_Kayla POV:_

I was walking down the street on my way to school when I was suddenly grabbed from behind. A hand covered my mouth before I could scream and a group of men dragged me into a large white van. I tried to fight back, but I was no match for them. They bound and gagged me while one of them hopped into the driver’s seat and took us away.

We didn’t drive for a very long time. When we stopped, one of the men unbound my feet, grabbed me by my elbow, and forced me to stand. As we left the van, I saw that we had arrived at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town.

Inside, I was shocked to see a green-screen set-up against the wall. _What on earth is that for? _I thought to myself. The man forced me into a kneeling position in front of the green screen. Then, they began to have a conversation in rapid-fire Spanish. _Okay, they’re distracted_. I thought. _Maybe I can start working on my bonds and escape._

After a lot of wriggling and struggling and bleeding (the ropes cut into my skin), I finally managed to loosen the bonds around my wrists. When I reached for my gag, one of the men spotted my free hands and shouted, “Hey!” and began racing toward me. Since my feet were still tied, I couldn’t get away. I could only watch in horror as his fist came flying at my face, and I was knocked to the ground. My cheek throbbed with every heartbeat, and I began to cry softly. The pain was so unbearable that I only faintly realized I was being bound and gagged again, this time much more tightly.

Once my bonds were fixed, the man yanked me to my knees again and growled, “No be trying to run again, señorita, if you know what good for you.” I shuddered, and he began to walk away, but just then, my phone began to ring. The man whirled and found my phone in my pocket. Holding it in front of my face, he sneered and said, “I don’t think you need this now,” before slamming it at the floor and completely shattering it. Now, I truly felt alone.

I suppose they were satisfied that I wasn’t going to escape because they left the room and left me there for several hours. It was evening when they finally returned. I could tell that it was evening because of the orange glow of the sunset peeking through the boarded-up windows.

Another man, one they called Diego, began turning on the cameras and everything around the green screen. The other two stood beside me with snug looks on their faces. “Time to get rid of that pest Storm.”

_Kai POV:_

There are some things you should probably know about me. My mother is a half-blood—half human and half mermaid. If she gets wet, her legs become a tail. And she has scaley skin that she covers up with long-sleeved shirts and pants.

Since I was born a male, and only with one-fourth mermaid blood, I don’t transform if I get wet, but I do have the power of a merman to manipulate water. My parents said that when I was a baby, giving me a bath was a nightmare because I would create balls of water and throw them everywhere. This meant my mother had to get in the tub (since I would make her transform anyway) and hold me down while my father tried to scrub all the dirt and grime off me.

My parents have always known that I had this power, but they insisted that I keep it hidden. Then, when I was eleven years old, Aquaman came out. I begged my parents to take me to see it, and they agreed. Aquaman became my hero, and I devoured every Aquaman comic I could get my hands on.

Even though Aquaman wasn’t real, he had planted an important thought in my brain: someday, I could use my water-manipulation powers for good, just as he did. When I took baths, I began to practice using my water powers. Eventually, it became second nature.

One day, when I was sixteen, everything changed. At dinner that night, my parents asked me what college I wanted to attend. I finished the bite of salmon in my mouth then said, “I don’t really want to go to college. I want to be like Aquaman and use my powers for good.”

My parents were startled, and my father said, “Are you sure this is what you want, son? The life of a superhero isn’t easy.”

“I know. There will be sacrifices, hard decisions, and a lot of bruises, but I don’t want to just sit by and pretend to be normal. If I have this power, I want to use it for the benefit of those around me.”

I’m fortunate that my parents were supportive of my decision. And I’m also fortunate that my father is a software and mechanical engineer. He designed and created a suit of armor for me to wear, and he included special night-vision and X-ray vision modes. It has a water-propelled jet pack and a water supply in case I’m somewhere where there isn’t any water. The best part is the mask: it has a vocal-distorting microphone that conceals my true identity.

The suit took several months to make, and I made plans to attend a nearby college after I graduated so that I could learn mechanical engineering to upkeep and to create my own armor. It made me excited to think of additions and improvements I could make in the future!

And then, during the fall of my senior year, I got to be a superhero for the first time. There was a fire at my school—some student had left a cigarette butt burning in a trash can that had spread rapidly. I snatched my special gym bag that had my armor inside and ducked into the men’s bathroom.

I dashed around the building, making sure that every room in the building was empty. Suddenly, from one room, I heard someone whimper. Scanning the room, I saw that a bookshelf had fallen on a female student! I couldn’t believe that she had been left behind! Rushing over to her, I engaged my jet pack to give me the extra propulsion I needed to lift the bookshelf off of her. As I knelt beside her, she started at me wide-eyed. “Who are you?”

I replied, “You can call me Storm.” (I had brainstormed for a long time to come up with a superhero name that didn’t sound like a cheap Aquaman knock-off.) “What’s your name?”

“My name is Lily Harcourt.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m sixteen. I’m a junior.”

“Ok. Do you think you can stand so that we can get out of here?”

With tears in her eyes, she said, “I can’t move my leg, Storm. I think it’s broken.”

“Does it hurt anywhere else?”

“No, just my leg.”

Nodding, I asked, “May I carry you to safety?” When she nodded, I gently scooped her up and carried her outside. When I stepped out of the building, all eyes turned to me and the girl. “Don’t be afraid,” I said. “My name is Storm, and I am here to help.” I held the injured girl in my arms until the EMTs arrived a few minutes later. I told them what I knew as I handed her over to the experts. Then, I was swarmed by students who were flooding me with questions.

That was my first day as a superhero. That night, as I lay in bed, I thought about what the next day would hold. School was cancelled for a week because of the damage, but when we finally went back, my beat friend came up to me. “Hey, where were you dude? You totally missed out on the superhero!”

“I was walking home early since I didn’t think we would be having class after the fire. What superhero?”

“Dude, he was at our school! He helped a girl get out of there while it was burning! It was awesome, like something out of a comic book! I wonder if he has a superhero name. And dude—“

The bell rang, cutting him off. “I’ll see you at lunch, man,” I said as I gave him a slap on the back.

“Yeah, dude.”

As I turned to walk away, I suddenly heard a loud thud behind me. I turned to see a girl on the floor, surrounded by three cackling girls who sneered down at her. I walked over to them and, ignoring the bullies, held out a hand to the girl on the floor. The leader of the bully pack reacted loudly, “Ew! G-ross! It’s a nerd and his nerd germs!” She and her cronies laughed, and the girl on the floor saw my hand, but looked hesitant.

“Thanks for the complement,” I said. “I’d rather be a nerd than a stuck-up daddy’s girl. At least I have the future of college to look forward to. While I’m making my own money, what are you going to be doing? Leeching off an old man’s retirement fund?” She was stunned that I had talked back to her so bluntly, but her shock quickly turned to anger.

“How dare you speak to me that way! Do you even know who I _am_?”

“Nope, and I don’t care. I don’t make friends with people who are selfish and insecure.”

The bully’s face was red now. “Shut up! You don’t know anything!”

“I know that you’ve been getting involved with Jeremy and peddling drugs off him. I’ve seen you in the back hallway before. Unless you want me to go to the principal about your behavior, I strongly suggest that _you_ shut up and go to class like a good girl.”

Her face was pale, and without another word, she and her cronies melted away. When I turned back to the girl on the floor, I could feel my throat catch. She was gorgeous! As I held out my hand again, she took it and stood up. “I can’t believe you just did that!” she whispered to me. “Thank you.”

“It was no problem. I can see now why she hates you.”

She looked puzzled. “Why?”

“Because you’re more beautiful than she’ll ever be.” The girl blushed and looked away shyly. “Say, do you think you would be interested in going to Benny’s Diner with me for dinner sometime?” My heart was racing. I had never asked a girl out before, and I didn’t know if she would turn me down.

She looked up at me with the most beatiful smile. “I think that I would. My name is Kayla. And you are?”

“Kai.” With that, the bell rang a second time, and we were officially late.

“Wait!” Kayla exclaimed as she pulled a pen out of her pocket. She wrote some numbers on my hands and said, “Text me later.” I was grinning like an idiot as we parted and headed to our homerooms.