“Agreed,” I told him.
I walked into my room and shut the door. Then I plopped down on my bed and read the letter.
Dear Sweet Nina,
I know what I did may have seemed sudden and on an impulse, and, well, it was. But this Sasha girl gives me a bad feeling. I think she’s dangerous. Not that she can hurt you, but I really worry that she might expose us to our moms and neither of us wants that. I miss you a LOT!!!
But I think we need to figure out what makes this Sasha girl tick before we can be seen together in public. Or for that matter, even in private. I get the feeling she has connections. I know she’s not a vampire hunter but my mom told me that there are other groups, powerful groups. These groups want to use special people like you for their powers. I think they are really dangerous and way better funded than vampire hunters.
So, my dear Nina, until we figure this out I fear that we need to stay apart. Trust me, this is hurting me more than if Sasha had stabbed me in the heart. But for now, it's best.
I’m even afraid to text you. But please believe me when I say no matter how I might act in public, my heart is yours.
Love Jim x
Nina Note: I understand what he is doing. But I still cried my eyes out for a few minutes. Then I wanted to rip Sasha’s eyes out for more than a few minutes, but I knew that wouldn’t be constructive at all. I hit the showers.
Chapter 11: Being Prepared for the Fair
After a long and relaxing shower, I worked my way down into Dad’s basement lab. I saw Dad, Frank, and Ruby had made amazing progress without me.
Frank and Ruby worked diligently on smoothing out propellers for the windmill. I noticed they already had a battery and a light bulb hooked together. Dad stood at his 3D printer pulling another propeller off the printer.
Ruby saw me and her face lit up. “My gosh, Nina this place is amazing!”
“Yeah, dad has done a great job setting up the lab in our house!” Frank proudly boasted.
“You must have had such a great time being a kid in this lab! Seriously, I don’t think I’d ever sleep in this house. There’s always something cool going on.”
I actually did love my home and family. I loved hanging out with dad when I was younger, watching him invent things and occasionally blow himself up. Truth be told, I kind of have been taking this all for granted lately. I forgot what a cool family I have.
“What can I do?” I asked.
Dad walked over and handed me a propeller fresh off the 3D printer. “Sand this down. The less friction the better.”
I walked over to the lab bench where Ruby and Frank were working.
“I feel a bit guilty getting your dad to help and using his equipment. But we had such a late start on the Science Fair...without your dad we’d be doomed!”
“Dad loves having us in here, don’t you dad?”
“Sure do, you kids are no problem at all.”
“You two are so cool and such good friends. Thank you so much for being on my team. I just love being a geek!” Ruby said. “I know you both have so much going on with like homework, sports and saving the world and stuff.”
I laughed. “Trust me, Ruby, I’ll always have time for you!”
Ruby laughed. “Thanks. Now we have to work on our presentation. So much of the Science Fair these days is the presentation. We need to not only explain our experiment but let the judges and people know why wind power is so useful.”
We kept working away, building, researching and drawing. As the night moved on I asked Ruby, “Do you want to stay the night?”
“My parents are pretty big on me being home by nine on school nights,” Ruby replied.
Her pocket started to ring. “That’s them now,” Ruby said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
“Would you like to stay?” I asked. I had never had anybody stay the night before. I really wanted to make this happen.
“Sure, it would be fun, but my parents…” Ruby sounded very doubtful.
“Just ask them,” I said. “Put them on speaker.”
Ruby turned on her phone’s speaker. “Hi, Mom.”
“Ruby, it’s eight o’clock this is your reminder to be home in an hour. It’s a school night,” her mom said.
“Ah, Mom, Nina, and her family would like me to stay the night. This way we could really work on our Science Fair project. We are still so far behind. It would be a big help,” Ruby coaxed.
“Ruby, I realize that Nina is a good friend…”
“But you can surely stay at her house tonight,” I said to Ruby’s mom.
“…you can surely stay at her house tonight!” Ruby’s mom said. “Do you want me to have your brother bring over a change of clothing and sleepwear?”
“Sure, Mom,” Ruby grinned as she ended the phone call. Looking at me, Ruby said, “Only use your power for good?” A little hesitation... “My mom will be okay. Right?”
“Of course,” I told her.
We worked and talked for the next couple of hours. I think my dad had as much fun as any of us. By the end of the evening, we had actually assembled a working windmill. The battery still wasn't working (not sure why) but it really did look amazing.
The four of us looked at our creation proudly.
“How do we test it?” Frank asked.
Pointing to the windmill, I said, “Blow!”
Frank inhaled, puffing out his chest. He exhaled hard. The windmill started spinning. Sure enough, the light bulb lit up.
“Now we just need to work on the battery function,” Dad said, “but we can do that tomorrow.” Glancing at the clock on the wall it read 11 P.M.
“Yep, we probably should be getting to bed,” I said.
Opening the door to my room, we saw three gremlins sitting on my laundry basket sniffing my socks.
“Ah, is that normal?” Ruby asked me.
“Nope, not at all,” I said with a sigh. “Mo—” I started to scream. A gremlin jumped up next to me and put his furry hand over my mouth. I recognized this guy as GooGoo.
“Please don’t call her,” GooGoo pleaded. “We are here to help.”
Pushing the gremlin off me I said, “Gremlins aren’t known for being helpful.”
GooGoo did a somersault and stood on his feet. “Normally that is true, but we are in love with the scent of your socks! They are hypnotic!”
“They knocked you guys out!” I insisted.
“Exactly, Gremlins hardly ever sleep. We found being knocked out by your scent to be an amazing experience and very relaxing. We have a great deal for you.”
Picking GooGoo up and lifting him to my face I asked, “What in the world are you talking about?”
“A deal! We give you something and you give us more of your socks, which we love! They have the best stink we’ve ever encountered.”
Ruby squinted. “Are they talking about your socks?”
The gremlins hanging over my hamper nodded their heads over and over. “Yes, they are marvelous.”
I needed to get these gremlins out of my room.
“What do you gremlins want? Let me point out I cannot give you all my socks. I can NOT go sockless.”
“Oh, but then your shoes would stink even more!” the third gremlin said from inside my hamper.
“All the more reason why I can’t do that! I don’t want people to faint when I take my shoes off!” I said.
“Why not?” GooGoo asked.
“It’s kind of like farting in class, it’s very bad for your reputation,” I told them.
“Yeah, farts stink, all that sulfur stench. But, your socks, they have a pleasant stench.”
Sighing I asked. “What information do you have for me?”
“It’s good stuff,” the gremlin on Ruby’s shoulder said.
The gremlin in the hamper popped up with a lot of socks on its head. “But not as good as your socks!”
“You dimwit!” GooGoo shouted. “You are killing our bargaining power!”
Dropping GooGoo
to the floor I said, “You have no bargaining power. You will tell me what you know and I will award you based on how valuable I think it is.”
Googoo crossed his arms. “You are lucky we love your socks. Our news is that we believe that when your neighbor was assaulted by those to two large humans...you were being recorded.”
“Wait! How do you know that?” I asked.
“We are gremlins! We are connected to mischief all over the world. We know stuff.”
GooGoo pulled out a phone. I noticed it was mine. “We have the video here on the supernatural web.” GooGoo showed me my phone. I saw a video of me taking on those two big lugs.
“Who made the recording?” I asked.
“We don’t know.”
“It looks like it was taken from a satellite,” Ruby said.
“Are you sure?” I asked. That idea seemed a bit far-fetched.
“It looks like a military image taken from space,” Ruby said.
“Ah, does this mean the military is looking at me?” I gasped.
“Well, I don’t know...would that be possible?” Ruby was thinking out loud.
“You guys can each take a pair of socks!” I said. “But you have to get out of my room and leave me alone!”
“Deal!” the gremlins said.
“Do you wish anything else?” GooGoo asked.
“I want you to keep track of a girl in my school named Sasha Stein. I don’t want you to harm her or bother her. Just let me know if she does anything that seems different or suspicious.”
“What’s in it for us?” GooGoo asked.
“If you find useful information, I will give you some more socks.”
“Super deal!” GooGoo said. The other gremlins clapped. They disappeared in a puff of sulfur.
Ruby and I sat down on my bed. “So somebody somewhere seems to know I’m not normal,” I said.
“It would appear to be true,” Ruby said. “Should you tell your parents?”
I shook my head without even thinking. “Nope. Not until we have more to go on. I’m pretty sure I can protect myself. And we have no idea if these people are bad or just studying me.”
“Do you actually believe Sasha could be behind this?” Ruby asked.
I shrugged. “No idea. But I figure it doesn’t hurt to learn more about her.”
“You are so smart and cool,” Ruby said.
“Let’s get some sleep,” I said forcing myself to smile.
Nina Note: Should I be worried that somebody somewhere seems to be interested in seeing me use my powers? Probably. But, here’s the deal... If whoever this is, tries to harm my family or me, that person will quickly figure out that he or she made a terrible mistake. Now, did Sasha really have anything to do with me being watched? My instincts somehow told me that she did. Even though that didn't make sense. I suppose I'll learn the truth soon enough.
BTW, whoever would have ever guessed that my socks would be a bargaining chip?
Chapter 12: A Little Normal Before the Storm
The next few days leading up to Science Fair were thankfully very calm. Even vampire weretigers need some zen in their lives to recharge their batteries. We even figured out a way to increase our wind generator’s battery charge...by adding a bit of insulation to it.
Sure, Barb and Sasha would heckle us whenever they saw us in school. They loved telling us how they were going to win and tried to make us feel dumb. You know pretty much standard middle school bullying stuff. Nothing that we couldn’t handle.
Lunch was a little weird with Jimmy sitting at the table with his team instead of hanging out with our gang. Timmy, Chris, and Wayne were working on a robot for their project. It sounded pretty cool.
“Our robot should be able to follow simple commands and pick items up off the floor,” Timmy said proudly.
In fact, Timmy and his team had their robot on our table. The cute little robot couldn't have been more than a foot tall, it was on rollers and had big claw hands. The boys were making the robot do spins on the table.
“Nice!” Ruby said.
“I like the way our teams cooperate,” I told the guys.
“Science is all about sharing knowledge,” Chris said.
“Yep,” Wayne agreed.
Timmy was beaming. “I think both our projects have the potential to make the world a better place, and really that’s what science is all about.”
Of course, the robot attracted the attention of Lester and Lewis Holmes. The two of them slowly walked up to our table. Both of them had their eyes fixed on the tiny robot.
Frank being as naïve as he was...stayed seated. I got up and cut the guys off before they reached our table.
Holding up a hand I told them, “You’d better not be thinking of messing with my friends’ robot.”
The two brothers stopped in their tracks. “Calm down, Nina,” Lester said. “We are here because we like robots.”
“Yeah,” Lewis said. “We’re actually working on a robot for robot battles and we want to see what we can learn. I mean, we know how to battle but we could use some construction and design tips.”
“Let them pass,” Timmy said. “My team and I enjoy sharing our knowledge.”
I let the potential bullies by. They started asking Timmy, Wayne, and Chris all sorts of questions, which the three boys happily answered.
“Timmy should charge Lester and Lewis consultant fees,” I joked to Ruby.
“Timmy wouldn't do that,” Ruby said, not catching from the tone of my voice that it was a joke.
“Do you mind if I go listen to this?” Ruby asked. “I find robots fascinating!”
“No, of course not,” I told her.
“Great, thanks I just didn’t want to leave you alone at this end of the table,” Ruby said.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl.”
I really didn’t mind a little alone time. I could eat my salad and chicken strips in peace. Not sure why, but I loved chicken strips with BBQ sauce.
Sasha must have sensed my contentment. She looked up from her table and glared at me. I returned her glare with a smile.
Nina Note: I actually fought back the urge to blow Sasha a kiss. I knew that would really anger her, but for once I wasn’t in the mood for a fight.
Chapter 13: The Big Day
Ruby slept over at my house on Friday so we could all talk, plan, and head to the Science Fair together on Saturday. The plan was for Dad to drive us there. Mom actually said she was too nervous to go. She didn’t want people to see her sweat.
Aunt Mika would also be at the fair. Her, Ms. Anna, Ms. Mars the science teacher, and Principal Peters would be the judges.
I practiced my presentation talk in the mirror at least ten times to make sure I’d be ready. I knew it by heart and felt certain I could answer any questions that the judges might ask.
We gathered into dad's self-driving van and drove to the school. Ruby and I were both a bit nervous but Frank sat there calm as a cooling breeze.
“How can you be so calm?” Ruby asked him.
Frank smiled. “I’m an athlete, I know how to relax my mind and not worry.”
“Can you teach me how?” Ruby asked.
“Sure,” Frank said. “Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, count to ten and then repeat, everything is going to be okay until you feel calm. Remember to keep breathing. If it helps, create a mental image where you are by the ocean on a nice warm day.”
“That sounds ridiculous,” I scoffed.
Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I saw her lips move as she gently counted to ten. After a minute, she opened her eyes and smiled. “That worked!”
I tried the same technique. Maybe it made me feel a little better. Yet somehow I couldn’t find the total calmness that Ruby and Frank did.
The Science Fair was set up in the school gym and when we arrived it was already filled with parents, onlookers, and presenters. We went to the check-in desk to get our table assignment. Interesting enough, Coach J was
at the check-in desk. He smiled when he saw Frank coming.
“Frank, my star slugger. I am so happy you have an interest in science and sports. After all, sport is science! Well, applied science.”
“Yep, I know that Coach,” Frank smiled back.
Coach J looked at an iPad on the table. He scrolled through it and said, “Your team has table 12.” He pointed to the table and of course, it happened to be right next to Barb and Sasha's table.
They had already begun setting up their display, which appeared to be on subliminal advertising, which I found odd. A woman who looked like an older more mature version of Sasha was helping them set up.
We walked over to our table and Frank and I put down our boxes of material. Ruby quickly started assembling everything. The girl could move fast.
The older woman with Sasha and Barb looked at us and smiled. Her eyes popped open when she noticed dad. She rushed over to our table offering her hand.
“Doctor Thorn, what a pleasure it is to have you in our town,” the attractive lady said.
“Nice to meet you too, Doctor Stein,” Dad said.
She actually blushed when she said, “Please call me Elena.”
“Thank you, Elena,” Dad smiled. “Please call me Franklin.”
She turned redder. “Sir, I'm not sure I can. After all, you have doctorates in so many fields. And you are a medical doctor as well.”
“I’m also a lawyer and vet,” Dad said proudly.
I knew the vet part but not the lawyer.
“Sir, you are one of the greatest minds on Earth and it’s an honor to have you in our little city.”
“Thanks,” Dad grinned. “I like this small town, it lets me relax and think.”
Mrs. Stein smiled sweetly at my father. “Ah, where do you get your funding from?”
“My family left me a lot of money,” Dad said. “I have invested it well. Plus I do have some individual donors who just love science. And I’m paid regular royalties from quite a few of my inventions.”
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