Chapter 17 – Evil Genius

"It's done!"

I shut my locker, revealing the face behind the voice. James stood there with a bright exuberance marking his features. The grin on his face stretched from ear to ear, his teeth as white as his skin. His short strawberry blond hair was pointed in different directions. He wore a blue plaid shirt opened over a white top with jeans. He was leaning against the locker next to mine waiting anxiously for my reaction.

"What's done?" I asked naively. Ever since last night, I was having trouble focusing on anything people said. Especially this morning, with Fang in the barn. The whole time he questioned me the Voice was a relentless bother. I had hoped that I was just imagining the events from last night, but this morning was a bitter reminder that I'm probably insane.

James looked disappointed. "Don't you remember? First day of school? Detention? What did I rip apart the calculator for?"

I walked away from the lockers with him trailing behind me. I thought for a second. It seemed like the first day of school was two years ago, even though it was only two weeks. Then it hit me. "Oh, my God! You finished the timed st –"

"Shh!" I was cut off when his hand clasped over my lips. "Don't say it out loud!" he hissed. He dropped his hand and grinned again. "But yes, it is done. And don't go blabbing to anyone about it. I don't want anyone to know what it is until I unleash it."

"Can I see it?" I was extremely curious, I mean, what did a timed stink bomb look like? Besides Gabe Moore, that is. Man, was that kid a timed stink bomb or what? The one he let rip on the bus this morning nearly put the driver in a coma.

James paused, looking over his shoulder nervously. I looked back too to see what caught his attention. Down the hall, Fang was watching the two of us as clear as day, not even trying to act sneaky like some people would.

"What's his deal?" James asked, looking back at me.

I shrugged. "He's worried about me cause I… I'm, uh, not feeling good." Jeez, I nearly said something I shouldn't have. Way to go, Max! Just announce your secret to the whole world! "He, uh, is my foster brother. Last night I had another migraine."

"Another one?" His tone was clearly shocked and a little concerned. "Maybe you should have it checked out. They have medication for migraines, you know."

"Yeah, I know. My mom's a vet so she knows about medicine, and my… er, dad… is a doctor so there are tons of medical personnel in my family."

He nodded and then looked over his shoulder uncomfortably again. "Damn, he's in foster care? I always knew there was something up with him, but I didn't know what. What's his story? Do you know how he got there?"

"Quiet!" I hissed like he did before. "He doesn't want people to know about it. But no, I don't know why he's in foster care. He only moved in last week so he hasn't really opened up with us. He's kind of like a stranger." And I meant that. No one really knew anything about Fang except that he's strong, silent, likes drawing and reading, and seemed to be really studious which surprised me.

Ask him, the Voice said. Of course, he always shows up at the most inconvenient times.

Fang? No, I'm not gonna ask him about his past. He'll tell us when he's ready. That would go over well. "Hey Fang, how's your day? Can you tell me about why you're in foster care?" Yeah, he'd probably smack me if I came out like that.

Wasn't I right about being able to trust him? Believe me when I say that he'll tell you.

I'm not gonna push him, so leave me alone. I'm having a conversation. I felt my mind be freed of the annoying nuisance, and I sighed in relief.

"So, you want to see it?" James asked with an expectant joy and pride in his eyes.

I nodded adamantly. "Yeah, it sounds so cool!"

We walked along the decrepit halls, dodging athletes, chess nerds, and suspicious teachers seeing the two of us together. Apparently we'd made an interesting reputation for ourselves among the teachers' lounge, so they always were on the look out for us darting around and looking secretive, which was exactly what we were doing now.

His locker was basically on the other side of the school from where mine and Fang's were. I came to this side of the building every day for Biology, so I was pretty familiar with the hall and the faces surrounding it. We came up to yet another rotting locker where James stopped, twisting the lock until it clicked open. He popped the handle and it opened outward. Brushing aside some textbooks, he pointed to an item in the top shelf. I looked at it, trying to figure out how this was supposed to set off. Its base was a can of hairspray, and a lever-like device was attached to the sprayer. Wires ran from the lever to a small keyboard with a clock screen that rested along the length of the cylinder.

"James, I have no idea how you did it, but this is amazing!" I was tempted to touch it, but I was afraid it would go off and leave me smelling like farts for the rest of the year.

He smiled smugly. "Yeah, I know. You want to go plant it?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of gloves.

"Now?" My voice had raised, and he shot me a frantic look that told me to shut up. I leaned in to him, and then I realized that he had grown a couple of inches from the start of the school year, making him taller than me. He lowered closer to me too. "Where do you want to do it? Won't it be a little conspicuous to walk out of an empty room whistling like you did nothing wrong?"

"What? Are you chicken?" he whispered back. "C'mon, that's why we're going to the gymnasium. We can say we were working out and we let one rip."

"Okay… but I'm not touching the can. Not only am I gonna set it off, but it's gonna get my finger prints all over it for when they call the cops."

"That's why I'm wearing gloves," he said snootily. Then he grinned. "Be prepared to witness history in the making! This is gonna be awesome!"

I grinned back. If everything went as planned, this was going to be the sweetest prank I'd ever witnessed. Well, we'd probably be in class when it went off, but word would spread over school quickly.

We rushed toward the gymnasium. The double doors that led to the basketball court were locked during school hours, but anyone could enter if they went through the locker rooms. James and I split up, going through the appropriate doors, and we'd meet up back in the gym. A lot of the school teams practiced in the morning before classes began, so it wasn't too big of a surprise to see students coming and going at this time. When I entered the girls' locker room a couple of stragglers were collecting their items. I pretended to fiddle around with a locker so they wouldn't get suspicious. They exited without really noticing me, so I was lucky.

I walked through a white door labeled "Court" and entered into the large gym. I'd only been in here once before for P.E. last Monday, before I had my brain attack in the halls. James was standing just outside of the boy's room.

"Where are you gonna put it?" I asked him. We peered around to make sure no one was here.

He nodded somewhere above me. "There are a second set of bleachers on the next floor. I was gonna tie the bomb on the railing and set the timer to go off in twenty minutes. The smell will get picked up by the vents," he pointed toward the large tubes that lined the ceiling, "and some of it will circulate through classrooms while the rest will stink up the gym. If everything goes as plans, there will be a stampede of students running out of gym to get some fresh air, not that the air in the halls is any cleaner." He chuckled.

"You better hope they don't have class outside or else no one will be here to witness your evil genius."

He looked bemused, and then rolled his eyes. "They're finishing physical fitness, so we're good. Now let's hurry before the bell rings."

We ran to the far side of the gym which held a staircase that led to the second floor bleachers. Our footsteps pounded loudly, no matter how slow or sneaky we tried to ascend them. I kept a lookout while he began to work over his bomb. I looked down at the gymnasium floor, seeing the wooden floorboards and our school symbol, an admiral, in the center. Our school colors of navy and silver were on all the bleachers and walls.

"Okay, I'm done," James said as he approached me.

"Wow. That was quick." We hurried down the steps toward the locker rooms since first bell was going to ring soon. "Are you sure you set it for twenty minutes and not twenty seconds?"

He sent me a sour look. "I think I know how to work my own bomb." Then he shrugged, trying not to look too proud. "Yeah, well, it has to be quick if we don't to get caught."

I was about to enter the girls' locker room when I realized that he had paused in the middle of the court. I ran back to him and grabbed his hand. Then I saw the look on his face and I gasped. His eyes were glossed over and hazy, like he was seeing something far away. His mouth was in the perfect shape of an 'o'. I waved a hand in front of his face. "C'mon, James, let's go." I tugged his hand but he didn't budge. "What's up with you? The bell's gonna ring any second?"

"I… I can't see." His voice faltered and broke at the last word. He sounded extremely scared. Despite the glossy look, his eyes darted back and forth as if he were watching the wall.

"What are you talking about? Let's go now before I force your ass into the girls' room! Although that's probably what you want me to do." I had to admit, I was getting pretty worried. He did not look good by any stretch of the imagination. His eyes suddenly widened and he gasped loudly.

"What?" I asked him, starting to freak. Where was the Voice when I needed comfort?

"Someone's coming," he whispered.

I'm so sorry I left this here! I wanted to get this out to thank everyone for reviewing!!! I mean, eeeek, 11 reviews last chapter?? You guys rock! Sure, there are those crazy stories that have like 200 reviews for like 5 chapters where every review is like "OMG please update soon!!!" (and I'll admit I'm guilty of reviewing like that), but you guys make reading reviews fun. Kina Kalamari, we'll see how the whole Fang things works out. I can never guarantee when his chapter will pop up, but it will come when necessary. Rukiwolff95, don't listen to the bunneh! I mean, they're cool and all, but bunnehs aren't supposed to be evil and blood-crazed. Unless it's Bunnicula (did I spell that right? I haven't read that story in like forever!). Harmony -and voices-, I really want to have a book published, but I have never finished a story that wasn't a fanfiction. If I ever get to that point, I would love to have that kind of influence over people that a book can bring, ya know? SeekDreamsAndFindHope, is that a split personality thing or are there actually two people reviewing? If it's split personality, sweet! If it's two people, also cool. 8) Ooo, and Skillet fans, I went to one of their concerts like 5 years ago and I got everyone (except Korey Cooper) to sign my Collide CD!!! And I shook John Cooper's hand when he was working at the merchandise stand!!! AAAHHH!!! :D

So if you're a little confused by what's going on with where I left off, I promise everything will be explained tomorrow or whenever the new chapter comes out. Let me just say right now that he isn't really blind. He's just... temporarily blind. It's a new power I created, so I hope it isn't like cheesy or something.

Please reveiw! I'm looking to reach 100 with this chapter! Whoever is the 100th reviewer wins an opportunity to meet Mojo!!! Who, btw, I have caged so he can't run away. hehehe (: Or if you just prefer cookies, I can give you cookies. :P