It smells liked mowed lawns which I hate. The exhaust smell really doesn't help. Mom is working at her salon while dad is off doing Overwatch work. We turn the corner but are stopped by Ryan and...a robot?

Ryan looks way too intense it's like he's possessed...that's it! The darkness surrounds him, and what if the other bullies are all possessed too!

I whisper to Isabella. "Careful he's probably possessed by a demon!"

Winston tells me. "Nah he's not possessed he's just a big mean jerk with magic powers."

He has an evil supervillain look on his face, his fingers tapping each other. "I made this robot. You see I'm like you except my powers aren't sealed! My mind made this robot from metal just lying around in my garage!"

Uh oh this is scary! He swings but all dove onto someone's lawn avoiding its arm. People just look but keep driving or walking, being used to all sorts of weird things and people recording for shows.

He smugly yells to us, "so long idiots! You guys will fall to my great intellect!"

I yell back. "Oh yeah if you're so smart then why do you wear a patchy blazer with opposing colors?"

Isabella and I do back handspring stepout then side cartwheels getting away from it. Winston looks for a place to transform without anyone seeing him. Angel ducks his punch and Carlos rolls trying to trip him but he jumped over him. I kick the robot behind the knee, hoping my keds won't break. "Owie!"

"Don't hurt my friends!"

She sounds familiar, omigosh Lindsey's here! She looks so cool! What is she doing up in the lemon gum?

She leaps down throwing these things and hits him with a nunchuck shocking it, and he falls.

Winston comes out in his gorilla form, landing on the robot squashing what's left of him.

Ryan's eyes widen and his arms are way out to his sides with an omigosh I really can't believe that just happened face and stance. He runs away yelling he's done!

A few people cheer for us and one guy yells out the window. "Rehearsing for YouTube?"

Winston yells back to him. "Yeah actually."

Which we weren't. Lying is usually wrong but Winston has a very good reason. That's why I know he's a good friend. I don't know why we're supposed to keep magic secret but the grownups seem to. But if magic is supposed to be kept secret then why doesn't anyone try covering up Santa Clause?

A cop shakes his head, then tilts it and scratches it and walks towards us. "Is that an omnic?"

Jacob tells him. "Umm, no sir! It was just junk used for special effects. Yeah that's it, special effects!"

He squats down going through the pile finding no electronics. "Huh, I don't know what you kids were doing but you guys are like so talented!"

I thank Lindsey and ask her if she'd like to visit. "You mean I can come to your house? Thank you so much!"

Winston walks us to his car and puts his human disguise back on. He tells me. "I won't be here over the weekend. I hope you understand."

Because Lena is so much cooler than us! "It's Lena isn't it?"

I wonder if he talks about Tracer to me the way he always talks about how wonderful she is to us?

"Not this time! We have reports of missing people in France. The tea is it's either vampires or aliens."

Jacob gasps, looks out the window then back at me and Angel. "What if it's, alien vampires!"

I can hear Lindsey's music from her phone and I can tell Winston knows she can't hear because he wouldn't be talking about this if she could hear.

Winston laughs, "I wouldn't doubt it. Anyway I gotta keep my spaceship secret so my ship will look like a pigeon when me and Jack land at chateau Gilliard. "

We get home and she looks so happy after seeing my pool.

She blinks looking out our sliding door. "You guys have a pool! This is gonna be so fun can I swim with you guys?"

"Mom can Lindsey borrow one of my bathing suits please!"

She squats down whispering to me calling me over away from Lindsey. "That girl smells worse than a dumpster. Like I know she's your friend but still."

I look into her eyes, pouting. "Please mom?" and blink twice slowly, this is very important to me.

Okay you can let her borrow one but she's taller than you so give her one from the stuff I got you that you're supposed to grow into."

"Thanks"

"Lindsey! We're going swimming!"

Her face light up with happiness.

I tell her. "You are no match for my ultimate swimming power!"

She giggles running. "Hey no fair cheater."

We dive in the medium end and swim back to the shallow end so mom won't be mad at us.

She tells me after we dive. "Good thing we didn't eat yet! I feel so clean! Let's go to the deep end!"

Mom yells. "You better not!"

We race to the don't swim past here rope and of course we win.

So how did Lindsey know how to beat Ryan's machine? "It was so cool how you beat Ryan's machine earlier! How'd you do it?"

"Well, the omnics and us shantytown people go way back as sworn enemies. Elder says they came out of nowhere destroying everything. She even showed me videos from her phone of it happening."

My brother is wearing a navy blue bathing suit with yellow duckies on it. "Don't forget me!"

He cannonballs, the water shoots straight up after like a couple of seconds. He spits water out onto the concrete.

Angel tells her. "That was so cool how you beat Ryan's stupid robot!"

Hmm, I know that smirk! Like she's gonna tell me she knows a secret I don't want her to know. I hope she didn't hear mom saying she smells like a dumpster. "You guys are magic aren't you?"

Ohhhh, yeah this is awkward! Even if she didn't help Winston would have easily beating that thing anyway. "Umm no we were just..."

"I saw him use his mind to make that thing and I've seen people using powers before. It's okay your secret is safe with me."

I hate having my powers sealed.

We go inside for dinner and Lindsey looks really happy to be eating with us. It makes me feel warm inside having such a nice friend.

We eat rice with turmeric chicken. Wow Lindsey's eating fast she must have been hungry!

She chugs her glass of water. "Wow this water tastes so clean and cold!"

I've always wondered. "Who do you live with?"

"Oh, just mom and dad's friends. My dad died and mom hasn't come back yet. I have to tell them I'm here."

"Still?"

Lindsey looks down twisting her noodles, her head on her hand. "Yeah. I know she's out there I just know it!"

Angel looks at his ipad. "Our dad is gone for like months sometime and he always comes back to us!"

Angel then looks up to mom. "Oh you wouldn't believe what happened at school today! These boys were walking really slow in the hallway so we all slid between their legs and Trang saved me from being pickpocketed this boy was being weird and Trang told us to ignore him and run and ugh!"

He bites his orange slice then continues. "Anyway this boy Dean keeps wanting to make me look bad and get everyone to hate me because he's jealous of me and all my friends helped me against that stupid bully!"

Mom tells him. "Well I'm glad you and your friends took care of it."

I check my Instagram and what!? I'm banned! "There's like, no way!"

Angel checks his too and his jaw drops and he starts crying. Mom hugs him and tells him. "It's okay get over here and let it all out!"

I feel hot tears too. I run to the couch and my face slams into the pillow. I kick my feet behind me and mom says, petting the back of my head and back. "It's okay we'll get through this. What do you think happened Ashley?"

"I think stupid Dean or one of his little rats told on us to Instagram you have to be 13 to make an account there but we're only 8!"

"Lindsey is waiting you know!"

I go back into the kitchen and I grab a tissue wiping my face.

Lindsey looks kinda sad too, twisting her fork into one of her chicken slices. "At least you have a mom still. I mean that's too bad about your Instagram."

We hug each other, her hand moving gently up and down my back.

Mom takes the watermelon sherbet out of the freezer and Lindsey happily yells. "Yay ice cream time!"

I give mom a yay I'm feeling better smile but I'm only pretending. I'm still sad because I'm still banned from Instagram for being younger than 13.

It is delicious ice cream though, and Lindsey and I are becoming better friends. She says she was just in the neighborhood but I feel like she wanted to see us again or maybe she wants more candy?

After ice cream mom talks to her outside but asks us to not follow them. They come back and mom tells us, "I'm taking her to the park where her umm, family will pick her up."

"Why can't they pick her up here?"

Her eyes go back and forth, like she's looking at a bug who's jumping from one wall to the other really fast. "Oh, well, because I wanna bring all you guys with me!"

She could have asked us. Lindsey grabs her phone, which was charging on our table.

I ask mom. "If me or Angel went missing like Lindsey's mom would you try finding us?"

She squats down, petting the side of my head so she moves my pigtail behind my ear. "Oh sweetie of course I would! Winston, Shauna's parents, , and your father would all help me you know!"

I tell Judith everything that happened.

"Wow if only I was there with you!" She sighs and continues. "If only being an omnic didn't mean I had to hide all the time. I was made being told my function even though it wasn't what I wanted for myself. I don't wanna hurt anyone I wanna help people, omnic or human!"

She flutters sitting on the edge of my desk. I can see more of her wings in my vanity mirror.

"Me and my brother were so sad when we got banned from Instagram but then mom brought ice cream out for us but we have to bring Lindsey back we're going to the park with her."

We're walking along a walkway and could actually walk here. Shauna's here too!

"Hi Shauna!"

"Hey Ash. I see you and Angel got banned from Instagram."

"Yeah."

She looks down at her shoes then back up. My big brother can help you guys!"

"Dominique?"

I hug her, putting my cheek up to her slightly on my tippy toes. "Thanks you're the best!"

At least I'm not banned from Band. I swear I'm gonna get back to my team I am captain after all. I will not miss practice tomorrow either. And we still have Snapchat, and we told Trang he could come over so we can all practice our instruments together.

I freeze, feeling light shaking as a truck screeches out of nowhere. I feel myself slowly breathing in and out and I hate being startled, so, much!

I hear a man yell from his rusty red truck, smelling like it pollutes too much. "Hey Lindsey we're going home!"

She runs to the truck, looks back to us waving bye. "Bye and thanks for everything!"

Mom scans her phone next to the guy's and tells him. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way down here so here's some gas money."

He tips his dirty baseball cap with dirt and oil stains and tells mom. "Thanks ma'am."

He turns to Lindsey. "What were you doing all the way out here! You're like so lucky your bike didn't get stolen or break down all the way the..." a car honks over him swearing "ck down here! It's a dangerous world out there for anyone never mind an 8 year old kid!"

Oooo he said a bad word he he! It's seriously so weird how so many people you'd think would swear on cartoons don't. But who says everything has to be realistic? Like doing cheer stunts beating up bad guys isn't realistic like at all but I think it's pretty cool.

They pull out of their parking space waving to us.

Poor guy, I'm pretty sure he'd clean his clothes if he had a laundromat or at least detergent near him.

"Wait, she rode her bike here?"

Mom puts her hand on me and Angel's shoulders. Then she walks to Jayla and whispers to her like we can't even hear here. "I didn't want whoever was bringing Lindsey home to know where we live. She's from the Shantytown and I don't want our house getting hit."

Jayla tells her. "It's a shame really. If people running everything weren't so greedy and out of touch then you wouldn't have these tent cities and shantytowns everywhere! You gotta do what you can to survive, it's a whole different world for them."

She looks at a gum tree sipping her tea. "And we're still not over the omnics attacking us. I mean those walking sci fi clichés think we owe them!"

We get in our cars and they go with us. Jacob Carlos Abby and Trang are waiting for us. I just wish my bestie Isabella would play with us.

Trang's hands are behind his back, slowly walking towards us with focus in his eyes. "Ok like I know not all of us had good days but like we really gotta practice our instruments!"

I grab my lefty guitar, made for someone as small as me and Trang has his bass and my brother has his guitar.