Fire Hazard: Cape High Book Eight (Cape High Series 8) (8 page)

“Why are you doing this?” Jimmi asks.

“Because the people that dare to claim to be us should know what they’re going up against,” I say.  “Also to show the norms in the area--and Jimena--that all the stuff they’ve been doing wasn’t done by capes.  We’ve got a name to clear.”

“So... who’s Trent?” Flint asks.

“Kid Liberty--son of America’s Son,” I say with a hint of satisfaction.  “Now, can I get some pants?  I’ll try not to burn them this time.”

“Did he really ask for me?  Like by name?” Carla asks excitedly.  Trent glances at the girl bouncing impatiently next to him.  “Vinny NEVER asks me to help.  He’s always telling me
not
to do things.”

“Yeah, he asked for you--he also said you have to stay with me the entire run, got it?  So no running ahead, got it?” Trent says as he puts his mask on and then drops a hand on her shoulder to hold her still long enough to put hers on. He’d agreed to running halfway across the country without a thought--first because Max was right about building a relationship with the zoo kids, secondly because he wanted to see how quickly he could do it.  Carla was the perfect way to test himself. “No taking this off, got it?” he adds, tapping on the mask lightly.

“I got it, I got it,” she says, making a face.  “Wait, so it’s just you and me going?  No adults?  Does that make this a date?”

“My girlfriend says no,” he says with a little grin.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her,” she says cheerfully.  “Which way?  This?”  She starts forward, only to have her shoulder turned so she’s facing a different direction.  She doesn’t even look back at him before starting out--way too fast.  Trent snorts and races after her, kicking up his speed.

Maybe he should have asked for a child leash, he thinks a bit belatedly.

***

We’re skipping school.  I sit on the picnic table next to the smoothie place and touch my earring again, my phone in my hand.  It’s the coolest thing ever--I’ve found that if I twist it twice and tap it I can bring up any computer in the area on my cellphone screen.  This is definitely illegal, I decide.  As a future hero I should complain.  Instead I’m checking out all the music that Jimmi has on her cellphone.  There is a TON of Shakira.

She jerks as I start playing a song, looking over at me in surprise.  “You like Shakira?” she asks.

“Nope,” I say.  It’s not that I’ve got anything against her, I’ve just never really listened to her before.

“Then why do you have her on your phone?” she asks.

“I don’t,” I say, tapping on my phone a few times, “well, I didn’t, that is.  Looks like I can download.”

She stares at me blankly, but I ignore it until she peeks over at my screen.  “That’s MY phone!” she says in outrage, grabbing it from me.

“No, it’s my phone hacking your phone,” I say, holding it out of reach.  “And seriously, you take way too many selfies.”

“There’s personal stuff on there!” she snarls, tackling me.  “Stop looking at my Facebook!”

“If it’s on Facebook then it’s the exact opposite of personal,” I say, stretching my arm as far as it can go to keep the phone from her.  She climbs over me and grabs it with an angry glare.

“Just because you hate me doesn’t give you a right to do something like this,” she snaps.

“I don’t hate you,” I say.  “Sure I think you’re an idiot, but I don’t hate you.  You just... hit a sore spot yesterday,” I mutter.

“Vinny, you there?” Trent asks.  I look around for a second before realizing it must be my earring.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Thank God for the GPS system Nico put on my phone,” Trent says.  “We’ll be there in a minute or two.”

“Do you need to know where?”

“Nah, your phone is on this.”

“Is Carla behaving?” I ask, earning a surprised look from Jimena.

“Well she did get distracted when we passed a toy store,” Trent admits.  “Something about building bears--she dragged me in for a bit--”

“I made a Rainbow Dash plushie!” I hear Carla yell.

“Then I had to swear I’d take Emily and Ditto there when we got back,” Trent says.  “Something about a pink pie, or whatever.”

“Pinkie Pie!” Carla says.  “She’s the pink one with balloons for her cutie mark--”

“Yeah, her,” Trent says, cutting her off.  “So now we’re running across country with a massive plush pony,” he finishes.  I look up as the two step into sight.  “I’m pretty sure this is getting some strange pictures on Hero TV.”  He’s not in full uniform, but he’s got a mask and his symbol on his t-shirt, so it’s pretty obvious who he is.  “Sup, Vinny?  Don’t tell me you want a stuffed pony, too.”

I’m staring at Carla, who has a stuffed blue toy tucked under her arm and a huge grin on her face.  “Vinny!” she says, racing forward and hugging me tightly.  I can’t help the little grin that pulls on my lips as I hug her back.  “I didn’t miss you at all,” she adds.

“Thanks for that,” I say dryly.  I reach up and tap on her mask.  “Keep this on the entire time you’re here, got it?” I say.  “We’re not going to risk your identity.”

“You’re not wearing a mask,” she pouts.

“I’m not thirteen--but I’ve got one for the show.  How’s everyone doing?” I ask them both as Carla hugs her toy and looks at Jimena curiously.

“They’re fine, although I heard Carla caught the kitchen on fire a few times.”

“Being second in command sucks,” Carla says, looking at me.  “You didn’t tell me it came with all the cooking.”

“You should have figured that out yourself,” I say.  “You didn’t ruin any of my pans, did you?  If you did, I swear I’m going to put asparagus in every meal for the next month.”

“It scrubbed off!  Mostly,” she says before practically disappearing and reappearing next to Jimena.  “Do you like My Little Pony?” she asks.  “I know it sounds like a little kid’s show, but it’s amazing!”

“Um... I haven’t seen it?” Jimena offers, staring at the stuffed toy.

“You should.”

“She actually sits still long enough to watch it?” Trent asks me.

“It’s the only peaceful time we have--more than half the dorm watches the show,” I admit.  “But it gets a bit scary if someone tries to walk between them and the television.”  Trent starts laughing.

“I’m sure I’ll find out sooner or later,” he says.

“Hey, hey Trent,” I hear over my earring.  Trent touches his ear.  “Liz says she wants to come with us--so does Aubrey,” Emily says.  “Aubrey wants a Fluttershy!”

“Yeah?  Who does Liz want?” Trent asks.

“Oh, she wants Princess Luna, but I don’t think they have her--” she pauses and I hear someone speak in the distance.  “Oh, she says that if she shows up in full uniform that’ll be fixed really quickly.  No it won’t.  No, seriously, it’d probably still take months even with you terrorizing them, Liz.  Okay,
a
month.  Maybe.  That’s definitely going to get Double M yelling at you, though.”

“Um, not to interrupt the whole... pony thing,” Jimena says, “but what exactly are we doing?”

“We’re going to challenge the group to a fight, right?” Carla asks.

“Not exactly, we’re going to set up a competition,” I say.  “Jimmi, call Speed, have him and the gang meet us in front of Walmart, they’ve got a big enough parking lot and we can get permission easily enough.  Once we get this wrapped up we’re going home.”

“What about the cameras and stuff?” Trent asks.

“We’ll get them soon enough,” I say, “all we have to do is cause a sensation.”  I head over to my motorcycle, getting on.  “Follow--” Carla hops on behind me, much to my surprise. 

“Can we get me some new sneakers before we do this?  I busted mine,” she says.

“I don’t... I don’t know if I like this idea,” Jimena says.  “Are we just out to embarrass them?  Or is there--”

“When I first met the group they were planning on destroying Flint’s home to get to me,” I tell her bluntly.  “I’ve got an entire folder of things like that they’ve done at his place, things I bet you never heard of.”

“And they’re claiming to be teenage supers,” Trent says, his jaw tightening.  “Even our super villain teens have more class than that.  They aren’t professionals, they’re just thugs.”

“But--” Jimmi starts out.  “I... does it have to be on television?” she asks.  “They’re going to hate me if I do this to them.”

I hesitate and then shrug.  “If you’d rather stay here and in the situation you’re in, it’s no skin off my back.”

“I--I just don’t want to be hated, Vinny!” she protests.

“Fine.  We’ll find them ourselves,” I say.

“Wait,” Carla says, getting off and going to Jimena.  “Hi.  I’m Carla.”

Jimena blinks at her.  “Hi,” she says slowly.

“I’m second in command of the zoo kids!  So it’s my job to make sure everyone gets to where they should be, right?” she says before I can protest.  “I’ve got a LOT of stuff I have to take care of, like feeding everybody and making sure they don’t skip class, and making sure everybody actually comes out of their rooms--it’s a lot of work.  And I don’t think you’re in the right place right now.  Are you?”

Jimena slowly looks into Carla’s eyes.  “No,” she whispers, “I’m not.”

“Do you want to be in the right place?” Carla asks gently.

“Yes,” Jimena says, “I do.”

“Are you going to be a super?”

“Yes.”

“Then you should deal with bad guys a lot, right?” Carla says.  “Even if it means they don’t like you.”

“It’s not that easy--”

“It’s as easy as you make it,” Trent says.  “Look around,” he goes on, “remember this moment, because it’s the moment you decide which way you want to go.”  I look at him.  He even sounds like his dad right now.  “Either you stay someplace you don’t belong, or you go somewhere you will.”

“Can I... can I talk with Tank before the competition?” she asks.  “I at least owe it to him to break up with him face to face.”

“Fine.  Call him first,” I say.  “We’re going shoe shopping.”  I rev the bike (which doesn’t do much--electric bikes aren’t very noisy) and Carla grabs me around the waist--I didn’t even notice her getting back on.  I glance over my shoulder at Jimmi, and then wish I hadn’t.  I’m still irritated about that comment about having everything. 

That... is completely out of character for me, I realize a bit blankly as Carla tries to reach the switches in front of me.  Why am I still in a bad mood?  I should just forget about it and go on with my life.

Yeah, that sounds good.

***

She watches them go for a long moment, wondering why the fact that Vinny is still irritated with her chafes so much.  Sure he’d SAID he didn’t hate her, that she’d just hit a sore spot, but the moment his friends from Central showed up, he’d practically ignored her.  What, exactly, is his relationship with Carla, anyway?  Sure she looks like a little girl, but she was still awfully quick to hug him--

No way.  She is NOT getting jealous over that guy.  He’s got ice in his veins half the time, the other half the time he just flips over some unfinished sentence!  She hadn’t been talking about his family! She’d been talking about his friends!  Like the fact that he asked just last night and here they are, all the way from Missouri, ready to do whatever he wants them to!

None of the gang ever does that for her, a vicious little voice taunts her.  She’s asked for help a dozen times from the gang, only to get told they don’t have the time, or they’re too far away, or they’re just plain busy.  Busy doing what?  If Vinny’s to be believed it’s probably causing terror for the norms.  And it’s all her fault, she adds, her shoulders slumping.  She’d just thought they liked how the tubes glowed.  Maybe she
is
an idiot. 

She looks at her phone, bringing up the directory and finding Tank’s number.  She doesn’t have to stay an idiot, she decides.  “Tank?” she asks as he answers.  “Can you meet me at the smoothie place?  Oh... um... I’m skipping today.  Okay.  See you when you get here,” she says, hanging up and staring forward blindly.

She’s seen the information on the zoo kids.  It’s all on the Hero website, how Central Hall broke them out of their glass cages.  She watched the part where Vinny came out of his cage a million times, practically.  He’d been saved by America’s Son, who had shattered the wall with a single punch.  He’d looked so calm compared to the other kids, even packing a few things before coming out, mostly notebooks.  She wonders what he’d written in them.

Knowing how much he’d gone through just because he has powers makes her feel sick to her stomach.  She pulls her legs up to her chest and rests her chin on her knees, starting to reevaluate her life.  A father that is too much of a pushover doesn’t even compare to a see-through cell.  She feels a tear trickle down her cheek as she realizes just how selfish and spoiled she’s been over the past few years.

The biggest names in the South Hall were bending over backwards just to keep her from getting in trouble for something she was actually doing.  At the time she hadn’t understood what the big deal was--after all, she’s the daughter of Voltdrain.  That makes her special, right?

She looks up as Tank pulls his massive truck to a stop in the parking lot.  Her hands get clammy and she wonders if she can do this.  What if Vinny is wrong?  He’s only been around for a week, right?  He hasn’t seen all the things Tank can do--

“Hey,” Tank says as he gets out of the truck and heads for her.  “You could have told me you were skipping today.”

“It was a... last minute decision,” she says, looking down rather than looking at him.  “Tank, we need to talk.”