I’m Not the Hero Type

The library is quiet today, too quiet… Finals are next week - surely people understand they need to study? Whatever, I’ll do well on the finals all by myself. Tomas comes barreling in. “Belle! What are you doing here?” He is panting heavily, has he run all the way here? And from where, and why?

“What are you talking about, Tom? Finals are next week. Where else would I be?” I raise my eyebrow and gesture to the pile of books around me.

“You forgot what today is, didn’t you?” he deadpans.

“It’s Tuesday.” I pick up my book again; I need to be studying. He puts a letter on the table. “Oh, that. No, I’m choosing to ignore that.” I shove the note away. “I will pick my own destiny. Thank you very much.”

Tomas catches the letter. “Belle, come on! You promised me we’d open them at the same time.”

“Yeah, when we were eight.” I go back to my book.

“Belle, please, I can’t do this without you.” He gives me those stupid puppy dog eyes.

“You know I can’t say no to those eyes.” I roll my eyes and extend my hand. He smirks, handing me my dumb letter. I sigh. “One.”

He gives me a cocky grin. “Two.”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes again. “Three...”

We rip into the letters. Tomas hollers with excitement. I just stare at the words on my paper. You are fated to be the hero to all. Was written in some fancy font. I check the name three times just to be sure Tomas grabbed the correct letter.

“Well?” Tomas looks at me. “Is it bad?” he quickly adds. “You said none of this mattered anyway. So don’t stress.”

I toss the letter towards him. “It has to be wrong.” My mind unwillingly wanders back to the last hero; he’d been cast out by the very people he’d protected for years… His letter had had the same words.

Tomas picks up my letter. “Woah! Dude, that’s so cool!”

“No it’s not.” I look down, trying to focus again on studying. I’m no hero.

“Belle, you can’t just ignore this! You are supposed to be a hero to all!” He slams his fist on the table, hard.

“No. I will not be. I’m not the hero type.” I shake my head and look back at my papers.

“Belle…” He lowers his voice.

“No! Tomas, end of the pointless discussion.” I quickly pack up my books and start to leave the library.

“But, Belle! We need heroes! The villains are starting to regroup! We will need someone to stand up to them.” He follows after me.

“And look how they treated the last one!” I snap. “I won’t be the people's next punching bag. Why don’t you go! You be the hero!” I snatch his letter from his hand. “What does yours say anyway?” You will be recognized for your greatness. “Perfect. You be the hero.” I shove both letters back at him. “And I’ll be the wallflower I always wanted to be.” I leave him looking at me with a shocked face.

We never speak about the letter again. Tomas does become a great hero, probably the greatest the city has ever seen. I pretend not to recognize him and cover for him when I can. I didn’t exactly get the wallflower life I wanted; I became a scientist and help the city deal with different side effects of the villains’ inventions.

One day when the attack alarm goes off, before I can make it to my safe room, Tomas speeds by, grabs my arm and somehow pulls me onto his motorbike. “What the heck?!” I scream and hold on for dear life.

He says nothing, speeding through town until we get to what I assume is his lair.

“What is going on?” I yell once he lets me off the bike.

“I need your help.” He flips on a monitor.

I see people sleeping all over the city. “What’s happening?”

“The villains made a toxin, it’s causing everyone to pass out, and they started with firemen and police! I’m on my own, I need you to come up with an antitoxin to reverse the effects.” He gestures to the small lab setup. “I was able to get a sample of the vile they are using to stun everyone.” I quickly get to work, being careful not to breathe in anything. “I’ll need people to try it on.” I don’t look up, I need to work fast.

“I have a passage to both the fire and police station so I’ll go collect whoever I can.” I’d never seen Tomas so defeated. I get so lost in my work that I don’t notice the number of people he has brought down to the lair. “Have anything ready to test?”

I jump slightly. “I think I have the first batch ready.” I inject the antitoxin into the police chief. He instantly wakes up! “Yes! It worked!” Tomas smiles and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Guess you get to be a hero after all.”

I laugh. “Don’t say that until we know we can stop these guys. We’ve got work to do, let's go.”

From that day forward, I work alongside Tomas and together we keep our city safe.