Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

Monica felt intensely uncomfortable for a moment. Like she was seeing these two naked through a spyhole or something. She had no doubt that if she'd been there, in uniform, present, Hadley would probably not be so outspoken about her experience in front of her. Here though, Hadley was able to be candid precisely because the Nighthawk wasn't there. She swallowed and shifted her feet a bit, grateful for the interruption when Davis announces his other friend who had a last name for a first name (and maybe it was also a town in Iowa?) was present. lots of those around, in Prospect City. Porter, Patterson. Ames. Davis. The first names shall be last and the last names shall be first. The Cotterites might have something to say about that. She nodded, waving to Mina, sort of grateful that the moment was past. She looked over to Hads "you about ready? or do you wanna grab another free champagne and some of those canapes?" Monica could go for a good canape.

 

[Halcyon638]

Hadley shrugged. “I think I’m really starting to fit in with these big wigs.” As another server approached, she whispered, “Hold onto your empty cup.” After showing her ID again, Hadley returned and surreptitiously took Monica’s empty soda vessel, pouring about half of the champagne in. “This is some quality stuff. I think. It tastes good; it could be crap.”

The two college students circulated a bit more before Hadley stepped out to head to the bathroom. Howell had drifted over to where Mina and Davis were talking with a well-dressed 40-something couple, and Monica momentarily found herself alone near a window when Mel approached.

“Thank you for coming,” the beautiful professor said, a small plate in hand. “I didn’t…I wasn’t sure if you wanted to come. I wanted you to meet Jess.” Face reddening a bit, she added, “I suppose there’s more normal ways to introduce you than a post-mayoral debate party. I just…didn’t know when I’d have the chance again.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"Sneaky" she winked at Hads and bumped her hip, covering her feeling of awkwardness with a sip of champagne. As Mel approached she laughed "yeah. You know, it was weird finding out while I was lurking in the rafters like the god damn phantom of the opera." She shook her head, her tone playful. "Oh yeah by the way, my friend and therapist is dating maybe the next mayor and never even mentioned she met someone, but you know. Sure." she winked "Honestly Mel, I'm super happy for you. You fucking deserve to be happy. You're so sweet and good and kind and smart and fucking beautiful." She straightened a bit "It makes total sense you'd end up with someone accomplished. I'm genuinely super glad for you." She drained the last of her purloined champagne "So where does she stand on my extra curriculurs? Gotta know who i'm voting for you know."

 

[Halcyon638]

For once, the professor looked slightly abashed. “I didn’t tell you because…” She looked at Monica, a slight wistfulness in her green eyes, “…because I wasn’t ready. That may not make much sense. But it’s true.”

Mel blushed at Monica’s compliments. “Thank you. It’s been 4 months, so I wouldn’t go picking out the wedding theme yet. But it’s been very nice.”

The redhead glanced across the room where Howell and Davis were speaking with an elderly Black couple. “I suppose I’d describe it as she sees you as a necessary evil? Or…that’s a bit of a loaded term. She sees the good you do but thinks we owe it to you and to the city to not have to rely on you so much. Which, as your therapist, I wholeheartedly support.”

A moment later, Davis and Howell lured Mel over to speak with the elderly couple, while Hadley reentered the ballroom.

A minute or two later, the two students headed out for Monica’s car, Hadley snacking on a dark chocolate truffle as they exited the elevator and made their way out of the hotel lobby. “Thanks for the invite. That honestly was less painful than I was expecting. And damn, that Davis guy was super hot. What do you think was his and that Mina girl’s—"

As they exited the lobby, they spotted Mina standing on the well-lit sidewalk, alone. She held her phone awkwardly, her arms wrapped tightly across her chest at the slightly chilly September air.

 

[siobhancan99]

"oh so the night I wrestled your AC unit back into your window you could have stayed at your girlfriend's house. I See how you are." She laughed though and hugged Mel "I get it. Sometimes, you're not ready for a door to close even when another one is open." She pulled back "i am super happy for you. I'm pulling for you crazy kids." She winked, as if Mel wasn't twice her age.

As they exited the event she looked over at Hads "I think he wants there to be something, and I think she's not at all into him." She hmmed a moment and then called over to Mina "hey? where's Jefferson Davis?" She started over towards the woman "do you need a ride somewhere?" She assumed the woman could Uber, but she looked cold and had her phone out and maybe she didn't have any signal. Or was waiting for a car. If she was waiting for a car Monica could at least wait with her.

 

[Halcyon638]

Mina turned toward Monica and Hadley. There were a few smudges to her previously perfectly applied eyeliner that suggested some quick touch-up work had been done fairly recently. “He’s up there,” she said, motioning upwards with her eyes and rolling them in the process, “working.” The influencer spat out the last word with disdain.

“You have a car?” There was almost a pleading tone to her voice. “Oh my god, that would be so great. If my Uber driver tries to hit on me tonight, I swear to God I will fucking die.”

“Yeah. We don’t want that,” Hadley said, exchanging a quick, concerned glance with her friend.

“I live near Milman Square. If that’s too far, it’s okay. I can call an Uber.” Milman Square was a trendy, up-and-coming neighborhood and was farther away than Hadley’s off-campus apartment.

As they walked along the street, the purple-haired girl said, “So…um…did you want to talk about what happened back there? You don’t have to.”

Mina sighed. “No. It’s fine. I mean…first, he invites me to this thing. We’ve been on four dates before. The last date, we were meeting up with some friends of his, and it turned into a work thing—talking about polls and endorsements, all this shit. He barely talk to me. Then tonight, same shit. He tells me he’ll be working a little, but not much; ‘it’ll be fun.’ He fucking leaves me, and then when I start to give him shit about, he say, ‘sorry you can’t always be the center of attention. Maybe you should go flash your tits at another tech bro so he’ll take you to Bali.’”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica smiled "no worries. We won't hit on you. Hads is totally straight." She makes a joke of it, though she isn't going to hit on Mina. She nodded along as Mina discussed her troubles with Davis. She wondered if it was genuine affection that made her sad, or his clear contempt for her. "It's fucked up he said that shit to you. You know, you have to be with someone who accepts the whole you." She said as they made their way to her nearby car. She'd parked in a paid lot, because why not since she had the money. As they found the car she continued "my ex girlfriend wanted me to be this person that I was in High School, like... still Monica from the swim team, drinking shitty beers and smoking shitty weed, hanging out at the dam. Wanting that small town, safe kind of life. She didn't really... care for who I turned into here. She wanted me to go with her to SUNY in the middle of nowhere, to like... get back to who we were." She turned to Mina "you have to decide for yourself if the person you're with respects and likes not just the person you are, but who you want to be." She shrugged and got into the car "I'm probably dropping Hads off first, but I'm agnostic as to where you two want to sit."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Thank you,” Mina said at the offer of the ride. As the three women walked along, she nodded emphatically. “Thank you,” she said again, this time at Monica’s labeling of Davis’s treatment of her. “The worst part was, he seemed like a sweet guy. And like, I could see if I cheated on him with Cal—the Bali guy. But we talked about the whole Bali thing—we aren’t exclusive or anything and I straight up ask him if he is okay with like, 2 weeks before it happened. ‘Oh, yes. It’s fine.’ Guess it wasn’t fine.”

Hadley shook his head. “Uggh. Fuck him. Life’s too short to waste on dickheads.”

Mina listened as Monica described her time with Gabi. “Yes, totally agree. Or whether they actually like you or just this image of you they’ve built up in their head. Like…your girlfriend had of you. The old you.”

“I’m cool with the back,” Hadley said, a few steps ahead of them and already arriving at the car door.

Mina settled into the car, her long black hair flowing over one shoulder. “Sorry. I don’t even know you two and here I go just vomit all of this at you.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "yeah its hard, man. Dating sucks. Being in love sucks." she chuckled and headed towards Hadley's place first, steering through largely empty streets. "But you know, people make it work. Sometimes. So there's hope" she chuckled and drove "Look, if you're in an open relationship, you're in one. If you're not you're not. It's not like... you're in one when its time to look cool but not in one when its time to confront the fact you're in one. As far as dumping, well. Women have to stick together. So think nothing of it. That Davis guy was hot, at least. So you know. there was that. But that doesn't excuse him being disrespectful. Be glad you found out early, I guess."

 

[Halcyon638]

Mina sighed. “I haaaate it,” she said, commiserating, though with a hint of a smile on her face.

The dark-haired beauty reclined her seat a bit as they rode along. “What year are you two?”

“I’m a junior. Mon’s a sophomore,” Hadley responded, looking up from her phone. “Are you from Prospect City?”

“Yeah. Well, sort of. We are Serbian, from Kosovo. We spent a few years there before my mom and my brother and me move to the States.”

“Older? Younger?”

“Older,” Mina said. “What about you?”

“NYC,” Hadley said.

"Oh, cool. I love it there."

“Most of my life. We moved here a few years ago. My dad and I."

“Small town girl,” Mina said to Monica as they approached Hadley's apartment, “you like city life?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "I love it here." She looked out the window as they passed by a few large apartment complexes "I like it better here than New York. New York was too big, too rich, too expensive. . Like the City version of Disney World. No offense Hads. Just, you wait in line for everything and it costs 2000 dollars and there's no reality to it. It's like an episode of some TV show about a city. Prospect City you wait for nothing, there's still great food and great cultural events everywhere, its cheap and you know. There's that. Prospect City has its own feel. Does some of that feel need to change? yeah. Like, is it crazy dangerous? I could do without that part of it."

 

[Halcyon638]

“None taken,” Hadley said. “A week really isn’t enough there. We’ll do a deep dive next time. And I won’t ditch you for a cute boy half the week. Well, probably not.”

Mina smiled at Monica’s response. “Prospect City is home, for better and for worse. I would be very different person if I didn’t spend most of my life here. Maybe that would be a good thing,” she added, her tone playful.

Outside Hadley’s apartment, Hadley and Mina exchanged contact information so they could talk about their experiences with Nighthawk. "Thanks for the invite, Mon," Hadley said, heading inside.

Mina lifted her phone. "So, what are your handles? I will follow you back. If you ever want something boosted, I can get you a few thousand views pretty easy." In an attempt to keep her identities separate, Monica didn't follow the older girl through her personal accounts, only her Nighthawk accounts. "If you want that. Get your 'okay looking' face out there." She smirked, calling back to Monica's description of herself from earlier.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica exchanged information, repeating Mina's once or twice as if she didn't already know it. "Maybe I can find some better than average looking partner and we can settle down and have slightly better than average looking kids. Or super weird looking kids. you never know with genetics." she winked at Mina "So far though, no messages I need boosted, so. Might just have to restrict it to the occasional friendly chat." She chuckled, then put her phone away and started driving towards the address Mina gave her "so is this your place? or Davis'? or ... yours and Davis?"