by R. J. Ross
An alarm goes off and he waves a hand, using his teleportation watch to bring him to the entrance of the campus. He goes through the exit, looking around curiously, and then down, slightly. One eyebrow rises slightly. The petite woman standing in front of him is wearing far too much red and green. "Bells?" he says.
She blushes brightly for a second, glancing down at her shoes. "It's the height of fashion where I come from, I'll have you know," she informs him. "I'm here on behalf of--"
"Not here," he says, glancing over his shoulder. "We've got at least two kids that could possibly hear us from where they're at. Come with me," he says, heading down the street for the apartment building.
"Don't you at least want to know why I'm here?" she asks, speeding up to keep up with his extremely long legs. His legs are almost taller than she is, she thinks irritably.
"It's almost December," he says.
"Yes, yes it is."
"Shouldn't you be making toys?" he asks.
"I'm not in that department," she says, pushing her hair over her shoulder. She feels self conscious, next to his ridiculous Mastermental of Puppets t-shirt and jeans. He looks like a slob, she decides, staring at the puppet on the back. "Should you really be wearing that?" she asks.
"You'd be shocked how often I hear that question. I love this shirt--I've got it in three different colors," he says, pulling out his phone and aiming it at her. "No offense, but I need to scan you in order for you to enter."
"But--"
"And you're scanned," he says, only to frown slightly, looking a bit confused. "I honestly don't have you in any system I've ever seen. Interesting... what's your name?"
"Toodles."
"Ability?"
"Magical animal controller."
Nico stares at her for a moment. "REAL ability," he says.
She gives him a dark look, and enunciates it clearly, as if he hadn't understood her the first time, "Mag-ic-al an-i-mal con-troll-er."
"So they exist?" he asks.
"Yes, they exist. Now, can we get on with our meeting?"
"Did you bring any of them with you?" he asks curiously. "I've always wanted to see a flying reindeer."
"No, I didn't bring them with me," she says. "They draw too much attention."
"So how did you get all the way to Missouri? Did you run? Fly?"
"I took a plane."
"In that outfit?"
"Yes, in this outfit," she says, sighing loudly.
"Okay, just checking," he says, looking away for a moment.
"You're laughing, aren't you," she says, not asking.
He starts roaring with the suppressed laughter, so she just stands there, waiting for him to finish, her foot tapping with impatience. "Don't you think--" he says, getting his breath back, "that that might draw attention, too?"
"They thought I was auditioning for a children's movie," she says.
"You sure?" he asks, grinning evilly.
She sighs, again. "Mr. Technico--"
"Call me Nico."
"Nico, then, I have a very busy month ahead of me, so if we could get this over with, I'd appreciate it."
"Eh, I'll take you back," he says, blowing it off. "Come on in--press your hand to the screen and step on the footprints, please," he adds as she looks a bit confused. She does as he says and they head into the apartment building and up the stairs. A few minutes later they're in his apartment, and she's being served cookies and cocoa by Lady Rose, much to her shock.
"Please, call me Summer," Summer says, sitting down on the couches. "I've always wanted to meet one of Santa's elves."
"Then, um, Summer, Nico, I've brought a special invitation for your Cape High," Toodles says, digging into her bag and pulling out a slender wrapped present. She holds it out to Nico, who takes it with a curious expression. The present opens at his touch and a small digital screen pops up.
"Ho ho ho! It's an honor to meet you, Technico!" Santa says from the screen. "Thank you for being kind to Toodles. She's not used to being out in the real world."
Toodles blushes brightly.
"You do know they make these things called phones, don't you?" Nico asks, placing the present on the table and leaning back with his cup of cocoa.
"Hello, Santa, I'm a big fan," Summer adds.
"As am I!" Santa says cheerfully, "I'm a huge fan of both of you and of Cape High, Technico, which is why I wanted to make a proposal."
Nico looks over at Toodles, and then at the screen again. "I'm listening."
***
A Letter from the Author
Hey, everyone! R.J. here to tell you a few fun facts! Back in August, two of my Facebook followers, Storm Ray and Jaydon Yeomans posted a few titles they thought would fit Max's book (one of them was, actually, Mic Drop!) When I saw how enthusiastic they were about the new book I decided that we should have a little competition to title the book when the time came. So when I started revising I let everyone on Facebook toss up suggestions and vote (I've done that with a few things already--you really should consider following me^_~) Amazingly, the title they suggested all those months before won! (Well, I mean, maybe not that amazing--Max and mic drops go together like peanut butter and jelly, you know?)
So we have Storm, Jaydon, and Jason Perry (who also suggested it) to thank for our amazing title! Thanks, guys, for your assistance! And thank you to all the others who suggested titles, I really appreciated it^^
As for this book, I hope you enjoyed it. You probably realize by now that this book leads directly into the Cape High Christmas book. When we pick the series back up, things that happened in the Advent Calendar have officially become canon.
Also, for those of you wondering if Phoebe is out of the story... well, we'll just have to wait and see^_~
And since this is coming out right at Thanksgiving in America, I'd just like to say how thankful I am for my readers. You're the reason I can keep doing what I love<3 Thank you!
~About the Author~
R.J. Ross has been writing since junior high, when she discovered that it could help her keep an A in English Class. She lives in Missouri, where she spends all of her time writing. If you would like to see more of her work, you can find several short stories at amazon.com/author/rjross!
Like her on Facebook for bonus material such as character profiles, unpublished information, and status updates at https://www.facebook.com/capehigh! Or check out her blog for free Cape High short stories at https://capehigh.wordpress.com or follow her on twitter @rjrosscapehigh
~~~~~~
~About the Cover Designer~
Artist, designer, programmer - you would think that by growing up near the Gulf Coast Leslie Zielinski would spend more time on the sandy beaches. No, she spends her time in front of a computer screen creating digital art and making it come to life.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
