Edgewood Series: Books 1 - 3 (72 page)

Carly poked me with her elbow and I had all I could do to keep a straight face.

Dr. Anton continued. “His devotion to his students was unparalleled. His life was not in vain, but serves as an inspiration to us all.”

A few students whooped and the rest of the auditorium broke out in loud applause. The clapping continued long after Dr. Anton reached his seat, and only stopped when he held up a hand for silence.

Mrs. Whitehouse was next. Although all four of them were the exact same age, she seemed the oldest of the bunch, walking hunched over in a slow shuffling gait. She’d been our high school lunch lady since forever so we all knew who she was, but she wasn’t well liked by the students. Not to be mean, but she was weird. Talking to her was always awkward because she tried too hard to be friends with the kids. I noticed that the clothing she wore now wasn’t too different from her lunch duty garb—shapeless matching polyester pieces. Navy blue today instead of her usual pastel colors. She grabbed hold of the microphone and lowered her mouth until we heard her lips bump against it. “Can everyone hear me?” she asked and then tapped the microphone repeatedly. When the crowd murmured affirmatively, she continued. “I will keep this short. In my whole life, Sam Specter was the only man who ever treated me decent. I don’t want to betray a confidence, especially now that he’s dead, but I can tell you that Sam and I were closer than we let on.” Mrs. Whitehouse raised her eyebrows waiting for a reaction. When she didn’t get one she said, “We were lovers. He was the light of my life and he felt the same way about me. I will never know love like that again and I can tell you this—” She paused dramatically. “ Without him around, I will never be the same.”

Mrs. Whitehouse trudged back to her seat and the stunned audience didn’t react at all. Applause didn’t seem appropriate. Mrs. Whitehouse had managed to be awkward and weird on a large scale, and somehow tarnish Mr. Specter’s image at the same time. She also managed to take a man’s death and make it all about her. I doubted that they were ever in love, and judging from the looks of the others on the stage, they felt the same, but really what did any of us know? Few people knew that Sam Specter, beloved science teacher and member in good standing, had acquired superpowers as a teenager and was a member of a secret society called the Praetorian Guard. Fewer still knew that he’d actually been a traitor, pretending to be on the side of the Guard while working undercover for the Associates, a group we’d been told wanted to come to power at any cost.

I’d seen the brutality of the Associates firsthand when they’d kidnapped my nephew Frank and forced me to do a series of challenges to get him back. I could still feel the pain of being jolted with electricity by two Associate thugs. We weren’t formally introduced but I’d never forget the leers on their faces as they tortured me. The one with a snake tattooed on his neck was particularly nasty. If those two were the minions, I could imagine what kind of person led the organization.

And Mr. Specter, it turned out, was on their side. Right now the auditorium was filled with people who believed he died of a heart attack, when in fact he was killed in an explosion. Really, what did any of this matter now? Mr. Specter was gone and he wasn’t coming back.

Russ

Afterward there was a social in the school cafeteria. Frank made a dive through the crowd and went right for the dessert table. He loaded a plate with cookies and brownies, then cracked open a Mountain Dew before Carly had a chance to stop him. It was a safe bet that he'd be bouncing around for hours after this. And good luck getting him to sleep later. The kid was a human pogo stick.

I took off my tie and stuck it in my pocket. My mom had been wrong. Very few of the guys were wearing button-down shirts and ties. I felt like an overdressed freak until Mallory came through the crowd and ran a hand over my sleeve. She turned back to Jameson who lingered behind her looking uncomfortable. He was wearing a polo shirt buttoned to the top so it looked like it was choking him. "Russ, you look so handsome!" she said. "Doesn't he look handsome, Jameson?"

Jameson grunted something I didn't catch. Meanwhile my mother, who'd planted herself next to me, beamed upon hearing Mallory's compliment. I could almost hear her thinking,
I told you so
. Mallory's mom made her way to us, and she and my mother greeted each other like old friends. They'd only met at the airport, but they'd bonded over the fact that their kids were academic decathlon winners.

While they talked, I asked Mallory, "Did Nadia come?" I glanced around the room as if saying her name would conjure her up.

"Didn't you hear?" Mallory said conspiratorially.

"No, what?"

Jameson stepped between us. "Nadia is under house arrest. Her mother is furious that her dad let her go on the trip without her permission. She has her under lock and key." He seemed happy to know something I didn't.

Mallory nodded vigorously. "I stopped over and she answered the door and said her mother has added all kinds of restrictions. She can’t do anything anymore. Can’t talk on the phone, can’t go online. Her mother installed alarms on the doors, if you can believe it. They never ever let her be alone. She can’t even sit on the front porch unless her mother is with her. It broke my heart to see her looking so sad."

"Did you see her face?"

"Well, not really." Mallory stopped to think. "She had her hood up, like she does, you know. I could tell she was crying though. We only talked for a minute and then her mother came charging up and basically slammed the door in my face.”

"Wow." I thought Nadia had it bad before, but it sounded like her mother was in prison guard mode. Poor Nadia. I knew her mom would be mad, but I had no idea it would be this bad.

"So you didn't know any of this?" Jameson said.

I hated to give him the upper hand. "No, I haven't heard from Nadia at all. She hasn't projected to me either."

“Doesn’t keeping her locked up like that sound like child abuse?” Mallory said. “I mean, that can’t even be legal.”

“I guess.” I stuck my hands in my pockets. “Maybe her mom will get over it and loosen up after a while.”

“Maybe,” Mallory said. But she sounded doubtful.

Before this, my biggest worry had been the effects of the trip on Mallory. Mr. Specter had conducted a session with Mallory using his invention, a Deleo, a goggle-like device that strapped to a person’s head and could be used to change memories and essentially brainwash them. This was before we realized he was working for the Associates of course. After Mallory had finished with her turn with the Deleo she came out of the room dazed like a zombie and I had big fears as to what had happened to her mind.

But Jameson and I had spent an afternoon questioning her after we'd returned home and all her memories seemed intact. Her personality hadn't been affected either. She was the same as always—personable, outgoing, smart, and still a total flirt. Maybe the Deleo hadn't worked or maybe it had worked but the effects had worn off. The Deleo had been a new invention, after all, just a prototype. It looked like Mallory had lucked out and it hadn't changed her at all.

So I'd been worried about Mallory getting her memories altered and her brain fried, but she seemed fine. Now my concern shifted to Nadia. How could her own mother treat her that way? Nadia was so good too. It's not like she was the kind of girl who needed constant supervision. All she wanted was a little bit of freedom. And to be like everyone else.

When Nadia and I had been dodging explosions in Peru I was hoping we'd get out of there alive. I’d thought ahead to our return home to Edgewood. Maybe for a while we could be normal teenagers and do regular teenage things—go to a movie, eat fast food together, make out in a car. I looked forward to getting my driver’s license so I could pick her up and we could do anything we wanted. Now it looked like I might not be able to see her at all.

Mallory broke into my thoughts. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about something, Russ.”

“Yeah?” I said.

She tilted her head to one side. “It’s about Nadia. Something she said on the trip. About you.”

I noticed that girls did this kind of thing a lot. They say things in bits and pieces to catch your interest and then watched for your reaction. Why they can’t just say what’s on their mind, I don’t know. Anyway, I played it cool, just nodded and waited. Jameson looked interested too. He shifted forward to hear what she was going to say. Suddenly the three of us were a tight little triangle in the middle of the crowd.

“Well, it’s just… Nadia is under the impression that the two of you are in love.” She gave a little half-laugh to show how ridiculous the idea was. “I tried to explain to her that you can be super close to someone, and go through a traumatic time together, but it’s not the same as being in love, but she just wouldn’t hear it. She really jumped all over me. I think you’re going to have to talk to her about this, Russ.” She ran a finger up and down my sleeve. “Maybe let her down easy? You’ll have to do it carefully. She’s pretty delicate.”

“She said she’s in love with me?” I asked, pleased. Mallory’s words were bringing back a buried memory. Something Nadia had said to me when my brain was muddled and I’d been really out of it in Peru. It was all coming back into focus now. Nadia and I had been running away from the convent hand in hand, trying to escape from the horror of Mr. Specter’s Deleo. We were almost to the gate when Nadia had said,
You know, I really love you Russ.
Even though the memory was a little blurry, it rang true, and I knew in my heart it had really happened. The realization hit me in a good way. I felt like a guy who’d dreamt of winning an Olympic medal and then woke in the morning to find it hanging off his headboard. Puzzled to find out it was real, but definitely happy about it.

“Well, yeah, that’s what she thinks,” Mallory said, shaking her head.

But even as Mallory couldn’t wrap her brain around the idea, Jameson caught on. He studied my face for an instant and then crowed, “I think Nadia speaks the truth. These two beautiful young people
are
in love. Isn’t that right, Russell?” He slapped me on the back so hard he probably left a hand print.

I stumbled forward involuntarily, then when I got my bearings, turned around and gave him a forceful shove. “Stop it,” I said, my voice nearly a growl.

“Dude, take it easy,” Jameson said, throwing his hands up in surrender. “What’s your problem?

“Keep your hands off me or there’s going to be a problem.”

From behind me, I heard my mother’s worried voice. “Boys? Is everything okay?”

I ran a hand through my hair and smoothed the front of my shirt. “Everything’s fine, Mom.”

“Sorry to upset you, Russ,” Jameson said. “Jeez, someone’s a little touchy.”

Mallory took hold of my arm and leaned in close. Her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. “So it’s true about you and Nadia? What she said—that’s true?”

A few months ago I would have loved being in this scenario—Mallory up against me, her eyes imploring—but now it didn’t mean a thing. “Yes, it’s true about me and Nadia.”

She let go and her gaze dropped to the floor. “Wow, I didn’t see that one coming. Well, good for you guys. I guess I owe Nadia an apology.” She glanced back up, but this time she looked at Jameson. “I’m really happy for them, aren’t you, Jameson?”

“Ecstatic,” he said, his voice tinged with sarcasm. “I hope they name their first son after me.”

“Trust me, I wouldn’t do that to a kid,” I said.

Jameson opened his mouth to respond, but Mallory suddenly announced we were going to the refreshments table, which turned out to be a good distraction. All three of us grabbed cans of soda—diet for Mallory, not that she needed it.

On either side of the room, easels displayed photos of Mr. Specter. People clustered around taking a look. For the most part, though, the conversations I overheard had nothing to do with Mr. Specter. It was like people had forgotten we were at a memorial service. My friends Justin and Mick saw me across the room, called out and made their way to where we stood, which meant I was forced to introduce them to Jameson. He held out his hand stiffly, and said, "Nice to meet you." Mick smirked before shaking his hand.

It was one of those situations where worlds collided. I could see that Mick and Justin thought Jameson was a pompous jerk and that Jameson thought they were idiots. He looked at me standing next to them like we were the three Stooges. Frankly, neither of them got an accurate first impression. Mick and Justin were good guys. A little immature, but fun to hang out with and loyal like you wouldn’t believe. And yes, Jameson was full of himself, but we had some history now, so it was getting easier to look past his prickly, in-your-face, I’m-smarter-than-you attitude. And if Jameson had actually invented the kind of surveillance system he’d claimed to have designed, then some of this smug genius act was deserved. It was entirely possible that someday all of us would be bragging about how we knew him before he became famous. Of course, he could just be making up crap to impress people too, but time would tell.

“How bizarre about old man Specter dying,” Justin said. He raised a finger and pointed. “And all three of you guys were there.”

I nodded. We’d been briefed on what to say, but I didn’t trust myself with Justin and Mick. They knew me too well. Luckily, being a girl, Mallory was happy to fill in the gaps.

“It was terrible, just terrible,” she began. She told the whole story, just as we’d been instructed, and threw in some embellishments of her own. “As soon as he collapsed, we all just automatically knew what to do. Russ helped Mr. Specter get to a chair and I got him a drink of water. And then Jameson ran to call 911.” Her eyes filled with tears. How could she do that so convincingly? “The ambulance came within twenty minutes. The paramedics did everything they could, but even as they were working on him I could tell they were too late.” She shook her head. “And this is the saddest part. He had just been telling me about a trip to Italy he was planning to take next year. I guess it just goes to show you that you never know how much time you have.”