The Girl Who Could Fly (8 page)

    “I love you, Bella. You are the perfect daughter and wonderful beyond measure.” That is what Bella’s sickening mother might say while covering her in kisses.
    “But I love you more, Mother.” This is how Bella would probably respond.
    “And I love all of you unconditionally. Group hug! And then we’ll eat some yummy tofu,” Bella’s stupid father would say and throw his arms open wide.
     It was enough to make Conrad vomit. Which was why he was going to lop off the head of her stupid, ugly flower and watch it roll across the classroom floor.
    Out of the corner of her eye, Piper caught sight of Conrad carefully folding a piece of paper, and then moments later lifting a paper airplane into the air. It was, of course, no common paper airplane. Having been designed by Conrad, it was more like a fighter jet. Piper watched as Conrad quietly but quickly took aim and launched it with great precision across the classroom.
    And this is what happened—
    The plane zipped past Smitty and surprised him. He jumped backward to avoid being hit by it and ended up knocking into Kimber.
    Startled, Kimber grabbed hold of Smitty and delivered ten thousand volts of electricity into his arm.
    “Yeaowwwww!” Smitty yowled with enough force to shatter a person’s eardrum, smoke rising from the singed hairs on his arm.
    Startled, Professor Mumbleby dropped the book he was holding right on Violet’s head.
    
Thwack!
    Piper stared in disbelief as Violet shrank to half of her normal size.
    Because of her reduced state, so to speak, the fighter jet passed easily over Violet’s head. Next it veered past Daisy, course-corrected on Myrtle’s earlobe, and set a target straight for Ahmed and Nalen Mustafa.
    As the jet approached the weather station, both Nalen and Ahmed reached out to snatch the plane from the air. Because they both lunged forward at exactly the same time and in precisely the same way, they collided in midair and sent their science project flying.
    
Boom!
The weather station hit the floor and the spinning disk on the tower snapped free, ricocheting through the air at a frightening speed. It made a menacing swooshing sound.
    Meanwhile, the paper jet was running out of steam and was just about to hit the floor when the airstream from a vent propelled it on one last mission—straight at Piper.
    
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
All eyes were on the dangerously whirling metal disk, careening about the classroom. The children didn’t have to wait long before its ultimate target was announced. . . .
Swoosh, swoosh
—right at Bella’s Princess Madrigal.
    Bella’s eyes went wide. She reached for her darling creation.
    
Swoosh. Swoosh
.
    
THWACK!
In slow motion the metal bit into the green stem and the brilliant, bright, hopeful flower was guillotined from its stem and tumbled through the air.
     Before Bella’s eyes, Princess Madrigal fell to the floor, scattering petals where she lay.
    A terrible silence followed.
    Piper gasped, her hand coming to cover her mouth in horror as the paper airplane landed, almost unnoticed, on the desk before her.
    Bella fell to her knees, cradling her precious blossoms. No one spoke.
    Conrad drank in the sight of Bella prone over her now dying flower like a vampire lapping at an exposed artery. The grief, the sadness that Bella was experiencing filled him and stifled the terrible meanness and madness that had all but totally consumed him. He breathed a sigh of relief as the tension ebbed from his body, just as it seemed to descend on Bella.
    “Miss Lovely? Are you alright?” Professor Mumbleby came to Bella’s side. “Miss Lovely?”
    Bella wasn’t moving, just holding and looking at her flower.
    Professor Mumbleby was not exactly the most sensitive of men, but even a stone would have felt sympathy for Bella under such circumstances. “Miss . . . Bella? Bella, are you alright?”
    Finally Bella spoke, her voice trembling. “Professor Mumbleby?”
    “Yes.”
     “I was just thinking that my flower is still so beautiful. Maybe if I put it in water it would still bloom, and perhaps it’s a good thing that this happened because now I’ll know how long it will stay fresh when I grow other plants.” Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Bella rose to her feet, holding up the flower. “After all, a bouquet of flowers is probably the happiest and nicest thing ever. Right? It might make someone smile.” As always, Bella could find the silver lining in a dirty paper sack. She blinked away the tears that had been welling in her eyes and her face returned to its normal cheerful configuration. “Actually, I’d like to give this one to Dr. Hellion so that she can enjoy it.” Like all of the girls, Bella idolized Letitia Hellion.
    “I’m sure Dr. Hellion vill appreciate this, Miss Lovely.”
    Piper smiled broadly for her new friend and relief spread through the other watching faces . . . except for one.
    Conrad couldn’t believe his ears. Bella was happy?
HAPPY?
Was she crazy? What was wrong with her? The temporary relief he was beginning to feel was instantly replaced with double the meanness and madness that he had before. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Conrad meant business this time.
    “Professor Mumbleby? I can help Bella to Dr. Hellion’s office,” Conrad offered innocently.
     “How nice of you, Conrad. Very well. You may both go.”
    Conrad jumped to his feet and subtly jostled Bella and her stupid plant from the room. In the course of their travels he would see to it that Bella got the message once and for all. This time there would be no mistake.
    As the children righted chairs and took their seats, Piper’s attention fell on the paper airplane in front of her. Reaching for it, the paper instantly unraveled to reveal a message inscribed within. It read:
    WATCH YOUR BACK, NEW GIRL. YOU’RE NEXT!!!!
    Piper’s eyes widened with alarm as the bell sounded for a meal break.

CHAPTER EIGHT
 

P
IPER WAS pointedly ignored and left to tag behind the others like a lost dog as they did a walk/hustle to the dining lounge that was situated on the second-tier balcony overlooking the atrium. Piper was the last to arrive and found Nurse Tolle waiting for her. Nurse Tolle, as Piper was soon to discover, was in charge of the day-today operations and the general health and well-being of the residents of the thirteenth level.
    “McCloud, Piper?” Nurse Tolle snapped, flicking open a clipboard and pen. He was a mack truck of a man who in a past life had been a pro football player with a reputation for a mean tackle that earned him the nickname Bone Grinder.
    “That’d be me.” Piper smiled.
    “That’s me, what?” he growled back.
    “Uh, that’s me, my name is Piper?”
    “My name is Piper, sir!” he corrected.
     “Sir,” Piper echoed, rattled.
    Nurse Tolle quickly checked off several lines on a form. “I’m Nurse Tolle and you’re late, McCloud.” Nurse Tolle glared at Piper as though she had purposely made herself late.
    “Uh, I’m sure sorry,” Piper mumbled. “. . . Sir.”
    “Don’t let it happen again.” Nurse Tolle shut his clipboard with a bang. “I’ll let you off with a warning this time. We run a tight ship around here and have a zero-tolerance policy with rule breakers. Understand me?”
    “Yes, Nurse Tolle. Sir.”
    Nurse Tolle towered over Piper and leaned down close. “I’ve got my eye on you, McCloud. Remember that. Now follow me.” Nurse Tolle strode to the other side of the table, coming to a stop by an empty chair. The rest of the class was already seated and waiting impatiently to begin eating.
    “Seating is assigned. This is your seat. Do not sit in anyone else’s seat. Do not eat anyone else’s food. Ever. Do you hear me?” Nurse Tolle spoke impossibly loud, making it unthinkable that anyone currently breathing in the entire thirteenth level would not hear him.
    Piper nodded.
    “I can’t hear you, McCloud.”
    “Yes, sir. Nurse Tolle, sir.”
    “Good. Later this week I will schedule a time for you to complete a full diet and food preference profile with our chef. Your meals will then be specifically tailored for you and you alone. Until then you will eat what is served to you. Do you understand me?”
    “Yes, sir.” Piper saw that each meal on the table was completely different. On her plate were two slabs of fresh sourdough bread with thick slices of American cheddar, lettuce, and tomato, drenched in a tangy sauce, which was artfully arranged next to herb-encrusted sweet potato chips and a juicy pickle. To top it off, a delicious slice of hot apple pie fresh from the oven was waiting for her for dessert.
    “Sit.”
    Piper sat.
    As soon as Nurse Tolle was seated at the head of the table and Professor Mumbleby at the foot, the kids hungrily dug into their scrumptious food. It became immediately clear to Piper why mealtimes were such a high point at the facility. She had never tasted food quite so good in all of her life. There must have been five different flavors she’d never experienced before in her first bite alone, and every part of her mouth sat up and sang.
    Reaching for a drink, Piper was startled when her glass of water slid two inches to her right and away from her hand. Adjusting her reach, Piper grasped for it a second time, only to have the water glass slide into the center of the table.
    For a moment Piper just looked at the glass in amazement. The drink was ordinary enough—plain water, not sparkling, no ice, no lemon.
    A muffled giggle was quickly swallowed, tipping Piper off to the fact that a prank was being played on her. Somehow someone had rigged her water glass to have a mind of its own. Looking about, Piper soon saw that every single kid at that table knew precisely what was going on, while pretending to be utterly disinterested. She had to hand it to her classmates: They were shockingly good at playing possum.
    This wasn’t the first time the water glass prank had been played. It was a choice device to quickly gauge what a new kid was made of. For some newbies, a problematic water glass was enough to push them over the edge after a trying day. One kid started babbling incoherently, another started banging his fists on the table in an uncontrollable rage, while yet one other kid laughed hysterically and was unable to calm himself without medical assistance. The jury was still out on Piper, making her an excellent victim.
    For her own part, Piper was darned if she was going to be bested by a wily water glass. Two could play this game, she decided.
     Her first strategy was to pretend like nothing was at all wrong or unusual. She took a large bite out of her sandwich, chewing it thoughtfully, and then loudly sucked some lettuce out of her front teeth. Not once did she look at the water glass. In fact, as far as she was concerned, it didn’t exist.
    “Mmmmmmm.” She smiled at the kids next to her.
    Right on schedule, the water glass began sliding back toward her. At first it came only a few inches, but when Piper didn’t take the bait it moved closer and closer.
    Meanwhile, Piper carefully sized up possible suspects. She quickly eliminated the kids at the far end of the table because they were too far away to be so precise with the glass’s movements. That left three possibilities: Smitty; Kimber; and the sweetest, most innocent-looking girl sitting directly across from her—Lily Yakimoto.
    By her own design, Lily was more china doll than girl. She artfully employed a luxurious cream ribbon about her long, shiny black hair to perfectly frame her heartshaped face and accentuate her red button mouth. When required, she opened her golden brown eyes wide and tilted her tiny chin just so, to become the picture of innocence and sweetness—a proven pose to break any adult’s heart within a one-mile radius and thus achieve any desired means. Now six years old, Lily had all but perfected her doll facade—indeed, she would settle for nothing short of a delicate ivory silk (sent for at great expense from Paris) for her uniform dress, having loudly proclaimed, “You
can’t
be serious! I’ll walk around naked before a cotton blend will ever touch
my
skin.”
    It was only in quiet moments when Lily thought she was alone and unwatched that one might spy her practiced demeanor accidentally slide from her features and glimpse the spirit of a wild tiger wrestling to free itself. It would only last for a moment, of course, before Lily would banish it back to the dark shadows of her person. It was a testament to her amazing self-control that the wildness lurking beneath her placid surface was so skillfully contained and hidden.
    While Lily’s innocent veneer easily fooled Piper, Lily’s baby finger did not. The more Piper ignored the glass, the more Lily’s pinkie finger moved back and forth in the exact same timing as the glass.
    Gotcha!
    Despite all appearances to the contrary, Lily was at the helm of this naughty trick and once Piper figured that out, the rest was easy. Biding her time, Piper waited, waited until the precise moment. . . .
    Suddenly Piper lunged forward, making a wild grab for the glass.
    As Piper expected, Lily jerked the glass backward out of her grasp, and because of its position, the glass neatly collided with a plate, which in turn smashed into the glass of water in front of Lily. The glass was pushed into Lily’s lap, drenching her precious ivory silk dress.
    “Eeeee,” Lily yelped as ice-cold water hit her skin.
    “Yakimoto! What are you doing at my table?” Nurse Tolle barked.
    Lily tilted her chin and opened her eyes wide. “I accidentally dropped my glass, Nurse Tolle.”
    “Well, clean it up!” Nurse Tolle hated any disturbance or anything out of the usual. If it wasn’t on his schedule, it shouldn’t be happening. “Then go have your dress seen to or the next thing I know, I’ll be dealing with sniffles.”
    “Yes, Nurse Tolle.” Lily got to her feet, and when her eyes met Piper’s, she simply nodded her head in acknowledgment of a worthy opponent. The rest of the kids were impressed too. No one had ever done that before.
    Piper silently enjoyed her small victory and treated herself to a generous mouthful of apple pie as Conrad swaggered into the room. Claiming his seat, he eyed Piper with a knowing smile. Piper wondered if Bella wasn’t close behind him. After all, Conrad had escorted Bella, so it would seem logical that they would return at the same time.
    Minutes passed and still there was no sign of Bella. No one else seemed to be taking any notice, but Piper continued to glance about for her new friend when IT caught her eye. She was so startled, so surprised by
it
, that she rose to her feet and didn’t move for a long moment.
    “Dang! Look at that RAINBOW!” Piper finally shouted, accidentally spewing bits of apple pie from her overstuffed mouth. All quickly turned and saw . . .
    . . . exactly what Piper claimed,
a rainbow
. And not just any rainbow, but the brightest, most glowing stream of colors stretched out across the atrium not more than twenty feet away from them. It glimmered above the fountain, each color of the spectrum proudly shining forth as clear as a bell.
    An instant later a stampede of feet charged for the balcony railing, accompanied by loud exclamations of:
    “She’s right. Look!”
    “It is a rainbow.”
    “The colors are so bright!”
    “Is there a pot of gold?”
    There wasn’t a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but there was Bella, twirling about in her bright yellow dress. Her long, golden hair spun about her as she danced across the atrium below her rainbow.
    “It’s Bella!”
    Dancing to the fountain, she splashed her hands into the water, and immediately streams of pink, blue, and green water began flowing from the spigots.
    “Awesome!!!” Daisy cheered.
     Bella whirled to a large potted ficus. Placing her arms around its trunk, color shot upward, turning its leaves into a colorized fire display. From gold to red to orange to silver, the tree was caught in a color storm.
    “Bella’s a real, live color artist.” Piper was gob smacked.
    “Actually, to be precise, Bella is igniting a mutation at a molecular level in objects she comes into physical contact with. The by-product of the mutation is a temporary color transformation. But yes, you are somewhat correct. Bella is a ‘real, live color artist.’ Good of you to point out the obvious. It might have slipped our notice,” Conrad wryly remarked. As always, he stood apart from the others.
    “Go, Bella. Go, Bella,” Kimber applauded.
    Others soon began to chime in. “Go, Bella. Go, Bella.” Bella’s twirling reached a frenetic pace, splashes of color erupting on everything she touched, when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks, swaying dizzily. Looking up to her classmates on the balcony above, her bewildered eyes were unfocused, as if she’d completely lost touch and was waking from a dream. It was only then that Piper noticed the tears streaming down her face. Others noticed too, and the cheering died.
    “Bella’s . . .
crying
?” Violet was aghast.
    Smitty was equally perplexed. “Didn’t think her DNA’d allow for anything but a smile.”
     Nurse Tolle rushed out below and quickly came to Bella’s side. In a daze, Bella allowed him to lead her away without protest. Just before she disappeared into a corridor she stumbled, swayed dangerously, and then collapsed. Nurse Tolle caught her before she fell to the floor and scooped her up as though she weighed no more than a piece of paper. A moment later they were gone.
    Piper wanted to run to Bella’s side but Professor Mumbleby was already herding the children back to the table. “Zis is mealtime. Come, come, children. You vill eat now.”
    “You did this, Conrad,” Kimber hissed.
    Conrad shrugged.
    “Back to ze table now.” Professor Mumbleby’s patience was at an end. Kimber stalked away and Smitty followed.
    “But, Professor, Bella didn’t look good.” Piper held on to the railing, wondering how to get to her.
    “Zhat is why Nurse Tolle is with her. Ve vill leave her be. No?”
    “Can I help?” Piper pleaded.
    “To ze table, Miss McCloud.”
    Finally Piper tore her eyes away and returned to her seat. Conrad remained at the railing the longest and when at last he did take his seat, he didn’t touch his food.