Cape High Christmas: A Side Story (Cape High Series)

by R. J. Ross

  “It’s cold enough out that I can get away with a hat,” Liz says. “So? What are we going to do?” she asks. “I bet it’s going to be huge and showy--”

  “Actually... Um...” Aubrey says slowly. “We’re just going to go buy some coats.”

  “Coats.”

  “Yeah,” Aubrey says. “THEN we’re going to donate the coats to the homeless. I’m going to need your help keeping people in line, and providing the transportation--”

  “And the money for the coats, of course!” Liz says, starting to smile. “You know, if I was in charge of one of these days it’d be a massive showy thing of fireworks and barbecue and--”

  “Well, if you want we could end it that way?” Aubrey says. “I mean, I was just planning on helping some people out, but barbecue would definitely make Jack happy, and I bet a lot of the others would enjoy it, too--but I REALLY want to donate coats. I’ve been saving up my money for something big, and this is the opportunity, right?”

  “You don’t worry about money,” Liz says firmly. “I’ve been making S-class cash since I was about seventeen. It tends to add up. I’ll call the Hall and get the bus. Honestly, they need to make their OWN bus, at this rate. I think I’ll call Nico, instead--”

  “You can’t!” Aubrey says. “If he builds a bus for me to take them on their trip, then that’s breaking the rules--I can only have one helper, right?”

  “That’s stupid, how many of you kids are going to need a bus for this?” she says, looking at the ceiling. “You heard me, didn’t you, big brother? Go make the school a bus you lazy slob,” she says. To Aubrey’s mortification, Nico starts laughing.

  “I was just wondering when someone would say that,” he says. “But since it’s YOU asking me and not Aubrey, then you’re the one that owes me a favor.”

  “Yeah, yeah, as if you weren’t already planning a school bus,” Liz drawls. “Now! We need to call up the closest clothing store--they’ve got a few that have the donation area, right?” she says, bringing out her phone and tapping on the screen. “So we’ll go straight to the store, buy the coats and drop them off at the same time. Once that’s done, considering we’ll have two Liberty boys, we should have the barbecue, right?"

  “The sooner the better,” Aubrey agrees.

  “So tomorrow after lunch works, right? I need to call Mastermental and get the day off!” Liz says before she races away. Aubrey looks at her computer for a moment longer before bringing up stores and donation programs, instead. She aims her phone at the screen a few times and taps on the screen, taking the information. With that done, she heads for bed, intent on getting some sleep.

  The next day is bright and clear--or at least she wishes it was, Aubrey thinks as she heads outside. Instead it’s cloudy and threatening to rain. She looks up, frowning at the sky as if she could fix it that way. Maybe Liz could, she thinks as her foster mom comes down, but she seems HAPPIER when she looks up. “Oh, nice day!” Liz announces happily. Why yes, she HAD slept in. They all had.

  The sight of a gleaming bus with a digital sign on the side makes them both stop. At the moment the sign says, “AUBREY’S DAY,” and flashes the Cape High logo right afterwards. “Not exactly discreet, is it?” Aubrey says as Nico pulls the bus to a stop in front of the school and gets out.

  “Don’t worry,” he says as he sees her look, “this entire thing can be changed.” The bus shimmers and suddenly it looks exactly like a typical orange school bus. He snaps his fingers and it goes back to the "Aubrey Day" bus. “I did have to pull a few strings to get it licensed, which means YOU owe me more, little sister,” he adds with an evil grin for Liz.

  “I know, I know--I’ll help you with the Christmas presents,” she says.

  “Thank you, my most loving sister--”

  “Skye probably loves you more at the moment,” Liz says.

  “Sure she does, but keeping her focused long enough is pretty much impossible,” Nico says far too honestly. Liz starts laughing. “Okay, guys, you’re clear to leave,” Nico says to the canyon. One by one the students of Cape High come out, apparently appearing out of nothing. Behind Aubrey, the apartment kids, Max, and Adanna show up in their various modes of transportation. The bus is loaded in a blink of an eye.

  “This thing is awesome,” Max says, looking around the extremely plush bus with a grin. “Bucket seats, cup holders--are those tablets built into the back of the seats?” he asks, leaning over and tapping one.

  “Of course,” Nico says. “What bus is complete without the basics?”

  “Ahem,” Aubrey says, as everyone sits down. “Today is my day--and this might shock you, but Nico’s not my helper,” she announces. “My foster mom, Liz, AKA Firefly, will be helping us today. Everyone make sure you thank her for taking the day off of work for this.”

  “You’re welcome, you’re welcome,” Liz says, bowing grandly while grinning like an idiot.

  “And today we’ll be going to a clothing store,” Aubrey says, getting a rather lack-luster reaction. Considering that their clothing is mostly made tailored for them, it’s not that big of a surprise. “But we won’t be buying for ourselves. This is another one of those do-something-for-someone-else days. We’ll be picking out a coat, each, and then donating them to their donation program. Don’t worry, Liz and I will pay for them. But I want you to think long and hard about who you think would need that coat. Is it a child? A teenager? An adult? What color would they want? And most importantly, what sort of situation would cause them to need a coat and not be able to get one for themselves?"

  The group goes silent, looking down or around, anywhere other than at her, and she realizes that question might be a bit too heavy. "Well, um, anyway, let's get going," she says. "Ace, I hate to ask this of you--"

  "I'll make sure metal head doesn't stick out," Ace says. "IF you make him pay for the coat he picks out," he adds a bit evilly.

  "Sure, I get paid surprisingly well for someone making money under the table," Jack says. Aubrey smiles at him, sitting down in her spot next to Liz as the bus takes off. Before long, they're all heading into the large coat store, spreading out like a wave. Aubrey looks around for a moment before heading to the kids' section. Not surprisingly, more than half of the group is there, already.

  She looks at them for a moment before heading for the women's section, where, to her surprise, Jack and Ace are looking at coats blankly. "Think this would be warm enough?" Ace asks, holding one up. "I've only been cold, like, once since I was ten," Ace admits as Jack takes it from him. "It sucked."

  "Won't work--this is one of those frilly ones that are for going from your car to the store and back," Jack says, fingering the material. "It's not what we're looking for." Ace hangs it up, and goes back to looking. "An' don't just assume the little sizes are right, people come in all sizes. Back when I was an orphan, there was a lady that was tossed out of her home 'cause she lost her job--"

  When he checks out, he has a pile almost four feet thick of coats, all to donate. Aubrey watches that silently, her heart pounding against her chest and a little smile that doesn't fade as they board the bus back to school.

  "Happy?" Liz asks her.

  "Extremely," she says.

  "Good," Liz says, "because it's time for the party!" she declares as the bus pulls to a stop in front of the school. Most of the Hall is standing there, and picnic tables are laid out with piles of food on them. Several boxes of fireworks sit to the side.

  "Oh, wow, we're having a party?" Carla asks, staring out the window excitedly.

  "We sure are! Who wants to help me blow up a lot of stuff?" Liz asks. Every kid on the bus raises their hand.

  And as the fireworks blast through the air, Aubrey steals a kiss from her boyfriend--and promptly goes, "HAH! I knew I wouldn't stick!"

  "Try it up in the Arctic Circle!" Emily shouts over to her. Aubrey sticks her tongue out at her, making her sister laugh.

  So what she'd chosen for her day wasn't fancy, or even something that would make headl
ines, she thinks as she turns to watch the fireworks. It was something even norms could do. But for every coat they'd bought, she imagines a person keeping a little bit warmer in the upcoming cold.

  Advent Calendar - Day Ten

  Freddy looks at his helpers, taking a deep breath and placing the map on the table. "So first of all, thanks, guys," he says, "I really appreciate it. I couldn't come up with anything, you know? I mean, I guess I could have called in an adult, but... I'd rather do something stupid and fun than something that'll put me in debt for who knows how long."

  "It's fine," Lance says, grinning, "this sounds like it'll be awesome."

  "I don't mind," Brandon says, slowly disappearing in front of their eyes.

  "Brandon," Freddy says. "Stay with us."

  "Sorry, sorry," Brandon says, appearing again, "habit."

  "You can do your work invisible, but right now we need a strategic meeting," Freddy says. "Here are the items--I sort of borrowed a couple of Nico's junk boxes from the gym building, right? And a few other things. But, like, hide them all around. We've got some great areas to hide stuff here, here, here, and here, got it?" he says, pointing at the map. "We can't get caught by ANYONE, got it? If we get caught, it'll blow our game."

  "Yeah, but what will we give as prizes?" Lance asks, perching on Freddy's bed and staring at the map. "I got nothing, man."

  "Why does everything need a prize or some sort of moral?" Freddy asks. "Sure, it's fun winning stuff, and it's all well and good to help others, but we're capes. We'll spend the rest of our LIVES helping others, right? So why not just have some fun for a while? Why not just goof off and enjoy ourselves for one day?"

  "So... a scavenger hunt is your answer?" Brandon says.

  "Yeah, a stupid, no holds bar, scavenger hunt," Freddy says, grinning. "Make sure you booby trap those suckers, or at least make them hard to get to. These are capes we're dealing with, you know?"

  "This interests me." They all jerk, looking up as the door swings open and Nico leans against the doorway. "Just for this one, I'll make an exception and join in."

  The three teens look at each other, and then at the guy that made the rules and is, apparently, breaking them.

  "Will we get in trouble if you help us?" Brandon asks.

  "Oh, I'll probably get listed," Nico says, "but I'll ignore that. This sounds like fun. Let's see that map of yours."

  "Listed?" Freddy asks blankly. Nico ignores the question, looking over the map for a long moment.

  "You three will also act as the opposition," he says. "We can't let them win this too easily, now can we?"

  "Wait, wait, we can't beat some of the guys that'll be playing," Freddy says, suddenly worried. "Like Trent? I've got no chance. In fact, I have no chance against any of the named capes, and I don't want to put my brothers in danger just for a stupid game!"

  "Leave that to me," Nico says, only to make the random pieces of metal that Freddy stole earlier start floating. Before their eyes, small devices are built in groups of fives and separated into neat piles. "You figure out the clues and the routes each team will take--I suggest you keep each of the groups at a different station at all times, and I'll give you your battle orders in the morning," he says, grinning evilly. "Don't worry, this is going to be fun for everyone."

  He walks out of the room, leaving them to examine the items he created. "We've got a... button on each of these," Lance says, picking one of them up. He pushes the button, staring at it blankly for a moment before letting go. "Nothing happened."

  "Let me see it," Freddy says, taking the object and pushing the button again. An image of Lance floats above it, going, "Nothing happened."

  "AWESOME!" all three of them cheer. "This is going to rock!" Freddy adds, scooping up one of the piles. "Let's get to work."

  ***

  "Sir?"

  "Mmm? Ah, yes, yes, what is it?"

  "Nico's broken the rules. You definitively said that there was supposed to be only ONE helper, if the helper is an adult."

  "Well, yes, I suppose I did... It's Freddy's turn, isn't it?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "And did he ASK Nico to help?"

  "Well, no..."

  "Then I say this is just a bit of... high spirits on Nico's behalf. It does me good to see him so interested in things not mechanical. He's been on the naughty list for some twenty years, now. You can cut the man a bit of slack!"

  "Yes, sir."

  ***

  "So? Where's Freddy?" Justin asks, looking around the campus. "Are we going somewhere again?"

  "Where's Lance?" Carla asks. "And I don't see Brandon, either--" she races around the group, waving a hand through each of the empty areas. "Nope, he's not here!" she declares.

  "Today is a bit different," Nico says as five different objects float over his head. "Today, thanks to Freddy, Lance, and Brandon, we're going to play a little game. Form groups of five or so, everyone--one acting brawler per team." The groups sort themselves out and Nico tosses them each a clue.

  Invisible, the three watching them nod in agreement. Lance and Freddy go visible again as they head off to their personal posts. Lance shifts into a tiny lizard, perched high on the cliff wall. As the first group approaches he waits for one of them to point him out. When they do, he grabs the clue and shifts, changing into a reindeer and racing away with them chasing after him and laughing.

  Brandon sits on one of the buildings, clearly visible from the ground. The team assigned to go to his post first shows up, looking around for a long moment before looking up. He gives them a wave, showing off the clue, and promptly disappears, clue and all.

  Two of the teams are lucky, and find the first clue easily--only to fall into a Technico trap. The last team, though, find themselves facing Freddy, who perches on a red and white pole sticking up a mile in the sky--right in the middle of the Apocalypse field. He's dressed like an elf, complete with pointy hat, golden bells hanging from his clothes, and pointy toes on his shoes. The team steps forward, only to jump as holes in the field open and the robots come out, also dressed like elves and singing Christmas songs. That is, until one of the robots turn on them, and shouts, "INTRUDERS!"

  Freddy jumps off the pole, landing lightly on one robot's shoulder and jumping to the next, waving the clue in a taunting manner as the students try to get through the outraged elf robots. Nico, floating overhead with the rest of the school staff, has a grin on his face. Once the teams get the clues, they'll be switched around, the next group facing off against one of the three, or one of his traps. It'll keep them busy for the entire day.

  "You're breaking the rules for this, aren't you?" Superior says over Nico's earbud, using the family line. "You know the repercussions for doing that too often."

  "I do," Nico says, laughing his head off as Trent waves his arms through the air, trying to find Brandon. "Totally worth it," he declares. "I couldn't have picked a better team for this game if I'd tried. These three are brilliant evasive types, probably the best I've ever seen--or they will be, when I'm done with them. It would have been stupid of me to not step in, regardless of the threat of getting listed. This is the perfect training practice for them."

  "I see," Superior says. "You have a good point."

  Back on the field, Freddy can't help the massive grin that crosses his face as he hears everyone shouting and laughing. Maybe his day wasn't heart-wrenching, or touching (AT ALL), or even have a point, but hey, HE'S having fun! Once in a while, that's really all you need.

  Advent Calendar - Day Eleven

  Her name is Piper. She's all of fourteen years old, and would be classified as a telepathic dream walker, if she weren't so afraid of using her powers. She hasn't slept at night in over a year, so she's ALWAYS sleepy during the day. She yawns, covering her mouth with a hand as she stares at the phone in her hand. She doesn't remember signing up for this, she thinks with an inward sigh. It means talking to someone.

  Well... she looks around her room, trying to figure out what in the world
she can do that hasn't been done, or would be done better by someone else. There is... one thing, she thinks as she gets out of her bed and wanders into the den of the dorms. People jerk slightly as they see her, their eyes widening slightly at the sight of her out in public by choice. Sure, she'd volunteered and worked on Max's team, but that had been silent peer pressure. Everyone had done that--well, everyone other than Sandra.

  "Piper?" Rocco asks, looking at her curiously. "Is there something wrong? I thought you went to bed."

  "I need to..." she says, only to yawn again, "talk with Ace," she says, still half-yawning. "Will he help me?"

  "Sure," Justin says, looking over from where he's gaming. "Do you need anyone else?"

  "Ummm... someone with... lots of pillows," she says after thinking for a long moment. "And blankets."

  The entire room looks around and Rocco pulls out his phone. "Max?" he says a second later. "Piper wants help with getting pillows and blankets."

  "Piper does?" Max asks. "Let me--" he hangs up on Rocco and Piper jerks as her phone rings for the very first time. She stares at it for a second before answering.

  "Hello?"

  "How many and what type?" Max asks.

  "Lots and um... lots," she decides.

  "Got it," he says.

  "But I should owe you something, right?" she asks around a yawn.

  "Don't worry about it," he says before hanging up.

  A few moments later her phone rings again. She stares at it for a long moment before answering. "Hello?" she asks.

  "Hi, Piper," Ace says, his tone soft. "Justin texted me. You wanted my help?"

  "Um, yes, please," she says, looking confused. "But we've never talked, have we?" she says almost to herself, starting to wake up from the dreamy state and remember the facts.

  "Nope, but that's fine," Ace says. "I'd be happy to help. What is it you want to do?"

  She looks around, seeing several curious looks, and heads back to her room before answering. That she yawns several times during the short trip is completely ignored on her behalf. She's ALWAYS yawning, after all. She's even sleepier than Sunny is, most of the time! "I want to tell a story," she says after closing her door. "Just a simple Christmas story," she adds. "Can you help me?"