Captain Cosmic Pt. 01

"Wow... I... I never thought about that," I say.

"Well, hopefully, you take more time to consider it. Just take time to think about the choices you make and how they affect others. You never know the power you have to influence other people. You should get going. Don't want to be late for class," he says.

"Yeah, uh... Thanks," I say.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you. Just wish more students were like you who take the time to help others," he says as he finishes up before walking away.

"That was awfully kind of you," Lauren says as she walks up.

"You... You saw that?" I ask.

"Yeah, Ken and his friends can be real jerks sometimes," she says.

"Why do you hang out with them?" I ask.

"Because Jessica and Kaitlynn have been my friends long before I switched to this school. We all went to the same summer camp. They stood up for me when I was such an awkward klutz. And I was kind of bullied by some of the other kids at summer camp. But when Jessica showed up, she stood up for me."

"Wow... I didn't know."

"Come on, we're going to be late for class," she says grabbing my arm and dragging me to our home class. We sit next to each other.

After Ms. Whitney takes attendance, Lauren scoots her desk up to mine. "Let's get started on our project for Mr. Carcher's class."

"So what do you think we should do for our business project?" Lauren asks.

"Well, I was always thinking about starting a blog, but they're kind of a dime a dozen," I say.

She laughs. "What would your blog be about?"

"Well... It's kind of nerdy."

"Come on, you have to share it now," Lauren says as she leans closer.

"Okay... I wanted to make a blog that tests out complex theories in a creative way. Like Einstein's theory of relativity," I say.

"That would be so cool! You should totally do that," Lauren says.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah, I would be the first to subscribe," she says. "Unless I can be your co-host."

"You'd want to be my co-host?" I ask.

"Absolutely," she says.

"Well, want to hear my other business idea? I got it after the museum," I say.

"Yeah, let's hear it," she says.

"Producing music. You would be the best at it," I say.

Her face simmers like coals after a long raging fire. "You really think so?"

"Well, you definitely have good taste in music. I know that for sure. And you could have Abony as your first artist," I say.

"Aww, thanks. And honestly, Abony's got some real talent. I would love to get her in my dad's studio," she says.

"How about this. I'll start my blog if you start producing music, deal?" I ask.

"I can do that. Only as long as I can be your co-host," she says. "And don't think you're not going to help me produce music. I'll need a tech and you're smart enough to learn it."

"Deal!" I say.

As class comes to an end, Lauren and I walk out discussing our plans before we have to part ways.

As class goes by, lunch finally arrives. Abony meets up with me as we sit at our normal table. "You won't believe how well the first period went. Lauren and I are partners for that business class where we have to build a business. She's going to be my co-host for my blog and I guess I'm going to be her tech to help her produce music."

"Nice! Dude, she's all over you," Abony says.

"So, what about you? I know you had a thing for Wendy. Have you finally moved on?" I ask.

"I don't know. It's just hard in high school. Especially when there aren't that many open lesbians. I just wish there was an easy way to identify who's gay or not. You have no idea how shitty it is to ask a girl out only to find she doesn't like a tossed salad," Abony says just as Wendy joins us.

"I have something to show you at my place. I think you'll like it," Wendy says to me. "We can also do more testing after school."

"Sounds great," I say.

"Hey, is this seat open?" Lauren asks.

"Uh. no. Definitely not," I say, pulling the chair out for her.

She smiles and takes a seat. "So, any ideas as to your first vlog post? You said you wanted to experiment with general relativity. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, here's what I was thinking. When Einstein came up with a 'special' theory of relativity that applied a universal speed of light to the assumption that the laws of physics stay the same inside any given frame of reference. However, Einstein tried to apply accelerating masses to his special theory, he realized objects with mass must somehow influence the surrounding dimensions, space-time, in such a way that the object seems to act as if it can pull on other masses. It's as if matter weighs down the fabric of spacetime it is sitting in, creating a 'curve' that causes other nearby matter to slide towards it," I say.

"Okay, we all know Einstein's theory. Get to the point," Wendy says.

"Hey, this is an A and T conversation, sprint your way out," I say.

"I have no idea what you were just saying. Was that even English?" Abony asks.

I ignore both of them and turn back to Lauren who seems to still be interested. "Anyways, I was thinking of having a wheel we could hang in mid-air that obviously spins freely. Then I was thinking of putting maybe like another wheel inside it or something similar."

"Oh I see, you're going to spin the wheel inside really fast and see if you can move or essentially pull the wheel surrounding it?" Lauren asks as her eyes light up.

"Yeah, exactly!" I pipe up.

"That could work," Wendy says as she rubs her chin. "But, I can see a major problem. You haven't accounted for the force of wind. Of course, the outside wheel will spin because it'll be moved by the pressure of the wind force. Einstein's theory was based on the context of outer space where it's a complete vacuum and he's talking about gravity, not centripetal force."

"Dang it. She's right," I sigh. "I mean, it's clear that the theory works because if we look at our galaxy, the stars are being pulled by what I can only assume is a blackhole or something at the center of our galaxy."

"Will you guys speak English?" Abony sighs.

"I'm sure you'll come up with something," Lauren says. "Speaking of our project, Abony, Gage, and I were talking about becoming producers. Want to be our first artist?"

"Woah, you're the producer, I'm just the tech, remember?" I ask.

"We're partners, remember?" Lauren says.

"I'd love to be your first artist! When do we begin?" Abony asks.

"How about this weekend?"

"I heard there's a huge party this weekend at Mackenzie's house," Abony says. "Heard she has this big mansion and what not. I heard that from one of the new girls in first period."

"Really? Well, we should go. You might be able to do a live performance," Lauren says.

"What! No... I'm not ready for a live performance. Are you kidding me?" Abony asks. "That's way too soon."

"Come on, Abony. You have to take advantage of every opportunity provided. How good are you at freestyle?" Lauren asks.

"I mean I can spit just as good as anyone. I just... I don't know about performing in front of all those people."

"Don't let fear stop you from achieving your dreams. You've got to overcome it and rise up," Lauren says.

"Okay. Okay. I'll think about it," Abony says.

"I know you can do it. Your lyrics on that last track were sick," Lauren says.

The bell rings signaling the end of lunch.

"Just think about it," Lauren says as she gets up to leave.

"She's right, you know," I say. Abony just shakes her head.

After school, Wendy, Abony, and I go over to Wendy's house. We follow her up into her own little laboratory. There she had three statues covered up. "I was working all night on a costume for you and I came up with two different variations."

She pulls the cover off of the first one and it looks almost identical to Abony's Gecko costume. "No! Not going to happen," I state.

"Aww, come on!" Abony says. "You can be my sidekick."

"Yeah, that's never going to happen. I'm not a sidekick," I say.

"I figured you wouldn't like that one, but I had to put it out," Wendy snickers.

She then moves to the second option and pulls the cover off. Underneath is a red and charcoal grey costume with a cape. It's rather dark, but I can roll with it. It looks kind of cool. "Sorry if it's too red. I ran out of material and was only left with red and charcoal grey."

"No, it's cool. I like it," I say. 'What's under the third one?"

"Nothing. That's just a side project I'm working on," Wendy says.

"Now, we just need a dank ass name," Abony says.

"I was thinking something like Ultra Power!" I say.

Both Abony and Wendy crack up.

I glare at both of them. "What's wrong with Ultra Power?"

"It's a bit..." Wendy starts.

"Lame?" Abony interjects.

"What? No way. Okay, what do you suggest?" I ask.

"Something like Nitro maybe?" Abony says.

"Pfff..." I sigh. "Nitro? No way. I'm not a pyro."

"Fine, whatever. Go with Ultra Power," she says and starts mumbling under breath.

"Maybe I will," I say.

"Ultra Power it is..." Wendy sighs. "We should run some more tests, especially with the costume."

"Then we can finally go out on our first patrol together," Abony says.

"Yeah? When can we do that?" I ask.

"No! We don't have enough data, we should run some more tests until we find out the extent of what he can do first," Wendy says.

"Of course. But at some point we're going to have to run live tests in the field," I say.

"After we can draw some solid conclusions. If you make a mistake in the field you could get killed," Wendy says.

"I know the risk," I say.

"I don't think you do," Wendy argues.

"Whatever, let's get on with the tests," I say.

We head back out to Wendy's property and spend the rest of the time running more tests. However, we haven't drawn any new conclusions on how my power works. Eventually, Wendy takes us home.

-

Back at Home

As I arrive home, I find Amelia's already there. Which is strange. She should be on duty at this hour. After searching the house, I find her in her room in bed. "Amelia?" I ask.

I can hear her crying. Did something happen at work?

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Can you please leave? I want to be alone right now," she sniffles.

I head over to her. "Not until you tell me what happened," I say.

"Nothing..." she says.

"Something happened. You're a wreck. Please, tell me."

"Go away!" she cries.

"No! I'm not going to leave you like this," I say as I climb into bed with her and wrap my arms around her.

"Please, just leave me alone. I don't want you to see me like this," she sobs.

"You never leave me alone when I'm like this. I'm not letting you cry alone. Just talk to me. Please. Did something happen at work?"

She turns to face me. Her eyes are bloodshot as tears fall down her face. "I... I let a girl die today."

"What?" I ask.

"He... He killed her. I... I froze and he killed her. She was just a little girl." She buries her face in my chest and breaks down crying.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. You were just trying to do your job," I say as I pat her back.

"It was my fault. I let that girl die. I should've done something when she was alive..." She falls apart in my arms. There must be something I can do to help her. "I shot him. I shot him dead."

"It's going to be okay," I say, stroking her back.

"No... It'll never be okay," she says.

We lay there as she cries into my arms. I hold her until we both fall asleep.

*****

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