Chapter Two:
"So?" Cassie prompted, kicking her locker open.
"So what?" I grunted.
It was Monday afternoon. Flex time. Why is that while school gets longer and harder, recess gets squashed from an hour and a half to three minutes? Who came up with this whole school idea, anyway?
"So, what did Jake say when you talked to him about Jordan going to the party?"
I frowned, and rearranged the books in my locker.
Cassie snapped her locker door shut and frowned up at me. "You didn't talk to him, did you?"
Since I had mentioned Jordan's desire to go to the party, Cassie had encouraged me to talk to Jake about it. Actually, not just encouraged. More like demanded, commanded, begged, and pleaded. She seemed to think that my cousin would have this miracle answer that would solve everything. Sorry, not likely. I folded my arms, really wishing she would drop the subject. "Look, Cassie, this isn't exactly an emergency. I mean, there are none of . . . " I glanced around at the sea of students, then lowered my voice, " . . . of *them* involved."
"So it shouldn't be a problem for you to mention it to Jake, right?"
I groaned, and banged my head against the lockers. Cassie wasn't giving up easily.
"Come on!" she urged. "We can come up with some plan to stop her from going. This party is just as dangerous to her as . . . other things."
Actually, she did have a point. I agreed with her. A party like that? Drink, drugs, etc? If it became any kind of pattern, it could mess up Jordan's life just as bad as the Yeerks would. I mean, what do Yeerks do to you? Take away your dignity? Your control? Your self-respect? Your free will?
Bingo.
Yeah, I'm kind of down on the whole party life. Sorry, all you wild party- people. I guess my party animal spirit, if I ever had one, was killed along with this guy called Elfangor.
"I'm not arguing that, Cassie," I said. "But this isn't a life-and-death thing! It's a matter of . . . of . . . "
"Of life as Jordan or life as Megan, Model Two."
Ouch. One thing about Cassie, she knows to hit where it hurts when she wants to.
"Besides," she continued, "how do we know this isn't a Yeerk operation? Yeerks have a lot of ways of infesting people." I knew she was thinking about the truck where she was infested. "We should find out if Megan is a . . . you know." She let her voice fall at the last sentence as someone pulled open the locker next to hers.
I nodded, and jerked my head away from the general flow of students. We shut our lockers and squeezed up against the wall, cradling our books. Passing students would have thought we were talking about a test, a teacher, some guy, maybe a new movie.
They probably didn't figure we were discussing whether or not it was necessary to turn into animals in order to bust up a pool party my sister wanted to attend, on the off-chance that the whole thing might be a ploy designed by evil alien slugs to take over human brains.
Probably.
"Okay, so, we ask Erek if she's one of *them*," I muttered.
She shook her head. "We should talk to Jake first, Rachel. Really, I'm serious. If you don't talk to him, I will. We need to be careful, here."
Cassie was still a little gun-shy from her time as a Controller. Totally understandable, if occasionally annoying. Actually, it was the same for me. I had spent the first couple days after "my" Yeerk died, obsessively washing out my ear. Being a Controller isn't exactly a picnic.
"Okay, so we get Jake's permission, *then* ask Erek," I said, rolling my eyes slightly. "And if she's a you-know-what, we move. But I'm going to have a backup plan in case she isn't."
"What kind of backup plan?"
"Don't worry," I smiled, "I swear it won't involve twisted steel or explosions."
"Glad to hear it." The bell rang. I began to head to class, but Cassie grabbed my arm. "When?" she demanded.
"Huh?"
"When will you talk to Jake?"
"Later," I promised.
"What time?"
I groaned. She wasn't going to let me wimp out on this. "I'll talk to him when school lets out."
"Right after school lets out?"
The hallways were beginning to drain of students. Shoot, I was going to be late!
"Yes, okay? Right after school."
"Where?"
"Let go!" I snapped, shaking her off and jogging down the hallway.
"Where?" she called after me.
I ground my teeth in irritation. It's a pain in the neck, sometimes, to have a best friend who knows when to be pushy and bossy. She was doing it for my own good, I knew that. Still, I wanted to put her in traction. "The bike racks!" I called, and rounded the corner.
Luckily, Study Hall was my next class, so the teacher really didn't care much when I came in late. I got the mandatory verbal reprimand, but I've got a good reputation as far as punctuality goes. It's a good thing, too, because a detention at that point would have pretty much pushed me over the top.
See, I have this little problem with anger and aggression. And at the moment, despite the fact that I knew Cassie was helping me, and that I would be grateful later, I still felt like hitting something. Repeatedly. Until that something was no longer recognizable as anything but wreckage.
Well, at least Cassie would be late to class, too.
I dropped into my seat. This guy behind me, Robert, had his feet propped up on the bookrack under my desk. He was bouncing them, so my whole chair was vibrating to the rhythm of a Creed tune.
I had just bought these great shoes the week before. You know the type. Big, brown, with heels the size of Montana. I brought them down on Robert's wiggling feet with about half the force I wanted to.
His yelp of pain made the class titter.
I got some consolation from that.
"So?" Cassie prompted, kicking her locker open.
"So what?" I grunted.
It was Monday afternoon. Flex time. Why is that while school gets longer and harder, recess gets squashed from an hour and a half to three minutes? Who came up with this whole school idea, anyway?
"So, what did Jake say when you talked to him about Jordan going to the party?"
I frowned, and rearranged the books in my locker.
Cassie snapped her locker door shut and frowned up at me. "You didn't talk to him, did you?"
Since I had mentioned Jordan's desire to go to the party, Cassie had encouraged me to talk to Jake about it. Actually, not just encouraged. More like demanded, commanded, begged, and pleaded. She seemed to think that my cousin would have this miracle answer that would solve everything. Sorry, not likely. I folded my arms, really wishing she would drop the subject. "Look, Cassie, this isn't exactly an emergency. I mean, there are none of . . . " I glanced around at the sea of students, then lowered my voice, " . . . of *them* involved."
"So it shouldn't be a problem for you to mention it to Jake, right?"
I groaned, and banged my head against the lockers. Cassie wasn't giving up easily.
"Come on!" she urged. "We can come up with some plan to stop her from going. This party is just as dangerous to her as . . . other things."
Actually, she did have a point. I agreed with her. A party like that? Drink, drugs, etc? If it became any kind of pattern, it could mess up Jordan's life just as bad as the Yeerks would. I mean, what do Yeerks do to you? Take away your dignity? Your control? Your self-respect? Your free will?
Bingo.
Yeah, I'm kind of down on the whole party life. Sorry, all you wild party- people. I guess my party animal spirit, if I ever had one, was killed along with this guy called Elfangor.
"I'm not arguing that, Cassie," I said. "But this isn't a life-and-death thing! It's a matter of . . . of . . . "
"Of life as Jordan or life as Megan, Model Two."
Ouch. One thing about Cassie, she knows to hit where it hurts when she wants to.
"Besides," she continued, "how do we know this isn't a Yeerk operation? Yeerks have a lot of ways of infesting people." I knew she was thinking about the truck where she was infested. "We should find out if Megan is a . . . you know." She let her voice fall at the last sentence as someone pulled open the locker next to hers.
I nodded, and jerked my head away from the general flow of students. We shut our lockers and squeezed up against the wall, cradling our books. Passing students would have thought we were talking about a test, a teacher, some guy, maybe a new movie.
They probably didn't figure we were discussing whether or not it was necessary to turn into animals in order to bust up a pool party my sister wanted to attend, on the off-chance that the whole thing might be a ploy designed by evil alien slugs to take over human brains.
Probably.
"Okay, so, we ask Erek if she's one of *them*," I muttered.
She shook her head. "We should talk to Jake first, Rachel. Really, I'm serious. If you don't talk to him, I will. We need to be careful, here."
Cassie was still a little gun-shy from her time as a Controller. Totally understandable, if occasionally annoying. Actually, it was the same for me. I had spent the first couple days after "my" Yeerk died, obsessively washing out my ear. Being a Controller isn't exactly a picnic.
"Okay, so we get Jake's permission, *then* ask Erek," I said, rolling my eyes slightly. "And if she's a you-know-what, we move. But I'm going to have a backup plan in case she isn't."
"What kind of backup plan?"
"Don't worry," I smiled, "I swear it won't involve twisted steel or explosions."
"Glad to hear it." The bell rang. I began to head to class, but Cassie grabbed my arm. "When?" she demanded.
"Huh?"
"When will you talk to Jake?"
"Later," I promised.
"What time?"
I groaned. She wasn't going to let me wimp out on this. "I'll talk to him when school lets out."
"Right after school lets out?"
The hallways were beginning to drain of students. Shoot, I was going to be late!
"Yes, okay? Right after school."
"Where?"
"Let go!" I snapped, shaking her off and jogging down the hallway.
"Where?" she called after me.
I ground my teeth in irritation. It's a pain in the neck, sometimes, to have a best friend who knows when to be pushy and bossy. She was doing it for my own good, I knew that. Still, I wanted to put her in traction. "The bike racks!" I called, and rounded the corner.
Luckily, Study Hall was my next class, so the teacher really didn't care much when I came in late. I got the mandatory verbal reprimand, but I've got a good reputation as far as punctuality goes. It's a good thing, too, because a detention at that point would have pretty much pushed me over the top.
See, I have this little problem with anger and aggression. And at the moment, despite the fact that I knew Cassie was helping me, and that I would be grateful later, I still felt like hitting something. Repeatedly. Until that something was no longer recognizable as anything but wreckage.
Well, at least Cassie would be late to class, too.
I dropped into my seat. This guy behind me, Robert, had his feet propped up on the bookrack under my desk. He was bouncing them, so my whole chair was vibrating to the rhythm of a Creed tune.
I had just bought these great shoes the week before. You know the type. Big, brown, with heels the size of Montana. I brought them down on Robert's wiggling feet with about half the force I wanted to.
His yelp of pain made the class titter.
I got some consolation from that.