Dreams of the Golden Age (Golden Age 2)

“You remember the guy from the park that one time? The jumper?”

Teddy froze, like he needed a minute to process what she’d said. “Frogger? That guy? Don’t tell me you’ve been talking to him.”

“Yeah, so what if I have?”

“It’s just … we don’t know anything about him. Are you sure he’s a good guy?”

She knew exactly where Teddy was coming from on that one, but she breezed past it. “I think he can help us. We can really use someone powerful. Some muscle.” And boy, did Eliot have muscle. He still hadn’t e-mailed her, though.

“And you trust him?”

“I trust him enough,” she said, which was a terribly evasive answer.

“Well, I don’t. Sign up Toad Man? No way.”

“Jealous?”

He glared. “What? Why would I be jealous.”

“You know, you were supposed to ask me again if I want to go to prom with you. You know, when we’re not wearing masks in a back alley at midnight.” That sounded a lot kinkier than it really was. Her life probably looked a lot more exciting from the outside.

“Okay, um.” He winced, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah. So. Um. Do you … I mean, I guess you’ve had time to think about it and all. So, will you maybe go to prom with me?”

She thought about Eliot, and let that thought go. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Um. Okay. Cool.” He actually looked startled.

What were they supposed to do now? Hug? Shake hands? Make out? Um …

The chimes for next period rang, and they both made nervous, grateful chuckles.

“I’ll see you tonight, then,” he said, waving awkwardly and backing away.

“Yeah, see you.” Her waving was just as awkward.

She started to walk to her own next class, mostly because she felt Teia coming up behind her and wanted to get away. But Teia grabbed her arm.

“Anna, can I talk to you?” Teia said.

“I’m really busy right now.” She sighed, letting more frustration edge into her voice than she meant.

“This is important,” she said, sounding just as frustrated and increasing her pace to keep up with Anna’s retreat.

“We’re late for class.”

“Two seconds. Please.”

At that, Anna let Teia pull her into a corner. “I read the top news on the Eye this morning. Nice work.”

Anna supposed that if you actually knew her and Teddy, the identity of the most mysterious superhero ever was pretty obvious. What she couldn’t tell was if Teia was being sarcastic. A sneering observation of how little they were really able to do. She didn’t want to engage.

“You going to blow our cover?” she said, not able to sound entirely neutral.

“Nope. Code of honor. You haven’t blown ours, right?”

Was that what it was? Honor was what drove Teia to make headlines? No, they were all just making it up as they went along.

“But that’s not what I want to ask you about. When you guys have been out, have you noticed a lot of cops around? Maybe not a lot of cops. But maybe a patrol car driving by, or they just happen to show up right after you bag a bad guy. And I mean right after.”