Chapter Sixty Eight
...
"As this is the final assembly for the school year, I just wanted to say good luck to all students in the upcoming weeks with their exams."
Principal Powers' voice continued on, a droning sound that started to wash over the students like the faded background sound in a daydream, nothing real and unimportant.
On the ground beneath the dazed students, vines circled through seat legs and between feet until rows and rows of vines created a writhing green floor.
"How are you doing, Donny?" Layla asked quietly, looking to the back of the assembly where Donny was standing with their friends.
"Don't talk; hurry up," he said, struggling to keep everyone's memory fuzzy while she worked.
Layla nodded and with a burst of power, the vines started to burrow into the students. Legs, ankles, thighs, hands, wrists. Any available piece of skin was immediately burrowed into. The students flinched at the feel of the mosquito-like bite on their skin, but it wasn't enough to jar them from their daydreams.
Warren helped Layla, though he ensured that their friends didn't notice, sending vine after vine into student after student. All of them were created with a combination of his flames and Layla's seeds, and they both hoped that the result would be more natural than the vines Layla had put into Mr. Brighton.
If they weren't, well... Warren just supposed they'd have to take them all back out again.
Finally, the last vine entered the last student. The only thing to show for it was a tiny dot on the students' skin, no more remarkable than a freckle.
"Are you going to do that to us, too?" Zach asked as they hurried to their seats.
Warren practically carried Donny, whose control started slipping. Around them, the students and staff started to come back from their daydream.
Principal Powers coughed, realising that she'd trailed off unexpectedly. "Ahem, yes. Please take care of yourselves, do your best, and I will see you when you return for graduation. Good luck, students," she said with a bright smile.
Principal Powers ended the assembly as she usually did: turning into her comet form and flying out of the doors before the students could.
Behind her, it was a rush of students trying to get out of their aisle faster than the aisle on either side of them, the students eventually bottle-necking in the doorway, as they always did.
Warren stayed seated, glaring at any student that tried to get past him. Layla stepped to the side to politely allow other students to go before her. Ethan crossed his legs under him on his seat, while Zach decided to lie back on the chairs, his head resting on Ethan's lap.
Within a few minutes, Layla and Warren and their friends were alone in the gymnasium. As they were meant to use this day to study, they didn't have any classes to attend, so no one would notice them missing.
Zach let out a yelp as the seats began to lower back into the floor to be replaced by the city landscape. Ethan shook his head and stayed seated, eventually coming to sit on the floorboards gently.
"I think we need to get Nurse Spex for Donny," Warren said, seeing how pale and sweaty he was.
"Did he use too much power? Are you okay?" Wendy asked, rushing over to check on him.
"Food and sleep; I'll be fine," Donny said, breathing shallowly.
"I have some muesli bars," Ethan said, forming water drops out of his arm and offering the muesli bars to Donny, who looked at them with a frown. "I don't always have time to go to the kitchen when I'm hungry. It's also useful if I forget to eat," he admitted with a shrug.
"I've been stress cooking, which - let me tell you - is not fun when there's a limited amount of cookware available," Zach muttered. "I brought a few containers of food; I'll go get them from my locker. I'll just be a minute. Unfortunately, I can't carry food around in my body."
"That's what a stomach's for," Craig said, frowning after him.
Zach laughed and left the gymnasium.
He didn't return a minute later, despite his locker being close to the gym.
"Eth, go check on him," Warren said.
Ethan nodded, melted down, and slid out of the gym.
"Something's not right," Layla said, looking to Warren.
"It's too quiet," Wendy added, gently lying Donny back down. "I don't like this," she said, leaving the gym.
A moment after she left, Ethan returned, sliding as fast as possible. He reformed, winced in pain as he reformed his organs incorrectly, melted and then reformed again, some water still on the gym floor. "I can't find Zach. Ben and Lisa are handing these out. It's not the final school paper I saw in editing," Ethan said, papers reforming from the water drops around him.
Warren picked one up, read one headline, and the paper immediately went up in flames. "Shit. Tell me I didn't read what I thought I just read?"
Layla picked a paper up herself, her vines blocking her emotions so she wouldn't result in ash instead of paper as well, and shook her head. "You read what you thought you read."
The front page had a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Brighton, the headline reading 'local wife leaves her husband for "not being the man she married" even though she stayed with him for seventeen years while he beat their children!'.
The article included an interview with Mrs. Brighton, who said that her husband no longer talked to her, hadn't even said anything in response to her wanting a divorce, and she couldn't live with him like this anymore.
The article then went on to detail how Mr. and Mrs. Damsale had become legal guardians for Zach and his younger sister, implying heavily that Zach was in an incestuous relationship with his 'brother' Ethan.
"Looks like Benny-boy got his revenge on all of us," Craig muttered, seeing a photo of him kissing Grant and Jewel, one of him cuddling with Warren, and yet another where he was draped over Zach. The article beneath detailed both his father and sister's anti-super views.
"There's a whole page dedicated to you being nice and evil, hippie," Warren said, letting vines block his emotions so he wouldn't set the paper on fire again. "I've got a half-page, most of it relating back to Baron Battle."
"I'm going to kill them," Jewel said, her voice grating. She took both of her gloves off and handed them to Grant. "Hold my gloves, babe. Better yet, bring the sledgehammer."
Grant wrapped his arms around Craig and held him tight. "Are you okay?"
Craig shook his head, burying his face against Grant's chest.
"Warren, I need to stop my girlfriend from being incarcerated for the next three lifetimes. But just as importantly, I need you to look after Craig," Grant said.
"I've got him. C'mere," Warren said, taking Craig in his arms.
Craig's shoulders shook as he sobbed against Warren's chest, and Warren wanted to burn Ben and Lisa to a crisp for hurting him like this. Grant looked at Craig once more before running out of the gym.
"Hippie, what do we do?" Warren asked.
"First, we need to find Zach. Adam, he should have his phone. Can you pinpoint a location?"
"I've been trying. Sky High's too small to be precise. Fuck it," Adam snapped, then tapped an app and held his phone up. "Zachary Brighton, tell me where the fuck you are so I can go and spit in Ben's face for this."
"No," Zach's response was tinny through the speakers, but far too quiet.
"Give me that. Zach, please. I need to see you," Ethan said.
Zach's laugh was cold and dim. "No. No. No."
"Dude, I upgraded my speakers. They're not usually that bad; he's gotta be in a locker. Give me my phone," Adam said, closing the speaker app and opening a different one. He pressed a button and immediately, all of the school lights turned off. "Go. Find him."
Ethan nodded and ran. Outside, a storm had come out of nowhere, thunder rolling and lightning flashing, and they knew that Wendy had seen the paper as well.
"What next, hippie?" Warren asked, holding Craig, rubbing his back, and trying to ease his emotions, though he had no idea how successful he was.
Layla swallowed. She had plans and ideas spanning years, but nothing had prepared her for this. Layla had no idea what to do next.
Bring the vines back out, get revenge? No, too many witnesses, it was too soon.
Find Ben and Lisa, throw them off the edge of the school? Eventually, maybe, not yet.
Do nothing? Too passive.
Destroy Ben and Lisa? Too long to wait.
Unless... Yes, that would work perfectly. They just needed to play it right.
"Grab as many papers as you can, I know what we need to do," Layla said, an idea forming.
"What are we doing?" Adam asked, immediately picking up the papers.
Warren helped Donny stand, who was looking a little better after the muesli bars, but not any better thanks to the paper.
"We're going to Principal Powers. Text the following to the others," Layla said, listing her idea.
...
Principal Powers flipped through the paper, disappointment clear on every feature of her face.
Her office was crowded with both perpetrators and victims. Zach was shaking and trembling against Ethan who didn't look much better; Craig hadn't said a thing and Warren's shirt was actually wet with tears; Wendy was comforting Donny, who looked so pale that his veins were stark on his face; Jewel and Grant were crowded outside her office, blocking Lisa and Ben from leaving. Adam looked like he'd been sucker punched and had his face buried in his hands. Layla was shaking and had three tissues balled in her fist, tears in her eyes.
Finishing reading the last page with Craig's photos, Principal Powers turned the paper to the front once more, and looked up at the group at large. "I have contacted all of your parents or guardians, as the case may be. I have sent Ron Wilson, bus driver, to pick them up so you can go home for the rest of the afternoon," she added, hoping her gentle tone would ease the pale pallor on most of their faces.
"Lisa, Ben; I am severely disappointed in both of you. You've turned the school paper into a mockery, into a rag for unfounded rumours and gossiping. It lowers the integrity of the paper, and I am ashamed to say that not even Labyrinth would run stories as degrading as this. It is bullying, and it will not be tolerated. As of this moment, both of you will have your publishing rights revoked from both the school paper and the yearbook."
"But the yearbook, the final paper - "
"The yearbook has others working on it, and as for the school paper, consider this to be the final one for the school year," Principal Powers said, looking at it in disgust. "I will be calling the Maxville Daily Paper to let them know of your disgusting conduct and retract my letter of recommendation for your summer internships," she said.
Ben's mouth dropped open. Beside him, Lisa made a noise somewhere between horrified and soul-destroying. "It's... it's not gossip!" Lisa said, eyes wide. "There are... there are pictures! We interviewed people!"
"You will not justify this!" Principal Powers bellowed, shaking the paper at them. "You outed a student; you revealed emotional and personal abuse of another; you accused a student of wrongdoings and compared another to their father with no evidence to back up your claims for either; you have brought their friends and family into this. It may have been an interview from your point of view, but all I see are two petty children who are hurting others without cause or reason.
"Despite this childish behaviour, you will both accept your punishments as adults; it is not a negotiation. You're lucky I don't expel you completely! Now go outside and wait for your parents!" Principal Powers snapped at them, Lisa and Ben bolting from the room.
Realising that she was standing over the students, Principal Powers inhaled and forced herself to sit down once more. "I would like to talk to the rest of you about these allegations and... interviews. I have some personal questions I'd like to ask, and I understand if you don't want the others present."
"No," Zach said. "They can stay," he added, clutching Ethan's hand tightly.
Craig agreed hoarsely, the others adding their own agreement as well.
"Very well. You can change your mind at any time," she said, sipping her glass of water and hoping it would ease her sore throat. "Zach, the article mentioned that your father... hurt you."
Zach nodded.
"You didn't tell anyone?"
Zach shook his head. "I tried when I was a kid, when I was a citizen. No one believed me. My... my Dad said if I told anyone, they'd separate me and Heidi."
"Your younger sister?" Principal Powers clarified; she remembered the name from a new student application for the two-year waitlist.
"Yes, ma'am. Discovered her powers last week," Zach said, weak but proud.
Principal Powers nodded briefly. "And this interview with your mother. You weren't aware of her impending divorce?"
"No, ma'am. Mr. and Mrs. Damsale took me and Heidi in almost three months ago. I haven't seen my mother since."
"Of course. Now, Grant, Jewel. I am to understand that you're in a relationship with Craig?"
"Yes, Principal Powers. Consenting and discussed at length," Grant said.
"You are aware he's sixteen years old? Jewel, you're eighteen; Grant, you're almost nineteen," Principal Powers said, trying to stress the importance of what she was implying without actually saying what she meant.
"I'm seventeen next week, Principal Powers," Craig said, hoping he didn't sound petulant.
"The age of consent is sixteen, we're not having sex, and we've discussed our relationship with both of our parents as well as Craig's guardian," Grant said.
"Victor Harland?" Principal Powers confirmed; it wasn't often that students' legal guardians changed, although she had three of those students sitting in her office at that moment.
"Brother-in-law; he treats me better than my actual family," Craig added.
Well, that answered her next question about his family's anti-super views.
"And your mother?"
"She's on a cruise, last I heard."
Principal Powers bit her tongue to stop from saying anything and forced herself to nod instead. "Layla, these are some serious accusations against your character: using people for your own benefit; sabotaging the bus just so you could save the students; recruiting villains?"
"I don't know what to say to that, Principal Powers. I've been giving people fruit and helping freshmen with their homework, which apparently means I'm using people? I catch the bus to school, so that means I sabotaged it? I tried to make more friends, which means I'm recruiting villains? It just doesn't make any sense. It's ridiculous that someone would twist my actions like that when I'm just... I'm just trying to be the kind of person my mother would be proud of," Layla said, sniffing and wiping at her red nose.
On her wrist, she felt flames twirling as Warren held back his amusement. Maybe she'd laid it on too thick?
"That's all anyone could ask of you," Principal Powers said, offering the tissue box.
Layla nodded, her eyes watering as she took another tissue.
"Warren. I'm not even going to ask; these accusations are based on nothing more than who your father is. I'm sorry that you have to go through this again," Principal Powers said, shaking her head.
Layla blew her nose so she wouldn't laugh at Warren's disappointment in being skipped.
"Wendy, the storm... WET's weather report did say there would only be heavy rainfall," Principal Powers said.
Wendy sighed. "Yes, Principal Powers. As I told Lisa at the time, WET's weather report is for the city of Maxville, not for Sky High. We have different weather patterns in the sky than the weather that's actually received on the ground.
"It's like flying on a plane: if you go above the clouds, it's sunshine and calm, but down on the ground, they're going through the worst storm of the year. We just weren't high enough above the clouds for Lisa to believe me," Wendy said, shrugging.
"Thank you, that does make sense," Principal Powers said, having experienced the same thing for herself. "Adam, I'm slightly confused about these allegations against you; it says that you've hacked everyone on your phone?"
"I spit acid, ma'am. I've got no idea how to hack; I just have lots of time-consuming games on my phone," Adam said. Before she could ask, Adam unlocked his phone and offered it to her. "Here, feel free to look. There's nothing more than Kwazy Cupcakes, a messaging app, some more games, the phone, and a calculator."
Despite not really requiring the evidence due to privacy concerns, Principal Powers took the phone to look. There were a few more apps than the ones he'd listed, but they all seemed to be games: Farming Farmer, Candy Collage, Angry Ants. As she held it, two notifications chimed to indicate that crops had finished growing in Farming Farmer. Principal Powers handed the phone back quickly. "Thank you, Adam."
Adam nodded, took his phone and slipped it into his pocket.
Hearing the bus returning to Sky High, Principal Powers wondered if she could circumvent the impending anger of parents and super-parents. Standing abruptly, she smiled at the students when they startled. "Sorry. I heard the bus landing, so I think we should go meet your parents on the runway. You can collect your bags on the way; I'm sure you'd rather be at home than here."
"Thank you, Principal Powers," Layla said, taking another tissue as she stood and left, her friends echoing their thanks before following her.
Principal Powers exhaled, smoothed out her skirt, straightened her shirt, and left her office. "Lisa, Ben, come with me," she said along the way, not waiting for an answer.
What looked like the entire school was crowded in the hallway, all of them either reading the paper or gossiping about the paper.
"Boomer, I need a favour," Principal Powers said, seeing the Coach talking with Mr. Boy nearby.
Boomer straightened up and nodded. "Sure thing, Principal. Want me to throw 'em off the edge of the school?" he asked, eyeing the two students behind her.
"No, Boomer. Clear the hallway for me, please."
"Oh. Right. Easy," he said, turning and yelling, "GET INSIDE!" His voice was loud enough to scatter the gossiping students, as well as push a stack of papers down the hallway to the exit.
The very same entrance that the parents were walking up with Ron Wilson, bus driver, talking beside them obliviously. Principal Powers winced when one of the parents was literally smacked in the face with one of the papers. There was no way she was getting out of this now.
"Hello, kids. That bus was amazing; why didn't you tell me you had such fun every morning?" Richard asked, grinning at them.
"We were all called out of work, is everything all right?" Anita asked, looking Ethan and Zach over, frowning when she saw the state Zach was in.
Ethan shook his head and took Zach's hand again.
"What's all of this about?" Nina asked firmly, seeing that even Warren, her usually stoic son, looked rattled.
"I think I can answer that," Frieda said, reading the paper after it hit her in the face. She showed the paper to Nina, then picked up another and another, handing them to all of the parents. "Tina, Greg, Chris, Jo, you're all lovely people, but after today, I never want to see you or your children again."
Lisa and Ben's parents faces reddened at the harsh words, and they all looked to the papers they'd been given.
"Principal Powers, you'll be hearing from my lawyer in the morning. If my priority wasn't Layla's safety and emotional wellbeing, you'd be talking to my lawyer right now," Frieda snapped. Her harsh expression faded as she went over to Layla. "Are you all right, dear?"
Layla shook her head, stuffing the last of her books in her bag. "I don't want to come back, Frieda."
"I completely understand, dear. Let's get you home and we'll talk, okay?" Frieda said, stroking her hair and leading her down the hallway.
"Lisa, come with me this instant."
"Ben, we're leaving right now."
Principal Powers stood there, a cold feeling washing over her at the thought of losing all of these students' tuitions. Another three years for some of them, not to mention future students with younger siblings and any children they might have. Shit.
They were gone before Principal Powers could think of anything to say. Figuring she had a reprieve to think of a suitable solution for all parties, she headed back to her office to think.
The walk to the bus was quiet with the parents and guardians fuming to varying degrees. As soon as the bus was in the air, however, it was a different story.
"Honestly, Lisa? All of this over a stupid food fight? I thought you were better than this."
"I'm disappointed in you, Ben. No, more than that, I'm ashamed. You're grounded the second we land."
"You're grounded too, Lisa, and don't expect any sympathy."
"I'm sorry you got called from work, Mum," Warren said.
"Oh, it's fine. Just a momentary panic that the school had dropped from the sky again. I'm still not sure if this is worse," Nina muttered, looking at the paper that was starting to crumple in her grip.
"Don't read it, Mum, it'll just upset you."
"I'm already upset!" Nina snapped. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily. "Sorry, kid, that wasn't directed at you."
"I know, Mum. Let me destroy that crap; it'll make both of us feel better," Warren said with a grin.
"Frieda, lend me yours later?" Nina asked over her shoulder.
"Of course, dear," Frieda replied, Layla curled against her shoulder.
Warren took the offered paper and lit it on fire, watching with pleasure as it burnt to ash.
"Do you want to talk about it, Craig?" Victor asked.
Craig shook his head.
Grant and Jewel both made their way down the aisle.
"Mr. Harland, can we hug Craig?" Jewel asked.
"If he wants to be hugged, that is," Grant added.
"It's up to you, Craig," Victor said with a nod.
Craig blamed the drop in the bus' altitude for the way he practically launched himself at them. Grant and Jewel guided him to the back seat so they could sit together, Craig curled up between them with their arms around his torso.
Grant's mother and Jewel's father looked from their children back to the paper where Craig's family's anti-super views were listed in black and white.
"You think Frieda's lawyer's bad, just wait until Heidi sees this," Anita murmured, tempted to rip the damn thing into pieces.
She knew she would need to explain to Heidi what had happened and why Zach was upset. The paper, unfortunately, would be a better explanation than anything Anita could vocalise. Anita couldn't help but wonder what Heidi would do to Lisa and Ben in response. Whatever it was, she hoped it hurt just as bad as her children and their friends were hurting right then.
...
"Will, make sure to leave your red phone with your father before you leave for school," Josie called out, hearing her son's usual grunting and groaning noises to indicate that he was awake.
"Why?" Will called back, frowning.
"You have two exams today; you're not leaving in the middle of one if there's an emergency. By the way, I'm very proud that you spent all of yesterday studying, and I'm sure you'll do much better with your final exams than you did with your mid-terms," she said, smiling.
Her voice was far too close his door for Will's liking, and he hurried to make sure that his quilt covered everything, just in case she decided to come into his room. "Uh, yeah. I ended up having fun," Will said. "Thanks for letting me skip school to study."
"Well, it's worth it if you actually enjoyed yourself and learnt something. Now, don't you worry about a thing, except for your exams, of course! Your father and I will handle the phone today; we don't have anything scheduled until next week," Josie added.
"Okay, not a problem. I'll leave the phone with Dad," he said quickly, wishing she'd leave already.
"I only wish Westville was as progressive as Maxville and scheduled these fights. I'd worry about you less," Josie said, obviously forgetting that Maxville villains had only been scheduling their fights for a month.
"I'll tell the first Westville villain when I fight them; maybe word will get around," Will replied.
"Are you being sassy with me?"
Will bit his tongue, wincing when he drew blood. "No, I'm not! Uh, have a nice day?"
"Thank you. If I can close this six-figure deal, I'll be much happier," Josie admitted. "Now, don't forget to leave the phone with your father!"
"I won't," Will said, trying not to sound as though he was groaning in annoyance because that's totally what he was doing internally.
There was a whoosh of sound as his mother finally left, and Will flopped back on his bed with a heavy sigh.
"Do you think she knew I was here?" Magenta asked, her guinea pig nose peeking out from under his blanket.
Will had organised a study session with Magenta the night before, begging her to come over and help him with English. They'd barely made it through one practice exam before Will had convinced Magenta to have sex with him instead.
It was way more fun than studying, though there was no way in hell he was admitting that to his mother.
He grinned and shook his head, then booped her nose. "She doesn't know anything, Maj. Now, where's my good morning kiss?" Will teased.
Magenta reformed and Will tugged her up his body so they could kiss. He stroked his half-hard dick in anticipation.
They could have some more fun before they needed to leave for their exams.
...
"Come on, time to get up. You've got to get to school for your exams," Frieda said, knocking on Layla's door.
After the school paper fiasco the day before, no one had wanted to be left alone, and as Frieda had more than enough rooms to house everyone, they'd all stayed together. The parents each had their own rooms, while the children had decided to camp in Layla's room, taking an excessive amount of pillows and blankets. Frieda was almost positive that she'd seen Warren carrying three blankets and Craig at one point. It had taken two hours for the lights to stop flickering once Heidi had discovered what had been done to her brother.
"Do we have to?" Zach groaned.
"Yes, otherwise we have to repeat the whole year," Ethan said, though he didn't sound happy about the idea of getting up either.
"Anita made pancakes," Frieda cajoled.
The door was open in a shot and Heidi stopped abruptly, signing hello before slipping her new hearing aids on and running downstairs.
"I think Heids is gonna eat everything," Grant mumbled.
Jewel murmured in agreement, but Craig was up and tugging a shirt on so he could follow after her. "Wait up, Heids," Craig called. "Morning, Frieda."
Frieda waved and looked into Layla's room, only to find everyone lying on the floor, blankets and pillows everywhere with Warren in the centre. "I'll get Darla to talk to you about orgies."
"Orgies are too messy," Ethan said, Adam agreeing with a wince.
"Who's Darla?" Wendy asked.
"The owner of the Sweet Spot, the sex shop," Frieda added. "Lovely girl, she didn't even accept the bribe I offered to close the shop for the day."
Donny snorted, the noise muffled under a pillow. "That's 'cause you're her best customer."
"I'm glad being a loyal customer still means something to some people. Of course, as I've been a customer there for thirty years, I also get the gold member discount," Frieda said, smiling.
"Donny, erase my mind? Just, like, the last ten seconds?" Warren groaned.
"Why?"
"Frieda just said 'gold member' seriously with a straight face."
Donny laughed and took the pillow off his face, hitting Warren with it. "You'll live. Now, get up; I want to see your new coffee drip at work."
"Oh, yeah. Did you put my coffee beans in the kitchen, hippie?" Warren called.
"Next to the coffee machine," Layla called from the bathroom. She opened the ensuite door, already dressed and slightly damp in patches. "Shower's free. Good morning, Frieda," she said, kissing her cheek. "Do I smell pancakes?"
"Yes. Anita made them. Heidi and Craig have already gone downstairs; there may not be any left," Frieda said with a smile.
"Dibs on the shower," Zach called out.
"I'm next," Wendy said.
"Want to shower together, save water?" Jewel offered, laughing.
"You're not my type, sweetheart."
"Diamonds are a girl's best friend."
"Craig, your girlfriend's flirting with Wendy," Zach called.
"Good for her," Craig called back.
"I'm putting an intercom in so you can all stop yelling," Frieda said, rolling her eyes as she went downstairs with Layla.
"I don't know that would work. We've all got phones, and they're still yelling," Layla said with a grin.
"Very good point, dear. Now, how are you feeling about your exams? Do you want me to quiz you over breakfast?" Frieda offered.
"If you don't mind, that might help my nerves. I'm still mixing up some dates from Lustful's autobiography, and I'm sure I'll need them for the essay section."
"I don't mind at all, dear. You get some pancakes, I'll get the book from the lounge and set up Warren's fancy new coffee drip," Frieda said, patting her hand.
"Thank you. The pancakes look amazing, Anita," Layla said, sitting at the dining table and grabbing one from the stack.
"Thank you. I've been up since 5am, and Frieda did offer the use of her kitchen, so I thought I'd take her up on it."
"Elijah and Elliot didn't wake you up, did they?" Craig asked.
"No, they were up at 6am. I sent Victor back to bed when I saw him trying to boil the milk carton."
Elijah and Elliot were in bouncers nearby, already fed and eagerly reaching for the toys hanging above their heads.
"Not a morning person," Victor groaned from where he was slumped at the end of the table.
Nina made a noise of agreement as she came into the dining room, clutching a cup of coffee. She sat down and looked ready to guard her coffee with her life.
"I thought you'd like this, Nina," Anita said, setting a jar by her. "Coffee butter spread."
Her words took a moment to sink in, but then Nina's eyes widened. "Yeah?"
"Don't know how good it is; you'll have to let me know. I made one for Warren as well. There's more too, if you want one, Victor?"
"Please."
"Warren's going to love you," Craig snickered.
"He should love me already," Anita said, smiling.
"Who should love you?" Ethan asked, coming into the dining room, shaking his damp shirt.
Zach followed him, combing his damp hair back with his fingers.
"Shower free yet?" Craig asked.
"Wendy, then Jewel and Grant."
"Your shower fits three people, right, Lay?"
"I don't know," Layla replied, frowning.
"Craig, no. You agreed to no sex, remember?" Victor said, indicating for him to sit down.
"Wasn't gonna have sex," Craig muttered, but huffed a sigh and sat down again. "Split another pancake with me, Heids?"
She nodded, her cheeks full.
"You look like a chipmunk, little sis," Craig said, signing to her as well.
Heidi grinned. Craig kissed her cheek and put half his pancake on her plate.
Frieda returned with the book and a large pot of tea. Warren followed her in with several empty mugs in one hand and his coffee in the other.
"That's a new mug," Ethan commented, taking a pancake and empty mug.
"Birthday present from Layla," Warren said, sitting next to her as Frieda started to quiz Layla on various dates she found from flipping through Lustful's autobiography.
"March 20th, 1991?"
"Lustful teamed up with the Spinner Sisters in their seventh appeal to stop harmful chemicals being used in the manufacture of household cleaning materials."
"April 4th, 1991?"
"Lustful escaped while the Spinner Sisters were arrested for spinning webs across Maxville."
"Isn't that the same date Jetstream's sidekick was killed?" Zach asked Ethan, who nodded in response.
"What date does Lustful's autobiography end?" Ethan asked curiously.
"April 23rd, 1991?" Layla guessed.
"25th," Frieda corrected.
Ethan pulled a book out of seemingly nowhere, flipping through the biography. "What happened on December 31st, 1990?"
"Lustful worked with CyberNet to add a virus to the American Bank of America's computers. She woke up on New Year's Day with two security guards."
"Jetstream and her sidekick worked through the night to defeat that virus. She states that the security guards fell asleep on the job, but there's no mention of Lustful. What about the Fourth of July in 1998?"
"Lustful asked the fireworks operators to aim all of the fireworks at the Maxville bridge."
"Jetstream and her sidekick stopped the bridge being attacked by redirecting all of the fireworks away from it. Jetstream ruined her favourite cape in the process," Zach said.
"When did Lustful stab Caesar?" Ethan asked.
"March 15th, 1989; Ides of March," Wendy said as she came into the dining room. "What's going on?" she whispered to Layla as she sat down and took a pancake.
"English quiz turned into a discussion."
"Jetstream's sidekick started with her on March 25th, 1989," Ethan said.
"I don't get it?" Victor said in confusion.
"I think they're the same person."
"The evidence is too circumstantial; it wouldn't hold up in court," Richard said, eating a plain pancake.
"This isn't going to help your essay, hippie," Warren pointed out. "By the way, Anita? The coffee spread is amazing and so are you."
Anita smiled brightly. "Thank you, cutie."
"Oh, not you too?" Warren groaned.
Adam walked into the dining room, still in his pyjamas. "Frieda, how long do I need to run the kitchen's cold water before it affects the upstairs shower?"
"They're on separate pipes, dear. There's a shared bathroom down the hall," she offered.
"At this point, I'll take it. They've been in there for ten minutes," Adam said, shuddering as he left.
"I'll get 'em out," Nina cackled.
"Keep studying, hippie," Warren said, kissing her temple before taking another pancake.
Upstairs, the sounds of surprised screams echoed from Layla's bathroom.
"Hmm, maybe there was too much coffee in that spread," Anita murmured with a frown, laughter and giggles erupting around her.
...
End of the sixty-eighth chapter.
Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!
