My name is Marco.
I watched with great amusement as Rachel dragged a bewildered Harry into the Gap. She let go only to look at the price tags on a sweater. "Hmm…" she said thoughtfully, "This is on sale. Harry, how do you like it?" She held it up for his examination.
Harry looked blankly at the sweater. "Er…"
"Um, Rachel?" Cassie asked, tugging on Rachel's sleeve. "Aren't we here for his—" she lowered her voice and looked around to make sure no one was watching "—morphing outfit?"
Rachel's face went slack with remembrance. "Oh… oh, yeah."
I strolled over to them. "Hey, Rachel! Cassie! Fancy meeting you here!"
Harry looked relieved. "Thank you," he mouthed behind Rachel's back.
I grinned.
"Oh, Marco," Cassie said. "Have you met Harry? He's an exchange student from Britain in the school across town."
"Hi," I said, extending my hand.
Harry took it. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
Rachel pressed the sweater into Harry's arms. "Go try that on. You'll look cute."
"What are you trying to do? Give us Americans a bad name?" I asked, taking the sweater from him and putting it back on the rack.
Harry was, I saw, all ready carrying several different bags. "Don't worry, chap," I said in my best British accent. He winced. "It's Chinese shopping torture, not American."
"That's a condolence," he said dryly.
I sidled closer to Rachel. "Did you get him a morphing outfit?" I asked under my breath.
She nodded absently. "Yeah."
"So then let's hit the food court. Last time I saw, Jake and Tobias were up there."
"Let's go," Cassie said eagerly.
I winked. "Can't wait to see Big Jake, huh, Cassie?"
She blushed, a dead giveaway that I was right.
Rachel shouldered me when she walked past. "Ouch," I said, "Cold shoulder times two."
She glanced back over her shoulder, hair flouncing. "Are you coming, dweeb?"
I froze. "Dweeb? Who says dweeb anymore? How could you have fallen so low?"
She said nothing.
"Yes! I win!" I said, pumping my fist into the air. "Me, one! Rachel, zip!"
Together, we moseyed on up to the food court. As I had said, Jake and Tobias were sitting by themselves at a table. Tobias was sitting across from Jake, as stoic as ever. Jake looked incredibly bored. He was building a house out of his fries in his ketchup.
I was the first to reach the table. "What have you been keeping from us?" I demanded, looking from Tobias to Jake.
Jake, my best bud since I was in diapers, grinned up me. "Who knows?" he replied loftily.
Rachel slid into the seat next to Tobias. Cassie immediately plopped down on the seat next to Jake. I took my chair and wedged it between the two couples, where there really was no room. Rachel glared at me disdainfully, but Cassie moved over to allow me room… or maybe just to get closer to Jake.
Harry threw the bags of clothes on the floor and sat down between Jake and Tobias, looking overwhelmed. He kept craning his neck back to see all there was to see. He didn't seem to be able to take it all in.
"Whassamatter, Harry?" I teased, "You never been to a mall before?"
He tipped his chair back to get a better look. "No."
"Oh." I said, deflated.
"I'll go get us some burgers," Tobias said, standing up.
"Make sure mine is made of mouse-meat," I said innocently.
"I wouldn't have thought differently." He left to go get in line, pulling money out of his jeans pocket.
Jake leaned forward on the table. "So, Harry, how're you enjoying the States?"
"It's so much more… different than Surrey," he replied with difficulty.
"In a good or bad way?" asked Cassie.
"Good," he replied instantly, "Definitely good."
Tobias returned with our hamburgers. He tossed us each one and took his seat back. Jake slurped his soda, for he had already had lunch. From what I could see, Tobias was on thirds.
"You're getting to be like Ax, bird-boy," I said, nudging him with my elbow.
He rolled his eyes, the only display of emotion on his face. "Well, it's not everyday I get to have a hamburger."
"Yeah, I can see it now: 'Hello, I would like a mouse meat burger. What? You don't sell mouse meat?'"
Rachel grit her teeth. "Not funny, Marco."
"Rachel, Marco," Jake began to stop the fight that was starting, stopping abruptly. I furrowed my brows in surprise. He was staring over my shoulder in half shock and half horror. I glanced over my shoulder too and sank lower into my seat, glancing nervously at Tobias.
Jake's older brother, Tom, was strolling leisurely towards us. He had a smug look of satisfaction plastered on his face. And not only was he looking smug, but there was a would-be gorgeous girl hanging on his arm, one that we all recognized but wouldn't recognize us…
Taylor.
Tobias skittered back wildly. His eyes were huge and terrified. Color was rising in his face and his breath was becoming quicker. He looked as if he were going to have an asthma attack or something.
Rachel, who was closer to him, grabbed his wrist and kept him from bolting. That wouldn't completely blow our cover, but it would sure give those Controllers some hints as to who we really were.
"Hey, midget," Tom said, coming up and ruffling Jake's hair. Taylor giggled.
Tobias was frantically pushing against Rachel, to get as far away from Taylor as possible. Harry looked totally confused. However, he knew something was up, for he assumed an overwhelming interest in his hamburger.
"Jake, this is my girlfriend, Taylor," Tom said, gesturing towards Taylor as if Jake couldn't guess who she was.
Looking about ready to lose his recent lunch, Jake clutched Taylor's hand in his sweaty one. "N-nice to meet you," he managed after a long while.
Tom pulled up two chairs in sat down. Taylor sat beside him, lovingly stroking his arm with her real one.
"I—I've got to go, guys," Tobias said at last, jumping to his feet with a deer-in-headlights look on his face. He turned on heel, walking quickly until he was at the end of the food court, and then broke into an all-out run.
Tom and Taylor stared after him. "What's wrong with him?" Taylor asked in a falsely sweet voice.
I choked down a very unwise retort about her face.
"Chess club," said Cassie finally, "He forgot about chess club."
"Huh," grunted Tom. "Maybe he should swing by the Sharing with us later. Taylor is getting a promotion there. She's come up with some wonderful new ideas. Wanna join us?"
"No," said Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and I at the same time, very quickly.
He stared. Then he noticed Harry.
"Who's the new kid?" he asked.
"Uuuh…" Jake said, dumbfounded.
"Henry Granger," I said quickly, "From the school across town. He's just… he's just…" I faltered.
"I've just moved here from New York City," Harry said in a flawless American accent that startled us all into staring at him. He flashed us a grin, the first real grin I had seen from him since he lost his magic, and busied himself with his hamburger.
Tom stuck out his hand. Harry took it, looking at him in the eyes, and shook. "Nice to meet you," he said without looking away.
Tom looked oddly unnerved. "Same here." He turned back to Jake. "How long have you known him?"
"About a day," I lied glibly, "We met him here yesterday."
"Aaah," Tom said knowingly.
Taylor looked at her watch. "Tom," she said, blue eyes getting round, "It's almost time for the ceremony."
He stood quickly. "Then we should leave. See you later, bro. Good meeting you, Henry."
Harry nodded.
"Yes, I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer. It was nice to meet you!"
We all murmured our goodbyes as they walked away.
The moment they were out earshot, Harry leaned over the table. "Who was that? And why did she terrify Tobias?" he demanded, dropping his American accent.
"That was Taylor," Jake hissed in a low voice, "You see, the Yeerks came up with an Anti-Morphing Ray. Tobias… volunteered himself as bait. We don't know what happened down there, except the fact that she must have tortured him. When we got him back… it was horrible. He didn't talk to anyone for a few days."
Harry winced in sympathy, but his eyes took on a very hollow look. "Yeah. I know how he feels. Believe me, I know how it feels." He closed his eyes.
No one said anything for a long while.
Then, someone asked what was on all our minds.
"How long have you had that foolproof American accent?"
And who asked it?
Why, me, of course.
Everyone glared at me.
"What?" I demanded, "You're all thinking it! Don't look at me like that!"
Harry laughed. "For quite a long time now, actually. When we were battling Voldemort, I figured that I might end up coming over to America if we won. And besides, I was with you so often I couldn't have gone long without picking it up."
"You surprise us sometimes, Harry," I said, shaking my head, "You really do."
His grin widened.
"And it's a hard thing, too, to surprise an Animorph."
He shook his head. "Then try to be a famous wizard with an insane murderer and his followers after him who plays a maniacal sport on broomsticks that has just discovered that aliens are also trying to take over the planet. It's a little hard to digest, sometimes."
I threw a fry at him. He ducked it with his Quidditch reflexes, which never failed to amaze me, and threw one right back.
I don't have amazing Quidditch reflexes.
It hit me squarely on the forehead. I stuck my lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. "Ow. That hurts me. Right here. In my heart." I clasped my hands over my chest.
"You mean that place where there's a black hole?" Rachel asked loftily.
I flinched and clenched my fingers spasmodically. "Aaahh! Heart attack! Too much—dying—had too much—greasy fast foods!"
This time is was Rachel that threw the fry at me. Along with the ketchup-covered pickle, which stuck to my face and slid down my cheek.
"Aaah! Now I'm bleeding!" I wailed, causing people at nearby tables to stare.
Harry snorted into his soda. Jake choked on his hamburger. Cassie bit her lip to cover a laugh. Even Rachel couldn't help but giggle.
I took a napkin from the table and mopped up my face. The ketchup, I realized sadly, had gotten in my hair. I glanced around quickly to see if there were any cute girls in the vicinity. I mean, who could dig a dude with ketchup in his hair?
I realized then that the others were staring at me, so I thought up something fast.
I lifted my soda in a toast. "Cheers to American malls and greasy fast foods—the American dream realized!"
To everyone's surprise, Harry lifted his own soda and hit his with my own.
"To American malls and greasy fast foods," he said with a nod.
Laughing, we all raised our flimsy paper cups and toasted the shallow ideals of American life.
Just another day in the life of an Animorph, I guess.
A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuun! The plot thickens! Well, anyway, howdy! Sorry that this chapter was semi-pointless. I wanted to have fun. You see, Marco is one of my all-time favorite characters. How can you hate Marco? And the mini-food fight! I love food fights! Bwah!
Anywho, sorry this took so long. I was sick for a total of four days. And besides that, I actually got to meet TAMORA PIECE! SQUEE! And not only that, but I got to see this totally awesome display of dagger, sword (including the longsword and sword and buckler), and halberd fighting. Official coolness!
And just one more thing: I'm going to start another crossover, this time with X-Men: Evolution. The problem is, I can't choose between two stories to cross it over with: Harry Potter or the Animorphs. I have semi-plots and beginnings for them. So I'm calling for a VOTE!!
WHICH CROSSOVER SHOULD I WRITE: ANIMORPHS/X-MEN EVOLUTION or HARRY POTTER/X-MEN: EVOLUTION!
Tell me in your reviews!!!
Stay tuned for "Chapter 10: If Life Were a Photograph (Hermione)"!!!