Mind Over Easy (7 page)

"Where's your alien friend when you need him?" Travis cracked his knuckles as close to Dhiraj's face as he could.

The other two moved into position on either side of Dhiraj.

"If you mean Ted, he's getting ready for a day of first-class education. Something you three seem to have ignored for the last 12 years or so."

Travis grinned. The bully's teeth were whiter than Dhiraj expected.

"I probably have a higher GPA than you, moneybags. Plus, I know how to break a bone." Travis put his hand on Dhiraj's chest and pressed him against the unforgiving wall. "Wanna see?"

Dhiraj reached into his wallet pocket and opened up the change container. His fingers sought out the only way he could think to escape.

"How can you call Ted an alien?" Dhiraj did his best to stall and feel for his escape tactic at the same time. "Ted was in the same class as you when you wet your pants in second grade, Travis."

One of the other GHAers laughed until Travis gave him a violent glance.

"I had a bladder infection." Travis' voice echoed in the confined space. "Besides, who's to say Ted hasn't been replaced by an alien?"

Dhiraj leaned in toward the bullies. "Me. You. Everyone. If we stop all this nonsense–"

As Travis pushed Dhiraj backward once again, Dhiraj found what he was looking for in his pocket.

"You know, I think you'd look better without a few teeth." Travis popped his knuckles again.

"I hear differently." Dhiraj clapped his ears over his hands as he triggered the loudest portable alarm on the market.

The noise rocked the bathroom and the eardrums of Dhiraj's attackers. The decibel level was higher than most airplanes taking off and had two of the teens on their knees in seconds. Travis grimaced but swung for Dhiraj anyway. His eyes gave away the punch and Dhiraj shifted to the side. Travis' fist missed Dhiraj and made a cracking noise against the marble. At least, Dhiraj assumed that's the noise it made, given the overwhelming alarm noise that was beginning to get to Dhiraj as well. As Travis held his now-broken right hand with his left, two janitors unlocked the door and entered the bathroom. Dhiraj switched off the alarm.

"What's going on in here?"

Dhiraj walked toward the door. "Just giving these gentlemen some sound advice." He smiled at Travis. "Team Ted doesn't go down easy."

As Dhiraj exited the bathroom, the adrenaline that had been keeping him up crashed at once. He walked to his first period desk as quickly as he could and collapsed into it as the bell rang.

Chapter 10

Albert Redican could hear himself speaking the words to his class, but he wondered if anyone was listening at all. There were five or six faces making eye contact with him, though he knew that two of them had the worst grades in class. The majority of the students were either looking down at the book or pretending to take notes. Albert could easily tell the difference between drawing a doodle and writing down a cohesive thought – he didn't need to spend several months getting a substitute certificate to figure that one out. Another three of the students were using their classroom time to stare at the opposite sex. He wasn't surprised to see that Ted Finley was one of the three.

In his decades on this world, Mr. Redican had rarely seen a living soul he felt was worthy of the challenge.

"What does it mean when Hal tells Falstaff, 'I know you not, old man'?"

He could see the eyes of his students grow dim. It was as if they were all expecting someone else to fall on the grenade. The students reminded Redican of his own people: they were always willing to live with the status quo. Not him. Not anymore.

Redican stepped onto a chair and stood up on his worn, wooden desk. When it lurched a little to the side, he thought it might not hold his weight. The desk settled into place and all the students turned their gazes toward him.

"I've been holding back too long," he said. "I act like I'm your friend. Like we're equals." Redican beat his hand against his chest. "I'm smarter and better than all of you. Most of you don't even deserve the education I have to give." Redican lowered his voice. "I'm likely to forget every last one of you the second you leave this school."

Several students shifted in their seats, sending the sound of metal scratching against linoleum echoing through the silent room. Redican let his proclamation rest for at least 10 seconds, though he imagined it felt longer for the students. He thought he saw tears in Beth's eyes. Then he broke the tension with a smile.

"How some of you are feeling is how Falstaff might have felt."

Several students sighed and matched Redican's smile. Ted and Erica looked over at each other and shared a laugh. Beth dabbed her cheek as the teacher continued.

"So, how did you feel?" Redican hopped back down to the chair and planted himself on the edge of the desk. 

"Abandoned." Beth sniffled.

"Good," Redican said. "Not good that you felt abandoned, but a good answer."

Beth chuckled, and a few others in the class joined in.

"I felt cheated." Travis adjusted the bandage on his hand as he spoke. "Like you weren't who you said you were. Like you were pretending to care about us."

Redican nodded. He thought it might be the first non-joke he'd heard out of Travis since he'd arrived there.

"Great answer." Redican hopped off the desk and moved as close as he could to the front row. "Now I bring back my original question. What does it mean when Hal tells Falstaff, who has to this point been his drinking buddy and best friend, 'I know you not, old man'?"

"It means it's time to get to work." The room looked toward Erica. Redican spied a confused look on Ted's face.

"I think I know where you're headed with this, Ms. LaPlante." Redican gestured toward Erica. "Can you elaborate?"

"It means the end of adolescence." Erica put on a sly smile. "No more parties." A couple of students gave out a fake boo, eliciting a few laughs. "No more convenient friendships. Hal has gotten all he can out of the bar. Now it's time to rule the kingdom."

"Exactly." Redican slapped his hands together. "Not bad, Ms. LaPlante."

Erica nodded as the bell rang. Much to their credit, the students didn't rush out the door as quickly as usual. Redican smiled to himself.

"Don't forget to do the handout tonight." Redican watched as the students whispered to each other while packing. "And remember that your outline for the 10-page essay is due on Tuesday."

Redican estimated the reminder only elicited half as many groans as usual. He caught Erica and Ted holding hands on the way out the door when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Mr. Redican, do you have a minute to talk?" Beth's eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes wide.

Redican stifled a laugh. "I have a free period now. Why don't you shut the door and hang for a minute?"

Beth shimmied across the room and closed the door before sitting down in the center seat of the front row. Redican noticed her legs shake as she crossed them.

"How can I help you, Ms. Lynch?" Redican leaned back against the desk.

"I'm having some trouble with my outline. I was wondering if we could schedule a couple of one-on-one sessions."

Redican let out a shallow breath before walking around behind his desk. "Beth, you're friends with Erica LaPlante, am I right?"

Beth nodded.

"Good." Redican pulled out a weathered book from deep within his desk. "I think I have something here that can help the both of us."

Redican opened to a page with a bookmark from the Treasure Public Library and touched the ink. Several extra handouts flew off the desk as if a gust of wind had blown in.

"Mr. Redican, I–"

Redican pointed his hand toward Beth, and the words went out of her. The girl's eyes narrowed and moved off of her instructor. She stared straight ahead at the blackboard.

"Beth, I have a very important mission for you." Redican felt inside her mind for any resistance. There was none.

"Yes, Mr. Redican." Beth's eyes remained focus straight ahead.

Redican took his hand off the book and leaned over in front of his student. "Can I trust you to do whatever I ask of you?"

Beth nodded three times, each one slower than the last.

"I'm afraid this is like an airplane emergency exit, dear. I'm going to need a verbal confirmation."

Beth's eyes moved away from the board and focused on Redican. "Yes. I'll give you my life if you need it."

Redican's cheekbones rose with a wide grin. "Good. I just might."

Chapter 11

Ever since Ted asked her to join the team a few weeks ago, Natalie had re-worked her day to avoid seeing the superhero. Gym was the only class they shared, but she made a deal with Coach Fowler to spend the entire class training for next basketball season. Natalie had enjoyed beating up on the less athletically gifted, but with Ted's powers becoming more and more of a participation requirement, she didn't mind staring at a motivational poster while doing barbell squats.

After gym, they used to meet up to walk over to Hall C. To take away the chance they might bump into each other, she went out and around the opposite side of the building. Instead of going to the cafeteria near her fourth period math class, she took a 10-minute stroll to eat at the freshman cafeteria. The students gave the lunchroom that nickname because the upperclassman had taken all the tables in the newer, brighter location across the school. The room was where gym class was held in the 80s, but now it was where the youngest students ate and where Natalie did her hiding.

The plan had worked for almost a solid month, until Ted went out of his way to follow her. She was eating alone at a small table in the corner when he sat down across from her.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that you've been avoiding me." Ted's grin was just a shade shy of cocksure.

"Did you pick up mind-reading during your morning training sessions?" Natalie gazed at another table where a freshman was doing his best impression of Principal Stoll. If only he'd known the principal was watching from the entrance.

"All that time working out alone has made you snippy."

Natalie attempted to shoot laser beams out of her eyes and into Ted's face. It didn't work, but the glare was enough to take his grin away.

Ted changed his approach. He looked down at his tray and started to eat.

Natalie watched him open up the plastic container and chow down on the same chicken salad his mother had always packed him. All the little tics that used to make him seem endearing were getting on her nerves. She'd seen him chew with his mouth open nearly a hundred times, but a part of her wanted this to be the last.

"Close your damn mouth."

Ted, along with several students at the nearest table, stopped what they were doing to look at Natalie. She came off angrier than she intended, but maybe that was the tone she had to take. Maybe it would get Ted to leave her alone.

"Sorry." He made sure to chew the next bite of chicken salad with his mouth as closed as could be.

Natalie dropped her fork and let it clack against her plate. "What are you doing here, Ted?"

He looked up at her with his big, round eyes. "Checking on you."

Natalie wished he were lying. "I don't need anyone to check on me. I'm doing great, actually."

Ted smiled. "Really? Did you hear from one of your top five choices?"

Natalie growled. "Why do you care, Ted? You've got someone else now. You can finally leave me alone!" She stood up and began to walk away. Natalie felt herself being turned around as if hand grabbed her shoulder. But it wasn't a hand. Ted had used his powers on her.

"Natalie!" Ted hopped up from the table and followed after her.

She felt her fists clench tight. "Did you just use your powers on me? Did you just turn me around against my will? You're walking a fine line, Finley."

Natalie realized that everyone in the freshman cafeteria had their eyes and phones trained on her.

Let them watch
.

Ted's eyes held nothing but fear. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to say I still care about you."

Natalie pushed the center of Ted's chest. Her ex-boyfriend went flying to the ground, back first. The crowd of freshman gaped in horror.

"You care about me, Ted?" Natalie tried to approach him, but she could feel herself being restrained by the lunch aid and Principal Stoll. "You care about me? If this it what it feels like to be loved by Ted Finley, I think I'd rather get stabbed in the heart this time."

Principal Stoll tried and failed to get a hold of the strongest girl in school. "That's enough, Ms. Dormer."

Ted's eyes were as wide as she'd ever seen them. "I was just hoping we could–"

Natalie lowered her voice. "There's no we. Not as friends. Not as more. We're done, Finley."

With that, Natalie let herself be led out of the lunchroom.

She ignored most of what Principal Stoll told her during the next 15 minutes of lecturing. The end result was three weeks of before-school detention, a cruel trick Stoll had devised to hit his students where it hurt: in their number of hours slept. Natalie ignored two calls from Ted and a call from Dhiraj after she got home from school. When a different number came up, she let herself answer.

"Hello?"

"Few people go viral as often as you, Ms. Dormer," an unfamiliar voice said.

"What can I say? I have a talent for yelling at superheroes. Who is this?"

"Someone who wants to have you for an ally. You asked if you could help. And we're interested."

When Natalie parked her car outside the abandoned factory, she didn't expect to see the lot as full as it was. Three people smiled at her and wished her a good evening as she walked past the other. She returned the gestures with more of a happy grimace than a smile and walked onward. A makeshift sign above the front door pointed out her destination and she willed her legs to move forward. She knew that what could be found beyond that sign was exactly what she needed.

Natalie walked through the door and waited in a line of three. To her left, she saw several classmates laughing together as they built up a true story into fiction. A group of moms to her right were showing either baby or cat pictures to each other on their phones. There was even a group of elderly folks playing checkers in the corner. Natalie was too busy checking out the variety to notice she was the next in line.