CHAPTER TWENTY:
Altercation

Evette stumbled into her house just after midnight, hoping not to wake her father or brother. She'd already stripped her disguise and pulled on leggings and her pep band sweatshirt before entering the Bonavich household, just in case. Her knee ached as she limped into the kitchen for some ice. Yes, ice will help everything.

At least she could tend to her physical problems. She let out a groan as she recalled everything that just happened, especially her forced unmasking. Now the three super-kids at her school knew that she was the infamous Flame, what would they do at school tomorrow? Call the police to detain her during class?

Maybe she should just drop out.

She shook the thought off as she filled a Ziplock baggie with water from the tap and used her hands to freeze it. She wrapped a washcloth around it so she wouldn't be pressing the ice directly onto her skin.

"Eve?"

Evette froze at the sound of her brother's voice. She reluctantly turned around and faced him as he stepped into the warm light being casted from the single light fixture in the kitchen. His face darkened as he no doubt noticed her busted face. "What the fuck happened?"

"I'm okay. Just got back from the store, some guys jumped me on my way home." She held the makeshift ice pack against her cheek, hiding the gargantuan bruise from sight. Dang, Camille could throw a punch.

But Cole didn't think he could ever forget that sight. It's something he'd been having nightmares about—except in his nightmares, it was their dad who beat her up. He would hate to admit it, but he was relieved it was just some random thugs. That meant it was just a one-time thing, not a routine of abuse.

He noticed the way she kept her weight on one of her legs and kept her other knee at a slight bend that looked uncomfortable. He pushed past her and grabbed a bag, filled it with ice from their freezer, wrapped a washcloth around it, and held it to her knee gently. She stared at her shoes the whole time.

"Why did you walk to the store by yourself at night?" Cole asked.

Evette shrugged. "We ran out of tampons."

Cole shook his head. Tampons. She got mugged over tampons. "Next time just wake me up, I'll go."

"You don't know what kind to get."

"Then I'll go with you," he stated pointedly, making Evette breathe out a small laugh. He wasn't laughing, though. A dark shadow of a bruise stuck out from under the edges of the ice bag she was holding to her cheek, and her lip was swollen as hell. "Geez, you didn't call the cops?"

Evette shrugged, and her eyes dropped to the floor as she thought of an excuse. "No. I didn't see their faces, so I figured they couldn't do anything."

There was a beat of silence. Cole was furious, Evette could tell just by the sound of his uneven breathing, not to mention the way his jaw was clenched so hard she was worried about his teeth shattering under the tension.

Cole tried blinking the rage out of his eyes as he tried to come up with something to say that could possibly translate everything that was going through his head into words.

I'm going to kill whoever did that to you, I'm so glad it was thugs and not our dad, I'm never letting you leaving this house without me ever again, I love you and I'm sorry that we aren't the type of siblings to tell each other that often.

"What about that punk ass superhero, Azure?" Cole said instead, a bitter laugh on his lips. "Why didn't he help you?"

Evette's breath hitched at the mention of Azure. After tonight, she was pretty certain Azure was actually Lewis Johnson. They both had super-speed, and he wore the same blue hoodie as Azure. The only thing missing was the mask.

"He can't help everyone, I'm sure he was busy," Evette replied quietly.

Cole frowned down at his sister. He let out a small breath, forcing himself to remember that this was only once, it won't happen again, this is different. This wasn't their dad's fault. He could fix this and still keep her safe.

"I've got a knee brace in my closet. Don't move it." He pointed at her hurt knee as he backed out of the kitchen and moved to his bedroom. He pilfered through his messy closet until he found the adjustable black brace at the very back, squished behind an old framed movie poster and miscellaneous discarded clothes.

He hadn't worn this brace since he had an altercation with Mr. Bonavich that led to fifteen year-old him being pushed down the stairs. He sprained his knee and bruised just about his whole side that took the brute of the fall, but his father didn't take him to the hospital—he just showed up the next day with a brace from Dick's Sporting Goods and tossed it at him, grumbling something about football.

Cole pushed the memory far back in his mind and brought the brace back to the kitchen. He helped Evette strap it on right so it supported her injury.

"Ice it every day after school for two hours, and if it hurts too much when you walk just tell the nurse at school, the athletic trainer should have crutches they can let you borrow."

Evette took a step with the brace and winced, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. She looked up at Cole's worried face and slugged him on the shoulder. The worry melted off of his face as he rolled his eyes and pushed her back lightly.

◌•★•◌

As tired as Camille, Ross, and Lewis were after their long, action-packed night, they all showed up to school early. Even Camille, who would've preferred to just skip to get a few extra hours of sleep.

After Lewis revealed that The Flame was Evette Bonavich, the quiet little band girl whose twin brother was the starting quarterback on the football team and had a record of starting fights, the trio put a pin in the offer from the FGC and headed back to Ross's house to regroup.

The night consisted of freaking out, three cans of sour cream and onion Pringles, and zero sleep. They did come up with a plan, albeit a very vague one. Camille liked the keep it simple, so despite Lewis wanting to keep going over the plan and make several backups, they kept it simple.

1. Go to school early and stand by Evette's locker

2. Force Evette to explain herself

3. Force her to join their team

The last part was Ross's addition. He was still convinced she knew something about their powers and they could all work together to solve whatever the heck was going on.

"What if she doesn't show?" Lewis asked, bouncing on his heels as they waited casually for Evette to appear. Ross chewed on the nail of his index finger.

"She'll be here," he stated.

Lewis sighed impatiently. "How do you know that?"

"She doesn't skip school."

Camille looked at Ross strange as she leaned against the little blonde supervillain's locker. "And how do you know that?"

"She just doesn't, okay? She's Cole's sister, I've known her since elementary school." Ross's eyes flickered up at the intrusion of a new voice in his head. He straightened as Evette limped toward them, a brace adorning her leg. "Here she comes."

Evette glanced up from her feet and immediately noticed the three people surrounding her locker. She turned on her heel and started walking the other direction as swiftly as her injured leg would let her.

"And there she goes," Lewis sighed. "What now?"

"Now we go catch her." Camille pushed off of the lockers and started power-walking in the direction Evette went. Lewis and Ross scrambled after her.

"Yo, Evette!" Camille called down the busy hallway. Evette pretended not to hear them as she turned another corner. Ross blinked and suddenly he was standing right in front of her, and she ran into his chest. She stepped back, shocked that he would use his powers in public like that.

Honestly, Ross was just as surprised as she was. I gotta get better control over that.

We need to talk to you, he said telepathically.

"No, you don't." She shook her head and turned around to walk away, but Lewis and Camille stood on the other side. Camille's eyes moved to the incredibly dark purple and blue bruise on Evette's cheekbone. A twinge of regret sparked in Camille's heart, but she pushed it down and kept a stony expression on her face.

Lewis, however, was incredibly engulfed with regret. He had a stupid crush on this girl, and he'd physically fought with her on multiple occasions—they were technically arch enemies, according to the media.

"We don't want to rat you out. We just want to talk, that's it," Lewis said in a small voice. Evette just looked at him. She blinked.

"Rat me out for what?"

"Eve, c'mon—" Ross sighed at the same time Camille blurted, "We know you're The Flame."

"I'm not." Evette gave them all a blank look. She readjusted her books in her arms and leaned up against the wall slightly as her knee started to ache. When nobody moved out of her way, she rose her eyebrows at them. "I have to go to class."

"Class doesn't start for another ten minutes," Camille said without checking the time.

"I need to go to the restroom then."

Camille crossed her arms and met Evette's innocent eyes with her narrowed ones. "Like hell we're letting you escape again." 

Evette let out a low breath. She didn't have the energy to fight them today. She wouldn't dare get on Camille's bad side even before she knew about her super-strength, and now, after she's experienced firsthand what it's like to be on her bad side, the last thing she wanted was to fight her again.

She looked up at Camille and didn't bother to mask her exhaustion. "Just leave me alone. Please."

"Hey!" a masculine voice shouted from several feet away. Lewis's body bristled immediately at the familiar voice. Cole's brooding figure pushed past curious onlookers as he stomped up to Camille, Ross, and Lewis, his expression hard and his eyebrows drawn. "What the hell are you doing to my sister?"

Lewis subconsciously took a step away from him. Evette noticed and felt a pang of sadness, despite everything. He was a superhero, and he was still afraid of her bully brother.

"Nothing man," Ross said, his voice level, cool, "we're just talking—"

"She said leave her alone, so you leave her alone." Cole stared right back into his teammate's eyes with conviction, forcing him to look away.

Evette stepped out of the circle Camille, Ross, and Lewis had formed around her as she nudged her brother's arm with her shoulder. "Cole, it's okay—"

"Stay out of this."

"C'mon dude we don't want to—" Lewis was cut off as Cole reached forward to shove him, but Lewis deftly dodged it with wide eyes. Before Cole could lash out again, Ross pushed Lewis back and stood in front of him.

I can take him, dude! Lewis shouted internally. He had been practicing most nights in Dev's gym over the past couple of weeks. Dev showed up every once and a while to give him pointers—sometimes they would even spar.

Ross cut Lewis a look. Just because you're fast and heal quickly doesn't mean he can't still punch you in the face. Trust me, it hurts.

"Stay the hell away from my sister," Cole seethed, taking time to glare at each of the three in front of him. Camille pushed him right back and stood between him and the others.

"How about you back the hell off before I make you, pretty boy."

"Cam, back off a little," Ross muttered. Camille ignored him, her breathing heavy. Cole glowered down at Camille. He knew he wouldn't hit her, and he didn't even want to. He just—he glanced at Evette and saw her bruise and her busted lip and her knee brace—he knew it wasn't his fault, but he felt responsible for it. And if these kids were giving her trouble, he'd raise hell making them back off.

But Ross? Cole cut his teammate a side glance. Ross knew about their home life, and he'd been an acquaintance of Cole's since they started playing little gridiron football together when they were nine. Why would he mess with Eve?

Cole unclenched his hands and relaxed his tense shoulders. "C'mon, Eve," he mumbled as he started walking away. Before Evette could turn around and follow him, she met Ross's pleading eyes and heard his voice in her head.

Evette, please.

She bit her lip. She couldn't hide from them forever—they literally went to school together and Ross knew where she lived. So, she nodded and thought back, We'll talk at lunch.

◌•★•◌

Evette sat at her empty cafeteria table as usual, but this time she didn't bother to buy a lunch—she had a feeling there wouldn't be any time in between the superhero talk that was about to go down. She anxiously tapped her foot against the ground as she watched the entrance of the cafeteria. Any second now the only three people to know her secret would come sauntering out of that hallway, no doubt ready to attack her for being the city's "bad guy."

She glanced at the clock on the wall and then looked back at the entrance, just as the people she'd been dreading walk through. Ross's hands are in the front pockets of his jeans, his earbuds that he always seems to be wearing swinging against his neck. Evette suddenly thought about getting him wireless ones for Christmas, which was only a month away, but she shut that down immediately before she got ahead of herself. She couldn't just get anyone a Christmas gift, especially someone she wasn't close with.

Especially someone who might want her in prison.

Camille's narrowed eyes watched Evette carefully as she sat across from her.

Her eyeshadow looks pretty, though, Evette noticed. She wondered how much control it took to not hurt her eyes when applying makeup, if it took any extra precautions at all. Ross sat beside Camille, and as he saw her inquisitive face, he stuck his elbow into her arm to make her knock it off.

"Hey," Lewis said softly as he sat beside Evette instead of across the table from her like the setup of an interrogation. His eyes met Evette's momentarily as Evette gave a sheepish smile in return. He averted his eyes to the two sitting across from them, trying to gauge how this talk was going to go. When they gave Lewis the talk, he remembered how blunt Camille was and how embarrassed and stupid he felt. He was kind of hoping it wouldn't be the same way for Evette. The Flame and Azure or not, she was still Evette and he was still Lewis. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

Evette cleared her throat. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

Camille made a pssh noise and set her chin in her hand. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you're a supervillain?"

Lewis dropped his head into his hands and winced. "Camille, geez dude."

"First, I'm not a supervillain," Evette pointed out confidently. She sat up straighter and pointed between the three. "Second, you all have superpowers too and the F.G.C. recruited you, not me."

"Yeah probably because you stole the Elementum?" Camille scowled.

"I didn't—"

"Okay, let's start over," Ross interjected before things could get heated again. "We don't know if Jane was telling the truth or not, so let's just hear Evette's side of the story first before we make any assumptions. Alright?"

Camille's shoulders sagged but she complied nonetheless while Lewis looked relieved.

"Fine."

"Okay."

"Thank you." Evette gave Ross an appreciative smile as she readied to start her spiel she'd been going over in her head for the past few hours. She might've missed an important test review because of it. Oops.

"So, about a month ago I was kidnapped behind a coffee shop because I saw what I thought was a drug deal at the time. They brought me to the basement of the coffee shop and tied me up in this secret room, where a bunch of vials and chemistry-looking things were set up." An image of the event came to the forefront of her mind. It really did look like a meth lab. "I accidentally broke one when I escaped and the glass cut my hand open. I guess whatever was in the vial got inside me that way." She peered down at the little scar on her open palm where the glass cut her. Her thumb traced over it as she looked back up and met the curious eyes watching her. "Ever since then I've been like this."

What about the bomb? Lewis wondered.

"But what about the bomb?" Camille asked. For a second Lewis thought she could read his mind, but then he remembered only Ross could do that and Camille was probably just wondering the same thing since everyone in Elton City had seen the news coverage of the event.

"That was just bad timing honestly." Evette shrugged. "I had just taken it away from these F.G.C. guys, oh and George, my favorite one, when the cops showed up. They were planning on blowing up the police station."

Okay, so that was a pretty good explanation, Lewis thought. Ross nodded in agreement.

"Do we believe her?" Camille asked, turning to Ross. He stared at Evette for a moment. He'd been listening to her thoughts as she spoke, and not once did her thoughts ever point to her being dishonest.

"Yeah, she's telling the truth."

"In that case," Camille said, turning to Evette with a frown. "I'm sorry for punching you. And hurting your knee."

"That's okay, you thought I was evil." She shrugged her off, though her injuries still ached. Her eyes flickered over them curiously. "So what do you guys want from me?"

"What did you mean by "trust me" last night?" Lewis asked, unintentionally avoiding her question. He'd been replaying the scene over and over again all night.

"Oh, yeah." Evette frowned and fiddled with her fingers. "They were lying to you. I'm not sure how much of what they said was made up, but I was watching them before you guys showed up and they were talking about telling you whatever you wanted to hear to get you to join them. They're bad news, though."

"How can you be sure?" Ross asked.

"Uh they kidnapped me?" Evette blanched, earning an odd look from a couple people at nearby tables. "And they tried to blow up the police station."

They shared a look. Ross coughed into his fist awkwardly, regretting questioning her in the first place. "Okay yeah seems pretty not-good to me."

Camille looked at him with her eyebrows drawn and her eyes squinted like he was an idiot. He glared back at her.

Lewis ignored them and nudged Evette's shoulder with a small smile. "We're in."

She tried to ignore the red flush that threatened to show on her cheeks at the sudden contact. But as she replayed what he said in her mind, her fluster contorted into confusion. "In on what?"

"We want to join forces with you. Tell each other what we know. Stop the F.G.C., whatever they're doing." Lewis shrugged. "Superhero stuff?"

"You're not going to expose me?

"Why would we do that?" Ross asked, ignoring the glare from Camille. She did not appreciate what he said telepathically. She may have started it by calling him an idiot, but that didn't mean he could retaliate like that.

"You could just expose us right back," Camille pointed out. She pushed aside being mad at Ross for now, but she would gladly unshelf her anger if he ever jabbed her with his bony elbow again.

"Okay," Evette mumbled, turning the idea over in her head. A team of super-people has got to be better than one. Stronger, Evette replied, "Yeah, okay, let's be superheroes then I guess."

◌•★•◌