Facing The Music

I took another bite of my sandwich and chewed slowly, despite the fact that my mind was suddenly racing at a mile a minute to try and dig myself out of the colossal hole I had suddenly thrown myself into.

"Well uh, I couldn't sleep, remember," I said while avoiding eye contact with my mum. "They say that when you can't sleep, the worst thing that you can do is just lie there in bed thinking about it, so I kind of just walked around a bit."

What I'd said wasn't really a lie, it was just a slight fudge of the truth. I hadn't been able to sleep last night. I had gone out for a walk. None of that was false, it just wasn't the entirety of the story.

"Are you serious?" My mum questioned, her voice not angry but concerned. That was almost worse. "You can't just go out for a wander in the middle of the night! Anything could have happened!"

Yeah, like running across a drugged up maniac who spontaneously acquired the ability to shoot laser beams out of his eyes that were so powerful they just seemed to nullify matter upon contact.

There was that guilt again. Only growing at my mother's concern, especially considering the fact I'd almost died.

"Why can't you sleep, anyway? What's keeping you up at night sweetheart?" She pushed through my silence.

"I guess… School, mainly," I mumbled, "Or well, the people at school more accurately."

"It's not any better, then?" She asked, not outright mentioning the bullying that I was so clearly referencing.

I hated thinking about it that way, but what a stupid question.

If it were better then I wouldn't be up all night thinking about it. I wouldn't need to blow off steam exploring abandoned parts of the community to fight off against random villains.

My shoulder caught again as I reached for the other half of my sandwich and I did everything I could to keep the wince off my face. I didn't feel like eating anymore, not in the middle of this awkwardness, but if I didn't my stomach would be throwing a fit well before lunchtime, especially taking into account all the energy I likely burned during the night.

Eventually my mum realised I wasn't going to respond to her question and went back to eating herself. But, she only took a single bite before placing her sandwich back down again.

"No more going out in the middle of the night," She warned me, "Or I'll have to figure out some other way of keeping you in."

It seemed a little rash, but I knew she would follow up on the threat, just like I knew she was only doing it out of concern for my wellbeing.

I nodded in response, all while secretly trying to figure out what had given me away the first time.

"M'sorry mum," I said around the last bite of my sandwich. "Promise I won't do it again."

The guilt was like an ocean trying to pull me under the waves now. I didn't like lying to anyone, my mum least of all, and this was probably one of the worst lies I'd ever make. After getting a taste of the hero life during the night, even if it had been terrifying and I'd nearly died, there was no way that I wasn't going to do it again.

I had powers, incredible abilities that could help people if I used them, if I didn't it felt like I was being selfish.

With my food finished I picked up the plate and carried it into the kitchen, my mum gave me a sad smile as I went. I knew she didn't like making threats like that either. I'm sure she just wished that I understood, or something to that effect.

I washed my plate off under a stream of warm water and wiped it down a little, not bothering to use any soap considering the only thing that had been on it was basically bread, and dishwashing soap wasn't the easiest thing to come by.

"Going on your run, then?" My mum asked, concern lacing her tone.

"Uh… yeah," I said, pulling on my shoes before walking over to my mum for a hug, I had to let her know that I wasn't actually angry with her.

She pulled me in tight and squeezed hard, and I couldn't help the little yelp of pain I made as she squished into my slightly injured shoulder.

"You okay?" She asked, noting the pain.

"Yeah, I'm uh… I'm fine," I replied, "Someone barged into me while I was on my way home from school yesterday, he was carrying a big box, not really looking where he was going. My shoulder's been hurting a little ever since. No big deal though, promise!"

I rotated the shoulder a few times until something in it gave and clicked, providing instant relief in the area.

"Hmmm, well be safe today," She said, putting a lot of emphasis on the word safe.

"I will mum, love you," I said, turning away to leave.

"Love you too sweetheart," She said with a sigh.

I left the house and swung the door shut behind me, noting how loud it actually clicked when the door came shut. I'd thought that my mum was a heavy sleeper, maybe that sleep was lighter than I thought considering how quiet that door closing actually was.

I shook the thoughts from my head and did a few more leg stretches before breaking out into a light jog.

Fixing the issue of my mum realising I was going out on adventures every night would actually be pretty easy. I'd just need to craft something that let me leave the house every night.

My power was already going wild with ideas, ranging from something that made a section of my wall disappear temporarily to anti-gravity shoes that would allow me to float down the stairs without having to worry about the thuds of my footsteps.

I wasn't willing to give up on heroing, but I wasn't going to have my mum worrying about me either.