Not Your Sidekick Read Free Page A

works on homework until Chả’s welcome chirp alerts her that someone is home.
    â€œHow was your day at school, honey?”
    Jess shovels more rice into her mouth. She chews and points apologetically at her face. Her dad adjusts his glasses as he looks across the table, making Jess roll her eyes. Why does he keep on his “civilian” disguise when he’s at home? They all know he’s a superhero. Her mom says it’s something to do with maintaining appearances and practicing being normal, which is hilarious, considering their family. At least at home Mom doesn’t try to pretend that she can’t bench-press a car and doesn’t wear the dorky fake prescription glasses that match her husband’s. It’s funny how they approach being just Victor and Li Hua Tran differently.
    â€œAll right, we’ll get back to you,” Victor says, giving Jess a doting smile.
    Brendan, Jess’ youngest brother and all-around genius, pipes up. “Today I made a lot of progress on my experiment! It turns out that the problem I had with last week’s sequence was that I didn’t properly isolate—”
    Jess has no idea what he’s saying, but her parents seem reasonably impressed. Brendan is thirteen and precocious; he attends the local college and has been upstaging Jess ever since he was born. He hasn’t demonstrated any meta-abilities, but Jess is sure he wouldn’t have wanted to be a superhero even if he had. Brendan’s more into… okay, Jess isn’t sure exactly what he’s studying. Something to do with plants and energy, but she has no doubt that Brendan’s going to make a name for himself in the scientific community.
    â€œThat’s really nice. We’re very proud of you,” Li Hua says, smiling as she steals a piece of bok choy from her husband’s plate. “Jess?”
    Jess swallows, the rice sticking in her throat. “Been thinking about getting an internship or something. It’s bound to look great for college, right?”
    â€œOh, that’s a great idea!” her mom says, nodding in approval.
    Victor perks up. “I know someone in the mayor’s office is looking for an assistant, and Mayor Bradley owes me a favor—”
    â€œDad, I don’t want to get my first job because of your favors as Shockwave, okay? I want to do it on my own terms, because of me and my own abilities.”
    Her parents look at each other, and even Brendan has the audacity to snort. “What abilities, Jess?”
    â€œShut up.” Jess feels her face flush hot with embarrassment.
    Of the three children in the Tran household, only one of them was born with the meta-abilities that are commonly known as superpowers. Claudia, the eldest, moved out of town after graduating from college and is now starting a fledgling life in Crystal Springs as a journalist slash superhero. Brendan is going to be a famous scientist and discover new things every day. Jess? Jess doesn’t have powers. After today, she’s exhausted every possible variable.
    The only way she can move forward is to focus on what she can do. A job is a good idea, but she doesn’t want it to be handed to her just because of who her parents are.
    â€œ My abilities,” Jess says, determined. “I might not know what all of those are, but I’m going to be good at something, you’ll see.”
    She leaves the table before she gets too frustrated to talk. She doesn’t want this to turn into a conversation about her lackluster grades or her parents’ expectations and then a comparison to either of her siblings. She puts her dishes in the dishwasher and hurries to her room.
    As far as her high school career goes, Jess barely keeps a B grade point average as a junior and is fairly forgettable to all the faculty. She doesn’t play any sports, never had any more than a passing interest in clubs, and certainly isn’t winning science