Chapter 37
Lee slowly walked down the hall toward her class when she got a call from Biff, and she answered it with a smile on her face. "Hey, Cupcake, what are ya doing?" she cooed in a teasingly sweet tone.
"I'm sorry; I thought I was calling Lee Ping," Biff drawled, "sexy, smart, and a wickedly wild girl who's into conspiracies. Not Ms. Gooey hearts."
Lee snickered. "Well, as much as I love the way you sweet talk me, Biffy, I'm afraid business before wordplay."
"Aww, and I had some grade-A material." Biff retorted.
"Later." Lee chuckled. "So, I gotta tell you about what happened down in the underground tunnels." She said and explained about what happened yesterday, including that Tina and Jenny were with her. "So that lady in black totally got zapped, and no one even cared!"
"Lee, you think that's crazy, guy that stole your key, you know, sulfur-smelling devil ninja? He's totally evil villain material; guy runs a casino and has a snake!" Biff replied.
"Whoa, all he's missing is a marble for an eye and a hook for a hand." Lee joked.
"Don't joke, 'cause what I'm about to tell you next is going to deeply disturb you." Biff replied.
"Now I'm not sure I want to know…" Lee said uncertainly.
"He let it be known that he found the fact you sleep in a kitty T-shirt and panties very provocative for a girl your age." Biff growled.
Lee stopped in her tracks, her eyes going wide. "What?!" she shouted outside Mr. Langhorne's classroom. "How did he know that?!" she screeched in horror. 'Was this guy in my bedroom…while I was in it?!'
"Yeah, guy's got a date with my fists." Biff said in displeasure. "But even was weirder was all the questions he asked about your parents."
"Hmm." Lee said rubbing her head in worry. "I'm actually more startled by the fact there might be a camera in my room or he's spying on me through my window."
"Yea-" Biff said and there was a burst of static.
"Biff, you're breaking up on me." Lee said.
"Yeah, we're out in the middle of-" Biff said, only for the line to go dead.
"Hello? Biffy? Still there?" Lee asked, but there was no answer. She sighed and redialed his number, but she got his phone mail instead. She put her phone away and ran a hand through her hair, knowing where she had to go now. 'Great, boyfriend's out of cell range and I gotta spend all my time alone in detention.' She thought after seeing the note on the classroom door, which just left her feeling suspicious. She walked down the hall to the detention room and punched in a code, only for it to buzz. "Locked, shoot." She said and looked around.
Lee jumped back when the door opened a moment later and saw Cassandra inside on her phone. "-but I don't care what he said. Hold on." She said as she spotted Lee. "Miss Ping, you've finally arrived. Sit." She said gesturing to the seat.
"How'd you know I'd-"
"Be here?" Cassandra finished. "Because your first period class was cancelled, and as we all know, all your free time is-"
Lee looked behind her as she heard Barrage approach. "Detention time!" he bellowed. "Oh, Ms. McAdams, I didn't realize you were here." He said and tipped a non-existent hat. "Howdy-do, chickpea stew."
"I'm not here, and neither are you." Cassandra said and Barrage walked out of the room without a word.
Lee looked at the woman incredulously. "You're controlling him with your phone?"
Cassandra walked by her nonchalantly. "I'm controlling him with my phone, the stock market with my investments, the politicians with threats; your food supplies with what's going to be the hottest new ranch flavor." She explained and sounded rather proud before her tone turned a bit frustrated. "But the one thing I can't seem to control is you." She said and Lee glanced around nervously. "Or at least, you directly."
Lee's eyes widened in disbelief; it was starting to make sense why Barrage would install a kissing detector now if he wasn't the one calling the shots. "Barrage never cared about me and Biffy, why do you want us apart?"
Cassandra looked at her disdainfully. "Miss Ping, you are known as the Prank Master of the school, and that can be bad for revenue, especially parents looking to enroll their 8th graders into high school. You will not be the reason this school loses even more credibility with a teenage pregnancy."
Lee flushed, but this time it was with anger. "Students have sex, you can't stop them all."
"But you will not use this room to do it." Cassandra retorted and nudged Lee down into a seat. "Now sit down, and shut up. Though I must commend you, it's not easy to find a woman of equal stubbornness and cunning like me," She said in a self-flattering way, "though you do have a bit of a temper," she muttered, "but enough pleasantries; here's what I need you to do," she said and put a piece of paper and a pen down in front of Lee, "draw me a map of all your routes, in and out of the underground tunnels." She explained and walked toward the door, putting her cell phone to her ear. "You still there, move the funds from the IPO to an offshore account…"
Lee heard Cassandra's conversation trail off as the blonde walked further away and Lee crumpled the paper up, her expression petulant. "Yeah, I won't be doing any of that." She said tossing the paper ball away and walked over to the sleeping teacher. "Niles? Niles Peg?" she asked and the man snored. "Is this snorest code? One snore for no, two for yes; what happened to you, did you get zapped by the pyramid too?" she asked and man snored once. "Okay, is that a no or just a snore?" she questioned once more and the man snored twice. "Two snores, so it is just a snore?" she asked, her head starting to hurt as the man snored once. "That's just one snore; so wait, it's not just a snore then?" she questioned, but her nerves were starting to fray as the teacher snored several times. "Okay, I'm lost."
Lee would have paced if she wasn't in the mood to get shocked by the electrical grid. "There has to be some way to get this guy to wake up." She mused and snapped her fingers. "Wait, I think I got it." She said and fished out a set of headphones from inside the desk and hooked it up to her phone before turning a DOD song up to the highest setting.
Lee waited, but her hope soon wilted when the man didn't immediately didn't wake. "Come on, really? If DOD on full blast doesn't work, nothing will." She grumbled and her phone rang. She ripped out the head phones and answered it. "Go for Lee."
"Miss Ping," Cassandra said and Lee narrowed her eyes, "time's up. E-mail the map."
The redhead smirked as she pressed down on the speaker. "Just finishing it up now." she said and took a picture of her making Mr. Peg's face into a funny expression before sending it. "Here ya go, enjoy." She said smugly, but frowned when she got a text in reply. "Funny," she read and smirked again, "yeah, I thought so to. Do you wanna know what else is funny?" she read and opened the attachment, gasping as she saw a photo of a razor being held dangerously close to her mother's neck. "Mama?! Oh no, please don't tell me I got my mom killed!"
Lee frantically dialed her mother's number and waited for her to answer. "Come on, mama, pick up! Pick up!"
"Lee?"
"Mama, you're okay!" Lee said relieved.
"Lee, what's wrong?" Sue questioned and sounded worried. "Did something happen? Did that Biffy boy break up with you again?!"
"No! No," Lee said and tried to calm herself as she wiped sweat from her brow, "I just…wanted to know that you're okay."
"Why wouldn't I be?" Sue questioned. "And don't lie to your mother, young lady. You've only ever called me 'mama' when you're in trouble or scared. The fact you didn't call me that when you pranked the whole school makes me think something spooked you good."
Lee bit her lip, as she didn't know whether her mother's phone was tapped or she was being watched. "Where are you? Did you leave the school?"
"Yes, I'm at the salon; I'm picking your father up from the airport in forty-five minutes and want to look nice." Sue replied lightly.
"Oh, that's good." Lee said softly. "So there's nobody strange there? Say someone taking pictures of you?"
"Why wouldn't they?" Sue teased. "Your Mama's one hot number." She said and Lee shook her head, feeling both embarrassed and exasperated. "But there is a handsome new stylist here and I'm in luck, he's going to do my hair!" she said sounding excited.
Lee looked worried again. "A new guy? Does he, oh, I don't know, happen to smell like rotten eggs?" she asked, but there was such a long pause that she panicked. "Mom!"
"Lee! Not so loud." Sue said sternly, but she also seemed suspicious. "How did you know that? And why haven't you told me why you're so worried?"
"No time to chatty-chat, okay?" A new voice said and Lee froze at the unfamiliarity of it. "Only time to look fabulous; when I am through with you, your husband won't even recognize you." The voice said as the tone trailed off darkly and Lee stared at her phone as the line went dead. "Oh no, oh no, my mother's probably gonna be gutted by the stink ninja and…" she trailed off as her phone beeped again and it was Cassandra.
"You see, that's the thing about things that are funny. They turn ugly so very fast."
"Okay!" Lee shouted. "There's only one way down, at the back, by a brick wall near a bunch of bushes; there's a tunnel."
"Who else knows about it?" Cassandra demanded.
Lee wasn't about to rat the Outcasts out, even if they had stolen her stuff. "No one, only me. I…dug it-it took five weeks. Just leave my mama alone." She said urgently.
Cassandra cooed mockingly at Lee's concern. "Don't worry; your mama's fine; I would never take a mother away from a daughter. How would Kimmie feel if something were to happen to me?" her voice lowered to a threatening tone. "Your father though, that's a completely different matter, sugar." She added angrily. "You really shouldn't have lied to me, Lee-dear. And here I was just coming to respect you…"
Lee grimaced as the call ended. "Huh? Hello?" she asked, but got another attachment. "Dad?" she asked seeing the airplane ticket. "Is she for real?" she added as another picture showed two Reaper-mats at the airport. "Okay Lee, come on, fix this, call her back." She said to herself and looked up the number, but it was just a busy signal, so she tried again, but got the same result. "Call dad? No, he's on a plane-call mom!" she added and redialed her mother's number, but the phone wasn't being picked up. "I don't believe this."
Lee gripped her hair as she summed everything up. "Okay, my boyfriend's out in the middle of the woods, my mom won't pick up, and my dad's being targeted. Now is the perfect time to panic!" she yelled to herself as she ran out of the open detention room toward the library as she frantically tried to call Cam and Holger, and even Chaz. "Tina, Tina? You here?" she called quietly. "Jenny? Wow, even the Queen of Shushing isn't here." She said as she hadn't been told to shush yet. She felt like screaming, but kept it back for the moment until that one moment where she was sure all her hope would be gone.
"Holger says, hello!" It beeped, indicating her to leave a message, but instead she just hung up her phone with a sense of resigned, trepidation.
"Okay, another strike. The boys are all down, now so are the girls." Lee said to herself. "It's like everyone that could help me aren't available. Even Chaz." she added and her phone rang once more. Lee answered, hoping it was Tina or Jenny, only to be severely disappointed.
"So, have you figured out what you're going to do?" Cassandra questioned and Lee's eyes widened as her mouth curved into a miserable grimace. Cassandra chuckled over the line. "You're running out of time..."
"My mental health is just some sick game to you, isn't it?" Lee screamed into the phone, only to no avail as Cassandra had already hung up. "Damn and I had a good rant ready." she groaned and got another text. "Do it for dear old, dad?" She read quietly. "Another attachment?" she asked herself and clicked on the image of the nail, but cringed when instead it showed a red skull and crossbones. "She hacked my phone, its dead." She said and looked at the clock. "I gotta just go for it, now." she added and had to hurry to her locker to retrieve her bag and skateboard.
When she got outside, she had to dive into the bush beside the stairs of the school, as a Cleaner was stationed there. She huddled in the bush, peeking through tentatively to wait it out, and found her chance when the robot left the gates. "This is it, now or never." She said and ran for it, only to stop abruptly when Barrage appeared on the other side of it.
"Boo-yah!" he shouted. "Busted. Miss Ping, sneaking out, when will you learn you will never outsmart an old billygoat like me?" he said chuckling. "You are in so much trouble. I'm actually gonna enjoy this!" he said lifting Lee up by her backpack.
"Sir, honestly, I don't know if you are working with them, or if they have control of your cyborg brain, or-" Lee said, but Barrage cut her off.
"Someone's opened my eensy, weensie, tiny robot brain, and that explains why you're out here, and not in detention?" Barrage demanded.
"No, but-"
"No buts is right, Miss Ping!" Barrage shouted. "Now get ready to meet your maker." He said darkly, but suddenly froze, his tone going monotone. "Message received, require shovel, and fill hole." He said dropping Lee and went to grab a shovel.
"Okay, that's both good and bad." Lee said to herself. "I'll just take the good part for now." she said smirking and hurried toward the parking lot, where she pulled her skateboard out and waited for a passing car. When one showed, Lee followed it and held onto the bumper to hitch a ride to the airport. She didn't know whether this car was going that way, but it was saving her precious energy.
The car took her off way, but it was still enough for her to make the rest of the way on her own. She huddled up into a ball as much as she could to reduce wind resistance as she skated to the airport, throwing the skateboard into her backpack as she arrived at the forest edge. The redhead ran for the airport, but heard the roar of an engine overhead soon. "It's dad's flight, it got in early." She said and moved past the bushes at the airport lane, but the sight of two Reaper-mats made her heart speed up, especially their glowing hands. "Hey! No, don't!" she yelled.
The Reaper-mats ignored her, but when she got close enough to see them hold their hands to their helmets, they turned and flew away together. Lee stopped, feeling confused as she tried to catch her breath. "Maybe she was bluffing?" she asked herself, but then her eyes caught sight of a figure on the roof, holding what looked like a gun. "Then again, maybe she wasn't. Dad!" she screamed when she saw her father starting to get off the plane. She narrowed her eyes at the figure on the roof. "Oh no you don't!"
While wanting to run toward her father, it was better to try and catch the person on the roof. She ran into the building and hurried up the stairs toward the roof. "No, please, don't!" she yelled running past the door and onto the roof. She stopped suddenly, as there was no one else on the roof, but she furrowed her brow as she caught sight of something over the edge. "Mom?" she questioned, grimacing as she caught sight of her parents kissing. "Gross," she said, and remembered what her mother had told her yesterday, causing her to smile slight, "but kinda nice too."
Lee looked down at her feet where a letter was, picking it up with narrowed eyes. "Have you heard the saying that curiosity killed the cat?" she read and growled. "So this was all just a big game to freak me out? And now I'm so not where I should be." She said, with the letter lighting up, making her shake her hand. "Ow! What the-" she said and sneezed when she smelled something familiar. "That smell, you here?" she called, though there was no answer. "I gotta get back to school." She said herself and hurried out the roof exit, closing the door behind her.
After detention had been let out, Lee met Biff outside the school. "Hey, why weren't you on the field trip?" Biff asked in concern.
"Oh, you know..." Lee stated evasively, earning a frown from Biff.
"No, I don't," Biff answered back, arms crossed in a no-nonsense manner. "That's why I asked, are we gonna have to have the whole 'trust issues' talk again?"
"Oh, snap, I almost forgot about that..." Lee replied with a nervous chuckle. "Guess I better answer then..." Lee paused but saw Biff's brow quirk in a tell-tale sign of "I'm waiting and not gonna drop it." "Oh, you mean now?" Lee asked rhetorically, but Biff nodded anyway. "Okay." She toke a breath. "So, I missed the field-trip, wasn't told about it, headed to Detention and it was fine...until I saw that Kimmie's psycho mom was there and wanted me to draw the maps of the tunnels and threatened my parents' lives! "
"Whoah-Whoah!" Biff held up his hands in alarm, quickly grabbing Lee to pull her over to a corner away from the group of students passing through the gates to exit. "Kimmie's mom did what?"
"You heard me!" Lee shouted in a frazzled tone. "And then I had to go all the way to the airport, saw my dad about to get shot, ran up three flights of stairs, only to discover it was all just some sick mind game!"
"Yikes." Biff winced, but he reached over to rub her arm in comforting manner. "But you and your folks are alright?"
"Yeah..." Lee crossed her arms and lowered her head in downcast manner. "Just worn out, physically and emotionally, I mean it's sick! Taking shots at my parents like that…"
"I hear you, Lee." Biff nodded, pulling her into a tight one-armed hug. "But why didn't you call me?"
"I tried, the service cut out and even now..." Lee pulled out her cell and showed Biff how it displayed the hacked symbol on its screen. "Casandra somehow messed with my cell again. Can you fix it?"
"You're lucky I'm such a genius or you'd be out of lucky," Biff cracked, and Lee managed a slight smile, "I gotta start getting you non-buggable or hackable gifts." He muttered, looking the phone over with a serious gaze before turning his stare toward Lee. "I talked to my parents; they're thrilled to meet yours."
"Isn't that good?" Lee questioned as she tilted her head.
"Yeah, but what if this doesn't work?" Biff asked and for a moment Lee thought he meant about their relationship. "What if our parents don't like each other, and don't want us to be together? Or they agree we're too young and rushing into things?"
"As I've said before, my parents wouldn't like any boy I chose to date, probably not even the college guy they'd want me to date when I turn twenty-one." Lee replied.
"Is twenty-one really how long we'd have to wait before we could even go on a real date?" Biff asked.
Lee shrugged, but tried to look hopeful. "They've been so adamant about that rule, and before you, I never really minded." She admitted. "I never liked anyone really; I looked, but never acted."
"And then I came along." Biff chuckled, though sobered quickly. "Tell me honestly, if I was just another guy, would you have noticed me?"
Lee stared at him, thinking of the words she'd spoken to Tina. "No, I wouldn't have." She answered. "But I'm glad I did, who knows who I'd have ended up with."
"Speaking of which, we really gotta do something about this Brad thing, or people are gonna think you're cheating on him." Biff replied.
Lee rolled her eyes, but couldn't fault him for pointing that out. "Yeah, though I think I could get him to agree to a public show. He'd want to dump me I'm sure, but I don't think I could take even being fake dumped."
Biff winced, but Lee smiled to show she meant no offense. "Since we're being honest, there's something I've been meaning to give you." He said and pulled something out of his bag. "This is for you."
Lee picked up the scarf, unfurling it to reveal a hat with her tattoo stitched across it. "You…you made these for me?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, since you're cell cover got busted, and I thought with winter coming up, you'd need to keep warm." Biff replied and watched Lee's features become blank. "Do you like them?"
Lee blinked at him. "If I wasn't worried about screwing things up, I'd kiss you so much right now."
Biff smiled. "Really? I'd kiss you too, I love you after all." He said and froze, with Lee's eyes widening in surprise as well.
So far, it had only been Lee who'd actually said those words, but it felt so good to hear Biff say them first. "I love you too."
Biff seemed to steel himself for something. "No, I mean I love you, like I can see us together…for a long time."
Lee blushed; recalling all the comments about how Biff said Kimmie thought about them as a couple, and how'd she'd jested back it wouldn't be for a long time. "You…you'd want to get married?"
"Not now." Biff said blushing. "But, if everything goes smoothly, I'd like that, would you?"
"Yes, but when has anything ever gone smoothly?" Lee asked rhetorically. "Still, it's good we're talking, as any talk of marriage needs to be done when we're both old enough. My parents would freak if I told them I wanted to get married here and now."
"Yeah, my parents might like you, but they'd flip too." Biff replied.
"So it's agreed, we're tentatively giving this a try?" Lee asked and intertwined one of her hands with Biff's.
"Yeah," Biff said interlocking their fingers, "we are."
Their brief, fleeting moment was interrupted as a car honked and Lee saw her mother waiting outside the gates. She sighed and kissed Biff on the cheek. "So, I better get going before she catches us un-chaperoned." She said and jumped into her mom's van, with Sue noticing her smile.
"Lee, you're in a happy mood...you weren't with that Biffy boy alone on the field-trip were you?" she asked with her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Nope. Had to stay for detention..." Lee sighed happily.
"And that made you happy?" Sue asked with her brows raised in disbelief.
"Let's just say, I see some unexpected windfall coming my way." Lee replied coyly.
Sue shook her head. "When we get home, we are talking to your father, Missy." she told Lee in a serious tone. "Calling me all hysterical, acting weird, I think not being with that boy is messing with your head."
"That's 'love.'" Lee said simply as she gazed out the car window in a dreamy manner, ignoring the choked, sputter of shock coming from her mom at hearing Lee use term.
"-And then we figured out the book belongs to Finnwich!"
Lee blinked at the fact both Tina and Jenny were talking in tandem with each other. "Why are you guys talking in stereo?"
"We made a deal to tell you at the same time 'cause we couldn't agree on who should tell you first." Jenny replied.
"Then you never answered your phone!" Tina said accusingly.
"Yeah, Kimmie's mom sorta screwed it up. Biffy's fixing it." She said and sighed after recalling their earlier conversation. "Hey, watch your backs guys, things are getting weird out there." she warned them.
"Getting weird?" Jenny retorted.
The door to her room opened. "Lee," her father called, "it's dinner time."
"I'll tell you guys about it all tomorrow." Lee promised. "But seriously, these guys mean business." She said and turned the screen off.
"Who means business?" Alfred Ping questioned.
"Oh nothing." Lee replied and when she got to the door, she wrapped her arms around her father and hugged him.
"Daughter?" Alfred questioned, sounding surprised by this display of affection.
"I'm just so happy you got home safe, papa." Lee said sincerely.
"How else would I get home?" Alfred asked as he pulled Lee back to look at her in concern "Your mother mentioned you were acting odd, and it was strange how when you came home you rushed right to your room without greeting me back home."
"Am I that obvious, papa?" Lee chuckled in a sad sort of way.
"You called your mother 'Mama' and you called me, 'Papa' just now..." Alfred's lips pursed together into a thin line. "You've not called either of us that since you were 12."
"I just...I missed you," Lee said in a half-truth, "and that made me worried about mama too I guess I figured it was alright to call you both that, even though I'm too grown up for it."
"What? You think we don't like being called that?" Alfred asked surprise. "Your Mother and I were kind of disappointed when you stopped."
"Really?" Lee looked surprised, pulling back slightly but leaving room for her dad to rub her arm in affectionate manner. "I just figured it was time to grow up, and that it was childish to cling to that sorta thing."
"Angel, you are never 'too old' to show your parents how much you love them," Alfred said in a loving tone, "and we don't mind one bit." He sighed in nostalgic way. "In fact, we relish it. You grew up so fast; we hoped you'd still be affectionate, but you seemed to grow distant."
"I only did that 'cause I thought you were mad about the prank thing. Plus, you and Mom have never been really affectionate to each other." Lee then thought privately to herself. 'Most likely why I was so forceful with my advances to Biffy...'
"Now I'm sorry to hear that, daughter." Alfred admitted with a sad frown. "Your mother and I...we can be stressed by our jobs, and sometime quarrel. But we've always made sure to let the other know we love them, and I apologize if that gave you the impression showing love was bad..." Alfred rubbed the back of his head in a regretful manner. "I guess it's my fault you were pulling away and keeping to yourself."
"Let's...let's just admit we both could've spoke up about it." Lee said kissing her dad on the cheek and smiling brightly. "And be content in that your home, safe and with the people who love you, papa." She gave him a strained smile. "And don't ever leave again...like ever, okay, papa?"
"Okay, angel, I won't..." Alfred reached out to cup the side of Lee's face, his eyes going slightly faded as if remembering something. "You grew up so fast...and yet, your still the sweet little angel who got sent home early for rolling in the mud at kindergarten."
Lee chuckled. "Boy, was mom upset about that, but she let me stay home with her all day, and we really got to hang out. I even learned how to put together the ingredients for her special sauce."
Alfred ruffled Lee's hair as he gestured to the doorway. "Speaking of which, come on, your amazing mom made her famous hotdogs. How does she do it, I can't even boil water."
"That's your problem dad; boiling water is how you make hotdogs." Lee jested.
"Really? You know a lot, daughter." Alfred replied and his tone became serious. "Now, what's this about a boy? And meeting his parents?" he questioned as they walked into the kitchen. "Your mother explained we were going to sit down to discuss your dating arrangement."
Lee cringed, though it had nothing to do with the sudden screech of tires outside as a vehicle sped away. "Oh, uh, he said his parents were very excited to meet you both, and that they'd be available this week."
Sue nodded as her own expression hardened. "Good, but if this young man messes up a second time…"
Lee got it. "He won't. I swear we won't."