cool, but that would probably hurt Brooke’s feeling, so Jamie didn’t say it.
“If you read the report, tell me what that said. Maybe I can fill you in on stuff it didn’t say.”Brooke briefly wondered if Jamie really thought reading the reports was cool considering she just called them boring.
”Yeah...I do like reading reports. They’re like comic books, except they actually happened, and there’s no pictures. Plus, you get the numbers on collateral damage and stuff which comics don’t usually include, so that’s cool.” Brooke said quietly.
”As for the report itself, well, it was kind of long. But basically Seraph framed Patricia Donnelly for murder, leveraging her familial connection to make it more convincing. HERO was temporarily scattered. There was an incident at Club 27 that didn’t have a lot of detail. Everyone reconvened at HERO One. There was a big fight, and Seraph essentially committed suicide. Thus, EAGLES came to an end.” Brooke reported.
”It just seemed like such a bad plan. Did he really think he could get away with it, all by himself? It seemed very poorly thought through, if you ask me.” Brooke rubbed her chin.
”I wondered if anything else was going on.” She said to herself.
“Well, he wasn’t all by himself,” Jamie corrected. Settling in for a bit of a story, she climbed up onto her counter and sat there, legs swinging.
“He had the rest of the Wings of Law, and this villain organization who helped him out, and evil Blake… oh, I wonder how Blake’s doing! He looked pretty rough when they were hauling him off to the hospital. Hope he’s okay. Anyways, yeah, there was this other villain organization that was helping out Seraph. That was where the guy who shot me was from! They gave Seraph some leftover blood and he turned into a monster and fell into the ocean, too, that was weird. Anyways, this villain organization called ZE-” That was when Jamie realized her mistake. She clapped her hands over her mouth in the middle of her sentence, and her eyes went wide. Oh
no. She wasn’t supposed to say that!
“I wasn’t supposed to tell you that,” she moaned.
“That was classified, like capital C classified. You have to swear you won’t tell anyone anything I just said!” Jamie hopped off the counter and seized Brooke by the shoulders, not quite shaking her but grasping her firmly.
“I’m serious!” Jamie did, in fact, look and sound serious. Her eyes narrowed, and the smile fell off her face.
Brooke’s mouth had formed into a small ‘o’ of surprise at this revelation.
”O-okay, I won’t!” She exclaimed. Her arms had seized by her sides and her back was as straight as a log. She just kind of stood there and did nothing. Clearly she didn’t expect that much to be left off the report, nor did she expect to be talking to a walking security leak.
Jamie stared into Brooke’s eyes with suspicion.
“You’d better not,” she warned, and released Brooke’s shoulders from her vice grip. The smile returned to her face, like nothing had just happened.
“I’m really counting on you! That was a big mess-up, oh man… but I think I can trust you. So please… don’t talk about that! What the report said is what happened.” Jamie gabe Brooke an awkward thumbs-up and clapped her on the shoulder.
“Thanks for keeping a secret!” Brooke exhaled, relieved that the situation had de-escalated.
”Man…” She exclaimed quietly.
”Good thing I’m not some kinda supervillain, huh?” Brooke said.
”Oh, hey that reminds me. My ID.” She reached into her hoodie and pulled out a wallet. She removed a LATCH ID card from within, one that was customized with gold colored, wavy lines.
”Wanna see something cool?” She asked. She began to shift the ID card from side to side. The image of Brooke’s face transitioned from a neutral expression to a big toothy grin.
”It’s a 3D image! See? Serious Brooke, Happy Brooke, Serious Brooke, Happy Brooke!” She said, looking down at the ID card, extremely pleased.
”I wanted to get them standardized but for some reason, they never caught on. I think it’s neat. And the ID is real, by the way, definitely. This way you know I’m not evil.” Brooke explained.
”Or, at least, not unregistered.” She added.
Jamie squinted at the ID image. At first, she didn’t see the change, but once she did, she laughed.
“That’s so cool!” she squealed.
“Mine is just Serious Jamie. I kind of forgot where I put it though, so… imagine a super serious looking 17-year-old me. I hope Powers lets you do that with your ID here. He’s sort of a stickler for the rules.” “Don’t worry, I can tell you’re not evil!” Jamie messed with her hair and took it out of its tangled messy bun while she spoke.
“You seemed pretty not-evil. I think an evil person would’ve been a bit less… smile-y. And awkward. N-not that you’re awkward.” Brooke shrugged apologetically.
”Yeah...sorry. Never been good at this part of the job. Fortunately, only so many memories of botched social interactions can keep me up at night at a time. So my brain always has new material to cycle through! But sometimes there’s nothing better than a re-run. Like the time I accidentally called my middle school english teacher Mom, and then apologized by saying ‘sorry, mom.’” Brooke laughed. Suddenly she was much less awkward than she was at the beginning of this conversation.
Jamie snorted.
“No worries. You’re not that bad, really… If you think you are, you should meet Joseph! He’s super awkward,” she reassured Brooke.
“Oh, believe me, that’s not just a you thing! I do embarrassing stuff all the time. I think I accidentally called Powers ‘dad’ once. SO embarrassing! I think about that all the time… and I still work for him!” Jamie slung her head back and laughed at herself, again. She liked this Brooke girl, she decided. Anyone that could make her laugh and smile was good in Jamie’s book!
Brooke smiled.
”Joseph Moore, right? I’ll be paying him a visit soon enough. I plan on making my rounds to everyone eventually. Though I had hoped to be more efficient than just one at a time. Still, maybe it’s the best I didn’t just plunge in head first.” She shrugged.
”Thanks for letting me fumble my way through a first impression, Jamie. I look forward to working with you.” Brooke said, extending her hand out for a handshake.
”And, uh...y’know. Be careful? Around the house?” She advised, her voice raising in pitch.
It took Jamie a moment, but she realized Brooke was trying for a handshake, so she shook it eagerly.
“Me too, Brooke! If you’re looking for a nice place to meet all of us, you could head over to our speakeasy that we just bought. I think the address is in the database? Just say I invited you. We usually hang out there at night,” Jamie offered. She really wouldn’t mind seeing Brooke around after this.
“And yeah, I will!” Jamie laughed at Brooke’s seemingly out-of-place comment.
“You too. If you’re leaving, I’ll… see you around?” She glanced to the door.
Brooke nodded unsurely.
”Okay, I’ll check it out.” She wasn’t confident about barging into their hangout in the middle of one of their...hangout sessions.
”And yeah, I should probably head out. Get really situated at HERO One and start working on meeting the next person. God...so many cool superheroes in Castleburg. Fortunately I won’t have to introduce myself to all of them, just the little group you’ve found yourself in. Bunch of troublemakers.” She smirked.
”Okay, I’ll let you get back to healing. And sleep. I’ll come by later next time. Bring lunch instead of donuts?” Brooke backed up towards the door.
Jamie smiled brightly. Another friend! Nice.
“Yeah, that sounds awesome! Maybe we can go out for lunch sometime when I’m not…” She gestured to her wound.
“I’ll see you, though. Just, like… call me when you wanna hang out next time, alright?” Jamie walked to the door with Brooke and opened it for her. But before Brooke left, she glanced around the room. Her eyes settled on the coffee table.
“Oh! Don’t forget your coffee. And take a donut, you bought them, jeez…” Jamie strode over to the coffee table and picked up Brooke’s coffee and a glazed donut. She handed them both to her.
“Thanks for the donuts and coffee!” Brooke took the donut and coffee.
”Oh, uh, right, thanks. I mean- you’re welcome. Thanks.” She grimaced.
”Okay. Well, it was nice to meet you, Jamie! Looking forward to seeing you in action sometime! When you feel better! Get better!” Brooke backed up and was speaking like she was already far away even though she was just out the door.
”Bye!” She turned and began to make her way down the hall. Before she turned the final corner she poked her head back around.
”Bye!” She whisper-shouted.
“Byeee!” Jamie poked her head out of the door and waved furiously at Brooke. She waited until she was out of eyeshot before she slammed the door shut and flopped onto the couch. Even though she had had coffee, she still just wanted to lay around. That was okay. At least she had gotten something done today- making a new friend!
Brooke hurried back down the stairs. Soon she was out of the apartment building and to her white car with black tinted windows and plush black leather interior. She stared at the door handle, donut in one hand, coffee cup in the other. She glanced around, feeling extremely privileged that she was using her superpower to open up her car door because she was holding coffee and a donut in her hand. Ashamedly she used her hard light hand to reach into her wallet and produce the car keys stuffed crudely inside. She unlocked the door and then pulled it open, stepping inside. She summoned a clear glass plate and set her donut on the passenger seat. She placed her hands on the steering wheel and stared into the middle distance for a moment. Then she let her head fall onto the steering wheel.
”Fuuuuuccckkk…” She exhaled. What a disaster! That was literally the worst. How stupid could she be!? Showing up a stranger’s house at 7 AM!? She was lucky Jamie didn’t call the cops! What a psycho! She headbutted the steering wheel a couple times and then sat back in the driver’s seat. Hoping she didn’t screw things up too badly, the electric engine of her rental car whirred to life and she scurried away, onto her next destination.
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