Ahem. Responding to the two anonymous reviews I got since writing the last chapter:
fortuneteller501:Thank you. Thank you very much. (No, I swear I didn't think of Elvis until AFTER I finished writing that...)
Truly anonymous, because you didn't even put in a name, i.e. () ... BUT I suspect you just might be my very FIRST reviewer and loyal reader FoggyMoon, in which case I thank you for your continued reviews, and especially for recommending me to your friend, horseharrytwifan. Oh, and if it's NOT you, I apologize, although I'm pretty sure it is... and I'll stop now: Once again, I was inspired my lovely reviews(hint, and... okay, fine, I admit it. I am amazing. Bow down before me and worship at my feet. Go on, you know you want to. ...cough, sorry, that's why I only feed my ego sparkling water (bonus points if you know where that came from!). But seriously, thanks for being so nice and complimenting me all the time. It's worth my ego escaping every so often for the warm fuzzies I get. :) About the scene: yeah, I think it's incredibly romantic too, and I love hearing that you think I did it well! And... I am planning on writing the other books in Rob's POV, yes. I'm planning on doing all of them, as I said in this story summary. Although, as I also said there, who knows how far I'll get? Still, I feel encouraged by the fact that I managed to finish the first one in just... (checks calender)...wow. Just one week! Ooh, and thanks for the 22 smileys. :D I like them. Very much. So much that I counted them. You can call me weird anytime.
On to the story!
It turned out, despite my initial worry, I actually liked Mastriani's plan. Well, what she'd told me of it, anyway. I hadn't really gotten all that much except that she was going to bargain with the FBI to let Sean and his mother go, and her, too. How was she going to bargain with them? Well, that I didn't know. All I got when I asked her was a wink and a, "Oh, I've got that covered, don't worry about it."
And even if I hadn't approved of her somewhat-simple plan, I couldn't exactly back out of it now. I mean, it wasn't as if we could just keep Sean at my house – not matter how much my mom seemed to like him.
Plus, when she was on the phone at the gas station, Jess had gotten some lady at 1-800-WHERE-R-U, that place she calls in the missing children, to tell the FBI agents about it, and had set up a meeting.
Oh, and she'd gotten her dad to agree to give me something, what she didn't bother to tell me, that she was giving to Sean and his parents. Without asking me. I didn't really appreciate that part, but… Come on. We both knew I was going to do it anyway.
So Jess and I talked about it for a few minutes, straightening things out, and then we went back into the living room, with Mom and Sean.
It took us a while before we finally managed to leave – Mom insisted on letting Sean shower and trimming his hair for him, and I had to call Jed and ask him to help us – but eventually we left.
Jed picked Mastriani and Sean up in his truck, and took them to Ernie Pyle, the agreed meeting place. And I… well, I went to Mastriani's.
No. Not for food. As if I'd just go off and eat lunch when everything else was going on. And besides, Mastriani's is pretty expensive. I mean, the food's good, but the restaurant is pretty upscale, and I'm sort of saving my money so I can start my own garage, so I never go there anyway.
No, I went to Mastriani's to pick up the mysterious letter she had called her dad about. I admit, I was pretty nervous walking in there, with good reason. I mean, this was her father. And yes, we weren't actually dating, but I had no idea what, if anything, she'd told him about me. And I had kissed his daughter less than three hours ago.
I brushed my teeth before I left. I'm not really sure why – it's not as if he's going to smell my breath and suddenly know I kissed Jess – but I did anyway. I guess it just related to my nervousness.
And again, I had good reason to be nervous. When I got to Mastriani's, I parked and went inside – my Indian looked pretty darn odd in that parking lot, what with the only other cars there being Porsches and the like that belonged to rich Townies on their lunch breaks.
Anyway, I went inside, and up to the maitre d', and told him, "I'm here to see Mr. Mastriani?"
Before I had time to even blink, this guy came up to me and looked me up and down with a very angry expression. "I'm Joe Mastriani. Who are you?"
"Rob Wilkins." I held out a hand, but he just narrowed his eyes and glared at me. Shit. What had she told him?
He eyed me for several silent minutes, until I finally said, "I'm here to pick up a-"
He interrupted me by holding out a thick envelope. I reached out to grab it, but he still didn't let go, eyeing me suspiciously.
"I just hope she knows what she's doing," he said, looking me over once more, before finally letting go.
I think it has to be said one more time: What the fuck did she tell him?! I mean, seriously! What could she have possibly said to make him act like this?
Still, I was polite and everything. I just smiled, and said, "She does," which could mean anything to him, since I didn't know what he was referring to in the first place. Then, I tucked the envelope into my coat pocket, and quickly walked out to my bike. A semi-fancily dressed woman in the parking lot walked by as I was getting on it, and gave me a scandalized look, leaving a wide berth around me.
Sometimes I really hate Townies.
I drove pretty fast, but even so, by the time I'd got there, – parking my bike out on the road and then jogging across the football field to the bleachers – Jess was starting to look worried.
"What were you doing?" she hissed, "They're gonna be here any second!"
"Look – " I said, somewhat angrily, since it hadn't been my fault, but that was as far as I got before her eyes got very wide, and she pointed behind me. "A car!" She spun to me urgently. "Quick, hide!"
There wasn't really anywhere to go, except for down under the bleachers they were sitting on, so I handed the envelope to her and did just that, leaning on one of the poles.
I watched the car pull up and a single man get out, walking up to Jess. He didn't even bother glancing at Sean, just saying, "You ready?"
Jess shook her head. "Just wait for a bit, okay?" She kind of pointed, and I saw the man – whoever he was – walk up the bleachers to sit way at the top.
Then began the waiting.
It wasn't really enjoyable, standing their under the bleachers and waiting, especially when the marching band – which had been just assembling when I arrived – started practicing, of all things, "Louie, Louie".
Our marching band is not very good.
Sean kept trying to ask Jess what was going on, and why we were still waiting – not something I'd mind knowing either, but she just kept avoiding the subject, I guess because she wanted to surprise him. You know, with his mom.
Still, it was pretty boring just standing there, and after a few minutes – about when the band switched songs (it didn't help their sound any) – I sat down.
It was because of my new position that I saw them approaching; a man and two women, all of whom I knew by hearsay, if not in person. The man and the woman from the front of the black sedan they'd gotten out of were the two FBI agents that had taken Mastriani away in the first place, and the other woman was the kid's mother.
I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation above me – it was just idle talk anyway – until I heard Jess's tone change, suddenly becoming serious. "Look, Sean, I want you to take this. It's for you and your mom. Jed's going to drive you to the airport. I want you to get on a plane – any plane – and take off. Don't make any calls. Don't stop for anything. You can buy whatever you need when you get to where you're going. Understand?"
Huh. So the mysterious envelope had been for him. Now I really wanted to know what it was…
"What are you talking about?"
I tuned back into the conversation as Jess replied, "Your mom. You two are going to have to start over, somewhere else. Somewhere far away, I hope, where your dad won't be able to find you. This will you get started." Very, very, very curious about the 'this' down here…
Sean was still clueless. What, he couldn't see them? They were already about halfway to us. "Jess. My mom's in jail. Remember?"
"Not anymore," Mastriani said, and I could hear the kid gasp when he finally noticed them. About time.
"What did you do? Jess. What did you do?"
"I cut a little deal," Jess said, "Don't worry about it. Just go get her, and then go and get into the pickup with Jed. He'll take you to the airport."
I had to smile at the wonder in Sean's voice. "You did it. You said you'd do it, and you did it."
"Of course," Jess said, sounding indignant. As if it was completely ridiculous that she might not have; as if this whole thing had all been a clever plan.
Ha.
Sean ran off, for the touching reunion scene with his mother, complete with her lifting him up and swinging him around in the air. I admit, even my throat felt a little tight, watching that.
But then he came back.
I could tell, from Jess's voice as she asked, "What are you doing here?" that she was panicking. This, at least, was not part of her master plan.
But really. How could she not expect it? It was obvious that Sean was head-over-heels for her before, but now that she'd miraculously returned his mother to him… if he'd been older I wouldn't have been surprised at a proposal.
The song changed again, this time butchering the Beatles.
I could hear the tears in both their voices as they spoke, but despite the sad moment, I couldn't help but snort at one of his next questions. "What about when I'm thirty? You'll be thirty-three. It wouldn't be so weird, would it, a thirty-year-old going out with a thirty-three-year-old?"
That was just… priceless.
At least until it occurred to me that if Sean was only two year younger than her – wow, he was small for his age – then he and her were only a year different from her and me. That pretty much sucked all he amusement out of the words.
I wonder what she'd say if I asked her to wait until she was thirty. After all, it wasn't so weird for a thirty-year-old and a thirty-two-year-old to date, right? At least by then I'd probably have my own business, which might make her dad hate me less. It would probably be a lot easier, actually…
I was officially going crazy, wasn't I?
I snapped back to reality again just in time to hear Sean's footsteps descending the bleachers. He and his mom embraced again, waving at Mastriani, before heading away, to Jed's truck.
Then Jess got off the bleachers and walked over to the FBI agents. I couldn't suppress a grin at the way she teased them, ("Do you burn for one another with a passion that must be denied?") but they obviously didn't appreciate it, stating flatly that no, they did not.
I rolled my eyes.
"Well," went the man, "Do you have the list?"
List? My ears perked up – hypothetically, of course. This must be what she was using to bribe them to let Sean and his mother go. But what exactly could it be a list of? All I could think of was people she'd found – that was what they wanted from her, right? – but I thought she didn't want to do that anymore.
Well, eventually it turned out I was wrong. It was addresses that she gave them. Well, after making certain that they would let Sean go. Oh, and me and the guys from Chick's, which both surprised and relieved me. I mean, we blew up a helicopter. They must really want to know where these people were, if they were letting us off for that scot-free.
"There are only four addresses here," said the woman, sounding suspicious.
"What do you think?" Mastriani said, using that affronted voice again. Which I knew by now was just as fake as her 'innocent' one. "I'm not a machine. I'm just a kid. There'll be more where that came from, don't worry."
And then, she just sent them away.
Well, not exactly. The lady said, "You know, it didn't have to be this way, Jess," in a sad voice, which, I have to say, annoyed me. They were the ones who made it this way.
Jess didn't seem to appreciate it all that much either, because she just said, "No, it didn't. Did it?" in a way that made it clear where the blame lay.
They left after that. Which isn't to say that Jess didn't get a last jab in. "You know," she called after them, "No offense to Mrs. Johnson and all, but you two really do make a cute couple."
I crawled out from under the bleachers when they didn't even look back. "That was pushing it, don't you think?"
She turned around and smiled at me again, "I'm just messing with them."
"Yeah," I said, brushing the dust off my jeans with a wry expression, "I noticed. You do that a lot. So are you going to tell me what was in that envelope?" What? I was curious.
"The one I gave to Sean?" The voice she used was dangerously similar to what I was already referring to in my head as her 'Nothing' tone. Based off of how that was what she'd been saying to me when she used it both times, first at my mom's house and then just after she'd…
"The one you gave to Sean after you made me pick it up from your dad. Who, by the way, hates me."
She leaned forward and brushed some dust off my shirt, in what was a purely girlfriend move. I almost called her on it, but then that would be admitting I was looking for things like that, which I wasn't…
"My dad can't possibly hate you," she said, "He doesn't even know you."
As if you needed to know someone to hate them. This whole town proved that wrong every day, with all the Grits vs. Townies bullshit. However, I declined mentioning this, as I got the feeling telling her that her dad was prejudiced wouldn't go too well for me. Instead, I just said, "He sure looked like he hated me."
She smiled again. Well, actually, she hadn't stopped. It was a little disconcerting. "That's just because of what was in the envelope."
Which brought us right back to A: "Which was?"
Jess shrugged nonchalantly. "The ten grand I got as a reward for finding Marie D'amato."
I blinked, then whistled. Actually, that might just explain his anger… "You gave that kid ten grand?" I remembered the thickness of the envelope. "In cash?"
"Well, him and his mother. I mean, they have to have something to live on while she finds a new job and everything."
Something to live on?
"You are one piece of work, Mastriani," I sighed, shaking my head in shock. "Okay. So that's what was in the envelope. What was on that sheet of paper you handed to the Feds?"
Now this was something I was interested in. "Oh, just the addresses of some of America's most wanted." She was still smiling, a satisfied expression on her face. "I said I'd give them up in return for the charges against Mrs. O'Hanahan being dropped."
"Really?" Despite having guessed that, I was still surprised. I mean, I thought she had been trying not to be their… what did she call it? Dolphin? I voiced this opinion. "I thought you didn't want to get involved in all of that."
"I don't," She smirked, "That's why I only gave them the addresses of the guys from that book of theirs who happen to be deceased."
It took me a second to get her meaning, but when I did, a slow, gleeful smile spread across my face. "Wait a minute. You – "
"I didn't lie or anything." She had a 'Nothing' expression once more, not that I minded this time. This was just too good. She went on, "They really will find those guys where I said they'd be. Well, what's left of them, anyway." She wrinkled her nose, "I have a feeling it's not going to be pretty."
I shook my head at her sheer audacity, then I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Jess," I said, still grinning down at her. "you make me proud to have sat by you in detention. Did you know that?"
Her smile grew even brighter, looking more delighted than before. "Thanks."
Then her gaze shifted away from mine, which wasn't exactly a bad thing for me. I mean, if we didn't want to be repeating the same scene from earlier, anyway.
"Come on," she said, grabbing my hand – again, girlfriend move that I couldn't mention… even if I'd wanted to at that moment – and began pulling me back to the bleachers. "There's still one more thing I have to do."
I looked up, and saw the one guy who had arrived before the Feds had. Right, I'd forgotten about him.
"Who's that?"
"Who, him? Oh," Jess smiled, pulling me after her towards him, and glancing behind her to say, "that's the guy who's going to set me free."
And he did.
You see, he was a reporter. The story came out the next day; Lightning Girl Runs Out Of Juice.
Yeah. She told him all about how she lost her powers, and the whole story really, slightly edited. And luckily not mentioning my mother's, or my, names. We read it together, at the Denny's not far from my house.
Not that we were on another date. Because we weren't dating. I made that very clear, despite her repeated attempts to make me change my mind. After that breakfast – which, yes, I paid for, but that still doesn't make it a date – I dropped her off at her street corner, with a promise that that was the extent of our contact.
Of course, she managed to get detention the very next day at school, for punching someone who made fun of her about the whole 'Lightning Girl' ordeal. And now she's sitting next to me again.
But there's only a few weeks of school left, and then we won't have any contact at all. I can get along fine until then. Even if I do end up watching her more than I do the plays.
She doesn't notice, anyway. Hank Wendell does, but I made sure he'd never tell her. Wylie, either.
Yeah. Just a few more weeks, and then I'll finally be out of here. Finally working full time, finally on the road to eventually getting my own garage. What I've always wanted.
I'm looking forward to it.
Really.
A/N: Isn't that cute?! ...Sorry, I'll try to be more humble about complimenting my own creations.
Anyway, to quote a certain porky pig, "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!"
...At least of this book. Yes, I am planning to write the rest of the series, just in case you missed it in my review response at the top. However, I won't be able to start the next one right away (and by right away I mean, like, tonight) because I don't actually own Code Name Cassandra. Yes, it's very sad. I own the rest of the series, but somehow I have never managed to buy CNC. I mean, I've read it and all (once), but I just... never bought it.
However, do not fear! Anticipating this problem, I bought it on Amazon on expidited shipping Wednesday, which means it should arrive tomorrow or Monday... Tuesday at the latest. Of course, then I'll have to reread it once before I start writing, but I'm a really fast reader. Seriously. I can finish one of the 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU books in an hour, when I'm not busy. Which, being a college sophomore, I probably will be... But hey, I managed to find the time to write this, right?
Which is not to say that I'll have the new story out Monday, so don't send me Howlers if that doesn't happen (yes, I'm so clever, with my literary references).
Oh, yeah! Important note: The next book will not be posted as just another chapter in this story. It will be it's very own seperate story, so you're going to have to put me on your Author Alert list if you want to know when it comes out. (Snicker) Why am I doing this, you may ask? Well, partially because it is a seperate story. But a large part of it is that I want to be able to say that I wrote a real series. I'm already ecstatic at finishing a non-one-shot that is over 3 chapters long (I've managed one three-shot and one three-chapter story before, both on Psychfic, but that's as long as I've got. Until now, obviously.)
Well, I'll stop babbling now. I'm mostly just writing this because I'm so excited to have finally - yeah, I already told you. Sorry. Okay. I'm going now. I promise, I'm not writing anything more.
...Except, I feel the need to acknowledge Meg Cabot for creating such wonderful books and characters (Rob! Rob!) to inspire me so well.
Yeah, okay, now I'm really going.
