Rule #14: Win or lose, always have an escape plan.

I had shown up to Dan's after school as usual to train but when I got there Dan wasn't suited up for training like he was supposed to. Instead he was sitting on his couch and watching TV, like he was a normal guy and not, you know, A SUPERHERO. He was so absorbed in the latest episode of Survivor that he didn't even notice me walking up until I had already been there for at least three minutes.

"Oh, hey, Matt," he said, stuffing another handful of chips in his mouth.

"Hey Dan. Aren't we supposed to be training today?"

"You are."

"But you're not training with me?"

"Didn't Rachel tell you?"

"No... What was she supposed to tell me?"

He didn't answer.

"Dan?" I asked.

"Dan!"

Still nothing.

"Dan if you keep eating those chips you're going to get super fat and then Kelly won't love you anymore."

That got his attention. "What?" he asked, setting his chips aside but not pausing the TV.

"I need to talk to you." I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

"But that was the season finale! At least let me pause it!"

"Too bad, you ignored me."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. What were we talking about?"

"The fact that you're not ready to change and that Rachel was supposed to tell me something."

"Oh, that. That was not important enough to turn off the TV," he said, surprisingly sounding like a lawyer for once.

"Well I'm sorry. So what's going on?"

"I told Rachel to tell you that we aren't training together anymore."

"What?"

"We don't need to."

"I don't understand," I said. "What do you mean we won't be training together anymore. I need to train!"

"I know you need to train, you just don't need to train with me anymore."

"This is insane."

"No, it's not. Let's face it, we both know that you're becoming more advanced than me. Now that you have your own training facility you can train on your own. It just works better for everyone," he said.

"Wait, I have my own training facility?"

"It's in your lair. Rachel is finishing the setup right now."

"Really?"

He smiled. "Really."

"So I just train on my own now? Without any supervision?"

"Well I'll be stopping in now and then. And we'll still have to demonstrate at the superhero meetings. But yeah, you'll be on your own. Think of it as an independent-study type of situation."

"Independent-study?"

"Mhmm."

"So I can start in my new lair, like, today?"

"Like today," he said.

"I can go over there now?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Sorry for interrupting your TV time." I was halfway out the door when Dan called me back.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Before you go along and get yourself killed, I have a gift for you," he said, reaching under one of his couch cushions and pulling out a small box.

"Are you gonna propose to me or something?"

"If only you were so lucky." He tossed the box to me. "Now that you're close to fighting on your own, I figured you'd need a gadget of your own."

I opened the box to see a watch.

"What-" I said.

"Don't diss the gift, it's more than what it seems. Think of it as a James Bond watch for the new generation. It'll let you know when someone needs your help. Like a Bat Signal or something."

"That's... awesome!"

He grinned. "I'm glad you like it."

"Thanks dude."

"No problem. But don't go too crazy, all right? You may get to train on your own but you're still training. Remember to call for help if you need it."

"Okay," I said, not really paying attention. The watch was just so shiny and pretty I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Not really paying attention to me either, Dan turned the TV back on and motioned me away. "Now go train, I need to find out who wins this thing."

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty happy with this development. It wasn't that I didn't like training with Dan, he could be annoying but that was also sort of entertaining, but I liked the idea of being in control of what I wanted to do. It was also sort of terrifying because since I could do whatever I wanted, there was no guarantee I was doing anything right, but that was also sort of exciting. You don't get roped into becoming a superhero by avoiding dangerous excitement.

When I got to my lair, which looked even better than before, Rachel was already there. I had known something was up when she didn't try to find me after school but I guess this explained it. I didn't see her at first but as soon as she heard the door close she called for me to meet her in the training room, the one that everyone knew existed but me. When I walked in the right word for my reaction was shocked. No, it was more than that. It was complete and utter shock. It was insane. Like the rest of the lair, it had just about everything Dan's lair did but it was newer and better. Just the way I liked things.

"What the-" I said.

Rachel smiled. "You like it?"

"It's amazing! How- How did you even do this? How did you get this stuff?"

"I know people."

"But-"

"Matt, my explaining this will just bore you. Just accept that I know people and leave it at that."

I shrugged. If her knowing people led to stuff like this then I could deal with it. "Okay."

"Good." She walked past me towards the main room. "I have to go home to drop something off for Mom. You good here?"

"I'm more than good."

"All righty then. See you later." Then she was gone, already walking towards the bus stop.

Training was just what I needed that day. Usually to get in the zone I had to get annoyed, it didn't really matter at what, but today I was already annoyed. Dan's gift and Rachel's talents had put me in a better mood but there was still plenty of annoyance in me. And school had everything to do with that.

You see, things with Ike had not improved. I knew he would be upset with me, we all knew that, but he had taken things to a whole new level. Not only was he upset with me, he was also ignoring and avoiding me. And I don't mean doing the childish thing of pretending that I didn't exist and asking someone if they had heard something when I spoke. No, Ike was doing much more than that. Instead of just ignoring me for a few days, he had decided to sit on the other side of the classroom from me and avoided being anywhere I might be at any time. He was even spending all his time in the library. THE LIBRARY. That's how much he wanted to get away from me. It was ridiculous.

Then there was Faye. If you had asked me a few weeks, if not days, ago if I wanted Faye following me around all the time I would have said "HELL YEAH." But ever since I had saved her that dream had become a reality and this reality was scary. She was still as pretty and sweet as ever but the appeal had definitely lessened now that I knew how horrible of a kisser she was. It was really disappointing.

Anyway, she had taken it upon herself to fill the gap Ike had left in my social life. Anytime either of us had a free moment she was talking to me. And I know, beggars can't be choosers and for all the time I had spent pining over her I should have at least tried to be interested, but Faye was an even worse conversationalist than she was a kisser. I mean, I had never really liked her for her conversational techniques, I was a shallow person and I couldn't avoid that fact, but if she was going to fill Ike's shoes then she needed to step it up.

Plus, I didn't really know what to do with myself around her. I had spent so much time pining over her, you know? And now that she was showing interest... It was all so weird. I liked that she was interested in me, who wouldn't like that, but I couldn't help but think that things felt wrong. The challenge was gone and so was most of my interest. I still had some interest in her, she was sweet and she was pretty, but the stuff that made me call her the love of my life was gone. Was I really that shallow and flighty? I was a horrible person, I didn't deserve her anyway.

Then there was Lena. Fucking Lena. Now that our respective secrets were revealed, although I'm sure she knew about me from the very beginning, our relationship had reached a level of shittiness I did not know was possible. At least Ike did me the favor of ignoring me. But Lena, knowing that I couldn't do shit, was making sure that I was as miserable as possible. She spent every free moment, at least the ones where I wasn't being doted on by Faye, taunting me about anything she could think of. To everyone else it just seemed like business as usual but I knew the truth. She was plotting my downfall and was prepping me for it, I was certain.

Thanks to the horrible state my life was in, getting in the zone was super easy. I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't hear the door to the lair open and close. And I definitely didn't hear the sound of someone grabbing a snack from my fridge. I didn't even notice when someone opened the door to the training room and started watching me. No, it took the person calling my name a few times to snap me out of it.

Thankfully for everyone, it was only Dan.

"Oh, hey," I said.

"Now who's distracted."

"Shut up." I shut off the simulator I was working on. "What's going on?"

"I just wanted to check up on you."

"Well, I'm alive. That's all you need to know."

"I can see that," he said. "But you can't blame me for being curious."

"Dude, you just told me I could work by myself like twenty minutes ago. You could give me a little more time before acting like my mother."

"Matt, do you know what time it is?"

"Like four?"

"It's eight."

"In the morning?"

"No, at night." He laughed. "It's been a while but not that long."
"Oh, okay."

"That's why I wanted to check on you. Rachel was worried because you hadn't come back yet. You never train this long."

"I was just in the zone, that's all."

"Being in the zone is great."

"Uh huh," I said, grabbing the water bottle he offered me. "So how are things with you?"

"They're good."

"Did you already have your date with Kelly?"

"I did."

"And?"

"And it went well."

"You don't seem convinced."

"It's just..." he said. "I think she might be hiding something from me."

The fact that she's a superhero might have something to do with it.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't know, I might just be going crazy."

Too late. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"You haven't heard anything about her, have you? Anything that might explain everything?"

Should I tell him? No, Rachel would kill me.

"Nah. I don't hear anything about her. That's your deal."

"Okay, it's probably just me being weird."

"I'm sure that's what it is."

"Thanks Matt. Don't train too hard, okay?"

"I won't."

He waved halfheartedly and closed the door behind him. Shaking my head at his stupidity, which he really couldn't do much about, I resumed my training.