As always, Copyright 2000.
Please read and review. And if you like this, there's a sequel called "The Return." And if you don't like this, then I guess you won't be reading "The Return."
Chapter 1
I guess it all started one or two years ago when I went on the annual trip. You know how when you visit family, you meet somewhere halfway? That's what we were doing, actually. Let me explain who "we" are. My mom, dad, and I were driving to someplace, I won't tell you where, to meet my aunt, uncle, and cousins, Hardy and Laurel.
No, they have no connection with the comedians.
We would spend three or four days in that place, and then go to where Hardy and Laurel live, spend a week or so there, and then come back home. We'd been doing that the past few years, but this time, it was a bit different. My mom had recently lost her job, and instead of trying to get another job, she was depending on my dad. So I had a feeling that she would use our relatives for all they were worth. Why? My grandparents used to own a lot of different businesses. They retired, of course, and are now content to waste their money on other people. Like my mom.
When we got there, Uncle Chris and Aunt Cheri had already booked rooms at the hotel. The same hotel we had stayed at last year. Hardy and Laurel were waiting for us on the balcony.
You know how younger cousins are, right? They drive you nuts when they visit. Especially for Christmas. You get kicked out of your room because of your cousins' parents (I only have two cousins. Hardy and Laurel.) and the guest room is taken by your grandparents. Your mom's brother is on the couch in the family room while you dad's brother is given the living room couch. You get stuck in the billiard room with your cousins. Your parents make you sleep on the floor while your cousins get the couches. You remember right as you're about to go to sleep that your cousins snore. What reminds you? Your cousins snoring loud enough to wake the dead. (I could have sworn I saw a dead guy walk through the wall one night and stare at them, shaking its fists angrily. No one else believed me, though.) Then they're up at five thirty in the morning playing with the laser tag set you got for Christmas.
That's why I like it when we go to a hotel.
As soon as I got out of the car, Laurel was jumping around like crazy, talking so fast I could hardly understand her. I caught bits and pieces of the one-sided conversation. "We're going to go to the mall," "sale," "bigtime," "Laura and Lauren and the other Laura," "can't wait to go," and then something about Friday the 13th. By the way, by some freak accident, that's when the beginning of the vacation was, Friday the 13th.
Lucky, huh?
I noticed Hardy was kind of hanging back, with his hands in his pockets, watching me like a hawk. Something was wrong, going on. I know it sounds weird, but Hardy and I have this sort of link. We haven't gotten to the point where we can read each other's mind, but, well, weird things happen. I nodded to him. "You got the stuff?" I saw the faintest ghost of a smile.
Ghost. Friday the 13th. Get it?
"Yeah, I brought the stuff. You bring your stuff?"
"Yeah. You show yours first."
Here's a thing about Hardy. Even in the middle of summer, he always has a jacket. A denim jacket. I admit that it looks kind of cool, but in the middle of summer? It was probably over one hundred degrees outside. He opened the zipper a bit and took out some books, careful not to let my parents see. The books were Animorphs books, and my mom thinks I'm too old for them. Even though I think they're cool.
Hardy gave a little nod to me. "You bring your stuff?" he said, zipping up his jacket again.
I smiled. "Don't I always?" I opened my back pack and showed him a bunch of books. He nodded slightly with approval.
I looked at him again, and I could tell he knew that I knew that something was wrong.
"Need some help with the luggage?" he asked.
"Oh," Laurel said, her smile falling. By the way, the "Oh" ended the one-sided conversation for the moment. "Yeah. Need help?" she asked dryly.
I raised my eyebrows a bit and thought to myself, Boy, Laurel is so caring. I'm just so glad I an say I'm related to her. "No, I can handle it."
I pushed the back pack onto my shoulder and got the suitcase out of the trunk. "This is all I have."
Laurel's eyes widened. "Girl, we have got to get you shopping."
I smiled. "I was planning on it."
Laurel nodded deeply with approval and ran up the stairs.
{Talk about hyper.}
I looked at Hardy. Hardy looked at me. Our mouths dropped. And then, I know this sounds weird, but I could see inside of him. Not inside of him. I could see his mind or whatever. He was trying to find some sort of explanation for what had just happened. And the thing was, he couldn't. The thought had come from somewhere else, I knew that. And I had a feeling of where. Above. Weird, huh? I also knew, somehow, that Hardy wasn't ready to explain it yet.
"So what are the plans for tonight?" I asked, changing the subject for his sake.
"Plans?" he asked. Then he caught on. "Oh, you mean for tonight. Friday the 13th. What did you have in mind?"
"Well, I looked into it, and I talked granddaddy into booking reservations at some fancy, no-kids-allowed, expensive restaurant."
"Great. Sure you can afford it?"
"What do you mean 'sure you can afford it?'." Deep down, I was thinking Who told you about Mom getting laid off? "I talked granddaddy into buying."
"Oh."
I looked at him in the eye then. Long enough so we both knew, absolutely knew, that we had to talk about what was going on. Before, we'd only had a sense of what was going on with each other, and now it was coming on full force. There aren't really words to explain it.
"Later," he told me.
We went up the stairs like nothing had happened.
Chapter 2
True to his word, granddaddy took the adults out to dinner. Meanwhile, I had to take on the job of baby-sitting. Hardy, Laurel, and I spent part of the night telling horror stories and chowing down on junk food. Maybe I should have put the food away after a while, but how was I supposed to know, you know?
"I don't feel that good," Laurel complained. She had slowed down so I could understand her by then. Either that or I had gotten used to hyper-speed.
"You don't look good, either," Hardy pointed out.
"Does she ever?" I joked.
Laurel's eyes got larger. "Oh," followed by a cussed. She slapped her hand over her mouth and made a wild dash for the bathroom.
Hardy and I looked at each other. "Uh-oh," we said at the same time. That was the normal connection we had, finishing sentences for each other and saying things at the same time. We'd always had that.
"This isn't going to be pretty," I told him.
He nodded. "It isn't going to smell good either. I'll clean this stuff up and you go help her."
"Oh, sure. Dump the worse part on the older cousin. After all," I complained as I went towards the bathroom. "What else should I expect from my dear cousin?"
I patted Laurel on the back as she- As she, well, spilled her guts, I guess. Vomited. Big time. During breaks, I would cool her down with a wet washcloth. I know it sounds bad, but I was actually kind of relieved when I found out she had a fever.
Hey, at least I wouldn't get blamed for getting her sick.
After she was done throwing up, I led her to a bed and tucked her in, flushed the toilet, and decided to keep patting a cold, wet cloth on her face. But I wasn't going to go back and forth from the bathroom to the bed every time.
Don't get me wrong, I love both of my cousins, but I'm not going to do something like that.
Exercise? Forget that.
I took the ice bucket to find the ice machine. If Hardy were there, I could've made him do it, but he had apparently disappeared after doing a more or less good job of cleaning up.
"Laurel, think you can hold on for a second? I have to go get some ice. I'll be right back, and if you feel like you're about to throw up again, the bathroom is right there." Without waiting for an answer, I took the hotel key and went out.
I know that this is going to sound weird, but right when I stepped out of the room I felt it. A presence. You might even say it was insane, I know. But I could actually sense Hardy.
Insane, huh?
It was actually a pretty old hotel. Not even an elevator. Just a staircase at each end of the balcony/hall. And Hardy was near the stairs. On the left. Downstairs. I went down the whatever it was. It wasn't a balcony, but it sure as heck wasn't a hall. Anyway, I walked down towards the stairs. I reached the top and stood there. Below, I could hear people talking.
"So that's your cousin?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't thought-speak to her. Earlier. But it looked like she heard."
"I'm trying to figure it out myself." Hardy was uneasy. "Besides, didn't you guys come up for a vacation?"
"Yeah."
I took a step down.
"What was that?"
"Could it have been a squirrel? Squirrel. Skrow. Rel. Uh."
"Hold on with that a sec. Hardy, you okay?"
"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. You just seem... weird. That's all."
"Well, I'm fine. And I think I need to get back before she realizes I'm not there."
"Okay. See you around."
"Yeah, whatever."
I ran as quietly as I could to the ice bucket and stuck it under my arm. Hardy started climbing the stairs. "Hey, there you are," I said. "What's up?"
He shrugged. "Just went to see if I could get a coke."
I tried not to even look at the coke machine next to me. "Yeah, well, hold this lid open." He held it while I shoveled ice into the bucket. "Laurel is definitely sick. She has a fever. Right now she's in bed."
"Did she puke a lot?"
"Puked her guts out. If I didn't know her so well, I'd call her a poor thing and take pity on her."
Hardy smiled. That's how we got our laughs. Picking on Laurel. And when somebody else picked on Laurel, we'd join forces and pick on them. This varied from throwing rocks and "borrowing" the glove of the stuck-up coach's daughter on Laurel's softball team for throwing rocks at Hardy to putting a bunch of lizards in the pillows at sleepovers when Laurel got into a fight on one of her girl scout trips.
Little girls can scream incredibly loud.
When we got back to the room, Laurel was snoring lightly. So we fought over whether soccer, baseball, football, and basketball, were better, and if so, pro, college, or little kids running around the field/court with no idea what they were doing. We told ghost stories, watched TV, and basically did whatever until the adults showed up.
Chapter 3
Three days later, we were in Hardy's hometown. He was back at his house while I was literally stuck with my grandparents. One thing about visiting people in the middle of summer. It's incredibly hot, nowhere to go unless it's inside with plenty of air conditioning, and pretty much boring. I had already read most of the books from Hardy, but then I finished them.
Like an idiot, I decided to go and return them.
So I chose a minute when my mom was especially busy doing something with the newspaper, and asked if I could walk. Answer: "Sure, sure whatever."
I walked the few blocks there, and the first thing I noticed was that no one seemed to be home. I walked around back, figuring, Hey, I can just leave these books here and go.
Until I noticed that the sliding glass door was open. Leaving some books in Hardy's room would be even better.
I walked through the house and managed to recognize Hardy's door. Not that hard, actually, since it has a sign with his full name on it. I was just about to open it, when I heard a voice. A lot of voices, actually.
"No, absolutely not."
"But we need all of the ammo and fire power we can get. And she isn't like David," Hardy argued.
"How do you know that?" The first person snapped.
"Well, then, why did you let me help?"
"You found out about us on accident." It was a new voice. A girl's voice.
"And because of the books, right? I mean, that's how I found you."
"The books were a part of it," The first person said. He sounded tired now. Silence for a few minutes and then, "Just because she didn't go to the pool or anything doesn't mean we can trust her."
"But she can read the books, too," Hardy said.
"What! How- Oh, man."
"Well, we could use some more firepower," the second voice said slowly. "No," another girl snapped. "You saw what happened to David. We broke him. He fell apart."
"Admit it," Hardy said, "you did kind of force him into it."
Good one, Hardy.
I walked into the room then. I'm not really sure why. And when I got a look at them, I knew. I knew I was right. The quick flash of blue disappearing into the closet, the bird now pretending to be stuffed on Hardy's bed post.
"Ever hear of knocking?" Rachel snapped.
I shrugged apologetically. "Sorry. I didn't know anyone was home."
"How'd you get in?" Hardy asked.
"Through the back door. You know, I thought I told you to always lock your doors."
"Still doing that, huh?"
"Not as often."
"Doing what?" Cassie asked.
I shrugged again. "Picking locks," I explained. "I used to live in a kind of rough neighborhood. These two girls started picking on me because they knew that I knew what they did."
"And what was that?"
"Drugs, smoking, alcohol, and a few other not so good things. So I figured that if I gave the police enough evidence, maybe those two wouldn't be, you know, able to do the same things. So I learned how to pick locks and break into places without getting caught. I got the evidence, but the police didn't believe me."
"Really."
"Yep. Here are those books I borrowed, Hardy." I handed them to him, acting what I hoped was casual.
"Ever been in a fight before?" Marco asked.
"Yeah, a few times."
"And?"
"The first time, I, lived which was good enough. The other times, I won, which was even better."
"Hardy says you read... books." Jake looked me in the eye. I used that trick too. You know, looking into someone's eye to see if they're lying.
"Uh-huh. Most of the books."
He raised his eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What do you know about... Ax?"
"Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, younger brother of Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. Entered the group in book number four, which Cassie narrated. He was in the dome part of his ship when it crashed in the ocean. First morph on earth was the shark. Knows a few words of the Yeerk language if not the entire language. In book number nine, which Cassie also narrated, he laughed at the name of the Yeerk logging company, named Dapsen something or other, and Marco made some sort of joke about it. In number eight, he tells who his parents are, but I didn't read that one." I sounded like walking encyclopedia. I opened my mouth to add more.
"Then how did you know?" Jake interrupted.
"It said on the web sites"
Jake flashed a look at Hardy. "There are web sites too?"
Hardy cringed. "Yeah."
"Which means other people can read those books," Rachel said slowly.
I looked at the computer in the corner. "Hardy, do you have Internet access?"
He looked at me slowly. "May I please speak to you for a moment?"
I looked at him. "I know, Hardy. I haven't checked everything out for quite a while. Besides, they can't read it."
He shook his head, still undecided.
"Hardy, don't get all responsible on me, because if you do, well, I don't know what I'll do, but you and I know that I can take care of myself."
{So what, you think you're some sort of tough kid who can-} The bird now showed signs of life.
"Yes, I think I am a tough kid. You would to if you knew about me."
The bird looked at me sideways and then looked at Hardy. Hardy was mouthing "Don't get her started."
I made my way to the computer and logged on. I could get the Internet using my own password thanks to something my dad had done. I checked out the sites. "So you guys can't see any of this stuff?" I asked.
"No," Cassie said. "I don't like the Internet anyway. I mean, you know. Computers, not that I have anything against them or anything, but some people just spend too much time on the Net and stuff. I mean, they should get outside more. Enjoy life."
"And not spend all day on a computer like this," I agreed, drumming my fingers against the desk. Then I looked at Hardy. "What happened to your computer?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's slow, that's what I mean. My dad's is faster than this. Heck with that. Granddaddy's is faster."
"Is not."
"Is too. If I had access, mine would be faster."
"That's just because you got a new computer for Christmas. But I'm going to get another computer this coming up Christmas and it'll be faster than yours."
"Geez. Do you two always fight like this?" Rachel asked, slightly annoyed.
"Only when Laurel isn't around. Speaking of Laurel, where is she?"
"Hospital. Her fever got pretty high and it scared my mom half to death. Hey, what's the deal with your mom?" He winked at the others.
"Actually, she got laid off a while ago. The scary thing," I looked straight at the screen. "The scary thing is that she was reading the paper today-"
"So?" In the reflection on the monitor, I saw Hardy shrug. "Everybody reads the papers."
"Yeah, but I think she was reading the classifieds. And I could have sworn I saw a few things circled."
"What's so bad about that? I mean, if you move here-"
"Hardy, my dad already has a great job at the newspaper. You know that. He's the best guy they've got probably. He can't give up his job to move here. Both of my parents have agreed that his job is important and he should keep it. Which means that if my mom decides to get a job and move here, they'll be separated. And then all of the suspicions and jealousy will start up, and before you know it, I'm another number under the list of divorced parents." I had started to speed up at the second sentence, until I started sounding like, "Andthenallofthesuspicionsandjealousywillstartup,andbefore you- knowit,I'manothernumber," you get the hint. Everything had gushed out, and I'm not the type to get really emotional. "So just shut up, okay?" I snapped.
I stared at the screen for a few minutes, Hardy watching over my shoulder from the top bunk.
"Nothing new," I said. "But I have a plan, if you're interested."
"Oh, geez." Jake's head fell into his hands again.
I shrugged. "It wouldn't be that hard, actually. Go to the Yeerk pool, find the control room or whatever, download a virus that will wipe everything out in a few hours. Jam the signal to the mother ship and all. Find the Kandrona and destroy it again. If they survived with great damage for three weeks with only the Kandrona on the mother ship, but they can't contact the mother ship to get help, well, think about it."
I turned around and saw them all looking at each other. "Anybody want something to drink? I'm thirsty. No? Okay, two lemonades, and a cold coke."
"What?" Marco asked. "You're going to drink all that?"
"No, but Tobias likes cold cokes, or so I read, and I don't think Ax hasn't tasted lemonade yet."
"Lemonade? Lemon. Lehm. Mun. Ade. Uh."
"Yeah. Okay. Be back in a sec."
I left the room so they could talk. I got three cups, filled them with ice, and made some lemonade. Great lemonade too, if I do say so myself. I poured the coke in the last cup, got a tray with some napkins, and took them to Hardy's room.
Yeah, I did think my parents might get a divorce. I mean, I had been trying not to think about it, but everybody's a basket case when you think about it. My parents had been fighting more lately, and I really did know what Mom was doing with the paper. But I had said it out loud. Finally let it sink in. There was just the slightest possibility now that what I had said might be true.
I set the tray down on Hardy's bedside table and passed the drinks out. Ax smiled when he started sipping his lemonade. "Sour," he said. Then gulped it down. I smiled.
"We've decided," Jake said. He looked like someone who was glad he had just made a decision over something so he could put it behind him. But I could tell he was still a bit worried about what would happen if I turned into someone like David.
Hardy jumped off of the bunk. "Welcome to the club!"
I smiled. I didn't really say much. I didn't have to. I think everyone was pretty sure what I was thinking. That I was worried, maybe even scared. But instead I was kind of glad in an odd way. At last, I would get a chance to fight.