CHAPTER THREE

Lunch Plans

“I have to defeat a supervillain!” I said at lunch the next day.

Chloe and Sandro looked at me with funny faces. They’re my best friends and the only people in our school who know my secret. My family likes to keep our powers hush-hush. It’s what we call a “secret identity.”

Chloe put down her PB&J sandwich. She’s the smart one in our group. “What are you talking about, Peter?”

“I want my brother and sister to stop being mean to me, and the only way to do that is to get them to respect me. And the only way to get their respect is to defeat a supervillain.”

“Are you going to use your”—Sandro wiggled his finger and whispered—“superpower?” He’s the clown of the group, but he always supports my decisions—even the bad ones.

“Shhhh!” I whispered, looking around to make sure no one else in the school cafeteria had heard him. “That’s supposed to be top secret.”

“Then you shouldn’t have told Sandro.” Chloe smiled. “He’s not very good at keeping secrets.”

“It’s true, I’m not,” Sandro agreed.

“But seriously, how are you going to take down a supervillain?” Chloe asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t figured out that part yet.”

“Sounds like a lot of work,” Sandro said. “Who cares how your brother and sister treat you?”

“I do! You don’t know what it’s like to live with them!” I said. “They torment me day and night. If they respected me, they’d leave me alone.”

“I doubt that,” Chloe said. “No matter what I do, my older sister always steals my stuff. That’s what siblings do.”

“I guess I need a plan,” I said. “First, I need to find a supervillain. Where do you find bad guys?”

“My mom says the electric company is evil,” Chloe said. “But I think that’s because our bill is always so high.”

“Hey, I know,” Sandro said. “I was watching the news last night. A supervillain named Captain Tornado has been robbing banks all over town. He’s already robbed three—that means there’s only two left. We should go to one of them after school and hang out. If he shows up, you zap him. Then—bam!—you’re an instant hero.”

“That is a terrible idea,” Chloe said.

“You mean a great idea!” I said. I began to daydream of stopping a bank robbery, defeating Captain Tornado, and earning the respect of the entire town.

What could possibly go wrong?