Oh, this could not be happening! Where are the cameras? I’m getting punk’d, right? There’s no way I have this bad of luck. This has to be a dream. But when I lift my head from where it had dropped to glare at my glowing green sneakers, the smile that launched a thousand votes is still front and center.

Cai’s expression transforms into something of a bemused smile as he holds out the helmet to me. “Drop your head?” He’s getting way too much pleasure out of this.

I snatch it out of his hands and crush it down over my skull before spitting out, barely intelligibly, “Welcome to Blazer Tag. You’ll be seated in quadrant four with Captain Lorenzo as your waiter. Please follow me.” Two adults, whom I recognize as Cai’s parents, have joined the group.

The group follows as I lead them to their table, walking so fast Cai’s mother has to drag the youngest kid to get him to keep up. I recognize him as the child who jumped on my back and revealed my identity in the first place.

Cai trails close behind me and keeps speaking, despite my clear avoidance tactics. “I had no idea you worked here, Rowan.” He chuckles. “What is this for a science project or something? A social experiment?”

I can feel my temperature rising. “Some of us have to work,” I say under my breath as I toss the menus down on the table before the whole party is even seated and then stomp away. I blow past my manager in the back and lean against the cool brick wall next to the open back door. A soothing breeze makes its way in through the alleyway, and I stare up at the ceiling as I feel the air travel up under my helmet. Deep breath in. Is the universe out to get me? Deep breath out.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see my manager looking at me quizzically. It’s moments like these when I wish I lived in a movie. Then maybe my manager, Pete, would offer me some wise, otherworldly, seemingly omnipresent advice that applies perfectly to my situation. He’d pat me on the back and send me on my way, a more cognizant, emotionally evolved person. Instead, he thrusts the mop at me and says, “Work out your existential crap on your own time. A kid at table four just threw up.”

***

The next morning, I feel eerily calm from the time I wake up, take a shower, and brush my teeth, all the way until I head downstairs. It’s not until Dad places a plate of pancakes in front of me and asks, “How was work?” that I feel like I might reenact what happened at table four last night, right on the kitchen counter. The nightmares I’d had the previous night come flooding back in. Me standing naked in front of the whole school, wearing nothing but my space helmet. Cai Xian at the head of the crowd, doubled over in laughter. It was simultaneously abstract and uncomfortably realistic. I swallow back the bile rising in my throat.

“It sucked,” I say bluntly. There was no sugar-coating it; yesterday may have been one of the worst days of my life. That being said, I still have the rest of today to look forward to, which might just outrank it.

“Hey, cheer up,” he says, dolloping a heaping spoonful of whipped cream onto my plate. “Just one more year here and then you can look forward to all the part-time gigs you’ll have while working through college.” Somehow that does actually cheer me up just a little. I’d be willing to go through a hundred different Blazer Tags if it meant getting up and out of Westview.

Just as Dad plates another stack of pancakes, the backdoor opens and Mom wafts in along with the smell of grease from the fryer at Rosette’s Diner, that has infused itself into her hair. Dad gives her a kiss on the cheek and attempts to hand her the plate he’s holding. She shakes her head and smiles.

“I’m beat,” she huffs. Her coworker Emily had gone into labor last night, forcing Mom to pull a double shift at the twenty-four-hour diner. She looks at me with a soft smile. “How is our Interstellar Space Diplomat?”

“Thinking of retiring my space suit.” I try to joke but I can’t keep the smile on my face. Mom’s brow furrows and I sigh. “Blazer Tag sucks, you already know that. But last night one of my classmates came in…” I trail off and stab a pancake with my fork.

“Honey.” Her eyes are sympathetic. “You should be proud that you’re working. Too many kids your age have so little work ethic. You’re lucky to have your own source of income.”

She always talks like this, acting like I’m my own sole provider. And in a way I am. Scholarships only go so far in academies like Westview and they don’t account for all the extracurriculars. Most cost two hundred dollars just to join, not to mention another hundred for the arts. I’m lucky I’ve always hated sports; no way am I coughing up two hundred bucks to sit on the bench and watch Cai Xian score goals. The rest of my earnings goes to my college fund, aka a large jar of loose change and wads of tip money, which lives in the back of the front hall closet. Mom takes it to the bank each month to put into a savings account. But all of it will pay off eventually, when I get into my dream university. Transferring high schools to the more upscale Westview will be worth it then.

“Just think of all the fun part-time jobs you’ll get once you’re in—”

“Dad already made that joke, Mom.”

“Oh shoot, I missed it?” Mom gives me a kiss on the head and goes upstairs to get changed. Dad sits beside me at the kitchen table and throws an arm around me, giving me a squeeze. “Hang in there, buddy.”

“I’ll try,” I say. I always do.

***

The weekend was hell. I barely slept eight hours altogether, and when I did I was plagued by the smug laughter of Cai and his disciples. I’m already the laughing stock of the entire school after not one but two disastrous losses to Cai. I don’t even want to think about what will happen when they all learn that after school, I play dress up as a fictional sci-fi character at a crappy restaurant outside of town. What did Spider-Man do when his enemy discovered his secret identity? Superman? Batman? It never seems to turn out so well... But at least they have superpowers. What have I got? Well, at this point I can get a vomit stain out of pretty much any material. But I don’t think that counts as much of a superpower.

I open my locker with only a few minutes left to get to the student council meeting that I’ve previously been looking forward to…before my encounter with Cai. Student council is the one place I feel I really shine. Westview has its merits underneath all the spoiled rich kids, and its executive program is one of them. I like being able to try and make a difference at this place, make things more accessible to every student, not just the most elite. But now that Cai’s seen me at my job? Ugh, it’s only a matter of time before the whole council knows, and then the whole student body.

This meeting is just one more humiliation to look forward to, I guess. Maybe that can be my superhero name: Captain Humiliation. I dump my books at the bottom of my locker, not bothering to stack them properly. I jump what feels like a mile into the air when I shut the metal door and on the other side is Cai, leaning casually on the locker adjacent to mine.

“How was your weekend, Darth V?” he asks, crossing his arms and cocking his head.

I glare at him. “That’s Star Wars.” I lower my voice, suddenly aware of several other students in the hall with us. “Blazer Tag has its own universe. Get your characters straight.”

Cai laughs. “I forgot, you’re a total sci-fi junkie.” I bristle as his laugh echoes through the hallway. He smooths back his thick hair, combing it through his fingers, unconsciously flexing his arm muscles with the movement as he adds, “Looking forward to the student council meeting?”

I shrug and attempt to glance away nonchalantly, trying to look anywhere but his intimidating biceps. “We don’t want to be late,” I step away from my locker, planning to make a swift exit, but Cai pushes himself off the wall and stands in my way. He gives me a challenging look.

“I’m guessing you don’t want the school to know about your laser gig, right?” Cai asks, one eyebrow arched.

I’m totally frozen. What exactly is he implying? I forget how to breathe as Cai leans in close.

“So, Rowan, what are you going to do for me to keep it a secret?”