The Somewhat Secret Longing

It’s hard being best friends with a superhero. For one thing, there’s the constant lying.
         “I’m sorry, Mrs. Ryder,” I said into the phone. “I don’t know where Will is. I haven’t seen him since school.”
         Her voice had a worried strain that she tried hard to conceal. “Do you know where he might be, then? It’s just that it’s getting late, and he was supposed to be home two hours ago.”
         I sighed inwardly. I knew exactly where Will was, but there was no way I was going tell her that. “Maybe he’s at Josh’s house?”
         “I already tried there,” she admitted. “Nobody answered.”
         “Well, all that means is that they’re in the middle of a life-or-death video game.”
         She gave a small laugh. “You’re probably right. I just wish I could get a hold of him.”
         She had the right to be concerned. Jon Ryder, Will’s father, was the chief of police here in town, and Amy Ryder had endured her share of sleepless night worrying over her husband.
         “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s fine. I’ll let you know if I hear from him.” Will was going to get an earful when I got a hold of him. He knew how much I hated covering for him.
         “Alright, thank you. Sorry to bother you, Ellery.”
         “No problem.”
         Even though it was.
         Lying does not come naturally to me, and when I’m forced to do it, I’m usually a nervous wreck. The only reason this lie had been successful was because I had told it so many times before.
         After hanging up with Mrs. Ryder, I pressed the speed dial number I had set for Will’s cell phone, the one his mother didn’t know he had.
         He picked up after one ring. “What’s up?”
         There was no need to ask who it was. I was the only one with his number.
         “Your mom called a minute ago, wondering where you were.”
         There was a moment of silence. “Oops.”
         “Yeah, oops,” I snapped. “Come on, Will, that’s the second time this month she’s called me, worried about you missing.”
         “I know, Elly, I’m sorry,” he said wearily. “It’s just that this afternoon there was a robbery at a gas station downtown, and then I heard a call about a drug deal going down later tonight, and I just forgot.”
         I felt myself softening. I could never stay mad at him.
         “You still should’ve called her,” I said, sounding more annoyed than I really was. “You know that I hate lying to her.”
         “Yeah, I know,” he said softly. “Thanks.”
         I sighed. “You’re welcome.”
         “I’ll call her right now, say I’m staying over at Josh’s.”
         “That’s what I told her, that you were probably playing video games or something.”
         I could hear him yawn into the phone. “Are you going to sleep at all tonight, Will?”
         He sounded surprised. “It’s Friday, Elly.”
         Friday was Will’s busiest night of the week. It was as if crime waited until the weekend to come out of the shadows.
         “Yeah, I know,” I said. “You just sound exhausted.”
         “I am,” he admitted.
         “Well, my parents are still out of town, so you can crash here if you want.”
         “I probably will. This drug bust doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere tonight.”
         “Ok. Call me if anything happens.”
         That was another thing about being friends with Will. My continuous worry for him was nothing less than torture.
         “I will. See you later.”
         I hung up, got up from my bed, and went downstairs to find something to eat. I made a grilled cheese sandwich and took it into the living room to eat, turning on some awful reality show to keep my mind off Will.
         It didn’t do any good. Some show host rambled on about the current drama on the show, and my thoughts began to wander almost immediately.
         How different would my life be if I wasn’t friends with Will? I probably wouldn’t be here right now, home on a Friday night. I would be out with friends, catching the latest movie or hanging out at someone’s house. My friends would be average teenagers, with the simple worries of failing a test or breaking up with a boyfriend. The biggest secret to be kept with them would be who had a crush on who. Normal people like that didn’t have incredible secrets, secrets that needed to be kept at all costs.
         Will had been ordinary once, too. Well, never ordinary to me, but normal enough. Our parents were close friends, and we grew up together. We had playdates and our mothers traded babysitting; our families even took vacations together. And strangely, even after entering middle school, and then high school, Will continued to be my best friend. Many friends of mine came and went, but Will was unchanging. Even when he made the football team (and of course became its star), or even when he ran for student body president (and of course won), Will was as constant and dependable as ever.
         And then the accident had happened.
         Nobody knew for sure what had occurred. Will had been driving home from visiting his older sister, who lived a couple hours away. It was late, and he had pulled over to catch a nap. Another driver, drunk and weaving, hit a telephone pole only feet from Will’s car. Before Will could react, the pole fell, smashing into the car. When the paramedics arrived, they believed there was no hope. The entire hood of the car was crushed. The telephone pole was a sizzling mass of wires, and an enormous electric shock had run through the entire vehicle. Nobody could have survived that, they agreed.
         But Will had survived. And without a scratch, apparently. The doctors were baffled, and the onlookers amazed. A miracle, they called it. A lucky break.
         If only they knew the truth.
         But I knew the truth. I was the only one who knew. How could he tell anyone else? Who else would believe that an electric shock had given him strange new abilities, with frightening possibilities? I had been with him when he discovered his powers, that he could lift cars as if they were weightless, that he could move so fast he became only a blur. I was the only one who knew his silent daily struggle, to understand himself and his new reality.
         Will spent months testing his powers, learning his capabilities. His perspective changed drastically one cold winter Monday. An irate student, angry with his teacher, had revealed a hidden gun in his backpack. He waved it at the teacher and the other students, making threats and demands. Will had not hesitated to react. Students described that Will had somehow materialized behind the boy, and quicker than a wink, had disarmed him. Will was hailed a hero and his face was in all the papers. More importantly, however, he had discovered his purpose.
         I was still in front of the TV when there was a soft knock on the front door. I turned off the show and hurried to answer it. Checking the peephole, I saw that it was Will, leaning tiredly against the wall.
         I opened the door, flicking on the porch light. “Hey.”
         He gave me a smile, the crooked grin that made my heart leap. “Hi. Sorry it’s so late.”
         “It’s not even one yet,” I said, opening the door wider to let him in. “That’s early for you.”
         He shrugged. “True.”
         His tall, broad frame crowded the entryway, and I could see he was exhausted by the dark circles under his normally bright blue eyes.
         “I can set up a bed for you in here,” I said, waving at the couch. “Let me get some blankets.”
         He nodded and dropped into an armchair as I left the room. I returned with a couple blankets, which I draped over the couch, and a pillow that I placed on one end.
         “Are you hungry?” I asked, turning to face him.
         But he didn’t answer. He was fast asleep, his head dropped to one side, mouth slightly parted. I gave a little smile, took a blanket from the couch, and spread it over him where he slept on my father’s armchair.
         I tucked in the blanket around him, so it wouldn’t fall away if he shifted. When I finished, I gazed at his face, handsome and careless in sleep, dark hair falling lazily over his eyes. I brushed his hair back and sighed, knowing what I wished for could never come true.
         The hardest thing about being best friends with a superhero wasn’t the constant lying or worry.
         It was being in love with him.