The Trials of Renegade X (34 page)

“It doesn’t matter what you believe. It’s the truth. And if I’d told you I got a villain power, you would have made me quit. You would have pulled me out of school and stuck me in the attic and never let me leave the house, just like you’re doing now. You would have had even more reason to not want people to find out about me.”

“So you were just never going to tell me. You trust me so little that ...” He holds up his hands, exasperated. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with you!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough, Damien! Do you have any idea how much damage you’ve caused? Not just to the school, or to your friends, but to
me
? To this
family
?!”

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen! I—”

“I know you didn’t.” He gets to his feet. “But it doesn’t change the fact that it
did
happen. Because of
you
.”

I nod. I cross my arms on the table and press my forehead to my wrists, so he can’t see my face. So I can’t see his. “I’m going to fix it.”

“Fix it?! You can’t fix this! You— You’ve done
enough
. I’m going to figure out what to do with you, and then whatever I say, you’re going to do it. Do you hear me? And in the meantime, you had the right idea. Just stay away from everyone and don’t cause any more trouble.”

“Just stay in the attic and don’t talk to anyone or use my villain power, you mean?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I mean. Do you think you can handle that? Do you think you can do
one thing
I ask you without arguing or screwing up?
Do you?!
”

I swallow down the bitter taste in the back of my mouth. My eyes water, but I keep my face pressed to my arms. “Yes.”

“Look at me when I’m talking to you, Damien!”

I lift my head. A tear slides down my cheek, and I kind of hate him for it.

“Do you think you can do what I asked you?”

“I said yes, didn’t I?”

For a second he looks like he’s going to chew me out some more for that, but then suddenly he just looks sad. “There are leftovers in the fridge,” he mutters.

“I’m not hungry,” I say, right as my stomach growls again.

He makes a scoffing noise, like he can’t believe I lied to him about even one more thing, and then says, “Fine. Suit yourself,” before storming off into the other room.

“So,” Kat says on the phone later, “my dad kind of forbid me to bring you to Homecoming on Friday.”

“What, he doesn’t want me blasting a hole through the roof? Because I happen to know it will make it onto the evening news. How’s that for a publicity opportunity?” I brush crumbs off the edge of my bed and consider eating another granola bar. After scarfing down a turkey sandwich in the kitchen after my run-in with Gordon, I grabbed two boxes of granola bars—the unfortunately healthy kind with giant chunks of nuts in them and no chocolate—plus three apples and a bag of chips, and hauled them back to my room. I decide to wait on the second granola bar and stuff it back in the box.

Kat laughs. “What time will you be there?”

Gordon wants me to stay locked up in my room and not cause trouble. I’m pretty sure going to Vilmore—especially a dance honoring Bart the Blacksmith—would count as trouble. At least it would as soon as someone snapped a picture of me and posted it online. Then the whole city would know the Crimson Flash can’t actually keep control over his delinquent villain son. It would look like I was openly defying him. “I don’t think I’m going.”

“Why? Because of my dad? You’re not scared of him, are you?”

“Of course not.” The man’s insane, that’s all. “But I don’t think I should. And it’s just a dance, right?” Just one I actually wanted to go to. Whatever.

I catch a snippet of the eleven o’clock news coming from Amelia’s room. It’s something about the Crimson Flash, and I’m glad the sound is too muffled for me to make out any more of it.

“Right,” Kat says. “It’s just a dance. But my dad still wants me to go with someone. For the photos and stuff.”

“Oh.” Since when does she do what her dad says?

“So, if you’re not going, then I’m taking someone else. You’re okay with that?”

No
, I’m not okay with that. “You’re going with Jordan, right?”

“Jordan has a boyfriend.”

“So do you.” My fingers tighten around the edge of my blanket.

She hesitates, then says, “Tristan asked me.”

I grit my teeth and have to prop my phone between my ear and my shoulder because electricity flares to life in my palms. Of course he asked her. He knows she’s with me—the whole world knows that, thanks to all the media coverage—and he still asked. Just like he kept finding excuses to touch her arm right in front of me.

“Damien, did you hear me? I said
Tristan
asked me.”

“I heard you.” He’s going to call her “Katie” all night. Stupid douchebag can’t even get her name right. And he’s going to stand too close to her and ever-so-casually touch the inside of her wrist. And convince her to dance all the slow songs with him, so he can put his arms around her and maybe press up against her a little.

And definitely get electrocuted if he’s ever stupid enough to cross my path again.

“Well, I’m going with him. I mean, if
you’re
not coming.”

This is the part where I’m supposed to say of course I’m coming, if it means keeping her away from some guy I hate who wants to put his hands all over her. But I can’t.

Amelia turns up the volume on her TV until it’s blaring. A news anchor talks in her stupid news anchor voice about how there was a band of protestors today outside the studio where they film
The Crimson Flash and the Safety Kids
, saying that they should cancel the show, since obviously the Crimson Flash isn’t fit to teach safety to anyone, especially children.

I shout at Amelia to turn it down.

She does, but only a notch or two. It’s still blaring, and I can still hear them talking about how the Crimson Flash isn’t who he led everyone to believe and that you can’t trust
anyone
these days.

“Damien?” Kat says.

“Maybe you should go with him.”

“That’s what I— Wait, what? Seriously?”

“You’re just going as friends, right?” Well, she is. He’s not.

“Of course. But—”

“Then it doesn’t matter who you go with.” Just saying that makes my mouth taste bad. Of course it matters. She’s supposed to go with me. We’re supposed to go together, even though she’s going to Vilmore and I’m not, and even though I’m half superhero. Those things weren’t supposed to get in the way, but now I can’t go because of who my dad is. Because he’s a superhero and me being half villain has hurt him enough already.

“Tristan’s the one who started calling me Katie. He’s the one I was partnered with for our field assignment, when we went to Heroesworth.”

“I know who he is.” And how he’s going to die.

I hear more choice audio blasting from Amelia’s TV. Something about how the superhero-themed diner downtown is taking “The Crimson Flash Special” off the menu.

“And you’re seriously okay with me and him going to Homecoming together?”

Absolutely not
. “Is there a reason why I shouldn’t be okay with it?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then it’s settled.” She’ll take that douchebag to the dance, and he’ll spend the whole night trying to feel her up, while I stay locked in the attic where I belong. Where I can’t cause any trouble or get in Gordon’s way. Wonderful. Just how I always pictured it.

“But, Damien, if you don’t go, my dad’s going to think it’s because of him. He’s going to think he’s getting what he wanted. And he wants me to be seen with someone else. So the media thinks we broke up and stops associating me with you.”

I take another deep breath. “It doesn’t matter what people think. We’re still together.”

“I know, but it doesn’t feel right. For them to think that.”

“No, it doesn’t.” In fact, it makes me sick. “But this way, maybe some of the scandal will die down.” That’s a good thing, right? At least on some level?

“You want us to pretend like we’re not together anymore because of some scandal? You sound like my
dad
.”

“Maybe he has a point this time.” And maybe the world’s going to end because I said that.

“No, he doesn’t! He just doesn’t want us together! He’s trying to keep us apart.”

“But he can’t.” He’s not the reason I’m not going, even if I can’t say I was exactly looking forward to facing him or anything. “It’s just one night.”

“Sure it is. Just one night where it matters if I’m seen with you. And he’s going to think you didn’t show up because he forbid it. Like he has any control at all over whether or not we get to be together.”

“It will look bad if I go. Because of my dad. And because of everything that’s happened.”

“It might look bad if you go, but it feels like it will actually
be
bad if you don’t. Like everything that’s happening really is keeping us apart.”

“You mean because I’m half superhero? Because I’ve completely ruined my dad’s life by being half villain, and now I can’t be seen with a supervillain, especially at a place like Vilmore? The school
we
were supposed to go to together?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you would understand.”

“I do, but I don’t want to lose you, Damien.”

“You’re not losing me.”
She’s
the one going with someone else.

“No, you just think we shouldn’t ever be seen together.”

“That’s not what I—” Fine, maybe that’s what I said. Sort of. “You know why I can’t go.”

“Because of your dad. Because it might look bad for people to see you with me. To know that you’re still my boyfriend.”

“Just until this blows over.”

“And when is that? When I’m not a supervillain and you’re not half hero? When people forget you’re his son? Because now that people know who you are, it’s
always
going to look bad!”

I swallow. “Kat. It’s not like that.”

The TV in Amelia’s room seems even louder. I don’t know when she turned it up, but it’s obvious she did. Is it really asking too much for her to not blast horrible news stories at me? I shout at her to turn it down again, but this time she either doesn’t hear me or doesn’t bother.

“If you can’t see me because it looks bad,” Kat says, “and it’s
always
going to look bad, then when can you see me? When will it be okay for us to actually be together?”

When she’s home from school on a weekday and breaks into my house. Obviously. “It’s one night.” My voice comes out a whisper, as if saying that more quietly will make it sound like less of a lie.

“Oh, so how about you come over on Saturday, then?”

“You know I can’t.”

“Then next weekend. I’ll come home and we can go to the zoo and pretend we think the zebras are weird-looking horses.”

“I can’t do that, either.”

“Superstar is playing a month from now. I’ll go see them with you.”

“
Kat
.”

“Don’t say it’s just one night, Damien.”

“Fine. But it won’t be forever. This doesn’t change things between us.”

She lets out a deep breath. “It better not.”

“I know I said I wasn’t really going to run away and join the circus, but let’s not rule it out. In case we need a backup plan.”

“It’s not fair. Because you saved my life, now we can’t see each other?”

“I can’t cause any more trouble for him.”

“Like dating a supervillain? One related to your stepmom’s arch nemesis?”

“Our wedding may have to have a circus theme. Clown-free, of course.”

“And we can’t invite anyone we know.”

Well, that goes without saying. “It’s going to be all right, Kat.” Somehow. I hope.

“Okay.” She doesn’t sound convinced.

“I mean it,” I tell her. “I—”

“Damien, I’d better go. It’s getting late.”

“Right. But—”

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. But, listen, I—”

She hangs up.

And I have no idea when I’m going to see her again.

Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m not on the phone anymore, or maybe it’s because I’m pissed that some douchebag is going to Homecoming with my girlfriend, who I can’t be seen with ever again, but Amelia’s TV sounds even louder than it did before. The news is playing interviews from kids at Heroesworth, talking about how they knew all along I was more villain than hero, and that the Crimson Flash must have pulled some serious strings to get me in there.

And this time I don’t waste my energy shouting for her to turn it down. I reach out my hand and zap the wall socket, and then a second later the room goes dark and her TV goes silent.

So much for staying in my room and not using my villain power.

Chapter 26

TAYLOR ANSWERS THE DOOR when I go over to Mom’s house on Wednesday with the personality enhancer. It feels weird to knock at my own house. Except it isn’t my house anymore, which feels even weirder.

“Damien?” Taylor blinks at me and scratches his scraggly beard, like he never thought he’d see me again, and especially not here. That makes two of us.