"Wake up, Cassie!" Mom shouts from the kitchen. "You're going to be late."

I roll out of bed. No joke. I roll out of my bed. As I open the closet door, I stare at my clock. 7:48 in the morning, which means I am going to be late. No way. Not again. I'll get detention, but Mom's lectures about responsibility are worse.

"Do I have to go? Can't I stay home?" I ask.

"Cassidy Evelyn Matthews, you have a guest speaker instead of first period. Be grateful you don't have tests or something." I shrug, changing into a tee shirt and jeans. I put on my glasses. For a finishing touch, I put on the necklace with my family's code of arms. I know who it is. Captain America, talking about his job. "I want you to be careful if he's observing classrooms or PE classes."

"Why do I have to go? Technically, I am in danger of being discovered if he sees me." She kisses me on the forehead and hands me my backpack.

"Have a good day, Cas!" She calls as I walk out of the apartment.

"Thanks, Mom. Have a great day!" I reply.

I fly to school and land about a block away. A Harley is parked in front of the school. No superpowers today. I walk through the atrium and down my hallway. As I reach my locker, my eyes dart back and forth. Nobody. I quickly open my locker and put my backpack inside. I grab my notebooks and go to class. When I reach first period, I set down my books and get ready to tune out. We walk down to the auditorium and sit down. I brought my book.

He's standing right there. The boys are jealous and the girls are falling in love with him. I'm the oddball who's reading The Hunger Games. I have no interest in falling in love with him. I put my book down when the principal starts speaking.

"Everyone," the principal says, "please direct your attention to our guest speaker, Captain America."

"Thank you." He says. "As many of you know, I work for a government agency called SHIELD. There, I work with their agents to contain threats and more importantly, find our interstellar immigrants. When we find an extraterrestrial, we register them in our database and depending on their threat level, we either train them to work for us or we send them on their way. Some aliens cannot be trained or released, so we keep them in our facility. I also work as an Avenger, and together we help save the world from threats in space and other dimensions. Any questions?"

"Are Supergirl and Superman the only aliens here?" A boy asks. My fists are clenched.

"That's classified. I can neither confirm nor deny such information." He winks at the kid. If he knows about me, I'll be dead.

"Excuse me." I raise my hand. "I know that this'll be too much for your little 40's brain-"

"Cassie!" A teacher hisses.

"-but, where is the due process? I see nothing constitutional about locking people up because you think there's a chance they could turn evil. What about innocent until proven guilty?"

"That's an excellent question. We have special permission from the capitol that we can complete operations here. Also, I am only telling you what isn't classified, everything else is." I see him mouth something. On to you. I'm sure you think so.

"Let's thank Cap for speaking with us today." I roll my eyes. We aren't five.

"Thank you!" Everyone except me shouts.

"You're welcome." I am sick of this guy.

As we walk back to our classes, he's standing there, handing out little gift bags. When he tries to hand me one, I put it back in his hands. I don't want Avengers merch.

I read again in ELA, but when I go to look at the clock, someone is standing in front of me. I roll my eyes and use my X-ray vision to see it. Twelve minutes until PE, and then lunch. He whispers something to the teacher, pointing to me a few times. I listen in on their conversation.

"Can I speak with her in private?"

"Why?"

"I think her mother worked with me. I've never seen her this bothered before."

"Fine, just make it quick."

I hate super hearing sometimes. I keep reading before raising my hand. He's lying to get me alone with him.

"Yes, Cassidy?" The teacher asks.

"May I use the bathroom?" I ask with a smirk. He nods.

I walk out, knowing someone is trailing me. I head to the bathroom and splash water on my face.

"Come on, Cassidy. He won't find out. I'll survive this day. I just need to be extremely careful," I whisper to myself. I grab a paper towel and wipe the water off my face. When I turn to leave, he's just standing there. I jump back.

"How long were you standing there?" I ask.

"Not long. Just the entire time." I try to walk away. "I'm-"

"I know who you are. You make the boys envious and the girls swoon. I'm not interested in some invite to go "talk" because I know better. Never go with strangers. Ever." He extends his hand. I shake it, trying to crush it.

"That's quite the grip you've got," he says. I walk back into the bathroom and wash my hand off.

"Do you know how many germs you might carry? I'm not taking any chances." He pulls something up on his phone.

"Really? That makes no sense because you have never missed a day of school because of being sick." I wipe my hand off. Then, I throw the paper towel away.

"Incredible luck." I start to walk off. As I walk into the classroom, the bell goes off. I walk to my locker, ignoring my shadow. As I put my books away, he calls someone. I grab my lunch and walk off. He starts trailing me again. I walk into PE, running to the locker room before he can catch up.

I open my locker and take off my necklace as I change. I look around before closing my locker and walking back into the gym. Of course, he's talking to the coaches. Stalker.

Once everyone is in the gym, the coaches tell us what we're doing. Track.

"It'll be fun, Cassie," Skylar whispers. I tilt my head towards you-know-who before she whispers something I refuse to repeat.

We walk out to the track and I start running. Boom. First lap done. I run three more before walking the next one. Five laps around a quarter mile track. I just need three more to get a 100. The way it works is that they give you a straw. 8 straws are 100, 7 is 94, 6 is 87, 5 is 81, and 4 is 75. I feel like collapsing after they collect the straws and total our scores.

Skylar and I walk back to the locker room and change. I take a ponytail holder from my locker and change into my tee shirt and jeans. I put my necklace on again. When I walk out, he's talking with the coaches again.

I walk to lunch and sit down at an empty table. Skylar has work to finish and Megan has silent lunch. Every time he walks by, I hide my face from him.

I finish eating and shove the trash in the trash can before going outside. It's really cloudy, which means it's cooler than I would expect it to be. I go straight to my Corner of Solitude as Megan calls it. I just sit there and think or read. When I sit down, something blocks the sun. I roll my eyes and look up.

"You work for a spy organization. Try to be hidden for once." I look up. Yep, it's him.

I get up. He won't leave me alone. I try to walk past him. The bell rings. I run to try and get to class on time. I make it inside the drama room as she closes the door.

"I'm going to the front desk to pick up some papers. Don't disturb the other classes." She leaves. We all look at each other. Then, the intercom comes on.

"Do you have Cassidy Matthews?" The receptionist asks.

"Um, yes I do."

"She is needed for dismissal." The intercom turns off. I grab my stuff and leave the room. Mom is waiting in the front office. I pack my stuff up and go to her.

"Mom, wh-wha-what are you doing here?"

"The nurse said you felt sick. I came to get you." She looks behind me. "Cas, we're leaving."

"Kara wait!"