Chapter Two: In Which the Sons of Ipswich Meet the Kat, or 'Why Hormones and Special Powers Do NOT Mix'

When Sarah came bounding over to give Caleb a kiss, I was fully prepared to make my customary gagging sound, and maybe share a lewd joke with Tyler, as was custom. God, the two of them… it's pathetic. Love is so overrated in my opinion. However, my whole 'Oh God, Caleb, get a fucking ROOM' routine was ruined by the fact that behind Sarah was Kate, and behind Kate was a girl I- wait, I did recognize. She was the new girl, the one I teased in Daly's class to show Baby Boy how it's done. I looked her over. Yep, definitely the same chick. Long dark hair, bangs cut straight above the eyebrows, brown eyes with lots of dark liner, combat boots with something drawn all over them… daisies? Eh, she was kinda hot, in the whole quasi-Goth type of way. Not really my style, though. Too introspective. She'd probably want an actual (shudder) relationship, and I just don't do those.

"Hey, babe," Pogue said, catching his dark-skinned girlfriend around the waist as she slid her arms around his neck. "Gonna introduce us?" We were standing near the steps of the Academy, Caleb and Pogue a few feet out, Tyler and I leaning against the wall. As the new girl went to stand beside Sarah, who'd detached herself from Caleb, Tyler straightened off the wall. I didn't.

"Oh, sorry, Kat. Guys, this is Kat Teague. She just moved here," Kate informed us. Sarah took Kat's arm, who glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, but didn't yank her arm away.

"Kat," the blond girl said, "these are the Sons of Ipswich." I watched Kat's brow rise, but she said nothing as Sarah continued. "This is my boyfriend, Caleb, and Kate's boyfriend, Pogue. The dark-haired one there is Tyler, and that's Reid." Tyler actually shook her hand, the poor boy. Me, I just nodded.

"We've met," I said. Kat glared at me, and I gave her a little salute. This didn't seem to go over well.

"Reid, huh? You're a jerk," she said coolly. Caleb, Pogue, Sarah and Kate all burst out laughing. Tyler snorted, but didn't outright guffaw. That's loyalty for you right there. I spread my arms.

"What? Why do people keep saying that? I asked a simple, innocent question, that's all!"

"Don't mind him, Kat," Sarah said conspiratorially. I swear, I will never understand how girls can be so buddy-buddy with each other after knowing each other for like an hour, but hell, same thing happens with guys as long as there's enough alcohol involved… Caleb shot me a stern look, and I knew he'd caught that thought. I sent him a little sneer. Fuck you right back, Oh Great One. He rolled his eyes as Sarah kept talking. "Reid comes off as a real asshole at first, but he's really a sweetheart underneath all that… Reid-ness." This comment only made the others laugh harder, and I folded my arms, glaring at them all. Sure, it was nice of Sarah to remember the fact that I had in fact risked my life right next to Tyler and, in a greater extent, Caleb, to protect her from Chase. That I had been a complete gentleman that time when she freaked in the bathroom, going in and making sure everything was okay, and not even hitting on her once while I did it. Still, everyone else didn't have to find it so damn amusing.

"Yeah," I said sarcastically, knowing that there was really no other way to redeem any of my pride, "I'm just a big old goddamn teddy bear. Ain't that right, boys?" Tyler swallowed, and Caleb and Pogue stopped laughing. Caleb gave me a warning glance, and I raised a brow. Come on, man, that brow said. Am I THAT stupid? Still, though I knew he knew I wouldn't do anything dumb, Caleb artfully changed the subject. Ah, yes. That's why he's our more-or-less leader. He knows when to stop pushing. Usually.

"So, guys, we should probably be moving out. Kat, you need a ride?"

"Sure, that would be great," she answered, not looking at me. As I walked past her, something caught my attention. She was… sniffing? Wait, what? Yeah. She was sniffing me. And there was something…

Then it was gone. The trace of… of other vanished, leaving nothing but a teenaged girl. I frowned, and fell behind again as we headed for the cars. Catching Tyler's arm, I murmured to him,

"Hey, man, do you sense anything weird about this Kat girl?"

"What, now? Reid, we saw her in Lit. Nothing weird about her then."

"I know," I answered, annoyed. "I just… so you didn't get the feeling that…"

"That what?"

"Screw it. It was probably nothing. Just… I don't think I trust her, Ty." He looked at me, a frown of confusion on his face.

"God, we've known her for what, five minutes? And already you don't trust her?"

"Hey, remember Chase? Are you saying we shouldn't go by our instincts?" This shut Tyler up, as I'd expected it to. Then, he grinned a little.

"What the hell. Life was getting boring, anyway. We could use a little excitement. Besides, she's just one girl. How much trouble could she be?" There was a tingle of foreboding along my spine, but, as usual, I shoved it back and slung an arm around his shoulders.

"That's my boy."

When we reached the cars, there was a moment of confusion as I leaped for the driver's side door to Tyler's truck, who slammed into it just a second too late, as Caleb and the girls looked around as if trying to figure out what to do now. Pogue got on his stupid Ducati, which, by the way, cost more money than I've ever stolen, thank you very much, and Kate climbed on behind him.

"Bye, guys," she called, and they sped away into the sunset and all that. I locked the driver's door once I was in so that Tyler couldn't force me out without using, and I knew he wouldn't dare do that right under Caleb's nose. I mean, hell. Baby Boy may be my prodigy and all, but he's got a ways to go when it comes to standing up to our Fearless Leader. Honestly? I think he's scared to be too much of a rebel, too much of a rule-breaker. You know, like me. I think he's scared of what Caleb can do when he gets really pissed, like that time he threw me into a wall. Bastard. One of these days…

Point is, I was secure in my keymaster position. I crowed as Caleb rolled his eyes and got into his own car with Sarah, leaving Tyler and Kat to me. Rolling down the window a bit, I called to them,

"Come on, kiddies, some time this year, maybe?" Tyler offered Kat the front seat, which she declined. I smirked at that. When they were buckled in like good boys and girls, I wondered whether or not I should put the fear of… well, me into this girl, to counteract Sarah's dumb sweetheart comment. Besides, there was something weird about her. I was sure of it. Might as well draw the line now, before it got too late. I fucking hate insecurity and uncertainty more than pretty much anything, so there would be no uncertainty about what I thought of Kitty-cat. Teasing her was fun, true, but I didn't deny the strange, other-ly feeling I'd gotten off her earlier. Tyler must have caught the grin on my face, because he leaned his head back.

"Oh, shit," he said.

"Hang on," I replied.

Have I mentioned how much I love driving fast?