I desperately want to reach for my grail diary to capture all this juicy intel, but based on how Joy reacted to it, I decide to keep it hidden for now. Oh, how I wish I had an audio recorder in my brain!
We stop at the security office so I can get the badge I will cherish forever, but before I can decide on whether I should smile or try to look more serious and intimidating for my photo, Teddy stops me, passing his tablet my way.
“What is this?” I ask, looking down at a bunch of words that I know are in English but look like a bunch of gibberish.
“Our nondisclosure agreement. Nothing you see or hear here can ever leave HQ.”
“Nothing? You can’t even talk to your friends and family about where you work?” I can’t imagine not sharing everything I’ve witnessed here today with my mom, who’s just as big a WarNat as me, or Demi, who will surely get super jealous over all this. Not to mention the WarNat forums!
Teddy shakes his head. His hair, basically a shiny black helmet thanks to really glossy gel, doesn’t move. “My parents think I work for a law firm. It’s just easier than having them ask questions all the time. Besides, once you’re here, you won’t really have time for relationships, romantic or otherwise. I haven’t had a boyfriend in a year.”
Well, that I can understand. You don’t get to be secretary of both student council and Model UN by just hanging out after school or flirting with all the cute girls. There’s no such thing as free time when you have a dream to fulfill. I scan the document, but it’s all legalese that’s impossible to understand. I stop on a section titled “Intellectual Property Protection” with a line that reads: Hero safety above self.
But when I point it out to Teddy, he just shrugs. “Don’t worry about that. It’s not like you’ll ever be thrown into battle as an intern, unless you find getting the morning coffee orders particularly harrowing. This mostly means that you won’t do anything to endanger the heroes, jeopardize their missions—stuff like that.”
“I would sooner die!” I blurt out, and sign immediately, knowing I could never do anything to hurt my beloved Warriors. And with that, I’m handed a beautiful new badge that I hang around my neck with pride. This is the best day of my life!
An alarm goes off on Teddy’s tablet, and he immediately picks up his pace. “Millie’s meeting is almost over; we need to go.” Worried about getting there on time, he cuts his narration, leaving me to wonder about all the rooms we’re whizzing past.
Down a darkened hallway, I hear loud, angry yelling and can’t help but ask, “What’s down there?” wondering if I would find Room E33, a hidden room invented by conspiracy-loving WarNats that is theorized to contain all of Warrior Nation’s alleged secrets.
“Our holding cell,” he answers, not slowing his pace. “It’s been very full lately. We’re trying to gain intel on a new criminal element—some kind of siege—and the heroes have been rounding up some of the city’s most notorious villains for questioning.”
So that’s what Joy was asking about when we were up on the roof. Are you part of the siege?
“Don’t get any ideas,” Teddy adds. “You don’t have enough clearance to go down there.”
“Oh, no big. I was just curious.”
He looks down at me with a kind smile. “Sure. Look, I’m on your side. I love heroes too, but this is not going to be some big adventure for you. I’ve seen a lot of young kids come in here thinking they’re going to save the world. But it’s not like that. Heroes don’t pull people like us into their business. You’ll probably just be getting Millie’s dry cleaning.” When I start to frown, he adds, “People have been fired—or worse—for sticking their nose where it didn’t belong. If you want to survive, you need to stay focused.”
I nod. He’s right; I need to listen to him. While other kids at school may mouth off to teachers or think it’s cool to rebel against authority, I learned a long time ago that shutting up and following the rules would serve me better. Call me a brownnoser or teacher’s pet, but I don’t care: My dreams are coming true, and that’s all that matters. I’m not afraid to jump through hoops if they lead to my goals. I swallow down my fangirling and resolve to fill my summer with nothing but lunch orders and message taking, but that’s when I see him.
In a glass conference room, straight ahead. Signing papers and talking to a group of executives, including Millie. Dressed in street wear, but I’d know that face anywhere.
Blue Streak. He’s here. Right now. Just a few feet away, with only a pane of glass between us.
My knees go weak as I lose all rational thought, body dissolving into a puddle of emotion. A high-pitched gasp escapes my lips as I crumble, Teddy grabbing on to me before I completely fall to the ground.
“Claire!” he yelps, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Are you…?” He sees where I’m looking, and is instantly disappointed. “Really? What did I just say? You can’t geek out when you see them!”
“I’m sorry,” I croak, heart beating in my ears. “It’s just…Blue Streak saved my life.”
“Whoa. For real?”
I go into a trance, almost hypnotized by my hero’s presence. “I was ten,” I start, the scene rushing back to me. “My mom and I decided to have a mother-daughter day in the city: shopping, a fancy lunch, all that. My mom made reservations for us to have high tea, and even though I’ve never been into that super-girly stuff, I was really excited.
“We had to take the Brown Line to our tea, but about halfway there, our train stopped. We waited forever, with no movement nor conductor announcement, when suddenly we heard shouting from an adjoining car. Screaming.” I pause, remembering how loud it was, how the sounds of people in danger rattled me to the core. The memory shakes me, and Teddy looks at me with concern. “A gang burst into our train car, guns in the air, yelling at the people to hand over their wallets. Everyone had their hands up; everyone was crying. Mom was sobbing, clutching me like it might be the last thing she’d ever do.
“One of the gang members came our way. He pointed a gun at Mom’s head when she didn’t hand over her purse fast enough. She couldn’t, because she was holding on to me.” I swallow hard, her terrified face haunting me. I’d never seen her look like that, never witnessed anything but her being brave. “Just then, something flew past the window and the train doors were pried off by a man in a cape. Everything seemed to happen at once. My mom tackled me to the ground; there was shooting all around us. It was so loud, and she begged me not to look. But through my fingers, I caught glimpses of the action. This beast of a man deflected all their bullets, swiftly pulling the bad guys off the train like it was nothing. He took out the gang and returned all the valuables. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It happened so fast—the man was a blur of red, white, and blue, like a magical comet of justice who had flown in from another planet to save the day. He wasn’t scared like we were; he didn’t even blink in the face of danger. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.”
I feel a tear run down my cheek as Teddy hangs on my every word. “Later, I learned his name was Blue Streak. I’d always known that Warrior Nation was a thing, but until that day, I never really paid attention. After that, after Blue Streak saved my life and Mom’s, I had to know everything about the Warriors. Seeing him in action—watching him make the world a better, safer place—changed me. I knew right then and there that I wanted to be part of it.”