“You’re like Batman,” I joke, trying to stifle a giggle.
He quirks one eyebrow me. “Excuse me?”
“Oh you know, just the mysterious bachelor that is always swooping in to save people… but you know what? Never mind. I don’t even know why I said that.”
I shake my head, totally embarrassed. I'm all flustered and off-balance and babbling like a doofus.
“Actually, that's sort of a compliment. Batman was always my favorite superhero.”
“Really?” I ask him, happy to have a chance to dig a little deeper below the surface and realizing I haven't had many of those chances at all so far. “Why is he your favorite?”
He shrugs one shoulder, clenching his jaw and looking around, surveying the few other people within earshot. It's a gesture I have seen him do many times, like he's always on the alert. Like he is the Secret Service or something.
“Well, probably because Batman is not a superhero at all. No magical powers. Just a man with a mission, I guess you could say.”
“A mission… and a billion dollars.”
He cracks a smile, his cheeks dimpling into long lines that bracket those beautiful white teeth. I love making him smile. Makes me want to wriggle like a puppy.
“Yeah, I guess a billion dollars doesn't hurt either.”
“Oh, hello, Daniel,” comes a voice, shooting through the air like a dart.
I startle, flinching to the side and almost rolling my ankle. Daniel catches me under my right elbow and draws me to him, but then pulls me further, pushing me behind him. He sidesteps slightly, inserting himself between me and Lizzie Whitmore, who's sneering like a tiger with a meal in front of her.
“Oh, I don't bite, Daniel!” she protests. “You of all people should know that. I just want to talk to Kita, is that all right?”
“About what?” he growls.
I press my hand to the middle of his back and feel the vibrations there. His muscles are tense as he rearranges himself to a defensive position. Literally, he is shielding me from her. And I can't help but be grateful, because there goes my heartbeat again, racing like a rabbit around my chest. I don't know why. What could she even really do to me? But I just want this to be over. I want to be away from her.
Far, far away.
“Kita, aren’t you even going to say hello?” Claudia scoffs. “Seriously? You’re just going to hide behind your daddy here?”
I feel Daniel move his arms and assume he's holding his hands up, palms out. He's managing the situation, and all I need to do is stand here. I can do that. I can trust him to take care of this for me.
I know that, but ninety-nine percent of me wants to just run the hell away.
“We miss you around the house, Kita,” Lizzie singsongs. “Like, a lot.”
Claudia chuckles, and I hear Babs’ high-pitched giggle chime in too. I hate the sound of their laughing. What's so damn funny?
“A super-lot,” Claudia says. “Where have you been?”
“Kita was just on her way to an exam,” Daniel says in a barely audible voice.
“With you?” Lizzie sneers. “You know, she's an adult. She's expected to do this on her own, not take her daddy with her to class.”
“All right, Lizzie, that's enough.” I can not only hear his voice but feel the vibrations of it through the fabric covering his back. I want to curl into his arms.
“You know what? I don't think it is enough,” she says, her voice spiraling upward. I can feel that she's gotten closer and Daniel stiffens.
“I think that whatever you guys have got going on here, it is more than a little bit weird. Don’t you think so, Claudia?”
“Oh, definitely skeevy, I would say, personally,” Claudia agrees.
“Kind of gross,” Babs pipes in.