by R. J. Ross
I let out a laugh. “So, for me, everyone’s just too soft to be proper, huh?” I ask.
“Exactly! Well, other than Jack.”
“He’s too shiny.”
She laughs. “There’s actually a petition out there to make him wear a hat,” she tells me. “Half of Kansas City has signed it—they say he’s blinding on sunny days.”
“You’re kidding,” I say, my jaw dropping.
“Absolutely honest, I’ll show you the website sometime, and you can see for yourself.”
“Did you sign it?”
“No, but I’ve thought of it!”
We’re walking down the street, heading towards civilization, but I don’t feel nearly as awkward as I had last time. “Hey, Central covers a lot of land, right? What if we can’t find her because she’s down in Arizona, or something?”
“Then we call her,” Malina says.
“Why didn’t we call her in the first place?” I ask, wondering why I hadn’t thought of that earlier.
“Because this way we have a legitimate reason to leave the campus.”
I nod, sort of seeing where she’s coming from, now that I don’t think people will stare at me. It’s cold, I guess, if the people wearing coats and gloves are any indicator… I look down, realizing that my illusion is only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. “Think there’s a way to add a coat to this thing?” I ask Malina quietly. “I’m getting some strange looks.”
“Just tell them you’re from Colorado, or something,” she says, blowing it off. She’s not wearing a coat, either.
“Aren’t you cold?” I ask, curiously.
“I was built for water,” she says. “I could be in freezing ice water for days and not even notice it. I actually prefer the cold, really. That’s part of why I want to go up north with you.”
“What’s the other part?” I ask.
“Um…” she hesitates, and I can practically see her trying to phrase something differently. “Well, the main reason is that I need to make a decision, soon. I’ve only got two years left of school. I’ve already gotten calls from all of the Hall branches, even Central, but his was more to tell me that I can choose whatever Hall I want. It isn’t that he wouldn’t take me, but he realizes that I want to be nearer to a large body of water… and I do, but…”
“But?”
“Most everyone seems to be staying either Central or South,” she says, looking at me. “I don’t want to leave everyone I know. It… it feels so lonely.”
“So you don’t want to be South, either, huh?”
“Well, no… I mean, I don’t HATE the idea but there are so many other water-related problems. It’s not just in the South branch—” She sighs, and her shoulders slump as she kicks a rock. I watch it go flying over the horizon.
“You know… that probably could hit someone,” I say after a moment.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve got to catch it,” she says, starting to run. I chase after her. It had come as a surprise to me that I was so fast—I mean, rocks aren’t supposed to move quickly, you know, unless they’re rolling. But I’m pretty fast for a rock girl. Of course, Malina’s short legs probably are the reason I pass her so quickly, not that I mention it as I race down the street. I know exactly where the rock is, I can feel it. I jump, grabbing it out of the air just before it crashes through a window.
“Got it!” I call out to her.
“Oh thank God,” she says, stopping. “That was so stupid of me.”
“Eh, you can kick rocks all you want at school,” I say. “It’s just out here that we—” We’re being stared at, I realize belatedly. There are people watching us with cameras in their hands. “Were playing catch,” I say, lamely, waving the fist that’s holding the rock and walking away. Malina follows me, her arms behind her back, her walk awkward. We don’t get five feet before she starts giggling her head off and runs away. I chase after her, trying not to laugh, as well.
“We’re SO busted,” she says. “Nico’s going to yell at us for weeks about that.”
“Think they recorded it?” I ask.
“Absolutely,” she says. “Come on, we need to find Jeanie without getting any more YouTube videos. You won’t have a problem, though—you’re in disguise.”
“Well… you could borrow my watch and I could go au natural—” I joke, only to jerk my wrist away as she grabs for my com-bracelet. “That was a joke!”
“Come on, let me at least try it out! I’ve never been tall before!”
“You’re fine just the way you are!” I say. “Plus, didn’t you just say this wasn’t a proper height?”
“It would be the proper height, if it was me,” she says, standing on her tiptoes and starting to climb me.
“We’re just drawing attention again,” I have to point out, as I hold the com-bracelet higher. She stops and sticks her tongue out at me before sighing.
“Fine,” she says. “There aren’t many little people heroes out there, so it’ll be pretty obvious who I am, whether I’m wearing a mask or not.”
“Many? More like ‘any,’” I say.
“Nope! There is one other that I know!” she says, cheering up and starting to walk again. “She’s the magical animal controller for the North Pole. Her name is Toodles.”
“Who would name their kid Toodles?” I ask, dumbfounded.
“I bet she named herself,” she admits. “I mean, it’s the perfect elf name, right? Toodles the elf. She’s in love with Santa, but we’re not supposed to mention it.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s too shy to tell him, I guess,” she says, looking at the sky. “Hey, look, it’s Mega. Maybe he knows where Jeanie is!” She jumps up and down, waving her arms and calling, “Mega! Hey, Mega! I want your autograph!”
He looks down, smiling smugly, only to stop as he sees who it is. “Oh!” he says, dropping down in front of us. “You’re—”
“Your biggest fan,” she says, in a pointed tone.
“I’m honored,” he says, bowing. He looks at me, and confusion crosses his face. “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you,” he says, holding out a hand.
“Probably not,” I say. He blinks at the sound of my voice, and then blinks again as I take his hand. The illusion doesn’t change how my hand feels.
“You must be Sandra,” he says quietly, shaking my hand. “I’ve wanted to meet you. Ward’s told me about you.”
“Have you two been talking a lot, lately?” Malina asks, curiously.
“Not as much as I’d like,” he admits. “What’s the problem, ladies?”
“Have you seen Jeanie?” I ask.
“She should be in the east quadrant, but I can call her for you,” he says, tapping on his earbud. “Star Spangled, yes, we have two of my biggest fans asking about your whereabouts. I think you’ll want to meet them in person.”
“Did I say I was one of his biggest fans?” I ask Malina, who turns away, her shoulders shaking. I look up as I hear a whoosh of air, and feel a grin pull on my lips automatically as Star Spangled poses dramatically above us—for all of a second. Then she drops to the ground and wraps her arms around me, lifting me like I weigh nothing.
“Sandra!” she says happily. “You could have just called, you know.”
“Malina wanted to get off campus,” I say, feeling a bit awkward. She’s wearing sequins—or at least the material resembles them. I’m being hugged by a lady in sequins. “We wanted to ask a favor.”
“Anything!” she says, putting me down and giving me a brilliant smile.
“We…” I let it dangle, not wanting to say that I WANT to go meet Diamond Dust, because that would be lying.
“We want to go meet Sandra’s birth mother,” Melanie says, in my place. “Nico said that you might be willing to act as our chaperon?”
Several expressions cross her face quickly before she gives us another easy smile. “I would LOVE to,” she says. “When are we leaving?”
“Well… now would be n
ice,” I say, “or at least after we pack, I guess?”
“Then let me call in and tell them I’m taking a few days off,” she says. “You two head on back to campus, I’ll be there before you can blink!”
I nod. “Yeah, okay,” I say. “Then… we’ll see you there.”
“Her birth mother?” I hear Mega say behind us. “Are you okay with that?”
“I want them to meet,” Jeanie says. “It’s the best for both of them.”
“But—”
“I need to go tell Mastermental,” Jeanie cuts him off.
***
I throw another couple of tank tops and a pair of shorts into the duffel bag I found in my closet. I don’t remember putting the bag there, so I guess it came with the room. It’s got the school logo on the side, so it makes sense. I head into my bathroom and grab my toothbrush and toothpaste. My teeth aren’t rocky, at least. They look more like pearls, but I think they aren’t. Pearls can be dissolved in vinegar, but I’ve tried some and had no problem. It was sort of self-dare, really, trying out the vinegar. I’ve never told anyone about it, either. I don’t plan on telling anyone.
I put my toiletries in the side of the bag and zip all of the zippers, slinging the bag over my shoulder. Malina is right outside my door. “She’s here!” she says. “And so is everyone else, actually.”
“Everyone?” I repeat.
“Yeah, everyone.” I follow her down the hall, stepping into the extremely crowded rec room. The entire Liberty family is standing front and center, with the rest of the dorm surrounding them.
“I want to go,” I hear Jack say. “We should all meet this lady, right?”
“I’m not sure that—” Jeanie starts out.
“No one except Malina, Jeanie, and me,” I say, making them all look over. “This isn’t a big deal, and I don’t want to make it one. I’m just going to check out what she does, and then come back. Superior says he’s going to start training us soon.”
“Superior is?” Ken asks, looking surprised.
“Twice a week for an hour each session,” Nico says over the hidden speakers. “He won’t get her all week.”
“I see. That sounds like a lot of fun,” Ken says with a grin.
“Yeah, it does,” I admit. “I’ll see how well I do in the cold. But anyway, I’m not planning on doing anything dramatic, so there’s no reason to bring an audience. I’m just doing this because I’m pretty much being forced into it.”
“That’s fine, Sandra,” Jeanie says. “Well, are you girls ready? How do we plan on getting there?”
“Can we just borrow the teleportation watch?” I ask. “That way we can go and come back without anyone noticing, and I won’t even need this bag of clothes.”
“It’s about a sixteen-hour drive to Washington DC, where the East Hall is,” Nico says over the speakers. “You can drive one of the RVs. Make it a road trip.”
“That sounds wonderful!” Jeanie says. “What do you think, girls?”
I make a face. “I was hoping to get it over with.”
“But we can see some of Central and a bit of East this way,” Malina says. I see the expression on her face and give up.
“Sure, RV, run, whatever,” I say. “Let’s just get going.” I walk towards the door as the group moves to create a path for us.
“I want to go, too,” Trent says. I turn, looking at him. I hesitate.
“Superior wants to train you and metal butt over there, too,” I say, instead of inviting him. “That’s up to you, of course, but…”
“Really?” he says, breaking into a grin. “I’ll take it.”
I nod and head out the door, wondering why I even bothered to say that. It’s not like I’m trying to make up for not bringing them along. I just… I want to get this over with. “Which RV are we taking?” I ask over my shoulder.
“How about the one that Zoe took down South?” Malina asks. “It’s parked at the Hall, right?”
“A great choice,” Jeanie says. “I’m sure it won’t take long at all to get it and start our girl’s trip!”
“That sounds fun!” Malina says.
I don’t say a word. I feel sort of nauseous, honestly. I don’t know the woman that gave birth to me, don’t really WANT to know her, but at the same time, I used to love the movie Annie when I was little. Even though she never found her real parents, she was always so certain that they still loved her. I… doubt that’s what will happen with me.
My mind goes back to Jack, catching on something he’d said so casually, earlier. “Did you adopt Jack?” I ask Jeanie as we step out of the security field.
“We did!” she says with a smile. “He was such a blessing, too.”
“You mean he was little when you adopted him?” I ask, surprised.
“No, he was almost as tall as he is, now. He hit another growth spurt recently, which was a bit of a surprise, actually.”
“You don’t call THAT guy a ‘blessing,’” I have to say. “He’s more of a… pain in the neck.”
She laughs. “He’s really taken to this ‘big brother’ role, hasn’t he?” she teases.
“He’s annoying,” I say.
“That means he likes you!”
“Is he annoying to you?” I ask her.
“Oh, he has his moments, but I love him,” she says. “He’s got a very good heart, you know. It’s just a little bit hard to hear under his smart mouth.”
“I like Jack,” Malina says with a smile. “He’s funny.”
“But how can you call a guy like that a ‘blessing’?” I ask. “He looks old enough to be out of the system, already.”
She goes quiet, and I suddenly worry that I hit a sore spot. “Ken and I are both S-class capes,” she says after a moment. “My great grandfather is still running around somewhere in Sweden, flirting with girls younger than I am.”
“You’re kidding,” I say, my jaw dropping down.
“To us, an eighteen-year-old is still a child,” she says, smiling. “And everyone needs family, regardless of what age they are. Would you two like to run to the Hall? I’ve brought masks!”
I look at Malina, who grins back. “I don’t really need a mask, though,” I point out.
“But that’s part of the fun!”
“I packed my own,” Malina says, pulling a blue mask out of her pocket and putting it on. “We’ve all got them, because Nico likes taking us to random places, and we usually get caught.”
“Um, sorry for interrupting,” I hear Zoe say from my com-bracelet. “But I can set up a second illusion with a mask, if you want? Sandra, you’d just have to tap twice on the watch.”
“Please do!” Jeanie says. I tap twice and the illusion I’m wearing blinks for a second before changing. “Now, let’s get go—” Jeanie stops as she sees an RV coming down the road. “Well… that’s another way to do it,” she says.
“I thought it would save you some time,” Zoe says. “It’s a long drive to the East Branch, and you’ll need to stop and check in with Marigold, right?”
“Thank you, Zoe,” Jeanie says, tapping on her earbud to turn it off before she gets into the RV. There’s something off about her tone, I notice. She doesn’t sound quite as happy as she usually does. Maybe I’m wrong, I mean, I haven’t talked with her that often at all, but I still find myself watching her as I board the RV and she gets in the empty driver’s seat.
“I can set it up to drive there on autopilot, if you want,” Zoe offers over my com-bracelet.
“No, that won’t be necessary, sweetie,” Jeanie says. “It won’t feel like a real vacation if we don’t at least do SOME of the driving!”
“If you change your mind or have any other questions, just press the little red button on the dash,” Zoe says. “Have fun! And tell your mother hello for me, okay, Sandra?”
“Yeah, sure,” I say, not that I plan on speaking to my birth mother. I look at the chairs, hesitating to sit down. “This will hold me, right?”
“It’ll hold you,” Ma
lina says, sitting down opposite of the chair I’m looking at. I sit down, gingerly, just expecting the metal to screech in protest. Nothing happens. “We’ve got the game set up, here, too! It’s in all of the school transportations, so we could play on the way if you want!”
“Really? Sounds fun,” I say, trying not to sound as excited as I feel. That game is really addicting.
“Before we do that,” Jeanie says, turning her chair so it’s facing us, “I… I would like to confess something.”
I go still, seeing the serious look on her face. If I could sweat, I think my hands would suddenly feel clammy. As it is, I’m worried. “What—” I start out.
“I have to admit that I feel… a little jealous,” she says, sighing. “It’s silly, I know. I mean, all of these things are your decisions to make, Sandra. And I WANT you to meet your birth mother. Ken’s met her. He says she’s a very nice woman. I would love for you to make a connection with her, and I honestly believe that it would benefit you both. I just… I think you’re an amazing, powerful, and beautiful young woman, and I would like you to be part of my family. I… well—”
“If Sandra doesn’t want to be your daughter, I’ll do it!” Malina says, making both of us look at her in surprise. “I shouldn’t have said that,” she says a second later, her face turning bright red.
“Oh, sweetie, I would LOVE to take you in!” Jeanie says, holding out her arms.
Now I’m the one that’s feeling jealous. “Well, good for you,” I say. “Now you’ve got the daughter you’ve always wanted.”
“I want you, as well,” Jeanie says as Malina hesitates. “I would take any of the Cape High kids, truthfully. You’ve all got such wonderful hearts. But Sandra… sweetie, you would be a perfect Liberty girl.”
I look down at my hands, seeing the illusion instead. I reach over, turning the illusion off and looking at her. “How can you say that when I look like this? Malina would be a better Liberty girl. At least she’s cute.”
“I’d be a lousy Liberty girl,” Malina says bluntly.
“Oh, honey, of course you wouldn’t!” Jeanie protests.
“Now you’re just being nice,” Malina tells her. “I would love to be your daughter, but… I couldn’t handle the name that comes with it, honestly. How about… I dunno, I become an honorary niece, or something? Then I wouldn’t have to carry on the family name. I don’t think I’ll ever be strong enough for it.”
