Reynie

He woke up at nine o'clock the next morning and went downstairs to find the others already finishing up breakfast. Kate and Sticky seemed to be engaged in some sort of argument.

"I just wish, for once, you'd invite me when you're having a meeting," Sticky was saying reproachfully.

"And I keep trying to explain to you, Reynie said you were asleep," said Kate in exasperation. "We're not trying to leave you out or anything."

"Hello, Reynie," said Constance through a mouthful of ice cream.

Kate spun around in her chair. "Reynie! Could you please explain to Sticky that we didn't purposefully leave him out of the meeting last night?"

Reynie coughed.

The fact was, he'd initially planned on going to see if Kate was still awake – alone.

Unfortunately, his skills at climbing through ceilings weren't the best (though they would certainly improve by the end of the day, and many other classic Kate Wetherall maneuvers would be added to his repertoire), and he made a lot of noise. After skinning his knee on a rusty pipe, he decided to walk – her room wasn't that far away – and descended into what he thought was still his room.

However, it was Sticky's, and Sticky had bounded out of bed, asking what in the world Reynie was doing and could he come along. Reynie felt strangely compelled to say no – he even felt a touch of uncharacteristic annoyance – and returned to his room, realizing he had to go the ceiling route to avoid confrontation.

This route, he learned, meant clambering over Constance's room, and as we all know, Constance has an acute ability to sense upcoming activity or events. This meant that he was forced to take her along in return for her promise not to yell out, tell the adults, or tease him about it the following day.

"Y-You were asleep," he stammered to Sticky.

"What! No I wasn't! You fell into my room, and then said you were going back to yours, so I don't understand how you ended up with Constance in Kate's room!" Agitated, he rubbed the back of his head, which he still kept in a buzz cut.

"Sorry! I thought I – I don't – you're not left out," Reynie tried to explain, but now Kate was looking at him with an unreadable expression. "Okay, fine, I went without you."

"Reynie!" said Kate, sounding shocked. "You said he was asleep!"

"I know!" A feeling of guilt and dread was beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. Who was he? Why would he ever reject Sticky and then lie about it? Something was happening. He didn't know what, and he didn't like it. Mumbling about an upset stomach, he left the room, shaking his head and resolving to find Miss Perumal.

"Reynie! Wait!" called Kate. He turned around. She hurried towards him, shaking her hair out of its ponytail and running a hand over her forehead. "What's going on?" she asked when she reached him. "Why did you lie about Sticky being asleep?"

"I just didn't…" Reynie gave a shuddery sigh. The whole point of the Society was that they stuck together, and every member was invaluable. He'd broken the unspoken code and he felt awful. How was he supposed to explain this to Kate? Kate, his best friend, whose disappointment he could not take.

"Reynie?" She spoke quietly, questioningly. "Just tell me why in the world you would –"

"Okay! Fine," he said. "Kate, I'm not proud of what I did. Sticky's my best friend. It's only that… well, so are you." He explained the events of last night. "And I feel absolutely terrible about it. It was stupid, and – and immature. I don't know what came over me."

"You wanted to see me, alone, without Sticky," clarified Kate. He nodded. She fought back a smile – why did hearing that feel good? – and cleared her throat. "Where are you going now?"

"To talk to somebody."

She tilted her head, looking at him. "Okay," she said softly, nodding. "Whenever you're ready, come down to the sitting room for the first lesson."

He grinned. "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Good." She bit her lip, then swiveled around on her heels and gamboled back to the kitchen. Reynie watched her leave, and Sophie's face flashed into his mind's eye for one confusing second. Then she was gone, and, shaking his head, he went looking for Miss Perumal.

Miss Perumal was in a heated, whispered conversation among the adults. Mr. and Mrs. Washington, who stayed at their own – and, technically, Sticky's – home for most of the time to take care of Penelope, had found a sitter and rushed to Mr. Benedict's upon hearing of Mackenzie McCracken and her father's hypothetical break-out. They, Rhonda, Number Two, and Milligan were crowded around Mr. Benedict's desk in the study, and when Reynie knocked on the door he heard a hurried rustling of papers being stowed away into drawers.

"Yes?" asked Mrs. Washington, opening the door. She looked paler than usual.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Miss Perumal? Can I… talk to you? It'll only take a moment, I promise."

They all exchanged looks and Miss Perumal nodded, coming over to him in the hallway and shutting the door. "What is it?" she asked, looking at him in fond concern.

"I have a bit of a dilemma." That was an understatement.

"Tell me from the beginning, but do try to make it quick, as things are getting tense. Oh, Reynie, promise me you won't venture outside."

Itching to ask a million questions but checking himself, Reynie speedily recounted the events of last night leading up to his altercation with Sticky and conversation with Kate. "I just don't know what to do," he explained. "This is all so unsettling to me. I'm not a mean person. I'm not unkind. So why did I abandon my best friend when I know how much we all need to be included?"

A strange look was crossing Miss Perumal's face. Happiness? Pride? Understanding? Maybe all three. "You are not a bad person for feeling this way," she said. Reynie felt himself relax.

"I'm not?" he asked.

"Of course not," she reassured him. "Jealousy is a human emotion. We all feel that way at some point or other, and oftentimes act on it in ways that we will regret."

"Jealousy? Is that what I've been feeling?"

"Only you can tell yourself what you are feeling," said Miss Perumal gently. "It is my belief that you feel a certain new attachment, a new feeling, for Kate, and this prompts you to sometimes leave others out, wishing to have more one-on-one time with her than the rest of the Society is accustomed to. You aren't excluding Sticky out of mere spite; he and Kate are no longer comparable."

"They're both my best friends, though, so isn't it bad if I choose one over the other?"

"That's something that I don't think I can fully explain to you. I'll say that… you're not choosing one friend over the other. Kate doesn't hold the same place in your heart as Sticky does anymore, and so the attention you pay to one of them cannot be compared to the other."

Reynie's mind was whirling. He grasped the concept quickly enough, but these feelings that Miss Perumal was talking about… they puzzled him. Why would Kate be different than Sticky, all of a sudden? He was buds with Sticky, and he was buds with Kate. Why should that change?

The door opened and Number Two emerged. "I'm sorry to cut in, but Miss Perumal is needed right now."

"It's fine," said Reynie. "I'll see you later," he told Miss Perumal. "Thank you for talking."

She drew him into a hug. "You'll figure it out," she told him. "I'm confident in you."

"Miss Perumal?" Number Two tapped her foot nervously.

"Yes, of course." She returned to the study, and Reynie stood there for a minute, gathering his thoughts. From the sitting room, he heard a shout and crash and, grinning, sprinted down the stairs to Kate's first lesson.

When he ran in, he discovered a broken lamp, a red-faced Sticky, and Constance nowhere to be seen. Kate was looking extremely frazzled and had placed her bucket on the coffee table, anxiously searching the area.

"What just happened?" asked Reynie in alarm.

"Oh, Reynie, thank goodness." Kate seized his arm, pulling him into the scene. "We're trying to find Constance. Sticky wanted to make an entrance" – she looked sternly at a sheepish Sticky – "and Constance fell through a weak spot in the ceiling, bounced off that lamp, and we're not sure where she went. A small girl like that… oh no, if we don't find her, my lessons will be put to a stop! Help me!" She started frantically upturning cushions and tipping over tables.

"Constance!" called Reynie, doing the sensible thing. "Everybody, be quiet for a moment."

There came a faint, muted sound from the closet, whose door had swung closed in the frenzy.

Kate rushed over, threw the door open, and dragged a grumpy, dust-covered Constance out.

"You're stupid!" shouted Constance, beating at Kate with her fists.

"Me? I didn't even do anything!" protested Kate, too relieved to feel overly indignant.

"Sticky!" yelled Constance. "Don't you try to leave!" For Sticky had been silently attempting to sneak off. Hanging his head, he came in and bravely endured five minutes of rhyming insults. When the girl had finally run out of breath, Kate clasped her hands together and said happily,

"Ready for the lesson?"

"I hurt my ankle," Constance complained.

"So are you just going to sit in the corner and whine and make rude comments?" asked Kate seriously.

"You're stupid," said Constance loftily, then registered what Kate had just said and, smirking, said, "Yes. I'll do just that."

Shrugging at Reynie, who was surveying the situation in mild amusement, Kate sat down on the couch, patting the two spots next to her for the boys. When they obligingly took their seats, she said triumphantly, "I am the Great Kate Weather Machine and this is the first of many lessons" – Sticky groaned – "that I'll be conducting in regards to my… stratagem … and… abilities and… stuff."

"Abilities and stuff," said Reynie, nodding affirmatively. "Go on."

Shooting him a grateful look, Kate cleared her throat and said, "I'm going to begin from the simplest and handiest trick which Sticky attempted and did not succeed. Sorry, Sticky," she added sympathetically.

"It's okay," he said, rubbing his aching shoulder ruefully.

"Anyway. I can safely say that I know almost all the pathways around the ceiling of this house, and so most of class today will be spent there. I'll teach you how to crawl, avoid falling down, identify which pipes are which, and how to go as fast as I can." She looked expectantly at them, waiting for an enthusiastic response.

"Great," said Reynie, jumping up. "When do we start?"

Kate grinned, also jumping up and reaching for her bucket. "Now."

Sticky groaned.

So, I was going to continue with this chapter into her training of them, but I thought I might as well change POVs so we can get some Kate inner dialogue around what happened with Reynie. I hope you liked this one and I promise to get the next one up as soon as possible. And I know that right now there isn't a lot of real action, but we'll find out soon enough what's going on in those tense meetings. Share your thoughts and comments in the review section! Thank you for reading!