36. Unidentified

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     On her walk to school the next morning, Sam was found again by White Flame. He caught up with her on a street very close to the school.

    "Sam!" he called, jogging behind her. "Sam, wait up!"

    Sam groaned. She'd been dreading this encounter, dreading the questions she knew she would have to ask. With a deep breath, she turned around to face White Flame.

    He grinned at her as if nothing was wrong. "It's great to see you," he said. "How did the tour go? Sorry I couldn't be there, I had classes all day." His smile didn't seem to lack sincerity, but Sam knew now that he wasn't as honest as he seemed.

    Sam hesitated a bit before speaking. "I... I know that you were expelled. Why are you pretending that you still go to ISH?" she asked.

    White Flame stared at her, his smile disappearing.

    "And how come you know how I get to school?" Sam went on, her questions finally free from her mind. "Why do you have a reputation at ISH? Who are you?"

    White Flame's breath shuddered. "Look, it's complicated," he began.

    "What did you get expelled for?" Sam asked bluntly. A trace of fear could be found in her eyes.

    "That's not important," White Flame said, trying to laugh it off. Sam wasn't smiling. He sighed. "Okay. The truth is, I got kicked out because I didn't want to wear my uniform."

    Sam's eyebrows scrunched together. "But why would that give you a reputation with the other students?" she wondered. They were getting close to the school now, and Sam could just see the building's outline.

    "Your guess is as good as mine," White Flame said, his expression suddenly strange. "Who... told you all of this?"

    Sam paused. There was something in White Flame's look that gave her hesitance. Could she really trust him any more? He had lied to her.

    "I don't remember his name," Sam mumbled.

    "But could you describe him to me?" The impatience in his voice was well masked, but Sam picked up on it.

    Just then, the sound of sirens filled the street. A police car chasing a speeding roadster (with dealer plates, Sam noted) flew past them. Sam looked at White Flame in expectation.

    "Well?" she said.

    "What?"

    "Isn't that kind of your signal?"

     "No, it's fine. The police can handle this; it's their job," White Flame answered.

    "Isn't it your job to help the police?" Sam questioned. She frowned at him. "Listen, I don't have time for this. I need to get to school." She turned on him and began walking again, wishing to escape the strange confrontation.

"Sam, wait!" White Flame exclaimed. To Sam's surprise, White Flame grabbed her hand. She stood frozen in place.

"Please, don't go," White Flame said. "I know I haven't been upfront with you. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. Please, just give me a chance to explain. I'll tell you the truth- about everything. But don't go. You're... you're the only friend I've had in a while."

In sudden frustration, Sam wrenched her hand away from his. She stared at him, finding that, for once words evaded her. She simply shook her head.

"Sam!"

Both looked down the sidewalk to see Evan running towards them, Taro jogging along behind him.

"Hey!" Evan shouted at White Flame. It was clear he was not happy.

White Flame looked Sam in the eyes. "I'm so sorry, Sam," he whispered. He took off towards Evan and Taro.

"White Flame! Don't!" Sam shouted, fearing the worst. But White Flame did nothing to Evan or Taro, only passing them on the sidewalk and speeding towards the school.

"White Flame?" Evan asked in disbelief, glancing back at the fleeing boy. "The White Flame?"

"He's going into the school," Sam breathed. "That must mean... he's a student here!?"

"I'm lost..." Taro said.

"We need to go after him!" Sam exclaimed, pushing past Taro and Evan and giving chase. Evan turned and followed her.

"Okay," Taro said to nobody, watching them go. "I hate running, so I'll just leave it to you guys- whatever it is, I mean." He shook his head in amazement. Was he missing something?

"Hey, Taro," someone said, approaching him on the sidewalk.

Taro turned around. "Oh, hey Mi-" he stopped short. He raised a hand and pointed strangely at him.

Midas glared at him. "What?"

Taro looked Midas up and down. He still wore the mask, but his black super suit was gone. In its place was a sweatshirt and some jeans. Other than his mask, he looked like an ordinary student.

"You're... the suit... I mean," Taro stuttered, trying to find the right words. He finally settled on saying, "It's good."

Midas looked doubtful. "Thanks?" He looked around. "Have you seen any of the others? There's something important I need to discuss with everyone."

"Well, I just saw Sam and Evan," Taro said. "And some other weird guy..."

"What kind of weird guy?" Midas asked as he and Taro approached Cherokee North.

"Well, here's the thing," Taro said. "Me and Evan were talking on the steps when we see Sam coming up. Then out of nowhere this blonde guy runs up to her and starts talking to her. He tried to grab her hand but Sam shook him off. Evan almost flipped out. He started running at him, shouting. I'm not sure how that scared the guy off. I mean, Evan isn't really that scary and I'm-"

"To the point, Taro," Midas interrupted.

"Guy runs into the school. Sam and Evan start chasing him. And that's all I know," Taro said, holding his hands up. "I swear, everyone in his club is insane."

"Maybe that was Sam's ISH contact," Midas said. "I wonder who she could be talking to over there."

"I think Sam called him White Flame," Taro muttered. "I can't be sure though. For a second I thought he was gonna jump me and Evan and I just kind of blacked out for half a sec-"

"Did you say White Flame?" Midas asked suddenly, enunciating each word.

"Yeah."

Midas began running, Taro barely keeping up. "We need to find this guy," Midas said.

"Not. More. Running," Taro wheezed, trying to keep up as Midas burst into the school.

Midas dialed Sam's number as he stormed down the hallway.

    "Sam!" he said when she picked up. "Taro told me everything. Where are you?"

    Sam sounded short of breath and angry. "The south wing, by Miss Vanover's classroom. But we're too late. He got away."

"I'm on my way," Midas said, hanging up. He darted through the halls as quickly as he could, leaving poor Taro behind. Upon finding Sam, who faced away from him, talking to Evan, he tapped her on the shoulder. "Sam."

Sam gasped and whirled around, her hands up. Upon seeing Midas' face she let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry, I thought you were... I thought you were someone else," she said, her face growing serious. Then she blinked in surprise. "Did you change your..." She glanced at his outfit with consternation.

    "Anyway?" Midas said, motioning for Sam to move on.

    She cleared her throat. "Right. Anyway. We chased him up to here, but there's no sign of him now. It's like he disappeared into thin air."

"It's really strange," Evan said. "It was like he knew where he was going. You don't think he's been in this school all along and nobody realized?"

"I just... I think I would have remembered him," Sam said somewhat quietly.

"Taro said you called him White Flame," Midas said. "Why didn't you tell anyone about this guy, Sam? I don't think he is who he says he is."

"We should keep an eye out for him," Evan said. "He'll probably try to keep a low profile throughout the day if he stays in the school, but if we watch carefully we might find him."

"Let's keep this to ourselves for now," Midas said. "Just the club. What does he look like, Sam?"

Sam proceeded to give a description of White Flame, including details such as his platinum blond hair, dark eyes, the scar between his eyes, and his approximate height. With each detail, Midas' heart raced faster and faster. This was not good.

"And... I think he was wearing a dark green coat and cargo pants this morning," Sam finished. "Running shoes, mainly gray with black trim."

"How do you remember all of this?" Midas asked in amazement.

    "Sam has a perfect memory," Evan said. "You didn't know? I thought it was pretty obvious."

    "I've never forgotten anything," Sam said proudly. "How do you think I remember all of my hero trivia? And a map of the entire town for crying out loud!"

    "Why are you just now mentioning this?" Midas asked.

    Sam shrugged. "I don't know. I just didn't think it would be that useful for the team. It's not like I can defeat a class A super with my brain."

    Midas nodded. Now that she said it, it made sense. He had never heard Sam utter the words "I forgot."

    "For now," Midas said reluctantly, "This guy needs to be our second priority, unfortunately. If we find him- great. If not- we have bigger problems right now. And one of those problems is Overdrive."

    Evan nodded, clearly upset that they hadn't caught White Flame.

    "Find everyone. We need to meet in B3 in an hour or less," Midas said.

    "But we'll miss first period," Sam argued.

    A tiny smile was visible on Midas' face. "That's the entire point, Sidekick. Today we're skipping."

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