Johnny Hero Chapter 4

4. Back to school

It was Monday, a week after that special Sunday morning.  Sissy was finally going back to school.

She'd gone back home on Saturday, once she was ready to face her family.  Her Mom had barely noticed she was gone, so she didn't mention what had happened.  Her Dad was still away on his business trip, so he didn't even know something had happened.  She decided that, unless absolutely necessarry, she wouldn't bring it up.  The less she had to relive it, the better.

At school, things weren't even close to normal.  Everyone knew she'd gone missing, and she was obviously not her old self coming back.  Some tried to be sensitive and give her space, but one particular individual decided to use her state as a chance for some cheap ego boosting.

"Hey, Sissy!  What's a matter, gone all girly on us?"  Bumper was a real ass when he wanted to be.

"Not now, Bumper," she said as she tried to shove past him.  He blocked her.

"Not so fast, Sissy.  What'sa matter?  Where's the tough girl, huh?"  He raised a hand to throw a punch.

A small hand seized his arm from behind.  "Back off, Bumper."  She barely recognized Johnny's voice.

Bumper turned, fully intent on pounding whoever had grabbed him into the pavement.  Then he saw Johnny's eyes.  "Uh...sure Test.  Catch you some other time."  He and his thugs ran for it.  The flaming-headed kid may be small, but you don't mess with someone who looks at you like a dragon about to crush an impudent knight.

Sissy smiled at Johnny, a little shakily.  "Thanks."

"Come on," he said, taking her hand.  "Let's get to class."  On the way to class, Janet tried to get Johnny's attention, but he didn't even notice her.  Sissy noticed, and Johnny's lack of interest made her blush a little.

In class, Mr. Teacher Man (who was still their teacher after two years, go fig) said nothing about their prolonged absences, hers longer than Johnny's.  He simply told them to take their seats, and proceeded to teach the class.  After class, though he said, "Johnny, Sissy, come to my office, please."  They followed him to his office.

Sitting down at his desk, he turned to them.  "Johnny, when you called Saturday before last, you said you'd have an explanation for me Monday.  Well, it's Monday, though not the one I expected the the explanation on."

Johnny nodded and pulled something out of his backpack.  Sissy thought it looked like an overly bulky sample analyzer.  "This is it, sir," Johnny said respectfully.  "I...guess you could call it a...Genetic Positioning System.  It can locate anyone's position across the globe with a 3-inch margin of error, as long as you have a genetic sample to track them by."

"Impressive," the teacher said.  He glanced towards Sissy, then continued speaking.  "Does this by any chance have anything to do with Sissy's prolonged absence?"

"It's the reason I built it," Johnny said, clearly ready to be overly guarded about events again.

Mr. Teacher Man thought for a while, then nodded.  "Alright then.  YOu both need to make up the missed homework, class assignments and tests, but there won't be any disciplinary action taken, and take your time on the make-up work."  He turned to Sissy.  "DO you want me to schedule an appointment for you with the school psychologist?"  She dumbly shook her head.  "Fair enough."  He turned and saw Johnny staring at him in shock.  He smiled.  "DOn't look so surprised, Johnny.  I told you two years ago, I'm harsh because I care about the kids.  Now get home, both of you."  With that, he waved them out, pointing to the two packs of assignments by the door, one for each of them.  They grabbed them on the way out.

Once they got off the bus, Johnny turned to Sissy.  "Hey, you wanna come over to work on this stuff?" he said, gesturing to the packs they were carrying.

She smiled.  "Sure."

At the Test house, they spent a couple of hours working on their homework.  Johnny took a brief break to take a call from the patent office.  Apparently, Susan and Mary had filed a patent on his invention on his behalf, and the government wished to make use of it.  He told them he'd consider their (lucrative) offer, but he had other priorities at the moment.

Two hours before dinner, Johnny leaned back and stretched.  "That's enough for today.  Wanna watch a movie?"

Sissy smiled.  "Sure.  What movie?"

Johnny pulled out a DVD.  Sissy stared at it.  "The Princess Bride?  That sounds like a chick flick.  Why would you pick that?"

He flushed.  "It sounded like something you might enjoy," he said quietly.

She blushed.  "Johnny...let's watch."