^^Above, Chapter title credit: Song by the Smiths.^^

{Geoffrey}

I catch Ridley looking smug when he joins us for breakfast that morning. I can't possibly imagine what reasons he has for looking that way, considering he's almost always complaining about something. But I leave it up to Matt to mention it, considering he's the best at introducing contentious subjects without sounding suspicious.

"You're looking especially cheerful today," he says as Ridley drops into the chair next to me. "Good day planned?"

"If you really must know, I had a good night last night," Ridley answers, with a pointed wink in my direction. I wonder if it's something that has to do with me.

"You got laid?" Matt says, both eyebrows going up.

That seems to catch me and him off-guard, because neither of us react for a second.

"Not exactly." Ridley recovers first, with a shrug meant to look casual. "But I did spend some quality time with your girlfriend, Geoff."

"She's not my—" I start, but then it hits me, the reason for his smugness. He knows exactly where to get me, hoping to provoke a reaction. I can't let him have the satisfaction. But all the same I make a mental note to ask Raina about it when I have the chance.

"You really think I haven't noticed you two?" Ridley says. "I've seen the way she gets all fluttery around you, Geoff. Not to mention how nervous you are around her. The feelings are there, you just don't want to acknowledge them."

"Pretty sure they've acknowledged them plenty—" Matt starts, but I kick his ankle under the table to keep him quiet.

"If you really want to know what happened between us last night, why don't you just ask her yourself?" Ridley nods to the cafeteria doors, where Raina and that tall girl I always see her with are having their cards scanned to get in.

"Maybe I will," I snap back, my fists itching to punch his stupid face in. He already knows what'll happen: if I even think of accusing Raina of messing around with Ridley, she'll fly off the handle at me. And then we'll go back to not talking, which means he'll have a chance to make his move. I plan to not let that happen. In fact, I won't even let it get there.

"Good luck having that conversation," Ridley says with a self-righteous smirk before finishing his breakfast and leaving the table before either of us can say anything.

"Bite me," I mutter, scowling at my eggs.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as you think," Matt rushes to reassure me, but even by his voice I can tell he doesn't fully believe that. "Raina might be a firecracker, but she isn't an airhead. I'm thinkin' she knows how to read us guys."

"Understatement," I say with a shrug, trying to watch Raina as unnoticeably as possible. She'd labeled me as a total hoser within two days of knowing me, which had taken other girls much longer to figure out. That didn't bode well for our relationship, but I'd have to take what I could get. At least for now.

≈

I don't get a chance to ask her until close to the end of the week, when we've decided to meet up and study for the Econ test together. Matt, unlike Ridley, respects my wanting to have some time alone with Raina, and doesn't push me when I ask him for some space.

Except when it really gets down to it, I already know I'm getting myself into trouble.

"Raina," I say after a half-hour of awkward silence and rustling paper. "Can I ask you something?"

She glances up at me, one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, go ahead."

"Were you busy with Ridley the other night?"

Her fist clenches, snapping her pencil in half with a loud pop. "How'd you know...?"

"He said so. Rubbed it in my face." His smug expression comes back to me, and my fists curl. "Did anything happen?"

For a second, she hesitates, like she wants to spill everything. But instead she shakes her head. "Between us? No. Nothing."

"He was predicting this would provoke much more of a reaction out of you." I toss my pencil into the crease of my book and lean back.

"He's about to be sorely disappointed, then." Raina drops her own pencil, now in splinters, and rakes one hand through her hair. "He doesn't know I've already gotten him figured out."

"So two playing at this game?" I raise one eyebrow, and allow one corner of my mouth to follow. "This is a new one."

"Ridley's not the only one who knows the tricks of the trade," Raina says, flashing me a rare wink. "I might look like a hick, but I've learned my share of street smarts."

"Outsmarting him, I see." I wonder if Ridley's under the impression that Raina's the type of girl that lets guys take advantage of her. "You got a master plan?"

She leans forward, looking around like she's sure someone's listening in. "He asked me to help him with something the other night, but didn't show. It was Hammerhead instead. He was acting so weird about it I knew it could only mean one thing."

I begin to shake my head. "Raina..."

"Do you think Ridley and Hammerhead are...connected somehow?"

I say nothing for a second. Jumping to a conclusion about a super's alter ego is possibly the one secret that makes or breaks both identities. But I can't help thinking that Raina's right. Maybe the whole I'm-an-outsider thing was just an act to throw us off.

"Geoff?" she says when I don't respond right away.

"I'll get to the bottom of it, Raina, if you can promise me one thing." Ridley as Ridley probably couldn't do much damage. But Ridley as Hammerhead could, and would if given the opportunity.

She seems slightly puzzled, but nods anyway. "Sure."

"Don't get involved. And if you can, keep your distance from Ridley." I wasn't about to let him get to her either, not when it was clear that all he wanted was to get her away from me.

She nods again. "You got it."

I say nothing, only reach across the table and give her hand a squeeze. I trust her word, more now than before. Maybe I'd underestimated her ability to keep a secret.

≈

"I think Raina's on to Ridley."

Matt looks up from his plate, a noodle dangling from his mouth. "What? How'd you figure?"

I tell him quickly about what Raina said, and about what happened the other night. He raises his eyebrows when I finish, and swallows before speaking.

"How'd she crack it?"

"Well, she..." The way his question's phrased is enough to tell me he knows everything already. "Wait...you knew Ridley was Hammerhead?"

Matt shrugs. "Yeah. He wasn't exactly trying to keep it a secret."

I shake my head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Can't blame me, Geoff. You were so caught up in having your quality time with Raina that you must've not noticed." Matt twirls his pasta around his fork, but doesn't eat it. "I didn't tell you 'cause I knew you were busy."

"If it's something as important as that—"

"Look, man," Matt interrupts, holding up his hand. "You got a girlfriend now, I know that. And I know you're trying really hard to be normal around her. But you know sometime you're going to have to tell her. It isn't like the non-super people don't know about the supers."

"You know I can't just drop that into a casual conversation, Matt." He's right, though. Raina should know everything, and besides, it's the right thing to do.

"Then don't," he says, completely serious. "You'll just have to come right out and tell her."

I say nothing, although I'm not sure how well this'll work. Having a speculation about a super's identity was one thing, actually confirming it was something else entirely. Especially when it came to someone like me, and someone like Raina. She wasn't just some girl I liked. I think she was turning into something much more than that.

And us being who we were, that wasn't good.

≈

We get all the way up to Halloween without any problems. For a while, I thought Ridley's mind games — Matt calls them "Jedi mind tricks" — would turn into something big, but so far, they haven't. Nor have I seen Felicia around recently, although I think that's probably better for me and for Raina.

We're walking to class together when I suddenly spot Jake approaching us from the humanities building. He's in his preppiest outfit yet: an argyle sweater over a button-up, trousers with creases so sharp they could cut your fingers, and brown wingtip shoes. Not to mention he's wearing a bow tie. A bow tie. Nobody under forty wears those these days.

"Cromwell!" he says as he reaches us, slinging an arm around my shoulders and forcing me to release Raina. "Just the man I was looking for!"

"What's up, Jake?" I try to sound casual, but with my cheek smashed into his, it's difficult.

"I just wanted to know if you were busy tonight." He gives me a squeeze, and I see Raina roll her eyes. He must have winked at her.

"Not really...why?" I finally manage to escape his arm, so I can breathe.

"Me and some of the guys were gonna go to the haunted house downtown. You being a future brother and me being the president, I thought I'd invite you personally. And your girlfriend, of course." This time I see him wink at her, and she looks away.

"Uh...I guess?" I hadn't been planning on spending the evening with him. In fact, I'd been looking forward to watching an old scary movie with Raina.

"Great." He stops in our path, turning around so fast both of us run right into him. "Either of you have a ride?"

We shake our heads.

"Not to worry," he says, with a big grin. "I'll have Damon pick you up. How's eight-thirty?"

I look over at Raina, and she shrugs. "Might be fun, to get off campus for a while."

"All right. On board with it. I like it." Jake winks again, holding out his hand for a high-five. "Up top."

I indulge him, and so does Raina, although I can tell her heart's not in it. Honestly, mine's not either, but I've heard rumors that if the fraternity president likes you enough, you don't have to go through initiation. Maybe staying on his good side isn't such a bad idea after all. And maybe that courtesy will extend to Raina too.

After he's gone, Raina looks over at me. "Who was that?"

"Jacob Lachlan Hargreaves the third. But he likes Jake." His name sounds so pompous coming out that I cringe at the wounded expression in Raina's eyes. I remember what she said before about how she felt she didn't belong, and me having a connection like Jake only confirmed it.

"How does he know you?" she asks as we start to walk again, this time with a noticeable distance between us.

"We went to his frat party the other night."

"Right." She bites her lip, then takes a breath like she's about to say something. Then she shakes her head and drops her eyes to the ground.

"What?" I attempt to close the space, but she speeds up right away. "Raina, come on. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She shakes her head and pushes one hand through her hair. "I should go. See you later, maybe?"

Before I can answer, she hurries off. I clench my fist and mentally curse at Jake for ruining the nice smooth road we'd been on. Raina's insecurity runs deeper than her feelings of not belonging. There's something else, and I want to get to the bottom of it.

Matt finds me after our classes are over for the day, and immediately he seems to notice something's off.

"Hey, man," he says, catching my shoulder and squeezing it as he comes up behind me. "You seem...off. What's wrong?"

I explain everything that happened between me, Jake, and Raina. Matt bites his lip and furrows his brow, and his blue eyes narrow.

"He thinks he's better than us, doesn't he?"

"That's one way to put it," I say through a sigh. "He probably thinks he's doing us a favor."

Matt shrugs. "Yeah, probably."

"I just really want to be with Raina." I throw out an arm and then let it drop to my side. "But then stuff like this keeps happening, and she gets scared and runs off."

"Can't be easy," he says, digging his hands into his pockets. "Being around all these rich kids showing off for each other."

"You know her roommate, don't you?" She reminded me a little of Jodie Foster, with those striking blue eyes and dark brown hair. Another one of my teenage crushes. "Ellen, or something?"

"Yeah. Ellen Forbes." Matt shrugs again. "Why?"

"Could you...talk to her, maybe? Feel out the situation with Raina?"

"Too shy?" Matt gives me a wink.

"No, I just..." I shake it off. "Just talk to her, Matt. Please. For me."

"Fine. But you owe me one." He punches me in the shoulder, making it vibrate.

"Sure. Whatever you want."

≈

I don't see Raina until later that night, when we both go down to the front walkway where Damon's picking us up. Jake had called earlier to tell us to look for a blue '67 Chevy, with chrome fenders and a brown convertible top. Tricked it out himself, he said. I spot Raina, standing at the curb with her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

"Hey, Raina," I say as I approach.

"Hey," she answers without turning around.

"So...ready for tonight?" I reach into my pocket and wrap my hand around the small ball of metal that contains my super suit, no bigger than a ping-pong ball. The head engineer at my dad's company, sworn to secrecy, had helped me with it. Just in case something happens tonight, although I'm not counting on it.

"Yeah." She hunches her shoulders in, attempting to look smaller. "You?"

"I'm not much for haunted houses, actually."

"Too scared?" I hear an eyebrow raise in her voice.

"I suppose." I don't want to tell her the real reason — I'd read Stephen King's It when it came out, and that had awakened my fear of clowns, storm drains, and the circus. Not to mention I'd been much too young for it, and Dad had never specifically told me what would or wouldn't give me nightmares.

"At least we're together, right?" We finally look at each other, and I see her smiling faintly at me.

"Totally," I say, even though I know that if nothing fishy happens, at the very least I'll wet my pants and never live it down.

Damon picks us up at five after eight, and all I see when he rolls the window down is his white teeth and the whites of his eyes. His skin's so dark he's almost invisible. He's friendly enough, and doesn't seem to think anything's going to happen. I feel it, though, like an itch I can't scratch.

The haunted house is on the west side of the city, right on the outskirts. We have to pay a fare to get in at the front gate, a heavy, real-iron one supported by posts topped with gargoyles. Then we turn into the parking lot, climb out, and walk up the winding path to the front porch. I see it lit with green lights, the billowing smoke coming from the front door making them ripple in and out.

"Is Matt coming tonight?" Raina asks as Damon peels off to meet up with some of the other frat brothers gathering on the porch, waiting to go in.

"I think so." I try to keep my voice even. I don't want Raina to know I already have chills running up my spine. "Mentioned it to him."

We don't see him as we proceed up the front steps — with red eyes peering from the cracks — and push past the streamers — which feel like spider legs — to get into the entrance hallway. Then it's a left into the dining room, where a family of zombies dressed in old clothing are in the middle of eating something lumpy and gray. ("Brains, I think," Raina says in my ear, and I feel her shudder.) After that, straight into the kitchen, and we come face-to-face with a guy in a chef's uniform, stained with blood and brandishing a bloody cleaver. At that Raina squeals with fear and hides her face in my sleeve. And I have to repeat It's not real in my head until I believe it.

Jake finds us when we enter the parlor, nearly pitch-black because of the curtains covering the windows, and holograms of ghosts are dancing the waltz. He's painted a fake ripped suture across his cheek, and on both corners of his mouth.

"Hey, guys!" He wraps an arm around each of us with an obvious relief. "Good to see you."

"Hey Jake." I push down my nagging fear again.

"They keep saying there's a funhouse upstairs," Jake says, leaning in and flicking his gaze between us. "With clowns and stuff."

"Oh, real fun," Raina says. I can tell she's trying to act like she's not scared, but eventually we'll probably agree that this is actually terrifying.

The three of us navigate the rest of the first floor, grabbed by a banshee, a guy with an axe in his head, and another one wrapped in chains. Then on the stairs, one vanishes and hands catch my ankle. I yank it away and hurry to catch Jake and Raina, who both look at me like I'd screamed. I probably did.

After that comes the funhouse, starting with a hall lined with mirrors. Every time we pass one, a ghost appears behind us. Jake yelps and ducks when a swarm of bats swoops down on our reflections, and then I manage to smile a little. I hadn't expected to hear him scream like a girl tonight, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

It's after the room with a carnival theme and a creepy clown that I feel it, just the faintest of aches at my temples. I stop in front of a large oil painting that unexpectedly comes alive and grabs you, trying to figure out what's happening.

Before I can, I hear Raina gasp. "What's that?"

I follow her finger, pointing down the hallway, and it's like being stuck in a scene from The Shining. Something black and viscous is oozing through the open doorway at the end. My headache gets worse, and it suddenly hits me: the Ooze. It's found us.

"Get behind me," I say without thinking, my super instinct kicking in.

"Dude, what—" Jake starts, but I interrupt him.

"Just do it!"

I have a feeling he thinks it's part of the haunted house, but I know it's not. I see tentacles, snaking along the walls and searching for something to grab. Then an errant one does — it catches Raina's ankle and pulls, yanking her off her feet. I shove Jake out of the way and leap at it just as she screams my name, my adrenaline allowing me to clear its tentacles and aim straight for its face, poking around the door. I curl a fist and whack it, point-blank. It hisses and reels back, but it gets over the surprise pretty quickly. I feel a tentacle wrap around my wrist right as it hits me back, in the stomach and then in the face. Then it throws me, straight into a mirror that shows a ghostly girl combing her hair. The mirror shatters, raining shards down all over me.

"Geoff!" Raina cries, dropping me back into the situation. I leap up and find her half-engulfed by the Ooze, tentacles snaking around her arms and neck.

"No you don't," I growl, jumping forward and grabbing her arm. The Ooze pulls harder, and she cries out as my hand slips. I redouble my hold, seizing her under the arms and heaving. She comes free with a loud sucking noise and knocks both of us backward.

"Thanks," she says breathlessly, but that's as far as we get. I see a tentacle descending on us, and I roll us over just as it punches into the floor, where my head was. Instinctively she curls into me when a shower of plaster explodes on us. Another tentacle had punched a hole in the wall.

In the brief moment it takes for the Ooze to regroup, I pull Raina up and shove her towards Jake, rooted to the spot.

"Go!" I shout at him. "And get everyone out!"

I don't even watch them go, taking the ball out of my pocket and tossing it on the ground. It springs into shape right away, and after I step inside, it wraps around me like a second skin. The Ooze takes another swing at me but I catch it just in time, aiming a laser at its tentacle and shearing the end off. I hear it screech, and that sends a thrill of energy through me.

I battle it down the back stairs and into the dining room. It rips the chandelier from the ceiling and throws it at me, and I leap to avoid it. I pick up the zombie father, using it as a shield as I push the Ooze towards the bay window. But it's on to me pretty quickly. A tentacle comes swinging at me and blindsides me, throwing me across the entryway and through a barricade wall. I hit the ground and slide, my ears ringing.

At the very last second, I pick myself up. The Ooze is spitting slimy green balls, exploding into flames when they hit. I dodge a couple and then shoot some lasers back, buying me enough time to make myself invisible and dive under the long glass table running down the middle of the room. That seems to thoroughly confuse it, and I see it inching closer, its tentacles searching for me. I have to think fast. The Ooze's weakness seems to be anything fire or heat-related, so I have a feeling a nice raging inferno would slow it down a little.

"Master says you would be here, Red Knight," rasps the Ooze. "You can't hide forever."

Stall, Geoff, come on.

"You'll have to find me first," I say, sliding out from under the table and towards the window in the back of the room.

"Your smell is especially strong tonight," the Ooze says.

"Uh, thanks?" Something explosive would be pretty helpful right about now.

"Master knows what you are trying to do. You are trying to stop him."

"Listen, I don't know who your master is or what he's doing," I say, even though the first one is a lie and the second is a guess. "But you did just ruin everyone's Halloween."

The Ooze spits out another gob of green slime, hitting the floor and bursting into flames. Then I realize — its slime must be flammable, and it's all over the floor. I give the room a quick glance, noting that it must have been some sort of control room, with switchboards and computers on the table. No books of matches or lighters anywhere, but my lasers are hot enough that this might work.

"Look, we can talk about this, can't we?" I sidestep another slime ball, experimentally shooting one laser at the trail of slime near the door. It leaves a burn mark, but doesn't catch fire. "Like civilized people?"

"Nothing to talk about," the Ooze hisses. "The sooner you give up, the sooner this will all be over."

"Fine. Then have it your way." I aim a laser at an incoming slime ball. It explodes with a whoosh and a flash of flame. If I get the Ooze angry enough, it might make a big enough slime ball to cause an explosion.

After that I keep shooting at it with my lasers, intentionally missing. The Ooze keeps swiveling around to aim at me, knocking the table over and sending the switchboards and computers flying. I make flying leaps every time it spits, noticing my plan is working. The slime balls are definitely getting bigger.

Then at the last second, I jump straight at it, my fist outstretched. Its circular mouth opens, and a green gooey ball, bigger than the rest, grows from it like a bubble. Right before impact, I shoot a laser behind me. With a noise like a sonic boom, I feel myself pushed outward and upward by heat and flame, having no time to see the Ooze's fate before crashing through a window and blacking out.