"If it isn’t the famous Miss Lane of the Lane Investigations Show. I hope you still have time for us little people now that you are all big and famous.”
Alanna Lane, who had been obsessively checking her channel's statistics on her phone while shoveling hot mashed potatoes into her mouth, looked up just in time to see a Black girl about the same age as her plop into the chair across the table from her. The girl was taller and lankier than Alanna, her defined shoulder muscles visible through the armholes of her purple and green cheerleader outfit.
Alanna smiled at her. “Hey, I’m not that famous yet. Maybe you can be my PR person when I go mainstream. You’re good with people, Lucy.”
Lucy Bell—Alanna’s best friend and the girl sitting across from her—chuckled as she popped open her water bottle and took a swig. “Nah, you wouldn’t want me dealing with the media and the public. Everyone would think you’re just as crazy as I am, and that probably wouldn’t help your brand, eh?”
Alanna laughed at the thought of Lucy handling reporters and booking interviews for her. “On second thought, you’re probably right. Still, I won’t forget you if I ever really make it big. After all, you were one of the first subscribers to my channel. That means a lot to me.”
Lucy paused, her forkful of chicken halfway to her mouth, and gave Alanna a puzzled look. “What are you talking about? Last I saw, your stream had over 50,000 views and counting. Heck, I bet it’s even more by now.”
Alanna nodded and glanced at her phone, struggling to tear her eyes away from it. “As of right now, it’s actually passed the half a million view mark, making it my most-viewed stream ever. Not only that, but I’ve got over 20,000 subscribers now. Still small potatoes compared to the big streamers like Miss Mask or MrFeast, though.”
Lucy rolled her eyes as she popped a piece of chicken into her mouth. “Alanna, you could literally become a billionaire, and you’d still be looking at other billionaires with more money and thinking you’ve got nothing. I appreciate the ambition, but girl, sometimes you just gotta be happy with what you’ve got.”
Alanna giggled slightly, unable to argue with Lucy’s assessment of her personality. She had always been ambitious, a trait her high-achieving lawyer parents encouraged. Not that Alanna wanted to become a lawyer herself, though she knew that’s where she’d likely end up if her streaming career didn’t take off the way she hoped.
Then Lucy leaned forward with a more serious expression, asking, “In all seriousness, Alanna, are you okay? Those Anomalies looked scary—especially that tall, human-like one. He gave me the creeps just watching the video.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said a dreamy female voice behind Alanna. “I think he was kind of hot, if you ask me.”
Another girl plopped into the chair next to Alanna, her rose perfume practically assaulting Alanna’s nostrils. With her long blonde hair and dark eyes, the Asian girl was easily the best-looking among the three of them, though her comments about the Anomaly drew identical looks of horror from both Alanna and Lucy.
Alanna stared at her. “Katie, you do realize that guy was an Anomaly, right? Not even human. You know that, don’t you?”
Katie waved her hand dismissively as if brushing away a bad smell. “I know that, but I’m just saying—tall, dark, and with a deep voice like that? If he had an OnlyFans account, I’d probably steal my mom’s credit card just to get a look at what he’s posting, if you catch my drift.”
“Please stop lusting after the inhuman monstrosity that nearly killed our best friend,” groaned Lucy. “This isn’t one of your shifter novels or ‘romantasies.’ This is real life.”
Katie pointed finger guns at Lucy. “But that Anomaly didn’t kill Alanna. She’s alive and well. Maybe it was that Mr. Superhero guy who saved her.”
Lucy shot Alanna a questioning look. “What exactly happened after the stream went out? I mean, you’re obviously fine, but we don’t know how you and that superhero got out of that situation.”
Alanna waved her phone in front of Lucy’s face. “Didn’t you see the follow-up stream I did as soon as I got home? The Anomaly told me and Paradigm—not Mr. Superhero, by the way, that isn’t his actual superhero name—to leave. He didn’t even try to chase us. He just let us go and made it clear we aren’t supposed to come back.”
Lucy frowned. “Girl, if you think I was gonna stay up after watching that nightmare just to see another livestream, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Katie leaned closer to Alanna, a mischievous grin on her face. “Paradigm, eh? That’s what he calls himself? You sounded very insistent on using his proper superhero name just now.”
Alanna felt her face heat up. “I just want to make sure everyone knows his actual name. It’s about giving credit to the guy who saved my life, that’s all. Just proper journalistic ethics.”
Lucy stirred her spaghetti thoughtfully with her fork. “I don’t know. That Paradigm guy was pretty cute. I think he might have a thing for you, Alanna.”
Katie looked at Lucy excitedly. “Me too! In fact, I think that Anomaly also had something for Alanna. Otherwise, why would he tell her to leave in that seductive baritone without laying a single strong finger of his on her? I bet Paradigm and the Anomaly are going to fight for your love, Alanna, the next time they meet. And they’ll do it right in front of you, so you can see how macho they are. But even you won’t know who you’re going to pick until the very last moment.”
Alanna gave Katie a strange look. “You’re definitely reading too many romantasies.”
“Reverse harems, actually. But—”
“But this is real life,” Lucy interrupted, “where monsters aren’t hot and will actually kill you if you get too close to them.”
Alanna suspected Katie was about to say something completely different, but Lucy powered through. Then she looked back at Alanna, her concern returning. “Like I said, I’m just glad you’re okay. You weren’t hurt or anything, were you? What did your parents say when you got home last night?”
Alanna cringed. “They were… not happy, to put it very lightly.”
She was seriously underselling the shouting match that erupted when she and Nancy got home after Paradigm dropped them off in the Biggly Figgly parking lot. Her parents had threatened everything from taking away her phone to forcing her to cancel her channel—even locking her in her room until graduation, which was still two years away.
Alanna had to use all her best persuasion techniques to convince her parents that she was okay, that she didn’t need medical care, that Nancy was fine too, and that all she needed was a good night’s sleep to be ready for school the next day. That last bit, in particular, had struck a chord with her parents, both of whom placed a high priority on academic excellence. It didn’t hurt that they’d both been exhausted after long days at their respective law firms. In the end, they’d agreed to discuss everything in detail after Alanna got home from school today, promising to leave work early to make sure they’d be there.
So, Alanna was counting down the hours until her life effectively ended. She was certain her parents were going to drop the hammer on her one way or another tonight.
Such thoughts had followed her throughout the day, weighing on her as she moved from one class to another. That’s why she’d claimed a corner table in the bustling, if slightly smelly, cafeteria at lunch and sat by herself, not even bothering to ask anyone else to join her. She buried herself in her phone, obsessively checking her channel analytics to distract herself from the looming confrontation with her parents. She also tried not to think about the terror she’d felt during her encounter with the Anomaly—the kind of fear she’d never experienced before in her life.
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I wonder if the Anomaly only spared me because Paradigm was there, she thought, scooping up a forkful of mashed potatoes. Even though that Anomaly seemed a lot stronger than Paradigm, maybe it just didn’t want to fight him and kill me. Too much trouble or something.
And then there was Paradigm.
After Paradigm had left and Alanna and Nancy caught the bus home, Alanna had instructed Nancy to scour the Internet for any mention of a superhero remotely resembling Paradigm. Nancy had come up empty—no powers, no costume, no name that matched Paradigm’s. It seemed he was a brand-new superhero, which was exciting. Alanna had essentially introduced a new superhero to the world before anyone else.
That kind of opportunity was rare for a streamer. Most superheroes labored in obscurity for years before becoming famous, like Alpha Man, Brainstorm, or the Original Generation heroes like Ron Right and Hand of Night. With the massive views her stream had garnered, Alanna had probably just launched Paradigm’s career into the stratosphere.
Normally, that would have bothered Alanna. She hated the idea of someone else using her platform—even her relatively modest one—for their own gain without offering her something in return. Granted, it wasn’t a problem she’d had to deal with yet, given her relatively small following. Still, she had a personal policy against it, just in case her career ever took off.
But she couldn’t feel that way about Paradigm. He’d saved her life, after all. Giving him free exposure on her channel was the least she could do. Besides, the idea that her channel had introduced a new superhero to the world was bound to drive more views and subscribers her way. Superheroes were becoming more and more popular by the day, so Alanna had every intention of taking advantage of this trend to build her career.
From her perspective, it was a win-win for both of them, even if Paradigm himself seemed intent on keeping a low profile. Though that was strange, now that Alanna thought about it. Most superheroes loved media attention.
He must have a secret to protect, Alanna thought, popping more buttery mashed potatoes into her mouth. Probably his identity like most superheroes.
Katie must have read her mind because she pointed her spoon at Alanna and Lucy, grinning. “So, who do you think Paradigm really is? He looked like he was our age in the stream.”
Snapped out of her thoughts, Alanna nodded. “He definitely did, even though his costume made him look older. Like, I’m sorry, but no adult on the planet has a hairstyle like that.”
Lucy sipped from her water bottle thoughtfully. “If he’s a superhero, shouldn’t he be registered with his secret identity and everything? You know, with the USSA?”
The USSA—United States Superhero Accords—was a government database that tracked all registered superheroes in the country. It was modeled after the Global Superhuman Accords, a set of international laws proposed by the United Nations about a decade ago to help member nations regulate active superheroes in their country.
But Alanna shook her head, frustrated. “I already checked their database online. There’s no record of a superhero named Paradigm. He might be unregistered.”
Katie shivered with excitement. “So, not only is he handsome and heroic, but he doesn’t follow the law? Alanna, how do you get all the good guys?”
Alanna rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Put my life in needless danger, I guess. At least I managed to prove there’s a connection between the Destiny Corporation and the Anomalies. That counts for something.”
Lucy snorted while sipping on her coke. “Only if someone in the government actually investigates the Destiny Corporation, which I doubt. That Plutarch guy has every politician in both parties in his pocket. Nobody’s going to look into any of the shady stuff he and his company are doing—and I’m not just talking about the Anomalies, either.”
Alanna wanted to argue with Lucy, but she couldn’t. If the government hadn’t been bought and paid for by Richard Plutarch, she wouldn’t have felt the need to investigate the Anomalies on her own. “Well, at least one superhero is looking into the Destiny Corporation, even if he’s unregistered.”
“That probably does make it easier for him,” Lucy said, frowning. “He doesn’t have to worry about political blowback or anything like that. But what can one superhero, even one with Paradigm’s powers, do against the richest man in the world and his army of lawyers and inhuman servants? No offense to your parents, Alanna.”
Alanna shook her head. “No need to apologize. Neither of my parents works for the Destiny Corporation or any of their affiliated businesses, so they weren’t actually upset that I was investigating the company.”
“Regardless, it’s still pretty wild that this new superhero just so happened to be there the same night you were investigating it,” said Lucy, shaking her head. “If Paradigm hadn’t shown up when that Anomaly did, who knows what would’ve happened to you?”
Alanna shivered. “Don’t remind me. I think about that all the time.”
Katie shot her a serious look. “Did you at least get Paradigm’s number, Alanna? Because if you didn’t even get that, then your entire investigation really would have been for nothing.”
Alanna rolled her eyes. “Get serious, Katie. I have way more important things to do than collect phone numbers from superheroes, no matter how handsome they might be.”
Katie grinned mischievously. “So you do think he’s handsome! I knew it. You can’t hide your feelings from me, Alanna.”
Alanna’s face burned, but she retorted, “Well, that’s how I know he definitely isn’t a student at this school. None of the guys here are that good-looking, and the few who are just happen to be jerks.”
Lucy sighed, casting a quick glance around the cafeteria. “Ain’t that the truth. But if Paradigm was a student here, who do you think he’d be? Just out of curiosity.”
Alanna was about to tell Lucy that speculating about it was pointless when a loud crash echoed through the cafeteria. She, Lucy, and Katie all turned toward the noise, quickly spotting the source.
A tall, lanky boy in a band shirt and ripped jeans had dropped his lunch tray, scattering food and drinks all over the floor. He was frantically trying to clean it up with help from another, much bigger boy—probably a friend—while the surrounding tables erupted into laughter and chuckles at their misfortune.
Katie grimaced. “Well, it’s definitely not Justin ‘Two Right Feet’ Wright, that’s for sure. Way too clumsy.”
“Justin Wright?” Alanna repeated thoughtfully, glancing at the two boys as they scrambled to clean up the mess. “Do we know him?”
Lucy waved a hand dismissively in their general direction. “He’s the middle kid of that weird scientist who lives in that mansion just outside of town. Seems like a nice enough guy, but I agree with Katie—he’s no superhero.”
“His friend, Ethan Eclipse, on the other hand…” Katie licked her lips suggestively. “Now there’s a superhero in disguise if I’ve ever seen one.”
Alanna, who hadn’t paid much attention to Justin or his friends before, assumed Katie must’ve been referring to the bigger guy. Ethan was tall and muscular, with the kind of physique that wouldn’t look out of place on the football team. Alanna was fairly sure, however, that he wasn’t an active member of Alexander Fry High’s team, the Fate Fighters.
With his buzzed haircut, broad shoulders, and chiseled features, Ethan certainly looked like a superhero. His clothing, however—a long-sleeved blue shirt featuring an anime character Alanna didn’t recognize and tan shorts—didn’t exactly scream “hero material” to her.
Still, her gaze lingered on Justin for a moment longer than Ethan. Though he was scrawny, there was something vaguely familiar about him, almost as if he bore a slight resemblance to Paradigm. It was probably just the haircut, though—an extremely popular style among boys their age.
Turning her attention away from the two boys, Alanna said, “Regardless, I doubt Paradigm even goes to this school, assuming he actually is a teenager like us. And I don’t think we’ll be finding out his real identity anytime soon. He really seemed to dislike the spotlight for some reason.”
“Next time you run into him, you should try to seduce him,” Katie suggested with a smirk. “Then, when he leans in for the kiss, rip off his mask, take a picture of his face, and then kiss him. That way, even if you don’t recognize him, you could post his picture online, and someone would definitely know who he is.”
Alanna raised a questioning eyebrow at Katie. “Okay, but why do I have to kiss him after faking my attraction to him if my goal is just to get a picture of his real face?”
Katie licked her lips again. “Who says you can’t mix work and pleasure?”
Before Alanna could respond, the speaker in the corner of the cafeteria sparked to life, and the nasally voice of Vice Principal Ackerman blared out. “Miss Alanna Lane, will you please come to the principal’s office to meet with Principal Clasen? This is not a request. Thank you.”
The speaker cut off, but Alanna barely noticed. Her attention was now laser-focused on the sudden, overwhelming realization that every eye in the cafeteria was on her. Whatever this was about, she had a feeling it wasn’t good.
Katie leaned toward Alanna again and asked, “If you don’t come back alive, can I have your superhero boyfriend?”
Lucy rolled her eyes and said to Alanna, “Don’t worry. I doubt you did anything wrong. You’ve got this, girl.”
Alanna gulped. “That’s the thing. I haven’t done anything, so I’m not sure why—”
“Miss Lane,” said Vice Principal Ackerman’s voice came over the speaker again, “to the principal’s office now. Thank you.”
That earned a few derisive chuckles from some of the other students, but Alanna just took a deep breath and stood up. She had no idea why Principal Classen, the principal of Alexander Fry High, wanted to see her in his office, but she also couldn’t ignore the summons unless she wanted to get into real trouble.
So Alanna said goodbye to Lucy and Katie and made her way out of the cafeteria. She did her best to ignore the curious looks and hushed murmurings of the other students as she left. No doubt the school rumor mill was already in full force. By the time she was done with her meeting with the principal, Alanna didn’t even want to know what kind of crazy rumors might be swirling about her.
Not when she had her own challenges to face.
