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  Diary

  of a

  SUPER GIRL

  John Zakour & Katrina Kahler

  Copyright © KC Global Enterprises Pty Ltd

  All rights reserved

  Book 3

  The Power of Teamwork!

  Table of Contents

  Ape in the Morning…

  Breakfast of Champions…

  Sweet Dreams?...

  Lunch with Dad…

  Uniform 2.0

  A Bit of Business…

  Going Ape…

  LAX…

  Post-Game Meet and Greet…

  Senior Heist…

  Evening with Mom

  Doctor Stone…

  The Talk…

  Anthony…

  Lab Rats?...

  The talk…

  Strange Visit…

  TXT U…

  Morning has broken…

  GGG…

  Angry Birds…

  Not Monkeying Around…

  With Friends Like These…

  The Not So Good Doctor…

  Ape in the Morning…

  I leaped through the air. I spotted the huge ape bounding down the street carrying a big bag of jewels in one arm and a bunch of bananas in the other. Yeppers, this was not the way I envisioned starting my first morning of summer break. I wanted to be sleeping in a bit, at least until 10. Not chasing down a crazy gorilla that the police couldn’t stop. But this was my life now that I was super. I really shouldn’t complain; after all, I probably am the strongest person on Earth. Like Mom tells me, with power comes responsibility. I just wish I could be responsible, especially after a nice breakfast.

  “Stop, Ape!” I shouted. Not really expecting him (or her) to listen. After all, he (or she) was an ape.

  The ape stopped and turned to me. “Actually I’m a gorilla,” she said in a female voice.

  I landed near the ape, ah gorilla. “Okay, fine,” I said. Had to admit to being surprised the big gorilla had responded.

  The gorilla pointed to me. “You know, being a superhero, I think you should know these things!”

  I shrugged. “Sorry, it’s summer break, my mind is on vacation. Plus, it’s not even 8 am!”

  The gorilla looked at a watch on her arm. “So it isn’t,” she laughed. “Like they say, the early gorilla robs the jewelry store and the grocery store and gets away!”

  I shook my head. “Ah, nobody says that….”

  The gorilla grinned and hopped up and down, itching her armpits. “Well, they will now!”

  Looking over this strange gorilla I noticed she had a bandage around her head that seemed to be anchored to her temples by metallic disks. I guessed that these were what made this big gorilla not your average gorilla.”

  I dropped my hands to my hips trying to look relaxed. By now the police had caught up with us and had positioned themselves all around. “Look, you can’t win this,” I said to her, as I pointed to the police.

  Channel 13’s Oscar Oranga was also there filming with his crew. I was still not used to seeing myself in the news.

  “They can’t shoot me because I’m an endangered species,” the gorilla laughed. “And I’m way too strong to be stopped by tranq guns!” The gorilla laughed louder. She pounded her chest. “I feel so powerful; I don’t even think bullets could stop me!” she bragged. She put the jewels and bananas down. Something told me this wasn’t because she wanted to surrender. She took a Kung Fu stance. Oh, there are times when it’s a pain to be right. She motioned to me with her lead paw. “Come, little human, let’s see what you got….”

  “Fine, two can play that game,” I told her. I also took a Kung Fu stance, one arm high, one arm low, legs bent ready to pounce. Yep, this is what my life had become, Kung Fu fighting with a 600-pound bionic gorilla. I took a deep breath. I exhaled. “HIYA!”

  My breath shot across the road and hit the big gorilla. Her nostrils flared. “Oh my….” She whimpered. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her arms locked to her side. Her legs buckled. She fell to the ground stiff as a board. My super hearing could still hear her heart beating. Lucky for the big gorilla my breath hit from six feet away.

  I pointed at her. “See, this is what happens when you make me fight crime first thing in the morning before I get a chance to brush my teeth!”

  I covered my mouth, turned to the police and said. “Take her away!”

  Leaping up into the air, I headed home. I didn’t want to accidentally knock out the entire police force with my breath. That never goes over well.

  Dear Diary: Yeah, I just clobbered a big strong gorilla with a whiff of my breath. It’s a feeling of empowerment and embarrassment at the same time. I suppose I should worry a bit about who is turning gorillas into super strong, intelligent thieves. But something tells me I’m going to find out soon enough!

  Breakfast of Champions…

  A couple of leaps and bounds brought me home. After a quick shower and a good tooth brushing, I met Mom downstairs at the breakfast table. She had the TV on and was watching my battle. The headline read: ‘Super Teen drops 700-pound Super Gorilla with Super Morning Breath.’ I still didn’t know if I should be proud or ashamed or both. But it what was it was.

  “Busy morning,” Mom said sipping on a cup of great smelling coffee.

  I sat down and gulped some orange juice. “You know, same old, same old…” I smiled. “I don’t think that gorilla was much more than 600 pounds,” I added. “Plus, they all kind of got excited by the fact that my breath knocked the thing out, rather than the fact that it was an extremely intelligent gorilla robbing banks and stores!”

  Mom pointed to my pancakes. “Eat! You know as well as anybody we can’t control what the press says,” She shrugged. “Some people will love you, some people will be jealous; others might be scared of you. Your job is to do your best to make the world a better place. The more you do that the more people you will have on your side. No matter how many of them you KO with morning breath.”

  “Or BO or foot odor or farts,” I added, chomping down on a blueberry pancake.

  “Yeah, just more of who you are,” Mom laughed. “And don’t talk with your mouth full!”

  I nodded, “You’re right.”

  I knew I wasn’t supposed to have my phone at the table but I couldn’t resist a quick glance at my social media. Of course, Wendi and some of her crew think I’m a menace and should never leave the house, especially in such an outfit. Do you believe they still don’t like my outfit?”

  “Honey, you could wear the exact same clothes that Wendi wears and she wouldn’t think they looked good on you at all.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right!”

  “Jason texted me earlier. Of course, he’s worried about an intelligent gorilla popping up. Thinks this might be the start of a trend.”

  Mom bit on a piece of bacon. “You should ask your dad if he knows anything about this. This is the type of stuff BM Science loves to tinker and toy with.”

  I took a big bite of bacon. Man, I love bacon. “Yeah, Dad said he wanted to do lunch with me today.”

  Mom rolled her eyes. “That may not be a coincidence.”

  “Plus, he wants me to meet him in his lab,” I added.

  Mom steadied her gaze on
me. “Yeah, definitely not a coincidence.”

  “Should I cancel?” I asked her.

  She smiled and shook her head. “No, the man is your father. Sure he has flaws, lots and lots and lots and lots…”

  “I get it, Mom.”

  “…of flaws. But he would never do anything to intentionally harm you.” Mom finished.

  “He built robots to test me!” I said.

  She grinned. “Yeah, but he knew you could handle those.” She paused and took a sip of coffee. “Besides, your dad knows if you went missing, your grandmas and I would rip that BM Science building to the ground!”

  I grinned. “Yeah, Grandma Betsy says she’d love to knock the place down with one of her farts.”

  Mom nodded. “She would and she could. Your dad knows that.”

  I took a sip of hot cocoa. Sure it was a hot day but any day is a good day for hot cocoa.

  “Yep, this is what my life has become, fighting super robots and super cyborg gorillas. Plus, having a grandma who can fart down a building. Not to mention having a couple of half-vampires living in my street and a witch in town. All the while juggling the same problems other kids do: school, social media, and boy-girl crushes.”

  Mom got up and hugged me. “Poor baby, the strongest person on Earth.”

  I hugged her back and although I knew she was being a bit cynical, it was still a lot to accept. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my life and most parts of being super. But ya gotta admit, vampires and witches are weird!”

  Mom shook her head. “Not weird, just different. I’m sure they simply have family mutations that allow them to do things most people can’t do.”

  I liked Mom’s way of looking at it. I had to admit that Jess, Felipe, and Tomas did seem mostly normal. I still preferred them way more to ‘Miss Perfect Wendi.’ That girl had been driving me crazy since third grade, always putting me down and it seemed that would never change.

  Mom started gathering the dishes. “I have a busy day at the hospital today. I’m scrubbing in with one of our newer doctors, Donna Dangerfield. She’s brilliant and her research is cutting edge. We’ve been recruiting her for years, trying to get her to come on board. She finally said yes a month ago. She’s now working for us, the university and BM Science as well.”

  “Wait I’ve heard that name…before….” I said.

  Mom nodded as she headed to the sink. “Yep, back in the day, she was an MMA fighter. The woman is strong and smart.”

  “Impressive!” I said. “Can you get her autograph?”

  “Nah, that wouldn’t be professional, but you can ask her when you start volunteering at the hospital. You haven’t forgotten have you?”

  I finished off my cocoa. “Nope, it will be fun. That and my LAX coaching are my normal kid activities for the summer. They keep me grounded!”

  Dear Diary: I am so glad my mom is so grounded. She’s been through what I am going through and came through it just great. Man, I wrote “through” a lot. Back on topic, I love the fact that my mom may be super but she is still so normal and sane!

  Sweet Dreams?...

  After Mom left for work I had a few hours of free time before I had to meet my dad for lunch. Being the first day of my break after a long year of school, I figured the best course of action would be to head upstairs and get some much-needed sleep. So, I did.

  I fought back the urge to check my Instagram and Facebook accounts just to see what people were saying. I’ve been Super Teen long enough now to know I had some fans and some haters and some people in between. No matter what I did, some people were going to like me. Other people just weren’t going to like me.

  Whatever, I couldn’t bend them to my will and make them like me. Well, I could maybe do that, but then I wouldn’t like me. I knew that was the important thing, I needed to like me. And I did. Yeah sure, I wasn’t perfect. In fact, far from it. But I was making my part of the world a better place not only by being Super Teen but also by being Lia Strong. Sure, Super Teen could do amazing things. But Super Teen was only a small part of me. Lia Strong was who I was. And Lia Strong did a lot of good. I worked with kids. I was going to start working at the hospital. I’m true to my friends. And I don’t turn people I dislike into dust with my heat vision. That last one made me giggle.

  I set the timer on my phone for two hours and laid down on my bed for a much deserved “nap”.

  My head hit the pillow. Next thing I knew I found myself standing on a pavilion in a park. The sun shined brightly above in a clear blue sky. The birds sang sweetly. I noticed I was wearing a long white dress. It felt like silk. Oh wow, this was a wedding gown, a long flowing beautiful wedding gown. I felt something pull on my hair. Christa and Marie stood behind me adding the final touches. The strange thing was, Marie had an electronic device on her temple, much like the gorilla I fought today.

  Christa walked in front of me. “Oh you make such a beautiful bride!” she gushed. She had a makeup brush in her hand. She shook her head. “Girl, woman, your complexion is perfect as always!”

  The wedding march started to play. “They’re playing your song!” Marie told me with a smile.

  Dad walked up to me, he had a white tuxedo on. By the way, he walked, he looked like a robot that needed oiling I knew he felt awkward so dressed up. He held out an arm for me. “You ready, honey?”

  I took his arm. We began walking down the aisle. Man, it looked like the entire town was there. Wait! Was that the president? What! Is that Liam Hemsworth here too! Ah, he looks sad I’m getting married. Then I noticed the band had Taylor Swift singing for them.

  I walked past my mom and all my grandmas. They smiled and blew me kisses. Wendi sat in the second row. But it looked like she was alone. No Brandon! Hey, wow, maybe I was marrying Brandon? Or could it possibly be Jason? Jason has been my BFF for as long as I can remember. I always thought it could turn into more… Maybe somebody else? Whoever my groom was, they had their back turned to me. Not very traditional, but part of me realized this was a dream: a very wonderful, strange dream.

  Suddenly my stomach began to rumble. I put my hand on top of the rumble to ease it. No, no, I thought. This is not the time to fart! Okay, I guess there’s never a good time to fart, but certainly not when you’re at your own wedding. ‘Hold it in, hold it in,’ I thought to myself. But you know, sometimes these things have a mind of their own. A tiny silent fart snuck out. I smiled when it didn’t make a noise. Phew, that was a close one. But I heard a bunch of gasps behind me. Looking over my shoulder I saw the entire crowd had fallen over holding their throats. A flock of birds dropped from the sky. I think I saw a plane crashing off in the distance. Woe, talk about silent but deadly…

  OMG, I just wiped out my wedding! I just dropped my entire family, all my friends, Liam Hemsworth, the President, Taylor Swift and my husband.

  I woke up in a cold sweat and looked around me. “I hoped that dream wasn’t prophetic!”

  Trying to calm my racing pulse, I sat up in bed and stretched, the dream still racing through my head.

  Whoa, smelled like I needed another quick shower before I went to lunch with Jason and Dad. I believed this was a record; two showers before midday! Part of the price I paid for being super.

  Dear Diary: It’s amazing how fast a dream can turn into a nightmare. Does it work the other way around? Can you turn a nightmare into a dream? Truthfully, I’m not sure. I think about silly things. Well, at least my wedding gown was way awesome!

  Lunch with Dad…

  I was glad Dad invited Jason to our lunch at BM Science. Dad likes Jason because he says Jason reminds him of a young him. Not sure if that’s good or bad. I am sure that Jason is my BFF and helps to keep me grounded. I love hanging out with him. I always feel more secure when he’s around. I know without any doubt, Jason has my back and my best interests in mind.

  “I’m glad your Dad invited me!” Jason said as we biked towards the BM Science complex.

  One of the great things about Star Light City is
the city has everything a kid or adult would want and it’s all very well laid out. Everything is easy to get to. They have a great public transportation system and the Uber service is the best! On days like this though, nothing beats getting around on our bikes. (Well, besides leaping and running at super speed.)

  “Me too,” I told Jason.

  “Not only does BMS have the best and latest high tech gadgets, they have a great cafeteria!” Jason smiled.

  “Plus, you get to hang out with me!” I told him.

  He beamed at me. “That’s a given, Lia!”

  There are times when Jason really knew the right thing to say.

  He rubbed his stomach. “Plus, I swear their cafeteria has the best French fries in the world!”

  Of course, other times he thought more with his stomach.

  “Plus, the servers are robots!” he added.

  Then there was the geek side of Jason. I did like the way that no matter what the situation, Jason was always Jason. I found that refreshing and comforting. When your life is changing fast, some constants are needed.

  Jason, my family, and my friends were those constants. Yeah, sure they would grow and change just like me, but they were always there to support me. Even superheroes need the support of others.

  We biked up to the security gate of BM Science. Three guards in green uniforms were there to greet us. The guards smiled when they noticed who we were. The lead guard, a tall man with a big jaw, gave me a salute, “Ms. Strong, its an honor to see you and your friend again.”

  He pointed to a bike rack (with two spaces) on the other side of the fence. “You and Mr. Michaels may park your transportation there. A shuttle is on the way to accompany you to your father’s office area.”

  “Thank you,” I said, though it felt weird being saluted.