The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus) (11 page)

"What if Jack is gone?" I ask.  "How do I tell you?"

"Call me."

"I don't have a phone," I say, giving him a dirty look.

"Have Sunny call me.  Or Max, or whoever."

"What's your phone number?" I ask, digging through my pockets to try and find a pen, then realizing I don't have paper, either.  "Do you have a pen?" I ask.

He sighs, shaking his head.  "Look, kiddo--I know you're worried about your friend, or enemy, or whatever he is, but I really want to see if I can find the bigger problem first.  So why don't you tell Max about Jack?  I need to go."  And before I can protest, he's gone, flying away at a speed that takes my breath away, literally.

I look at the school--then blink as Max appears right in front of me.  "Where the heck have you been?" he demands.  "Look, I know you're mad at me for some reason, but running off doesn't do you any good!  You gotta tell me to my face what's wrong!" 

I've honestly never seen him this frustrated before.  He almost looks panicked--no, it's not almost.  There's honest worry and fear in his eyes and he keeps bringing his hands up, almost touching me, then bringing them down again as if he's not sure he should.  "Please?"

"I--I went for a run," I say, turning away from him.  I don't know how to handle this reaction.  I'm a bit thrown off by how raw he seems right now.  Unconsciously I wrap my arms around myself.  "Because--because the first thing I worried about when my dad showed up was not seeing--"

Do I want him to know this?  Do I want him to realize that I've got a crush on him already?  Why am I so stupid as to fall for a guy I've only known three days?  Was it like Jack said?  Am I just looking for the first person to treat me decently?

"Seeing?" he says.  "Oh, man," he goes on, moving closer.  He's standing behind me and I feel his fingers touch my left hand.  "Hey... Zoe, the reason I don't want you coming here--it's not that I don't want to see you.  I just... look, as soon as the new school starts up I'll be transferring to it, too.  We'll be in school together every day, okay?"

I don't want to take the hand he's offering, but I find my fingers closing around it.  "You should have just said that instead of acting like a jerk," I mutter.  "But I have no way of telling you things, or Trent, or--I didn't want you to worry, okay?  You're the first friends Sunny and I have ever had."  That's true--and doesn’t sound like some cheesy romance drama line.  Okay... it sort of sounds like one, but it's not quite as bad. 

Wait... isn’t there something more important--but how will Max really take the idea of trying to save Jack?  He’s already said he doesn’t like the guy.  He’s even used his powers on him.  I don’t--I mean, you can’t expect a super villain to go off saving the day, right?  Especially when it’s a guy that they don’t even like!  But--

“You’ve really got to get that technopathy in check,” he says dryly.  “I mean, seriously, you’d think you of all people would have a phone.”

“We couldn’t afford a service even if I didn’t blow them up,” I say absently, trying to figure out how to talk him into saving Jack.

“You wouldn’t need one, I bet.  You could hack into the air waves or something, right?” he says.  “It’s kind of irritating having to deal with your brother every time I want to talk to you, you know--“

“So you don’t like Sunny?” I ask.

“No!  I like him just fine!  I just... can’t really flirt when he’s glaring at me,” he mutters.  “I mean, it’s a definite deterrent knowing if I screw up and say the wrong thing both of you will tackle me.”

“Max, will you do something for me?” I ask abruptly, giving up on some sly scheme.  I don’t know how much time I’ve got, honestly.  I turn to him, looking into his eyes.  “Even if it’s something you probably wouldn’t do by choice?  I need to know, because otherwise I’m going to ask Trent--and I’m not sure Trent can do it as fast as you can--“

“Sure,” he says, looking startled.  “Don’t go asking Trent things when I’m right here, you know?  I’ll get jealous.”

“Yeah, right,” I drawl.  “But you’re not going to like it--I’m warning you now.”

“Yeah it’s right,” he mutters.  Is that a bit of red on his cheeks?  No, I have to be imagining it.  “Okay, tell me what this horrible thing you want me to do is,” he says.

“Can you find Jack?  I don’t think he’s at school--and he ran off after saying some really stupid things--“

“Stupid things?”

“Um... like he--“ no, not about to mention the confession part of our conversation to Max, “like he knows where to get super powers from,” I finish, going straight to the crux.  “And I think he was serious about it.”

“To get--“ Max scowls.  “How would a norm get super powers?” he asks.

“Dad said there’s a theory--something about recessive genes or something,” I say.  “How do we know he doesn’t have one?  What if some mad scientist is experimenting on him right now?  America’s Son said he’s run into a few of them before!”

"You saw America's Son?  More importantly, you're asking me--a super villain--to save a guy that no one, not even Trent, who's obviously going to be hero material--in our group, even likes?" he demands.  "What are you smoking, Zoe?  Let him do whatever he wants, it's no skin off my back--"

"He'll come after you," I say.  "He'll come straight for you and maybe me!"

"Why?"

"Because he thinks he's in love with me," I say angrily.  "And he's mad at me because he thinks I'm dating you because you've got powers!"  The blank look on his face makes me want to hit him.

"Well... yeah," he says finally.

"What?"

"Not many supers date norms," he explains with a shrug.  "I mean, sure there's a random news reporter lady, or a cop, or a scientist, but for the most part... I mean, it doesn't work out.  My mom was a norm and she ran off the first time I had my cradle floating around the room.  I think I was seven months or something.  It just doesn't work out," he repeats.

"It doesn't matter!" I say, although I can see where he's coming from.  It's difficult enough being the one with the powers--but now isn't the time.  "Will you do it?  Or should I ask Trent?" I ask him.

He hesitates.  I can see it in his eyes that he really doesn't want to do this.  "It might be too late--go get Sunny and Trent, we'll all head out," he decides, not sounding very enthusiastic at all.  “I doubt we’ll find him.”

"Thank you, Max," I say quietly before rushing for the school.  I hear him mutter a curse and kick a tree behind me.  I owe him one, and I know it.  It's a bit worrying, really.

***

"I've got nothing."  I look over at Trent, feeling my headache grow worse.  We're sitting on a street corner in town.  The moon is overhead, looming down on us.  We've been searching for hours.  No one seems to know anything about Jack, which doesn't really surprise me, although it does depress me.  A teenager can disappear way too easily around here.

I lean my head against Sunny's shoulder, letting out a sigh.  "I give up," I say.  "Either he's blowing hot air or he's dead or something by now.  I want to go home."

Max drops down next to me, handing over a paper wrapped burger, then another to Sunny and a third to Trent.  "Only got you one, so don't start complaining about starving to death," he adds for Trent's sake.  "You can go buy another one yourself," he adds around a mouthful of burger.

We're all too tired and hungry to complain, even Trent, so we dig into the food and toss the wrappers when we're done.  "Let's go home," Max says.  "This is pointless."

"I don't know if Dad is home yet, though," I say abruptly, remembering what had happened.

"Huh?  Why?"

"Because he was looking for the freaky guy," I say.  They all turn and stare at me.

"Zoe... have you noticed how you tend to forget to mention important facts?" Max asks me in a surprisingly patient tone.

"Um... no?" I say, flushing and licking ketchup off my fingers.

"Tell us who the freaky guy is," Trent says in a drawling tone.

"You noticed it too, right?" Max says to the others.

"She's always been like that," Sunny tells them.  "She gets distracted or something."

"Yeah, but she's still cute," Max decides.  "Maybe she can be trained."

"I am not a puppy!" I complain.  "Look, Jack was more important because Dad was taking care of the freaky guy for me.  So we went to look for Jack... and failed," I say.  "But the freaky guy was all the way across the country and he didn't actually do anything except give me directions... and make the world warp.  It made me sick to my stomach, practically.  And... well... he looked like Dad.  But his hair was backwards."

"Backwards?" Trent asks.

"Like the black was white and the white was black," I explain.  "Then everything else was the wrong color, too.  Like the sky and the sand and the sun.  It was... freaky."  It was the only word I could come up with that satisfied me.

"Another Superior kid?" Max asks, looking a bit pale in the street light.  "That... probably isn't good.  Either way, if he isn't there you can sleep over at my place--"

"No they can't," Trent says.

"What?" Max asks.  "Who gave you a say in this?"

"They can stay over at my place," Trent declares.  "I've got both parents, one of them will definitely be home.  I heard Mastermental was overseas again.  We all agreed that they weren't safe at school, right?  So how would they be safe with just you as a guard?"

"Yeah?  Well then I'm staying at your place, too," Max says.  "I don't even know who your dad is, I can't say for sure he's a better guard than I would be."

"We don't even know Dad's not back," Sunny says, hesitating over the word "Dad."  "Maybe we should go to the apartment first before getting into some huge sleepover thing.  Honestly, I like having my own room."

"Sure, I want to see where you two live now, anyway," Max says, hopping to his feet and turning to grin at me and offer his hand.  I hesitate, thinking of all the things we've talked about, but before I even get the chance, Sunny's standing up and hauling me along with him.

"See what I mean?" Max mutters as I'm dragged right past him.  "Brother bodyguard."

"She wouldn't need one if you weren't chasing her because of who her dad is," Sunny says.

"I'm not chasing her because of that!" Max protests.  "She is seriously cute!"

"Naaaah, she's not cute," Trent says lazily following along, "she's... awesome looking.  That hair, the green eyes--"

"Dude, stop hitting on my future girlfriend," Max mutters, punching him lightly in the shoulder.

Not just my face is red right now.  My ears are burning and so is my neck.  "Both of you quit teasing me," I mutter.

"But can't you see her in a super outfit?" Trent asks.

"Ohhhh yeah," Max says.

Sunny tugs me in front of him, then turns and glares at both boys.  "Seriously, guys, lay off.  She's already been through enough today, you know?"

"Sunny's going to look pretty awesome as a super, too," Max says.  "But we already knew that--look at his dad."

I glance back and realize that Sunny's blushing now, too.  "I don't look that much like him!" he protests.

"You do," I say, grabbing his arm.  "And they're right, you'll make an awesome looking super hero," I tell him as I tug him back towards the highway.  "But enough of all that--we've got a while before we even have to think about it."

"We're twins," Sunny says.  "Even if we aren't identical we look a lot alike."

"Well, yeah..."

"So if you're in a super outfit wouldn't you look like Dad, too?" he asks.

The groans that came from behind us make me turn and look at the two guys who are suddenly gagging.  "That's so sick, man," Max says.

"I think I threw up a little," Trent agrees.

"She'd look more like Firefly, right?" Max offers.

“Maybe a little?” Trent offers.  “I dunno, Firefly’s got all white hair--and she keeps it short.  So I’m not really seeing it.”

I roll my eyes, glancing around as I suddenly feel like we’re being watched.  It’s not the best part of town to be in this late at night--but I’ve got a professional super villain right behind me, right?  Sure, he’s only seventeen, but he can lift greyhound buses with his mind, that’s got to count for something, right?  And who knows what Trent can do?

“Can we change the conversation now?” Sunny complains, jerking me back to the conversation. “What girls around our age have powers and aren’t related to me?”

“Why do they need to have powers?” I demand.  “You can date a norm!”

“And what, try and explain why the rosebush is trying to get up my pants?” he drawls.

“That sounds painful,” Trent says after a second of thought.

“It is.”

“I don’t know any,” Max says almost cheerfully.  “I know there’s at least two, possibly three more super brats in the area--which covers all the states that border us, but I don’t know their names, their ages, or even what gender they are.  Until they come into their powers there’s no telling, and even after that, there’s a good chance the parents will keep them a secret until they’re old enough to come out.”