She nodded. “He was dead for a while. It’s got to be nice that he’s regenerating back to his original age instead of being behind. Then you can do more together. Plus, it’ll be easier for him to get a job and not get in trouble for skipping school. All kinds of stuff.”
“Yeah, but if my parents catch him living in The Apartment...It’s going to get complicated fast.” Orlando twirled a figurine in between his fingers. “I found a condo; he’s going to be my renter. Nia got him a legitimate ID with a fake name, or rather, her tribe helped her do all of that. We’ll be moving him on Saturday. Unless Alan has something more important for me to do.” He gazed pointedly at their alien boss.
“No, this meeting is to touch base. I’ve been given work to do, but it is a project I have to do on my own,” Alan stated. “I thought you’d appreciate knowing what was going on, why there is a lull.”
Angela nodded, glad someone was thinking about keeping the communication channels open. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. “What kind of a project?”
“Research on my ship,” Alan said flatly, though he also shifted in his chair and she wasn’t sure why he was acting so…nervous.
The new guy, Gideon, coughed quietly. “If you want, I can do some snooping through people’s stuff. Try to gain some more information on who we’re dealing with exactly. I know we don’t have a lot of names of who is still working with the other tribes, but I might be able to find out?”
“Like get inside people’s personal property?” Cadence asked, scrunching up her nose. “I want to make progress, but does it have to happen in a way that’s so unethical?”
“It’s war,” Orlando countered. “Sometimes you have to do things that are bad for the greater good.” Again, he looked at Angela. This time he blushed before shifting his gaze.
What was that about? She exhaled sharply, more annoyed than ever. “They need to be taken down, end of story. I’m all for it, Giddy.”
“At the moment, I’d feel more comfortable with you hacking into more official databases. Perhaps your school surveillance, as well as a few other businesses I’d like for you to check out,” Alan said, all at once drawing boundaries and keeping the peace within the group. He was so good at being diplomatic and an adult even though he wasn’t much older than them. She’d peg him at about twenty, but he acted a lot like he was forty and full of wisdom beyond his years. She should just ask him to end her curiosity.
Gideon gave a sheepish shrug. “You can give me the details later. I need to talk to you about something, anyway.”
“Can’t share it with the rest of the class?” Orlando quipped. “Secrets always hurt someone.”
You’re one to talk. Angela almost said it out loud, but she held her tongue. Even if she was bitter, she wouldn’t betray his trust. He was right; secrets did hurt. A lot. She brushed aside a stray, dark curl from out of her eyes. “I’m curious too, Giddy, but I’m guessing this is more of a business only sort of thing.”
With a small blush, Gideon nodded. “Just new guy questions.”
“I’m all about helping the new guy out!” JD said, his enthusiasm oozing out.
“Thanks,” Gideon mumbled.
“Anyway,” Alan said, “As you know, our last mission was...interesting. The rehabilitation went awry and The Doctor’s meeting with his investors went on as planned. Which was what we wanted. We were able to gain a bit of information from observing this meeting, though not much. What I know for certain is that the rift between his tribe and the blue tribe is something we can take advantage of. They’re a lot weaker divided than they were united. Just like we’ll be doing more work with the yellow tribe, Nia’s group. Strength in numbers.”
Great... Angela couldn’t stand Nia. The girl was blunt, annoying, and she’d tried to kill Orlando. That last part alone made Angela want to hate her guts. Okay, technically he volunteered to die. She wanted his life force to raise Dallas from the dead again. They’re best friends. Not to mention how guilty he felt for Dallas dying in the first place. I get it, but still! She’s so mean and selfish.
On this matter, Angela was in the minority, though. Everyone else leaned forward with great interest, ready for Alan to elaborate.
“We need more from the Ilotus first,” Alan said. “I wish I had more for you to do. Hopefully soon.”
“It’s cool,” JD said.
Cadence gave a soft smile. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. We’ve had an eventful six months as it is. Seven, it’s been seven months!”
“Wow,” Orlando said. “Feels a lot longer, and I mean that in the best way possible.” He sighed and pulled out his cellphone. “I was hoping this would last a lot longer. Don’t want to go home yet. Guess I’ll see what everyone else is up to.”
Ugh, does he have to rub it in like that? Angela squeezed her eyes shut to keep her tears at bay. She could feel them beginning to well up from frustration. Up until a week ago, he’d invite her to hang out with him. Movies, food, local events, whatever was going on nearby, they’d do it. What am I doing wrong? Even before he broke up with Tait, he still wanted to do stuff with me, so if he’s talking about hanging out with her…what gives?
“Guess it’s time to call it a night then,” JD said. “Mom will be happy we’re back in time for dinner for a change. She giving you grief about doing things on school nights, too?”
Shaking her head, Angela stood, her eyes still closed. “No, she’s used to me having other activities. Plus, my grades don’t suck like yours do.”
“Weird,” he mumbled. “Come on.”
Orlando stood up and moved away, his ear pressed to his phone. “Hey, Tait. Busy?”
“I’ll meet you outside in a minute,” Angela managed, heading back toward the bathroom before she burst. Her emotions were getting too overwhelming: her chest hurt, her stomach felt sick, her head was dizzy. Classic symptoms of a broken heart, but it wasn’t like she was in love with Orlando. Okay, I am. I think. This crush is a lot stronger than any other I’ve had. Boys are awful for being able to do this to me.
JD groaned. “I’m hungry.”
“And I need to pee,” she snapped. “It won’t kill you to wait!” And before she could hear his reply, she slammed the bathroom door shut and locked it. She sat down on the closed toilet lid and took in a deep breath.
Get a grip. You should have known this was going to happen. From the first moment you met, he was attached to Tait. When they broke up, he was still emotionally bonded with her. You brought this on yourself. It’s time to move on. Save the dating thing for after high school. Hopefully by then, all of this will be over. She dabbed at her eyes with a piece of toilet paper. But it still hurts. Because she’s bad. So. Bad. I just don’t get it. He knows all of the bad things she’s done. The people she’s hurt. The fact that she hurt me. It’s like he doesn’t care, unless he’s only spending time with her for the sake of the mission. Why wouldn’t he say so, though?
She took longer than a minute to use the bathroom. JD could deal. No way was she going to head out of there without a smile, even if it was fake. By the time she opened the door, everyone but Alan and Gideon had left. Just as she was about to head out Gideon said something that caught her attention.
“I know I shouldn’t have gone through Sprout’s phone like that, but I was bored and I want to show you all how committed I am to this.” He sighed and kicked at the floor with his feet. Shaggy, dirty blond, hair fell over his green eyes. “I almost mentioned what I found to everyone, but Cadence’s disapproval made me nervous. Don’t want to cause waves.”
“Understandable,” Alan said. “For the time being, stay out of her phone. I’ll be by tonight with the list of other places I want you to look into, first. But it’s good to have my suspicions confirmed. She’s still working with her tribe. I’m not sure what to do about Orlando...”
Gideon sighed. “Maybe we should just tell him she’s not better. That she’s still bad.”
“I’m not sure he’d believe it,” Alan said. “Or p
erhaps he will. He’s always been the most difficult one of you to read.”
“Telling him she’s messing around with another guy isn't going to work. He'll get mad,” Gideon mumbled. “And probably at me for snooping.”
“I know. I’ll think on this problem. I’ve never liked them together. While technically they aren’t a couple anymore, I can see they haven’t completely severed ties either. Ordering him to end the relationship is outside of my power.” He shook his head. “Knowing him, he might also leave and join with her instead just to spite me. The fact that he isn’t choosing to be with her is a small solace. He’s clearly still making up his mind over the matter and it’ll mean more for him to come to the conclusion on his own. A denial he still has to face.” Alan gave a weak smile. “Thank you for your honesty. The others might not fully welcome you yet, but I do. Give them time. They’ll come around.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you later tonight.”
“Yes, good day.” Alan bowed and disappeared from sight, no doubt teleporting back to his ship.
For a moment, Angela watched Gideon. He seemed sad as he brushed his messy hair from his eyes.
Nervously, Angela stepped out of the bathroom doorway and approached him. “We need proof if Orlando is ever going to believe you. I mean, she’s bad news. It’ll only be a matter of time before she finds out he’s working for Alan. Then it’ll get really ugly because Alan’s her boss’s ex-fiancé and Tait seriously hates his guts. She’ll hurt Orly. A lot. Maybe even...kill him.” The thought sent shivers down her spine. One would think it impossible, but Angela knew for a fact that Tait was capable of murder. She’d already killed a few teens under the guise of euthanasia. Only those poor kids were healthy until the Doctor got his hands on them. She’s nothing more than a pathetic accomplice.
Gideon gazed at her with wide eyes and a slack jaw. “R-right, I mean, you’re right. So we gotta keep them broken up.”
“Yes!” Angela loved the idea. “But it has to be something he does on his own. Somehow we have to set him up to see the truth.”
“Alan said to stay out of her stuff, otherwise I’d say we could see when she’s meeting this other guy next...” He tapped his chin with his index finger. “But I didn’t promise to stay out of the guy’s phone! I got his number.”
“We can find him!”
“And bring them both down!”
Angela held up her hand. “I think we need to high-five this. Don’t deny me, now.”
Gideon clapped his hand against hers, smirking. “Just this one time. High fiving is not cool anymore.”
“JD says it’ll never go out of style, but you might be right.” The smile on her face softened. “For now, we’ll keep this between us. We can let Alan in on the plan later.”
“Good idea. Don't need to give the others any more reasons to hate me,” he mumbled. “Maybe I should have told him that Sprout is meeting with one of my old friends soon too. But that might not mean anything so…”
“We’ll let that one go for now. And no one hates you,” she insisted. “But we don’t know if we’ll find anything, so better to not get anyone worked up over what could potentially be nothing.”
“Cool! I should go,” he said. “So should you. JD is looking kind of...impatient.”
She gazed out the store window and saw her brother peering in, glaring at her. Rolling her eyes, she adjusted her purse. “Yeah, he’s never been good at waiting.”
“Thanks for believing me.”
Angela waved as she headed toward the door. “Of course. It’s the right thing to do. They need to stay away from each other.” And not because I like him. I’m doing this for Orlando’s safety. At least, that was the lie she told herself.
Chapter Four
“You can come over and ‘study’.” Orlando read the text from Tait, again. He didn’t particularly like the idea of being alone in her room. Okay, part of him liked the idea. The irrational hormonal part of him. His heart didn’t feel into it. Actually, it hadn’t been fully devoted to her for a long time. Loved her, yes, he loved her. In a way that was a little more than platonic, but not destined for eternity. From the moment they first met, they’d connected on a level that was a lot more mature and deep than he’d experienced before. There had been so much potential between them. Orlando wasn’t the type to believe young love lasted, but with her he’d entertained the possibility of things going…somewhere. The day he found out who she worked for and what she really believed was the day his heart got crushed.
She made the choice to put her dark work before her relationship with him. They broke up. That should have been the end of their story. He had no desire to date someone who would knowingly hurt others, who would go against their own planet. Talk about an ultimate betrayal. How could he be with someone who was unable to stand up for the right thing? On the other hand, he didn’t know the whole story. What kind of ultimatum had she been given? Did she ever have a choice in the matter? A lot of other teens working for her boss didn’t get the privilege so why assume she did too?
When Alan started rehabilitating the teen victims of her tribe, a spark of hope ignited inside of Orlando. If she didn’t remember the things she’d done, if she no longer was backed into a corner where she felt forced into her actions, could he hold all of them against her? Was it fair to condemn her for acting out of self-preservation? With the war no longer between them, wasn’t it fair to give her a real chance?
It seemed like the right thing to do, though. Kind of. He felt like he should, at the very least, forgive her. Didn’t forgiveness mean looking past the wrong doing and giving the relationship another try? Or maybe I have a hard time letting go. Maybe I’m tired of all the good things I have getting ripped away from me and going sour. It’d be nice if I could reconcile something in my life. Save one thing from being destroyed. Can’t I at least have one thing go right for me?
In the process of trying to rescue Tait, he knew he was demolishing all of the good things going on with Angela. When he didn’t think about Angela, he could justify everything between him and Tait, easily. Once his mind started wandering toward that girl, he only felt guilt. Because while things with him and Tait were good, things with Angela were awesome. It didn’t help he’d kissed her...right before her memory got wiped, of all times. A kiss he couldn’t get out of his head. It was nothing like what he experienced with Tait. With Angela there was so much more fire, passion, and dare he think it, desire. He longed for her, which said a lot since the thought of being physical with Tait often turned his stomach into knots for some reason. Not Angela; she had him wanting a deeper emotional connection.
He knew he was the worst person on the planet for pulling a stunt like kissing and hiding. Even more so because she couldn’t remember that it happened. Biggest mistake ever. I need to tell her, but she’s going to be mad. Then JD is going to murder me because I made her mad. After she murders me. I’ll be double dead because he’ll kill me again for kissing her. I’m sure Alan and Cadence will triple and quadruple it just for good measure.
Putting his phone away, he decided to pretend he didn’t get Tait’s text. I’m not sure what to think about her. Starting slow and working toward more is better, or so I’m told. Mind and heart don’t seem to agree. With how strongly Tait is coming onto me right now, it’s probably a bad idea to go spend time with her until I’m sure, I know that much.
Tait, he was pretty sure, wanted to get him into her bed. Seeing as how it would be his first time, it wasn’t a decision he was going to make lightly. The idea made him nauseous, which was a good enough sign to stay far, far, away. Nerves, but it’s also too soon. Way too soon. I’m going to have to tell her to back off. Again.
Grumbling to himself, he made the difficult decision to go home. It shouldn’t have been hard. One would make the assumption that his parents being home for the first time in almost a year might have him eager to get back to his mansion. His parents dumping their parenting responsibilities on his older sister, Lyssa, ho
wever, left a bitter taste in his mouth. Going out of his way to avoid them was so much easier. Ironic, they do it to me and I do it right back. Guess I’m doomed to emulate them after all.
His father was waiting for him in the living room when he walked into the mansion.
“You’re back earlier than I thought,” his father said, turning the page in the book he was reading.
Orlando rolled his eyes. “It’s a school night.”
“That’s never stopped you before from staying out until curfew.”
“My classmates decided they wanted to be back before dinner.” Talking about food got his stomach rumbling. Finding something to eat sounded like a good idea. Orlando made his way to the kitchen to rummage through the pantry and the refrigerator.
His father glanced up at him. “Your mother was going to make spaghetti in a few minutes. Care to join us since you’re here?”
“No,” Orlando said flatly. He found leftover pizza, which was a lot more appealing.
“I thought you said you were going to try harder, especially with her, to form a relationship with us.” His father snapped his book shut, glaring.
With a heavy sigh, Orlando shut the refrigerator door. “It’s nothing personal, I’d just prefer to not throw up later tonight because I forced myself to eat it. I mean, Mom messes up cereal. I don’t want to know what she’s going to do to the noodles.”
“Cook them in a pot and add some canned sauce, what else?”
“Cereal, Dad. No offense, but it’s one of those foods that’s supposed to be idiot proof. I don’t know what happened, just that when it got to me, it was inedible.” He folded his arms in front of him. “As for trying, fine, how about I make dinner. Or you two can eat whatever she makes, I’ll zap something in the microwave and I’ll eat at the table with you both. Until she can make something that resembles food, I’m not touching it.”
His father seemed satisfied with that answer because he opened the book back up again and changed the subject. “How is the ‘project’ coming along?”
Fortified Page 4
