Title: Chapter Six: A Friend Indeed

Series: Emesen’s Child

Author: Jennifer Lee

Email: jesca10@attbi.com

Web: http://home.attbi.com/~jesca10/ *Fictitious*

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of the author and are not to be reproduced without express consent.

Rating: G

Summery: A slight slip leads Sandy closer to her ultimate goal.

Author’s Notes: Please email me if you want to put this or any of my stories on your website. I never say no, but I like knowing which sites are supporting my writing. Thanks!



Emesen’s Child 6: A Friend Indeed
By Jennifer Lee

Sandy inwardly fumed as Sarah recounted her ordeal, yet again. It had been well past a week since she was attacked and saved by Polaris, but the girl hadn’t shut up about the whole thing since it had happened! Deep down, Sandy suspected she might be acting similar to Sarah, but that didn’t alleviate her jealousy.

For a long time, the sorority had known of Sandy’s obsession with Polaris. As a matter of fact, anyone who knew Sandy well knew about that. She had first heard about Polaris when she was young. He was a rising young super hero who promised to be a big name one day. There was something special about him from the beginning. But when Sandy and her parents were stuck in a burning hotel room and it was a young Polaris who pulled them to safety, she began to feel a personal connection to Polaris.

She devoured as much information on him as she possibly could. She read books and watched documentaries. She read every newspaper article about his exploits and followed every magazine interview she heard of. She went online and researched everything about him; all the while she felt a nagging curiosity about who he really was. As time went on, she suspected that her feelings were more than just for the man in costume. She struggled to really get to know the man behind the costume from his interviews and actions. Soon she became an expert on him, and many other super heroes.

Now, as Sarah was acting as if she had some special relationship with Polaris, people were looking at Sarah as if she were some expert. Sandy couldn’t help but be upset that she wasn’t here the other night.

“When he comes to class on Friday, I’m going to ask him to come to the Alpha Beta party,” Sarah said, making Sandy’s mind jump back to the present.

“When who comes to class?” Sandy asked, confused. Sarah rolled her eyes.

“Someone’s asleep at the wheel today. Polaris of course,” Sarah smiled a pleased smile. It wasn’t often that someone had information that Sandy Blaire didn’t have.

“Polaris is coming to which class on Friday?” Sandy’s eyes were wide.

“He’s a guest speaker in Mr. Lindy’s class.” Mr. Lindy taught the paranormal class that Sandy was taking this year. She briefly wondered how they were going to keep the whole school from coming to Mr. Lindy’s class on Friday. “And when he comes I’m going to ask him out.” Sarah looked triumphant while the other girls looked impressed with Sarah’s intentions.

Sandy’s eyes narrowed slightly. Not only did she miss Polaris fighting right in the front yard of her sorority, but also she just had been scooped on the latest bit of Polaris news. She took a deep breath, keeping an ear on the gossip that was being thrown around the room. If Sarah thought she was going to swoop in and steal Polaris right from under the nose of Sandy Blaire without so much as a struggle, she had another think coming.

*~*~*~*

“What are you doing,” Darien asked as Sandy craned her neck, looking for someone or something.

“I’m looking for Steve,” she said simply. Darien waited for an explanation, but one wasn’t forthcoming.

“Why?” Darien’s paranoid mind started conjuring up reasons of its own.

Sandy glanced at Darien and noticed his jealous expression. She looked away, continuing her search as a big smile swept over her face.

“I need to tell him something.”

“What do you need to tell him?” Darien was getting impatient.

“That I’m madly in love with him and I want him to run away with me.”

Darien’s eyes widened for a brief moment and then what she said sunk in. She was obviously teasing him, and he hurriedly tried to recover by putting a smirk on his face.

“Darien, I’m joking,” Sandy said, shaking her head with a smile.

“I know you are,” he said defensively, as if he had known the whole time.

“You fell for it,” she said, chuckling.

“No I didn’t,” Darien said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Yes you-“ Sandy stopped, seeing Steve. “I’ll be right back.” She quickly darted out of her chair and took off towards Steve, weaving between the students in the cafeteria.

Steve looked over as he saw Sandy Blaire come towards him. He smiled wolfishly. He knew he shouldn’t look at Sandy like he was, especially since he was dating Sarah, but he couldn’t help it sometimes. She was damn good-looking, he thought. But for the first time in a long time, Steve started to doubt whether he’d make a move on Sandy if he had the chance. He wasn’t usually big on dating a girl longer than a week, but he really liked Sarah, and he felt himself starting to want to change for her. He didn’t know if it was love or not, but he knew he didn’t want to dump her, like he usually did with a girl after a short time.

“Hey, gorgeous, what’s shakin’?” Steve said when Sandy stopped in front of him.

Sandy smiled a little, only letting the smile touch her lips. When Steve frowned a little, she knew she succeeded in looking a little upset.

“What’s wrong? You need to talk?” Steve looked genuinely concerned and Sandy was touched. She nodded and he broke away from his friends, leading her to a table where the two of them could talk.

“I’m sorry, Steve.”

“Sorry for what, Sandy?”

She looked around for a moment, making sure Sarah hadn’t skipped this period.

“You remember the night of the frat party, when Gabe and Tammy…” She let her sentence die; using the betrayal she still felt to add to the power of that statement.

“Yeah, I remember.”

“When you took me home you were telling me that you should have told me when you realized what Gabe was doing. Remember?” She looked at him, sadness reflecting in her eyes.

Steve started to wonder where this line of questioning was going. He nodded in response to her question, watching her face for any sign of what was about to happen.

“Well, I believe that you would now. I think you and I have been through enough together to know that you got my back when I need it.”

Steve smiled a little, still feeling uneasy about this conversation.

“Well, I’d do the same for you if Sarah ever…well, you know.”

Understanding started to sink in. His face hardened a little.

“What are you telling me?”

Sandy smiled a little, trying to downplay what she was about to say.

“It’s probably nothing, Steve, but when she said it, I got worried. Maybe it’s something, maybe not. So I started to think about that night that you rescued me and I started to wonder if I should even say anything.”

“Sandy, just tell me,” he said, holding his breath.

“Well, Sarah was talking with the girls in the sorority about Polaris and that night he saved her.” Steve nodded and waited. “Well, I guess he’s going to be here at the school on Friday, Polaris is.” She paused and looked at her hands. “Well, I overheard Sarah say that she was thinking of asking him out. Like on a date.” She glanced at Steve through her eyelashes. His jaw was set in a hard line and his cheek muscles tensed and untensed in anger.

“Thank you.” Steve stood up. Sandy stood hurriedly.

“Hey, maybe it’s nothing. It’s probably just idle talk with the girls, you know? I mean, she probably wouldn’t ask Polaris out.”

Steve forced a smile. “You’re probably right. Don’t worry about it. Thanks for telling me. I’ll keep it secret.”

Sandy nodded, worry in her eyes. Steve turned and walked with forced ease back to his friends. He missed Sandy’s triumphant smile.

She walked back to Darien, a look of satisfaction on her face. Sarah didn’t know what she was getting into when she challenged Sandy Blaire.

Darien had watched the entire exchange. He recognized Sandy’s body language change drastically while she headed for Steve. He saw the way she acted worried and nervous. It was a stark contrast to the way Sandy was moving now, as if she had won some great competition.

“What did you just do?”

“I evened the score.” She smiled widely.

“I don’t even want to know which poor soul is going to be at the receiving end of your brand of evil.” He watched her smile, pleased. A look of appreciation crept into his features. He didn’t realize how much he actually had in common with Sandy until now. She was definitely more than he had bargained for.

*~*~*~*

Sandy fidgeted with her hair, looking into a tiny mirror while sitting in class, waiting anxiously for it to start. She didn’t sleep well at all the night before, knowing that she was finally going to come face to face with Polaris.

“Sandy, you’re hair is fine,” Darien drawled, sounding a bit irritated. He knew she had a big thing for Polaris. Sometimes he reflected on the irony that Carl could have the most popular girl in the whole school if she just knew he was Polaris. Fortunately for him, Sandy didn’t know. Not for the first time, he wished she felt this way about Reaper.

It didn’t take long in the relationship before Darien was exposed to Sandy’s true feelings about Reaper. Of course, she had no idea that Reaper was her new boyfriend. Otherwise, Darien couldn’t see anyone having the guts to say to his face what she said about Reaper. He knew he couldn’t defend Reaper too much, or else she would think he had too much of an attachment to him. He knew this relationship was too important to trip over the first hurdle.

But since the first revealing conversation where she openly detested Reaper and in the same breath, worshiped Polaris, Darien had tried to ease her opinion of Reaper. If she ever found out who he was, it was going to be important that she be able to like Reaper rather than hate Darien.

Sandy closed the make-up compact and looked at her boyfriend, flashing him a smile. Briefly she looked over his shoulder at the empty seat that Sarah usually occupied. Since Steve had dumped her, Sarah had been taking a few days off from school. Sandy felt a small twinge of guilt, but she buried it. She didn’t lie to Steve. She didn’t tell him that Sarah slept with someone she didn’t. All she did was tell him the truth. He’s her friend, and he deserved the truth at least, Sandy thought.

When Polaris entered the room, it was as if electricity hit Sandy, and any thought of Sarah quickly left her mind. She looked up at the hero as he smiled politely to the students who smile at him. When he smiled at her, their eyes met for a moment, and she felt her heart jump into her throat.

Darien watched her make eye contact with Polaris. He saw the heat rush into her face and rolled his eyes.

As the teacher asked for everyone to take their seats and quiet down, Sandy took the opportunity to really study him. His blue and gray costume fit skintight over his finely muscled body. The large white star on his chest made her think of the stars that adorned her own costume. Being a super hero herself made her want to know Polaris all the more.

She continued to look him over, looking into his face. She tried to study it, to remember everything about it. Not many heroes went without a mask, but Polaris did. She knew though that his powers masked who he was when he was in secret identity. She read it in a magazine once. The magazine said that his body, demeanor, and looks all changed enough to where people would never know it was him. After first reading that, Sandy thought there was a chance that she might recognize him if she ever saw him, but she never had.

After Mr. Lindy managed order, Polaris was introduced and given the floor. He talked with ease about being a paranormal. He exuded great confidence as he talked about some of the villains he encountered. Sandy just watched him, mesmerized. Everything that came from his mouth was old news to her, but it all seemed very interesting coming from him. She knew she could sit and listen to him talk all day, but her mind was only half on his words. Instead, her mind raced to the questions she would ask him afterwards. He had promised the last ten minutes to the class to ask him questions, and she knew that with so many people showing up to class today, ten minutes might not be enough. She had to plan her questions carefully.

She thought about asking him how it felt to face off against the Destroyer time and again, always coming out on top. She pondered asking him questions about what he does when he isn’t saving the world. But really there was only one question she was supremely concerned with.

“And that’s why you always know your surroundings,” Polaris continued. “Because if you don’t see those civilians behind you, they might get hurt. If you don’t see the villain sneaking up on you, you might get hurt.” He smiled at everyone. “Well, I promised to answer some questions, so if anyone has any…” he trailed off as nearly every hand shot up.

He looked around the room and called on an older gentleman who looked a little out of place among the students who ranged from eighteen to their mid-twenties.

“Yeah, don’t you think that heroes should have to be approved by the police? I mean, do you think it’s safe for anyone with a special power to put on a mask and try to fight crime?”

Sandy narrowed her eyes at the guy, but Polaris smiled.

“Actually, I think it’s important for everyone to get some experience in defense. You never know when you might need it. I don’t think what I do is so different from what all of us should do.” He smiled as he sat on the edge of the desk. “I patrol around and if I see someone in danger, I want to help them. I should think anyone would want that. So, in answer to your question, I don’t think that helping someone in need is something that one should train for, but instead, strive to do.”

Sandy smiled proudly at his answer and waved her hand to get his attention. She looked a little frustrated when he instead called on a girl a few rows behind and to the left of her. Sandy looked back at her to catch her question.

“Are you married?”

Sandy’s face whipped around to look at Polaris’. The room hushed and hands floated downward as everyone waited for his answer.

He smiled as he answered, “No, I’m not married.”

Sandy’s hand shot up and she waved it around again. When his eyes made contact with hers, she felt hope creep into her. He nodded towards her and she smiled, standing up to ask her question.

“What do you look for in a girl?”

Darien’s eyes shot up to Sandy’s face as she asked that question with a dumb smile on her face. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Polaris’ smiling face.

“Well, to be honest, I look for someone who’s generous and kind. Someone who thinks of the people around her. She’d have to be smart but fun. She’d have to be someone who likes quiet nights at home rather than going out a lot, and she’d have to be above all else loyal and trustworthy.” He smiled. “How’s that?”

“What would she look like?” Sandy quickly replied before her chance escaped.

“Well, Sandy,” he smiled, “I am partial to blondes.” He turned to answer another question but the whole room went silent and hands slowly lowered. Polaris looked around, confused as to the sudden change of the room. A hushed silence seemed to spellbind the students and some of them looked at Sandy, so he did as well. She had a surprised look on her face.

“How did you know my name?” She was in awe. Not only did Polaris flirt with her, but he knew her name. He actually knew her from the rest of the students at this school. That means he would have had to have taken some interest in her. It’s unlikely he would remember who she was, with all the people he had saved in his lifetime, and no one in class used her name while he was in here. She watched him expectantly.

Polaris realized what he had done, too late. He smiled to hide his blunder.

“We have a mutual friend.” He tried to go onto the next person, but everyone seemed content to let Sandy ask the questions.

“Who?”

“Who?” Polaris asked, stalling. He looked around, his eyes stopping on Darien briefly.

Without needing to move his head much at all, Darien slowly shook his head, warning Carl not to indicate him.

“Yes, who is our mutual friend?” Sandy smiled in anticipation. She had everyone’s attention and she knew it. Not one person would walk away from here without knowing that something important had transpired here. Polaris knew her, and he was about to name an important link to him.

“Oh, Carl Williams.” He smiled as he looked around for another question.

If possible, the people became even more stunned. Darien put his hand over his face and shook his head, but no one was paying any attention to him. All eyes were on Sandy, waiting for her to ask the next question.

“Carl Williams?” she asked, stunned.

“Yeah. He’s my best friend, as a matter of fact.”

Sandy started to get a sick feeling in her stomach as she thought of all the times that she was mean to Carl. She searched Polaris’ face for any indication that he had been told about her transgressions, but she couldn’t decide if he knew or not.

Finally, Darien’s hand shot up in the silence, drawing all the attention off of Sandy and Polaris and breaking the mood that was created. Polaris, thankful for the diversion, called on Darien.

“Where do you get your tights washed? That costume is dry-clean only right?”

The room broke out in laughter and Polaris smiled at the joke.

“Alright, class,” Mr. Lindy said above the laughter. “Polaris is a busy man and we’ve taken enough of his time. Thank you Polaris for being here.” He shook hands with the hero.

“It was my pleasure, Mr. Lindy.” With a last look at the class, careful not to make eye contact with Sandy Blaire, he left the classroom.

Sandy sunk down into her chair, her mind on the news she just found out. She was oblivious to the chatter of the other students until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Sandy looked over at the owner of the hand and Darien didn’t look too pleased to see her daydreaming.

“Loverboy’s gone now, you can wipe the love-sick look off your face.”

Sandy smiled a little, rolling her eyes. “Get serious.” She stood up, gathering her books as she noticed other students getting up to leave. Darien followed suit.

“No, no, I saw the way you looked at him.” He cleared his throat and lifted his voice high to imitate her. “’What do you look for in a girl?’ Honestly, Sandy. Why didn’t you just ask him to marry you?” It was hard to tell if Darien was joking or not, so Sandy just smiled.

“Do you think he would have said yes?” she asked in mock seriousness. She giggled when his face darkened. “Oh Darien, calm down. You think every guy is after me and that I’m after every guy. Sheesh.”

“No, I think every guy with a pair of eyes wants you and you want Polaris.” He looked a little hurt and Sandy smiled, knowing now that Darien was teasing her.

“Define want?” she teased.

Darien rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. “I give up!” he declared as he walked out, Sandy behind him, smiling.

*~*~*~*

The next day at school, Carl noticed the looks he was getting. At first he just thought there was a stain on his shirt or that his hair was standing straight up. He noticed people pointing and the whole campus seemed to move out of his way. A few went out of their way to say hi to him. Whatever the change, he liked it.

It wasn’t until lunchtime that he realized why everyone was treating him so differently.

“Hey, Carl.”

Carl looked up from his burrito and saw Sandy, holding a tray, standing beside his table. He was so shocked he forgot to answer. She just smiled at him.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked as she set her tray down at his table.

“No, I don’t mind.” Carl was dumbfounded. He often saw Sandy in the cafeteria at this time, but she had never so much as waved to him, much less asked to sit with him. He wondered if his luck was changing.

Sandy smiled as she slid into the seat across from him. She opened her pop bottle and took a drink, her eyes not leaving him. He just watched her.

“So, how’s your day been?” she asked, making small talk.

Carl briefly racked his brain to see if Sandy had ever asked him how his day was going. He couldn’t remember a time when she did.

“Uh…strange.”

“Oh?” She asked, interestedly.

“Yeah.” Suddenly he remembered how nice Sarah was being to Anthony until Steve came in and messed up his lunch. He started to look around, convinced he was being set up.

“Who you looking for?” Sandy looked around, trying to see who it would be.

“Alpha Beta.” He continued looking.

“Why ever for?” She looked confused.

“Because, usually when pretty sorority girls sit with people who aren’t popular it’s because Alpha Beta guys are about to sneak up on them.”

Sandy frowned.

“Carl, I wouldn’t do something like that to you. We’re friends.” She seemed a little offended that he would accuse her of doing anything like that.

He looked at her and smiled a little.

“We are?”

“Of course we are.” She smiled sweetly to him.

“So, how come I’m not allowed at your apartment?”

“Not allowed?” Sandy frowned in genuine confusion. “Darien said you offered to stay away for a while to give us privacy. Then you never came back.”

“Darien told me you didn’t want me to come over anymore.” Carl looked confused as well.

“He did?” Sandy swallowed back her anger. Even if she was tired of Carl coming over all the time and never leaving, she resented Darien blaming her when telling Carl not to come over. “Well, he lied to you. I didn’t say you couldn’t come over.”

“So I can come over again?” Carl asked, excited.

“Of course,” Sandy smiled. “Hey, I have an idea.” She smiled when Carl’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow night. You can bring your friend Polaris with you.” Sandy watched him expectantly.

Carl’s growing smile faded.

“Polaris?”

“Yeah. Just invite him to dinner at my place.”

“Oh. Well, Polaris is usually pretty busy. But I can come!” he smiled.

She returned the smile, albeit a little stiffly.

“Carl, just ask him if he’s interested. I bet he’ll tell you yes,” Sandy stated confidently.

“Why do you think he’ll say yes?” Carl asked, not sure how she would come to that conclusion.

“Because. He likes blondes,” Sandy smiled. “He told me so, personally.”

“Oh.” Carl watched her for a moment. “Is that why you’re being so nice to me?”

Sandy got a worried look on her face. She knew she would have to tread easily here.

“Of course not. I’m sorry if I’ve been a little…testy…lately.”

“So, you’d like me even if I wasn’t Polaris’ friend?” Carl asked, hopefully.

“Of course,” Sandy smiled.

“Great. What time is dinner?” Carl smiled.

“Uh, well, what time is best for Polaris?” she asked.

“Oh, well, he’s busy. He won’t be able to come. But I can!” He smiled.

Sandy’s face fell.

“What do you mean he’s busy? You haven’t even asked him yet.”

“Oh, well, he already said he had plans tomorrow,” Carl covered.

“Well maybe if you gave him a choice, he might want to come to dinner instead of whatever else he had planned,” she reasoned. “Just ask him, ok?” Her eyes pleaded with him.

He looked at her for a while and then nodded. She smiled a winning smile to him.

“But I can’t promise anything. He’s kind of busy.”

“Oh, I’m sure he is,” Sandy smiled. “How do you get in touch with him?” she asked, trying to sound innocent.

Carl’s eyes shifted around for a moment and then he looked at Sandy.

“It’s a secret.”

“I see,” Sandy smiled. “I was just curious.”

“I should get to class,” Carl said as he stood up, taking a big bite of his cooling burrito.

“Ok. Let me know about tomorrow night.”

“Sure.” He stopped as if he had just thought of something. “Hey Sandy?”

“Yeah?”

“If he says no, then am I still invited?” he asked hopefully.

Sandy wanted to tell him no, but she was afraid he would take that news to Polaris. She didn’t want to give him any reason to tell Polaris she wasn’t nice.

“Of course you are,” she flashed him a smile, trying to sound as sincere as she could. “It’ll be around seven.”

Carl smiled and nodded before running off to class. Although Sandy was being pretty nice to him, he started to fear that the reason why she and the rest of the school was treating him differently had to do with Polaris stating him as a friend. He knew that in the future he was going to have to be a little more careful with his secret identity.



To Be Continued...