Evelyn lifted her hood to try and cover her hair from the rain. As she tried to avoid the water puddles that were quickly forming on the sides of the road, she walked the last twenty meters that distanced her from the entrance of the coffee shop.
Once safe from the apparent flood, she unbuttoned her jacket and approached the table where all her friends were sitting. Virginia immediately spotted her and waved, to which the girl replied with a smile. She stole a chair from another table and fitted herself between Alex and her cousin, quickly scanning all the people surrounding her.
“You could have taken even more time, you know, if you felt like it,” Kirsten said, crossing her arms from the other side of the table as she leaned on her chair.
“Unlike you, I was working,” Evelyn replied, completely unbothered. By the way her roommate was speaking she could predict that they weren’t about to face a nice conversation.
“Yeah, and your work is writing on your laptop with your a*s on our couch so-”.
Before she could finish her sentence, Bianca interrupted her: “Can you both shut up? It’s not like we’re in a rush anyway”.
Neither Evelyn nor Kirsten dared replying, and the moment of silence was used by Lily to approach the table.
“Do you want anything before I sit down?” she smiled.
Evelyn’s frown quickly became a wide smile as she replied “A Berry Blaze, please”.
The other girl nodded and wrote it in her notebook, before turning to take the other orders. Alex whispered “You’re embarrassing” and received a nudge back.
Lily quickly walked behind the counter to make everything they requested: since she joined the group, she insisted that the meetings should’ve been held there in her parent’s coffee shop. It was warmer than Evelyn and Kirsten’s living room and they got free drinks every time so none of them objected.
Five minutes later she was back with their orders, and as she took a seat Oliver started speaking.
“You probably won’t be happy to hear this” he sighed, before taking a sip from his coffee. Only then Evelyn noticed she was the only one who didn’t get a warm drink: instead of the many coffees and hot chocolates, she opted for her usual cocktail.
‘Whatever, I’ll probably need it if that’s the premise’.
“You probably know about the rise of criminality in the last few months,” he continued. He had this super frustrating habit of saying a sentence and then taking a long pause before the following one that made it extra difficult for Evelyn to stay focused.
But it was true: recently they experienced an impressive increase in the rate of criminals that attacked the city on a daily basis.
Being a superhero wasn’t a job to any of them. The furthest thing from it, actually: not only they didn’t earn anything from it, but they were also considered criminals by regular people. The only reason they were doing it was out of pure will to defend their city and not only use their powers for personal gain.
Powers were something completely unknown to most people, and even for the ones that hold them, the informations about it were close to zero: the stigma surrounding it prevented anyone from researching the reason why some random babies were born with abnormal abilities, and instead everyone pretended it didn’t exist and that all those people were villains.
It was frustrating.
In Ramora, the city where they all lived, they were the only ones with powers that decided to use them for good: since when a few years ago Evelyn and Oliver founded their group they all joined, one by one, to the current day where the eight of them took turns to work every four days.
“One turn per day isn’t enough anymore: I studied a new schedule, four hours a day for everyone. We’ll still work in couples, but every two hours: from 2AM to 6AM, from 8AM to 12PM, from 2 PM to 6 PM and from 8 PM to 12 AM. We’ll try and fit them with everyone’s schedule, and-” he explained.
“So you’re saying I should work everyday instead of two times a week?” Bianca cut him short. Oddly enough, Evelyn thought, he didn’t explain his idea to his girlfriend beforehand.
“Yes. I know it’s a big sacrifice, but we can’t keep up like this. It’s not working” he replied, sounding more serious.
All of the others immediately started discussing: Evelyn didn’t dare utter a word, as her work allowed her to be much more flexible on her schedule. Sure, it was a pain in the a*s, but she could manage to do it; same for Kirsten, who shot her a worried gaze. The other girl worked as a hairstylist (and make-up artist, and tattooer, and every possible work that involved self care that one could think) on appointment, so she too was able to adjust her shifts based on her necessities.
Sadly, their friends didn’t have the same privileges: some of them were still students, and some worked, and some even both at the same time.
Eventually Oliver managed to speak over all the complaints.
“You know, I don’t enjoy working overtime either. But I’m sure you all understand the problem is bigger than us, right? Only yesterday three shops had been robbed and we weren’t able to do anything about it” he said, in a slightly angrier tone.
They all shut up, and slowly nodded. He then adjusted his glasses and picked up his phone.
“I wrote down a timetable: if it works for everyone we can start tonight, me and Bi will do the first shift”. She glared at him but didn’t say a word, knowing it would’ve been useless. Sadly he was right: they needed to make a sacrifice.
“Well, if everything is set, I would like to go home now: I have to wake up at 2AM tonight,” Kirsten said as she finished reading the schedule.
Everyone agreed, so she stood up and walked out of the bar. Bianca and Oliver quickly followed her, and before Lily could walk behind the counter again Evelyn picked some money from her pocket and handed it to her.
“For my drink” she added, but Lily gently pushed away her hand.
“Don’t worry, it’s on the house” she replied, then smiled and walked away.
After she said goodbye to everyone Evelyn started walking towards the door, but was stopped by Lee.
“Do you want to have dinner at my house? We can get a pizza, since we have the last shift tomorrow” they said.
The girl thought about it for a few seconds. “Sure. I mean, Kirsten would probably kill me if I made any noise, so okay”.
They walked out towards his car, as quick as possible to avoid the rain, and once she sat in the car she picked up her phone: a few work mails, some texts from her parents and her sister, and a few notifications from social media.
A particular email reminded her what she wanted to tell her friends and forgot about: the book she had been writing for the last year had been approved and was about to get published. It completely slipped from her mind, with all the stuff they were dealing with. Her only regret was having to publish under a pseudonym: she feared that sooner or later she would’ve been recognized as a hero, and judging by how badly people taught of them, it was better to keep the two things separated. Last thing she needed was people boycotting her books just because she wanted to protect the city.
She quickly replied to those mails and then listened to Lee talking about how good this new pizza place that just opened was.
Ten minutes later they had just entered their house and they were already calling to order dinner. Evelyn quietly listened, sitting at the kitchen table, when the door suddenly opened.
The boy that entered stopped for a second to look at her, then waved in silence.
She reciprocated, and whispered “Hi, Max”. Neither of them was exactly an extrovert so their conversation never went far beyond greeting and some small talk, most of which after he and Lee started living together. Speaking of who, he immediately jumped to greet the boy as soon as they put the phone down.
As they waited for the pizzas, Lee explained what Oliver told them: his boyfriend didn’t look so convinced, but nodded as he listened.
“And so you have to work everyday? Isn’t that too much? You already do so many shifts” he said worriedly once Lee finished.
“I’ll work around it: otherwise poor Ollie might get a stroke” they chuckled.
“Alright… And isn't there any other hero? Who can help you, or maybe an agency that can manage your-” he asked.
“Nothing. No one dares to work with us because of our “reputation”” Evelyn quoted, “and we don’t know anyone else with powers, beside my sister or Virginia’s brother, who are too young to work”. She leaned on the kitchen table, sighing.
“Bullshit- you’re risking your lives to defend us and no one moves a finger to help you” he muttered. Before either Evelyn or Lee could agree, the doorbell rang and they quickly went to get their dinner.
While she ate, the girl noticed how hungry she actually was: to finish work earlier and attend their reunion she skipped lunch and forgot to bring a snack.
“Speaking of something happier: did you perhaps grow the balls to ask Lily out?” Lee asked, caughting her off-guard.
“No, and shut up” she mumbled, biting down her slice of pizza.
“You like Lily? I wouldn’t have guessed” Max added.
“Yes honey, I was telling you about it the other day. She’s still in denial but everyone can tell. Everyone but Lily, apparently” “Oh right, I remember”.
Evelyn just flipped him off, and Lee smirked.
They changed the subject to this project he had for an upcoming interview, when a notification glowed on both their phones: Alex sent on their groupchat an article about an attack that just took place at the public library. She sighed, while Lee slammed their hand on the table.
“F*****g b******s- they managed to attack during the two hours we aren’t operative” he almost yelled. Max rubbed his hand on their back to comfort him, adding “It’s not your fault. There’s only a certain amount you can do, and you already are doing your best. Eventually you will get them”.
An uncomfortable silence settled between them.
A few minutes later, Evelyn remembered she still hadn’t told anyone about her book.
“On a lighter note, my book has been approved! Hopefully they will publish it next month!”.
Immediately, Lee cheered up.
“Are you kidding me? That’s amazing! We need to celebrate” he said, getting up and rushing to a cabinet next to the television.
He grabbed a bottle of wine and even faster picked a bottle opener, uncorking it and pouring the wine into their glasses.
Evelyn raised her glass to cheer, and then took a sip.
“S**t- this is good wine. You should’ve used something cheaper!” she said.
“Oh come on, we need to celebrate! And also, it was a gift from my parents. They gave it to me as an apology for not coming here for a dinner, since they “can’t approve my lifestyle” or whatever” he smiled, placing his hand on Max’s.
Before they could noticed they finished the bottle, and it was already 11PM.
“I probably should go, I have to wake up early tomorrow” she said, getting up from the table. Max already moved to the couch, while Lee followed her as she started putting back on her shoes.
“Are you sure? It’s late already, and our couch is really comfortable” he mumbled.
“Yes, I would never want to get Kirsten worried for me” she replied, shaking her head.
“Alright then” he moved to the couch and let themselves fall next to Max. “See you tomorrow, don’t be late” he yawned, as she walked through the door.
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