There was a surprise waiting for me when Cassie pulled up to my house. The garage door was open, and Dad's car was inside. That was unusual; his patrol shift ran from three in the afternoon to eleven at night.

Dad came outside as Cassie was pulling up. He must have been waiting for us. I got out of the van and heard Chance barking inside. Dad let Chance out and he came pelting across the yard. I dropped down on one knee and he plowed straight into me, almost knocking me over. I felt myself smile and laugh as he licked me.

Cassie grinned and waved at Dad. She's always liked him. "Hi, Mr. _!"

"Hey, Cassie!" Dad gave her a friendly smile as he answered. "How have you been? Did you get your barn painted?"

"What?" Cassie's smile wavered. That was my fault; I never told her about my cover story. I quickly smacked her calf with the back of my hand. "Yep!" Cassie squeaked. "Good as new!"

Dad glanced over at me. I rubbed Chance's head and stood up like nothing had happened. "Aren't you working tonight, Dad?" I asked him.

"Nope," he answered. "I switched shifts with Rogers so I could see you and Jordan tonight." He switched to addressing Cassie. "I made a big bowl of pasta, Cass. You're welcome to stay for dinner."

Cassie looked over at me. I nodded slightly. Dad looked between us and frowned. So he saw that, too. "I think I will," Cassie answered. "Thank you for inviting me. Let me just ask my folks if it's okay."

Dad said, "Bucket!" and Chance went running back to him. Interesting fact about K9 unites; some of them use nonsense words as commands for things like come and stay, specifically so the dog isn't tempted to listen to someone off the street. If you were to tell Chance something like, "Sit!" he wouldn't understand you. But if you said, "Snip-snip," he'd sit down.

Chance isn't my dog, but I love him like he is. He's got that stupid, adorable doggie face, and could drop John Cena if he wanted to.

I retrieved my bookbag from Cassie's van and walked up to the house. "How was school?" Dad asked me.

I shrugged. "Fine."

"Did you make any new friends today?"

A icy feeling shot straight up my spine. I whipped around and stared up at him. My dad is a full head taller than me, and he was looking down at me wearing that same, stupid grin he'd given Cassie.

"Okay!" Cassie put her phone away. "I'm good to go."

"Actually, Cass," I called out to her, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. "Maybe you should head home."

Cassie stopped. "Um…why?"

Dad's smile dropped. "What's wrong, Rachel?"

"I…" I had nothing. I just stood there, a dumb stupid blonde unable to come up with any valid, not-suspicious reason why she didn't want her best friend sharing dinner with someone who absolutely knew about our meeting with –

[Rachel, what's wrong?]

[Dad! He knows about Ax!]

[What!?]

"Rachel?" Dad asked me again. "Is everything okay?" Chance looked up at me and whined.

[Cassie, you have to run!]

[Rachel - ]

[Now!] I dropped my bookbag and prepared to morph. [Dad's one of them!]

[Rachel, stop!]

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Dad took a step towards me. "Rachel, you just went pale. Are you okay?"

No! I felt my breathing quicken and my hands started going numb. My father was a Controller and that meant Jordan was one too and they're going to kill

"Rachel." Cassie was suddenly next to me. I felt her hand close around one of mine and she squeezed. "It's okay. Just breathe."

"Rachel, what's wrong?"

"I think she's having a panic attack."

A what?

Dad pulled me close and opened the door. "Let's get her inside."

"Dad?" Jordan came from the kitchen as Cassie and Dad half-shoved, half-carried me inside. I felt like I couldn't get enough air. My hands and feet felt fuzzy and I couldn't move them at all.

"Jordan," Dad asked her, "could you bring us a chair, please?"

[Don't morph,] Cassie said in my head. [Whatever you do, don't morph.]

[He's a - ]

Jordan pulled a chair out from the table and Dad maneuvered me into it. Cassie went to the sink and filled a glass full of water. She got it into my hands and locked eyes with me. [Rachel, it's okay. Your dad isn't a Controller. Take a sip of water.]

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Jordan ask.

"Well, I'm not sure." Dad stepped away from me and crossed his arms, frowning in thought. "Rachel, what happened? I just asked you how school was. Did something happen today?"

"I don't think so," Cassie said. "Rachel, did anything happen today?"

[Shake your head,] Cassie said in thought-speak. I obediently shook my head. "No. I'm sorry," I said to Dad and Jordan. "I don't know what that was. I just…"

"I asked if you made any new friends today," Dad reminded me. "Was that it?"

"No. I'm sorry." I'd never felt this way before. I gulped down the rest of the water. Jordan took the glass from me. "I'm sorry," I repeated. "I don't know what came over me."

[This about the mall,] Cassie asked me. [Isn't it?]

"I just…I don't know," I said out loud. I tried to stand up but my legs and feet still didn't want to cooperate.

"It's okay, Rachel." Dad said to me. "Why don't you just sit for a minute. Jordan and I can finish making dinner. Cassie, can you sit with her?"

"Absolutely." Cassie sat down at the kitchen table and gave me a reassuring smile. But in my head she said, [What's going on? You've never freaked out like that before.]

[Nothing,] I adjusted my chair so I could rest both elbows on the table. The smell of garlic and tomato sauce suddenly filled the kitchen. I breathed deep and my stomach growled.

"Feeling better, Rachel?" Dad asked me.

[It's not nothing, you almost morphed in front of your dad!]

"Much better," I lied. "Thanks, Dad."

He placed a stack of bowls on the table and kissed the top of my head. "Any time, sweetheart."

Sweetheart. He only called me that when he knew I did something. So this was going to be one of those dinners. I switched from…whatever causes panic attacks to fight mode.

[I'm good,] I told Cassie. [Everything's fine.]

[No,] Cassie snapped. [You've been freaking out since Thursday and your cutting class to morph and now you're losing your mind in front of your family. What's going on with you?]

She was glaring daggers at me. I glared back. Jordan plopped a big pot of pasta on the table and started filling up bowls. She passed me one and stopped, looking between me and Cassie. "Is everything okay?" She asked us.

I forced my features into something I hoped looked more friendly. "Yep! All good here." I took the bowl and gave it an exaggerated sniff. "Smells great!"

[Rachel, are you okay?]

[No, I'm not okay! I was dead on the floor just yesterday!] Dad sat down across from Cassie and next to me as Jordan passed Cassie her bowl. She made two more for Dad and herself and then sat down across from me. I wasn't remotely hungry but I picked up a fork and dug into my pasta. Cassie followed my example.

"So how was school?" Dad asked me again.

I gulped. "It was good. I turned in that paper today."

"Really?" Dad picked up another forkful of pasta. "Because Mr. Pendleton told me you left class early today."

Told you.

Cassie choked down her pasta. Jordan awkwardly looked between me and Dad. Dad popped the pasta into his mouth like he hadn't just picked a fight in front of God and everybody. I set my fork down. "I did," I responded.

Dad chewed his morsel and swallowed. "Why?" he asked simply.

[Yes, Rachel?] Cassie asked me. She didn't sound snide, but this was Cassie being snide. She was mad at me for slipping up. [Why did you cut class?]

"I didn't feel like staying in class today," I answered carefully. Dad obviously knew some of my most recent escapades, but I couldn't let him know everything. I still hadn't seen anything saying he wasn't a Controller, and him using the exact phrase Jake messaged me last night was too much of a coincidence for my liking. "So I left," I finished.

"I see." Dad set his fork down as well. "And why did you not feel like finishing class for today."

"I wanted to get out early." I leaned back in my chair, acting as nonchalant as I could. "Breathe some fresh air, enjoy the sunshine."

"It was cloudy all afternoon."

"I saw a sunbeam and I didn't want to pass it up."

Cassie and Jordan looked awkwardly at each other. Dad leaned back in his chair, mimicking me. "Well, I hope you got your fill. You're not going anywhere else but school and home for the rest of the semester."

Cassie's eyes widened. I kept my voice steady. "That's fair."

"No, Rachel. I mean it." Dad leaned forward suddenly. "I don't know what's been going on with you lately, but I've entertained this attitude of yours for too long. You will go to school, and you will take the bus home, and you will spend your weekends here. If I have to, I will switch to the night shift just so I can make sure you get on the bus and get off the bus every day. No more running off into Deathburg. No more hiding at your aunt's house. No more lies about helping your friends with chores. And no more dodging our calls when something is going down and your family is trying to find you. You will stay exactly where I can keep track of you, between now and when you're too old for me to legally keep you here, or until you get over yourself and act like you're part of this family. Whichever comes first."

This is the point where I usually say something snide and go on about my business. But this felt different. Dad was madder than I'd ever seen him, and I wasn't firing on all cylinders today. He reminded me of Jake from this afternoon. No shouting. No raised voice. But totally shutting me down nonetheless.

I glared across the table at Jordan. She looked very much like someone who wanted to crawl under the floor and die. At that moment, I wanted to help her. Cassie said nothing.

"Am I understood, Rachel?"

I sighed. "Yes."

"Yes, what?"

I sighed again. "Yes, sir."

Dad sighed, sounding oddly like me, and returned to his pasta. I did the same. The rest of the dinner passed in awkward silence. Cassie wasn't even thought-speaking to me. Eventually, Dad finished eating. He stood up, dropped his dishes in the sink, and turned around to lean against it. He looked down at me and appeared like he had more to say. But after a few moments, he looked over at Cassie. "Have a save drive home, Cassie," he said to her.

Cassie nodded. "Thank you, Mr. _."

With that, Dad took Chance and went into his room. Jordan excused herself shortly after and booked it, leaving me alone with Cassie. I looked over at her. She returned my look.

[I'm worried about you, Rachel.]

I snorted. [Don't. Dad can't keep me here no matter how hard he tries.] Literally true, now. Dad could lose his mind and throw me in jail, and I could just morph my way out.

[It's not that,] Cassie said to me. [I've been worried about you since Tom died.]

I looked away from her. [I'm fine. Jake and I handled it.]

[Jake isn't handling it.] Despite the mood of the evening, Cassie helped herself to more pasta. [I've been talking to him. He's grieving for his brother. And I'm sure Jordan is blaming herself, too. She was supposed to bring help and she couldn't do anything. And you - ]

[Stop.] I stood up and put my dishes in the sink with the rest. [I'm fine. I promise.]

Cassie stood up and took her bowl with her. [No, you're not. And you know you're not. I can understand why you'd lie to your family. They can never know what we do. It isn't safe for them, or us. Why I don't understand is why you're lying to me.]

She took another bite of the pasta and said out loud, "Tell your Dad I'm taking a bowl home. This sauce is amazing."

Then Cassie left, and I was alone.


This chapter was inspired by a memory of the time I lied to a friend when he asked me if I was cutting class to play World of Warcraft back when we were seventeen and eighteen. He wasn't happy with me. Don't lie to your friends, guys.