My father was irritable because of his work—the new supers, who didn't seem to care whom they robbed, were at large, and I disappeared since they robbed the jewelry store in the mall. It had been a long week for Derek and my father, and things were only worsening.
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Suddenly the doorbell rang, and Derek pulled his head from the marble slab, springing fast from the seat and falling over from exhaustion. "I'll get it," he said, wandering off to the foyer. I followed him to the staircase just in case something terrible happened. The guy urgently rang the doorbell three times again, and the front door opened. Noah stood in the doorway, grinning wide as his eyes jerked my way. I stared at him wide-eyed, looking him up and down.
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"Can I help you?" Derek grumbled at Noah. Noah pushed past him into the foyer, stopping next to me by the stairs.
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"Nice house, Knight," He muttered. Then, he patted my shoulder, and I watched him pace to the kitchen, where he found my dad. Derek and I followed. What-the-fuck.
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"What do you want, Noah?"
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"I came by to say hi and talk to you about something important." He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
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My dad pointed his beer at Noah and looked at me. "Do you know this kid?" My dad asked, scowling at the boy.
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Barely.
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"We go to school together, mate," Noah replied, throwing his arm over my shoulder. He didn't know what personal space was, and Noah was super, which intimidated the fuck out of me. My heart leaped from my chest as I pushed him off me.
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"What do you want, Noah?" I growled. Noah glanced around the room before his eyes landed on my dad, uncomfortable in the corner.
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"I want to talk to you," he said again. "Did you not hear me the first time?" I wanted to avoid whatever Noah wished to say to me. The way he barged into my house demanding to speak to me meant big trouble. I looked at Derek for help, and he shrugged.
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"Fine," Derek finally said, gesturing out of the room. Then he briefly locked eyes with our dad. "We'll go to James's room, but I'm staying with you."
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"All right, rookie," Noah wandered to the doorway, patting Derek's shoulder. "He barks and bites. Wuff." Noah's grin widened into a cocky smirk. "I'll race you there." Noah wandered past Derek as he rushed behind him up the steps, and I followed.
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"Don't touch anything, Noah," Derek yelled. Then Noah raced into my bedroom, jumped on my mattress, and I came face to face with Noah floating above my bed, watching me with a raised eyebrow and a smug grin. Then Derek raced in behind me.
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"What the fuck?" Derek screeched. Noah's eyes darted to the door behind us, which slammed shut.
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"Yeah, James, Derek, we need to talk," He stated as he stared at me, no longer smiling. He was serious.
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∆∆∆
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Noah settled in the air, hovering above my mattress in my spacious room. I had clothes tossed in front of the closet and a desk on the side, with papers scattered everywhere. Derek stood in the corner and watched Noah, unsure of what to do with a dangerous superhuman in my room, and to be honest, neither did I.
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"Who are you?" Derek growled at Noah, watching him float his cell phone above his chest as he dropped from the air onto my mattress.
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"I can't tell you that, mate." He glanced at Derek and winked. "But Superboy over here needs to resist playing hero for a moment. Max and I have been on to you since we moved here." He took a deep breath and exhaled.
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"Where's Sam?" The fact that he had the nerve to ask where Sam was giving me chills. How could they know about me? How could they know about Sam, too? What did Sam do that attracted so many supers throughout the years, and why did it take three years for them to zero in on Phoenix, Arizona? Whatever drew Noah and Max here scared me. I didn't know how to deal with this. I was sixteen. What was I going to do, and what was Sam, Derek, or my father going to do to stop the madness, too?
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"Listen, Noah. I have powers, but I'm not sure my dad knows, and I want to keep it like that, so you're not touching my family, especially Sam."
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"I invaded your bedroom, and you're worried about that? Geez." He rolled his eyes and laughed to himself.
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"What do you want?" Derek growled again.
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"It's not me you need to worry about," Noah said. "I'm not the bad guy."
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"Well, you're not doing a good job of making yourself look like the good guy right now." Derek singled Noah out. He leaned against the wall; his eyes zoned in on him. Noah looked at me for help. Sure. I'll help the one guy in the room I find out is a supervillain. I could trust him, right? Was he dumb?
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Noah huffed, lowering his phone to his hands. "Okay, tough guy. Don't you think I would have hurt you by now if I were to do something?" Noah sat up, his hoodie contracting with his abs, as he raised an eyebrow in Derek's direction.
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"Watch it," Derek pointed his finger at Noah. I rolled my eyes at Derek, then Noah. What was he going to do? Noah could overpower Derek in a split second. Derek was dauntless in danger, or at least braver than I was, but not even close to being as strong as Noah or me.
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"What are you going to do, mate?" Noah growled, his eyes landing on Derek's momentarily as they glared at one another. Then, Noah's eyes trailed to my science book left open on my desk. He slammed the pages with his mind, making Derek jump.
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"You dick," Derek glowered at him. Noah stifled a chuckle, watching me in the doorway. This time, I was mad.
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"Go home, Noah," I roared.
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"I don't have a home," He argued. I collected myself, feeling bad for him after realizing what he had said. Noah and Max were homeless or most likely living from hotel to hotel. It explained why they robbed people.
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"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Go home wherever you're staying, Noah." I demanded again.
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Noah huffed, rolling off my mattress. "Okay, you win, Superboy, but you don't have to be a dick about it." He wandered to the doorway, pushing his shoulder into mine as he walked by.
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Derek pushed away from the wall, taking a seat at my desk. "I take it that guy isn't popular?"
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"Nope," I said, blowing air from my cheeks. Not even close. Noah was at the bottom of the food chain, like me. He liked to remain a shadow in the distance while Mark and his gang, including Max, tried to kick my ass, and even though I knew who was under the mask, I still wasn't sure I wanted my powers. However, they knew about me, too; if I lost my abilities now, we would be in deep trouble.
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