The Society of Super Secret Heroes (9 page)

“Anytime,” Mr. Burns said. “You'd better go eat your lunch.” He spread a napkin out on his desk and began unzipping his insulated bag as if he were going to eat in the classroom.

“Aren't you going to the teachers' room?” Fin asked before he could stop himself.

“Not today, dude. I want to finish this e-mail to my brother Anthony. I'm inviting him to visit for my birthday.”

“When's that?”

“The last day of September.”

For a moment, Finch imagined two red-haired bobbleheads nodding at him through the windshield of a car with California license plates. He'd probably been right about Mr. Burns. The guy didn't have any friends here yet.

But right now he had his own problem. Fin raced to the nurse's office. Mrs. Goldstein was busy with a kindergartner who'd lost a tooth, but she had the crutches out for Finch. She told him to take an ice pack out of the fridge.

Finch almost wished he were back in kindergarten. He nudged his backpack with his elbow. “Cape, do you really think this is going to work?” he asked as he pushed through a door that led out to the school yard.

Ugg. Finch felt weak in the knees. But Thorn and Bud were already in the school yard. They were looking at him with joy on their faces.

“We thought maybe you weren't coming,” Thorn said. His vampire teeth glinted in the sunlight.

“You brought your own crutches?” Bud squeaked. Finch wondered if he was hopping up and down because he was excited or because he hadn't stopped to use the bathroom. Finch wished he'd used the bathroom himself.

“Why should I?” Finch said aloud before he realized it.

Thorn squinted an eye at him. “Who are you talking to?”

“No one! I mean, we'd better move away from school, in case someone's looking out the window. Maybe that tree will block the view.”

Bud scowled. “He's stalling. There's not much time before everyone gets out of the cafeteria.”

Thorn shrugged. “Don't worry. It will only take a few seconds to make him cry like a baby.”

Finch felt a trickle of sweat run down his back as he led Thorn and Bud to the oak tree.

“Okay, Towelman. Drop your backpack and get ready.” Thorn already had his fists up.

“Wait! Just let me get out the rest of my supplies.” Finch fell to his knees and began taking out the Band-Aids, the ice pack, and a water bottle. He crouched down and arranged them on the grass next to the crutches. Maybe Bud had been right about stalling. Maybe that was the Thinking Cape's plan.

“Haw, haw, haw! You brought your own hospital,” Thorn cracked. “Good idea!”

Finch was confused. But there was no time to ask questions. “These first-aid supplies aren't for me,” he said. He pulled some tissues out of his pocket and added them to the display in case someone ended up with a bloody nose or was crying.

Thorn smirked. “Oh yeah? Then who are they for?”

Suddenly Finch understood what the cape was up to. He stared Thorn in the eyes. “They're for you.”

As if those three words were a cue, Raj, Elliott, and Kev stepped out from behind the tree.

“Hey, what is this—an ambush?” Thorn demanded.

“No fair,” Bud whined.

“Guys! What are you doing here?” Finch exclaimed. He was as surprised as Thorn and Bud.

“We're your cheering section,” Elliott announced.

“Yeah, we're here for moral support,” Raj said. But Finch noticed he'd removed his glasses as if he were expecting to be in a fight.

Kevin stuck out his bulldog chest. “For your information, Fin doesn't need our help. So you'd better hurry up and start fighting. That ice pack's melting and you're going to need it afterward.”

Thorn gnashed his teeth. He stabbed a finger into Fin's skinny biceps. “They're lying! If you can fight, why didn't you stop me from spraying soda all over you?”

Finch hesitated. His arm hurt.

“When people find out you've got a gift, they're always bothering you to use it,” Finch said. “You know, like Spider-Man.”

Thorn narrowed his eyes. “Huh?”

“I figured if it got out I could fight, kids would be challenging me all the time. Just because I can fight doesn't mean I like to hurt people. I've got self-control.”

“That's bull!”

“Okay, then forget it.” Finch stuck out his chin. “Go on and hit me.”

Thorn made a fist and pulled back his arm.

Finch stood his ground. He locked eyes with Thorn. He tried his best to look unafraid.

“You think you're so smart, don't you, Towelman? Well, if you're not going to use your gift, I'm not going to use mine either. I've got self-control, too.” Thorn let his arm drop.

For a moment, no one seemed to know what to do next. Then the school doors opened and students began pouring out into the yard.

“Come on.” Thorn gave Bud a shove. “Let's get out of here.”

Silently, the members of the SSSh watched Thorn and Bud cross the field. All at once, they turned to one another and began shouting.

“Ye-es!”

“You did it, Fin!”

“Thorny actually looked scared.”

“It was the Thinking Cape's idea.” Finch nodded toward his backpack. “Thanks, Cape,” he whispered.

“Why?”

“We've got exactly seventy-two minutes,” Raj whispered as he closed the door to his room. He'd just put his “secret weapon,” a DVD of
The Jungle Book
, into the DVD player. It was the best way to keep his twin siblings, Sonny and Meena, in the living room.

While the guys spread out on Raj's red rug, Fin draped the Thinking Cape over his back. On the bus, he'd told the guys he had an idea for their first official mission. But he wasn't sure how to begin. He knew his friends were expecting something adventurous or even risky—especially after his showdown with Thorn and Bud. But his idea wasn't either of those things.

Elliott rubbed his hands together. “Come on! What's the mission already?”

“It's not a ‘what' exactly, it's more of a ‘who,' ” Finch said carefully. “It's Mr. Burns. He had lunch alone in the classroom today. He never hangs out in the hall with the other teachers. And he told me he invited his brother in California to come for his birthday at the end of the month. I bet he hasn't got any friends here. I think we should help him make some.”

Kevin snorted. “That's not a superheroes' mission!” “Yes, it is. We're supposed to do our best to help others. We're supposed to solve problems,” Finch reminded him. “Being lonely is a problem. Having no friends is a problem.”

Kev crossed his arms over his chest. “It's the most boring thing I ever heard. Superhero missions are supposed to be exciting.”

“Yeah, but we're still beginners,” Raj pointed out. “We can pick tougher ones later on when we're ready.”

“What about Miss Pesco, the new kindergarten teacher?” Elliott suggested. “She might need a friend. Maybe we could get her and Mr. Burns together.”

“A girl?” Kev scoffed.

“So what?” Elliott was the only one of the superheroes who had friend-girls in school. “Girls have some good points. They don't finish their snacks, so you get to eat their leftovers. They laugh at your worst jokes. You can gross them out easily. And they always have an extra pencil you can borrow.”

“I don't really think you can pick a friend for someone else,” Fin said thoughtfully. “I think our mission should be to help Mr. Burns meet a lot of people. That way he can find the right one himself.”

“How are we going to do that?” Elliott asked.

Finch shrugged. “I'm not sure.”

“Yeah! What about a surprise party?” El exclaimed.

“Who would we invite?” Raj asked.

Fin ran his fingers through the shaggy rug. He was trying not to seem too excited. “We could invite the other teachers. And the principal, and Ms. Mitchell, and all the other adults that work at school.”

“I don't want to go to a party with only grown-ups,” Kev objected.

“We'd invite our classmates, too,” Fin told him.

Raj nodded. “It might work.”

“Raji! Raji!” Suddenly the four-year-olds, Meena and Sonny, came bursting through the door.

“The DVD stopped!” Meena announced.

“I think it's broken,” Sonny wailed.

“Oh, man!” Raj put his arms around the twins. “Let's go back to the living room and I'll see if I can fix it.” He tried to guide them out of his room.

But Sonny was staring at the cape. “What's that?” Before anyone realized what was happening, he grabbed it.

“It's Fin's, Sonny,” Raj said. “Give it back.”

But Sonny held the cape out with both hands and stared at the bright yellow lightning bolts. “Can I have it, Fin? Pleeease?”

Finch had to force himself not to grab it away. But he only said, “No, Sonny. I'm sorry.”

Raj held out his hand. “C'mon. Give it to me.”

“But I want it!” Sonny hugged the cape tightly to his little chest and glared at Finch. “Big boys don't wear these!”

Raj pushed his glasses up on his nose. “We can ask Naani to make you one. I think we have an old green towel in the basement.” Naani was their grandmother. Right now she was in the kitchen cooking dinner.

“I want this one!” Sonny burst into tears. Meena had been standing by quietly. But when she saw her twin crying, she began weeping, too.

“Shh! Shh! How about if I show you a magic trick?” Raj pulled a white handkerchief from a drawer in his desk. “I'll make the little ghost appear.”

Meena's cries softened into sniffles. But Sonny shook his head fiercely. “No!” he screamed. Tears and snot were running down his face. He wiped them on the cape.

“Sonny, it's just a crummy old towel. Give it to me now,” Raj ordered as he grabbed hold of the cape.

Sonny kicked him.

“Ow! Ow!” Raj rubbed his leg. “No hurting!”

Sonny lay down on the floor. He rolled himself up in the cape. “Miiine!” he wailed.

The guys all looked at one another.

“You two take his head,” Raj told El and Kev. “Fin and I will take his feet.” Together, the guys lifted Sonny off the floor. They set him on the bed and began to unroll him. Sonny twisted, squirmed, and cried. He bit down on the cape.

“Let go, Sonny,” Finch said. “You'll tear my cape.”

“Rrrrrrrr,” Sonny growled through his teeth.

Finch leaned over and whispered to Elliott. “Do you have your rubber snot with you? Maybe he'll trade it for it.”

“Forget it! It comes from England! It cost five bucks plus seven more for shipping and handling.”

“Come on, El, it isn't magic snot. You can get another one. I'll help you pay for it,” Finch pleaded.

“Oookaaay.” El stuck his hand into his pocket. “But how come if the Thinking Cape is so smart, it can't save itself?”

Stomach churning, Finch hurried home with the Thinking Cape around his shoulders. It had asked to feel fresh air and sunshine. How could he refuse—it had practically saved his life today! If he ran into any of the neighbors, he planned to say it was his costume for a play at school.

“Cape, I've been wondering about something. Didn't I hear your voice in my head before I guessed your name?”

“But isn't it against the rules? You said you're only supposed to speak to those who know you're a Thinking Cape.”

“You broke the rules?”