The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus)

by R. J. Ross

"Yes, Mom," I say, leaning back in my chair. I catch a glance of a strange expression on Emily's face, that same hint of fear from the night before. It's gone too quick for me to read properly, but it has me frowning.

  "Emily, honey, do you like bacon and eggs?" Mom asks.

  "Yeah," she says quietly, looking at the table.

  "Is this you or is it the doppelganger?" I ask almost silently. She looks at me.

  "Why should I tell you?" she whispers just as silently. A plate is placed in front of me and I look up at my Mom.

  "Behave yourself," she tells me. "Just because we've got a cute girl in the house doesn't mean you can tease her, got it?" Then she's back to the stove, getting another plate ready.

  "I'm not teasing!" I protest. "She's got this trick--" Emily kicks me in the shin. Then, when I just look at her, she kicks me again. "That doesn't work," I tell her when it seems she's going to scoot closer to the table to try for a third time. "You're just going to hurt your toes."

  "Shut it!" she hisses.

  "You know Frank's going to tell them," I point out. "And it's not going to change anything if they know--so why not tell them?" I start eating rather than waiting for a reply, and finish off my plate full of food quickly. "Mom I'm going to get going," I say.

  "Bye, honey," Mom says.

  Soon, I tell myself as I tighten my shoestrings, I'll have a bike or a car to take to school--except sooner than that I'll probably be going to Cape High and no one will care. Oh well, I think as I stand, for now, running it is.

  ***

  "So," Jeanie says as she drops down in the chair her son's just left. "Did you leave any broken hearts behind you?"

  Emily chokes, staring at the woman in shock. "Wh--what?"

  "Oh, sweetie, you're adorable! I'm sure plenty of boys have broken their hearts on you. Trent doesn't have a girlfriend, you know," she says conspiratorially. "Or there's Sunny! Sunny's a wonderful boy--he's Trent's best friend. In fact, he's the main reason Trent's so much happier now."

  "Um... Mastermental said he was frustrated by being a super?" Emily offers, digging for more information. Why? She was planning on leaving soon, right? But so far the worst thing that has happened was Trent calling her a "little sister." "He didn't look very frustrated," she says.

  "Oh..." Jeanie says, frowning slightly. "For a while there, Trent was the only super his age around. He wanted to play football, but Trent is a tank category super--it's inevitable, since both his father and I are the same. He can't play football with norms. He could all too easily hurt them--or be found out, you know? I feel a bit guilty,” she admits. “When I was in high school I was a cheerleader. No one notices that a cheerleader is hard to knock down.”

  “Um... this is weird, but... are you and his dad like, second cousins or something?” Emily asks. “I mean you’re both blond and--“

  Jeanie starts laughing. “Oh honey, no!” she says. “Of course not! Ken is from the Liberty line--he’s the great, great, more greats, grandson of Liberty Bell. Liberty Bell was one of the forefathers of the first Justice Militia, which happened a very long time before the Hall. My family comes from Sweden.”

  “A Swedish hero,” Emily says blankly.

  “Well they didn’t stay there for long,” Jeanie replies. “Not much to do, after all.”

  Emily looks away, feeling her shoulders shake with her suppressed laughter at the image of a super just sitting around, bored, but when she hears Ken laugh all the way from his room, she gives in, giggling. Jeanie smiles into her coffee cup without a word. It’s only when Emily is merely grinning that she goes on. “But Trent, well, he became frustrated and introverted as time went by. It’s very difficult going to school these days,” she says quietly. “Especially when there’s no one there you can talk about your life with.”

  “Is Sunny still going to school with him?” Emily asks.

  “No, I’m afraid he isn’t. Right now Trent’s the only super at that school--but next week when Cape High opens, we’re transferring him over. He’s bearing with it very well. Of course more often than not he’s over at Sunny’s as soon as school is over.”

  Emily nods, looking at her plate. She is starting to feel curious about this Sunny kid, honestly. She glances up as Trent’s father comes into the room, wearing a T-shirt with the word “Technico” in a cheesy style print across the front.

  “You seriously found one?” Jeanie says in surprise.

  “I had to get it online,” Ken says. “But I found it!”

  "Technico is Sunny's father, Nico," Jeanie explains to Emily when she looks blank, "He used to be a super villain. He got out of the Cape Cells recently!"

  "But--aren't you a hero?" Emily asks Ken. "Should you really be wearing a super villain's shirt?" She watches as Ken heads for the stove to make a plate with the rest of the food.

  "Just because he used to be a super villain doesn't make him one now," Ken says. "Jeanie, I'm going to work on the school for a few hours--"

  "Oh, I was planning on doing the rounds today," Jeanie says. "I know Ms. Hilson starts talking about running away from the home about this time, she's ninety years old, I'm amazed she can even find the front door of the place."

  "I can meet you about noon? We'll head to St. Peter's and check on Ernest after lunch," Ken says.

  "And Phil. He's back in for his knees," Jeanie says.

  "Um... what, exactly, are you talking about?" Emily asks, looking back and forth as they spoke.

  "Oh, sweetie, Mastermental didn't tell you?" Jeanie asks. "Ken's a preacher for a local church."

  "Yeah... but isn't it just a cover? You know, for being a hero?" Emily asks. "Like being a newsreporter just to know what needs fixed--"

  Ken drops down next to her, a huge plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. "Not at all," he says as he starts to eat. "The hero-ing is more of a side job, actually, preaching is my true calling."

  "But--" Emily starts out, trying to picture this man wearing a suit and pounding on a pulpit. It just doesn't add up. He looks and acts nothing like the preachers she's seen on television--she'd seen him do nothing but be goofy ever since she met him!

  "Well... I'll put it this way," Ken says, looking at her with a grin. "My job is saving people, right? Well when I do it, it's for a moment, when God does it? Lasts for eternity. And I'm man enough to admit when someone can do my job better than I can. Hey, you want to work as a grunt doing construction work or do you want to go with Jeanie to the old folk's home?"

  "I can't just stay here?" Emily asks.

  "Oh, but the ladies are so much fun, sweetie! You'll enjoy it--they've got so many stories," Jeanie says, standing. "And you're much less likely to break a nail," she adds.

  There's no way to get out of it, Emily realizes. She's stuck.

  ***

  I'm stuck sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chairs outside the principal's office, wondering if I shouldn't have skipped after all. I stretch my legs out in front of me, trying to get comfortable, only to have to shift again as a teacher almost trips over my legs. Man this is annoying. I'm missing my first class for this, too. I wonder what Emily is doing--she's probably being dragged around by one of my parents. I wonder if she'll get to meet Mrs. Moll. Mrs. Moll is hysterical. She was once the moll of a gangster, and when he died, leaving her with two kids and no wedding ring, she went out, bought herself a ring and changed her last name officially.

  Okay, I know you figure we only hang out with supers--and to a point you're right, but church members are... I dunno, family in a way. Dad does all sorts of things for them, and Mom helps. I grew up following them around as a kid, checking up on this guy, seeing how this lady is doing. A lot of their time is spent in hospitals and nursing homes. That's why, right now, I'll almost swear that Emily's being dragged off to meet Mrs. Moll, or possibly see Ernest Grover.

  "Mr. Styles?"

  No, Mr. Styles isn't one of the--wait, that was Ms. Fell, wasn't it? I glance up at the tiny woman. "Yeah?" I say.

  "The prin
cipal will see you now," she says, motioning to the office door I'm supposed to go through. I get up, shoving my hands deep into my pockets and heading through the open door.

  "Mr. Styles, good to see you," Principal Matkins says, putting a folder down on his desk and looking up at me. He's nothing much to look at, short guy, starting to go bald, but I guess it doesn't matter, right? "Please, take a seat."

  I head for the chair in front of his desk, sitting down and waiting. Have they already put my transfer papers in? They should have, I think. I know the Hall was working on them--

  There's someone else in the room. I jerk, turning almost too quickly and find myself staring blankly at a tall woman in a pencil thin skirt and heels so high she was probably my dad's height.

  "I see you've noticed Ms. Born," Matkins says. "Don't mind her, she's merely here to observe." He picks up another file from the one he'd been looking at, opening it. "Mr. Styles, I've been informed that you were friends with the Rosenthorn twins?"

  I'm not supposed to lie, but I really don't think this is a good thing to talk about. "I know them," I say blandly. "They used to go to school here." Both truths.

  "Have you heard from them lately?" Matkins ask.

  How lately is "lately"? Like today? Today counts as lately, right? "Not really." Haven't heard a thing--I doubt Sunny's anywhere near a computer or a phone at the moment to send me a text.

  "It's just, I've been asking around and the school that they're transferring into--I don't know anyone that's ever heard of it," Matkins says.

  I find myself drowning him out in my mind, my attention going back to the woman in the corner. She's a super. Yeah, when you grow up surrounded by them, spend a bit of your childhood playing in the Hall, you get to recognize them, but I don't recognize her. Thing is, though, if I know what she is, she definitely knows what I am. And I have no idea who would win.

  "Excuse me, Principal Matkins?" I say. "I'm feeling a bit sick--I think I ate something ba--" I jerk, making gagging noises and cover my mouth. "I gotta go--" I mutter, rushing out the door at a jog and out of the school at full speed. Will she follow me? I dare to glance back, but see no one, so I slow down, duck into a random store, and pull out my cell phone.

  "Dad," I say. "I shoulda skipped."

  "What happened?" Dad asks. I can hear rock music and construction work in the background, so he's working on the school. I can't stand still, so I start walking through the dollar store, making sure to check behind me once in a while.

  "Principal called me to the office--he had a cape in there with him. Started asking me about the twins."

  "A cape?" Dad asks. "Who?"

  "That's the thing, I don't know," I say. "I’ve never seen her before, and I really think Frank would have told me if there was going to be a new super coming to my school. I faked being sick and ran for it, but I don't know if she's followed me."

  "Where are you? I'll send someone to pick you up."

  "Dollar Store on 89th," I say, pretending to look at something so I could check the entrance again. "I don't want to lead her to you and having someone pick me up might do just that."

  "Do you see her?"

  "No."

  "How about heading to Deep Rivers? Your mom and Emily are there."

  "Okay." I look around--see a fire exit, and head out, much to the frustration of the people working there. Times like these I wish I knew how to fly properly, I think as I race down the street and into the country. It takes longer dodging things on the land. I pull to a stop in front of a huge brick building, straighten my clothes and go in. The lady at the counter looks up with a hint of surprise on her face. "Trent!" she says. "I thought you were at school today--your mother just showed up with a cute little redheaded girl."

  "Hey, yeah, do you know whose room they're in?" I ask, stepping up to the counter.

  "I think they're with Mrs. Hash," she says. "They brought the most delicious cookies, by the way."

  "Thanks," I say, heading down the hall to Mrs. Hash's room. I can hear my mom laughing all the way down the hall. I knock on the door twice as I peek in. "Mom? Can I talk to you for a moment?" I ask, waving faintly at Mrs. Hash and glancing at Emily, who's looking through pictures. Mom looks a bit worried as she stands up and heads for me.

  "I'll be just a second," she tells the others before I tug her down the hall a bit to explain. Her expression gets more serious as the story develops. When I'm done she's already pulled out her cell phone and tapped a contact, bringing it up to her ear. "Hi, Frank," she says. "Can you send through the transfer papers for Trent now? No, just send it through. We're going to need a new place to stay, too. Yes. Just in case. Yes. We'll explain everything soon enough," she says.

  "Moving?" I ask, shocked.

  "They've got your address at the school, honey. We're going to have to move and put out word to the church that we'll be moving them, as well," she says. "Ahhh, and I was so fond of that building, too."

  "Don't you think you're over--" I stop, then shrug. "Fine. How's Emily doing?" I ask, looking suspiciously in the direction of Mrs. Hash's room. Who's to say that wasn't the doppelganger?

  "She's uncomfortable still," Mom says almost silently. "I think she needs some counseling, honestly, but we have to get her to open up before we can get to that point. I'm so glad that Frank gave her to us."

  "We should tell Dad we're moving," I say, changing the subject.

  "Okay, I'll call him, why don't you go on in and say hi to Mrs. Hash?" she says, tapping on her smart phone again. I nod and head into the room, leaving her to explain things to Dad. Suddenly I'm worried that we'll be too far away from Kansas City to go to Cape High. That would suck.

  "What's going on?" Emily asks as I come in.

  "I'll tell you later," I say. "Hi, Mrs. Hash," I add to the elderly lady sitting in the wheelchair. "How are you feeling?"

  "Much better after having such a handsome young man visit!" she says cheerfully. I should be used to being hit on by old ladies, but I feel heat creep up my neck as Emily looks at me. Awkward.

  CHAPTER THREE

  "While I admit, it'd be easiest to move you across country," Frank says a little while later, "with Trent and Emily still so new to their powers, I would prefer keeping them close to the school." We're sitting in Technico's front room. I'm sitting in my usual spot, right in front of Sunny, who's snoring again. Sunny can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, but since this is important stuff I jerk my head back slightly, hitting him in the thigh.

  "Ow," he mutters. "Man your head is hard."

  "Wake up, I might be moving," I mutter.

  "That'd suck."

  "You can't move them," Max says. "Trent and I have a battle coming up.”

  "Unfortunately, Ken put their actual address on Trent's records," Frank says darkly. "We've gone in and changed the official records, of course, but there's no knowing if they have it in paper form. We're sending people in tonight to remove any physical proof, but for a cape there is no such thing as being too cautious. So," he says, looking at Technico to finish his sentence.

  "I'd like to extend my welcome to our new apartment tenants," Nico says with a sigh. "The second floor is in working condition, but will need some cleaning up. You can pick any of the apartments you want, they're all empty--in fact this entire building is. You can even open it up into a penthouse style if you want to do the work. I've been planning to expand into the apartment next door, myself."

  "It's a bit dangerous, though, having so many young capes in the same building," Dad says, frowning. "With Emily, that'll make four in one place. Are we certain we want that?"

  "It's either we spread them out into places with less of a security system," Nico says, "or we stick them into a highly secure area, surround them with full grown capes, and dare the enemy to come at us."

  "I'm moving in," Liz says from where she's squeezed her way in between Zoe and Max (much to my amusement). "And other than my rounds and any large problem that requires me, I'm free to stay here as securi
ty, too. No one touches my nieces and nephews," she adds with a few sparks flying--literally. Max yelps as his shirt catches on fire.

  "Liz!" he says, "this is a brand new shirt!"

  "Oh, sorry," she says, not sounding very sorry at all.

  "I don't have to stay here," Emily says. "I mean, I'm the intruder here, right? I barely know any of you, and it's going to be crowded enough as it is, right?"

  "You're staying," Dad says in a firm tone. "No running off, got it?"

  "But like you said, it's dangerous to have so many cape kids--"

  "Emily," I say, "It's an entire apartment building. It should be big enough for two families. And I made a promise, right?" I'm ecstatic, I'm not going to lie. Living in the apartment? Awesome! I won't have to risk running across town every day, getting to the new school will be a breeze, and I don't have to worry about Zoe blowing up Sunny's computer. Besides, Sunny sucks at typing, and I swear he sometimes falls asleep while writing texts.

  Huh... Emily's staring at me now. Did I say something wrong? She was probably just looking for an excuse to run again, I think looking at her closely. Is this the doppelganger? I glance at Frank, but he's not acting suspicious, so I can only assume it's the real her.

  "What did you promise?" Sunny asks me.

  "I'll tell you later," I say, suddenly feeling everyone other than my parents and Frank staring at me avidly.

  "And why is she staring at me, now?" Sunny whispers silently.

  "I have no clue," I whisper back just as silently, although honestly in a room full of supers it's sort of a waste.

  "I have one more thing to mention, since I'm here," Frank says. "I'm not sure it's a good thing, honestly, but Emily, the daughters of your previous home are asking to be admitted into Cape High."

  Emily's face turns white and she sways slightly, looking like she's going to faint. I can't help but want to get up, but before I work up the guts she's already calmed down--and looking resolute. Well... crap, I think. She's going to run.

  "They live too far away to come here, right?" I say instead. "On top of that, they're part of the South Branch, which makes them out of our Hall's jurisdiction. Right?"