There was no wall between the living room and the dining room, so Penny and her family could watch TV as they ate. It had become a boon in the past couple of months, ever since things had really started to go downhill around the household. They ended up almost always watching the news unless there was a football game on.

“Let’s say grace,” Penny’s mother insisted, folding her hands in her lap.

Penny bowed her head and closed her eyes while her mother droned on. She couldn’t drown out the sounds of the TV in the other room. After a few moments, it was over and Penny opened her eyes.

There was a news segment on. Penny could see one of the local heroes in his suit. It was a two-piece blue spandex outfit with a large eye icon over the chest and a mask covering the upper half of his face. He was psychically lifting a street lamp and positioning it so several workers in coveralls started installing it.

“…local superhero, Transvection, seen here helping to install street lamps on the outskirts of town as part of an initiative to make the town brighter, and hopefully safer, during the nights…”

Penny returned her attention to her food. That’s what heroes did around here. You needed a class A or B license to actually fight criminals or supervillains and the only way to be licensed as a superhero was to live in a big city. Small town heroes mostly just helped out the town however they could. Sometimes, if there was a disaster, they’d help out emergency services, but for the most part they were just super-powered volunteers.

“So,” Penny’s mother began, “I’ve noticed you’ve been getting out of the house more this past week, Tobias. I’m glad.”

“Yeah, I’ve been hanging out around town a bit,” Penny replied.

“Have you found a girlfriend, yet?”

Penny nearly choked on her food.

“No!” she cried, turning away so her mother wouldn’t see her blush.

Yeah, Penny was gay, so she actually did like girls, but it was hardly any of her mother’s business.

“Oh? With all your free time, you should find a girlfriend, maybe seriously think about settling down.”

Penny turned her gaze to her plate and started pushing her food around with her fork.

Fortunately, her father said, “You’re going a little far, Suzanne. Give the boy a break.” Then he ruined it by adding, “I’m glad that you’re getting out of the house more, but you need to seriously consider what you’re going to do with your life, son. It’s about time you made a decision to either find a full-time job or commit to attending college. Have you started looking at applications for next year?”

“Colleges haven’t started accepting applications for next year, yet,” Penny replied quietly. “Not even for the spring semester.”

“So what are you going to do?” her father demanded.

After a bit, Penny finally responded, “I’m not sure exactly what I want to do, yet.”

“Why not?”

“I just… I’m going through some things right now, okay?” she replied. “A lot is changing all at once and I’m not sure exactly… I promise I’ll think about it, okay?”

Her father sighed.

“Tobias, you’re an adult now,” he said. “You need to make some important decisions very soon if you don’t want to end up on the street one day.”

Her mother added, “Maybe you should pray on it, dear. Or perhaps talk to the pastor at the church. I would love for you to come with us on Sundays, like you used to. You were happier then, remember? I think it will be good for you.”

Penny bit back a reply and just focused on her meal.

“Answer your mother, son!” her father snapped.

“I’ll think about it,” Penny lied.

As soon as she could get away with it, Penny stood up and took her plate over to the sink. She retreated to her room and locked the door. Then she cast the illusion over herself and finally relaxed.

She sat down on her bed and screamed right into her pillow. That helped ease a lot of the tension she was feeling. Penny dropped the pillow and collapsed onto it.

“Mom and Dad can never see this,” she muttered to herself. “They’d freak out.”

Her father had been right, though. Penny needed to get out. She couldn’t stay here forever. Eventually, she would get fed up with her parents and reveal her powers and they’d kick her out. Or they’d get fed up with her and kick her out before then. No matter what, she couldn’t stay here forever.

But it wasn’t for forever. For now, she was going to keep doing what she was doing. Penny was going to keep enjoying her life with her new powers. Later, she could decide what she wanted to do with her life.

The next day, Penny was actually glad to get back to work. She did really enjoy working at the boutique most of the time. Rachel was nice and most of the customers were polite. If she was going to spend four hours somewhere everyday, it might as well be at Raquel’s.

“You seem happier than usual,” Rachel said, stopping by the cash register. “Has something changed?”

“I’m just getting out more often,” Penny said.

“Oh, good.” Rachel smiled warmly. “I was going to suggest you get a pet to keep you company. Maybe a dog or something.”

“Well,” Penny said, “I have always kind of wanted one of those giant rabbits from Europe. They’re about the size of a dog.”

Rachel chuckled.

“Whatever it takes,” she said. “But it’s time for you to clock out. Get on home.”

“Can do, boss. See you tomorrow.”

Penny got into her car and, yet again, drove out to another parking lot. Once she was sure nobody was looking, Penny cast the illusion on herself. She was ready for another afternoon of getting to be herself.

It was a bit of a walk back to Raquel’s, and Penny couldn’t help but hesitate at the door. She was sweating. Even through the illusion, she was sweating. Penny took a gulp and walked through the front door.

“Hello!” Rachel said from behind the cash register, “Welcome to Raquel’s Boutique! If there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you,” Penny said quietly.

She began walking around the racks slowly, examining the clothes more closely than she normally did. There was no way she could buy any of this. Even if she wasn’t saving her money, her parents would freak out if they ever discovered Penny had any girl clothes. But it was nice to just be able to act like a customer for a change.

Once she’d had her fill, Penny walked outside. She walked a short ways away and stopped. There were a lot of people around, but none of them were paying her much attention. Could she get away with it in public? Maybe it was worth a try.

Penny tried to remember one of the dresses she had found inside. She’d spent a lot of time just staring at it, memorizing as many details as possible. When she’d recalled it all, Penny clenched her hands into fists and willed the illusion to change. All at once it did, and she was wearing the dress instead of the clothes she had previously been wearing. After another push, her shoes had changed into a pair of comfortable ballet flats.

“Awesome,” Penny breathed. “I’ve always wanted to look fashionable.”

She continued her walk down Main Street, humming softly to herself. Things were absolutely wonderful. Penny didn’t have a care in the world.

Then she saw her. A teenage girl with dark green skin and tangled roots tied into dreadlocks for hair was standing with several volunteers at a table that had been set up. She was wearing her costume, a tunic made from large broad leaves and sewn together with tiny vines. From afar, Penny could see that she was making flowers appear and handing out bouquets to passersby. Whenever someone put money into the collection jar, she would stop and shake their hand and exchange a few words with them.

Snap-trap. Everyone’s favorite hero, standing less than fifty feet away, apparently collecting money for a local food bank. Penny could have squealed. She wanted nothing more than to go over there and shake her hand.

Desperate to keep her breathing steady, Penny reached into her purse and—yes!—she had a few loose bills. Without even looking at the money, Penny walked over to the table and moved to drop the money in the jar. Her hand was shaking. She let go and took a gulp.

“Hey, thanks! Every donation helps,” Snap-trap said, holding out her hand for Penny to shake.

Penny took the hero’s hand and her breath caught in her throat. She was doing it. She was actually doing it! It didn’t even matter that Snap-trap was literally a couple years younger than Penny herself; Penny had been looking up to her since she showed up. And now she was shaking Snap-trap’s hand.

“I—I—I—Thank you,” Penny said.

“Oh? For what?”

“Just… for being so incredible,” Penny said. “I’ve admired you all this past year and a half. I really wish I could be more like you.”

Snap-trap chuckled a bit and replied, “There’s not that much heroes can do that regular folks can’t. My friends here are still doing all the same hard work, even if they’re not as visible without powers. If you want to help out, I’m sure you’ll find an opportunity.”

Penny nodded and thanked her again before walking away. She was absolutely shaking after that meeting. That was so cool! She got to talk to a superhero. Hell, if she followed Michael’s lead and became a superhero, maybe she and Snap-trap would actually get to hang out!

Heroes were just more visible. Snap-trap couldn’t imagine how much difference that made. Penny had spent her whole life in the shadows, pretending to be someone else so as not to upset everyone around her. What she wouldn’t give to be seen.

“It would be amazing,” she muttered to herself.

Penny was getting a little tired, but it was way too early to go home and give up being herself for the day. She sat down on one of the benches that lined Main Street and pulled out her phone. Some rest and relaxation would do Penny good before she got up and started looking around again.

Over time, Penny’s mind started to wander. She hadn’t been kayaking in years. She’d love to go again, now that she had the means to be her real self outside of the house. Would she go alone or find someone to go with her? That might require letting someone in on her secret, or even meeting new people who never knew her as anything but Penny.

“How long would I be able to keep my double life a secret?” she wondered. “As tempting as it is, maybe I should take things slow. Slowish, at least.”

She ended up sitting for longer than she’d intended to. The bench was comfortable and Penny was certain that her powers were draining her energy reserves just a little. Given enough time, she would probably fall asleep and… Now there was a question: did falling asleep dispel the illusion?

A message distracted Penny’s jumbled thoughts. It was from her mother. Penny groaned and opened it up.

Where are you? it read. We’re not going to wait for you if you don’t show up in time for dinner. You’ll have to get your own food from the fridge.

That was Mom, alright. Penny sighed and stood up. She might as well go. Her mother would be cross with her no matter what, but at least Penny wouldn’t have to reheat dinner if she got home soon.

The walk to her car was a bit of a long one, but fortunately it was late in the day and most people had already left. There were only a few other pedestrians about. One of them up ahead was struggling with a large barking dog that was struggling to get away from her. The dog seemed to be aggressive because a nearby woman was holding a small dog in her arms as she passed by.

Then, before Penny’s eyes, the big dog gave one last tug and pulled away. It leapt at the woman. Penny reacted without thinking, waving her hand and creating a rope between the dog’s collar and a nearby street lamp. The dog jerked to a stop with a whimper, then got its bearings again and started barking loudly.

By the time Penny had run over, the dog’s owner had caught up and was loudly admonishing it. He turned to ask the other dog owner if she was okay, and the stunned woman just nodded in response. Once Penny was sure that the man had a hold on his animal, she snapped her fingers and the tether dissolved into the air.

Both the man and the woman turned to face her.

“Did you do that?” the man asked, standing back up.

Penny’s mind went blank.

“Um… yeah, I did,” she said. Creating a small rose in her hand to demonstrate, she explained, “I have superpowers. I can make hard illusions. They’re not real, but they’re close enough.”

“You saved me,” the woman said, clutching her own dog close to her chest. “Thank you so much. Are you one of the local heroes?”

Penny opened her mouth to deny it, then smiled.

“Yes, I am,” she said.

Penny was still a little late getting home, and she did get an earful from her mother for not showing more respect. But it didn’t matter. Nothing her mother said could drown her good spirits tonight. As soon as Penny was done with dinner, she retreated into her room and locked the door before casting her illusion again.

Once that was done, Penny sat cross-legged on her bed and tried to imagine what her costume would look like. She had a good idea already, but she needed focus if she was going to cast the illusion. Penny waited until she had a good image in her mind, took a deep breath, and pushed.

Now she was wearing the outfit, but she still needed to see. Even though she was tired, Penny expended a bit more energy to create a full-body mirror and set it against the wall. Taking a few steps back, she admired her handiwork.

She was wearing a spandex catsuit that was a mixture of dark blues and dark purples swirling together. On top of that, she had a dark purple hooded cloak resting on her shoulders. It wasn’t very heavy and shouldn’t slow her down, but helped give her an air of mystique. To complete the look, there was a dark blue domino mask and black lipstick.

This was it. This was how she was going to be seen: as a hero. Not only that, but as the woman she always knew she was destined to be. The entire town was going to know she was a woman, and they were going to respect her as a woman. Now she only needed one more thing.

Penny brought a finger to her pursed lips as she thought. It had to be perfect. It had to be something she was willing to be referred to by everyone. And when she figured it out, she smiled broadly at her reflection.

“Mirage.”