I wake up early to meet the others down in the lab. It has been a week since Davenport said that Adam, Bree, and Chase could go to school, and after going through the enrollment process they were set to start today. I was excited for them to be joining Leo, Alex, and me at school but I was also kind of hesitant. We saw what happened last time. Davenport had us huddled around the cyber desk while he gave us a "debriefing."
"Okay, guys, you have trained for all kinds of missions. But you are about to enter a soul bruising, confidence-crushing, apocalyptic environment. High school." Davenport warns his kids. They just roll their eyes at him. "Adam, Bree, your glitch test results came back fairly stable." He says turning to his oldest two kids.
"Yes!" Bree yells in excitement. "I'm going to school!" She exclaims, throwing her arms around me. I laugh and hug her back.
"I'm fairly stable," Adam says, giving Leo a high five. However, I look and see Chase looking at his father expectantly.
"What about Chase?" I asked pulling away from Bree to look at the scientist.
"Well, Chase, I am still concerned about your Commando app." He says looking at the youngest bionic. Leo however, gasps in horror.
"Commando app?" He asks. "Put some underwear on! We are going to school!" Leo says pointing at their capsules. I roll my eyes.
"Leo, I really don't think that's what that means," I tell the younger boy annoyed.
"It's not." Davenport reassures me. "You see in the threat of an imminent danger, Chase's Commando App kicks in and he becomes a fearless brute I like to call Spike," Davenport explains to us. "It's kinda like a fight-or-flight thing, except I took out the flight part, cause, useless and I replaced it with a testosterone level of like a Tasmanian Devil-wolverine-shark-lion hybrid that's mad." He says patting his son on the shoulder proudly.
"Don't worry, Mr. Davenport. I promise that spike won't rear his ugly head." Chase tries to persuade his father. His father gave him a very skeptical look.
"Oh yeah?" He says crossing his arm. "You mean like last Christmas when I made the mistake of giving Adam boxing gloves?" He says pointedly.
"Oof. That couldn't have ended well." I shutter thinking about it.
"Ugh. I'm still coughing up tinsel." Adam informs me.
"You know, letting Chase go to school is not such a good idea. I can't risk Spike coming out." Davenport says walking away from us.
"Oh, come on Big D!" Leo says walking after his stepfather. "With these guys, I'll finally get a prime spot in the cafeteria." He tells him proudly. We all look at him confused. "That's right y'all. Put on your coats cause I'm about to ride your tails." He says fake galloping.
"Don't do that," I tell Leo straight-faced.
"Don't worry. We'll make sure he stays out of trouble. Right guys?" Adam says looking at us.
"Yeah, it's all for one and one for all. Unless you guys make me look bad. Then I'm dropping you lame-os." Bree informs her brothers.
"He has to come, he's the nerdy one!" I say crossing my arms. Chase gave me a look. "When Chase went to school with us he took extra classes. He is the one that actually wants to learn." I point out. Chase shrugs and turns back to Davenport.
"Mr.Davenport, I can't miss school. This is the beginning of my academic achievement and career trajectory. I mean the road to astronaut lawyer has to start somewhere." Chase argues with his father.
"See, nerdy," I say gesturing to the boy. Davenport lets out a sigh.
"Ok," Davenport says to us reluctantly. "But I better not get a call from the art teacher saying that Spike ripped out her larynx." He says pointedly at us. "Well, she wouldn't be able to say anything, because Spike ripped out her…" He tries to explain while we laugh. "The point is keep him out of trouble." He says pointing at all of us. At some point during the conversation, Adam walked away.
"Hey look what I found!" He exclaims coming back with the boxing gloves. He starts to punch the air and instead of punching the air he punches Chase right in the gut. Chase falls to the ground and we all look at Adam annoyed. "If he gets to close the gloves he's going to get hit," Adam explains as he hides behind Bree and me. At that moment Alex walks into the lab and looks at Chase laying on the floor.
"Well, are we going to school or what?" He asks, gesturing for us to go upstairs. My brother helps Chase off the floor as we gather our stuff and head out the door.
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"Ok, you guys. These are the basics you need to know to survive being a new student in high school." I tell the bionic trio as we walk into the cafeteria gym.
"That is Principal Perry," Leo says as he points at the short angry woman. "She has the temperament of a junkyard dog stuffed into a really bad pantsuit." He informs them. As we turn to her we hear her scream at some kid for having a tongue ring.
"I would stay on her good side if I were you," I say as we watch her storm off. The three nod in understanding. Just then Derek, one of the hottest guys in school, starts to walk toward us.
"This is it! My chance for romance!" Bree squeals looking at me. I give her a confused look. "On TV the new girl always drops her books and the cute guy with soulful eyes picks them up." She explains to us. I roll my eyes at her statement.
"I wish it were that easy." I scoff at her. She gives me a pointed look and drops her books to the ground. Next thing I know my math teacher walks in and slips on her books. He falls on the ground with a loud thud and we all flinch. "Oops. Sorry, I'm new." Bree explains as she and her brothers walk off. I let out a large huff.
"Sorry, about that Mr.Walters," I say to the man again as he stands up. He shakes his head and walks out of the room. I bend down and start to pick up the fallen books. The next thing I know there are four more sets of hands helping me.
"You know that girl needs to stop walking away after she injures someone," Morgan says as she picks up some of Bree's fallen books. I give her a grateful smile as she, Zoey, and our friends, Catlin and Josh, hand me what they collected.
"Are those Leo's new step siblings?" Josh asks me as we get up off the ground.
"Ya Adam, Bree, and Chase," I confirm with a smile.
"What's wrong with them? It's almost like they have never been outside before." Caitlin says crossing her arms. She was a very blunt person but she could be fun sometimes.
"Well, Davenport, homeschooled them. He was worried about how the outside world would treat them." I say, trying to find the right way to word it.
"Oh, because they are a billionaire's kids?" Morgan says as more of a statement than a question.
"Sure let's go with that," I mutter. "Look I just need you to be nice to them. They're my friends and Mr. Davenport is extra worried about Chase. He's worried he won't adjust well." I explain to them as I struggle to hold both mine and Bree's books.
"Well, you might want to stop that!" Zoey says pointing at something behind me. I turn around to see the whole football team surrounding the popular table where Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo were. Trent the team's quarterback was nose to nose with Chase.
"Shit!" I swear shoving Bree's books into Josh's arms and running towards the group.
"Get lost before I use you as a napkin." I hear Trent threaten as I reach the group.
"Chase we should go," Bree tells her younger brother. "He's not absorbent." She tells the bully.
"Leave them alone Trent." I say inserting myself in the situation.
"Stand down soldier." Leo whispers yells at me but I ignore him. The bully turns to me and scoffs.
"Get lost freshman." He tells me before shoving me back. This causes the others to gasp and for Bree to run towards my side. He then picks up a cheerleader's drink and pours it on the table. "Oh, look, a spill. I'm going to wipe it up with your face." Trent says as he lifts Chase from the chair by the front of his shirt. The poor boy looked scared but then something flashed in his eyes and he straightened himself up. He makes a sudden movement and the next thing I know he had Trent pinned on the table.
"Think again, bubble neck. I'm gonna rip out your kneecaps and use them as hockey pucks." Chase says in a low gravelly voice. In fact, if I didn't see the words leave his mouth I would never have thought it was him talking. Suddenly Adam clambers out of his seat and thrashes his way towards us in a panic, tripping over people and chairs.
"Okay I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think that Spike is back," Adam whispers to all of us. I swallow a gulp and turn back to the action. Spike pushed Trent back towards the football team.
"Let's see how you like to be shoved," Spike growls at the football player. Bree and I exchange a confused look.
"Is he defending you?" Bree whispers to me and I shrug.
"You have no idea who you are dealing with," Trent informs Spike in anger. "Pudding cups!" He commands his crew. They put two chocolate pudding cups in his hands but Spike quickly swipes them.
"Oh. I'll take those." Spike tells them right before he squirts them in their faces. The whole cafeteria went silent and just stared at the nerdy boy. He then growls at the bigger teens and they start to scamper off.
"Ok, ok." Trent says in a voice mixed between a hurt ego and anger. "You're lucky we have to go to the reading center right now." Trent says like they choose to flee on their own. He then stomps off like a toddler. Once he leaves the whole cafeteria starts to cheer. Spike then turns back to us.
"Take a seat, compareds," Spike says, gesturing for us to sit down. "Dollface you're next to me." He tells me running his thumb along my cheek. "This is our table now." He says sitting down and putting his feet up on the table. I sit down hesitantly giving Spike the side-eye.
"Hello, Ladies." Leo greets the cheerleaders creepily, pulling my attention away. "You may remember me from health class when I passed out during the miracle of birth video. It's good to see you." He tries to flirt. I instantly start to laugh.
"Ah, that was a good day," I say remembering it fondly. As I laugh I feel an arm go on the back of my chair. I turn and look at Spike who just winked at me. I made eye contact with Bree who was the only other person who noticed and she looked puzzled by it. What the hell was happening?
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The rest of the day went by very weirdly. People were afraid of us. My friends were scared to go near us and Spike yelled at anyone who he did not trust. In fact, Spike has barely left my side all day. The weird thing was that the others were loving every second of it. I, however, was not.
"All right! Make room for the Alpha Dogs! Woof! Woof! Woof!" Leo yells as we all walk through the main hallway. I cringe looking at the younger boy.
"Don't do that," Adam tells him, patting his shoulder. We all nod in agreement. Meanwhile, Spike is growling at people who walk by.
"Wait, if we are the Alpha Dogs," Bree says smirking at me. I read her mind and we both dropped our books on the ground. The next thing I know two really cute guys are picking them up and handing them to us. This causes Spike to growl louder. "Oh, I love this." Bree squeals to me.
"Watch it dirtbag." Spike says pointing his finger at the guy who handed me my books. The cute boy put his hands up and backed away. Then another boy comes up to Spike and hands him a piece of paper. "What's this?" He asks, examining the paper.
"That's an all-access hall pass! You can go anywhere with that!" Leo informs him in aw. I grab the paper from the Angry boy's hands.
"I've never seen one in person," I say in amazement. Spike smirks at me.
"You can keep it, Cupcake. You want to know why?" He says giving me almost a flirting look. I shrug and he makes a dramatic cross. "These are my hall passes." He says flexing his muscles and kissing his arms. The sight of this literally makes me gag.
"Ok. If he starts oiling up, I'm out." Leo informs us with equal disguise. Suddenly, Spikes face shifts and he stops flexing. I knew instantly that he was back to Chase.
"Commando App disengaged?" Chase's higher pitch voice asks confused. I instantly let out a sigh of relief. "Guys, why was I in Commando mode?" He asks us distraught. I instantly felt guilty.
"Whattttt?" I ask faking ignorance.
"Were you in Commando Mode?" Bree says following my lead.
"I didn't see a Commando Mode," Leo tells him with a fake smile.
"Oh, good everyone keep lying." Adam encourages us. Just then Alex marches up to us and pulls us in a close huddle.
"Why is everyone saying Chase took on the whole football team this morning?" He asks us angrily. This causes Chase to flip out at us.
"You guys were supposed to watch out for me." He yells at us.
"Oh, we watched the whole thing. You manhandled the quarterback and pudding popped the whole offensive line." Leo informs him proudly. Chase and Alex both turn to Leo and shock.
"What? Aw, great. This will come back and haunt my Supreme Court nomination." Chase complains, shaking his head.
"You know what Spike would say to that?" Bree asks her younger brother. He shakes his head. "He would rip out your rib cage and play it like a xylophone." She informs him with a huge smile.
"Do you not remember anything?" I ask the brainiac confused. He shakes his head.
"No. I can never remember anything that happens when I'm Spike. It's like I'm a completely different person." He tells me, glumly.
"That would explain some things," I mutter thinking about the way Spike was treating me. Chase was about to ask me what I meant but my brother interrupted him.
"What are you talking about?" Alex asks annoyed. I let out a sigh.
"Chase is the bionic equivalent to the Hulk minus the turning green and growth spurt," I say to my brother. The older boy looks at him in complete shock.
"I like Spike," Adam informs his younger brother. "He's like a big, fun monster, and you're a sad little body," Adam says patting his brother on the shoulder.
"I'll get Spike back," Leo says, rolling up his sleeves. "Get lost before I use you as a napkin." He says trying to sound like Trent. He then jumps on the genius and tries to beat him up. However, it just looked like a mouse trying to fight a large dog.
"This is just sad," Alex says as we watch the pitiful scene. After a little while, I intervened.
"Leo get off of him." I say pulling him by the back of his shirt. "You're going to hurt yourself," I inform him as I pull him back.
"Chase, just try and keep a low profile, please," Alex says to the younger bionic. "The last thing I need is to have to take you to the hospital." Alex says leading us into the cafeteria. I stop when I see Chase was not following.
"Did Spike do something to you?" Chase asks me suddenly. My eyes widen.
"No. Why would you think that?" I ask him in surprise.
"You just said something earlier that concerned me." He says concern still in his eyes.
"Spike did nothing. In fact, he was acting almost protective of me. But don't worry about it your Chase again. Let's just go eat ok?" I tell him, leading him into the cafeteria. He nods but I can tell he was uncomfortable by today's events.
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We were sitting at the popular table at lunch today and I had to admit it was kind of nice. However, I could tell that today's events were bugging Chase still.
"Hey, baby. Want a nibble?" Leo asks the cheerleader next to him, holding out his sandwich to her.
"Ew, Leo. Don't be a creep." I say hitting the boy on the side of the head.
"Look there's Trent." Chase suddenly says as we turn and see the football team in the back corner. "I better go apologize." He says, starting to stand up.
"Woah! Slow your roll buttercup." Bree stops her brother.
"Mail him a greeting card. It's much more personal." Leo tries to persuade him.
"Don't do it. It's for your own good and I'm not just saying that for my own benefit like these guys." I inform the youngest bionic. Chase nods and sits down.
"Lighten up bestie! We are the kings of the school on our first day." Bree tells me proudly.
"It's true! Look, the cheerleaders cut my food into tiny pieces. I'm eating a turkey burger through a straw!" He says excitedly as he sucks up more of the burger. "Mm! Gibblety." I look at him in disgust and turn my attention to my own food.
"Hey, new kid! Come here!" I hear Principal Perry shout as she marches towards Chase. He looks at me like a deer caught in headlights and I signal for him to go to her. He stands up suddenly and rushes toward her. "Do you know what happens when my football players are humiliated? No! You don't. Because my football players don't get humiliated." She growls at Chase.
"They look humiliated." Adam pipes up still slurping down his burger.
"I know what team spirit is about because I was a jammer on the Northern Pacific roller derby championship team." She explains to the scared boy.
"Quite an accomplishment," Chase says nervously, trying to charm his way out of trouble.
"Don't mock me, squash face," She tells him and he visibly withers and gulps. "My career ended when a trash talker got in my head and I wiped. One zebra called it the worst single-bodied collision she'd ever seen." She informs him getting in his face.
"I'd crash too if I saw a talking zebra." Chase jokes trying to lighten the mood.
"It's a referee, you desk donkey!" She yells angrily. "They told me what you did this morning! You will not undermine the morale of my team. Evacuate the table now!" She yells at us. I quickly grab my stuff and move to stand behind Chase. However, when I looked up I saw Chase straighten up and I knew what that meant.
"Chase no!" I called out but it was too late.
"Watch who you're talking to, sports bra!" Spike yells in her face.
"Here we go," I say facepalming.
"I bet you panicked, threw yourself off the track, and blamed the other team for your weakness." He accuses her, getting in her face and stating her down intensely.
"Do you think this Spike thing is getting out of hand?" Leo whispers to all of us.
"He might have crossed a line at sports bra," Bree affirms we all nod our heads in agreement.
"I had to quit because of that accident." She says offended.
"Quite? Or move out of the state in shame." Spike accuses again, this time getting a reaction from the other students.
"He doesn't know!" Perry yells at all of us. "He wasn't there!" She says almost panicking.
"Why don't you hop in your economy car and tootle on home to your six cats and your online bingo tournament." The angry boy dismisses her.
"Jokes on you I have five cats." She defends herself however, her voice cracks so it was not convincing. She then backs away to talk to Trent and Alex comes running up to us.
"Ok. That's enough Chase." He laughs nervously pushing the younger boy back.
"Hands off, bug face," Spike growls getting in the older boy's face. Alex intently pales.
"Spike, right?" He asks and the monster boy growls in response. "We're good. We're friends. Please don't smash my head in." He says as moves to cower behind Adam. Just then Perry comes back to us.
"All right, kid. I'll make you a deal." Perry says as she approaches Spike. He grunts in response and she continues. "Let's be civilized and settle this the old fashioned way. With a bone-crushing grudge match on the football field." Perry suggests smugly. Spike smirks at the older woman.
"We're in." He replies smugly. "Me." He says pointing at himself. "Him." He says pointing at Adam. "Him." He says pointing at Alex. "Her." He says pointing at Bree. "The cute blonde." He says putting his fingers under my chin. My eyes widened at that. I don't want to play football and why does he keep flirting with me? "And him." He says reluctantly pointing at Leo.
"You and your band of nobodies versus my fighting dingos." She says as the football team moves to stand behind her.
"Who is she calling a nobody?" Bree asks, offended. "I got half a BFF necklace today." She informs us, showing us the said necklace. Leo and her gush about and I roll my eyes.
"Winner takes the table and all the glory," Perry informs us as the team crosses their arms. We all nod in understanding and Leo steps up.
"Uh, ma'am, as much as I would like to flex my football fanciness." He says flexing. This causes Alex and I to scoff. Leo turns and glares at us. "But girls soccer has the field tonight." He says turning back to the principal.
"Eh, just as well. I can't condone such a violent game on school property." She dismisses. I let out a sigh of relief. "So let's take it to the dog park across the street!" She declares triumphantly.
"Yeah!" The football team cheer as they and Perry leave the cafeteria. Leo turns to the rest of us.
"Am I the only one that's gonna need a fresh change of pants?" Leo asks the rest of us. We all shake our heads at him except for Adam who raises his hand. We move to sit back down at the table to finish our lunch.
"Mar," Alex says, grabbing my arm. I turn and look at him confused. "Mom is coming home today. What are we supposed to tell her? Sorry, we weren't there to welcome you home because Chase's psycho alter-ego is making us play a game of football against the entire football team." He whispers yells at me.
"Hey!" I snap at him. "You always try to protect Leo and me and said you would do anything for us cause we are family. Well, Adam, Bree, and Chase are a part of our family now. So, are you going to turn your back on them since they are different, or are you going to play in this stupid football game to support our weird family?" I ask him sternly. He looks at me hard for a moment and then lets out a sigh.
"Fine. For family." He says reluctantly. I give him a happy smile as he lets go of my arm.
"Hey, dollface! Are you joining us or not?" Spike called over to me. I roll my eyes annoyed.
"Why is he so into you?" Alex asks laughing.
"I don't know and I don't like it," I complain as I leave him and return to my seat next to the controlling boy. As I sit down his arm rests again on the back of my chair. I make an annoyed sound but continue to eat my food. Chase had some answering to do when he returned to himself.
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Perry gave us old football pads and jersey's for our game tonight and let's just say they are not pleasing in any way. Most of the equipment was very oversized and probably will hurt me more than protect me. Our ragtag group of six made our way across the street to the dog park where we are meant to play the game. Perry and the football team were waiting for us fully suited up.
"This doesn't seem fair." Leo points out as he walks toward the football team.
"Ya! Perry we don't even have a full team!" Alex points out annoyed. The principal just shrugged.
"Seems fair to me!" She responds. She then blows the whistle signaling the start of the game.
"Ok! Huddle up!" I yell as Alex and Leo put their arms around me. Adam, Bree, and Spike all look at me like I had six heads.
"Huh?"
"Pardon me?"
"I huddled before I got here," Spike informs me.
"Charming," I inform him, rolling my eyes.
"Oh, man, you guys don't know how to play football." Leo realizes, distraught.
"Wow. I can't believe there is someone out there that knows less about football than you." I inform Leo snickering. He glares at me and opens his mouth in retort but Alex stops him.
"Ok, guys. This is what you do." Alex explains to the bionic siblings. "We need to stop that team from getting into our end zone and scoring a…"
"Hike!" Trent yells as he is thrown the ball. He then throws it to one of the receivers who easily scores on us.
"Touchdown," Alex finishes with a sigh. Suddenly, a football player comes over and slams Leo into the ground hard. The rest of us flick as we watch it happen. Alex runs over and helps the younger boy up.
"All right, Adam," I say, pulling the large boy to the center of the field. "You squat down here," I tell him as I push him down to the ground.
"Right. And when I say "Hike, " you're gonna pass the ball between your legs to my hands that will be right here." Leo says coming up behind the older boy.
"Woah! It's called football, not hands ball." Adam informs him. I laugh and back away.
"Ready? Break!" Trent yells from their huddle.
"Hey, nugget-head! Quit sucking air and hike him the ball!" Spike says as he approaches Adam. He then turns to me. "Watch this sweetheart." He winks at me and then bends down and tosses the ball to Leo. The next thing I know two football players pick Leo up and carry him to the end zone.
"Hey!" Leo protested.
"Safety! Two points!" Trent yells in triumph.
"Hey! That's a foul!" Alex says in protest but Perry ignores him.
"Losing makes me wanna rip out my own intestines and wear 'em as a sweatband," Spike yells as we move back into a huddle.
"Well, if they're going to play dirty so are we," I inform them crossing my arms.
"What did you have in mind?" Leo asks, turning to me.
"The only way we can win is if we use your super speed, your super strength, and your super-nutty split personality," I tell them smirking.
"Whatever it takes," Bree says, nodding at me. "I already smell like a sweaty ape. I don't want this to be for nothing!" She informs us. I nod in agreement.
"Ok. This is what we are going to do." I say getting closer into the huddle and whispering my plan to all of them. They all nod in understanding.
"Break!" Alex yells as we run to our spots on the field.
"Woo! Yeah! Go, team!" Bree shouts suddenly as she does some high kicks. We all look at her confused. "I'm the football player and the cheerleader. I'm that good." She informs us proudly. I laugh at this and get into position.
"Hey is that a Biggie Burger Truck?" Leo asks pointing, behind the football players. They all turn around to look while Bree uses her super-speed to tie their shoelaces together. She comes back to her spot next to me and we high-five. "Guess not. Hike!" Leo yells trying their attention back to the game. Adam hikes Leo the ball and he passes it to Spike.
"Hey? How did our shoes get tied together?" Trent asks while the whole team was trying and failing to tackle Spike while being tied together. Spike pushes through them and runs to the endzone. We all run over there in celebration.
"Touchdown!" Alex yells in excitement and he shakes mine and Leo's shoulders excitedly. Spike lets out a big roar in calibration. Suddenly, Adam starts to cheer and kick like his sister was earlier.
"If Bree can be a cheerleader I can too!" He informs us. Bree and I look at each other and shrug. We run over and joined her older brother. I attempted to do a toe touch but it didn't work that well with all of the paddings on.
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So far my plan was working great! Spike kept scoring touchdowns and it looked like we could possibly win this. Perry comes pushing through our huddle to taunt us.
"Seven seconds left. Now, remember kids there is no shame in losing." She tells us reassuringly. "Oh, wait, yes there is." She cackles. I roll my eyes at her. She then blows her whistle. "Game on!" She yells leaving us alone.
"All right, we have time for one more play," Leo informs us.
"Your right," I confirm nodding at the younger boy. "Spike, you have scored every touchdown today. You score one more and we win." I inform the alter ego.
"I got this, cupcake. Give me the ball. If I don't come back with their spleens, you'll know I failed." He says strutting up to the ball. He goes to move into positions but stops suddenly and stands up.
"Wait! Where am I?" He asks in a high-pitched voice. He then turns to look at us. "And am I wearing a jockstrap?" He asks, squirming uncomfortably. Chase was back and for once I was not happy about it.
"Oh no! It's Chase!" Bree yells getting in her younger brother's face. "We need Spike! Where is Spike? Where is he?" She asks, shaking her brother's head aggressively. Adam pulls her back and Chase looks around confused.
"Hey! Let's go! We haven't got all day!" Trent yells to us annoyed.
"Time out!" Leo yells over to him. Alex then gestures for all of us to huddle up again.
"Mara. What's going on?" Chase asks me, desperately. I let out a sigh.
"The SparkNotes version is that Spike pissed off Principal Perry and the football team and volunteered us to play in a football game against them to prove who is the king of the school," I say pulling him toward the huddle.
"What?" He asks in shock. When we reach the huddle he snaps at his siblings. "I told you. I don't want to be Spike." He informs them angrily. "I've been waiting for my first day of school for 15 years and I don't even remember it." He says sadly. I reach over and rub his arm trying to comfort him.
"When you put it that way, I just feel selfish," Leo grumbles.
"Yeah." Bree agrees.
"That's because you were being selfish." Alex says crossing his arms.
"Oh, come on! Snap out of it I want to win!" Adam whines like a small child.
"Adam!" I repermaind. "No one should be forced to do things against their will." He opens his mouth as if to argue with me but Leo stops him.
"No. They're right." Leo informs him.
"Come on guys we can still win this!" Chase says trying to rally his siblings. "And even if we don't, what do we have to lose?"
"Our table," Adam says.
"Our popularity, " Bree adds.
"Everything!" Leo fishies.
"Come on guys it won't be that bad. Besides, we already proved we can work as a team. We can do this!" I say getting them into the game again.
"Come on! Are we playing football or putt-putt?" Trent yells over to us laughing.
"Here's what we're going to do. Leo, you toss a flea-flicker toss to Chase." Alex says, taking charge.
"And I'll use my mathematical analysis to throw a perfect pass," Chase finishes the thought.
"Ok! Adam take your position," Leo tells the larger boy.
"All right." He sighs. "But this is the last time I'm doing this." He says grumpily. I cross my arms.
"Just do it," I tell him as I walk over to my spot.
"Ready? Hike!" Leo yells as he catches the ball from Adam. He then tosses it to Chase and we all run to get open. "Chase! Over here!" He yells as he gets in place.
"Chase! I'm open! Throw it to me!" Bree yells at her brother.
"Don't throw it to her. Throw it to me!" Adam corrects. I duck past my defender.
"Chase! Over here!" I tell, getting the boy's attention.
"No not her! Throw it to me! She can't catch if her life depended on it." Alex informs the brainiac. I gasp offended even though he was not wrong.
"Throw it!" Leo yells, getting impatient.
"It's all one big scribble." Chase informs us. The next thing I know he is getting tackled to the ground and being dogpiled. In hindsight, we probably should have had some defenders instead of all of us going wide.
"Game over! Dingo's win!" Perry yells triumphantly. The football players all get off of Chase and start celebrating their victory.
"Yeah! See you in the cafeteria Alpha Duds!" Trent yells to us as the crowd starts to head out. "Oh and the puddings on you!" He informs us before he walks away and back to the school. Alex walks over and helps Chase off the ground.
"Well, we may not be Alpha Dogs anymore, but at least we have each other. We're not total nobody's." Chase informs us, smiling. I mean Alex and I still had our friends but I don't want to ruin the moment so I just smile and nod.
"No, we are total nobodies, but at least I have you five to carry my butt home," Leo says as he collapses to the ground. I sigh and roll my eyes.
"Alright. Everyone grab and limb." I say grabbing one of his arms. Adam grabs his upper body while Bree grabs his other arm. Alex and Chase each take a leg.
"You know you're right," Alex informs me and I give him a confused look. "It is nice having these guys around. That way there are three more people who can help us carry his sorry butt home." Alex says gesturing to Leo.
"Hey!" The younger boy complains. We all laugh as we carry him across the street.
LRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR
We get back to the Davenport-Dooley household and we stumble through the door carrying Leo. We throw him down the couch and we look up to see Mom, Davenport, and Aunt Tasha looking at us confused.
"Mom!" Alex and I shout, tackling our mother in a hug. She pulls us close but then pushes us back.
"Is Leo ok?" Aunt Tasha asks, rushing to her son.
"And why do you two smell like a sweaty locker room?" My mother asks us, confused.
"Oh, we played a game of football after school," Alex tells her like it was a normal thing.
"Football. You six?" Tasha asks us skeptically.
"Yes," Bree says with an evident tone that she was hiding something.
"And who's idea was it to play football?" Davenport asks, crossing his arms.
"We technically it was Sp…." Adam starts to say but I quickly interrupt him.
"It was Chase's," I say rushing back to them.
"And why would he suggest that?" Davenport asks skeptically.
"Ya Chase, why did you think it was a good idea?" Leo asks worriedly, turning to his brother.
"Uhhh." He says turning to look at me to see if I had any ideas. "I thought it was a good way to make friends?" He says as more of a question.
"Ya, and it worked. We all bonded today." Alex says wrapping his arms around us. "They don't need to know what happened today." He whispers to us.
"Agreed." We all say at the same time as we pull away and smile at our parents.
"Your father would have been thrilled to hear that his kids were playing football. I on the other hand think you are hiding something." My mother says eyeing us down.
"We aren't hiding anything here. We were just six friends playing football. Isn't that right bestie?" Bree nervously laughs wrapping an arm around me.
"That's right," I say, giving them a convincing smile.
"Well, why don't you two get your bags? I'm sure your mother wants to spend some family time together." Davenport says to Alex and me, dropping the subject.
"We'll help you!" Adam says as we rush to the rooms we were staying in. After we gather our stuff Adam takes my bags and brings them to the car. The others move to follow him but I stop Chase.
"Hey, I have a question," I tell him sitting on the bed.
"Shoot." He says crossing his arms and leaning against the desk that was in the room.
"Spike was very protective of me. Any idea why that is?" I say crossing my arms.
"I don't know." He says eyes going wide. "I mean you guys are the first people Spike has interacted with other than my family. Maybe he knew you weren't trying to hurt him?" He suggests.
"Maybe." I nod. But that still didn't explain the flirting.
"Mara let's go!" My mother's voice interrupted my thought. I stand up and head to the door and he gets up and follows me. I stop suddenly and turn around to face him again.
"Are you sure that's it?" I ask trying to see what other information I could get out of him.
"What else could it be?" He asks me. I shrug but I couldn't help but feel like he wasn't telling me something. "Hey, Mar?" He says drawing my attention back to him. "Thanks for keeping this a secret."
"Are you kidding? You make our lives interesting. I would never let Davenport lock you up again." I tell him laughing. He gives me a small smile and we head back to the living room where I am met with a bone-crushing hug from Bree.
"I'll miss you bestie!" She says still holding me close.
"Bree I'll see you tomorrow!" I laugh pulling away.
"I know but I'll miss you." She says finally releasing me. I say goodbye to the others and climb into the car.
"So you two were alright with the robot people?" Mom asks as we pull out of their driveway.
"Bionic, Mom." I correct her.
"Whatever." She dismisses me.
"Ya they are actually pretty cool," Alex says smiling at me through the rearview mirror.
"They are so great Mom! You'll love them." I inform her. She lets out a deep sigh.
"I'll have to get used to the idea but I'll tell you one thing." She says. "If I were Tasha and I found out my husband was hiding kids in his basement I would have filed for divorce right there." We all laugh and nod in agreement.