by J. T. Stoll
“I’m busy after school every day this week, mostly work.”
“You have a job?” Pieter asked.
“Yeah, Bueno Taco. Lots of drunk college students on weekends.”
“Sounds entertaining.”
“Usually.”
Gloria was so different one on one. She actually talked.
Mr. Miner spoke up. “Pieter, can you tell us the value of X?”
“Three fifths,” he responded.
“That’s… that’s correct.”
“You know me and math; we’re like this.” Pieter crossed his index and middle fingers and held them high. “Now, do you mind? I have a conversation to finish.”
A few laughs around the class. Mr. Miner said, “Yes, actually. There’s an empty seat up front if you’d prefer.”
“Well, Gloria, yes I love you, but I already have a girlfriend. And I have to pay attention in math class.”
A few students laughed. Gloria said nothing but slunk low in her seat. Pieter stared up front and zoned out. His mind flashed to the dying form of James and the feeling of Croga’s strength in his muscles.
Then he heard Jed’s words. “Your deaths will entertain me.”
Mentally, he pictured the highlander as a little girl in a pink dress and moved the voice up a few octaves. “Your deaths will entertain me.” Given the choice between terror and humor, Pieter preferred humor.
Saturday had almost been a blast. Dragging the girls and Neil into a dark field, becoming the king of that field… he’d almost managed to make something of the evening. And then Jed had appeared. And then Neil had decided to charge into battle for death and glory. It’s not as though they’d accomplished anything. James still died. Except now, they’d gotten sucked into some weird civil war from another world. Even Pieter couldn’t make that fun.
Mr. Miner gave some time-consuming homework then released them. Gloria waited outside. “I wanted you to see this,” she said and pulled a little square of thick paper from her pocket. She handed it to Pieter. “What do you think?”
It was a photograph of a woman wearing a long blue dress that reached to her ankles. The neckline rested just below her shoulders. Beautiful but not sexy. Long wavy, jet-black hair fell to her waist and billowed behind her.
She faced the camera with a very slight smile. Her dark-brown eyes contained a confidence Pieter had never seen. She didn’t seem carefree, just convinced that everything in the world would turn out fine. He couldn’t quite place her age: twenty? Thirty? She seemed timeless.
Above the woman’s head, some kind of light threw down beams and bathed her in colors Pieter couldn’t quite put words to. Blue, yes, but a very crisp blue. It almost looked Photoshopped.
“What do you think?” Gloria asked.
“She’s hot. Where’d you get this?”
“James.”
“Oh, right. Didn’t he say you reminded him of her?” Pieter studied the picture then looked up at his friend. Gloria definitely wasn’t so tall and skinny. But they both had the pale skin and black hair. “A nice compliment. But he didn’t say who she was, did he?”
“Julia. That’s all he said.” She put the picture in a three-ring binder. “Figure out a time and somewhere private to meet up, then text me.”
“Sure thing. I never refuse a lady wanting to secretly meet with me.”
Gloria’s mouth dropped open and she stared down the crowded hallway.
“That’s the reaction they usually give.”
“No, do you see that?” she asked, pointing.
“Yeah, I don’t think those shorts fit the dress code.”
“No, it’s gone. I saw a short, dark-skinned man. He looked like that… that assistant of Jed’s. Dek. But he was almost naked and see through, like he wasn’t really here. He just stood there, and people walked right through him. Then he vanished. You didn’t see anything?”
“Spooky. Though streaking is rather pointless if you’re invisible.”
Gloria didn’t respond.
“You afraid?” He gave her an affectionate hug. “Don’t be. You’re wearing your jewelry, right?”
“Yes,” she replied, placing her hand on the zipper of her sweater, a little below her neck.
“Good. I’ll get you the staff back after school. Remember. James said you’re the strongest.”
The warning bell rang and Pieter dashed down the hallway. Second period waited across campus, and his mind churned to produce an excuse in case his feet didn’t carry him fast enough.
7. New Friend
Vero walked toward sixth period music appreciation, chatting with her two closest friends, Kristin and Carrie. She liked sixth period. It gave her a nice nap at the end of the day.
“Did you hear about those guys downtown?” Kristin asked. She had long black hair and clothes Vero wished she could afford. Kristin’s dad was a lawyer; she and Carrie had both grown up in SLO. They were well connected in the school, which made Vero connected, too.
“That was my brother-in-law’s store,” Vero said.
“What?” Kristin asked.
“And I was there.”
“No way,” they both said at the same time.
They stopped at Carrie’s locker. The blonde opened it, checked a mirror, and dabbed on some makeup. Somehow, beneath it all, Vero could still make out her face.
“You see them?” Carrie asked.
“Yeah,” Vero said. “A sword and a mace. So weird.”
“Crazy,” Carrie said. “They hit all those stores. Then just… like, vanished.”
“In SLO. In broad daylight.” Kristin giggled. “What is this, Bakersfield?”
Vero had told them, once, where she was from—and had regretted it ever since. Bakersfield wasn’t that bad, mostly poor and hot. But to these girls, anywhere outside the Central Coast was an unlivable ghetto. They walked into music appreciation.
“Hello,” a timid voice said from the back row.
Vero glanced toward the voice. Gloria? Despite the warm weather, the girl wore a loose sweater and some jeans. Vero’d noticed her a couple times earlier in the day, but they hadn’t spoken since Vero and Pieter had run off with the weapons.
“Hey,” Vero said. “How’s things?”
Gloria shrugged. “You know, fine.”
“A friend?” Carrie asked.
“We met this weekend,” Vero replied. She smiled at Gloria. “You want to come sit with us?” she motioned toward the right side of the room.
Carrie scowled. Gloria glanced at the three of them then looked down at her desk. “No, thanks.”
Probably for the best. Vero walked with her friends to their normal spot. “How’d you meet?” Kristin asked.
“Didn’t I tell you about that double date Pieter made me go on Saturday night?”
“You mentioned it…”
“It was for this old friend of his, a guy named Neil. He was pretty, well, let’s just say there’s a reason he needed Pieter to try and work out a date for him.” They laughed. “Gloria was the female sacrifice.”
“They hooking up?” Carrie asked a little too loudly.
Vero shook her head. “Doubtful.”
Carrie lowered her voice and said, “I’ve seen that girl around since I was six. We’ve never spoken.”
“She’s just so plain, not to mention a little… uh… pudgy,” Kristin added. “I’m not surprised.”
Vero said nothing. Yes, plain described Gloria very well. But of all of them, Gloria had noticed James’s injury. She’d insisted on calling an ambulance to try and save him. Deep strength and kindness hid inside that quiet shell.
“Anyways,” Vero said. “Neil spent half the night talking about video games. Even Pieter couldn’t salvage it.”
A brief grimace flashed over Kristin’s face, not the first time she’d showed annoyance that Vero had scored Pieter. Kristin’s parents had old money; their daughter was aware of the fact and seemed to see herself as some kind of social monarch. A girl like that wanted
someone high visibility like Pieter.
Kristin’s interest made Vero nervous. But Kristin helped Vero’s social standing. So did Pieter. Between the two, she’d gone from ignored to popular during the first month of her senior year, so she could put up with any interest Kristin might show toward Pieter. By reputation, Pieter had dated half the school, but he never cheated once committed. Few agonies exceeded being cheated on.
Kristin lowered her voice and said, “I just remembered. She’s a foster kid. She got taken from her parents because of drugs or something ten years ago. She’s all kinds of screwed up.”
“What?” Carrie asked. “Go on.”
“I think she got arrested once…”
And so they continued. Normally, learning a classmate’s secret history would fascinate Vero. But Gloria? They’d shared such a strangely intimate experience that hearing all her garbage, true or false, felt ugly. And foster care? Vero knew what it was like to lose a parent—to have one leave and never return at least. But losing both?
Gloria, chin on top of her desk, looked like she needed a hug. But in the atmosphere of a classroom, Vero laughed at the right moments.
8. Bonfire
Vero watched the hills leisurely pass as Pieter’s car struggled up to freeway speeds while carrying four people. In his trunk, he had some firewood, lighter fluid, obligatory s’more materials (Pieter’s idea), and magic weapons from another world.
“We headed to Pismo Beach?” she asked.
“Nah, they don’t allow fires,” Neil said. “You haven’t lived here long, have you?”
She glanced back at him in the rearview mirror. “Six months. My oldest sister married a guy here, and we moved. We’d been dying to get out of Bakersfield forever.”
“You’re from Bake-O?” Neil said. “I’m sorry.”
Pieter reached back and slapped him on the side of the leg. “This is why you don’t have a girlfriend.”
The sun drifted below the line of hills, and the sky above captured the last of its golden rays. The road curved left, they crested a hill, and a sparkling expanse of ocean greeted them. Peace knocked a little stress out of Vero’s chest.
“I don’t miss the Central Valley,” she said.
“What about you?” Neil asked, turning to Gloria. “You lived here your whole life?”
“N-No, we moved here when I was five.”
She seemed nervous. Neil pressed on. “What brought you here?”
“Mom’s job.”
“Yeah? What’s she do?”
“She died ten years ago.”
“Oh, I’m… umm…”
Pieter slapped Neil on the knee again; the car went silent.
Vero wore her band. She’d gotten into the habit after Sunday, at least when her clothing allowed. It stayed in her purse or backpack otherwise. After what happened at Carlos’s place, having it felt safe. The axe now spent most of its time in Pieter’s trunk. It was already Saturday. Between school and Gloria’s job, this was the first time they’d been able to get together.
They passed through a toll gate and drove out onto Grover Beach, following a vehicle pathway made out of pressed sand between enormous sand dunes and the icy waters of the Pacific.
“Jed and Dek were spotted, again,” Neil said. “Somebody dubbed them the Medieval Burglars.”
Vero’s pulse quickened. “Did they hit up more shops?”
“No, witnesses say they were sitting on top of one of the downtown buildings, just watching people go by. They were gone by the time the cops showed up.”
The car bumped up and down over the sand.
“Watching for us,” Neil said.
“Yeah,” Pieter said. “We kinda figured that out.”
Pieter pulled his car off to face the ocean. Amid the sound of crashing waves, the boys stacked the wood from the trunk into a log cabin and doused the structure in lighter fluid. Vero and Gloria watched them from seats in the fine-grained sand, which still held the sun’s heat. Gloria, in a sweater, crossed her arms and looked out at the surf. Vero scooted over to her.
“Cold?” Vero asked.
“Just thinking.”
Pieter ducked and held a lighter to the logs. The fuel caught, and a wave of heat washed over Vero. Above, the first stars appeared. Everything seemed like four friends having an ordinary bonfire on a Saturday night.
Vero held her hand toward the fire’s warmth. “I’ve been wanting to try something.”
“What?” asked Gloria.
Vero stood up and focused on her soul armor. Inside Pieter’s trunk, the axe was close enough that the armor didn’t whine of incompletion like it had at Carlos’s apartment. Heat danced inside. Heat was her friend. But how much of a friend? She held a hand over the dancing flames.
“Careful, pretty girl,” Pieter said.
Her inner fire connected with the bonfire. She reached into the flames. No pain, no burns, only strength. Even the smoke didn’t send her eyes watering, though the smell was strong.
“That doesn’t hurt?” Pieter asked.
“No, feels great,” she replied. She knelt and lay on her stomach on top of the logs. Sparks popped and burst out as the fire readjusted itself. “I’m Diotein, the fire, right?”
Something wet hit her back. She craned her neck; Pieter held the lighter fluid. He opened his mouth in feigned surprise. “Oops.”
She laughed, the added flames giving strength. “Cut… cut that out!” She waved her hand playfully, which sprayed flaming droplets in his direction. Pieter dove into the sand.
“Remarkably, your clothing isn’t catching either,” Neil said. “It’s also protected. As I suspected, we have a lot to learn about these things.”
“I could sit here all night,” Vero replied.
She felt a little pulse—not a physical feeling, more of something inside. The belt around Neil’s waist glowed silvery. He reached his hand over the flames. “Uncomfortably warm for me. Better than third-degree burns, but not the sort of thing I’d like to take a nap in, like Vero there.”
She closed her eyes and soaked in the wonderful heat, like a hot bath after a day playing in the snow.
Neil droned on. “But anyways, this goes to show that there’s more to these artifacts than hacking and slashing and jumping really high. For example, when James pulled them out of the bag, they were collapsed on themselves or folded up somehow. Not sure about you guys, but I haven’t been able to replicate that: Reitach is completely solid, no hint of a joint or telescoping parts. Seems like it was some part of the magic we haven’t figured out. Also, James said something about sight. I think we’re getting the beginnings of that, right now. Check this out.”
Vero opened her eyes. Neil stepped outside the firelight. “I have activated my soul armor, so you see light emanating from it, right? However, look at the sand around me. Does it appear illuminated?”
“No…” Pieter said.
“The light from my armor isn’t reflecting off the sand. It’s not light. You’re seeing something else, perhaps something from elsewhere in the electromagnetic spectrum…”
Vero lost track of Neil’s words. Pieter’s voice broke her out of the daze. “Vero, you’re smothering the fire.”
Vero pulled herself away from the flames and sat next to Pieter. “Not so close,” he said, squirming away.
Her heart dropped. “What, why?”
He pulled a marshmallow out of their bag and held it next to Vero’s cheek. It began to turn a golden brown. “Because I can make s’mores on you.”
“You always said she’s the hottest girl in school,” Neil said.
“That joke is now officially banned,” Pieter replied. He smeared the marshmallow onto her cheek.
Vero pulled it away; a string of melted sugar trailed behind. She sat in the cool sand by herself.
“So, uh, looks like we’ve started the team meeting,” Pieter said.
The fire crackled.
“Team meeting” sounded like a school project. Vero pictured
James again. She heard the glass shattering at Carlos’s shop. Whatever comfort she’d gained from the fire faded.
Neil removed a laptop from the backseat of Pieter’s car and opened it. Under the twilight, the screen made his face a ghostly white. “Yes, I was wondering when we’d begin. Thanks for coming out. I thought that a bonfire would afford us the most privacy.” Other than passing cars, the only other people on the beach were marked by a few scattered fires. “I have a list of things to discuss. Item one, team name. I’m now accepting nominations.”
“Team name?” Vero said. “That’s item one? And who put you in charge?”
“Well, I’m the best strategist,” Neil replied. “I’m raid leader for the Army of Pwn, after all. Anyways, I have seven suggestions. One, The Rebel Alliance. Two, The Avengers. Three, The Fellowship. Four…”
“Rebel Alliance? What are we rebelling against?” Gloria asked.
“It’s a…” Neil began.
Pieter interrupted him. “Stop, just stop, Neil. Are all those movie and comic book references?”
“One’s from a video game…”
“All right, let’s skip the team name and get to something more important,” Pieter said.
“A name’s important.”
“How about, ‘What in the world are we doing?’” Vero shouted.
“Keep your voice down,” Neil said.
“Say something useful.” Vero glared at him over the flames.
“Oookay, how about we start this over,” Pieter said. “Neil, close the laptop. We’ll get to your to-do list later. Gloria, you’ve been quiet. What do you want to talk about?”
“That’s okay. I don’t have much…”
“No,” Pieter said. “We’ve been talking to each other all week about this. I haven’t heard from you… outside algebra, that is.”
“Well, I want to know… how are all of you doing?” Gloria asked.
“I’m good,” Neil said. “Though we should totally figure out the scope of what exactly—”
“I’ve had worse weeks,” Pieter said. “Homework load not too bad. Family drama manageable. I’ve got a pretty girl in my life. And, you know, superpowers cancel out the threat of murder in my book. You, Vero?”
