(I know you might not want me to keep going, but I have to get this whole story out of my system! Bear with me.)
The Children of the League were walking to school the next day when the first of a chain of unusual events occurred. A man in a long black jacket with the collar turned up and a wide-brimmed hat bumped into Veronica as he hurried down the sidewalk.
"Hey, watch it!" Veronica snapped.
The man looked at her, and she was shocked to see that his face was covered in white greasepaint. He glanced at her curiously, smirked and said "Sorry, I didn't see you there," with a Cockney accent and hurried off. Veronica stared after him.
"Veronica, come on!" shouted Timmy. The boys were almost to the end of the block already.
"Hey, guys?" she asked as she caught up to them. "Didn't Mary used to say that I had a weird accent when I first started talking?"
"Yeah," said James. "She said it sounded almost Cockney. Why?"
"Oh. No reason."
"Now that is a cool car." James said, admiring a long white car with silver accents across the way.
"Whatever, James." said Timmy. "Come on, we're gonna be late."
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Allan slid into his seat seconds before the bell rang and the teacher walked in. The teacher was accompanied by a prissy-looking teenage girl with a gray ribbon in her hair. Allan almost felt sorry for her, starting a new school mid-semester. He'd been through that a few times himself.
"Class, we have a new student today," Mr. Lansey began. Well, duh, thought Allan. The teacher continued. "Her name is Dana Girory, and I trust you will make her feel welcome."
"I would if she wasn't such a prep." Allan muttered. His friend Joe heard him and snickered. Unfortunately, Mr. Lansey heard him, too.
"Is there something you would like to share with the class, Mr. Sawyer?"
"No, Mr. Lansey."
"Very well. Dana, if you would take a seat? Now, in today's lesson, we will be discussing nature vs. nurture. What affects who we are? Some people think that…"
Bo-ring…Allan fell into his classroom stupor, wishing he was anywhere but school. He felt someone's eyes on him and whirled around. It was the new girl. She looked away when she noticed him staring. A little while later, she was watching him again.
"What?" he mouthed. She shrugged and went back to paying attention to the teacher. Allan rolled his eyes and went back into his stupor.
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Edgar was walking to lunch with Veronica after their uneventful science class. They were, as usual, ignored by the rest of the student body.
"Okay, what is it with people bumping into me today?" Veronica asked. "Am I invisible or something?"
Edgar smiled. "Hate to break it to you, Veronica, but…"
She ignored him. "And how is it that, on her first day here, Dana Girory is already best friends with Elle?" She indicated the new girl talking to the most popular girl in school.
Edgar glanced at the two and shrugged. What did he care who was Elle's friend and who wasn't?
"But you do care, Eddie."
"Shut up, you." He mumbled under his breath. Some people had little voices inside their heads. He had Gary.
"You know, they'd pay attention to me."
"Oh yeah, they'd definitely pay attention to you, Gary. It's not like you look like a giant monkey or anything." Had he really just said that? He glanced in a window as he passed. Sure enough, there was Gary's leering face instead of his own.
"Oh, that's how you feel, is it? Well, how does this feel?"
Edgar suddenly changed direction and started walking straight for Elle and Dana. Eddie tried to regain control of his legs, but Gary only laughed and kept walking. "Veronica!" cried Eddie. "Help!"
Veronica kicked the back of his knee and he toppled over. She knelt down as though she was helping him get up. "Get out of here, Gary." she hissed. "Do you want to be discovered?"
Edgar glared up at her and raised his arm as if to hit her, then his features relaxed. "Sorry about that." said Eddie. "It's just, you know how he is."
"Don't let him get to you." said Veronica. She helped him up. "Come on, let's go eat."
The rest of their group was already sitting down. Along with the other members of the family, there were also a few of the boys' friends. James was making after-school plans with his friend, Jonah. Veronica kicked him under the table.
As usual, James didn't flinch, although the others knew from experience that Veronica kicked hard. But he did get the message. "Oh yeah, we have some relatives visiting tonight, so maybe tomorrow?"
Edgar looked at them. He used to have friends, at their old school. But then they had to move again. That's how it always happened. In some cases, however, it was different. Jonah, for example, was a Navy brat, and moved wherever his dad was assigned to. He ended up in the same town as them after their last move. And there was Allan's friend, Tucker Phin. He didn't really have a home, so he moved from town to town, sometimes followingthem. And, no matter where they went, they always had each other. Edgar groaned inwardly. That sounded so cheesy. And for once, Eddie and Gary agreed on something.
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Timmy was watching the new girl. Not staring, just watching. There was definitely something strange about her, but he couldn't figure out what it was. She looked like she knew things that others didn't, or like she was hiding something. Timmy knew that look well. He saw it every day in his family's eyes. All of them had something to hide, especially Edgar and Veronica. Speaking of Veronica, why was Dana Girory approaching her? Timmy edged closer to watch.
"Hello," said Dana cheerfully. "You're Veronica Skinner, right?"
"Can I help you?" asked Veronica, unsure.
"Oh, yes. Elle and I were just wondering who your hairdresser was?"
Veronica instinctively put her hand to her hair, which, of course, was a wig, since her real hair was invisible. "Oh, er, my…mother cuts it."
"Oh, how sweet," said Dana mockingly. "And, if I may, a few questions about your, shall we say…accessories?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "For one, what's up with the gloves? They're so…ick. And for another, dark sunglasses are so out of style." She snatched Veronica's sunglasses off.
Veronica squeezed her eyes shut. No one must find out! "Dana, give me back my sunglasses."
"No, I think I'll keep them. I'm doing you a favor, really."
"Give them back now." Veronica took a step, eyes still tightly closed. She could just barely see through the makeup on her eyelids.
"Why are you keeping your eyes closed, Veronica? Don't you want everyone to see your pretty eyes?" said Dana with a smirk.
My god, she knows, Veronica thought. By now, a crowd had gathered around the two. If I could just grab my glasses and run, I might be able to get out of this. Veronica made a grab for her sunglasses. She tripped on something and fell, opening her eyes for a fraction of a second. In that instant, she knew that Dana had seen her eyes. Or rather, not seen them.
"Well, well," said Dana calmly. "That's very interesting." She tossed the glasses down by Veronica's head and strode off.
Timmy finally pushed his way through the scattering crowd. "Veronica, are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She put her sunglasses on and stood up. "Timmy, she saw. She knows."
Timmy didn't know how to respond. The bell signaling the end of the school day rang. "Let's find the others."
There was no need. James, Allan and Edgar had seen the crowd around Veronica and Dana and were curious to know what happened. Timmy and Veronica filled them in as they started home.
"But she didn't scream, did she?" said Allan. "I mean, people usually scream when they see Veronica."
"Gee thanks Allan. That's really helpful." said Veronica.
"Yes, it is." said James, serious. "The fact that she didn't scream or call attention to it shows that she was probably expecting something like that to happen."
"You mean, she was expecting to find out that I was invisible?"
"Precisely."
"Well, that's just great." said Edgar sarcastically. "how long before we find out that someone knows about Gary? Or about any one of us, for that matter."
"I figured me and James and Timmy might be considered normal." said Allan.
"Oh, yeah, normal," Edgar scoffed. "None of us are normal. We all know that."
"Guys!" Veronica cut in. "Look!"
A long white car with silver accents was parked in their driveway. They all stopped in their tracks.
"Isn't that the car you saw this morning, James?" asked Timmy.
"Yes," said James. "That's the one. Do you think the League has something to do with this car?"
Allan nodded. "Well, no use standing out here gawking. Let's go inside and meet them."
And so, the five Children of the League nervously approached the door, each of them wondering the same thing: Who are the League?
(Yeah, I know. Stupid end to a chapter, right? The next chapter's coming soon, I swear. Please review!)
