by Lisa McMann
She lay back in the prickly grass and stared at the sky, feeling desperate. She pulled her phone from her pocket and texted Amari. “Are you around?”
But she knew that even with the time difference, it was still early afternoon in Chicago, and Amari would be in class for a couple more hours. A few tears slid down Charlie’s temples and burrowed into her hair. She put her phone back into her pocket.
After a while she lifted her arm, pushed up her sleeve, and stared at the bracelet. It probably didn’t even matter now if she ever got the thing off. Someone she thought was a true friend had betrayed her. He was a backstabber. Way worse than Kelly, who kept to herself . . . though she’d seemed pretty eager to get Mac to spill the beans today. Charlie imagined Kelly sweet-talking Mac into telling her. Charlie’s chest tightened with dread. Mac had to be stopped!
But Charlie was certain it was already too late to stop him. He had been so mad at her for saving him! And not only that—it seemed like he’d been mad at her for even existing lately. It didn’t make sense. He should be grateful, not angry. She saved him not once but twice this week, and he didn’t appreciate either of those efforts. Whatever he might want to think about her “showing off,” Charlie knew he could have really hurt himself if he’d fallen to the stage on top of the broken ladder.
“He’s been such a jerk lately,” she muttered, thinking of him standing on the platform ready to tell all. The tears started again. “Why does Maria even like him?”
Amid the calls of mockingbirds and cactus wrens, Charlie heard the drone of something else growing louder. She realized it was the sound of voices and sat up. Her heart sank when she saw who it was.
“There she is,” Maria said, pointing. She started running toward Charlie, with Mac right behind her, but they both slowed when Charlie got to her feet and started walking the other way.
“Wait!” Maria called. “Come on, Charlie. Please wait a second.”
“No. Leave me alone. Go back to school.” Charlie walked faster.
“Mr. Anderson sent us to find you,” Maria said. “Can you stop a minute, please? We know you’re mad, but just hang on, will you?”
Charlie stopped walking. She folded her arms across her chest, but she didn’t turn around. “What do you want?”
Maria caught up to her. “We need to talk through some things,” she said as Mac joined them. “The three of us. But we don’t have time now—Mr. Anderson said if we can get you back to school before sixth period, he won’t call our parents, and he’ll write us excuses. But we have to get back there now.”
“Why should I care if he calls my parents,” Charlie said, turning around to face them. “Everything’s so messed up anyway, why not one more thing?” She glared at Mac. “Or maybe Mac wants to be the one to tell my parents I skipped class, since he can’t seem to keep his big mouth shut.”
Mac looked like he was going to protest, but Maria shut him down with a look.
“Charlie,” Maria said, “Mac didn’t tell anybody anything. After you left, I told Mr. Anderson that you were upset and that it was our fault, and I asked if we could look for you. He said okay, and muttered something about performance days always being full of drama.” She stopped for breath, her face earnest. “Mac’s not going to tell anybody anything, are you, Mac.” It was a command, not a question.
“I’m not going to tell anybody,” Mac repeated.
Charlie sniffed and wiped the grass off her pants. Mac didn’t seem sorry, but at least he was saying the right words.
“If we go now, we get a free pass,” Maria said. “Then maybe we can meet up after school and talk all this through. What do you say? Because I don’t want to lose you as a friend, Chuck. And neither does Mac.” Maria elbowed Mac hard in the ribs.
Mac nodded miserably.
Charlie studied him. “You don’t seem very sorry,” she said.
“Well,” Mac said with an edge to his voice, “I’m sort of dealing with a lot of mocking at the moment, so . . .” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his face flickering. “But I’m sorry about almost telling everybody about the bracelet,” he said.
“Do you promise you didn’t tell anyone? Not even Kelly?”
“No way,” Mac scoffed. “I wouldn’t tell her. I didn’t tell anyone,” he reiterated, “and I won’t.”
But could she trust him? He’d promised her once before, and look what had happened. Though he didn’t actually tell . . . so he did keep his promise in a way. Maybe Mac wasn’t the absolute worst. Charlie thought about what Maria had said. And deep down, she didn’t want to lose Maria as a friend either. The part about going back to the auditorium now and getting a free pass was sounding more tempting by the minute.
“Fine,” Charlie said finally. “Let’s meet right after the bell rings. I’ll have a little time before the first show.”
They agreed on a meeting spot outside the auditorium and returned to find Mr. Anderson. He’d swept up the broken lights and cleaned up the paint, and was now on a ladder, helping the electricians reattach the strand of lights that had fallen. He came down to make sure Charlie was all right and wrote passes for them. The three quickly went to class.
Charlie sat through the rest of fifth period avoiding Kelly’s inquisitive glances and dreading going back to the auditorium for the sixth-period dress rehearsal. When the bell rang, she darted out of Kelly’s sight, worried what she and the other kids might say.
But by the time she got to the auditorium she was surprised that nobody was really talking about the incident at all—they were all too focused on getting through as much of the dress rehearsal as possible before they ran out of time. And when Charlie thought through all the people who’d been there to witness Mac’s fall and his little speech afterward, it really wasn’t that many. Twenty or twenty-five at the most. Maybe everybody had forgotten it already.
When the school bell rang at the end of the day, Charlie sighed with relief. So far she had successfully dodged Kelly, and with any luck the star would be too busy with the show to bother her.
Most of the cast and crew were staying in the auditorium to finish up last-minute preparations before the soft opening. Charlie carefully surveyed the area to make sure Kelly wasn’t lying in wait to ambush her, and snuck through the auditorium to the side door to meet Maria and Mac. Only one boy stopped her along the way. “Nice catch, Charlie!” he said, and laughed.
“Thanks,” Charlie mumbled. She felt a little better now. And she was really glad she’d gone back to school and that her parents weren’t going to have to find out that she almost skipped class. That wouldn’t have gone over very well at all. She had to give Maria credit for that.
She opened the door that led outside and peered all around. No Kelly out here either. She slipped through the doorway and, with a sigh of relief, headed to the meeting spot. As she rounded the building and began to jog, she ran smack into Kelly. Kelly’s phone went flying to the sidewalk, its protective case breaking open and skittering over the stones.
“Watch where you’re going!” Kelly snarled.
Charlie gasped and put a hand out to catch her fall. Once righted she quickly helped pick up the phone case. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know you were there. Is it . . . is it broken?”
Kelly’s eyes kindled as she snatched the case from Charlie’s grasp and tried to fit it back together around the phone. When it snapped neatly into place, Kelly’s flash of anger disappeared. She inspected the phone, turning it over. Not even a scratch. “It looks okay,” she said.
Charlie let go of a held breath and inched slowly away.
Kelly wiped the phone’s face on her jeans and narrowed her eyes at Charlie. “Not so fast,” she said. “I think you have some explaining to do.”
CHAPTER 33
Good and Bad
Kelly slid her arm over Charlie’s shoulders. Charlie tried to shrink away, but Kelly wasn’t having it. “You’ve had an interesting day, haven’t you,” she said.
Charlie shrugge
d and didn’t answer.
“I’m so curious about what Mac was going to announce to everyone. Maybe you could fill me in.”
Charlie’s hands began to sweat. “I don’t know what he was going to say,” she said.
“Oh,” said Kelly with a little laugh, “I’ll bet you do.”
Charlie shook her head, and hoped Maria and Mac would come and find her and rescue her from this.
Just then Mr. Anderson poked his head out through the stage door. “Kelly! They need you in costumes. Chop-chop!”
Kelly quickly pulled her arm off Charlie’s shoulders. “I’m coming,” she said as Mr. Anderson disappeared. She narrowed her eyes as Charlie turned and started walking briskly away. “We’ll talk later,” she called after her.
“No we won’t,” muttered Charlie. She broke into a run.
Maria and Mac were already at the meeting spot, and Maria was looking around anxiously. Her face cleared when she saw Charlie.
“Sorry I’m late. I ran into Kelly.” She narrowed her eyes accusingly at Mac. “She wanted to know what you were about to say.”
Mac’s eyes flickered. “Sorry,” he said.
Maria guided Charlie and Mac down a path that almost nobody from school took. It led to an older part of town, where the houses were all different from one another. They had roofs with traditional shingles, like in Chicago, instead of ceramic tile like Charlie’s and Maria’s houses had. Charlie’s mom had explained once that tile roofs weren’t a new thing—they dated back thousands of years and were common in Spanish culture. Best of all, the tiles were fireproof, which was never a bad thing when you live in a hot, dry climate where it hardly ever rains.
Once they’d made it out of earshot of other students, Maria stopped and turned to Charlie and Mac. “Okay, well,” she said, sounding a little scared, “I’m just going to come right out with this—I’m really worried about our friendship. With this whole bracelet thing, I think we need to stick together as a team. We’ve got to be able to trust each other, or we’re going to be in big trouble.”
Charlie’s jaw dropped. “That’s exactly what I’ve been doing,” she exclaimed. “I’m not the untrustworthy one.” She clenched her teeth, suddenly tired of absolutely everybody.
“I know, just hang on,” said Maria. She looked at Mac, who stood slumped with his hands in his pockets, looking defeated.
Maria’s eyes searched his. “You’re my best friend, Mac,” she said earnestly. “I’d do anything for you. And I think you’d do anything for me. Right?”
“Yeah. Of course,” he said quietly.
“Good. I don’t want that to change. I will always have your back. Okay?”
Mac sighed. “Yeah.”
“I’ve been feeling kind of bad lately,” Maria admitted. “It’s like . . . it’s like you don’t want to hang out with me at school anymore.” She looked swiftly away and sniffed. “And you act weird sometimes when you’re with me and Charlie, like you wish you were somewhere else.”
Mac shuffled his feet. “I know. . . . It’s not cool, but everything is just . . . I don’t know. The guys . . .” He trailed off. “It’s just really complicated.” He remained thoughtful, and then looked up accusingly. “Besides, you two hang out without me all the time.”
Maria pressed her lips together. “Yeah,” she said. “I mean, I’m not mad that you don’t want to hang out with me every second of every day.” She pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and sighed. “I guess I just don’t understand why you’re being sneaky and weird and . . .” She glanced at him. “And why you’re being mean sometimes,” she said. “Not just to me. To Charlie, too.”
Mac stared at the ground. Charlie shifted uncomfortably, watching them.
“I just hate it when people bug me about you being my girlfriend,” Mac blurted out.
“Aw, Mac,” Maria said, rolling her eyes. “They’re stupid. We know that’s not true, so why do you let that bother you so much?”
“I don’t know,” said Mac. He looked up at Maria and Charlie. “I’ve been acting dumb. I’m sorry.” Then his eyes clouded. “But Charlie, do you think maybe you can lay off the rescuing bit a little? It’s really embarrassing.”
Charlie was taken aback. “Excuse me? I saved your life!”
“I could have dropped to the floor just fine if you’d moved the ladder out of the way,” Mac said. “It’s like you just want to be a hero all the time.”
“What? No I don’t. I was really scared for you!” said Charlie. She looked Mac in the eye for the first time in a long time. “You’re my friend,” she said, quieter. “I was worried you would get hurt.”
Mac worked his jaw like he was trying to decide if he could believe her. “Oh.”
Maria spoke up. “It’s really cool that you have the ability to do things,” she said gently. “But . . .” She trailed off and added, “I mean, people might figure it out if you’re not careful, you know?”
Charlie opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it slowly, thinking about the various times the device was activated and how she’d handled it. She frowned. Had she been showing off? She thought about how she’d pushed the platform almost by herself, like she was trying to prove something to those boys. And how great it had felt to step up and save Mac, even though now she admitted he wasn’t actually in that much danger. She thought about soccer and using the device to score when she knew Coach Candy was deciding on which girls to place as starters. And she remembered how she’d accidentally hit Kelly with the ball and knocked her down—and the tiny feeling of satisfaction she’d felt afterward.
Charlie frowned. She hadn’t been using the bracelet very unselfishly. In fact, sometimes she’d actually been kind of a bully. She glanced at the bracelet, and then looked up at her friends. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “I’ve been acting dumb too. I suppose I ought to have thought things through a little more—and considered how other people would be affected if I used the abilities.” She hesitated. “Even Kelly, I suppose, though she’s being the worst,” she said with a sigh.
“Yeah, okay, I can see why you’d say that,” said Maria. “But Kelly has some rough stuff going on at home, so I also feel bad for her.”
“She does?” Charlie asked. “I thought everything about her life was perfect.”
“Not even close,” Maria said.
“Oh,” Charlie said, embarrassed. She ran a hand over her hair and took a deep breath, then looked at Mac. “I messed up,” she confessed. “I should have thought about how you’d feel.”
Mac shifted his weight. He looked at Charlie. “I’m sorry I’ve been annoying.”
Charlie dropped her gaze. “Me too.”
“Thanks for saving me. I mean . . . it was still pretty awkward though.”
“Yeah,” said Charlie. “I get it now. I didn’t think about that when everything was happening. And I’m really sorry everybody teased you—I hate when that happens.”
“It’s okay,” said Mac. “You might not believe this anymore, but you can trust me.”
Charlie nodded. “Thanks.” She held out her hand.
Mac hesitated, then took it, and they awkwardly shook on it.
“I need to get back soon,” said Charlie, checking the time.
“And I’ve got to go jailbreak a phone,” Mac said. “Good luck with the show.”
Charlie smiled. “Thanks,” she said. He took off.
“I’ll walk you back,” said Maria. They turned and went toward the auditorium. After a moment Maria tilted her head and said, “This bracelet really is a seriously awesome thing.”
“Is it?” Charlie asked. “Lately, it seems like it’s a lot of trouble, actually.”
“No. Think about it. It’s huge,” Maria went on. “You have something nobody else has. And it’s got so much power. In the comics this is the point where you decide if you’re going to become evil or stay good.” She grinned impishly.
Charlie laughed. “Oh, really? This is my big moment?”
&nb
sp; “Totally,” said Maria, becoming animated. “See, if you’d decided to let the power go to your head, you’d turn bad really soon.” Maria glanced sidelong and grinned sheepishly. “If you were in a comic, I mean.”
Charlie frowned. “Yeah, but I’m not a comic-book character, Maria.”
“I realize that,” said Maria. “Obviously. And like I said, I don’t think you’ll turn bad because of your power. But some other superheroes? They hide their powers and don’t do anything with them, good or bad. And I’m not so sure that’s right either. See, the thing is—and the reason I’m acting like, I don’t know, a total comic geek right now—is that I just started to realize how much good stuff you can do.”
Charlie thought about that. “What do you mean, ‘good stuff’?”
“I don’t know. . . . I mean beyond scoring goals. Beyond saving someone from spraining their ankle from a fall.” Maria grew more and more passionate, her hands gesturing as she spoke. “You’re like a real superhero! You have the power to help people in a way that no one else can. And that’s a big deal. Really big!” She gripped Charlie’s arm, her eyes shining as a realization came to her. “It’s . . . it’s almost like an obligation.”
Charlie felt a wave of panic rush through her. “What, so now I’m obligated to go out and save people? Like this is my life now? Look what happened when I tried to save Mac from falling—he got mad at me and almost blew my cover! That was not fun.”
“Yeah,” Maria said, deflating a little. She let go of Charlie’s arm. “I guess that’s a problem when the rescued people don’t appreciate it. But is that a reason not to help? I mean, I’m really glad you saved Mac. I was freaking out, and the ladder was all twisted up. I was about to do the same thing you did. But both he and I would have ended up hurt that way, I’m sure. So even though he didn’t seem to appreciate it, I definitely did.” She looked out over the landscape and sighed dramatically. “Somebody out there will be grateful for your efforts one day.”
