I find a quiet place on the edge of the soccer field and sit down to gnaw nuggets and hopefully not soak through the grass.

“Jake Wind, I know all about you.”

It’s Agnes Oakes, hurrying toward me like she’s late for something and angry about it. “I’ve discovered your secret.” She crosses her wrists and flaps her hands like bird wings.

A million words gargle up from my belly. Fortunately, none of them spill out, because screaming “I am not an alien shapeshifter!” is a pretty bad way to keep a secret.

“Night Kite,” Agnes says, impatient. “You’re a Night Kite fan.” She makes flapping wings again.

“Oh! You saw me staring at your patch?” The flapping hands is Night Kite’s secret signal to her allies. I check to make sure my hands are normal before returning the gesture.

Agnes nods. “My mom and I just moved to Cedar Creek View from San Diego, and your mom met my mom at the gym. They started talking and my mom said I don’t have any friends because I’m new and your mom says she’s afraid you’ll have a hard time adjusting to middle school, so our moms decided we should be friends. Which I wasn’t sure about, but since you like Night Kite, maybe it’ll be okay.”

“Um,” I say.

“Why do they call this place Cedar Creek View, anyway? There aren’t any cedar trees and there’s no creek.”

“Right, so no view of either. I never thought about it.”

“I can’t stop thinking about it. Can I sit?”

I scooch to make room for her, even though we have the whole soccer field to ourselves.

She munches on nuts and berries from a plastic bag. “What’s your favorite Night Kite issue?”

I don’t even have to think about it. “I like the crossover with Star Hammer.”

She gives me a nod. “The power of Star Hammer combined with the brains and skill of Night Kite. They should give the two of them their own team-up book.”

“Did you like her in Human Grenade 273?”

She makes a face. “The art was kinda weird on that one. What did you think about Star Hammer double-sized issue 50?”

That’s the one where the last survivors of Star Hammer’s home planet, Bahlpeen, come to take over Earth, and Star Hammer uses the Celestial Mallet to smash the Bahlpeenians into atoms, and that makes him the only Bahlpeenian in the entire universe, which I totally relate to since I’m the only one like me in Cedar Creek View and possibly the entire planet.

“The art was kinda weird on that one, too,” is all I say.

Before I know it, I’m blathering about comics with Agnes Oakes like we’re old friends. And feeling slightly less weird.

I almost forget about the Hum.

But only for a minute.

Because the Hum gets stronger.