Chapter Five:
When you're an Animorph, there are days on which you just want to be normal. And there are days on which being normal means doing something just a little bit weird.
By the end of the meeting, we had a pretty good plan for Friday night. Jordan was planning to take a bus to Megan's neighborhood, since she didn't exactly want Mom pulling up and seeing the . . . other guests. I guess she had this weird feeling like multiple piercings, snake tattoos, and kegs of beer would cause complications in the whole party-going approval process.
So. I would exercise all my older-sister powers to keep Jordan at home. If that didn't work, Jake was going to morph Homer, his dog, and see if he could distract her. Hopefully, she would recognize him and try to return him to his house. Failing that, Marco was all set to sabotage the bus.
I'm pretty sure Marco was just hoping our other two plans would fail. He had that gleam in his eye when sabotage was first mentioned.
The meeting ended, and I morphed bald eagle. With the heat, there was no way I was going to slog home on foot.
The thermals were amazing. With that much hot air blowing around, you pretty much get picked up and thrown by the sky. I flew home blindly, not really thinking about anything. I watched the ground below. House. Street. Kid riding bike. House. House. Big street. Parking lot. Bulldozer. Construction cones.
I was almost past it before I realized where I was.
The mall. The new water tower. Erected in place of the one Jake had blown up.
The one where I had almost died.
Where I had almost killed Marco.
No, *I* hadn't almost killed him. The filthy slug in my head almost had.
Yeah, well, how do you think that slug got in your head, Rachel? Because you weren't careful. Because you walked right into a Yeerk trap.
Hey, Tobias said.
I banked hard, letting a scream of surprise rip out of my beak. Tobias!
What, you didn't see me? Rachel, I couldn't have been more obvious if I were a jumbo jet! Don't you people ever look around?
Not when we're brooding, I muttered.
Brooding, huh?
Yeah, I said. He flew alongside me silently. I looked over at him. Aren't you going to offer me a penny for my thoughts or something?
Sorry, I'm a hawk. I don't have any pocket change.
I smiled. Well, smiled mentally, anyway. It's hard to really smile with a beak.
Tobias has a way of drawing me out without asking a single question. I was thinking about the water tower, I confessed.
He looked back at the shiny new structure. Yeah.
It's . . . I groped for what I felt. It's gonna haunt me for the rest of my life. Every time I walk, drive, or fly past here, I'll think about . . . everything.
Every time I fly past, I'll think about Ax in human morph, wearing that circus outfit, screaming, "BoBo! BoBo, obey me!" into a bullhorn.
I laughed at that. We flew silently for a while.
That's your house, Tobias said.
Right. Gotta dive. I folded my wings and began my descent. Tobias dived with me.
Hey, you're coming tomorrow, right?
What, to Ax's scoop? Sure, I'll be there.
Cool. See you then. He opened his wings and caught the sky.
Jordan opened the door, and leaned against the frame, eyeing me laughingly. "Hey. Been dancing?"
I kept a box of clothes hidden out back for the times my window was closed. When I had demorphed and moved the bushes aside, the box was missing. Consequentially, I was in my bare feet and leotard at my front door. Which was, of course, locked. So I had been forced to ring the doorbell and wait until Jordan opened up. I had gotten very strange looks from my elderly neighbor, waiting there. So I wasn't in the best of moods.
"Hi, Jordan," I sighed, pushing past her, and into the house.
She perched on the stairs in our front hall, a smug smile still splashing over her face. "That is quite the outfit, Rachel. You go to school in that?"
I turned, my eyes narrowed. "Jordan, did you move my box?"
"What box?" she asked, a little too innocently.
"The box of clothes," I growled.
"Oh, those were *your* clothes?" she warbled. "I thought they had been left by the Salvation Army!"
I groaned. "Sara!" I yelled.
"Yeah?" her thin voice squeaked back.
"Did you see Jordan bring a box of clothes in?"
"Yeah!"
"Sara!" Jordan protested.
"Where'd she put them?"
"In her closet!"
"*Sara*!" Jordan shouted, even louder. I shot her a look, and pounded up the stairs. Jordan followed behind me. "Sara, I'm gonna tell Mom on you!"
My youngest sister poked her head out of her room. "But I didn't do anything!"
"I mean next time you *do* do something, I'm gonna tell!"
I wrenched open Jordan's door, and threw open her closet. Oh, and in case you're wondering? Jordan's walls were covered with the Backstreet Boys, a rapper named CrayZ, Legolas from the Lord of the Rings, a doctor from some hospital sitcom, and Marco.
Yes, Marco.
Now you know why I don't go into her room much.
I grabbed my box from her closet, and headed for my room. Jordan was loudly protesting my intrusion all the way.
I threw the box onto my bed, and glared down at Jordan.
The little shrimp had no clue how much I loved her.
The phone rang. Jordan stopped mid-whine and darted off to answer it. I shook my head, and headed into the bathroom.
Tomorrow was St. Patrick's Day.
I grabbed a green bottle out of the medicine cabinet, and studied the back label. Then I set to work.
When you're an Animorph, there are days on which you just want to be normal. And there are days on which being normal means doing something just a little bit weird.
By the end of the meeting, we had a pretty good plan for Friday night. Jordan was planning to take a bus to Megan's neighborhood, since she didn't exactly want Mom pulling up and seeing the . . . other guests. I guess she had this weird feeling like multiple piercings, snake tattoos, and kegs of beer would cause complications in the whole party-going approval process.
So. I would exercise all my older-sister powers to keep Jordan at home. If that didn't work, Jake was going to morph Homer, his dog, and see if he could distract her. Hopefully, she would recognize him and try to return him to his house. Failing that, Marco was all set to sabotage the bus.
I'm pretty sure Marco was just hoping our other two plans would fail. He had that gleam in his eye when sabotage was first mentioned.
The meeting ended, and I morphed bald eagle. With the heat, there was no way I was going to slog home on foot.
The thermals were amazing. With that much hot air blowing around, you pretty much get picked up and thrown by the sky. I flew home blindly, not really thinking about anything. I watched the ground below. House. Street. Kid riding bike. House. House. Big street. Parking lot. Bulldozer. Construction cones.
I was almost past it before I realized where I was.
The mall. The new water tower. Erected in place of the one Jake had blown up.
The one where I had almost died.
Where I had almost killed Marco.
No, *I* hadn't almost killed him. The filthy slug in my head almost had.
Yeah, well, how do you think that slug got in your head, Rachel? Because you weren't careful. Because you walked right into a Yeerk trap.
Hey, Tobias said.
I banked hard, letting a scream of surprise rip out of my beak. Tobias!
What, you didn't see me? Rachel, I couldn't have been more obvious if I were a jumbo jet! Don't you people ever look around?
Not when we're brooding, I muttered.
Brooding, huh?
Yeah, I said. He flew alongside me silently. I looked over at him. Aren't you going to offer me a penny for my thoughts or something?
Sorry, I'm a hawk. I don't have any pocket change.
I smiled. Well, smiled mentally, anyway. It's hard to really smile with a beak.
Tobias has a way of drawing me out without asking a single question. I was thinking about the water tower, I confessed.
He looked back at the shiny new structure. Yeah.
It's . . . I groped for what I felt. It's gonna haunt me for the rest of my life. Every time I walk, drive, or fly past here, I'll think about . . . everything.
Every time I fly past, I'll think about Ax in human morph, wearing that circus outfit, screaming, "BoBo! BoBo, obey me!" into a bullhorn.
I laughed at that. We flew silently for a while.
That's your house, Tobias said.
Right. Gotta dive. I folded my wings and began my descent. Tobias dived with me.
Hey, you're coming tomorrow, right?
What, to Ax's scoop? Sure, I'll be there.
Cool. See you then. He opened his wings and caught the sky.
Jordan opened the door, and leaned against the frame, eyeing me laughingly. "Hey. Been dancing?"
I kept a box of clothes hidden out back for the times my window was closed. When I had demorphed and moved the bushes aside, the box was missing. Consequentially, I was in my bare feet and leotard at my front door. Which was, of course, locked. So I had been forced to ring the doorbell and wait until Jordan opened up. I had gotten very strange looks from my elderly neighbor, waiting there. So I wasn't in the best of moods.
"Hi, Jordan," I sighed, pushing past her, and into the house.
She perched on the stairs in our front hall, a smug smile still splashing over her face. "That is quite the outfit, Rachel. You go to school in that?"
I turned, my eyes narrowed. "Jordan, did you move my box?"
"What box?" she asked, a little too innocently.
"The box of clothes," I growled.
"Oh, those were *your* clothes?" she warbled. "I thought they had been left by the Salvation Army!"
I groaned. "Sara!" I yelled.
"Yeah?" her thin voice squeaked back.
"Did you see Jordan bring a box of clothes in?"
"Yeah!"
"Sara!" Jordan protested.
"Where'd she put them?"
"In her closet!"
"*Sara*!" Jordan shouted, even louder. I shot her a look, and pounded up the stairs. Jordan followed behind me. "Sara, I'm gonna tell Mom on you!"
My youngest sister poked her head out of her room. "But I didn't do anything!"
"I mean next time you *do* do something, I'm gonna tell!"
I wrenched open Jordan's door, and threw open her closet. Oh, and in case you're wondering? Jordan's walls were covered with the Backstreet Boys, a rapper named CrayZ, Legolas from the Lord of the Rings, a doctor from some hospital sitcom, and Marco.
Yes, Marco.
Now you know why I don't go into her room much.
I grabbed my box from her closet, and headed for my room. Jordan was loudly protesting my intrusion all the way.
I threw the box onto my bed, and glared down at Jordan.
The little shrimp had no clue how much I loved her.
The phone rang. Jordan stopped mid-whine and darted off to answer it. I shook my head, and headed into the bathroom.
Tomorrow was St. Patrick's Day.
I grabbed a green bottle out of the medicine cabinet, and studied the back label. Then I set to work.