by R. J. Ross
“Justin fan?” I ask her, taking a deep breath between words. I just got off the wall.
“It’s way more than just fandom,” she says dramatically. “We’re meant to be.”
“But he’s got a thing for Malina,” Bobby says, looking over at us.
“You’re a hypocrite, Bobby,” Alyssa says. “You’re totally in love with Aubrey, and she’s actually DATING Jack.” She doesn’t even look up from her phone to say that. I get the feeling they’ve had this conversation several times.
“Yeah, but at least I’m smart enough to know it’ll never happen,” Bobby says with a shrug. “Jack would kill me with one hand behind his back.”
“Cold Steel, right?” I offer.
“Yep,” all three say.
“Sorry, Bobby,” I say, reaching over and patting his shoulder sympathetically. “One sided love sucks.”
“Malina doesn’t like him back!” Kirsten says. “He’ll get over it and realize the truth!”
“Yeah, and then Skye will move in,” Alyssa says. “She’s got a thing for him, too.”
“Skye’s too old for him,” Kirsten mutters. “And she might be a genius, but she’s crazy.”
“Oh, her dad would never let that happen,” I say, unthinkingly. I find myself watching the other group, too. They’re at this large metal field with mechanical people attacking them. From what I hear, they have different training exercises to go through—everything from crowd control to zombie apocalypse. So far, only Trent’s had the zombie apocalypse setting. That one was SO amazing to watch.
“Superior?” all three ask, making me look over. They’re ALL looking at me in wonder, even Alyssa.
“Well, yeah,” I say. “You don’t really think he’d let his S-class adopted daughter date a guy that’s not in her class, do you?” I ask, thinking about that conversation with a hint of amusement. “He’s real nice about class unless you’re dating one of his family members,” I drawl.
“What class IS Justin?” Bobby asks the others.
“He’s a high B,” Alyssa says. “Like, if he actually focused and trained he might be able to pass as an A,” she adds. “We saw all his information the last time he got kidnapped.”
“Do you know what class everyone is?” Kirsten asks. “What about me?”
“Nope, no clue,” Alyssa says. “I only know the stuff I’ve seen during healings and stuff. I think Aubrey knows a lot of them, though.”
I start to say something, only to jerk as I hear a loud splash of water. I turn, looking over at the other training field. Justin is suddenly soaking wet. That’s not what interests me. Malina literally has one hand up in a fist. In front of her a hand created out of water mimics her, looming right over Elidee’s head.
I run as fast as I possibly can, intent on saving my friend. “Don’t do it!” I say, grabbing Malina’s arm. It’s like grabbing a granite statue. Malina is tiny, but I can feel the power difference between us. She WAY outclasses me.
“What happened?” Justin asks, spluttering and wiping the water off of his face. “Why am I soaked?”
“You had a little accident, man,” Freddy says, snickering shamelessly.
“You do NOT brainwash one of ours,” Malina says to Elidee, completely ignoring my tugging. “Even if it’s with pheromones! Do you understand?”
“I didn’t mean to!” Elidee says, pathetically, staring up at the water fist. She could run, sure, but I don’t think that’s clicked.
“Sure you didn’t. Only ONE boy falling over himself for you, when we’re surrounded by them,” Malina says, her expression unyielding. “And he just happens to be a famous singer. I really believe that,” she adds with a snort.
I give up, because she's right and we all know it. “Elidee, did you use your powers on Justin?”
“I—I just—” Elidee says, looking close to tears. “I just wanted to see if it’d work,” she admits, pathetically. "And--and sometimes when I meet a really cute guy I... um... sort of slip up," she whispers.
“Hey, wait,” Justin says, walking over to Malina and touching her hand. She lowers it and the water splashes over Elidee and everyone nearby. “It’s okay,” he says, walking up to Elidee. “Don’t do that again, okay? You’re cute enough without it to get attention.” Elidee turns bright red and he grins at her. “But you’re a bit too young for me,” he adds, “so thanks for uh… asking? But I regretfully decline. We can still be friends, right?” He holds out a hand.
I don’t think he sees the dark look on Malina’s face. That’s probably for the best. She looks at me, and then grabs my arm, tugging me down to mouth level. “You need to keep an eye on her,” she whispers silently. “She’s trouble.”
“She’s hitting on your boyfriend, of course she’s trouble,” I tell her just as silently. “But there are a lot of girls out to get Justin. I didn’t think he was this much of a nice guy, though,” I admit, watching as he charms Elidee. “I always thought he was an arrogant jerk.”
“He’s gotten better,” she admits. “He used to be one. And he’s not my boyfriend!”
I look at her. “So you’d have gone water-monster on her if it’d been Freddy?” I ask. Her eyes widen and I see her mouth open slightly before closing.
“Get away from Jennifer!” Elidee says loudly, shoving her way between us. “She’s MY friend,” she declares angrily. “You and your freaky water powers keep your hands off of her! You'll probably try to drown her when she tries to talk to him, too!”
“Elidee—” I start out.
“No! I might have used pheromones on him, but that’s no cause to drown me!” she says.
“Elidee,” I say again, inwardly sighing before I wrap my arms around her, hugging her from behind and promptly getting soaked. “You totally brainwashed her boyfriend,” I whisper in her ear. “And she only poured water on you—that wasn’t enough to drown you.”
“It’s still not right! People don’t do things like that to me!” Elidee says, but I can tell her outrage is calming as she relaxes against me. “Like I’d want to steal her stupid boyfriend, anyway. He’s SO last year.”
“Actually, that messed up tour made my sales jump,” Justin says, looking offended. “I’m in the middle of recording a new CD because of that.”
I roll my eyes. I’m actually not surprised to see Olivia move over to our side, standing with Elidee.
“You can’t blame her for losing control of her powers!” Olivia says angrily. “All of us have that problem at one time!”
“Girls,” I say, dragging Olivia into the hug. “Nobody got hurt, okay? Elidee needs to watch her powers just like the rest of us do—” lie, I don’t have to watch my powers at all, but they need to hear it, “and Malina was just protecting a friend from Elidee’s devious clutches,” I tease Elidee, squeezing her lightly and earning a tiny hint of a giggle. “You, my girl, are trouble with a capital T, and you know it.”
“She’ll be a LOT more trouble when she’s older,” Freddy says.
“That’s a fact,” Justin admits.
“But for now,” I say, holding the two girls close. I feel motherly. Who would have thought I’d go from cheerleader elitist to big sister? “Elidee, apologize to Justin.”
“Malina owes me an apology first!”
“Elidee,” I repeat. I see Adanna watching us from the crowd, her eyes glued to Elidee. “Did Justin flirt with you first?”
“Well… no.”
“Then you owe him an apology.”
“I’m sorry,” she mutters, not even looking at him. I’m about to make the rounds, demanding apologies from everyone when Freddy moves. The tiny bell chime alerts me to it. He stops by Nico, looking nervous.
“Hey, Nico? Ace said he wanted to go somewhere after school with me—can you let me out?” he asks silently.
Nico raises an eyebrow. “Ace should still be up north.”
“He said he needed to get some fresh air. I could use some, too.”
“Yeah, okay, but wear a hat,” Nico
says with a pointed look at Freddy’s hair. “If anything happens, call.”
“Thanks.”
“I want to go, too,” I say, heading for them. I get several startled looks from the other kids. “To—to say thanks to Ace, you know?” I add quickly. “He’s the one that recommended me, right?”
“Ace is coming home?”
“I want to go!”
“Has he found any healers yet?”
The questions come at a flurry, but stop just as abruptly as Nico raises a hand. “Freddy?” he asks, looking at Freddy.
“Um… I don’t know if it’s smart,” he says, “too many people draw too much attention, and he’s not going to be here long, right?”
“I’m going,” I tell him, glaring at him with my arms across my chest.
“Jennifer’s going,” he mutters, clearly bullied. I don’t care if I bullied him—this is about MY business, and I’m not letting them run off and do anything without me!
“Then you two should go take showers and get ready to blend in with norms,” Nico says with a curious look for both of us. “You realize, that there’s a lot going on out there, right?”
“We’ll be fine—Ace is with us, right? He can make us look like anyone,” Freddy says. “We won’t stick out at all.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“He’s probably got someone watching us from overhead,” Freddy says as we step out of the force field that surrounds the campus. “He’s seriously paranoid about kids getting kidnapped—can’t really blame him, though,” he adds, pointing to the sky. “Look, see? Firefly.”
I look up at her, earning a cheesy grin and a wave.
“Good,” I say.
“Why good? How are we going to deal with this when YOU’RE here and SHE’S here and—where’s Ace, anyway?” Freddy asks, looking around. “He should have been here by now.”
A piece of the nearest tree’s trunk pulls away and shifts into Ace. I quickly shut my mouth as soon as I realize I’m gaping.
“What’s she doing here?” he asks.
“What, no hello?” I demand. “No ‘We’re just going to go deal with Matt for you now?’”
He has the grace to look guilty, only to turn and look at Freddy. “Seriously? You couldn’t keep your mouth shut for ONE day?” he asks.
“She forced it out of me,” Freddy says shamelessly, holding up both hands. “She’s violent, man—she had me pinned against the wall and was threatening my life—”
“I did not!” I protest, trying not to laugh.
“There might or might not have been brass knuckles involved,” Freddy whispers loudly. I feel my face turn bright red.
“I do NOT have brass knuckles,” I protest. “Not yet, anyway,” I add after all of a second.
“Not yet?” Ace asks, looking curious.
“Um, I’m going super villain,” I admit a bit shyly.
He raises an eyebrow for a moment before holding out a hand. “Welcome to the dark side, oh villainous lady,” he says. I grin slightly as I take it. I feel a little guilty, really. Here he is, doing so much for me when we weren’t even friends back at our old school. Sure, there might be a revenge aspect to this—
There probably IS a revenge aspect, I realize, looking at him sharply. “Are you using this as an excuse to get even with Matt?” I ask.
“I—I am HURT you would even suggest such a thing,” he says after all of a second, complete with dramatic hand movements. Wow, he’s changed. I mean, back in the old days I’d have never seen him speak, much less lie so outrageously. “I’m doing a favor for an old friend!”
“He’s getting away from Morgan,” Freddy says.
“Freddy, I can do terrible things to you, man, and then make it look like it never happened,” Ace says, glaring at the other male. “I am NOT afraid of Morgan!”
“He’s got a crush, and now he’s stuck on a bus with her ALL the time,” Freddy goes on, not even phased by the threat.
“But… isn’t that a good thing?” I ask, confused.
“Not when she’s oblivious! I’m trying to get over her!” Ace says, looking quite put-upon. “So instead of talking about that, let’s go deal with Matt,” he says, waving a hand to his side. A large silver surfboard appears next to him, one large enough for all three of us. “Step aboard, ladies and gentlemen. Air Ace at your service!”
“So Morgan is terrifying, huh?” I ask as I gingerly step on the illusion. It’s solid. That’s shocking. The illusions from Skye’s class had been mere images. “HOW is this solid?” I ask, poking it with my foot. “I mean, I’ve heard all of your illusions were, but I thought it was just to you, or something.”
“He basically creates temporary matter. He’s just that good,” Freddy says, happily hopping on the board and dropping both hands on my waist. I give him a dark look. “I don’t want to fall off,” he says innocently. Is it just me, or did he become a LOT more trouble when Ace showed up?
“You,” I say, “falling off of ANYTHING.” He grins at me. He’s got a sharp, narrow face and a lizard haircut, but he looks like a little boy getting away with a trick right now. Ace steps in front of me.
“If it makes you feel better, you can grab on,” he tells me as the surfboard takes to the air. “I was a bit surprised that Nico let you in,” he says as we head straight up. I’m suddenly happy that Freddy’s grabbed me, I would definitely have fallen off with this angle. I grab Ace’s black leather and mesh coat with both hands, just to have something to hold onto, myself.
“He did it because you asked him to,” I say, daring to glance down. “This is utterly—” I start out, only to change my mind as I see us fly past Firefly, “awesome.”
“Hey, Liz,” Ace says, waving at her.
“Ace,” she says, falling in beside us. “What are you up to?”
“Just getting friendly with some new converts to the villain side!” he says. “Freddy, you’re going dark side, too, right?”
“Um, maybe?” Freddy says. “I haven’t really decided yet—I mean, I’d be pretty good at it, I bet—unless you’re trying to make me your lackey like Jack is Brandon.”
“But you’d be a great lackey,” Ace says. “And don’t worry, I can keep a low profile,” he tells Firefly—before we promptly disappear. I don’t have time to be surprised, because we’re racing away now.
“You’d better not get kidnapped!” she yells after us.
“We won’t!” he yells back.
I think about asking. I decide not to. It is REALLY distracting looking down and seeing nothing, by the way. I think I’m having a mild panic attack, but I can’t be sure.
“So what sort of super villain do you plan on being?”
“What?” I ask.
“What sort?” Ace repeats. “Your gimmick--am I going to be in direct competition with you, like I am the guys?”
“Absolutely not,” I say, shaking my head almost wildly. “Nico wants me to learn how to use a bow—and um, I think he said something about guns and rockets?”
“Ooooh, so femme fatale sort of thing?”
“What, with the skimpy outfits and luring innocents into my web sort of thing?” I ask, only to pause and think about it. “Nah, Elidee would be better at that,” I decide after a moment. “When she’s OLDER, of course.”
“Elidee?” Ace repeats.
“She’s a thirteen year old pheromone user,” Freddy says. “She had Justin wrapped around her pinkie until Malina got irritated.”
“Malina?” Ace asks. “Man, I’ve missed a lot, haven’t I? What’s going on with Malina?”
“Well we were on a team together, right? And Justin had to do something that coulda got him killed, so he forced her to go on a date with him. Then EVERYONE went on the date, because he’s a moron. So it’s sort of up in the air,” Freddy says cheerfully. “But she DID get jealous—course it might have been overprotective, since she got kidnapped with him for a little bit. I dunno, it’s weird.”
“But doesn’t Justin like Morgan?” Ace asks.
“Sure, but with her out on the road with you, he pretty much gave up,” Freddy says. “It’s only you that’s too stupid to realize what an opportunity this is.”
“Ha! Right!” Ace scoffs.
“What’s going on with your team, man?” Freddy asks.
“I’ve got Morgan and Jimmi—and my Dad,” Ace says, flying over the town and pulling to a stop over our old school. We’re miles over their heads. Below us the football team is starting practice. “So every time I turn around, they’re ganging up on me. I did this wrong, I did that, I left the toilet seat up, I can’t run around in boxers,” he complains. “We’re living in that stupid RV, what do they expect me to wear to bed?” he asks.
“Yeah, it sucks living with girls,” Freddy says sympathetically.
“Excuse me? I’m standing right here, you know,” I have to say.
“Does Superior run around in boxers?” Freddy asks. “You’re living in a dorm with that group, right?”
My face turns BRIGHT red as I picture it. Both guys start laughing their heads off. “He does NOT!” I protest. “He’s a gentleman!”
“You’ve only been there for a couple of days, though,” Freddy points out.
“You’re both morons,” I tell them, focusing on the ground below rather than go on with the conversation. I wince as I see Matt get completely sacked by another player.
“So which one is he?” Freddy asks.
“Quarterback, right?” Ace says. “So he’d be in the first twenty numbers, or something…”
“He’s number seven,” I say. “He was so proud of getting ‘lucky number seven.’” I can’t help but add as I watch the pile of guys slowly crawl off of Matt.
“You mean the guy that just totally got owned?” Freddy asks.
“He’s—” I start out, barely stopping myself before I jump to his defense. That’s just stupid, I scold myself. He’s the one that dumped me, I have no reason to defend him—especially when he DID just get owned. “Yeah, him,” I mumble, sighing.
