“Your aunt doesn’t make waffles. She said she doesn’t trust food with uniform divots.”
“She, uh … got over that?”
Then Nick had a terrible thought. “Are you on a date?”
“What? No! Why would you think that?”
Nick looked at the remains of his lasagna. He wasn’t very hungry anymore. At least his headache was already starting to fade. “I don’t even know. It’s been … I’ve had a weird day.”
“I’m not dating anyone.”
“Oh. That’s good.”
“It is?”
Nick shrugged, though no one could see it. “I guess. But it would explain a lot if you had a secret boyfriend or girlfriend for all those times this summer when you disappeared randomly and didn’t answer your phone.”
“I told you. I was volunteering at the animal shelter. And don’t you say what I know you’re going to say—”
“You’re far too precious for this world,” Nick said. “You’re like a Disney princess except real.”
Seth sighed. “You’re so annoying. Now why are you a damsel in distress or whatever?”
“Because Gibby and I were attacked by a group of super soldiers in an evil alley who wanted to take my virginity, and Shadow Star swooped in and saved us, and I played it cool and got his autograph, but then someone recorded it, and it was on the news, and Rebecca Firestone was being so freaking smug about it.”
The longest pause of all, followed by the loudest “What?”
“Right?” Nick groaned. “I finally had Shadow Star standing right in front of me, and I swear to god, Seth, I was trying to play it cool, but then I spazzed out and accidentally kissed the side of his head, and it went downhill from there.”
“I don’t know what to do with any of that.”
Nick scowled. “Well, you need to figure it out! Seth, I told him about the pillow.”
“Yeah,” Seth said. “I bet that didn’t come off as creepy or anything.”
Nick slumped dramatically in his chair. “Right? But you know how I am around people I like. I get—”
“Stupid?”
“Hey!”
Seth snorted. “You did the same thing with Owen. At lunch, earlier.”
“That’s because he was freaking me out!”
“About what? You don’t get like that with me.”
Nick blinked. “That’s because you’re Seth. You’re my favorite person in the world after my dad. I don’t need to be stupid around you. You already like me as I am.”
“Eh. Mostly.”
“Don’t be mean,” Nick said. “I’ve had a traumatizing day.”
“I’m sure. A group of super soldiers, was it? And they wanted to take your virginity?”
Nick sighed. “It was two men and they were trying to take my bag. One was balding, and the other had a get-into-my-ice-cream-truck-little-boy mustache.”
“Maybe you should have given it to them.”
“But it’s mine.”
Seth sounded aggrieved. “Shadow Star can’t always be there to help you, Nicky. Or any Extraordinary, for that matter. What if something happens again, and no one’s there to save you?”
Oh, that wasn’t irritating or anything. “I can take care of myself.”
“It’s not about— You could have been hurt. What if one of them had gotten you with the knife before Shadow Star stopped them? You need to be more careful.”
“Way to victim blame, man,” Nick said. “It’s not like I asked for this to happen. Why can’t you be happy for me? I got to meet Shadow Star.”
“I just—” Nick knew Seth was gnawing on his bottom lip. Seth did that when he was trying to think about what to say. “I need you to be okay. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Nick knew loss. He did. He knew what it meant when something happened that shouldn’t have, when life was wholly unfair and took and took and took. Sometimes, he was so wrapped up in himself that he forgot Seth knew about that too, probably better than anyone else. It was why they could be the way they were with each other. That and the fact that Seth picked Princess Daisy when they played Mario Kart because he didn’t believe in the patriarchy and didn’t complain too much when Nick cheated with the red shell like a dick.
“I’ll be careful,” Nick said, because Seth needed to hear it. “I promise. And besides, it wasn’t as if there actually were super soldiers. It was two goons with—” Nick frowned. “Wait. How did you know they had knives? I didn’t tell you that.”
Seth hesitated. “Pretty sure you did.”
“No,” Nick said slowly. “I was saving that part for the dramatic reveal toward the end.”
“Oh. Uh, I thought you said knife. My bad. Must have guessed. Didn’t mean to ruin the