Chapter Two
Jake stood in aisle three of Heroes Comics doing the evening sort to clean up the mess from the after-school crowd. He knew the stacks well after years as a customer and an employee, so it never took long to whip things into shape.
“Excuse me?”
“Yes,” Jake said, turning around. “How can I help?”
His heart skipped a beat as he stood face-to-face with Michael Hammond. Michael and Jake shared a class last fall. Jake fell in lust the first day. How could he not? Michael had the perfect features: dark, thick, curly hair, perpetual five o’clock shadow, and muscular legs.
Jake thought about those legs all the time and what it might be like to have Michael wrapped around him. Michael wore shorts most of the semester and Jake got to see those legs on display three times a week. Since Michael played on the hockey team, Jake’s recurring fantasy was that he was a teammate and that he’d be able to see much more of Michael in the locker room.
“Wait. I know you, right?” Michael said. “Um, Jack, no. Josh…No, it’s Jake! Professor Williams, Advanced Lit, last fall. You did the paper on Prufrock.”
Jake blushed, not only at being remembered, but the enthusiasm Michael displayed overwhelmed him.
“Um, yeah. You’re Michael, right?” Jake’s shyness was in overdrive. He spoke quietly, not looking Michael directly in the eye.
“Yup. Good to see you, man!” He clapped Jake on the shoulder, a touch that short circuited Jake’s brain for a moment because it’d been so unexpected.
“So, um, what were you looking for?” Jake tried to get back to business. What was Michael doing here? He’d never seen him here before and it seemed so random to show up on a weeknight.
“Oh, right. So, my little brother’s birthday is this weekend. He loves E-Force. I want to get him something really cool but I think he’s got virtually everything they make. Any ideas?”
Jake’s confidence came back, presented with a question that fell within his expertise. “Is he more into the comics or the TV show?”
“Hmmm. I’d have to say the comics. But that probably edges out TV only by a little bit.”
“Okay.” Jake walked towards the E-Force comics. “In that case we can assume he’s got most of the current ones.” Jake pulled a comic from the rack and held it up. “Does he have the number one of the current series?”
“Oh yeah, definitely. I’ve seen that on his bookshelf.”
Jake pondered for a moment and decided to go retro. “Does he have anything that goes back into the Elemental Force era?”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s a bit pricier, but you could give him something iconic.” Jake stepped over to a glass case that contained vintage issues. He pulled keys from his pocket, opened the case, and pulled out a comic. “This is Elemental Force Number One. It’s the definitive origin story and includes Typhoon Force, who didn’t make it into the new series. They still write true to these origins today, even though they’ve never gone into details in the new series—comics or TV.”
“Cool.” Michael took the comic from Jake and examined the front and back without removing it from its plastic bag. “He will love this. I’m sure he doesn’t have it. Are there any new action figures out? He’s been collecting the latest series.”
“Oh yeah, we just got new ones in yesterday. Come on upstairs.” Jake loved the new figures because of their larger scale. He’d already bought the two Fire Force figures because he’d collected the character going back to the original Elemental Force set. Jake took the stairs two at a time and noticed that Michael did the same.
“Here we are.” Jake pointed at the figures as he talked. “Two new Fire Force figures, one in his costume and one as his alter ego. Same thing for Gale Force. One new villain this week too with the release of Shocker.”
“Perfect timing.” Michael stepped up and took the two Fire Force figures off the wall. “He loves Fire Force, so I’ll take these too. Dude, thanks for the help. I never would’ve done as well on my own.”
“You’re welcome.” Jake idly moved some of the figures back where they belonged. “Let’s get you rung up.” He gestured back toward the stairs.
What a way to wrap up a day. Jake had stood right next to Michael and got to help him out. Was it possible Michael was even more attractive than he’d been last year? How did he even remember Jake? They had never interacted much in class outside of some random hellos. One thing was certain, there would be some updating of Jake’s fantasies about Michael, beyond the locker room there could now be one centered in the store, too.
|