After her shift, Charlotte parked her car and went inside. She slammed the door and tossed her purse on the table.
"Bad day?" Isabella asked from the living room.
Charlotte shuffled in. "I don't know." She flopped on the couch. It was stiff, and sitting in it for too long hurt her back, even with an excessive number of pillows. Her mom picked this one since it was the most presentable and matched the color scheme of the room, which was green, brown, and beige. The TV was on. It was a random reality TV show about twenty people dating each other and breaking up. It was something like 'Kiss, Marry, Or Make So Many Terrible Rumors That They'll Be Shunned From Society Because You're Petty.' Something like that.
"What happened?" Isabella asked, her eyes not leaving the screen.
"I met my team today and they are just…ugh! Impossible. One of them is a guy who seems nice, but he made me sanitize my hands just to shake his. Then there's this girl who keeps apologizing. She's not so bad, but she jumps if I even look at her. And the worst one, Marissa. She's pretty rude, and I know she's going to cause drama!"
"Mhm." Isabella sipped a protein shake.
Charlotte frowned. "Are you even listening?"
"Huh?"
Charlotte groaned. "Forget it." She got up and left the living room. The manila folder was peeking out of her purse, and she snatched it and tossed it into the living room. "Mom wanted me to give this to you. Mom says you have to read it and not throw it away."
"Whatever. I'll do that later."
Charlotte sighed and went upstairs. The dark oak steps creaked, except for the first three steps. In the hallway, there was a blue and yellow carpet from the STC as a gift from her mom's employees, which she politely accepted and laid out during a house party. She didn't throw it away, so it now occupied the hallway.
On her way down the hall, Charlotte peeked her head into her mom's room. Empty. Dust was settling on the dresser, windowsill, and bed. Chances were she'd be staying at work overnight. Again. When was the last time she came home?
Isabella's room was across the hallway. It was like night and day compared to her mom's room, which was clean and untouched. Isabella had clothes all over the floor, including a blue skirt that Charlotte thought looked familiar. She welcomed herself in, picked up the skirt, and saw a crumpled picture under it.
"Hm, what's that?" Charlotte asked. She shouldn't be snooping, but to be fair, Isabella welcomed herself into her room all the time. She knew because suddenly, her stuff was out of place.
As she uncrompled the photo, she realized it was one of her mom and her dad. It looked like Isabella had attempted to rip the drawing in half, to separate her parents, but had torn part of her dad's chest and given up. This picture was taken when their parents were first married. Her mom's black hair was shorter, and her green eyes were shining. She looked like Isabella here. On the other side, their dad smiled back with his natural electric blue hair and tanned skin. His eyes were crinkled in the corner, and he had an arm around their mom.
She hasn't seen a lot of pictures of her dad. There was one in her mom's desk, in a drawer, but none in her room. Thirteen years ago, the main superhero team for Star Falls had to disband because her dad, the Marvelous Comet, had overdosed and was in a coma. He remained in a vegetative state, living in the care home in Star Falls. Charlotte didn't remember much of him, since she was three when it happened, but Isabella must have remembered him better, since she was five. She didn't say much about him.
As she traced her finger along the rip, her stomach turned. Who had she tried to rip out? Her mom, or her dad? Why would she do that, especially when there are so few pictures of her dad in the first place?
Charlotte put the skirt back where she found it. She'll take the picture instead. As she left the room, she glanced down the hallway and listened. The TV was still going, so she went into her room, took the picture out of her pocket, and put it in a drawer in her bedside table. She'll try to fix it later.
For now, she'll do some work on her computer. She goes into the office across the hall from her room and sits at the computer. She'll look up methods for taming unruly heroes, getting people to use their powers, and hopefully finding a way to make Leo faster.
"Charlotte!" Isabella yelled from the stairs.
Charlotte paused before shaking her head. Isabella probably wanted to ask about where the toilet paper was or something like that. She can figure it out herself. Charlotte opened her computer.
"CHARLOTTE!" Isabella screamed.
Charlotte sighed, slamming her computer shut. She stomped down the hall and down the stairs. "WHAT?"
In the kitchen, they had a guest. Charlotte froze. "Oh…Hi." Her face turned red.
"Hey there, Char," the man said. "I'm Jacob. Not sure if you remember me, haha, since last time I saw you, you were as tall as this table!"
"Uh," Charlotte said, glancing around. She had no idea who this man was. Should she say that or pretend to know him?
"He's Kelsey's dad," Isabella said.
Oh. Isabella's boyfriend's dad. She remembered him a little now, but from Isabella complaining about him being annoying. "Oh, hi!"
Jacob chuckled. "Yep, I knew your dad back in the good ol' days. I was Firearm."
Firearm? Charlotte bit her lip. "Oh, wow."
Jacob nodded. "I know, I know. Pretty big deal to have someone like me sitting in your little kitchen. Actually, wait, you wanna see the famous fire arm?" He stood up.
"No, no, that's not necessary-"
"Nonsense," Jacob said. He took off his red plaid jacket, revealing a black t-shirt without the sleeve on the left arm. His arm had a massive red and orange flame tattoo wrapping around his bicep, going down to his wrist. He flexed it. "Pretty amazing, right? This is a pretty cool birthmark."
What was she supposed to say to that? "Um, yeah, cool."
Isabella rolled her eyes behind Jacob and made a stupid face. Charlotte tried not to look at her to keep a straight face.
"Yep, pretty unique. Only fire in one arm, this arm. That's why I'm called Firearm, came up with it myself." Jacob put his plaid jacket back on and sat down.
"I can tell," Charlotte said before she could stop herself.
Luckily, Jaacob took this as a compliment. "I was a pretty big deal back in the ol' days. As your dad's right-hand man- or should I say, left-arm man."
Charlotte cringed, but kept smiling. "Oh, wow. Yeah. Great. Anyway, what was it that you came here for?"
"Yeah, that. Surprised you didn't hear me pull in the driveway, in my new truck. You should take a look at it. It's a black truck, with flames on the, heh, left side. Because of the fire arm. Let's go look at it, it's a sweet ride."
"Oh, no, I'm good," charlotte said.
"I insist. It is the coolest thing you've ever seen."
He wasn't going to drop it until she looked at that dumb truck. "Fine."
Outside, parked in their small driveway, was a massive truck. It was a shiny black with the flames on the left side, like Jacob promised. It definitely wasn't the coolest thing she's ever seen.
"Pretty nice, ain't it?" Jacob asked, patting the truck like a beloved pet. "Got it custom made."
"Yep, nice truck, great truck. What was it you came here for? Did you want to talk about something-"
"Ah, alright, since I know you wanna ask, but you're too shy. Wanna take a ride? It's pretty smooth."
Charlotte frowned. She had no idea in what world someone would look at her and think 'yeah, that girl wants to ride in this random grown man's truck. Yep.' "No. I don't want to ride in the truck."
"Aw, you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"It'll be a great time."
"I'm okay."
"Alright, alright. Don't come crying if you realize you passed up on probably the greatest moment of your life," Jacob said, putting his hands up.
Charlotte refrained from saying she was pretty confident she wasn't missing out.
"Anyways, I better get going. By the way, good luck on your little team. Do your best, even though, well, it might not work out in the end." Jacob chuckled before opening the door.
"What do you mean by that?" Charlotte asked.
"Look, your dad did his best, but he wasn't cut out for it, and he was The Marvelous Comet. Maybe it won't end well is all I'm saying."
Charlotte's mouth hung open, but he slammed the door before she could retort. He waved at her through the window and drove away.
Charlotte stormed into the house. "What was that?"
Isabella burst out laughing. "Oh my God, I hate him so much. That stupid tattoo that he insists is a birthmark, ugh, he's unbearable!"
Charlotte sat at the kitchen table, anger boiling. "He said I might fail at being a leader. What is his problem?"
Isabella's face went serious. "Don't take him too seriously, sis. He just wants Kelsey to run a superhero team, and be the next big thing. It's nothing personal."
Charlotte frowned. "Kelsey? Oh." the anger went from a boil to a simmer. It still felt kind of personal. "How's Kelsey, anyway?" Changing the subject might make her feel better.
"I've gotta go take a shower," Isabella said, ignoring her. "I'll make dinner tonight."
"Oh- thanks," Charlotte said. Did she not hear her question, or purposefully ignore it? Charlotte shook her head. No, forget it. More importantly, she was going to prove him wrong.
Her team is going to be the best of the best, and he will regret what he said.
She smiled, getting up. Time for some research.