A/N: T.B. Stormshot: I was going to make it The Gardens but then I realized that then you get into this whole thing of whether or not Cassie's mom is a Controller and things get messy from there. I dunno. Oedipal Kat: lol, I think The Chase is dead. I "finished" that one. =)
Marco picked up the phone and dialed the number. He gave himself the same pep talk as before while it rang. Be smooth and confident. Smooth and confident.
"Hello?"
It was a male voice on the other line. Could it be her boyfriend? Did she have a boyfriend? He hadn't even thought of that.
"Uh, hi. Is Celia home?"
"Yeah." There was a pause, then a female's voice.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Celia, this is Marco. From school."
"Um…"
"I'm in your Algebra class," he added quickly, hoping she knew who he was. His chances were better if she at least knew who was asking her.
"Oh, right. I remember."
"So, are you going to the park tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Did you hear, some people are going with dates."
"Oh."
"Are you?"
"Not at the moment."
Marco smiled. "Do you wanna go with me?"
"Sure."
Marco, you still got it, he told himself proudly.
"Cool."
"I hear the Haunted House is really cool."
Marco froze. Could she be a Controller? He hadn't thought of that, either. If she was, it would only be typical if she tried to convince him that it was good so that he'd go in.
"Oh… I don't really get into that stuff."
"I've never been in a Haunted House before. I want to try it."
Marco wanted to get down on his knees, raise his hands to the ceiling, and scream "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" but instead he said, "Well, maybe we'll do that, then." It was a lie. He obviously couldn't go in there. But, he reminded himself, the Haunted House may not be there tomorrow. Or, maybe he could keep her distracted with rides. Or maybe she'd entirely forget the whole thing by tomorrow morning and it wouldn't even matter.
"So I'll see you at school?" Celia asked.
"Yeah. Bye."
"Bye."
~*~
Staring at the ceiling, Marco suddenly decided that he needed a life. It was 1:00, way too early to go to Cassie's. But he couldn't get back to sleep for some reason, and even if he could, he wouldn't want to for fear that he'd oversleep. But, maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world if he did oversleep, because then he'd have an excuse not to go on the mission tonight.
He sat up in his bead when he saw a light from under his door go on. Who was in his house? Or was that his dad up…?
He got up and opened the door to find his father starting to the couch. "Oh, hey, Marco," he greeted. "Sorry, did I wake you?"
Marco shook his head. "Nah. Couldn't sleep. You?"
"Same. Have a seat, we'll watch TV."
I wonder how long he'll be up. If he's up at 1:50, when I have to leave, things could get ugly.
"I think you should lay back down and try to sleep," Marco replied. "You'll never sleep if you don't try."
"Aw, let me watch TV for a half-hour," his dad said smiling, pretending to be a kid again. "Please?"
"Young man, get back in your room," Marco said sternly. His dad laughed.
"Really, c'mere. Sit down. What's on your mind?"
Marco shrugged as he sat down next to his father. "Not much."
"Something. The only time you don't sleep is when you're either excited, nervous, or scared. You're still loosing sleep from when you saw The Exorcist, I think." (A/N: I've never seen The Exorcist, but I heard it's freaky. If you've seen it and you know it isn't, then insert something different.)
Marco shivered, remembering that movie. "Yeah, I guess I am."
"What R rated movie did you sneak into this time?"
"It's not a movie."
"No?"
No, it's these aliens. See, dad, they're 7, 8 feet tall with blades on their shoulders and knees and feet, and I've seen them try to rip open my throat. In real life.
"I think it's excitement. See, there's this girl…"
His dad's smile grew. "What's her name?"
"Celia. She's an exchange from France."
"Ooh. Exotic. I like your thinking."
"Yeah, but I'm not sure it'll work out."
"Why not?"
The aliens… remember the 7-foot tall aliens with blades? Well, she might be on their side.
"She's not really my type, I don't think."
"What about that Rachel, Jake's cousin? She's pretty."
Marco made a face. "Dad, please, she completely grosses me out."
"Why's that?"
I've seen her morph into a cockroach, that's why.
"I dunno, she just does. Something about dating my best friend's cousin, I guess."
"She have any friends? Usually, the best-looking girls only hang out with other good-looking girls."
"Something about dating my best friend's cousin's friend."
Dad laughed. "Well, this French girl must be something, because my son sure is picky. When I was your age I'd go out with any girl that had the legs."
Marco laughed. " "The legs?" What are "the legs?""
"The legs."
"Oh, excuse me. What are "the legs?""
"Don't give me that. You know what I'm talking about."
"Mom have legs?" Marco asked before thinking. Then, noting the more serious mood, wished he could take it back. But to his surprise, his dad didn't break down or run off or anything. His smile left his face leaving another look upon it… one that looked caring and respectful, remembering fond old memories.
"She didn't need legs. She had everything else."
"She didn't need 'em, but did she have 'em?"
"Oh, yeah. Celia got legs?"
"I've only seen her in jeans, but so far they look fine to me."
"Well…" His dad hit him in the shoulder gently. "Hope you get some sleep." Then he stood.
"You, too." Once his dad was in his room, Marco looked at his watch. 1:15. Until he had to leave, he played on his computer to pass the time. Then he locked his bedroom door in case his dad tried to come in in the middle of the night, stripped down to his morphing outfit, opened his window, and crawled out. He scooped up a square clump of maybe an inch of dirt and found that the key was still buried in that spot, so then he closed the window with comfort and locked it shut, then reburied the key, and morphed into an owl. Then he flew to Cassie's, where the rest of the group was there.
Let's go.