New Release Sample: SEMI-PSEUDO-SUPERHEROES

When Angela came out again, it finally occurred to me to get out of the front seat and slide into the back of the Jeep, to let her have the front. She winked at me as she swept down the walk again and through the gate. Everything felt wrong, and that made no sense. She closed the gate and hung a laminated sign on it, stating she would be back by two. That reinforced Stephanie's statement that she did indeed leave the shop, because who would have a laminated sign lying around if they didn't use it?

Angela wore a tweedy-looking coat in a deep shade of lavender, and she had changed her slipper-shoes for some stylish, light brown ankle boots. What did she expect to be doing, just going to the border of Neighborlee and Darbyville to get an impression of a suspicious house there? I wasn't planning on getting out of the Jeep. That realization just struck me at that moment.

Funny, how the position of being a guardian of Neighborlee had never felt so serious as it did right that moment, when I had no idea what was going on.

The ride went quickly as we caught Angela up on what Stephanie had observed during her time on campus, all the bits of gossip she had gathered, the people she had observed. Then I told them about the examination we had given my dormitory building the night before, and the really weird fight that had broken out over prop weapons from two different TV series.

"Did I just make things worse?" I had to ask, after confessing how I had let Mercedes know that other people knew about the experiment and we didn't much like it. Plus asking her not to record and report on the fight.

"Never doubt your instincts, Lanie," Angela said after a moment of quiet. Stephanie made the last turn onto the street where the border between our two towns followed the center yellow line.

"At least they can't say they weren't warned," Stephanie added. "And if you think about it, the students who are doing the observing are being treated unfairly. Their professors know they're in trouble, that they've acted without official permission, but the students doing all the hard work of observing and writing up reports think it's all legitimate. Until now, they also think nobody knows what they're doing. Anonymity gives some security and some boldness."

"Yeah, just look at all the superheroes who wear masks," slipped out before I even thought how that would sound.

Fortunately, that got smiles from both of them.