Super Powereds: Year 3 by Drew Hayes Page A

personal lives, we offer a wide variety of wigs, contacts, and makeup, all for your use. Since people come to work in costume—a policy I’ll have to insist you adhere to as well— they won’t know your look isn’t just part of the uniform, as long as you don’t spend time with them outside of work. Even if you do see them beyond the restaurant’s walls, you can always claim you dye your hair.”
    “Thank you, that does make me feel more at ease,” Vince said. His opinion of both Kent Mears and Brenda were rising steadily. This really was the perfect place to stash Supers like him and Mary. Some of the others were quite noticeable when they used their powers, but at least they could blend in when they needed to.
    “Perfectly natural. So, when would you be able to start?”
    “Don’t we need to be tested or something?” Mary asked. Even she had expected the hiring process to be a bit more arduous than simply showing up and answering a few questions.
    “In normal process, yes, you would, however, I’ve had nothing but positive experiences hiring from the HCP pool in the past. Rather than make you jump through the hoops, I’d prefer to give you the benefit of the doubt. Obviously, if we run into attitude problems, or you can’t handle the work, I’m afraid you won’t be able to stay here, but otherwise, I don’t see any reason not to push forward,” Brenda explained.
    “I guess we can start whenever you’d like us to, then,” Vince said, once the reality of impending work had set in.
    “Great. First, I’ll need you to fill out some paperwork, get me copies of your schedules so I don’t put you on shift during HCP courses, and, of course, we’ll need to do your fittings.”
    “Our fittings?” Camille asked. “Don’t we just put on a costume?”
    “Oh heavens no, these things are full-body suits. You don’t want one that hasn’t been hemmed and trimmed in the right places, or you’ll be tripping over loose fabric. Don’t worry though, we’ve got a wide selection, and I’ll make sure each and every one of you looks eye-catching."
    Brenda couldn’t have chosen a better phrase to alarm Camille.
     

16.
     
    Her team wasn’t really her team anymore. Mary had difficulty with that realization, yet the longer she mulled it around, the more she realized how it couldn’t quite be denied. It wasn’t just because the team dynamic had been dissolved at the end of sophomore year. They’d been a group long before that had even been a part of their education. It wasn’t losing Nick either, though that damn sure hadn’t helped things.
    No, the problem was one of focus. They’d once had a shared goal: keeping their secret and making it through the program for as long as they could. Even after they’d been outed, they’d been the collective of freaks and had needed to stick together. It had galvanized them, given them the teamwork they needed to overcome opponents with years more experience than they possessed. Then, somehow, they’d lost it.
    Vince still trained relentlessly, but at least one part of his mind was always on his father and the criminal actions he’d taken. Alice dwelled endlessly on the mystery of her mother. Hershel and Roy were focused on the goal of graduating the HCP, but they thought of themselves as a duo rather than a piece of the group. She heard all this swimming about in their thoughts, along with the occasional pang of sadness for their lost comrade, one who had returned to campus, and whose presence would eventually be noticed—it was only a matter of time. When that happened, it would likely splinter their focus more. On top of that, the addition of jobs wasn't going to help the situation one bit.
    Mary’s own mind drifted back to freshman year, when they’d been left on the mountain. At the time, she’d thought it overkill, but in retrospect, it hadn’t been a bad idea. They’d bonded, they’d come to rely on one another, and they’d had their first taste of