For those who liked to spend their nights transformed into a water elemental and hopping the city, school hours were aime to plete one’s homework.

  And while Kay’s access to his alternate form was promised, the habit didn’t leave him.

  The old library was his spot of choice whenever he wao shack up during lunch. It was quiet but it was endearing. That part of the school was older, built ih tury, so a lot of decor had a cssic look to it. That library was smaller than the newer one on the first floor as it was built for narrower seles of students.

  The pce was still a funal library although the faculty mostly used it as an office to help run YCCI. Ms Pathirana overlooked the pce with a gentle persuasion, making sure that nobody was too loud and if a student had a problem, she would try her best to help.

  Kay wasn’t normally alo there weren’t many others that joined him in that chamber of study. It was usually a sanctuary for kids that had just had a break-up and needed some aloime or it was a haven for those trying to avoid bullies lurking the halls.

  He had no reason to think a that school art of the gang that was after him, but holing up in that pce made him feel a little safer.

  The library had a row of funal puters (some iMacs) meant for student use. A trio of friends walked. Cillian, needed get some work done quick, and was apanied by Fixer and Lana, a girl Kay knew from media studies css.

  It didn’t take long for Cillian to check to firm his English homework was done. He logged out and while the group of friends walked away from the puters, Lana spotted Kay– with his leather jacket and sungsses– w quietly at a table across the room. As she walked over– and her friends joined her, curious to see what she knew about ‘Rockstar’– Lana spotted what Kay was w: yep, it was definitely a piece of schoolwork.

  “You know,” she said, stepping up to his table, “fuy who dresses like a rebel without a cause, you sure are diligent.”

  Kay looked up and folded out a minimal effrin. “I just don’t like to be burdened with school work when I get home.”

  He got a look at Lana’s friends. Cillian was the only guy in their grade with facial hair like what he had, a mature and rugged b over his face. Kay wondered if the guy got carded at restaurants. Fixer, who was one of the few people around to successfully give himself a niame that stuck, was a lean kid with a short afro.

  Something about the way they were standing there, all looming over him as he scratched pencil to paper, made him uneasy– the ay within ag up. Mahought, if anyone wao jump me it would be that easy.

  Lana raised an impressed brow, charmed by Kay’s responsible nature. “Really? I’m the kind of person that leaves it to the st minute.”

  Cillian piped in: “You finished your chemistry essay on a Saturday st week. I wouldn’t call that ‘st minute’. It wasn’t even due on Monday. It was due on Tuesday.”

  Lana giggled and wiggled her legs nervously. “Well...” she said, but she had nothing to say.

  “What do you do after school?” asked Fixer. The question was genuine even if he tone was a little accusatory. “Party?”

  Kay chuckled, but he thought for a moment. He needed a cover story for all the time he spent as a frolig water d. But the answer was obvious; it was what he had been doing the st couple days while he elemental form was tucked away: hanging around his home and pying video games.

  “I mostly py video games,” said Kay, his affect ft.

  They all offered some humour. Cillian smiled. “You might be the one guy I know who gets a head start on homework to py video games.” He stuck his hands in his coat pockets. “Most of the time, video games keep people away from school work.”

  Lana served a small chuckle. She just wao see a cssmate. “Well, we’ll let you tinue your studies. We’re off!”

  They exged some byes and then Lana and her friends departed. Kay was alone once again.

  Fuy that had spent the st few days with his heart beating fast, he was still able to engage in proper small talk. No one would have known that he was attacked by a blue chick with a staff the other day. Heck, probably no one would have believed him if he expined himself.

  Kay had been waiting for Philly to show himself again. He hadn’t seen the fox sihe day of the attack. Although Kay nor Philly ever said it, Philly was the anding officer in that duo, at least as far as Kay was ed. The boy relied on Philly as both the strategist for superhero affairs and also his link to the broader supernatural world, a glossary of sorts.

  So what hilly waiting on? Why hadn’t the two talked since Friday? The question frustrated Kay and stoked nuisan his heart. He was tired of waiting. He would have to go see his fox friend and see what .

  Although, Kay worried something might have happeo Philly.

  After school, he took a street car down to the office building where Philly cimed home. At least this time strolling through October’s cold weather, he had a sweater on underh his leather jacket.

  Kay went to the back alley, though, trying to look as casual as possible. Doing anything unusual got Kay’s worries up– like the gang would be able to identify him by the basest of noning behaviour. It aranoia, and he k, but as he walked into the alleyway he took his eyes up to the tops of buildings, cheg to see if any fiends were watg him from above.

  Nobody was there. He made it to the back of the alley without any surprise enters with a vilinous hen. With everything clear, Kay went to the ventition duct that Philly used as a door, put his hands to his mouth to e his voice, and gave a whisper-shout inside. “Philly!”

  Nothing. No fox responded and nobody came out of the vent.

  Kay called again, a notch louder: “Philly!”

  Still nothing. It had to be expected that the fox wasn’t home all the time, but it opened a strong frustration in Kay: what was he supposed to do? He waited a couple mio see if Philly was just out for a jog or to visit the little kit’s room but it became obvious that Philly could be gone for hours. Kay thought about leaving a o e see him at home, but also wondered about walking around to pass some time.

  He pondered on it but opted to go for a walk. He left the alleyway, hoping no one cared about him going down a strange alleyway, and looked around for a pce to hang for a moment. On the way out, he checked his wallet. He only had a few loonies on him, so getting an early supper out oown was not an option.

  He could have gotten a coffee, though.

  He found a Tim Hortons a block away and got himself a double-double. It was an on-the-go order but he found an unoccupied er and sat down to enjoy his coffee. Or e– there wasn’t mujoyment in sitting in a Tim Hortons alone and sipping a single coffee like an old person.

  While he sat there, people exiting a nearby doorway letting in waves of cold air to chill his cheeks, Kay gave himself time to think.

  Did he screw up by taking on criminals? Before trying to be a superhero, he just enjoyed himself. He had water powers. They were fun and made him see the world in a way that he never kneerspective nobody else could ever have. The in fights with a few thugs and now he couldn’t cross the cityscape without being attacked.

  The coffee cup beween Kay’s fingers and he gritted his teeth. He had a good thing going and he had to throw it away for some Saturday m cartoon delusions.

  Kay paced out that coffee as long as he could. By the time he fihe breezes ing into the window had cooled it to room temperature. He tossed out the cup and headed back to alleyway to see if Philly was around.

  One was getting impatient, so Kay didn’t care about shifting into the alleyway suspiciously. He practically jogged on his way back to Philly’s duct.

  “Philly!” he said, trying not to shout.

  “Kay?” a voice called back.

  Kay was relieved. The wait was over. No more awkward waiting.

  And also Philly was alright. Still alive.

  There was the metallic rumble and then a brown fox popped out of the duct, gng up at Kay with bright eyes.

  Kay walked into that alleyway with a scowl building on his face, but when he saw his fox friend again the anger dropped from his eyes and he gave a soft grin. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” said Philly. “What’s up?”

  After everything, that hilly’s greeting? For Kay it felt like they hadn’t talked in a month. “Nothing,” said Kay. “I just wao see you after what happehe other day. I wao see you’re alright.”

  “Oh,” said Philly, stepping around the alley floor, brushy tail swaying behind him. “Well... I’m alright.”

  “What happeo the backpack?” asked Kay.

  The backpack again! Why did the kid care so much about the backpack? Philly chortled. “I left it there.”

  “But what if we ?” asked Kay.

  “I’ll get a new one,” said Philly.

  Kay gave an awkward look. “So you’ll steal again?”

  Philly lowered his ears and scowled at Kay. “Well, excuse me! It’s not like I have ample opportuo engage iimate erce.” He stepped around the floor, showing off the length of his vulpine body. “Or haven’t you noticed I’m a fox?”

  Kay didn’t say anything. He got the poiirely.

  “And it’s not like you haven’t stolen something,” said Philly. “Think of all those movies you go see without paying.”

  “That’s different,” said Kay, walking up to follow Philly as the fox idled around the alleyway. “The movie is pying whether or not people are watg. I go in and I sit down and I watch it. The backpack is a solid object– a physical good.” He shrugged; it wasn’t the versation he wao have. “Listen... I wao talk to you about what to do .”

  “What do you mean?” asked Philly.

  “What I mean is...” Kay sighed, gesturing his hands out like he was trying to grasp something. But there was nothing to grasp, so he dropped his hands. “What am I supposed to do now? Those guys are after me.”

  Philly dropped his snout and gave an uain look. “Oh... that.” It was something the fox had been refleg upon, but he hadn’t figured out anything that would be satisfactory to Kay.

  After a moment of silence, Kay spoke up. “I want to be the water elemental again, but those gang guys are after me. How am I supposed to be ‘Ghost Thing’–” and Kay’s tone was full of spite when he said the name– “when I’m being hunted down by psychic dies?”

  “I don’t know,” said Philly, walking up to a throrash lid and idly flipping it upwards. “I guess the first step is finding out who these guys are... or something.”

  Each sed that Kay took to think about that suggestion unnerved him. Any iion with an actual gang sounded potentially deadly. He wasn’t looking for trouble, not anymore. He o get back to normal.

  “I ’t do that. That’s dangerous!” he said.

  Philly couldn’t disagree. He sighed. “Yeah. Yeah... it is.”

  Kay sahilly didn’t have any great answers for him. He resigned but then grew angry at his fox friend. The scowl came back. “This was your idea in the first pce. Superheroing. Didn’t you have a pn for this sort of thing?”

  Philly’s expression rexed. He stepped away from the lid. “No, I didn’t expect it.”

  “Why not?” asked Kay, his voice getting loud enough to roll down the alleyway. “You wanted me to fight crime and you didn’t have any idea on how to hahis situation?”

  Philly shrugged, his voice dismissive. “I guess I didn’t think about it.”

  Kay furrowed his brow, gring at Philly. It was like the fox didn’t care. “So what am I supposed to do? Just wait for them tet about me?”

  Philly broke out of his apathetic fugue and offered a sympathetic half-grin. “Maybe the cops will get ‘em. Maybe you’ll turn on the news one day and you’ll see a bunch of blue people being put away.”

  Oh, it was the pyfulness in Philly’s voice that got Kay’s fuse to break. He groaned almost looking like he was about to kick the fox, but he stopped himself. What a waste of time that had been. Kay threw his hands up. “Well I guess I’m out of luck, then! Thanks for nothing!”

  Kay stomped out of there, settling his expression as he just got back to the sidewalk so he didn’t raise too much attention from the public, although some people figured he was the guy shouting just then.

  Philly watched his human friend leave, more angry than the fox had ever seen him. He was genuinely remorseful that he had introduced Kay into a world that had seemed to cost him a lot of freedom, but the fox didn’t have a lot of opportuo socialize and have retionships, so his social skills weren’t up to par.

  He sighed. It truly was bad for the boy, but Philly couldn’t do anything at the moment, so he went baside to where it was warm.

  Kay, oher hand, waited for a streetcar to e and took it home, fuming every minute along the way. He was uhreat from a mysterious group of criminals. How many of them were there? What kind of crime did they do? Was that blue dy the worst among them? Not a single one of those question did Kay have the answer.

  The sky above was a dark grey sheet of cloud, hiding the sun. Kay let the blinding grey reflect off his sungsses and sighed. That seemed abht.

  When Kay returo his apartment, nobody was home yet: not Mom, Aubrey, or Urban. He went to the fridge to get himself a nice slice of sami, took an apple, ao the couch to watch TV.

  Browsing the satellite’s guide, Kay didn’t find much. 4:30 in the PM had a reputation of being a desert of things Kay wao watch: for years actually. Even when he was younger, it was the slot that was slim pigs when he was binging television. He had marbled memories of the real-life Addams Family show airing at 4:30 slotted between the animated Sabrina and Johnny Bravo.

  Apple in one hand, remote iher, Kay flicked through the guide to see what was on. Maybe Kay was getting old, but Cheers– the archetypal dad sit– spoke to him quietly. He sighed and clicked on the show, taking Kay into the midst of an argumeween Cliff and Frasier over psychiatric bills.

  Kay knew Frasier as the star of his own sit but he was fused. “What’s Frasier doing on this show?”

  Watg a cozy old sit was nice, but it felt like a punishment– a remihat Kay’s fantastical life was over and now he was reduced to watg old sits after school like some dirtbag from the 1990s. A week ago he was flying through Toronto’s buildings. Now he was watg a TV show for men triple his age.

  Just as the episode wound down to its clusion, Kay’s mom came through the door.

  She chuckled but smiled at Kay. “Oh, you’re home,” she said, “Nowadays you’re usually out and about. It’s weird seeing you home aled in.”

  Kay needed an excuse. “Friends have been busy. And I wao take it easy.”

  It souruthful.

  Mom put down her purse on the isnd and took off a coat– stylish, but heavy enough for the ining winter. She hung it on a hanger by the door. She g Kay let out a pyful chuckle. “Not that I’m pining. I always wanted you to get out more instead of holing up in your room or in this apartment all the time.” She rolled up her sleeves. “I guess with you being gone so much retly, I started to miss you.” She gazed at him from beyond the isnd, theured an open-hand shrug. “What I say? I’m a mother.”

  That broke through Kay’s shell. The Cheers ending theme served as background music while Kay’s heart warmed a beloved. A small grin cracked on his fad he blushed.

  Mom went to the fridge and got out a pitcher of milk. Taking a cup from the et, she poured herself one. She tialking, not needing Kay to tribute much to their versation.

  “Actually,” she said, turning her voice low, “I get worried sometimes– with you walking arou night.” She stopped and slouched backwards. “I just worry sometimes that you’d get mugged. There’s some bad people out there te at night and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  Kay’s heart sunk. Fshes of all the fights he had since being a superhero crossed his mind, images of attackers as vivid as oil paintings. He had to turn away from his mom, looking off in an unimportant er of the room, as his eyes burned.

  e on, man, Kay told himself. Don’t cry.

  He ched his fingers on his pants a a tear escape from the eye farthest away from his mom. Taking up a fio his face, quickly, he wiped away the stray tear. Turning back to his mom, he made sure his throat wasn’t grasp by aion and said, “Don’t worry about that. I keep safe.”

  ‘I keep safe’ were the words that hurt to say.

  Mom took a good drink of milk ahe gss down. She wiped her hands. “Well... since you’re here, did you want to help me make dinner?”

  Kay smiled. “Yeah... Yeah, okay.”

  He took the remote and turned off the TV but then his mom said, “You leave it on. That was Cheers right?”

  “Yeah,” said Kay as he flicked the TV ba and walked over the kit to join his mom. “Iunno. Nothing else was on.”

  “Your uncle Brant loved that show,” said Mom. “Watched every episode pretty much from the first oo when it ended.”

  The show was over, though. Kay wasn’t sure what the show up was but it looked like a twentysomething sit. Friends-esque.

  Thinking about the men in the family got Kay w about his dad. “Did Dad ever watch Cheers?”

  Mom got a spatu out of the drawer. She thought for a moment, fiddling with it in her fingers. “I don’t think he didn’t watch it. I don’t think it was a favourite.” She shrugged. “He wasn’t a TV guy. He had his books. He always read books while I watched TV.”

  It wasn’t an ahat thrilled Kay. “Oh...”

  Mom got out a package of chi breasts from the fridge. She got out the cutting board, ready to tenderize the meat, but then she looked over at Kay. “You know, since I have an assistant– I was going to just to bake these things, but we could get out some pasta and make a casserole.”

  “Yeah, okay,” said Kay with ear enthusiasm.

  Kay would be staying in that night. Once again. But for some reason his apartme more safe than usual.