A Tale of Two Masks

Before they could discuss any plans, the dinner experience had begun, and next thing Summer knew, she was on her way home. She checked her phone several times to make sure the test text Ashton had sent was still there. They were really dating now… Sort of. She was full of all sorts of jumbled feelings.

Her father ambushed her for details the very next morning. “So, how was it?” he asked.

“It was nice,” she replied, not really sure how to describe what had happened. It was hard to call it particularly romantic. It was more like a deal that benefited both parties, “We talked about our common interests, and exchanged numbers.”

“So you are meeting again?” he asked, “Invite him here. We can provide a nice dinner here as well.”

“He works full time,” Summer admitted, “I don’t know what his schedule is like yet.”

Her father nodded, pleased with the information he was hearing. “So he has a stable job,” he noted, “I’m glad to hear your lack of interest was really high standards.”

Summer flushed. Her family always teased her about her lack of dating experience. She was romantically oblivious most of the time, and she had been so busy chasing her dreams that relationships never even crossed her mind. Even what she had with Ashton was more of an accident than anything else. Again, not really romantic.

“Just let me talk things over with him first,” she defended, “We just barely had one date.”

“That’s why you should test him early. Bring him to meet us so we can test his resolve.” Her father was still smiling but she could tell he wasn’t joking about this. Good thing she had already agreed with Ashton about this meeting in advance. She would have to warn him about the possible testing he might have to undergo once he arrived.

Summer was incredibly relieved when her father left for his own work, and immediately sent off a warning text to Ashton. There was no response, but Summer figured he was probably just busy. To try and pass some time, Summer went back to the hero forums.

Once again, MysteriousMaskz was at the forefront of discussions. Whoever they were, they seemed more popular now than they had been before. There was a long string of comments belonging to villain supporters, and many of those openly supported Shadow Phoenix. Of course, that usually came hand in hand with hating Golden Reign.

Even though she was disheartened, Summer knew that she had not gotten this kind of hate until the villain quit. He hadn’t gotten any kind of support either. She found herself angry at MysteriousMaskz instead. They were stirring up all of this controversy, for what? Some internet points? Driven to find out more, Summer dug into some of the older posts by MysteriousMaskz.

What she found made her hesitate a little. This person was just like her. Always dreamt of being a hero, but never scouted because their power wasn’t good enough. It didn’t matter how good you got with the power, or even what you could do with it. All that mattered was that your power was the weakness of the villain you were paired with.

The bitter words stung, because Summer knew it was the truth. SI never would have looked at her if not for Shadow Phoenix. Disheartened, she found herself texting Ashton again. She wanted to talk about hero stuff and he was the only one she could talk to. But should she really burden him with all of the controversy brought by MysteriousMaskz? She was already asking so much of him.

Summer deleted her text and sent something else instead.

“What do you think of my work as Golden Reign?”

She stared at her phone as the little checkmark appeared to indicate it successfully sent. No reply. He hadn’t even read the first one yet.

Desperate to find something less controversial to fill her time, Summer started doing busywork. She reorganzied her closet, checked the ink levels of every pen in her room and organized them in order from almost empty to unused. All of this took far less time than she would like so she resorted to a more time consuming passtime. Watching TV.

Unfortunately, all of the popular shows were superhero romance dramas, or bleak dystopians about the imbalance between the powered and helpless. Her mindless scrolling of titles stopped at the sight of a new drama that appeared showing a hero falling for a villain. Only the villain looked a whole lot like Shadow Phoenix, and the hero looked her, but played by a much taller woman with sculpted muscles and a dark tan.

Even the title was ridiculous. ‘Even Light Needs Shadows’. After reading the description about Lady Light and Shadow Boy, Summer couldn’t help but look at the threads again. There it was! MysteriousMaskz had a film degree! Not that this was any proof of anything.

When Ashton finally replied, Summer was deep into researching the screenwriter and director of the new series. She nearly dropped her phone when the notification buzzed.

“Golden Reign? I thought you performed well. All the things they made you do must have been embarrassing.”

Summer flushed as she read his message. She had already forgotten that she had asked him what he thought of her hero persona. The worst part was he was right. Playing the part of the hero SI wanted had been super embarrassing at first. Even her name was a bit much.

“Thanks,” she replied quickly, and tried to change the subject before he said anything else. “Any ideas about meeting my dad?”

She stared at the three little dots appear and disappear as Ashton typed his reply. Summer hoped he had something, because she hadn’t been able to come up with anything. None of the plans she had made while organizing pens by ink level made any sense.

“Not enough info.” Ashton finally sent back. His next message was similarly simple. “Let’s just get it over with. The longer we wait the harder it will be.”

She had to agree with that, so she started asking about his schedule instead, and they planned it for his next free day. Since her dad had already mentioned dinner, she figured they could just go with that. The hardest part was deciding where to meet up. Apparently Ashton lived in a private apartment complex right by SI so it would be difficult for her to get in. They finally settled on a certain cafe that Summer knew all too well.

Summer had thought it would be fine for him to come straight to her place, but Ashton was very against showing up on his own, especially since he had no idea what her house looked like. It wasn’t like she lived in a mansion since her father preferred honest living, but it was a decent three story with a fully furnished basement and balcony on the master bedroom. No pool, though. Her father considered pools the height of luxurious waste.

Her father was very pleased to hear about the arrangement and quickly made plans of his own to make sure he could devote his time to the meeting. He seemed more excited to meet Ashton than Summer was.

The days leading up to the meeting passed quickly. Summer had made the terrible mistake of watching every available episode of ‘Even Light Needs Shadow’ and felt thoroughly mentally scarred. She even had nightmares of the real Shadow Phoenix blinking at her flirtatiously as he offered to save her from the stiff world of heroes. It was the first time she was glad she might never have to face him again.

On the day of, all of the earlier nerves came rushing back all at once. She arrived at the coffee shop ridiculously early, but was able to spend the time catching up with the owner. Ashton arrived in his usual business casual and walked right over to her without hesitation.

“Looks like we are both early again,” he commented.

“Yeah,” Summer agreed. That stupid show was still stuck in her mind, and even interactions with Ashton were suddenly awkward. It didn’t help that he looked just like Lady Light’s assistant that professed his love and begged her not to leave him for Shadow Boy.

“Are you alright?” Ashton asked in concern.

“Yeah,” she repeated, “Just nervous. Should we get going?”

He nodded, and they both decided to take their own vehicles back to her house so he could leave without dragging her out with him. It was a bit of a waste, but there was plenty of time until dinner she could spend chatting with him.

Summer did forget one important detail. Her father would be there the whole time too. Even her mother had decided to play an active role in welcoming Ashton, overjoyed that her daughter had finally awakened to romance. The moment they opened the door, both parents were waiting to catch a glimpse of the man who caught their daughter’s eye.

Her mother tried to hide her immediate disappointment that Ashton was not the exceptionally handsome specimen she had expected, and welcomed them inside.

“Dinner will still be a while, but feel free to make yourself at home,” she told him.

“Thank you, Mrs. Aster,” Ashton replied, stepping through the doorway after Summer.

The family and guest settled in the living room to chat a bit. Her father immediately began his interrogation disguised as small talk.

“I heard you work full time. Do you mind telling me what you do?” he asked.

“I work for SI in hero assignments,” Ashton replied willingly. “It’s not as exciting as it sounds. Most of the time, I just process paperwork. It’s a communication role.”

“Hero assignments?” her father asked, giving Summer a stern look, “My daughter hasn’t asked anything strange of you has she?”

“Dad!” Summer shouted.

Ashton smiled. “Nothing like that,” he promised, “Even if I could do anything to bring her back to the front lines, I wouldn’t.”

That seemed to please her father a little too much. “Wonderful. Make sure to tell me right away if your superiors get any ideas.”

With that odd bonding conversation over with, the rest of the dinner went amazingly well. Ashton wasn’t the most social, but his serious nature won over her father, and even her mother seemed to approve, saying something weird about how she understood Summer’s taste now. The whole event blew over so swiftly and easily, Summer felt silly for worrying so much about it.

Either way, she was relieved. She had already been trying to plan out how she might be able to meet Ashton in secret if her family disapproved. She was a little jealous of Ashton who had seemed unaffected throughout the whole thing, though.