Burned

by Natasha Deen

  “Jo,” Jace said. “Trouble.”

  “We need to distract him.”

  “We could make out,” Jace said.

  “What?”

  “You know. Like in movies. We could start kissing and look all passionate, like we didn’t notice the guard, and then be all embarrassed about being caught, and that would distract him from Raven above us. It’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

  “Make out,” I said. “Kiss.” Jace was offering to put his arms around me… and making it sound like he’d rather take a punch by the champ. I didn’t know if I wanted to deck him or let my curiosity free and take him up on the offer. Maybe I could deck him, then hug him.

  “It’s a sacrifice I’m prepared to make for the team,” he said.

  “I’d hate to make you pay a price that high,” I said as I wrestled my hormones into submission. “Let’s try something else.” I stepped back, then started screaming, “Get away from me! I don’t know you!”

  “What?” Jace gasped. He stepped forward and grabbed my arm.

  I didn’t know if he was getting into the distraction or, unsure what I was doing, trying to get me to be quiet.

  Either way, he had his hand on me and I had an opportunity to make him pay for the sacrifice for the team comment. I grabbed his arm, twisted it and flipped him to the ground. And tried not to giggle at the satisfying “Oomph” of air rushing from his lungs. Standing over him, I yelled, “You’re disgusting! Slimeball!” Then I turned and ran, leaving him alone with the guard coming up hard on the sidewalk.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Just in case Jace was messing with us, Raven and I had decided to do some investigating of our own. So while the security guard was focused on Jace and me, Raven scooted back into the doctor’s office and dug up some information about Daddy Dearest. When we handed it over to Jace, he went submarine quiet for a while, and it wasn’t until I was eating breakfast and reading the paper a few mornings later that I saw how he’d gotten his retribution. Judging from the news report, Jace hadn’t just looked at the files but had taken them to the right authorities. Whoever had given him the tip to look into his father had been right. Daddy Dearest was a dirtbag of the worst kind. The scandal was sure to be made into a Hollywood movie. But all I cared about was that the jerk was out of Jace and Bentley’s lives.

  “Geez, newb. What do you have? Ringworm?” Raven tossed the jab as she came into the galley.

  “It’s tapeworm, genius, and I’m hungry.”

  She snorted. “You’re always hungry.”

  I tossed the paper at her. “Look at this.”

  She read the article, then made serious eye contact. “We have to find him.”

  Finding him was easy. Jace was at the park, playing chess. Making him talk to us was an entirely different game. He ignored us, gathered his pieces and walked away. Literally. He literally took his toys and tried to go home. Guys can be such babies.

  “We’ll find you again,” Raven called after him. “Might as well hear us out. Remember, you owe us. And remember, we helped you because of how often you told us we owed you.”

  He moved to a bench, and we each took a side.

  I started the conversation. “Want to tell us about your father?”

  “You probably saw the headlines,” he said. “He’s been arrested. What more do you need?”

  “You’re right.” I lifted my hands in surrender. “It’s your business. Not ours. I’m not here for gossip anyway. Straight up?” I said. I pulled out my phone so I could get the words on the screen right. “We’re here because Internet rumors have started about a team that is”—I quoted the article—“living in the shadows, dispensing their own kind of justice.”

  “That would be us,” said Raven. “Someone sent out a message on a forum. A kid who needs help against authorities when other authorities won’t help.”

  Jace smirked. “I think both of you need to look up the definition of team. Unless you mean just the two of you. If so, good luck and goodbye.”

  “For this kid to have any chance of retribution,” I said, “we need you and your brother.”

  “We have our own troubles,” Jace said.

  “One computer hack from him, one social-situation scam from you. That’s all we’re asking. Then we’ll leave you alone.”

  Jace’s eyes narrowed. “What’s in it for you two? Why take chances for someone else? Thought you liked being invisible.”

  Raven went all grown-up. “Hey, we all like to pretend we’re cynical. But Jo and I realized that if you can make something better, you need to try. Injustice sucks.”

  “Feels good to fight it,” I added. “I mean, some people recycle cans and bottles to feel good about themselves. What we’re doing is just on a bigger scale. As long as we stay invisible, we can take down people like your father.” I paused as I called up a text message. “Bentley’s in. Are you?”

  I expected him to go all lone wolf and say something sarcastic and brooding, then take off. Instead, he said, “I’m in. What do you need?”

  I let Raven do the talking and since they didn’t need me for it, I broke from the group and headed out. It was time for me to find a tattoo parlor and start exploring my own endless possibilities.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Much thanks to Sigmund and Judith for all the fun in creating and writing this series, and mega thanks to Andrew Wooldridge and the crew at Orca for all their efforts and support on this project!

  Award-winning author NATASHA DEEN graduated from the University of Alberta with a BA in psychology. In addition to her work as a presenter and workshop facilitator with schools, she has written everything from creative nonfiction to YA and adult fiction. She was the inaugural Regional Writer in Residence for the Metro Edmonton Library Federation in 2013. Natasha lives in Edmonton, Alberta. For more information, visit www.natashadeen.com.