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

by R. J. Ross

  "Yeah," she says. "I need money," she tells him a bit too bluntly, looking up at him.

  "For what?"

  "I want to take everyone to the aquarium downtown--and then, since it's at Crown Center, I was thinking we could go ice skating," she says. "But it's not a cheap trip--well, it's not for me. I'm broke."

  "I'll pay," he says.

  She laughs at him. "No, seriously, it's something I need to find a Hall Leader or someone for--"

  "I'm not broke," he says, looking at her a bit dryly. "I can pay to get a few people into an aquarium and go skating. In exchange, you help me with my Christmas Concert. Will that work?"

  "Are you going to bring the band in?" she asks, her eyes widening. "Will they even LET you bring them in? And if you do, wouldn't they count as your helpers?"

  "Nah, they let us use black suits, I should be able to sneak my bandmates in under that level," he says shamelessly.

  "Just wait until I tell them you said that," she drawls. "I bet, though, that the Liberty boys won't want to skate, will they?" she says abruptly, looking worried. "Jack doesn't even swim, because he's afraid of drowning. He's probably going to avoid ice, as well, even if it IS probably over concrete--"

  "Relax," he says. "Make it an option--if they don't want to skate they can go shopping at Crown Center. They have a ton of stuff to do there, right?"

  "Yeah, and food courts!" she says, cheering up again, "and that restaurant with the train!"

  "That's for little kids, isn't it?" Justin says, only to get "The stare." He blinks as the stare turns darker by the moment. "Not that there's anything WRONG with trains," he says quickly, holding up his hands. "And I'm not calling YOU a kid--" he adds, tripping over himself until she starts to laugh.

  "Yeah, but it's so cute!" she says, grinning. "They have the food delivered BY the trains over your head and you order on the phone!"

  "Maybe we should go sometime," he says. "I've never seen it, myself."

  "I haven't either," she admits. "Carla told me about it."

  "Then we'll at least walk past it. Who are you going to make your second helper?" he asks.

  "Carla, of course!" she says with a huge smile.

  "Carla."

  "Carla," she repeats, poking him for his incredulous tone. "She'll love having the responsibility."

  "If you say so," he says, digging out his phone. "I'll book our tickets," he tells her. "You go tell Carla what the plan is."

  "Okay!"

  Morning comes and every single door in the dorms gets knocked on at practically the same time. "EVERYBODY UP AND DRESSED!" Carla yells after knocking on the doors. "It's Malina's big day!"

  "Carla, I'm not getting married!" Malina says, trying not to laugh.

  "But it's still your day!" Carla says, practically bouncing where she stands. "This is going to be so fun!" She zips off, coming back bundled in her coat and pompom top hat.

  "We still need to get breakfast first," Malina tells her dryly, "and the aquarium doesn't open until ten."

  "Oh. Whoops." Carla looks at her phone.

  "And what time IS it, Carla?" Malina asks.

  "Um... seven?"

  "Exactly." Malina laughs when she pouts, hugging her happily, "you're so adorable," she adds, getting a happy hug back. "Thank you for working so hard for me, already!" she blinks as a phone appears in front of them, and Morgan snaps a picture of them hugging.

  "Totally worth waking up for," Morgan declares happily, admiring her picture. "Vinny! I want pancakes!"

  "Sounds good," Vinny says as he enters the dorm, yawning. "Blueberries? Strawberries?"

  "ALL the berries!" Malina says.

  He heads into the kitchen as the rest of the dorm get out of their rooms, heading for the cafeteria.

  After breakfast, at 9:30 sharp, the school bus honks, making them all jump and head outside. Snowflakes decorate the bus, floating gently over the side and landing on the words, "Malina's Day." They board, not that surprised to see the rest of the school already on the bus. Malina steps to the front, hesitates for a second, and then steps on the chair next to her for height.

  "Hi, everybody!" she says, waving at them with a grin.

  "Hi, Malina!" Morgan says.

  "Hey, shortie!" Jack says, only to get glared at by his girlfriend. "What? I'd let her call me disco ball if she wants!"

  Malina tries and fails to cover her laugh. "Hi, disco ball," she says, waving at him. He grins.

  "Did I tell you about how she threatened me with you?" he asks Aubrey.

  "Ahem," Malina says. "I'm talking, okay?" He promptly shuts up, earning her soon-to-be-trademark impish grin. "This isn't completely Christmas-y, and I'll admit, a part of me is using this to do something I've REALLY wanted to do for a while," she admits, making the group laugh. "But I think you'll forgive me when I tell you who's footing the bill--everyone, these are my helpers," she says as Justin and Carla stand up. "We'll be taking you to Crown Center, where we've got tickets for the aquarium! You can spend all day there if you want, or if you get bored, there's also ice skating. If that's not what you want to do, you can visit the food courts or go shopping--just make sure you get back to the bus by seven, okay?"

  The group cheers, and Justin has to wait for a bit before speaking. "And because I'm the helper for this, I did something--and this will be a shocker--NICE for Jack. Well, actually it was more for you, Ace, since we're bros," he says, digging in his pocket and pulling out two watches. "This one's mine--and this one's yours," he says, holding it out to Jack.

  "What is it?"

  Nico looks up into the rearview mirror from the driver's seat. "Justin talked me into giving you your Christmas gift early, Jack," he says. "You'd better not screw up on your day, otherwise I'll change the illusion to Jackie," he drawls as the watch is handed from kid to kid until it gets to Jack.

  "That means you don't have to follow him and Aubrey around for the day," Justin says to Ace, getting a stunned look.

  "Usually I'm against hugs, man, but if I wasn't stuck in the back, I'd hug you right now," Ace says, much to the amusement of the group.

  Jack puts the watch on and touches a button, and the illusion Ace usually gives him appears. "Awesome," he says. "Best Christmas gift EVER."

  "Before we get off the bus!" Carla says, making everyone jerk slightly, "We have some rules that you ABSOLUTELY have to follow! No running around or using your powers! Don't draw attention to yourself, and um--" she stops, looking at them. "I'm being SERIOUS," she tells them, placing her hands on her hips. "Stop laughing, it's rude."

  "Did anyone get that on video?" Nico asks. "Because I definitely want to show it to her, later."

  "I got it!" Zoe says, waving her phone in the air.

  "Good," he says.

  "I don't see what's so funny," Carla complains, making them laugh even harder. Malina reaches over and hugs her again. Once the hug is over she sits down, practically humming as she anticipates the day. Carla sits down next to her, and the bus starts down the road. After a moment, though, Carla leans down and whispers in Malina's ear, "Can you teach me to ice skate?"

  Malina's grin widens. "Absolutely," she says.

  "Can you teach me, too?" Ace calls from the back, showing the whisper didn't work at all. Soon everyone is chiming in, asking for her help. She can't help but laugh, already picturing herself, the smallest of the group, teaching these big, tough supers how to skate.

  "I'll do my best!" she tells the group as the bus pulls to a stop in front of Crown Center. "Let's go!" She gets off the bus, looking up at the brightly lit building with a brilliant smile. "This is going to be awesome," she says, looking at the rest of the group before heading inside. "And best of all, no one will make me ride with an adult because of my height!" she declares proudly. "BEST IDEA EVER!"

  She doesn't even mind when they start laughing.

  ***

  The aquarium is awesome, Malina thinks as she reluctantly steps out. It's only because a dozen of the others are giving her meaningf
ul looks right after mentioning ice skating that she's leaving. "Okay, okay, I get it," she says with a laugh. "Let's go ice skating!"

  "Yeah, no," Jack says. "I might look normal, but I'm not going to risk the weight thing. Aubrey can go, though," he says to his girlfriend. "I was going to hit the food stands--"

  "I'm in!" Trent says. "The food stands, that is--no offense, Malina."

  "None taken," she says, trying not to laugh. "Everyone that wants to learn to skate, or knows how, follow me!" she adds. To think she used to be afraid to speak in class. Now she's got most of the school following along. They head out of the building and across the street to the ice rink, renting skates and wobbling out onto the ice. It's the first time she's seen some of the kids look awkward, she thinks as Emily almost falls over.

  She steps out onto the ice, sliding into place in front of the group. "Okay ," she says, "everyone partner up--if you fall, make sure to record it! I'm sure we'll all want to see it in slow motion later," she teases with a little spin.

  "I shoulda named her Snowflake," Max says, looking a little too--

  "Feet on the ice, mister!" Malina says, pointing at him. "That's cheating." He drops an inch and promptly falls onto his butt. The group starts roaring with laughter, only to have half of them fall over, as well. "I guess even we aren't all naturals at everything," she says, pulling them to their feet one by one before starting to teach.

  As she skates backwards, pulling Justin along, he asks, "How did you learn how to skate?"

  "It has to do with water, doesn't it?" she says, smiling. "When I was little--even before I realized what I was--I was obsessed with everything to do with water. I talked my foster mom at the time into trying it. I was probably... six or seven," she admits. "I loved it."

  "Is she--is she still your foster mom?" he asks.

  "No," Malina says, her expression turning bittersweet, "she's not. I wasn't... I didn't mean to be difficult to raise, but how can I not be?"

  "Yeah," he says quietly. "Have you ever thought of visiting her, though?"

  "Maybe," she says. "When I'm a big name in the hero world I can go up to her house and say..." she falls silent, trying to picture it, "thank you," she decides. "I'll say thank you for trying, and that I don't blame you--or her, I mean."

  He goes silent, staring at her with a hint of awe. A tiny smile finally crosses his face. "I really do like you," he says, simply. She feels her cheeks turn red and looks around for some sort of distraction.

  "Oh, Emily fell," she says, letting go of his hands and skating off. Even if Emily's already on her feet when she gets there, she stays there. It's better than dealing with the awkward conversation.

  Emily doesn't say a word. She just glances from Justin to Malina and grins, taking the hand that's offered.

  Advent Calendar - Day Sixteen

  "Look," Nico says, leaning back in his chair and staring at the large woman on the screen. "He's ours--that takes him off your wanted list--"

  "I'm not going to try and put him in the Cape Cells," Marigold says, her irritation showing on her face. "There's a rule, in your school, that whatever Hall they came from, they go back to--"

  "Not in Rocco's case. He's not related to any of your working capes, or affiliated with you, personally," Nico says. "He's a member of two Halls already, and I've gotten hints from a few others, as well. If he never wants to work with you again, he's perfectly in his rights."

  "But he's still from my territory, which means I have the right to talk to him!" Marigold says. "Look, as much as I hate to, I'll explain what I want--and then you can tell him to talk to me."

  Nico kicks his feet up on the desk. "I'm listening."

  ***

  Rocco stares at his phone for a long, long moment, wondering what Nico was thinking by giving his number to Marigold. They don't get along, and that's putting it lightly. He'd have thought that his number would be off limits to the super that wants to put him in the Cape Cells--

  "Answer it," Nico says over the phone speaker. Rocco jumps, accidentally hitting the accept call button.

  "It took you long enough," Marigold says, her face appearing on the screen.

  "Forgive me if I had second thoughts about answering," Rocco drawls, inwardly sighing. "You can't arrest me--all the stuff I've been doing lately is for school reasons."

  "Sure, you SAY that," she starts out, only to stop. "Look, I want to be one of the helpers, or whatever it is you call them, for an advent day."

  "And you call ME?" he asks, almost dropping the phone before he bursts out laughing. "YEAH RIGHT!" he hoots. "Do you really think I'd ask for anything from you?"

  "I'm the one Hall Leader most closely associated with the U.S. Military," she says. He shuts up. "Now I'll admit, you and I will probably never see eye to eye, but how do you feel about our troops?"

  "Oh," he says. He lets out a long breath, giving in. "Fine, I'll agree to let you help me--if I like what you have to say in the next... oh, let's say ten minutes," he says, just because it irritates her. He still hasn't forgiven her for chasing him for so long.

  "I want to put together gifts and deliver them to our troops overseas," she says, going straight to the crux. "Showing them that our next super generation is willing to support them will boost morale. That I'm using a future super villain to do it, well, they probably haven't seen your debut."

  "And what gifts will they get?" Rocco asks.

  "I'll have supplies for gift packages sent to your school," she says. "Basic supplies, small luxuries, things that don't seem like much here, but you can't get over there. Your group can add whatever you want to them, just as long as it doesn't hurt morale instead of helping it. No war protesting crap, got it? I still don't like hippies because of that."

  "Marigold," he says dryly, "we aren't STUPID."

  "Tomorrow's your day, right?" she asks, ignoring that. "I'll have the supplies sent in the morning. I'll be there in the afternoon to go with you on the delivery."

  "Delivery?" Rocco repeats, but she's already hung up. He groans and heads to bed, hoping to get some sleep and wake up to discover it was a bad dream.

  Morning comes and Rocco hears his classmates shouting for him to wake up from outside. He groans and dresses, taking a shortcut through the Shadowlands to the platform at the top of the canyon. He already knows what to look for, after all. Most of the group is there, anyway, watching through the force field as a couple of delivery men unload boxes from the back of a black delivery truck. Nico walks up to the truck, wearing his Mastermental and puppets shirt, a coffee cup in his hand. He talks with the delivery guys for a moment before turning to the field.

  "Everyone has clearance, come on out and grab a box or two," he tells them. They head out, looking confused, but Rocco doesn't explain until all the boxes are in the cafeteria, ready to be opened.

  "Today's my day," he says to the entire school. "My helper is... well... it's Marigold." He waits for the shock to die down before going on, "Marigold is a big supporter of the U.S. Military--which I'll admit, makes her a teeny, tiny bit more tolerable in my eyes. What she suggested, and I--reluctantly--admit is pretty awesome, is making gift boxes for some of the soldiers overseas. They're the guys that won't be home with their families for Christmas. She's supplied a lot of stuff to put in boxes for them, but said we can put whatever we want in there with it, as long as it doesn't hurt morale. So if you want to draw pictures, or write letters, or maybe we can take and print out some pictures--" he looks at Nico.

  "Yeah, I can put together a printer for that," Nico says.

  "Then I figure we should get to work," Rocco says, opening the boxes. He runs into a box of cardboard pieces that fold into shoebox sized boxes. "Looks like we fill these," he says. "So grab a box and start filling it, then we'll take some pictures and put them in--think a school group photo would work?"

  "We should wear our uniforms for it!" Carla says, placing her tenth box into a pile, all of them filled. Rocco hasn't even put his first box down yet. With the re
st of them working, all of the boxes are filled in a short amount of time, but left open for the extra things. Ace is put to work placing illusions of drawings on paper for the others to trace. Jack is put to work making tiny metal Christmas tree sculptures for each. The rest of the kids settle down to write letters.

  When that part is done, everyone changes into uniform, setting up for a quick photography session. The villains get one picture, the heroes get another, and then the various goofy pictures happen. Rocco's favorite is the picture of Trent and Max almost hitting each other--but he's pretty fond of the picture of him stepping out of a wall, too. The one of Emily and her doppelgangers posing together is pretty awesome, too, he admits.

  They fill the boxes with random (signed in some cases) pictures and close them up. "So... how much is this going to cost to send?" Max asks, looking at the massive pile of boxes. They've been put in larger boxes, which are stacked until they tower into the sky.

  "Marigold said she'd be here soon to help with the delivery part," Rocco says, looking at his phone.

  "She's here," Nico says, tapping on the air before heading to the top of the canyon and walking out. A few seconds later he comes back in with Marigold, who gives him a dry look.

  "Really... interesting security program," she says.

  "I'm fond of it," he says. "Who will you need for this?" he asks.

  "Who wants to help me?" she asks as they come down. "We have a lot to deliver, so no weaklings invited," she declares brassily, placing her hands on her hips. "Well, other than Rocco, there. We need him to take us."

  "Thanks for your honesty," Rocco drawls. "So you're going to take the Shadowlands the entire way?" he demands.

  "Are you too weak?" she asks.

  "Well... no, I think I can do it, but you could have WARNED me--"

  "So who wants to visit our troops?" Marigold demands of the group. "Speak up! Don't be shy!" Trent raises his hand high, quickly followed by Emily and her doppelgangers. Soon a third of the school has volunteered, even Jack. Marigold looks at him, and he proudly shows her his watch.