Forgotten (Reject High: A Young Adult Science Fiction Series Book 3) (22 page)

After an hour, I zoned out and had to double back over some of the same things. Rhapsody kept reminding me to be careful, that Sasha’s mind erasure killed Spivey. We should do the right thing. For her.

I doubted anyone wanted him to die more than I did. Thinking about Sasha helped me become determined to succeed. I unplugged some other memories, too – what he’d done to Sasha in the hotel room and some of his twisted family drama.     

With my luck, he’d be perfectly fine, not walking around in perfect circles and babbling nonsense like he deserved to be.

Selby stopped us in the bustling hallway. The last memory I left intact was my punch to the side of his face in the Reject High cafeteria, the first time my strength came to the surface. I waited for him to say something, anything to give a hint of what he remembered and what he had forgotten.

Like the adrenal medicine Sasha HAD given him, this, too, was untested science.

In his number 56 maroon football jersey and jeans, he stood in front of us, confused and staring. Was he trying to remember something about us?

“You’re dating him?” he asked Rhapsody while pointing at me.

“I’ve been slumming it for a minute, yeah,” she said.

Even more confused he asked me, “You dumped Sasha for her?” 

The question caught me off-guard. I guess I had. “Yeah.”

Rhapsody popped me in the shoulder for my unsure tone. “Really, Cap?”

I didn’t want to give him the impression that he should go after Sasha once she left the hospital. “Yes,” I said with confidence. “Yes, I did.” 

“You’re an idiot. No offense, Rhapsody, but Sasha’s the hottest girl in this place.”

Selby stared at us long enough for me to notice I’d been holding my breath to keep myself from erupting with rage. He had a history with Rhapsody, having protected her in elementary school. Our history was that I hated him and had to fake tolerating him since he had no clue he was a mass murderer.

“How’s your forty time?” I asked him, wondering if he’d regained any speed.

My question immediately set him off. “Who are you, a scout? It’s what it needs to be. I’m on the shelf. Bad ribs. Anyway, you heard this rumor going around that Sasha’s in ICU?” he asked us next.

Yeah, and you’re the one who put her there.
I nodded. “Not a rumor.”

“They’ll catch the guy,” he said. “Hey, you think it’s the same guy who got my parents? Maybe I’ll go by and tell my dad’s old unit. They might not have thought of that.”

I smacked his shoulder hard. “Yeah, dude, you should totally do it.”

Rhapsody checked the time on her Geiger counter watch to break the tension. “We gotta go. Bell’s gonna ring in two minutes and I’m a floor down,” she said.

Crap.
Why hadn’t she taken hers off? I ditched mine once we extracted the bluish brown liquid leftover in the pit from the explosion and stored it in the compound’s secret safe. We didn’t need them anymore, and she had more than enough money for a hundred watches. 

When Selby grabbed Rhapsody’s left arm, I almost launched him through the ceiling before I realized what had gotten his attention. “I’ve seen one of these before! Isn’t that a Geiger counter? Where did you get this?”

“Uhh…”

Thinking quickly I came up with a believable lie. “Science class. You didn’t do that experiment sophomore year? The one with the quantified radiation ratios?”

“No! I have a life, Freshman. I got a girl to do it for me. Later.”

We both sighed.
I’m a sophomore, moron.
He’d bought “quantified radiation ratios,” or at least we thought he had. The mind wipe worked. He’d forgotten everything of consequence – murdering his parents, stabbing Sasha, and that he had powers.  

“Don’t worry,” Rhapsody said. “I’ll follow him and ghost down to class to be sure.”

We parted company and I doubled back for World Literature.

After the final bell, once the buses left, Rhapsody met me in front of the athletic fields. Off in the distance the football team practiced for its upcoming home game this Friday. Selby was over there. I wasn’t happy for him but anything to keep his memory from clicking.  

“Alright birthday boy,” she said, slinging her book bag over one shoulder. “We did the day, didn’t cut once. You gonna make this worth my while?”

“It’s all over,” I said.

She didn’t remember at first and backed away. “What?”

I took her hands. “Remember the hospital? It’s-all-over.”

She giggled. “We’re going to
Xobai? For real?”

We searched everywhere. Rhapsody went left and I took the right. The football team was already on the field while the marching band ran laps on the track. Nobody was around.

“Clear over here,” I said as we ducked against the brick building. “You?”

“Few stragglers, but they’re gone.”

I took one last look. “Alright. Let’s mask up and go.”

She twisted her lips. “Mask up for what?” She touched my arm and turned us invisible. “Nobody can see us. The prisms are all gone.”

As we flew off into the afternoon sky, I couldn’t help but feel someone as if was watching us. But how? No one had ever seen us invisible before, and if they used goshenite, it would have sent us to the ground.

“You’re sure the coast was clear?” I yelled into the wind current.

She shouted back from just above me. “You’re getting some sleep tonight if I have to drug you! Stop being paranoid.”

In another few seconds, we’d be far enough away for it not to matter. Unable to erase my suspicions, I turned my head and saw someone on the ground.

Looking at our exact position.

He raised his hand and moved it side to side, waving at us.

THE END

The school year ending with Reject High's destruction was enough for Jason Champion. 

That is until a mysterious new enemy is possessed with the belief that whoever absorbs the radiation will become immortal. 

With no other options and their enemies drawing closer to their goal, Jason and a group that has guarded the origin of their power for a century. Its members think the storm will cause an explosion killing millions. 

ISBN: 978-0-989-10563-7 * Paperback *258 pages

Available in electronic format at www.amazon.com; www.bn.com

www.greatnationpublishing.com

After his latest fight, Jason Champion is sent to a rundown alternative school, nicknamed “Reject High.”

Rhapsody Lowe shows Jason a crystal that turns her invisible. Jason tries one on and he
jumps over a city.

With eleven days until Reject High is destroyed, Jason and his friends must dodge their pursuers and save their power source from falling into the wrong hands.

ISBN: 978-0-989-10560-6 * Paperback * 270 pages

Available in electronic format at www.amazon.com; www.bn.com

www.greatnationpublishing.com

After a failed coup, a revolutionary named Noor is exiled to earth and sentenced to death. He vows to rule the inferior planet.

In the year 2050, tragedy strikes Harper Lowe, Damario Coley, Quinne Ruiz, and Teanna Kirkwood. Through the Genesis Institute, they are all offered the chance to “begin again.”

When the project’s true motives are revealed, the group is sent hurtling toward an uncertain future with unpredictable consequences.

ISBN: 978-0-615-60216-1 * Paperback * 264 pages

Available in electronic format at www.amazon.com

www.greatnationpublishing.com