The Trials of Renegade X Read Free Page A

mouth the words Get out.
    Amelia acts like she didn’t notice and plops down on the bed. I don’t know if she’s just misguidedly making herself at home, or if she’s hoping to get a better look at the scene of the crime. The almost crime, anyway.
    I ignore her and tell Sarah, “Cancel them. Wouldn’t you rather spend time with me?”
    “Spend time with you instead of my boyfriend? Yeah, right, Damien.”
    “I’ll let you pick the movie. Something sci-fi, if you want. With a really technical plot I won’t be able to follow.” Sarah convinced me to go see some futuristic, super-convoluted sci-fi movie with her this summer while Riley was out of town, visiting his grandparents. My brain just about melted out of my skull, and I spent the whole time asking Sarah what was going on while she kept saying she’d explain it to me later, after it was over. I considered faking an illness and pretending I needed to go home, but the fact that I didn’t and sat through the whole thing, melting brain and everything, just goes to show what a good friend I really am and how lucky Sarah is to have me.
    “Riley and I are watching a rom-com. In my room. And I’m turning off my phone.”
    Erg. “Riley’s a total douche. You know that, right?” He’s also got an H on his thumb, marking him as an official hero—just Sarah’s type.
    “Uh-huh. Sounds like someone else I know. Funny how you only started wanting to hang out with me so badly after he entered the picture.”
    “Not true.” Okay, totally true. I don’t know why, but the guy just irks me. And I know I shouldn’t care, but the fact that Sarah likes him better than me, and might actually believe he’s a better hero than me, really pisses me off. I’m supposed to be the hero in her life. The only one. I don’t need a do-gooder type like Riley showing me up. Especially since he’s the type who will watch The Crimson Flash and the Safety Kids —my dad’s kids show—with her while keeping a straight face. Something I could never do, though, thankfully, neither can Kat. It’s one of our favorite shows, as long as we get to make fun of it the whole time. Sarah watches it intensely, like the Crimson Flash’s words of wisdom about how to safely cross the street is the most important advice she’ll ever hear. I’m surprised she doesn’t take notes.
    “And,” I tell Sarah, “just to prove how not jealous I am, I’ll come over and watch the movie with you guys. I’ll even sit between you, to equally share my presence.”
    “The last time I let you hang out with us—”
    “Let me? Don’t you mean, ’was honored by me wanting to spend time with you’?”
    “The last time I let you watch a movie with us, you pretended Riley had gone invisible and that you couldn’t see him.”
    Riley’s superpower is turning himself invisible. Lame .
    “I’m entertaining,” I tell her. Which is true and she knows it.
    “No, you’re a jerk. You sat on him, Damien, and pushed him off the bed.”
    “I didn’t push anyone. He fell in his frantic attempt to get away from me.”
    “He broke his finger! He had to go to the doctor.”
    How is this my problem? “It’s not my fault he doesn’t get enough calcium. I didn’t intend for him to get injured.” It was just an added bonus. “Plus, it healed, didn’t it? I don’t see why I can’t hang out with you guys.”
    “Because you’re not my boyfriend. And you’re not the only guy in my life anymore.”
    I was her boyfriend, sort of, once upon a time. During a very brief period where I was mistakenly denying my love for Kat and thought fooling around with Sarah would be easier than dealing with my real feelings. Which it turned out wasn’t true, and Sarah and I were better off keeping our relationship romance-free. Not that there was a lot of romance going on, just some making out, but whatever.
    And yeah, maybe I enjoyed being the only guy in Sarah’s life, before she met Riley at some sci-fi convention back