Pippa attempts to leave the house quietly, but no matter how hard she tries, she can’t get to this date.

“How do you know this guy?” Pippa’s mom asks once again.

“I told you mom. Cotton is Salen’s family friend’s son,” Pippa answers with just a healthy bit of exasperation.

Her mom’s obvious eye roll didn’t go by unnoticed. “Oh ok. As long as he is Salen’s family friend’s son.”

There was a slight pause where she begins to turn the doorknob.

“Who names their kid Cotton anyway?”

Pippa sighs. “Maybe his parents were a fan of Scream.” When her mom gives her a confused look, Pippa sighs even louder this time. “Cotton Weary? The guy that gets killed in Scream 2 because he was tricked by that BS voice imitator.”

“Oh yes. That man.” She has no idea who Pippa is referring to even though they have watched the whole franchise together for Halloween.

“Goodbye mom!”

“Have a good time. Text me when you get there!” Her mom calls out to her before she closes the door.

“Will do!”

Ok, so she is off schedule. She will have to rush, but she can make it without having to text him that she’ll be late.

As Pippa speed walks, she pauses when she hears shouting. Civilians are yelling and running in different directions. “Someone call Beacon! Someone is holding up the jewelry store!”

Betty’s Jewelry store is the most expensive place in her town. It helps living three minutes away from the place that gets robbed the most when you’re a teenage superhero.

“Of course. They couldn’t wait to rob Betty’s until after my date,” she mutters to herself. Going behind a bush, a bright light takes over her.

Once the light dims, her hero suit is on her. She thanks whatever high power there is that her light put on her suit. She feels like The Flash every time she does that.

Too bad her powers can’t put her phone somewhere. She puts her bag in the bush. That should be ok for now.

Maybe she can get this done in two minutes and only be a couple minutes late. When she sees who is holding up the jewelry store, she feels her body tense.

“Water Craze. Why am I not surprised?”

He had been broken the glass cover. Glass pieces littered the ground. What makes her eyebrow raise in question is the fact he is just standing there. It’s like he is debating on which one to steal.

Pippa knows Water Craze likes to put on a show but this seemed strange even for him.

“Hello, Tink. I was just looking to grab something real quick. No harm done,” he says with his usual teasing tone.

She notices his finger tapping rapidly at his side. “That would still be stealing. Can we do this another time? I have somewhere to be.” She probably sounds impatient but this is really inconvenient.

“So do I, but I’m still invested in our games.”

He snatches up one of the bracelets and slides it into a pocket of his suit. “Well if neither of us want to be late, then why don’t you just let me go.”

“Not that easily, Water Craze.” He sighs. She keeps a sharp eye on him. His unpredictable nature always means she has to be on constant alert.

Her fingers flex, ready to throw out a light beam or a shield or something. Instead of splashing her with a wave, Water Craze throws a wad of cash where the bracelet previously laid.

“What are you doing?” She questions slowly, not trusting her eyes anymore. “Are you paying for it?”

“I really don’t want to be late so you’ve reduced me to actually paying for something. You should feel really good about yourself, Tink,” he says like it’s the worst thing he’s ever had to do.

She rolls her eyes. “Well while you’re at it, you should pay for the glass case and emotional duress.”

A wide smirk spreads on his face so far some of it is masked by his mask. He pushes back the black strands that fell in his eyes. “Don’t push your luck.”

With that, he leaves with a jet of water.

Pippa blinks. The baffling interaction stuns her. What just happened?

She shakes her head and remembers her date. Practically diving behind the bush, she is happy to see her bag still there. She glows and changes back to her civilian clothes.

Hurrying to the coffee shop takes shorter than she thinks. She looks around watching for a red Phillies hat that Salen said he would be wearing.

Sure enough, at her favorite window table is a guy wearing said hat with his back facing her. Finally, time to do something for herself.

“Hello!” She greets when she gets to the booth, sliding into the seat.

Her grin falters when she sees his face dead on. There’s something familiar about him.

“Hi, Salen tells me great things about you,” a warm smile graces his face. The smile is so similar but so different to a blurry picture in her mind.

“I hope you don’t mind. Salen told me you don’t actually drink coffee, so I got us both hot chocolates.”

“No that’s good. It’s what I get every time.”

Almost on cue, two hot chocolates are set on their table. Pippa takes a gulp as she tries to figure out what is puzzling her.

Her eyes zero in on his fingers tapping on the side of his cup.

“Oh my god,” she breathes out. She is accustomed to certain circumstances surprising her but somehow this takes the cake.

“Is something wrong?” His eyebrow raises, almost disappearing in his hair that flops over his forehead.

“You stole the bracelet for me, didn’t you?”

His mouth gapes open which is priceless. It is only a flash before he catches on.

“I didn’t steal it. Remember, Tink.”

Things just got a whole lot more complicated.