This is the first chapter of a Superhero story I am working on featuring an LGBTQ+ main character.
This work is from January 2023.
I was flying. My metal exoskeleton wrapped around me, protecting me from the elements. I pressed a small trigger in the palm of my right hand and gently turned right to soar between two tall skyscrapers. Someone waved at me through one of the windows and I waved back at them. They couldn’t see my joy under my mask, but that was okay. I continued to glide through the air until I heard a shrill beeping. I flew around, searching for the source of the sound. It kept growing louder and louder, even as my suit sputtered to a halt and the world went fuzzy.
I opened my eyes. The beeping was still there. It was 7:30 AM; Time to get up for school. I stretched and yawned before reaching over to turn my alarm off. The beeping shut off instantaneously. I pulled back my covers and got out of bed. I opened my drawers, pulled out my navy blue t-shirt, a pair of red athletic shorts, and some socks, then set them on my bed.
I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and slunk past the mirror while I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste to avoid looking in it. I moved to the side and carefully turned on the water. I opened my toothpaste tube, squeezed some onto my brush, and accidentally dropped the toothpaste cap on the floor.
Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Everything is fine. All you have to do is quickly drop to the ground and find it before you step on it or the mirror attacks or the other thing happens. No big deal. It’ll be fine. I took a deep breath and dropped to the floor as quickly as I could, trying to look at a wall the whole time. When I felt the floor under my legs, I breathed a sigh of relief. I made it. I glanced around, careful where my gaze fell, and spotted the toothpaste cap near the garbage can. I crawled over and picked it up, then carefully stood up. Whew. Crisis averted!
I rinsed the cap off in the sink to avoid getting germs in the toothpaste, then screwed the lid back on. Setting the tube down, I finished brushing my teeth, without looking at the mirror. It had taken a lot of practice to get to this point, just as it had taken practice to not wince at my parent’s words. If I did, then they might know what I’ve been trying to hide from them, and I couldn’t have that.
I glanced into the hallway and saw the coast was clear. I quickly darted into my room and made sure the blinds were closed and the door shut before starting to change. As per usual, I took my shirt off and flung it across the room before closing my eyes and tugging a sports bra over my head. When I was convinced it had settled and was in the right spot, I felt for my shirt and threw it on before opening my eyes. I messed with my hair for a moment, trying to make it shaggy, then sighed and brushed it straight. I really wish my hair was shorter. It would make things so much easier. I exchanged my pajama shorts for everyday ones, pulled on my socks, and grabbed my phone off my nightstand.
Another day, more of the same pain. I guess I’d better get it over with. I opened my blinds and door, then started downstairs. I heard silverware clinking and knew that at least one of my parents was still here. Great. I set my phone next to my backpack, turned around, and walked into a large hug.
“Good morning, sweetiepie!” My mom said. I tried to wiggle free of her, but knew she wouldn’t let go until I had answered all of her questions, or lied my way out.
“Er- morning mom,” I said. I glanced around her and saw she already had some bowls and boxes of cereal out. I almost wish she wouldn’t do that. It makes it harder to hate her.
“How’s my sweet little daughter doing today?” She asked, smiling. I froze. And there it is.
“Um, I’m doing pretty good. I think I woke up a little late, though, and my bus is coming soon. I should probably get something to eat and head out before I miss it,” I half-lied. She released me and I picked up my favorite cereal and poured myself a bowl with milk. I sat down and ate quickly to not raise suspicion. When I finished eating, I grabbed some fruit and crackers for my lunch. I made a quick sandwich, then zipped up my lunch and put my dishes in the dishwasher. I put my lunch in my backpack, then picked up my phone and put on my shoes. I grabbed my lined raincoat and put it on. It was the type that could have come from either section, even though I had snagged it from the Men’s Department. It was things like these that gave me some happiness, even if I couldn’t do everything like that.
“Alright, well, have a good day of school! I’ll see you later,” she said. I could hear the smile in her voice. Sure, she was happy for me now, but would she be that happy if she knew what I’d been hiding? Probably not.
“Have a good day of work. Love you!” I called back. I left the “sometimes” unsaid. I slung my backpack over my shoulders, then opened and walked out the front door. I shut it behind me and leaned against it for a moment. It’s okay. Don’t let her get to you. I let my mind calm down, trying to stop the thoughts from coming back and making things worse. I ignored the cold rain dripping down my face as I pulled out my phone and sent a quick message to Ashlyn.
“Welp, I left early again,” I sent. I waited for her reply, then slid the phone into my pocket after checking that it was on vibrate. I started to walk towards the bus stop when my pocket buzzed with a hundred bees. I pulled out my phone and checked it.
“Aw, rough morning? Sorry Michael,” she replied. A warm glow filled me, like I was sitting by a fireplace after a cold day of playing in the frigid snow. I stood for a moment, basking in the comfort her text provided.
“Yeah...see u soon,” I sent. I pocketed my phone and trudged to the bus stop at the corner down the street. I knew that I’d be standing out in the rain for a while, so I braced myself for the rain to roll down my face, crying for who I wanted to be but couldn’t be.
After an agonizingly long time of standing in a cold shower, a yellow school bus roared around the corner and slowly halted as it approached me. I glanced down, adjusted my collar, then walked onto the bus. I scanned the seats until I saw Ashlyn’s purple hair peeking up over one of the seats. I slid my backpack off my shoulders as I sat across from her. She waited for the quiet hubbub of conversation to restart before speaking.
“You look dreadful. Didn’t bother to grab anything to escape your mom, did you?” she asked, keeping her voice little more than a whisper.
“No. I had to escape. She just… gets into my head like no one else can,” I said, slumping over and staring out the window.
“Well, I think I found something to cheer you up. Someone leaked security cam footage of Silver Gila last night! Wanna watch?” She said, shuffling closer to me. I perked up and slid over to her.
“Sure!” I said. Silver Gila was my idol. He was everything I aspired to be- strong, brave, and confident. He didn’t flinch in the face of danger and stood up, protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. Like me, the thought came.
Ashlyn tapped her phone a couple times, then pulled up a green-tinted video. It had lines dancing across it, but I didn’t care. It showed a group of thugs advancing on a poor, helpless person who was laying on the ground. The thugs swung crowbars and a couple even held guns. The camera was too far away to make out lips moving, and there was no audio, but you could still tell that they were talking.
Then, they all snapped to the camera. The footage shook as a metallic figure launched itself from behind the camera and onto the ground, landing in the superhero pose. It stood up, glanced at the camera, and I saw the signature snarling horned mask. There was a pause, presumably an exchange between him and the thugs, and then one raised their gun and fired. Silver Gila twisted to the side to avoid a bullet and shot something out of his mask. It hit the gunman and he went down.
Another thug went down with a punch to the face. He launched himself into the air, behind the apparent leader, and snuck his arm around the thug’s neck. The thug flailed, trying to hit Silver Gila, but the struggles slowed and stopped. There was only one thug left standing. He took one look at the superhero clad in silver, then took off running the other way. Silver Gila bent down and helped the victim up, then glanced towards the camera and nodded.
The footage ended and I glanced at Ashlyn. She smiled, then said, “Does that help any, Michael?”
“Yeah, thanks a lot,” I said. I stretched across the aisle and gave her a side hug. She smiled at me and I smiled back.
“Got any theories on who he might be?” She asked.
“It’s impossible to tell since there’s so many people in Urbanopolis, but he seemed to be a little slower than normal, so maybe he’s middle aged?” I said.
“It’s possible. I haven’t heard of other superheros carrying liquid tranquilizers, though, so he probably either has good connections or is doing it himself. He’s likely upper class.”
“But asides from that, we don’t have many lea-did you say liquid tranquilizers?”
“I did. I thought it was known he spat knockout venom, or at least a popular theory on some of the fan forums I’ve seen,” she said. I gave her a side eye. I hadn’t seen any theories relating to his abilities online, but it’s possible we were using different forums.
“Which forum did you say you saw that on?” I asked. If there was a forum I didn’t know about, I wanted to make sure I made an account there to keep up-to-date with the latest speculations. She didn't answer. The school bus rolled into the school parking lot, and we hopped off. We headed to the school entrance and found our morning hangout spot. We were approaching when someone called out our names.
“Hey Ashlyn! Hey Michael!” someone wearing an orange beanie and a black t-shirt said.
“Hey Robin! How are you?” Ashlyn said as we reached them and set our backpacks down.
“Not bad, not bad at all. How are you two?” Robin responded.
“Oh, well you know Michael well enough. He nearly chewed my ear off this morning on the bus with his superhero speculations!” Ashlyn said, turning and sticking her tongue out at me. I put my hand over my chest.
“How DARE you accuse me of such a thing when you brought it up?” I said, sticking my tongue back at her. Robin rolled their eyes at us.
“If a random passerby looked at you, they’d think you were in elementary school based off the way you’re acting, not high school. Grow up,” they said. Ashlyn and I glanced at each other, then burst out laughing. Robin turned and walked away, murmuring “idiots” under their breath. When we had regained control, I turned to her and asked, “Since we got interrupted before I got an answer, what forum did you say you had seen that on?”
A strange expression flickered across her face for a moment. It was so fast I almost wondered if I had imagined it. Almost.
“Oh, well, I don’t remember the exact name. Give me a sec and I’ll look through my history for it,” She said, slowing down and pausing under a tree. She scrolled on her phone for a minute. I felt my backpack vibrate as she tucked her phone away.
“There. I sent it to you. It’s a new one that popped up a few weeks ago called “AgLizard”. Someone had mentioned it on “GilaWatch” and I figured I’d check it out. Sorry for not mentioning it sooner, but I assumed you had already found it!” she said. Huh. Maybe I really am seeing things.
“Alright, thanks!” I said. We started walking to the front doors of the school again. I darted ahead of her in the rain and held the doors open for her.
“Chivalry is dead, you know” she said, walking through. I closed the door behind us. I rolled my eyes. She loved to poke fun at me, yet I could never fully tell if they were meant to be compliments or insults. The Warning Bell rang before I could make some snappy comment back at her.
“See you later Ashlyn!” I said, turning towards the stairs leading to my first class.
“Yeah, see you later, Michael!” she said. I smiled and waved at her, then headed up the stairs to class. My first class of the day was Calculus. Although I didn’t mind it, I couldn’t usually zone out in class, especially not with a test on L’Hopital’s Rule coming up. I still didn’t get it- I had looked online for help, and I knew what it was supposed to fix, but I didn’t understand why it worked, and the teacher had made it clear that it would be on the test. I walked into class, shrugged off my backpack, pulled out my notebooks, and steeled myself for the coming school day.