Chapter Twenty-One:
I left "Cassie" with Rachel and Tobias, and flew to Driver's Ed. I circled the building, landed in the back. Over the course of the first week, I had established something of a routine for when I flew out here. I dropped to a small groove in the back of the building, about the size of a telephone booth. I rolled the trash cans that were stored there into a fourth wall for my little nook, so that they blocked the view of any weirdo who had nothing better to do than poke around the back of a driving school. I demorphed cautiously, then pulled on the jeans, watch, and t-shirt I kept there.
Hey, when you're as cute as I am, you don't just walk into Driver's Ed wearing bike gear. A guy could get mobbed doing that.
I walked around front, and glanced down at my watch. Driver's Ed wasn't going to start for another fifteen minutes. Fortunately, ballet class had just ended. Most of the girls' moms hadn't come yet. Since I was the only guy around, they flocked to me like paperclips to a magnet.
In other words, I was standing next to the trashcan, and they all wanted to throw away their little Dasani bottles. But, still.
I began talking to this amazing girl called Mary Sue. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, and seemed to have no character flaws. From what I could tell, she was courageous, gutsy, had a sense of humor as well as excellent taste in clothes, and a love and respect for the environment.
The Chee playing Cassie and Rachel arrived at about the same time. This time I was prepared, and wasn't bewildered by their appearance. It was a little distracting, however. The Chee are excellent actors, and I couldn't tell by looking that they weren't Rachel and Cassie. It was kind of creepy, knowing that the two girls I was looking at were actually miles and miles away.
"Hello, Earth to Marco. I'm talking over here. Anybody home?"
Remind me never to suggest Mary Sue if we decide we need a sixth Animorph. She demanded way too much attention.
Eventually, she gave up on me and returned to her friends. By that time, I couldn't care less. She had been starting to get on my nerves.
As usual, Jake had not yet arrived. I wandered, supposedly at random, over to where the Chee stood talking. "Hey," I said.
"Cassie" - Linda, rather - greeted me with a warm smile. "Rachel" eyed me suspiciously.
"Marco, right? Mark?" she guessed.
"Don't overdo it," I muttered. "I *am* your cousin's best friend. You know my name."
"Right. How are you?"
"Not bad, considering." I reined in a sarcastic comment that would have revealed way more than I wanted anybody knowing yet. I wasn't even planning to tell Ax what I knew before I had talked to Jake. "Linda, Cassie always stays after class to talk to King Kong. Make sure you don't forget."
"King Kong?"
"Mr. Mkonge. The teacher." I had dubbed him King Kong the previous Friday. It was my joke of the week, now. The first ten times I mentioned it, Jake had even smiled. The thirty-eighth time, he swung a couch pillow at me.
What is it they say? Familiarity breeds contempt.
Anyway.
Tom dropped Jake off. His arrival was practically the class bell. He was predictably just one or two minutes early. The Yeerk in Tom's head ran a tight schedule. We, the class consulted our watches, hemmed, hawed, and headed upstairs. One by one, we dropped into our seats for yet another two- hour monotone lecture by his Majesty, King Kong.
I kept glancing over at Linda and the other Chee. They mimicked their motions perfectly, from the way Cassie moved her lips as she took notes to how Rachel looked down and to her right when she twisted her hair behind her ear. I suppose their photographic, holographic, whatever-o-graphic memories allowed them to learn those behaviors fast.
The first forty-five minutes of class lurched past. Break came and ended before we knew it had begun. The second half of the class crept through the room with all the speed of a mourning snail. The test was handed out, and I circled answers practically without looking at them, bored by the simplicity of the class. I glanced over to Linda and her friend. At that moment, Linda tapped her pencil against her nose the exact way Cassie did when trying to make up her mind.
"Nice touch," I murmured. The girl in front of me twisted halfway around, gave me a weird look, and returned to her test.
I stood, and handed mine in. King Kong nodded, and jerked his thumb towards the door. I took his gentle suggestion, and headed out and downstairs.
I had over half an hour to get to Cassie's barn. It would take me maybe ten minutes to fly, and I was in no rush to get there early. Something about the fact that Cassie wouldn't be there unnerved me.
At meetings we decide what our actions will be for whatever suicidal undertaking we're planning. Without Cassie as the voice of reason and boundaries, I was concerned that we might end up doing something we'd really, really regret.
I already really, really regretted a lot of things. I guess I was ready to add one more to the stack.
I left "Cassie" with Rachel and Tobias, and flew to Driver's Ed. I circled the building, landed in the back. Over the course of the first week, I had established something of a routine for when I flew out here. I dropped to a small groove in the back of the building, about the size of a telephone booth. I rolled the trash cans that were stored there into a fourth wall for my little nook, so that they blocked the view of any weirdo who had nothing better to do than poke around the back of a driving school. I demorphed cautiously, then pulled on the jeans, watch, and t-shirt I kept there.
Hey, when you're as cute as I am, you don't just walk into Driver's Ed wearing bike gear. A guy could get mobbed doing that.
I walked around front, and glanced down at my watch. Driver's Ed wasn't going to start for another fifteen minutes. Fortunately, ballet class had just ended. Most of the girls' moms hadn't come yet. Since I was the only guy around, they flocked to me like paperclips to a magnet.
In other words, I was standing next to the trashcan, and they all wanted to throw away their little Dasani bottles. But, still.
I began talking to this amazing girl called Mary Sue. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, and seemed to have no character flaws. From what I could tell, she was courageous, gutsy, had a sense of humor as well as excellent taste in clothes, and a love and respect for the environment.
The Chee playing Cassie and Rachel arrived at about the same time. This time I was prepared, and wasn't bewildered by their appearance. It was a little distracting, however. The Chee are excellent actors, and I couldn't tell by looking that they weren't Rachel and Cassie. It was kind of creepy, knowing that the two girls I was looking at were actually miles and miles away.
"Hello, Earth to Marco. I'm talking over here. Anybody home?"
Remind me never to suggest Mary Sue if we decide we need a sixth Animorph. She demanded way too much attention.
Eventually, she gave up on me and returned to her friends. By that time, I couldn't care less. She had been starting to get on my nerves.
As usual, Jake had not yet arrived. I wandered, supposedly at random, over to where the Chee stood talking. "Hey," I said.
"Cassie" - Linda, rather - greeted me with a warm smile. "Rachel" eyed me suspiciously.
"Marco, right? Mark?" she guessed.
"Don't overdo it," I muttered. "I *am* your cousin's best friend. You know my name."
"Right. How are you?"
"Not bad, considering." I reined in a sarcastic comment that would have revealed way more than I wanted anybody knowing yet. I wasn't even planning to tell Ax what I knew before I had talked to Jake. "Linda, Cassie always stays after class to talk to King Kong. Make sure you don't forget."
"King Kong?"
"Mr. Mkonge. The teacher." I had dubbed him King Kong the previous Friday. It was my joke of the week, now. The first ten times I mentioned it, Jake had even smiled. The thirty-eighth time, he swung a couch pillow at me.
What is it they say? Familiarity breeds contempt.
Anyway.
Tom dropped Jake off. His arrival was practically the class bell. He was predictably just one or two minutes early. The Yeerk in Tom's head ran a tight schedule. We, the class consulted our watches, hemmed, hawed, and headed upstairs. One by one, we dropped into our seats for yet another two- hour monotone lecture by his Majesty, King Kong.
I kept glancing over at Linda and the other Chee. They mimicked their motions perfectly, from the way Cassie moved her lips as she took notes to how Rachel looked down and to her right when she twisted her hair behind her ear. I suppose their photographic, holographic, whatever-o-graphic memories allowed them to learn those behaviors fast.
The first forty-five minutes of class lurched past. Break came and ended before we knew it had begun. The second half of the class crept through the room with all the speed of a mourning snail. The test was handed out, and I circled answers practically without looking at them, bored by the simplicity of the class. I glanced over to Linda and her friend. At that moment, Linda tapped her pencil against her nose the exact way Cassie did when trying to make up her mind.
"Nice touch," I murmured. The girl in front of me twisted halfway around, gave me a weird look, and returned to her test.
I stood, and handed mine in. King Kong nodded, and jerked his thumb towards the door. I took his gentle suggestion, and headed out and downstairs.
I had over half an hour to get to Cassie's barn. It would take me maybe ten minutes to fly, and I was in no rush to get there early. Something about the fact that Cassie wouldn't be there unnerved me.
At meetings we decide what our actions will be for whatever suicidal undertaking we're planning. Without Cassie as the voice of reason and boundaries, I was concerned that we might end up doing something we'd really, really regret.
I already really, really regretted a lot of things. I guess I was ready to add one more to the stack.