Chapter 13

             “I wonder what Hayden was doing here?” Zoey wondered. 

            It was after school hours now, and Zoey was home in her room, lying down on her bed. Her friends weren’t over yet, they were grabbing up things from their homes so they could have a sleep-over. It was a bit last minute, but they all thought Zoey of all people needed someone to talk this over with.

            “Did he make the trip on foot? And why here? He could‘ve gone anywhere he wanted. Hmm…”

            Zoey stared upside-down at her cat clock, its tail swinging like a pendulum, as her pet cat, Neeko, played with her squeaky mouse. She curled her toes, wrapped warmly in pink ankle socks. She was a little bored, what with it being the weekend and homework more than capable of being done at a later time. She stretched her arms and legs then rolled over onto her stomach.

            She examined the hand that was scratched by Tyranno-Shark’s sandpapery skin.  After changing back to her human self, it seemed to have healed considerably. But even so, Zoey had been careful the rest of the day, making sure no one looked too closely at her hand. 

            Shaun had been the most worried out of everyone she knew, even her best friends. He had practically squeezed all the air out of her, and she remembers him mumbling over and over, “Thank God, you’re okay.” She knew that he had worried for her safety during the whole Citrus-C incident, but he had feared for her life this time. What caring boyfriend—or human being for that matter—wouldn’t worry about you when he didn’t know where you were while a giant, carnivorous monster was running around?

            Zoey wondered if she should tell Shaun that she was Catgirl, and if that would lessen or worsen his stress, provided that something like this may happen again. She had a feeling that it would make him freak out at first, but then he’d eventually calm down and be okay with it. However, her decision was to wait for the right time to tell him her little secret. Maybe after she told him her other secret, about her Cosplay collection in the back of her closet, she’d tell him about the superhero one.

            There was a knock at the door, and Zoey answered.

            “Hey, girls,” she greeted her friends, smoothing her pink cotton sweatpants and white cotton t-shirt. 

            “Hey,” Chloe, Marina, Karina, and Alicia all greeted back as they filed in, carrying sleeping bags and duffel bags. 

Despite it being mid-November and the autumn afternoons getting colder, Karina was still wearing shorts.

At least she’s wearing a jacket and those fuzzy boots, Zoey thought.

The girls took their shoes off and gathered inside Zoey’s room, their sleeping territories claimed by their belongings.

            After settling in, Karina spoke what was on everyone’s lips.

            “So, how’d the fight go? Obviously you won, but…”

            “Yeah, it wasn’t easy,” Zoey added. “He hit me in the head with his tail, but not as hard as he could’ve.” 

            “What…?!” Chloe let out in a way that sounded like a tire deflating. “Let me see.” 

She checked the side of Zoey’s head for any swelling or bruising. The only thing on that side of Zoey‘s head was the little cutie mole on her cheek, and Zoey assured the girls that she was fine, no pain or lightheadedness.

            “Well, hopefully you are okay,” Chloe murmured, relaxing a bit. 

            “I am okay, okay?” Zoey said, hoping to comfort her longest-running friend with a pat on the shoulder. “No worries.”

            The two friends smiled, and Karina and Marina joined them on Zoey’s full size bed. 

            “Alright, alright, back to the fight: did he try to eat you?”

            “Karina,” Chloe scolded.

            “Yes,” Zoey answered.

            “What?!” Chloe nearly yelled.

            “So, you were almost shark food?” Marina asked.

            “Or would that be Tyrannosaurus food?” Karina added.

            “He was more like an Allosaurus,” Zoey corrected.

            “A what?” Alicia inquired.

            “The Allosaurus is similar to Tyrannosaurus-Rex, but smaller in scale.  Really, it was more like he was a Shark-osaurus, since he had a shark head.”

            “I can’t believe no one is as freaked out about this as me,” Chloe said, clearly upset.

            “Oh Chlo, relax, he never even got close,” Zoey told her friend, waving a hand as if she were shooshing the issue away like a bug.  “He only snagged my shirt corner, and tore it up to the chest.”

            “That’s ‘not even close’?!” Chloe said in a louder voice.  “An inch deeper and he would’ve had your hip!”

            “So if he tore it up to your chest, did he see bottom boob?” Karina asked, ignoring Chloe’s panicked estimation. 

            “No!” Zoey asserted, blushing at Karina‘s question.  “Well, technically, yes, but I was wearing a bra--”

            “Well, then that probably doesn’t count--”

            “What is wrong with you girls?!” Chloe screamed. “Why are you not scared for Zoey like I am?!” Frantic with tears, Chloe flung herself onto Zoey’s pillows, sobbing and wailing.

            “Oh, Chloe, it’s okay,” Zoey assured again as she rushed to her friend’s side. 

She laid her head down next to Chloe’s, and smoothed her hand over Chloe’s long, blonde hair. A few minutes passed silently, Karina shuffling a little in her spot.

            “Chloe,” Zoey spoke after another minute or so, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how much this got to you.” 

Zoey thought for another minute, moving closer to her frightened friend. 

“This should’ve scared me a whole lot, too, but…”

            “Yes, you should‘ve been scared,” Chloe managed to say through her tears, looking Zoey in the eye. “I am. Or was. I don’t know. But you are right, you‘re safe now, and that‘s what‘s important.” 

Chloe wiped away her tears as the two friends sat up. 

“And I am glad that you’re not Shark-osaurus food.”

            “Me, too,” Zoey said as all five girls laughed wholeheartedly. 

 

            “Aww…” Simon let out with a bit of a laugh.

            Simon was sitting in his room, and had just finished reading his copy of Tokyo Shonen Leap, a monthly magazine that was made up of a couple of chapters from several different teen-male oriented manga series, as indicated by the Japanese word, “shounen”. 

A few of Simon’s favorites are in it, including “I Heart Cat-Fist!”, which features Nya, a busty high school teen who is secretly a catgirl, as the love-interest of high school martial arts club member, Toramaru Kokoro. The two meet after Nya just transfers to Toramaru’s school and decides to join the club’s All-girl team. Toramaru and everyone else, male and female, in the club are impressed by Nya’s agility and strength, which surpasses quite a few of the young men’s.   

            This month’s installment ended with the cheerful catgirl trying to conquer a skill that Toramaru had yet to consider: breaking seven stone slabs, two inches thick each, all at once. Nya’s hand came down lightning fast, and broke three slabs. However, after a few seconds, it was clear that Nya came closer to breaking her hand than the bottom four slabs. What made Simon chuckle was how cute she looked with her teary eyes and trembling lip. Even when she was hurt or upset, Nya was adorable. Upon further investigation, her hand was fine, but the fourth slab did actually have a small crack in the center.

            As nerdy as it sounded, he had a bit of a crush on the bubbly catgirl, cute in her thigh-high knee socks and Phys Ed bloomers that she insisted on wearing instead of the traditional uniform known as the gi. It was her personality that sealed the deal: she was sweet and endearing, and had a fiery determination, and though naïve at times, she was still very astute and did well in class.

           

            “Nya’s so funny.”

            Zoey and her friends were doing their monthly ritual of reading manga chapters together, huddled around a couple copies, practically on top of each other to see the words and artwork.

            “Did she think she could break all those bricks?” Karina pondered aloud. “It’s only been a month series-time since she joined, and not even top member, Washi Kato, can break seven stone slabs.”

            “Well, at least she’s ambitious,” Marina complimented.

            “You know, Nya reminds me of Zoey at times,” Chloe said.

            “Really?” asked Zoey, somewhat flattered.

            “Probably just her figure,” Karina tossed out, alluding to how both Nya and Zoey have ample busts.

            “No,” Chloe said before an irked Zoey could respond. “It’s Nya’s cheery disposition and can-do attitude. And the fact that both of them like thigh-high knee socks.” 

            The girls shared a laugh again as Zoey put her copy Tokyo Shonen Leap up on her bookshelf. She had all the issues from the past 15 months consecutively, even though the manga magazine had been in print since 2003.

            “Zoey, why do you read boy manga?” Karina asked.

            “Well, ‘I Heart Neko!’ is cool because it has a strong female character like Nya, who isn’t afraid to try stuff that the guys can do. It’s rather empowering.”

            “No, I mean the other ones in Tokyo Shonen. It’d be a waste to buy one just for those 20 pages.” 

In fact, the average copy of a magazine like Tokyo Shonen Leap had 300 pages, divided up among the half-dozen series that are featured, as well as advertisements and special articles. “I Heart Neko-Fist!” was just one series in the magazine.

            “Well, I like action-packed series just as much as the more romantic shojo manga,” Zoey said, using the term describing the teen-female oriented genre of manga, the “sister” to shonen, essentially. “Sometimes it’s just fun to watch stuff blow up or people punch each other or… whatever third thing that is supposed to be ‘only guys like this stuff’… stuff.” 

            “No wonder you like fighting games so much,” Marina commented.

The girls had a laugh.

            “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t be tough. I mean, didn’t I just beat a Sharkosaurus?” 

Another round of laughter broke out among the group.

            “Well, I just didn’t think of you as the kind of girl who liked that kind of stuff,” Karina clarified. “Except for Nya, most shonen females are only there for fan-service and the usual ‘damsel in distress’ type stuff. That’s not very ‘empowering’.”

            “Well, True Style is a shonen, and Aya Satô isn’t just fan-service. She’s smart and nice, and loves Youshiki.”

            “Yeah, but True Style isn’t like the typical shonen,” Alicia spoke up. “Most have major chauvinistic overtones, where the female wears skimpy outfits that show off their body, and even if they’re being as tough as the guys, it only adds to the fan-service. Actually, Zoey, with those pink shorts of yours, you’re kind of like those typical shonen females.”

            The other girls thought about it a moment, and except for Zoey, they all agreed.

            “Et tu, Chloe?” Zoey was shocked by her friends’ opinion. 

She wasn’t living fan-service! Was she? Then she remembered those guys who ogled her as she was fleeing from Tyranno-Shark…

            “Well, it’s all over the internet,” Chloe defended. “Even though people haven’t seen her face, they know Catgirl’s hot.”

            “What?”

Now Zoey was really shocked.

“Where is it on the web?”

            The girls turned on Zoey’s computer and logged online. Chloe put the term “Catgirl” into the search engine, and within seconds, they found a website that had been keeping track of all the strange occurrences nation-wide since the shockwave a week ago, SurgeWatch.com.

            “The Alameda Catgirl saves the day again at Encinal High, defeating a shark-allosaurus hybrid by herself,” read the first line of the newest article.

            “See? Even they know he was an Allosaurus,” Zoey said before the girls continued reading on.

            “Eye witnesses report that the fight had to have been close, for it was as abundantly apparent as her ample chest that she was nearly sharkasaurus food.”

            “What?!” Zoey yelped.

            “Wow, they came up with the same word we did,” Karina commented, oblivious to Zoey’s rage.

            “As abundantly apparent as her ample chest?!” Zoey blurted as she read.

Scrolling down a bit, there were several pictures of Catgirl talking with the two officers who took Tyranno-Shark under custody. 

            As seen in these photographs, Catgirl’s shirt was torn all the way to the chest, exposing the bottom half of her breasts.

            “How dare they say that? What kind of reporters are these guys?!” 

Zoey was livid at how disrespectful the site’s writers were with their words. 

“I win against a shark-headed dinosaur, and all they care about are my boobs?!”

            “Umm… not just the site’s writers...” Karina pointed to the first few comments by site members.

          SurgeWatcher420: Here, kitty, kitty! XD 

          n0t-a-n00b: Om Nom Nom Nom Nom!

          Sup3rM@n: Dubl D’s FTW?

          Anonymouse: DAAAMN! Catgirl is teh hawtness.

          OVER9000: From: Sup3rM@n: Dubl D’s FTW?

          More like E’s FTW

            “They’re only Cs, you perverts!!” Zoey roared at the screen.

            “Zoey, calm down!” her friends shouted.

 

            “Wow, she really is cute.”

            Simon was now online, and had found news--and pictures--of his newest crush. 

            “Catgirl’s got a really nice stomach, too.” 

He took a closer look at the pictures to see her face. 

“Oh, I think she has a cutie mole on her cheek. Nice.” 

He skimmed the comments that the site users left.

“E’s? Yeah, right. I mean, they’re big, but not that big.”

            He studied the pictures for a few more minutes. 

            “Is she Asian?”

            It was no real issue, being that he himself was half-Filipino, and therefore Asian, on his mother’s side. It was just a trait of hers to take notice of.

            After staring at the pictures for another few minutes, Simon decided to sneakily save them to his flash drive. He plugged the device into the computer, copied the pictures that had the best angles and close-ups of his cat-eared crush, and pasted them onto a blank Paint file, saving them in the same folder where he kept a collection of anime and manga catgirl pictures.

            “God I hope she’s single.”

 

            “Zoey, come on. Calm down.”

            “No, those jerks have no right to talk about me that way. They don’t know me!”    

Zoey’s cat ears and tail were out now, taking cue from her emotions. Her ears were pointed back, and her tail was fluffed out and swishing back and forth, smacking and brushing into the legs of the other girls. Karina giggled only because it tickled and she couldn’t suppress the reaction.

            “Zoey—*giggle*—Chloe’s right, just calm down. There’s no reason—*giggle*—to be so upset at people you’ll never meet.”

            “But that’s WHY I’m so upset! They get to get away with those comments!”  Zoey crossed her arms as she sat on her bed, ears still perked and pointed backwards.

            “Well, since there’s nothing you can do about it, you’ll just have to drop it,” advised Alicia as she went down the hall to the kitchen.

But Zoey couldn’t let it go, and continued to pout, cross-armed and furrow-browed. Karina giggled again, but not from being tickled by Zoey’s tail.

            “What’s so funny?” Zoey grumbled at her giggly gal pal.

            “You really are like Nya. The cute pouting face with your ears pointed back, it‘s just like Nya‘s expression whenever she‘s upset. Right, Alicia?”

            Alicia had returned with a can of soda, and took a sip.

            “Yeah, more or less.” 

            “But seriously, Zoey,” said Marina, “there’s nothing you should be mad about.  Those guys were just being guys, and even if you did know them, you wouldn’t be able to keep them from thinking about a girl like you the way that they do.”

            With a sigh, Zoey conceded, and the girls went about their usual sleep over routine: watching television, eating snack foods, and chatting about the school week.

            “Shaun was really scared, wasn’t he?”

            Zoey rubbed her shoulders and arms, as if trying to warm up.

            “Only because he was scared for you,” Chloe assured.

            “Yeah, he really does care for you,” Marina added.

            Zoey smiled, happy that her friends could see the good qualities in Shaun.

            “So, it’s been awhile, do you think Zorb’s coming back?”

            “Probably,” Chloe answered Karina‘s question. “But whether his return is at San Leandro High, who can say. None of his guys were able to beat The Spektrum.”

            “I bet they were planning how,” Marina added. “They’re probably studying those first fights, and training so that they’re tough enough and smart enough to compete.”

            The group of girls thought it over, and Zoey turned to Marina.

            “Do you really think that Zorb would do that?”

            “Well, it’s what any smart sports team would do…”

            “Pfft,” Karina responded.  “Like alien sports teams act like human ones.”

 

            “Alright,” Zorb began as he pointed to a video screen, “we know who our opponent is, but do we know what he can do?”

            On the screen were images of the human known as “The Spektrum” that Zorb and his team had acquired from linking with the planet’s “Internet.” They weren’t the best quality, but good enough for them. They had an image of each form that they had encounter: the white-haired, red-haired, yellow-haired, blue-haired, and black-haired Spektrum. 

            “We know he can change color,” Zorb continued, “and along with that, his fighting style.”

            As if on cue, each beaten alien remembered where they were hit hardest: Korak on his gut from red-haired Spektrum; Smooth under his chin thanks to the yellow one; Graw and Gnarl were both slammed on their backs by the blue Spektrum; and Pu-Ao around his neck by the black Spektrum’s sleeper hold and choke slam. Even Zorb remembered the body slam that the white-haired Spektrum delivered to him on the first day.

            “Now what we must do is figure out which of us is more suited to which form of his, since the match-ups that happened were obviously in his favor.” Zorb glared at every member of his beaten lineup. 

            This was not how it was before coming to Earth, why was it only after arriving that his team started losing?

            Zorb had believed The Spektrum when he said that the place that had invaded was a school, but he wasn’t about to believe that there wasn’t something going on.  There had to be an explanation as to how a human could have such power, there had to be. And Zorb was determined to get that answer, even if that meant beating The Spektrum near to death.

            “What if we attacked outside of school hours?” Pulverize suggested. “It would really surprise The Spektrum.”

            “We want to attack when we know The Spektrum will be around,” Zorb pointed out. “Sure, it’ll get The Spektrum by surprise, but we’d have to wait for him to show up. What good is that if we want to beat him down before authorities arrive?”

            Pulverize sulked, feeling disheartened.

            “Well,” Smooth spoke up. “Maybe…” 

            His voice trailed off, either because he was still thinking, or wasn’t sure if his idea was good enough.

            “Maybe what, Josta?” Zorb asked, using his real name rather than that ridiculous code name of his.

            “I think I know who we should have fight which one.”

            Everyone, especially Zorb and Zita, was surprised to find that Smooth had a plan.  For the first time since meeting him, Zorb was sincerely proud of him.

            “Well alright, Josta, tell us the match-ups.”

            The group gathered round as Josta began telling them his strategy.

            Wednesday was over half done, but Zorb and his men had made no appearance whatsoever. Simon feared they were going after another off-campus target.

            “Do you think he’ll go after Safeway again?” a club member asked.

            “Maybe a bank,” another thought aloud.

            Everyone was tense, just waiting for someone to announce what Zorb had done, where he had hit, who he may have hurt.

            The entirety of lunch had passed, but nothing was announced. No one witnessed a crime committed by Zorb or his thugs. Not a single part of Simon’s body tingled.

            “Did Zorb quit?” Cyndi asked.

            “No,” Simon answered. “Zorb’s not the kind who quits something, and he wouldn’t do something like that without telling us. He’s planning something, strategizing for next time.”

            “How do you know that?” Caitlin asked him.

            Simon paused, and thought about it.

            “I just do.”

 

            The rest of Wednesday, and even the next seven days, were surreal. It was as if the world had returned to how it was before Zorb appeared, before the power surge.

            His friends were able to laugh easier, the students could sit in class and not have to worry about anything but the subject material.

            Simon--and everyone else, really--wondered how long this would last, and if life would ever truly be like this again.

                       

            Thanksgiving morning was as if waking from a dream. Or perhaps, entering a different one. Simon didn’t have to go to school, wouldn’t have to do homework, just enjoy that night’s dinner with family.

            “Simon?” his mother asked from the doorway.

            Simon snapped out of a trance like stare at the ground. He was sitting in his grandfather’s living room, and everyone else was already headed out to the dining room.

            “Aren’t you hungry? I know you haven’t eaten since this afternoon.”

            “Oh, yeah,” he replied. “I was thinking about Saturday.”

            “What’s Saturday?” she asked him as he stood up.

            “Did I forget to tell you I was going to hang out with a friend at their house?”

            “Apparently. Scottie,” Simon’s mom called his dad. “Did you know Simon was going somewhere Saturday?”

            “Yeah,” Simon’s dad responded. “I think he told me about it last night.”

“Whose house?” Simon’s mom asked as he made his way to the dining table. “Bryan’s? Julian’s?”

            “No, none of my friends from Band,” Simon answered. “Her name’s Cyndi.”

            An uproar of exclamations, mostly a chorus of long “Oh”s, began.

            “It’s… It’s not like that!” Simon said, having to raise his voice above the ruckus. “We’re going to be doing homework, and an article on The Spektrum.”

            At the mention of the San Leandro teenage hero’s name, the noise died down.

            “What exactly about him?”

            “Just… stuff.”

            Simon took a plate from the stack and piled on some bihon. The food was one of his favorite things about being half-Filipino, but admittedly one of the only ways he connected to that half.

            “What we know about him, what we know about those aliens, Zorb and all them.”

            “I heard The Spektrum is going to be interviewed by a girl from San Leandro High,” Simon’s cousin, Danielle, spoke up.

            “Yeah,” Simon answered. “He is. That’s why students are writing their own articles, as sort of guesses to what he’ll say in the official interview. No real grade, just extra credit really.”

            Simon waited a moment for someone else to ask or say something, but no one did. Everyone just went on with their Thanksgiving meal as if it were any other.

           

            The day finally came. The day Simon, as The Spektrum, would be interviewed by Cyndi. He was anxious, he was nervous, then he realized those are the same thing. He had been given her address, and figured out how to get there on his own.  He just wasn’t sure which Spektrum Code to arrive as. He decided to set out and decide that just before he arrived.

            “Okay, Mom, Dad,” Simon said as he put on his jacket. “I’m headed over to Cyndi’s.”

            “How long do you think you’ll be?” his mother asked. Simon felt his mother still thought this was more than a homework-centric visit.

            “Not all day,” he replied. “I can’t imagine the homework and article would take more than… three hours?”

            “Three hours?!”

            “Mom, we’re writing an article. That isn’t instant.”

            His mother relaxed, and he exited the house.

 

            It was several blocks before Cyndi’s house was even in view. Simon had yet to decide which Code he would appear as. Code Black was not a good choice, because he didn’t feel very social or cheerful when he was him. Code Blue was almost as bad, though only because Simon had felt this bluntness in him. Yellow would not be the best only because of the outfit. Simon admitted he made an odd choice making that kind of tribute to one of his favorite legendary wrestlers, but it was going to stay that way for now. Especially since he didn’t know how to edit the Codes’ looks.

            So it was between Red and Silver. He felt Silver would be best, since it was his original and most vocal. Plus, he had used Red to talk to her before.

            Simon looked around to make sure no one was watching him.

            Computer, Activate Code Silver.

            Silently, Computer complied, and in a flash of light, The Spektrum Code Silver was standing a few houses away from Cyndi’s home. Silver hurried up to the front door, and rang the bell. A minute before someone peeked out from behind the front window’s curtains, only two seconds passed before that someone moved from window to door, and barely any time at all passed before that someone opened the door. That someone was obviously Cyndi.

             “Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, you’re here!” Cyndi was clearly excited to see The Spektrum in person again.

            “Well, of course. May I come inside?”

            “Yes, please!”

            Cyndi moved aside, and Silver entered the living room. It was nice, with plenty of room, even with a coffee table in the center of the room. The television was a 48 inch plasma widescreen, and it sat on a sturdy set of drawers. Chances were that the drawers contained Cyndi’s family’s collection of movies, since there weren’t any on the bookshelf in the corner.

            Cyndi fidgeted a bit, and her right hand nervously played with the hem of her pink T-shirt.

            “I… I’m sure you’ve had breakfast, huh?”

            Silver turned to look at her, and he could see she was blushing brightly.

            “Yeah,” he answered. “Did you?”

            “Only some toast,” she answered quickly. “I… I’ve been too nervous to eat much else.”

            “Why are you so nervous?” he asked with a chuckle. “It’ll be alright, it’s just an interview.”

            Cyndi smiled softly, and loosened up a bit.

            “So… where should we do the interview?”

            The Spektrum looked around. The dining room was a bit cluttered, so that only left living room and Cyndi’s bedroom.

            “Wherever you’re most comfortably,” he answered. “This is your home, after all.”

            Cyndi blushed a bit more.

            “I’m most comfortable… in my room…”

            “Then your room it is.”

            The Spektrum looked down the hallway, then back at Cyndi. Cyndi glanced down the hall, then started walking.

            “F-follow me.”

            Cyndi’s pretty cute when she’s nervous, Simon thought to himself.

            Cyndi continued down the hall, The Spektrum following behind her. She stopped at the last door on the left, and turned the knob. After taking a long breathe, she pushed the door open, and entered inside.

            Cyndi’s room was like what a guy would expect a girl to have: plenty of pink things, namely the bed sheets and pillows; flowing curtains with frilled edges; and a couple posters of her favorite musical artists.

            Cyndi hurried over to her backpack and took out her pencil and notebook, then sat down on the foot of her bed. The Spektrum just grabbed the chair from her desk and turned it around, then sat down across from her.

            Cyndi took another long breath, and opened up her notebook to a page near the middle.

            “Okay, first question: How did you get your powers?”

            “It was that power surge on November 2^nd. I was just sitting at home, playing Pro-Wrestling video game, when ZAP! The surge hit my house, entered my game console, and hit me through the controller.”

            “We--by that, I mean the fan club--had guessed it had something to do with that. Okay, second question: How do your powers work? We know there are five Codes, but how do you choose between them? And why do they all fight differently?”

            “Whoa, one at a time,” Silver said with another chuckle, “you said ‘second question’.”

            “Sorry, the least few were my own,” Cyndi replied with a soft smile and a blush. “I got a bit carried away.”

            “It’s alright, I’ll answer them all in order. I’m not 100% sure myself, but it’s as if the Codes are stored in my brain, like data on a computer, and I ask Computer to Activate the one I want.”

            “’Computer’?” Cyndi asked. “Who’s ‘Computer’?”

            The Spektrum had forgotten he was the only who could hear Computer. He now realized that he’d soon sound crazy.

            “Computer is… this voice in my head…”

            The awkward pause that followed made him feel even more nervous than Cyndi. Even so, he continued.

            “It started talking to me the same time I figured out I even had powers.”

            “Oh! That‘s a bit… better.”

            “I know, it makes me sound crazy, but you believe me right?”

            “Of course!” Cyndi said, almost jumping off her bed. “There are all kinds of examples of superheroes that can communicate telepathically, or have some kind of being that communicates with them from within. Hey! Maybe that’s what this ‘Computer’ is! It’s the manifestation of the power surge!”

            “Uh… I guess that makes sense. Human brains and nervous systems are like computers, in a way. Well, anyway, back on topic. They—the Color Codes—fight differently because I had designed them that way.”

            Again, Cyndi wasn’t sure what The Spektrum was talking about.

            “The power surge had transferred my five created characters from the game into me, and I had designed each one to be different from the others. Additionally, Computer has told me that the Codes can Level Up with each win, so who knows, I’m probably going to get more powers as I continue to fight Zorb and his henchmen. I know it’s still a lot to take in and understand when you can’t get in my brain and talk to Computer himself. Or, maybe it’s ‘itself’.”

            Cyndi giggled a bit, and wrote down all The Spektrum said.

            “Okay, okay, speaking of Zorb, the next question: What happened when Zorb attacked the Safeway?”

            The Spektrum remembered that day, and remembered the guilt he felt. Whether he should’ve felt it or not, since he could not have gotten to the Safeway in time even as Code Red, the fastest runner of all five, that didn’t matter. He should’ve tried.

            “I… I didn’t expect Zorb to have done that. And though it’s no excuse, I’m just not fast enough to get downtown from the high school. Not in the time it took for Zorb and his cronies to get away with all those groceries.”

            Cyndi smiled sympathetically as she wrote down his words.

            “It’s alright, Spektrum, no one blames you. We know you can’t go that fast yet. Though, now that we know you can ‘Level Up’, you might be able to one day.”

            The Spektrum smiled.

            “Thanks, Cyndi.”

            She smiled again, but with a blush. She couldn’t help but think he has a nice smile.

            “Alright, last question: How’re you going to stop Zorb and his men once and for all?”

            Again, The Spektrum had to sit and think. He could beat them up over and over, but Zorb didn’t strike you as the kind to go away forever, even after being beat time and again.

            “I’m… not really sure. I can’t just… kill them. And they teleport away to their ship before we can arrest them, so unless we find their spaceship and take it down, they’re just going to get away every time…”

            Cyndi wrote down his words, then looked up at The Spektrum. She could see him thinking, and knew that he was right. She put down her pencil and notebook, and leaned forward.

            “Spektrum… it’ll be alright. I, personally, don’t expect you to stop them permanently. That’s just how it is with superheroes and their arch-villains. As long as you keep winning--”

            “But how long are we talking?!”

            The frustration in The Spektrum’s question wasn’t really aimed at Cyndi, though he looked her in the eye when he asked it. Cyndi straightened up, and looked at her hands, which were on her knees.

            “Cyndi, I… I’m sorry…”

            “No, it’s alright. It’s a lot of pressure, though it hasn’t even been one whole month. And even more so, when you realize that you’re a high-schooler, like me and most of your fans.”

            The Spektrum smiles again, and he gets up out of the chair.

            “Thanks, again. I guess I’ll be going now, since the interview is over.”

            He moved towards the door, but Cyndi stood up, a hand held out.

            “No…! Spektrum, stay!”

            The Spektrum looked at Cyndi, and she realized how passionately she had said all that.

            “Well, I mean… those are the club’s questions… but I’d like to get to know you a bit more. Not that I expect you to tell me your secrets or anything…”

            The Spektrum looked at the clock, and remembered he had told his parents he’d be gone for three hours. One hour had barely passed in the time it took to walk to Cyndi’s house and answer her four questions.

            “Well, I do have some time to kill.”

            The Spektrum moved to sit back down in the chair, but Cyndi moved up and took his hand in hers.

            “You can… sit on my bed with me.”

            Cyndi blushed a bit, and smiled another soft smile. She walked towards her bed, and The Spektrum felt very nervous.

            “It’s alright,” Cyndi said. “We’re just sitting.”

            The two sat on her bet, just a few inches from the edge, and The Spektrum calmed himself.

            “Even though the interview is over,” Cyndi began, “I still have questions I want ask.”

            The Spektrum settled in and looked Cyndi in the eyes.

            “Okay, then. Ask away.”

            Cyndi smiled and turned to face him, legs up on the bed crisscrossed Indian-style.

            “I know you’re a high school student like me, but… what year are you? You look pretty young to me.”

            The Spektrum sat there for a second and thought about what to say. If this was just a private interview, with none of these questions and answers ever being repeated, then it may be okay to give some of the truth up.

            “I’m a sophomore.”

            “The same year as me!” Cyndi exclaimed ecstatically. “Um…”

            Cyndi hesitated to continue on, and her hand played nervously with her shirt hem.

            “What… what kind of girls do you like…?”

            Simon was surprised Cyndi would ask that, but he made sure The Spektrum didn’t show it.

            “All kinds,” he responded. “But especially cute ones.”

            Cyndi laughed nervously, and now both hands played with her shirt.

            “And what do you mean by cute?”

            “Well, y’know… cute. There’s just something that a girl has that attracts me to them. A cute smile, cute outfit… it varies.”

            Cyndi smiled slyly, and she stopped playing with her shirt.

            “Do I… have a cute quality?”

            “Yeah… you have the cutest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.”

            Cyndi blushed as red as she could ever remember, and smiled meekly.

            “It’s funny. I thought the same thing when I saw your blue eyes…”

            The Spektrum’s eyes widened in surprise, and he felt a blush start on his cheeks.

            “Really…? Wow, no girl has ever said something like that about me. Though, that’s because blue isn’t my natural eye color. The real me, that is.”

            Cyndi giggled again.

            “Just like silver isn’t your real self’s natural hair color?”

            “Yeah,” he responded with a chuckle.

            Cyndi scooted closer, uncrossing her legs and folding them underneath her.

            “So wait… you said no girl has ever said something like that to you. Does that mean… you’ve never… had a girlfriend?”

            The Spektrum paused. Again, he supposed he could tell Cyndi this much.

            “No. I’ve never had a girlfriend.”

            Cyndi then remembered the “Superhero Rules” she and her friends had created from looking to fiction as the basis. She remembered the whole “No Romance” rule. The room was quiet for a minute or so. Cyndi wondered if The Spektrum knew of those “rules”.

            He did.

            And it hurt.

            “It’ll be alright, Spektrum. I’ll… I’ll be here for you.”

            Cyndi leaned in close, a hand on either side of The Spektrum. Her face came within centimeters of The Spektrum’s, and she closed her eyes.

            The Spektrum was admittedly shocked. She was going to kiss him!

            As Cyndi came closer, the scent of her shampoo filled his nostrils.

            “Cyndi, wait,” he blurted out.

            Cyndi was surprised, and her eyes popped open.

            “What? What’s wrong?”

            “It’s… this is a little soon, isn’t it? We’ve only talked a couple of times, including this one. I think we should wait before we have our first kiss.”

            The Spektrum had barely finished his sentence when Cyndi leaned in fast and gave him a quick kiss right on the lips.

            “I don’t!” she said with a giggle.

            The two laughed, mostly out of surprise, and The Spektrum stood up from Cyndi’s bed.

            “Well, young lady, before you’re tempted to do anything more,” he said jokingly, “I think I should take my leave.”

            Cyndi giggled again, and stood up, hand outreached. The two shook hands in good-bye, and The Spektrum left Cyndi’s house.

 

            About half an hour later, Simon arrived home with all his things.

            “So,” his father asked as he was eating lunch, “how did it go? Did you finish your homework and that article?”

            “Y-yeah,” Simon stuttered.

            “Why are you out of breath?” his mother asked as she entered from the hallway.

            “I… jogged back.”

            As his parents believed his lie, Simon hurried to his room, and put everything away. He then flopped down onto his bed, feeling better than he could ever remember.

 

            That afternoon, Simon actually finished his homework since he didn’t work on it over at Cyndi’s home. It took a few hours, but he did it all.

            Sitting back in his chair, he looked at the blank computer monitor. He could just see his reflection in the black square.

            “Cyndi doesn’t count as a girlfriend, does she?” he asked himself quietly. “She kissed The Spektrum, but a kiss is a kiss. And Simon can’t claim anything at all…”

            He sat up and spun the chair around so that he faced his bed.

            “What does Cyndi think…? She seems to really like The Spektrum, but I’m sure she can’t really claim him as a boyfriend.”

            His cat, Freckles, simply stared at him while she was curled up on the foot of his bed. Then she yawned and put her head back down as she returned to napping.

            Unable to think of any definite answers, Simon simply moved from chair to bed and turned on the T.V.