Sorry for being late, it's been a slow week on the inspiration front. My style of writing from the hip and not planning out anything until it happens is a little reckless, no?

Chapter 3: Ryan

I went home after a job well done. Too bad I have to waste my Saturday going to that stupid Sharing meeting tomorrow.

I was supposed to go at around 3 PM to receive my "honorary full membership", as Chapman put it. It was shortly after my soccer game.

I'm on a youth soccer team, the Wizards. I'm one of the central defenders. Defense is one of those jobs where it's completely necessary to play your heart out the whole game, and yet no one in the stands notices you. It's a lot like an offensive lineman in football, but they're on the field only half the time. I got to work the whole 60 minutes. (We play short games, not the usual 90-minute games.)

Our defense is the main way my team wins games, oddly enough. Our forwards aren't the best in the league, but our defenders and goalie are rock solid. The other central defender, Manny, works very well with me. We've got a system set up where just us two players can cover three attackers. One defends the ball carrier, and the other defends one of the extra men. The one attacker that's not covered by anybody is also the responsibility of the ball defender. By carefully paying attention to where the open man is and how the ball carrier acts, Manny and I can predict where a pass to the open man is coming, and the ball defender can usually break it up with a slide. The other defender would get the ball upfield.

This way, one guy can defend two, and two guys can defend three. It's pretty cool when it works.

Our goalkeeper, Jerry, is also a great player. If Manny and I can't break an attack up, Jerry will usually stuff it with a great save.

Well, anyway, I needed to figure out a way to incapacitate myself and get out of this Sharing thing. I turned on the TV to try and get some inspiration.

After about thirty minutes of channel surfing through the idiocy that is afternoon television, I was about to give up when my mom walked in, wearing her normal business suit, complete with gloves. She's got the same weird tattoo-like markings that I do, except that A) They're in the shape of ornate sun-like circles, not X's, and B) There are also many markings up her arms, connecting the hand marks to the large, sun-like circle on her back. She's got to cover them up, because let's face it, it's tough for a jury to believe a prosecutor who has more tattoos than the criminal on trial.

"Hello, Ryan."

Uh oh. Usually she's a little more talkative than this when she walks in. Not a good sign.

"I got a call from your vice principal today. Would you like to explain your sabotage of a perfectly good science experiment?"

My mom's a lawyer. She's a county prosecutor, the one who tries to put the criminals behind bars for good. Lying wasn't too good of a plan here.

"All right...Okay. There's this girl...."

"You had a crush on her so you rigged a frog to blow up in front of her?"

"What the?!? No! I can't stand her. No one can. Last week she embarrassed another student for no good reason. She had it coming, that's all."

"I see..."

The next few seconds were nerve-wracking. I had no idea how my mom was going to react. I was genuinely surprised when the verdict came in.

"Congratulations. You did exactly what I'd have done. I'm proud of you."

I then said exactly what was on my mind:

"Huh?"

"You made sure someone who had wronged another paid for it. That's justice. Isn't that the point? You saw to it that justice was served."

"Ummmm...okay. I'm surprised that's how you feel about this. I thought you'd be mad."

"No, I'm not. Dispensing justice and protecting those who have been wronged are things you'll be doing more often eventually, I'm glad you're starting now. It means you're growing up."

My mom talks about my future a lot. I don't know why, I don't have a clue what I'm going to be when I grow up. She just seems to know, and she won't tell me. Told you she was weird.

"Mr. Chapman said you'd have to attend a meeting of his Sharing group. I assume you don't want to go?"

"Of course not. I got better things to do after the game tomorrow."

"All right. You didn't hear me say you don't have to go...but if you seem to disappear before the meeting, I'll look the other way."

Deep down, beneath the weirdness, my mom is pretty cool. How many other parents would overturn the sentences of Vice Principals?

"Anyway, Ryan...how was it? Did she scream?"

"Oh yeah. Screamed at the top of her lungs."

"Tell me all about it," my mom said, with a giggle.

"Okay, I made the ink thingy last night out of that printer refill kit..."

* * *

Marco
A few minutes after I got home, I gave Jake a ring. I was going to try to convince him to get Ryan off the Yeerks' hook.

Normally I wouldn't do this. I'm usually the guy who says: "Yeah, I know it sucks, but this is a sacrifice we need to make." Going after Ryan isn't really that important in the grand scheme of things, and it's a potential security risk. If all of the sudden, the "Andalite bandits" the Yeerks have been hating show up to save a single middle school kid, they might put two and two together. If they figure out who we are, it's Lights Out. Game Over. The End.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Is Jake there?"

"Speaking."

"It's me, Marco. I was thinking we should get together. Maybe hit the arcade at the mall today. Who knows? Maybe I can run in to your cousin and hit on her."

That's a code. See, phones can be tapped. Also, Tom, Jake's brother, is one of them. Jake's been hiding under his nose for ages now, and we need to keep it that way.

I said: "We need to have a meeting. Gather up everyone and let's meet at the mall."

"You're a weird guy, Marco. You know, funny you should mention it. Erek called me up. He was gonna hit the arcade too. He asked if I wanted to tag along. And I heard Rachel mention that she's dragging Cassie into the black hole of mall shopping. Even Phillip's gonna be there too. You're welcome to come if you want."

"Sure, I'll be there, man."

Click.

Jake's reply is code too. Here's a loose translation:

"We're already having a meeting. Erek, our spy in the Yeerk organization, has uncovered something big and horrible, and he wants us to do something insane and suicidal and take care of it. Rachel and Cassie are already informed of the meeting. And yes, it's urgent enough to let Ax (Phillip was the name of his human morph) within two miles of a cinnamon bun. So get over here, we're waiting...and oh yeah, bring some quarters for the arcade if anyone who knows us spots us and we can go do what we're supposed to be doing."

It's a hard knock life, being an Animorph.

After leaving a note for my dad and Nora, I left for the mall. Unfortunately, I had to walk. I prefer to fly these days.

I'm sorry, Ryan. I guess you're just going to be pushed aside for the big picture. Be strong, man.