A/N: Early update guys! It's only Saturday! This is kind of filler-ish. It doesn't have much to do with the guardians til the end, but it does give you guys more of a look into the girls' families and since a lot of you seem to be fans of Sage and Josh, it gives them a bit more character development and fun moments. I wanted to write a fun chapter to remind everyone the girls have normal lives outside of school too, and this is what I came up with it. Hope you guys like it!
G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.
Emily: They probably want to back out now! But honestly though, they think you're really fun. Of course that's what a best friend is for! It'll all be explained eventually. Be glad that you know! Sorry, I couldn't find a place to fit you in, but remember the Scorose story I said I'd write in which Scorp and Rose are in their sixth year and Rose, Al, Orianna, and Matt have to team up with Scorp, Damon, Madison and another Slytherin girl? I'll name her Emily. Mia is in the time travel story anyway. And I hope you like the rest of this chapter, especially the parts with Gabi and Jake, because they take argumentative to a new level!
SilvenArrow: I guess Taranee didn't want to go into all the stuff the guardians went through. She didn't think Alyssa and Rae needed to know. Anyway, I'm not entirely sure, but I think part of their falling out will have something to do with the guardians, so she couldn't say anything. I'm hoping you'll like Sage and Josh in this chapter too. They have a lot of questions. Yeah, I was very happy to find a way to use the name Piper. Hope you like this chapter!
Taylor: I'm so glad you liked it. I thought Kasson's story might be boring for some people, but most people seemed to like it. My favorite superhero is probably Batman. I like most of the Bat Family actually, and I guess my favorites would actually be Dick Grayson (Robin/Nightwing/Batman, Nightwing being my favorite) and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle, Batgirl being my favorite). I also love The Flash (Barry Allen mainly, but also Wally West. Bart Allen and Jay Garrick are okay, but not my favorites).
Shay: Thanks, it was pretty fun to write too, but this one was really fun for me, so I hope you like it. Oh, like the actress Shay Mitchell? Her real name is Shannon. She's in Pretty Little Liars. Those are some of my favorite names too. I also like Felicity and Whitney, and I also love the name Caitlin, and I love Caty when it's spelled that way. Hope you're glad your wait was shortened.
Misa: I know exactly what you mean about will power. Two of my favorite shows, Arrow and The Flash, are similar to each other and I like to watch them one after another, but they premier on two different days, so I have to use all my will power to wait til Thrusday to watch them both. It never used to work out, but it's working out better now. I'm glad so many people are fans of Josh and Sage. I wanted to get them on Earth, but when I actually wrote the part about Cornelia suggesting Josh go to Earth, it seemed so sudden and Sage was a last minute character. Yup, I'm gonna try to develop Sage and Silena's relationship soon. You'll see what Gabi does about Rae's secret in this chapter. I freaking LOVE The Vampire Diaries. It's in my top five favorite shows! And yeah, I actually got the idea of Piper's powers from Kai's. Hopefully I can reveal more about Kasson soon. Unfortunately I have no idea what I'm going to do for the next chapter. I have a lot of ideas, but I feel like it's too early in the story for some of them.
WaterAmulet: I'm hoping to develop the Sage-Silena plot point soon! Like I said, I have a plan for Silena and Sage's presence makes it easier to implement my idea for Silena. Sage was a last minute character I added after I decided on Silena's role, so I'm glad I found a use for her. I'm hoping to develop Jake and Rae further soon, but right now they're in a fight. I think Jake and Gabi are sweet too! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!
G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.
"I don't have time for this guardian stuff every day," Caty groaned as everyone walked home that day. Sage and Josh walked a few feet ahead of the guardians. "I have to prepare for a debate about the economy tomorrow. It's the debate team's first match."
"What about the economy?" Alyssa asked.
"Why our nation doesn't have proper funding for necessities. Nina and I are teaming up with Travis and Will to compete against New Dorp High. We're arguing about what the reason we don't have funding is."
"That's easy!" Ellie declared. "It's like that saying."
"What saying?" Caty asked.
"You know. It's the economy stupid!" Ellie giggled.
Caty rolled her eyes as Rae said, "I think the saying actually is, 'It's the stupid economy.'"
"It is," Caty and Alyssa confirmed.
"Who cares?!" Gabi cried, frustrated. After working on ZOOM that afternoon, some of the cheerleaders got together to give Sage her special audition. She made the team easily, impressing Traci, Gabi, and even Lana, who usually didn't like anyone Gabi wanted to give a special audition too. Lana still hadn't warmed up to Lili. But right after that, they headed to The Silver Dragon, and the rest of the day had been terrible.
Gabi may not have wanted to go to Meridian and battle, but she still wanted-needed-to practice with her powers. But Ellie had explained to Hay Lin a dream she'd been having about some ugly snake guy. Hay Lin took a picture off the large bulletin board she had on one of the basement walls and asked if the creature in her dream had looked like the ugly, green half lizard half snake creature in the picture. Ellie said yes, except the creature in her dream had green eyes with no irises instead of orange with black irises, and instead of the white-blond hair, the one in her dream had black hair.
Hay Lin told them about Cedric, a creepy monster and the right hand man of Elyon's evil brother Phobos that W.I.T.C.H. had to fight countless time. She said she thought Cedric was the only snake like monster, but it looks like this guy is added to the mix as well and he'd be a fearsome adversary. The rest of the hours spent in the basement were filled with stories and lessons instead of practice. If the first battle went so badly, shouldn't they be picking up the training?
"You don't have to participate in the conversation," Alyssa said, rolling her eyes. She turned to Rae. "You coming over?"
Rae coming over had become an everyday activity. And even though Mrs. Ashcroft knew Rae was guardian and didn't want Alyssa involved in all that, she didn't treat Rae any differently. It reminded Alyssa of when she was still friends with Ellie and Adam. They'd come over every day as well. They'd start by having a snack and watching TV, then they'd do their homework together, then she and Adam would help Ellie study, the girls would help Adam run lines, and Ellie and Adam would help Alyssa with her latest art projects. Alyssa was able to help Rae practice her sport of choice, tennis, with the courts outside her house and Rae always gave Alyssa great ideas for her art projects.
Rae nodded. "Sage!" she called. "I'm going over to Alyssa's house, and I'll probably stay for dinner. Do you want to come?"
As Rae's house guest, she was pretty much obligated to invite Sage along. And even though she really did want Sage to come (all the girls had taken quite well to Meridian's oldest princess), she also wanted to make sure she never left her mother and Sage alone together.
"Actually, I'm going to go to Gabi's. She already invited me," Sage said. "I'll be home in a few hours."
"Okay," Rae agreed, but her expression was sour. She liked Sage. She didn't want her to be part of Gabi's inner circle.
"Aren't you worried about how poor Sage, who just got to Earth two days ago, is going to get home without you?" Gabi asked.
Rae realized that Gabi didn't know she lived on Larson
Street. And she couldn't know.
"Oh, uh…you and Alyssa live on the same street, so I'll just come to your house to walk Sage to my house," Rae replied.
"There's no need for that Rae," Sage said. "I know Larson street well enough to walk back to your house."
Rae gasped, and the other girls groaned.
"Uh oh," Ellie sing-songed. Rae had forgotten to tell Sage not to mention to Gabi that they lived on the same street.
"What?" Gabi cried exaggeratedly. "You mean…you live on Larson street Rae?"
"You already know, don't you?" Rae groaned.
"That's not all I know New Girl," Gabi snarled. "AKA daughter of Frank Dylan and Silena Shane."
Rae groaned again. "Please don't tell anyone."
"Too late. All the cheerleaders know already," Gabi replied.
"Look, at my last school, everyone knew who my parents were and my life wasn't the same. You have this information and I'm begging you, please don't tell anyone," Rae pleaded.
"Oh look at that, the almighty Keeper of the Heart and leader of the guardians is begging," Gabi taunted.
"Gabi, that's not very nice," Sage protested.
"Hm…no I guess it's not," Gabi replied shrugged. "You know what else isn't right? Some random new girl coming in and trying to steal my boyfriend."
"For the last time, I don't like Jake!" Rae cried, realizing for the first time, she might be lying.
"Spare me. Here's the deal. I won't tell anyone…provided you stay away from Jake. I mean it. No more walking with him to class, no more saying hi in halls or talking to him or even looking at him. Got it?"
"Gabi-"
"Stay out of this Classless-a!"
"I'm absolutely sure we've had several conversations in which I told you not to call Alyssa names!"
"Rae, this isn't about me," Alyssa insisted.
"She's right New Girl. This is about you. So, what do you say?"
"Fine. I'll stay away from Jake," Rae agreed. It's not like she cared anyway. It would be a relief, not having him around all the time.
"Good," Gabi said, smirking.
"Come on, that's not right," Josh said. "You're supposed to be a team, and you're all acting like enemies. All you do is insult each other. Especially you Gabi. You're just straight up mean!"
"Oh that's a smart way to talk to the person you live with," Gabi snapped, rounding on him.
Josh completely ignored her and instead said, "And it's not like being mean is your nature. It can't be because I see how you act around your brother. If you were a mean person by nature, there's no way you'd be as sweet as you are with Luc or with Bree or Jake for that matter. But you can't keep being mean to people you don't like, especially your fellow guardians. I don't care if you think they're beneath you. The fact that you didn't go to Meridian to help them the way Caty did already proves she'd worth ten of you. And the way to speak to the rest of the guardians is helping to prove the other girls are too."
Gabi looked shocked that anyone would speak to her that way. Caty was blushing, and the other girls were smirking at Gabi.
"Well…I never…arghhh!" Gabi cried.
"How very articulate of you," Caty said, rolling her eyes. "And you call yourself a writer!"
Gabi's eyes flashed dangerously. No one questioned her writing skills! Before she could say anything however, Ellie gasped.
"What's wrong?" Alyssa asked.
"Um…my house is in the opposite direction," she said.
The others gave her incredulous looks. Ellie blushed before murmuring "bye" and turning around.
"That girl is really something," Caty whispered when she was out of earshot.
"She's sweet," Sage said. "And her enthusiasm and optimism are infectious and admirable."
"I'm not saying she's not sweet or anything. She just seems a bit scatterbrained sometimes. Could get her into trouble. Especially during a battle."
"Speaking of," Gabi said, "I thought we were supposed to be practicing with our out of control powers. Why did today's guardian training turn into story time?"
"She's right," Rae said. "Yes Hay Lin had to tell us about Kasson, and it was good that Ellie mentioned her dream and we found out about the Snake Dude that shoots spider webs, but we do need to train, especially me. I have no powers, so I need to learn how to fight."
"And fly," Caty said. "How has your mother not noticed you come home with bandages everywhere? I get that you were sweaters and jeans, but what about the cuts on your face?"
"My bangs hide the cuts on the forehead, and the rest are just bruises. I told my mom I was practicing tennis by hitting a ball against a wall and it keeps hitting me."
"And she believed you?"
"My mom's more gullible than I'd like to believe," Rae admitted. "I once managed to convince her the C I got on a test stood for correct because my teacher that year used a different grading system."
Alyssa and Caty laughed.
"What's a grading system?" Sage asked.
"Come on you two. I'm going to give you a crash course on all things Earth related. We're going to the mall," Gabi said.
"What's a mall?" Josh asked.
All the girls laughed this time before Josh and Sage followed Gabi, who started walking the other way to get to the mall.
The other three continued on.
"So Lyssa, what do you tell your mother you're doing til 8pm every day? And what do you say about dinner?" Caty asked. "I told my parents I'm tutoring Cara as a volunteer position, and since Hay Lin can't pay me, she gives me dinner for free every night."
Hay Lin gave the girls free dinner every night at 7, after they were done for the day. Rae had told her mother the same thing Caty told hers about tutoring. Gabi said something similar. Instead of tutoring, she told her father she was helping Cara with her tumbling so she could try out for cheerleading next year, and Hay Lin gave her dinner for that. Her father didn't understand-nor did he try to understand-why Gabi needed to help this girl if she couldn't try out til next year, but not having Gabi at dinner meant less fighting between her, Sienna, and Eva, so as long as she was getting fed, he didn't mind. Ellie didn't have to tell her parents anything, and all she told Jason was that she was reconnecting with Alyssa if he was home early enough to ask what she did that day.
"I told her Chris isn't present at guardian training even though he's a regent and he and I work on homework and art projects while you guys do your guardian training and the only time I join you guys is at dinner," Alyssa replied.
"Has she asked why you don't just come home?"
"Yeah, and I told her it's because I want to walk home with Rae, especially since she comes over every day anyway.
"But we don't even get home til after eight. How much time can you guys spend with each other?" Caty asked. Her friends weren't even allowed over past 6 on a school night unless they were specifically invited over for dinner, a plan that Caty had to make with her mom in advance.
"I usually go home around 11," Rae shrugged. "We just spend the time in Lyssa's room doing homework, and Mrs. Ashcroft knows that. Well, she thinks we're finishing up homework cuz Alyssa supposedly does some with Chris in the afternoon, but you know, same basic principle. And my mom knows we're doing homework too, so they're okay with it since it's school related."
"Rae and I make great study partners," Alyssa said. "I thought we'd distract each other the way Adam, Ellie, and I used to, but we stay super focused and get stuff done quickly so we usually have an hour to just hang out."
"And your mother just lets you walk home at 11 at night?" Caty asked. "I know it's the same street but still."
Rae snorted. "Please. Mom sends Harvey. He's waiting outside by 11 every night."
Caty laughed as the girls stopped. Rae and Alyssa turned the corner while Caty bid them good bye and crossed the street to continue on to her house.
When Caty got home, she unlocked the door with her key and was met with her angry parents.
"Uh…hi?" Caty said, slightly bewildered.
"Caitlin Lewis, where were you?" her mother demanded.
"The Silver Dragon…like every day."
Iris sighed. "We told you that your cousins were having dinner here today," she said. "You were supposed to come home early."
Caitlin cringed as she saw Aunt Dawn and Lili sitting on the couch. Libby and Layla were doing something with their TrappleTab (the line of tablets Frank Dylan invented), and the boys were playing tag.
"I'm sorry. I forgot," Caty said sincerely.
"You don't usually forget these things," Jeremy frowned. "We already don't like that you get free food from your student's mother. It's like payment, and you're supposed to be volunteering when you tutor this girl. But today we told you to come home."
"I said I forgot," Caty snapped irritably. So Lili and her family was here. So what? Didn't they just spend the entire summer living together? Aunt Dawn and her kids coming over couldn't be considered a special occasion already!
"Maybe you should quit this tutoring job," Iris suggested.
"I'd hardly call it a job. Despite getting free food, it is voluntary," Caty insisted. Being a guardian may not be voluntary, but it was her choice to continue training.
"But it's taking up so much of your time," Jeremy protested. "Between all your other activities, when do you have time to spend with your friends?"
"My friends are in my activities," Caty said. Nina, Misha, and the boys were in everything she did, except newspaper, which was just Misha and Brian, and soccer which was just Nina, which was good enough.
"But you're coming home late and staying up late to finish your homework," Jeremy said.
"I don't mind."
Her mother opened her mouth to say something, but Caty moved past her, and immediately, Lili ran over to her. "Caty! I heard your friends with New Girl now."
"Yes I am, and I'd thank you to know her name. It's Rae," Caty said. "Why do you care? Don't you and the other bimbos you hang out with use 'New Girl' as an insult?"
"Caty!" Iris cried. "Be nice to your cousin."
"I didn't say she was a bimbo," Caty said, knowing that's what her mother was referring to.
"But you insinuated it," Lili said, not looking at all bothered.
"What a big word for such a small mind!" Caty gasped sarcastically. Before her mother could get mad at her, she went on, "You know what the problem with you and the band of bitches is? You think your stereotypes are totally right. What gave you the right to name Alyssa, Classless-a Klutzcrfot anyway?"
"In case you forgot, that was years ago, so I wasn't part of it," Lili said. "And you had a personal vendetta against Classless-a til a few days ago."
"See! That's I mean! Yes, I totally was jealous that Alyssa was smarter than me and was afraid to invite her to hang out with us because I thought she'd steal my thunder. And sure I called her Classless-a, to her face, the few times she talked to me. But that's because of what Gabi did. If Gabi didn't pull that stunt all those years ago, Alyssa never would've been downgraded to a friendless loser, and she would've had a place among the artsy kids."
"You mean the art geeks?"
"That's exactly it right there! What makes them geeks? The fact that they don't prance around half dressed for guys who do dumb things like push and tackle each other to get a ball through a hoop?"
"You play soccer!"
"I have nothing against sports, I just don't think basketball or football teams needs girls who don't have any self-respect to chant for them."
"I'll have you know, cheerleading is a sport."
"Cheerleading is disgusting!" Caty yelled.
It was at this moment Caty noticed everyone else was staring at Caty and Lili, bewildered by the argument. For one thing, Caty hadn't said a word against Lili because she didn't want to get in trouble. For another thing, nicknames and stereotypes never bothered Caty before.
Caty just shook her head and walked into her room and yelped.
"Why is my bed suddenly bigger?"
"Well, we replaced your twin sized mattress with a full size," Iris said, as if that in any way answered Caty's question.
"Because…?"
"Because your grandparents are coming to stay with us in two months so they can help out with you sister after she's born," Jeremy said.
"And they're getting my room?"
"It'll still be your room honey," Iris promised. "They'll only be sleeping there."
"And where will I sleep?"
"We were thinking you could sleep in the living room?"
"There's no bed in the living room! Why can't you put Miss. Practically Has My Name's crib in the living room?"
Her parents exchanged puzzled looks. "Do you mean the baby?" Iris asked, making Lili snicker. "Because if so, it's because the living room is too busy for it to be a suitable place for her to sleep."
"As if she'll sleep in the first place! Tutoring isn't going to be the thing keeping me up late. It'll be her. This baby is ruining my life!" Caty screaming, walking in her room and slamming the door. Before she could lock it, Lili walked in and closed the door behind her.
"What Lil?" Caty shouted.
"Calm down Caty. I just wanted to know if you knew who New Girl's parents are?"
Caty remembered Gabi saying all the cheerleaders knew. "Silena Shane and Frank Dylan. So?"
"So, maybe you could ask her to ask her mother to choose me for the internship?"
"No."
"But Caty-"
"No!" Caty cried. "I can't believe you'd even ask me that! I'd be abusing my friendship with Rae."
"You owe me for helping you with this Brian thing."
"First of all, you said you'd help us if Misha explained The Scarlet Letter to you, which she did. You got a 100% on the quiz the teacher gave you thanks to her explanation. And second, we're not even sure if you're plan will work."
"Then we need to put our plan into action. Tomorrow."
"I really don't know about this!"
"Come on, we did too much planning for you to back out of this now!"
Caty sighed. "If I agree to do this tomorrow, will you go away?"
"If that's what it takes."
"Fine, then."
Lili smiled and left.
G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.
"Okay so this place has lots of different stores where you can buy different things?" Josh asked as he, Sage, and Gabi walked around the mall.
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you just call it a shopping center?" Josh asked.
"Because no one calls it that. It's the mall," Gabi insisted.
"How does that make any sense? Is mall short for something?" Josh asked.
"No. I don't think so. Most things don't make sense, okay? I don't know why it's called a mall, it just is."
"But there's no rhyme or reason?"
"No!"
"Just let it go Josh," Sage sighed, knowing this argument was pointless.
"What's that?" Josh asked, pointing to an impressive looking store with the letters TR on the top.
"That's the Trapple Industries store. You know, the one with all the inventions Rae's father made. Come on, I'll show you!"
The Meridian inhabitants followed Gabi into the store. She pointed to a device that looked like a big screen. "This is a TrappleTab. It's a tablet."
"Stone tablets?" Josh asked.
"Does this look like stone to you? You grandmother has a computer, right?"
"Yeah."
"Does she have a laptop?"
"Aunt Lillian does."
"Okay, so a tablet it like a laptop, except everything, including the keyboard, shows up on the screen. You can get an external keyboard for tablets, but few people do. It's not supposed to be a substitute for your laptop."
"And these are phones, right?" Sage asked, pointing to something.
"Yes. That's the TrapplePhone 6.1, the newest model. I just got it. The screen is a little bigger than the ones on the TrapplePhone 5.4, which is what Chris and most other people have."
"The idea of a phone is so interesting," Sage said. "For a while, all we knew was the phone attached to the wall that the Hales had. And Josh's grandmother and Lillian had cell phones but they opened and closed."
Gabi snorted. "Those are called flip phones. Now they're called dinosaurs because that's how old they are. I don't know a single person that still has one."
"Why does everyone have to mess with what works? At Meridian, we keep something the same if it works out."
"Then how does your culture and world advance?"
"Why would we need it to advance?"
"Advancement is good. It makes things better."
"We don't need things to be better. They're fine the way they are."
"And I guess everyone in Meridian is as terrified of change as you are."
"We just don't see why we should use our time and resources trying to improve something that works fine the way it is."
"Fine shouldn't be good enough. You guys should be making everything the best it could be. What else would you do with your time anyway?"
"Currently? Fighting a war!"
"Okay, maybe we should go somewhere else!" Sage suggested, not liking the intense glares Josh and Gabi were exchanging.
"Okay," Gabi sighed. "How about Sephora? It's not as good as some other places, but it's the best in the mall."
"Best what?" Josh asked.
"Make up store."
Sage squealed in delight. "Yes! Let's go now!"
In about fifteen minutes, Sage had bought up the entire store. Well, Gabi was the one who actually paid, assuring Sage money practically did grow in trees for her and she didn't mind.
"What is that?" Josh asked after the cashier handed Gabi back her credit card.
"It's a credit card. It's a piece of plastic that has money on it and the cashier's swipe it in their machines and it pays for stuff."
"Is it magic?" Sage asked, grabbing her seven bags the cashier needed to use for all the makeup Sage wanted.
"No. Like Chris said about lockers, it's just good old Earth technology."
A suspicious looking girl tried to exit Sephora and the alarms started going off. Gabi rolled her eyes. That girl wasn't a very good shoplifter.
Josh jumped and got in a fighting stance.
"Chill," Gabi said.
Sage squealed and reached for her dagger.
"No! Relax. You take that thing out and we'll be put in a holding cell," Gabi said sternly.
Sage reluctantly hid the dagger.
The three exited the store.
"What was that?" Sage asked.
"That girl was trying to steal from the store," Gabi said. "Which does not give you license to attack her."
"But-"
"That's what you do in Meridian, yeah, I know," Gabi interrupted Josh. "But here we have people who deal with that. Security guards and police officers. We don't take the law into our own hands here, because most people don't know how to fight or have weapons on them at all times."
"Why not?"
"Well for one thing, our weapon of choice is a gun, which is a lot more dangerous than a sword, so we can't just carry it around everywhere, and we usually don't, because we trust people here. We don't have evil magical princes overthrowing queens."
"Well a lot of good that trust did you! Someone just tried to steal."
"Steal a tube of lipstick or an eye pencil. Not a big deal," Gabi said.
"And what, your queens live peacefully here?"
"No, we don't have queens here. We have a president."
"What's a president?" Sage asked.
Gabi sighed and explained democracy to the best friends.
"But how do you know everyone will listen to the president?"
"It's the law," Gabi said.
"So?"
"So…here most people follow the law. Sure there are murderers and thieves everywhere, but in this world, just because someone is a big ugly brute, that doesn't mean they can take advantage of people and take whatever they want from stores and collect unjust taxes."
Josh pondered this. "How did the people in your world become this way?"
Gabi shrugged. "I'm sure part of it has to do with a revolutionary war, but Classless-a or Queen Nerd can explain that better."
Josh glared at her. "Do you always have to call people names? Is that the only way you can feel better about yourself?"
"Josh!" Sage exclaimed.
Before Gabi could respond, a female voice said tauntingly, "Gabi, how refreshing it is to see you out and about! I thought you'd forgotten about the outside world."
Gabi growled softly before looking up to see Lana and Dalton. Dalton looked really uncomfortable with Lana, but he deserved it. For a long time, Gabi thought Dalton was a decent guy who really liked Bree. But then Bree actually asked him out after he broke up with Lana and he turned her down because he was back with Lana! She thought the whole point of him dating Lana was to make Bree jealous.
"Lana. What a surprise," Gabi said, her undertones saying 'You are unwelcome.'
"Josh, Sage, how are you guys?" Lana asked, this time her tone sincere.
"Hi Lana," Sage said cheerfully, causing Gabi and Josh to roll their eyes at each other. Even Josh could tell from the brief period of time he spent with her at lunch that Lana was trouble. Why couldn't Sage see it?
"You did so well at your special audition today Sage," Lana said. "I was thinking you and I should get together sometimes and do some extra practice. You could help me out. I'm not nearly as coordinated as you or Gabi."
'Please,' Gabi thought. All Lana wanted to do was learn some of the more unconventional moves Sage had tried out with. Moves that would automatically get a girl the co-captain spot and the Varsity spot should they want them. Sage didn't. Lana did.
"She can't," Gabi said stiffly. "She has other things to do after school."
"Like what?" Sage asked.
Was she serious?
"Like GRACE," Josh said.
"Oh right."
"Grace?" Lana repeated.
"Her sister!" Gabi covered. "Her sister Grace. She's five and Sage has to pick her up from…" Gabi paused. When she was five and in kindergarten, she'd go to KinderCare after school. There was one right by Sheffield. "From KinderCare and baby sit her. She only has time for cheerleading practice, but no time after that."
"Well we can do it at your house, or I guess New Girl's house," Lana shrugged. "In fact, why can't New Girl watch her?"
"New Girl goes to Classless-a's house every day," Gabi said.
"How do you know that?"
"Oh, uh…Sage told me."
"Well, we can practice cheerleading while you watch you sister," Lana said.
"Grace needs constant supervision," Sage said.
"Yeah, she's a real screw up. Makes a mess everywhere she goes," Josh said, making Gabi glare at both Sage and Josh, knowing what they really meant was GRACE were screw-ups that needed constant supervision.
"We need to be going now," Gabi said quickly. "Bye Lana, see you tomorrow. Dalton…go die."
Dalton paled, but didn't say anything as Gabi led her friends away.
"What did that guy ever do to you?" Josh asked.
"Not to me. To Bree. He likes Bree but he asked Lana out."
"Is that another Earth thing?" Josh asked. "Because in Meridian, we only ask out people we like."
Sage coughed and Gabi knew what that meant. If Josh liked Sage, he would've asked her out by now.
"Look, he didn't actually ask Lana out exactly. She asked him out and he said yes to see if he could make Bree jealous, and it worked well enough that she was waiting for Lana and Dalton to break up so she could ask Dalton out."
"How'd she know they were going to break up?" Josh asked.
"Lana only asked Dalton out so she could have a summer romance to compete with the one I was having with my boyfriend Jake. And she chose Dalton specifically to get to Bree. But everyone knows the boy Lana is really after is Chris."
"Like, our Chris?" Sage asked.
Gabi nodded.
"He never told us that!"
"He probably doesn't know," Gabi replied. "And even if he did, he'd never go out with Lana…I hope. Anyway, they broke up and Bree asked Dalton out and he turned her down. We found Bree waited too long and Lana and Dalton were back together. I confronted Lana, and after she accused me of showing favoritism and the squad and such, she also informed me it was Dalton that asked her out, not the other way around."
"But you said he likes Bree," Sage pointed out.
"He does! I thought he did. He told me as much this summer."
"Well maybe he likes Lana now," Josh said.
"Who would actually like that girl?"
"Well, Jake actually likes you. That's more unbelievable than someone liking Lana," Josh joked.
"Your mother was the Earth guardian. Did she ever show you how deadly her powers can be?"
"Oh yeah."
"Then you should know I can eventually kill you if you keep making comments like that."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm terrified of a girl who tries to attack others but usually ends up attacking herself."
"She'll get stronger," Sage said, both as a warning to Jake and as encouragement for Gabi.
"Doubtful," Josh scoffed. "I don't see how you guys plan to defeat Kasson the way you guys are going. Alyssa's afraid of her power, and since the battle, she hasn't thrown a big enough fireball to do any damage. Caty keeps getting thrown back every time she launches an attack. You end up attacking yourself. Ellie has terrible aim. And Rae couldn't fly if her life depended on it. She is a pretty quick to learn how to fight with a sword though. Maybe you should all just learn how to do that."
"How are five swords supposed to defeat a family of sorcerers?" Gabi bit out.
"They're not. So you guys better improve."
"And when you become a master at controlling the guardians' powers, let me know, will you?" Gabi snapped.
"Is this going to be constant thing?" Sage asked worriedly. "Are you guys gonna fight 24/7, because if so, maybe we should switch houses."
"I have no problem with that," Josh said somewhat dreamily.
Seriously? Josh had a crush on New Girl? When someone as absolutely gorgeous and sweet as Sage was right in front of him?
"I do," Gabi said. "I chose to host Josh for Luc. Already they've become friends."
"I would feel bad about leaving him," Josh agreed. "The kid's really grown on me."
"Address by his name, okay?" Gabi demanded.
Josh just nodded, not really wanting to get into another argument with the admittedly gorgeous girl.
"You have really interesting eyes," he said.
"Thanks. Everyone calls them kaleidoscope eyes."
"What's a kaleidoscope?" Sage asked, making Gabi laugh.
"Never mind."
"Did you inherit those eyes?" Josh asked. "I've never seen eyes that change color like that."
"My mom's eyes used to change," Gabi said. "Sometimes green, sometimes blue, like mine, but mine change to brown sometimes, and hers used to change to gray instead. I think that'd be cooler."
"But you have brown hair and it really enhances your eyes when they're brown well," Sage pointed out.
"Your eyes are green right now. But not a dull green like mine. They're really pretty, and your hair enhances them," Josh said.
Gabi blushed. Josh had a temper and he wasn't the nicest person she'd ever met, but he was the most sincere, which was admirable. She could why Sage liked him so much.
"Josh, would you do me a favor?"
"What's that?"
"Well, like I said, Bree likes Dalton and she's my best friend and I think Dalton needs to be made jealous, so that he'd dump Lana and ask Bree out so she needs to go out with someone, but Dalton and Bree are friends, so he knows who her type and you're it."
"Me?"
"Yup. So I need you to ask Bree out."
"What?!" But the exclamation didn't come from Josh, who looked excited at the prospect of asking out Gabi's pretty best friend. It came from Sage. Gabi was prepared though.
"It won't be a real date."
"It won't?" Josh asked, looking put out.
"Like I said, you're her type, and at another time, you guys would have a chance. But Bree is into Dalton. She has been for a long time. So I want you to ask her out tomorrow at lunch. Dalton will be at our table. Bree will know you're going to ask her out, so she'll say yes. And you'll fake a relationship. It shouldn't take Dalton too long to get jealous enough to break up with Lana and ask Bree out."
"Unless he actually does like Lana," Josh pointed out.
"You need to stop speaking," Gabi said darkly, making Sage laugh.
Sage. That was another thing. Bree was good a faking a relationship. Gabi was hoping Sage would get jealous enough to gather her courage and ask Josh out.
"So, will you do it?" Gabi persisted.
"Yeah, okay, I'm in," Josh agreed.
Gabi squealed in delight and hugged Josh. Why did she get so annoyed with this guy?
"Come on, let's go home. I think you guys have had enough Earth culture for now."
"More like dumb culture," Josh fired back.
Right. That's why.
G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.
"Lil, are you sure about this? I can barely walk," Caty complained as her friends helped her to the Debate Team room. "And we're supposed to be debating New Dorp today. How can they take me seriously in this?"
"I'm absolutely sure. And don't worry about that other team. All you need to concern yourself with is making sure Brian drools over you."
"Ew," Caty muttered, making her friends laugh and Lili roll her eyes.
Misha, Nina, and Lili had come over that morning to help Caty get ready for the day. Lili had brought over her cutest outfits and her entire arsenal of make up to make Caty over. Caty always thought Lili wore too much make up, but at the same time, Lili had asked out ten guys over the summer, and they all fell all over themselves saying yes. She couldn't argue with results like that.
Lili put Caty's hair up in a high ponytail, like the ones the cheerleaders wore. "Putting your hair in a French braid every day is too modest," she had said.
Caty tried to tell her a tight French braid was easy to manage because her hair didn't fall in her face, but Lili ignored her. She was unable to tell whether Caty's blue-green eyes looked more blue or green that day, so she used water to blend an emerald green and cyan eyeshadow together. It would've looked nice if Lili hadn't made it look like Caty fell into a vat of eye shadow. It was too much and her eyes kept watering. The brown eyeshadow and the mascara didn't help, especially since Caty insisted on applying the mascara herself (she didn't trust Lili to come near her with the sharp brush thing), and ended up poking herself in the eye. She squealed, then ran around the room, blinking like there was no tomorrow because Lili screamed "Don't let your eyes water, it'll ruin your eyeliner!"
Her face felt a hundred pounds heavier because Lili had put so much blush on it, her cheeks looked like cake, and the few loose strands of hair Lili purposely left out of her ponytail kept sticking to her heavily glossed lips. At least she managed to convince Lili to use clear lip gloss instead of colored lipstick.
That was it though. Lili made her wear a long pink blouse that hung off her shoulders and a black mini skirt that went half way down her thighs. Caty pointed out that it was against the dress code, but Lili said the cheerleaders wore stuff like that all the time and didn't get in trouble.
"Of course you don't get in trouble, everyone's just happy you don't prance around in your cheerleading uniforms," Caty had snapped, but again Lili had ignored her as she picked up black, five inch stiletto heels. Caty had to remind her cousin she'd fractured her right ankle, but Lili managed to get to shoe on over the cast.
Caty had walked (or more accurately, stumbled) out of her room and asked her dad for a ride because there was no way she could walk to school. Her dad, horrified at the sight of his daughter, demanded she go change.
Caty tried to run back to her room, but Misha and Nina held her back as Lili approached Caty's mother and said, "Aunt Iris, doesn't Caty look great today?"
Iris looked over and smiled. "Caty what a cute outfit!" Then, as if that hadn't angered her father enough, she said "Do you girls want a ride to school?"
Nina had Iris drop them off at the entrance closest to the debate team room. The entire team was meeting there half an hour before school because the bus that took them to New Dorp arrived five minutes before their first class. Caty, Misha, and Brian had to skip a Student Council meeting as they told Jake yesterday, and while Jake gave Misha and Brian a smile and wished them luck, he called Caty irresponsible. How did she make so many enemies?
Caty had tried to balance in the hells and twisted her left ankle. Misha and Nina had to support her the rest of the way.
The four girls walked into the room, trying to look confident. A few people looked up, but Brian and his friends weren't part of that group.
"Okay, go talk to him," Misha said.
"You just have to be sexy," Lili added. "Make it so the only way he could not be attracted to you is if he were gay."
"How do we know he's not?"
"He had three girlfriends. I doubt he's gay," Nina said. Sheffield may have lots of popular kids and bullies, but being gay was one thing no one made fun of. Nina was pretty sure every gay kid had come out already.
"And those girlfriends were prettier than me," Caty said. She had never understood how Brian had managed to have three pretty girlfriends from the wannabe popular clique until she realized on the first day how incredibly hot he actually was.
"Not today they aren't," Lili said confidently. "Just don't mess up."
"Great pep talk cuz. Thanks," Caty said dryly. She didn't like how she looked today. The 'dunk you head in make-up' look might've worked for Lili, but it made Caty look like a plastic doll.
Lili laughed. "Just go!"
Caty sighed and walked over to where Brian and his friends were standing. "Hey Brian," she said.
Brian looked up, surprised that Caty would actually willingly say something to him. Sure she was friends with his friends, and he was friends with hers, but the two of them couldn't be considered anything but bitter rivals.
"Um, hi Caty," he said.
Caty flashed him a smile and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had no idea what to say next. She looked back at Lili to see she'd disappeared. Uh oh.
"Um…how are you today?"
Brian looked confused while his friends had smirks playing on their faces.
"Fine, I guess? Pumped for my debate. Is your friend ready?"
Along with Shelia Breslin and a boy from her group, Taylor May, Brian and Misha would debate New Dorp students on the pros (Sheffield) and cons (New Dorp) of New York's Governor Cuomo.
"Yeah, definitely," Caty said.
"Great."
The two stared at each other for a moment. Brian seemed to be looking over her shoulder, but Caty, getting lost in Brian's eyes, didn't notice.
"Uh, Caty?"
"Yes Brian?"
"Do you think you could move? The desk you're leaning against has my research on it."
Caty went bright red as Brian's friends began to laugh. She understood Travis and Nick laughing, but Will was usually kind.
"Sorry," she muttered, trying to move. She tried to move away, but pain shot through her twisted ankle, and as the foot slipped sideways, Caty lost balance and fell. She wailed in pain as her right foot hit the leg of the desk right where the fracture was.
"Caty!" Nina and Misha ran over to her right away.
"I'm okay," she assured them.
Her friends helped her up.
"Where did Lili go?"
"Gabi called an early cheerleading practice and she was already late," Misha said.
"How's your leg?"
"The fractured leg is throbbing, but as long as I don't put too much wait on the left leg, the twisted ankle is okay."
"You're not usually such a klutz," Nina said.
"It's the heels," Caty sighed. "Tell me the truth. How badly did I embarrass myself?"
"You didn't at all!" Nina said way too quickly.
"You're a terrible liar!"
"It really wasn't that bad," Misha reassured, but when Caty looked back at Brian, she saw him and his friend staring at her, still laughing.
"I quit life," Caty moaned. She always thought she had a brilliant mind, but the minute she tried to charm a boy who apparently already had a little thing for her, she turned into a blithering idiot who couldn't take one single step without falling down. Her fracture might've gotten worse, but it was her pride that was really injured. She could get straight As, win Best Lawyer for Mock Trial three years in a row, and make the soccer team no question, but couldn't talk to a boy. She was such a loser!
And it wasn't just boys either. It was everything. Between all her activities and guardian training, her grades were slipping. She wasn't a good enough child for her parents, so they were having another one. She wasn't a good enough politician so she lost class president to Jake Saunders. She wasn't pretty and smooth enough to charm Brian. And she wasn't powerful enough to not mess up when she trained with her powers. She wasn't a very good human and she wasn't a very good guardian. How was she supposed to help save the world? She was an honest to goodness failure.
G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.
"Run," Rae whispered as the bell rang. Alyssa had heard it three times already, so she'd already packed up.
"Hey Rae, Alyssa, wait up!" they heard Jake call as they rushed to the cafeteria.
"Go, go, faster!" Rae cried.
Alyssa sighed and rolled her eyes, but broke into a run like her friend had.
They made it to the cafeteria in record time. Caty and her friends still weren't back from their Debate Team trip, so Alyssa and Rae chose the table they sat at before Caty invited them to sit with her.
"This is getting a little ridiculous, don't you think? You can't avoid him forever," Alyssa pointed out.
"Jake is like a bill collector. Ignore his calls and eventually, he'll go away."
"No, eventually they'll shut down your power," Alyssa replied. "That boy's more persistent than a little kid who wants a new toy."
Rae sighed. "Gabi said to stay away from him, so that's what I have to do."
"I don't like that she gets to tell you what to do. That she gets to threaten you!" Alyssa burst out.
"I don't particularly enjoy it either," Rae said sarcastically. "But the name of the game here is blackmail, and Gabi's on the winning side."
"Maybe we should tell Hay Lin."
"Tell Hay Lin what?" Ellie asked as she joined them at the table.
Alyssa and Rae looked surprised that Ellie joined them, but didn't comment. "I was just thinking Rae should tell Hay Lin about Gabi's blackmail."
"But we can't tell Hay Lin," Rae said. "Sure she's our guardian teacher, but this has nothing to do with guardians. This is regular high school drama, and I'm failing to see how a 40-year-old woman with a freakish love for writing on herself"
"She does write on herself a lot, doesn't she? All over her hands and arms, and once on her forehead, except it came out backwards," Alyssa recalled laughing.
"I wonder if she ever got ink poisoning." Ellie wondered.
"Is that a real thing?" Rae asked.
Ellie and Alyssa shrugged.
"But anyway, she writes on her hands every five seconds," Rae said.
"Maybe it's an addiction," Alyssa said. "A weird addiction, but still."
"Or maybe she was cursed!" Ellie cried.
"To write on herself?" Alyssa asked.
"I was thinking more along the lines of she can never use paper again."
"What kind of curse is that?" Rae asked.
"A good one! I'd go crazy if I could never use paper again!" Ellie insisted.
"She has a point," Alyssa admitted. If she couldn't use paper, she'd never be able to paint or sketch again!
"Okay, well my point still stands," Rae said. "Hay Lin can't help us."
"Hey guys!" Jake said as he plopped down in front of Ellie. "Hi El!"
"Hi Jake," Ellie responded dreamily.
"And apparently we can't help ourselves either," Alyssa muttered.
Jake gave her a confused look. "What?"
"Nothing."
"What are you doing here anyway? Don't you usually sit with Gabi?" Rae asked.
"That table's a bit crowded today."
"It looks just as populated as it does every day," Rae replied, rolling her eyes.
"Did I do something wrong?" Jake asked. "Because you've been avoiding me all day."
"I have not," Rae retorted. "I'm going to go to the library."
"Wait up, I'll come," Alyssa said.
"You're just proving me right!" Jake called, but his comment fell on deaf ears.
ᴥ
"You okay?" Alyssa asked as they walked to the library.
"I guess. It's just…you can tell Ellie has a crush on Jake, can't you?"
"Yeah, which is just strange because when we were friends, she hated him as much as I did. Do. Honestly, I don't know how I feel about him anymore. But anyway, why do you ask?"
"Well, yesterday, when I told Gabi I don't like Jake…that was the first time I realized I might not be telling the truth. And when I realized today that Ellie likes him, I got jealous."
"So you are starting to like him."
"Yeah. But it doesn't matter because I can't hang around him anymore. Not if I want Gabi and the cheerleaders to keep my secret."
Alyssa grew angry. She hated that Gabi had control over her best friend like this, but what could she do? Looking down, she saw her hands had burst into flames. She calmed herself down and extinguished the fire.
"We have to do something," Alyssa said.
"There's nothing we can do. Let's just leave it," Rae said.
Alyssa frowned. She knew Rae pretty well, or at least, she thought she did. And she'd never pegged Rae for a quitter. How bad did she have it at her last school that she would do anything, including sacrifice a guy she really liked and listen to a mean girl she absolutely hated, just so her secret wouldn't come out? Rae was sarcastic and funny and didn't take shit from anybody, least of all Gabi. What did she think would happen if everyone knew?
"And it's not even like I care! That much," Rae said. "And I mean, it's only been a couple of hours. But I'm just used to having him around, you know? I mean, he was there even before you were. He was the first person I met here and everywhere I turned, he was always just there. And I thought I didn't like that. I thought it was annoying. But now that we've had to run from him, he's not there anymore and I realized, I didn't hate it. It was actually kind of…"
"Nice?" Alyssa supplied, and Rae nodded.
"But it's okay. He's just a guy. And I will not get all out of sorts because of a guy."
Alyssa opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, knowing it was a lost cause. The pair settled on two of the beanbag chairs in the library and began to read ahead in Things Fall Apart. Alyssa knew she couldn't talk Rae into doing something about this whole Gabi situation, but that was okay. Alyssa was going to do something about it herself.
G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.
A/N: So what did you guys think? I hope you liked it, and are glad it was up before Tuesday! I wrote this chapter in chunks, so I'm not surprised it was finished earlier than usual. Review guys! Please and thank you!