Violet Lightning

Amanda clutched the bag to her chest. She could have held it in a normal fashion, but the contents were too precious to leave hanging at her side. She hurried down the block, stopping at the corner bus stop.  In the moments it took for the bus to arrive she was thankful for two things, one that the bus was running on time, and two that it wasn’t raining. It wasn’t safe for a young woman to be waiting outside after dark, so the bus being on schedule kept that from being a problem. The rain could ruin the comics she had purchased today, one of which she had pre-ordered. If she’d had an umbrella that wouldn’t have been as much of a worry, but she hadn’t needed one when she’d left the house this morning.

Amanda sat in a window seat on the bus, the bag still against her chest, her arms wrapped around it, holding it close. In the moment she didn’t care if anyone from school saw her, right now she had collector’s euphoria. She had two first edition copies and the newest comic book of her current favorite. Normally the old ones were better, but she had picked up the first of this series by chance years ago and hadn’t been able to stop reading it since.

She let her mind wander as she waited for the bus to make it to the transfer station. It wasn’t a short ride home. The store was in a totally different side of town from where her school was, and her school was ten blocks from where she lived. The second she’d entered high school she’d stopped dreading how people would react to her obsession with comics. The school had a manga club, a comic book club, an anime club, and a geek club. Amanda was a member in all of them, though she made it clear that she’d have to rotate which ones she made it to which week as some met on the same day. Everyone understood and seemed to cheer her on with her interests.

Thankfully the club members had her back during and between classes. Older club members waited outside the classrooms of younger club members to walk them to their next class. They did this until it was established that bullying wouldn’t be tolerated. It worked surprisingly well. It helped that there were guys and girls who were also athletes in each club. You didn’t want to pick on someone who had friends who were stronger than you.

The bus finally pulled into the terminal and Amanda slid out of her seat. She thanked the driver and hurried onto the next bus. This one would take her close to where she lived. The trip wasn’t much shorter, but due to her excitement over her new comics, time seemed to fly by. It took almost an hour, but Amanda made it to the stop she needed unaware of how much time had passed. She quickly left the bus and hurried down the streets. She didn’t like walking at night even though this was a safe neighborhood.

Thud. Amanda fell backwards landing on her backside. She looked up to see a young man standing above her. She’d been in so much of a hurry she hadn’t even seen him. He held out a hand, and Amanda found she needed it. So she took it with a smile.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Amanda apologized.

“I wasn’t either.” He replied. Amanda recognized the voice, it was Gabe from the comic book club. Thank goodness.

“Gabe!” Amanda said happily.

“Amanda?”

“Guess you can’t see me any better in this piss pour lighting, than I can see you.” Amanda replied.

“Not really, I’m sorry. What are you doing out this late?” Gabe asked.

“My comic came it!” Amanda told him excitedly.

“The Violet lightning one?” Gabe asked.

“Yes, and they also had some first edition copies of some others.” Amanda answered.

“Here I’ll walk you home.” Gabe offered.

“Isn’t my place in the opposite direction from yours?” Amanda asked.

“It’s late, I’ll feel like a jerk if I let you walk by yourself this late. Especially after Sarah.” Gabe said.

Amanda winced and didn’t argue. Sarah was still in the hospital, a car had driven through an alley and not seen her. Thankfully Sarah had gotten mostly out of the way or it would have been a lot worse. Amanda wasn’t sure how that applied to him walking her home, but if it made him feel better, she wasn’t going to argue.

They walked quietly through the alley for several blocks. They were only two blocks from Amanda’s when she heard what was probably the real reason Gabe was worried about her. She heard the voices of multiple guys; voices she didn’t recognize. This was supposed to be a nice neighborhood, but there were two schools for the area. The second school was rougher, lot of the students were known delinquents. She wasn’t as nervous because Gabe was with her, but if she’d been walking by herself, she would have been terrified.

They came into view of the owners of the voices. Their outfits, while normal, didn’t give Amanda a good feeling. Hoodies, with caps underneath them, sweats, and worn sneakers. Several of the guys she knew and trusted dressed like that because they found it comfortable. Something told her that she needed to be on guard with these guys. She and Gabe kept walking.

“Hey, that’s a pretty girl you got.” One of the guys called.

“He’s probably too strait-laced to share.” Another responded.

“You never know, it’s the quiet ones you gotta watch out for.” A third laughed.

Gabe picked up the pace, his arm now wrapped around Amanda’s shoulders. They hurried past and thankfully the guys didn’t follow. Amanda had never been so grateful to see her house as she was then. The front of the house was well lit, the driveway and front door both had lights. Gabe walked her right to the door.

“Gabe, come on in. Lets see if we can’t get you a ride home.” Amanda said.

Gabe looked like he was going to refuse when Amanda saw the guys they’d seen in the alley. She opened the door and pulled Gabe inside.

“They followed us.” Amanda hissed.

“Who followed you?” Amanda’s father asked. “Hello Gabe.”

Amanda’s father was a tall man, his hair just starting to turn grey. He looked out the window by the door and scowled to see the group of guys waiting by the driveway.

“Amanda, why don’t you and Gabe go look at your collection. I’ll deal with these idiots.”

“They cat called me, and now they’ve stalked me.” Amanda told her father. His face darkened. Her dad was a cop, detective now. He was a hero. His black skin, tall and large frame, generally made people wary until he smiled, then people couldn’t help but smile back. He wasn’t smiling now.

Amanda took Gabe’s hand and led him away to her room. Dad would deal with the guys outside; they wouldn’t want to mess with a big black guy, especially one who was a cop. She and Gabe would be safe now. Amanda and Gabe made their way up the stairs. Her room was the second door on the right.

Amanda left the door open, but guided Gabe into her room. Thankfully it was clean. She gently pulled out her comic books, all three were still wrapped. She kept two in the plastic protective wrap, she’d only open the Violet Lightning comic. She took the two first editions and walked over to the bookshelf. She unlocked the glass door and placed them each inside.

“If there’s one you want to read grab it.” She told Gabe. She went back to the bed and unwrapped her new comic.

Gabe grabbed one and sat on the bed beside her. They read quietly until her dad knocked on the door frame. Both looked up.

“Gabe, let me know when you’re ready to head home and I’ll take you. Those boys probably won’t be hanging around the area, but I’d rather make sure you get home safe.” Dad said.

“Thanks Mr. Williams.” Gabe replied.

The two teenagers turned back to their comics feeling a little better about their evening. Amanda smiled and let herself be drawn into the world of Violet Lightning.