2:17 pm Today

Sam: Hey so I gtg pick up Kae and walk her home, so do you wanna meet later? Say around 7:30? My mom just told me she's gonna be late getting home from work. Sorry.

2:18 pm

Carrie: It's okay. Where at?

2:22 pm

Sam: Hmm, the skate park?

2:24 pm

Carrie: That's ok. See ya then.

2:25pm

Sam: Talk to ya later Carebear.

Carrie smiled softly at the old nickname. He hadn't called her that in months. Looking up at the front of the room she saw the teacher was still droning on and on, unaware that his students weren't paying attention to his lesson. Fiddling with the black ponytail-holder on her wrist she looked around her. She didn't share this class with anyone she really knew.

Ring! Ring!

The final bell rang, and she was the first one to shoot up out of her seat and walk out the door. She needed to get a head start on walking home before her boyfriend could find her and she would have to suffer his terrible driving. Racing through the halls she skipped down the front steps of the school and started on her way home. She just made it to the corner when she heard a familiar holler. Stopping like a deer caught in the headlights, she groaned and turned around.

"Hey babe! Where are ya goin?" an obnoxious voice sounded.

She cursed under her breath. She did not need this right now. Quickening her pace she tried ignoring her boyfriend. She yelped when she felt a rough hand pull back on her shoulder and spin her around. Diego was staring her down, annoyed.

"Hey why are ya ignoring me babe? Did you forget I'm driving you home?" He asked, an edge in his voice. Carrie shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

"I really didn't feel like it today. I think I'm just gonna walk home. See ya later." And with that she turned back around, intent on going home as fast as she could.

"Does this have anything to do with you meeting up with Bilbo after school?" He sneered. Carrie froze mid-step. Whipping her head around she asked,

"Why does it matter? Who even told you?"

"I heard it going around. People noticed you two talking again, and they thought I should know."

"Nothing's going on, if that's what you're thinking."

"Nothing yet. C'mon I'm not stupid, contrary to popular belief. You and Alexander have been making goo-goo eyes at each other since 5th grade. Admit it, you would leave me in a split-second for him." He accused. Carrie tightened her grip on her book bag strap, body shaking.

"We're just friends, and that's all there's ever going to be. He's too oblivious to pick up on hints like that anyways." She barked out bitterly. Diego huffed behind her.

"Hey, listen, I'm just going to make this easier on the both of us. I'm breaking up with you. You don't want to be in a relationship with me, and I don't want to be in a relationship with a girl who wants another guy. Find your own way home." He said flippantly, walking off. Carrie's mind numbed.

"Did that really just happen?" She asked herself, standing there with the sun beating down mercilessly on her. She numbly took one step forward, and then another, and another until she finally reached her front porch. Jamming her key into the lock she opened the front door to see one of her mom, Christine, sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"Hey sweetie how was school?" She asked, putting her book down to look at her daughter. Carrie paused to answer.

"It was fine."

"Anything you want to tell me about?"

"Not really."

"Why are you home later than usual? Doesn't Diego usually drop you off earlier?" chimed in another voice. It was her other mom, Mayuko. It came from the kitchen.

"Not today, we um, broke up."

Carrie pretended not to hear her moms' whoops of joy. They both came walking into the living room and wrapped her up in a hug.

"Ahem, um, I'm really sorry sweetie." said Christine said softly, rubbing her daughter's back in comforting circles.

"To be fair though, he was a jerk."

"Koko!" Christine elbowed her wife sharply.

"What!? It's true. You're better off without him sweetheart." Mayuko murmured into her daughter's ear. Carrie smiled at her mother's antics.

"Don't worry, I'm okay. Hey is it alright if I go out later?" Carrie asked.

"Sure. Who with?"

"Sam." she said hesitantly. She knew what was coming. Not even half a second later, her moms started pestering her with an onslaught of invasive questions.

"Sam as in Sam Alexander?

"Sammy? You haven't talked about him in forever!"

"How is he?"

"He's fine. We're hanging out at the skate park later, if that's okay with you guys." Carrie half mumbled, focused on finding an escape route to her room. She loved her moms, but they were just too nosy for their own good sometimes.

"That's great sweetheart!" Christine squealed excitedly. The sound of it hurt Carrie's ears. Both her moms started talking in hushed tones. She could pick out words such as, "Finally… always liked him…"

Carrie found her opportunity. Making a mad dash for the stairs she quickly made her way up to her room. She shrugged her book bag off her shoulder and let it fall to the ground with a thud. She winced.

"Carrie sweetheart, what are you doing?" Christine called up to her. Carrie bent down and took out her math book. Settling into her desk she opened it up and pulled out her notebook, flipping it open to a blank sheet of paper.

"Homework!" She answered back. Looking at her open book she groaned. It was logarithms. 'Might as well get it over with.' She thought silently to herself. Looking at the clock it read 3:27. She had time.

7:35

He was late. Typical. For a guy that could fly all the way around the world and back in under 20 minutes, he was always running late for some reason or another. Carrie sighed, shoving her phone back in her pocket. She was leaning up against the wooden fence on the South side of the skate park, where it was a little closed off. 'Perfect for a conversation about superheroes and secret identities.' She thought silently to herself. A hand rested on her shoulder.

"Hey Care."

She screamed. Spinning around she glared at Sam, who was holding his sides, laughing. Her face turned red. Fuming she pinched his ear.

"Ow ow ow. What did ya have to do that!?" He cried out holding his ear.

"Well don't scare me again like that!" She answered. The hispanic boy had the decency to look a little sheepish. Scratching the back of his head he cast his eyes down,

"Sorry about that."

"Yeah, you should be."

Silence ensued. Carrie pulled herself up and propped herself up on the wooden fence. It wasn't that high, so it was easy to get on top on. It may have been a little creaky though.

"So, um, I don't have any idea how to start this." he said honestly, raking a hand through his spiky hair nervously. Carrie glanced at him, anf flipped her braid over her shoulder.

"Well, at the beginning sounds like a good place to start." She told him. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, before turning away and pinching the bridge of his nose, taking in a deep breath. Looking up at the darkening sky he started talking, softy.

"Well I guess it all started when my dad went missing. I was coming home after hanging around with you and Blake and he wasn't there. Mom said he hadn't come home that day. I immediately assumed he tried running out on us, so I got my skateboard and went searching for him."

Carrie looked back at him, nodding in confirmation that she was listening.

"So while I was on my skateboard, I tripped on a rock and knocked myself out."

She snorted, he laughed a little as well.

"Stupid, I know. But when I cam to in the hospital, there was this green lady with a huge knife sword thing, and taccon with a gun and jetpack. They gave me this."

He shrugged a drawstring bag off his back, which she just took notice of. Opening it up he pulled out this weird, helmet thing. It was black with a red star on it, and looked quite like a bucket.

"What is that? Can I see it?" She asked, curious. Crossing over a few feet closer to her, he held it out, motioning for her to hold it. Holding it in her hands, she took a closer look at it. It was very obviously damaged, with one side being crumpled up and one of the lense broken. She felt Sam pull himself up next to her on the fence, which groaned under their combined weight.

"What happened next?" She asked, quietly. Sma looked down at his lap and started twiddling with his thumbs.

"They told me that my dad was some kind of hero, a Black Nova. It's like the Black Ops, but in space I guess. They recruited him for some mission, and well, he didn't come back."

Carrie paused. "Sam…" She spoke softly. As if he would break. He was starting to shake now.

" I still didn't believe it. Thought it was all some elaborate prank. Later while messing around with the helmet I put it on, and well, that's when I knew. My dad left me a message, apologizing, for being a bad father and that he couldn't come home. Told me not to trust anyone. To take care of mom and Kaelynn." He held out his hand. She handed the helmet back to him. Looking into its eyes he gripped the edges tightly. And then proceeded to chuck it as far away from them as he could.

"He tried to tell me, for years, and I never listened to him! I thought he was a failure! I was horrible to him, right up until the day he left! And now he's gone." His voice croaked out the last part. His eyes were wet. Carrie rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Sam, I had no idea. I should have been there for you."

"You didn't know, it's not your fault Care."

"And it's not yours either. You do know it's not your fault, whatever happened to him, right?" Sam refused to meet her eyes.

"I know. I just wish, that he didn't leave when things between us were so… bad. I was a pretty s*** son, wasn't I? Alexander-the-not-so-great?" He echoed the dumb nickname Moffet and his friends would throw around at school. They've both heard worse, but neither one of them wanted to acknowledge that. Carrie had nothing to say. She just rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back.

"Well, I think you're pretty great." The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Feeling awkward, she started to pull away until Sam gripped his arms tighter around her. Burying his face on the top of her head he said,

"You too."

Carrie's cheeks turned red. Sam grabbed one of her hands and intertwined their fingers. She pulled him closer. They sat together, in comfortable silence. A warm breeze blew by.

"So… does this count as a date or…?" Sam started out slowly. For what felt like the millionth time she snorted. Her best-friend(or was it boyfriend now?) was such a dork.

"Depends." Carrie replied.

"On what?"

"Do you want it to be date?"

"Yes. If you want to, date me, that is."

"I've waited this long milk carton. Don't you dare make me wait any longer."