4 Closet Inspection

I followed Autumn up the stairs to the first floor. There was another set of stairs leading up to the second floor and three other doors. He opened the utmost left door and headed inside, so I followed him and closed the door behind me.

"It's a little bright, I hope you don't mind."

Well, he wasn't wrong about that. The walls were pink and the ceiling was an aqua blue, the same colours as his Thundergirl outfit. Most of the furniture in the room was white, as was the floor. There were pictures, framed pictures, of Thundergirl and her party all around the room, and zero pictures or even signs of Autumn himself.

"I had an interview in my own room not too long ago, so I had to make it like this."

"Oh, I see. I don't mind."

"I never had the time to change it back, but I realised it's fine like this. Maybe for another interview."

"So did they come over here?"

"No, we video called. I don't want anyone finding out where I live, so I asked it to do the interview this way, as I couldn't be in the studio at that time."

I was a little sceptical, and he might have noticed. It wouldn't make sense to change the entire room, just for a single interview. But, I digressed, and we moved on.

Autumn walked over to the white closet in the corner of the room and opened it. Some time had passed, and he had already unpacked his bag. I had settled down on his bed, realising I hadn't even asked if that was alright.

"What are you doing?"

"Swapping my costume."

"Why?"

"Because that one got burned a little by that Scorsocrist today, so it's up for repairs."

"Who repairs your costumes?"

"One of my teammates."

I noticed Autumn is a little tough to talk to, as I had to keep questioning him to get answers. When I peeked around the door of the closet, I saw at least ten of the exact same costume in there. If they can get repaired, he wouldn't need that many, I thought. Reluctantly, I asked him something I had wanted to ask for a while now.

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

He turned around while pulling out the new costume from the closet.

"Can I, uhm, check them out?"

His bewildered look frightened me, and I panicked thinking that was rude to ask.

"Oh, the costume? Sure, you can check out the burned one if you want, since it's going to get washed anyway. I would prefer if you didn't touch the clean ones, though."

That was a fair point. He came over as a little germaphobic, just like me, so I understood his point. I went to the costume that was laying on his desk. The only burned part was the sleeve of the right arm, while everything else looked as good as new, only a bit wrinkled. I placed my hand on the lower part of the top part, which was soft on the inside, and felt sturdy on the outside. The top half was a crop-top jacket, coloured a vivid pink with an aqua pleated trim around the holes for the neck, arms, and stomach. The sleeves were short, about halfway down the upper arm, and it had a V-shape around the neck. I felt up every part of it as I went over. I had never seen it from this close before.

"Don't wrinkle it too much."

"I won't."

I was startled when I noticed my high pitched voice. My heart was racing and I was feeling the excitement flowing through my body. I might have been fangirling a little, but I continued scanning each and every part of his costume.

The three buttons of the top were the same aqua colour as the trim and were attached to a white, clean strip going from the neck to the stomach opening. I then shifted over to the lower part, a pink pleated skirt with an aqua pleated trim on both openings, the same colours as the top half. There four elastic bands attached to the upper side, which could be latched onto the top half of the costume using clips. They were also pink, but a slightly less vivid than the rest of the costume. From looking at the crop-top, it seemed that the clips would be attached on the inside, not being visible from the outside when it is worn. I knew that Thundergirl's costume also had a white pantyhose, colourful sneakers, and two celeste blue scrunchies, but he had already put those away.

"So, what do you think of it up close?"

I jumped as his voice suddenly spoke from behind me, and I came to the realisation that I was just feeling up his costume for minutes. That must've looked creepy.

"Uh, oh, it was-"

I had lost my words, but I restored quickly.

"I liked it, seeing your costume from up close."

I had never properly said this to anyone before.

"I am a huge fan of you, but-"

And I had no idea why I was telling him this.

"My friends aren't, and they always glossed over me and ignored me whenever I talked about you."

"That's why I wouldn't consider them your friends."

There was his boldness again, the boldness that I probably needed in my life. But, it didn't sink in yet. It couldn't sink in, because I didn't want to give up on Chris and Maddie yet.

"I-"

"Hahaha, what am I talking about? It's your choice if you want to stay with them. But, if I were in your shoes, I'd be a lot happier not clinging to them."

Autumn was cheerful and joyous at first, but his speech gradually became more serious. I realised he was trying to help me in a way, but I still couldn't give in. For some reason, I made the decision to change the subject.

"So, why do you dress up like that?"

"Rude."

"No, wait I mean-"

"Haha, I'm kidding. It's because I like it. I prefer it over wearing boys clothes, and it conceals my identity better."

He was untruthful, I knew that the moment I heard his explanation, but, I didn't bother to ask.

"Why don't you want to be known?"

"I do want to be known, but not as Autumn. I have to be able to take a break sometimes, you know?"

Autumn walked up to me hastily and took the costume from my hands and placed it in a bag.

"This is going to the base, which is where I'm going now as well."

From the way he said it, I assumed I wasn't allowed to go with him. After I excused myself I left the house, and he waved me goodbye. I unlocked my bike and rolled it onto the road.

"See you tomorrow."

He said that in such a gentle way. Autumn was completely different from Thundergirl. They had polar opposite personalities, and if it weren't for today, I would have never even thought of the possibility of them being the same person.