Super Girls (Cape High Book 13) (4 page)

"It's educational vacationing," Jules says. He's only a year older than his brother, and barely a few inches taller. They're often mistaken for twins, since they look so much alike. "She said we had to write a report when we get back." Both boys make a face and Julian laughs.

"She IS a news reporter," he says. "She's big on bringing back reports. Now let's move on to the penguins!"

"Okay!" the boys say, starting off at a run. Julian starts after them, only to stop as the colors of the world start to skew. He looks around, his fists automatically coming up in a defensive manner.

"Now, now," a woman says from behind him, "is that any way to greet Mother?"

He turns, his hackles rising, his fist punching out. It's grabbed, stopped before it can even gain momentum. The woman standing in front of him reaches up, grabbing his jaw. "Who are—" he starts out. He stops, though, as he drowns in the most beautiful kaleidoscope eyes he's ever seen.

"Good boy," she says, the hand holding his chin letting go and patting him on the cheek. "Mother has a job for you."

He feels his head nodding all on its own.

***

The whispering behind me is a bit disconcerting. I mean—for one, isn't the school principal usually too busy to be in the classroom? But he's not the only one—the entire staff seems to be lounging in the air or on the ground behind our desks. And the ones whispering are Trent—who I'm positive is Kid Liberty, and Nico, himself.

"Are you sure this is smart?" Trent whispers without a sound. I only hear him because the wind picks up the vibrations his breath lets out. (It's an air manipulator thing.) He's standing next to the floating principal, a worried look on his face. "Not that we have anything against Skye, but from all I've heard, she's not mentally stable, and she's way more powerful than the class is. How do we know she won't go off and attack someone if they say the wrong thing?"

"She's a little strange, sure, but it's perfectly safe," Nico says. "Your girlfriend trusts her."

"Is she really a genius?" Trent asks.

"The further away from a hundred IQ you are, the more difficulty you have dealing with society," Nico says. "It doesn't matter if you're above or below. You see it a lot in supers, especially the high class ones like her," he explains silently. I dare to glance around, noting that only Adanna seems to have her head tilted slightly the way I do. She's listening in, too. "She's one of ours, now—it seems to help with that problem."

"Okay!" Skye says from the front of the room as she hops onto the desk. "I'm going to teach something super, super cool!"

"YEAH!" Emily shouts, cheering her on with arms in the air.

"How you phase through a table!" Skye says. Emily drops her arms.

"I am afraid it will not work for them, kitten!" Tatiana calls from the back. "It is a very special talent that is yours alone."

"Oh—but—they can at least try, right?" Skye says. "See, it's just a matter of vibration—all atoms vibrate at a distinct speed, right? So you just need to figure out the vibration speed! Also, you need to take into account there might be more than one thing—especially underground." Abruptly, though, she stops, frowning. "But last time I tried to teach that, it got me kicked out of school," she says after a second. "Then the men in white coats came and tried to dissect my brain—you won't dissect my brain, will you?" she asks Nico.

"Nope, you're good," he says.

"Skye, why don't you tell us about what you SEE when you're doing it, instead?" Emily asks, daring to glance back at the rest of us.

"Okay! I've seen a LOT of dirt." Then she stares at us. "Am I done?" she asks after a long moment.

"What ELSE do you see down there, Kitten?" Tatiana prompts.

"Um, well—see, I didn't go allllll the way through because I got bored pretty quickly," Skye says, turning to the board and drawing a lopsided circle. "See, this is the earth! It's not a real circle, it's sort of oval-ish-y, or so, and a lot of it is covered with water—which is fun to go under, too! But I'm talking about the dirt part right now. See, there are these layers to the earth, like this is the crust and this is the mantle, and the outer and inner core. For the most part, though, I stick to the crust. I once went lower, but there's nothing interesting there and it starts getting hotter the further down you go. And once you get through all the really dense rocks, you get to this plastic-y liquid—it's kind of icky. But in the crust you get all sorts of interesting fossils and underground caves and lakes and rivers! I've found entire dinosaur skeletons—I even brought one up and made it into a toy!" She looks over at one of the boys I haven't met and winks. "I'll let you guys ride it if you want!"

Wait—that's Justin, isn't it? My mouth drops open and I have to push it closed again.

"He's too young for her," I hear someone mutter silently behind me, "and not even close to her class."

"You're an elitist jerk, Father," I hear Nico reply equally silently.

"You can't tell me you approve."

"Sure I can't," Nico says, "but you're still an elitist jerk."

They aren't looking at the worried expression on Justin's face, or the way he glances back at them, and then over to another of the students.

This is better than a soap opera, isn't it? I can't help the little smile that threatens to cross my face—at least I can't until Adanna turns and looks straight at me, a thoughtful expression on her face. What is she looking at me for? Did I make a strange sound? Has she realized that I don't actually belong here, since I'm D-class? She turns back to the front after a second and I let out a silent sigh of relief. It's probably too soon to feel relieved, I know, but I don't have to deal with it until after class is over.

"Um, is there supposed to be homework assigned, or something?" Skye asks the people in the back. "I never actually got past freshman year," she admits a bit guiltily. "Can I still teach if I don't have a degree?"

"Huh, good question," Nico says. The entire class turns to look at him. "Well, since you're just a substitute, I don't think it's a problem—but if it makes you so self conscious, why don't I set up a… Super G.E.D. program? I'll give you a few tests and if you pass them, you're an honorary graduate of Cape High."

"Can Doris do it too? I bet she never graduated either!" Skye says excitedly.

"Sure, why not?"

Is he this casual about everything? He goes on before I can guess, "Of course, since it's a super high school, you'll have to do more than just some paper tests. Is that okay with you?"

"YES!" she says. "Will there be sparring involved?"

Nico looks over the classroom and I see several of them jerk, shaking their heads wildly. "Anyone back here want to spar with her?" he asks, looking at the staff group instead.

"I'd be happy to," Superior says, smiling.

"Anyone else?" Skye asks. She looks rather pale, now, I notice. I can't blame her.

"It'll be fun, Skye! Grandpa set up this game for me and Repeat one time—I never touched him, but it was still really cool," Emily says.

"We can play it like that, if you want," Superior says. "I take it that it'll have to wait until after school, though."

"Nah, we've already messed up most of today's schedule anyway, plus, the group in the field shouldn't be the ones having all of the fun, right, guys?" Nico says, standing. "Come on, everyone, time to place your bets!"

"My money's on Skye!" Emily says, chasing him as he heads out of the room. The rest of us get up, following at a rapid pace. I quickly fall to the back, letting everyone go on ahead. The only problem with that? Adanna falls back right next to me. "Your hearing, it's exceptional," she says silently. I'm so tempted to ignore it—if we were in my old school, I would have—but this is one of my new possible friends.

"I'm an air manipulator—it's not exactly hearing like you're thinking, I think," I say, feeling awkward.

"That's still very impressive. You will make a very sly super villain," she says, giving me a brilliant smile. "I look forward to seeing it." She's dating a Superior—one that's obviously well loved by the same guy who complained about Justin—THE Justin not being on the same level as Skye, right? I'm not stupid, I realize exactly what that means. If Superior approves of her, that means she probably outclasses me by a mile. Well, she would, wouldn't she? She's the daughter of Panther, one of the biggest names in super villainy in the world. Sure, he can't fly, but he has FOUR forms. Most only have three.

"Thanks," I say simply. I don't feel like explaining my lack of qualifications—ever. "I'm still considering it, though," I add a bit belatedly as we step out into the sun. I look up, my senses picking up on the breaks in the wind thanks to the invisible lasers. I can actually hear the almost silent buzz. That is a pretty terrifying thing to put over a school of teenagers. I wonder if it's even legal.

"Before we begin, be aware that you WILL run into the security field if you go too high," Nico says. "While it is a dome, keep to the top of the canyon, no higher. And since you're family now, I don't need to say this, but no vital shots. Other than that, it's up for you two to decide the rules."

"Tag," Superior says, disappearing and reappearing behind Skye. "You're it," he adds, tapping her on the shoulder before racing away. The grin that crosses Skye's face is almost blinding. She hops into the air and takes off, chasing after him so quickly that I can't see her anymore. Instead I turn, following the changes in the wind and TRYING to see them. After a moment I give up and look over at the others, seeing their heads turn left, and then right, following the fight far more easily than I can. They start cheering all of a sudden, only to groan, and I figure Skye almost got him.

"He is very happy with this," I hear Tatiana say. Her Russian accent is awesome. "You did good, Nicolas!"

"I didn't do this to make him happy," Nico says with a hint of amusement. "If I knew it was just going to be a game of tag, I would have thrown the kids into it, as well."

I would have DIED. I am so glad he didn't do that. I look away as he glances over at me, not comfortable with the fact I was watching them. He might even know I can hear them. That is definitely awkward. The chase goes on for so long that I actually sit on the ground and pull out my phone to play on Facebook after a while. At least an hour or two passes.

"YEEEESSS!" The sudden bellow makes me jump, especially when the rest of the group starts screaming their heads off. I look up, seeing Superior floating overhead with Skye's fingertips touching his back. "I did it!" Skye says, shoving a triumphant fist into the air. "I tagged him! Just barely, but I did it!"

"She did it," Nico says, not even whispering. "That in itself should get her a Cape High diploma," he admits, glancing over at Tatiana.

"Oh, no, Nicolas, it is only to be expected of one of my children!" Tatiana says, waving it off.

"You adopted her," Nico points out.

"It does not matter! She is mine now! No back takes!"

"Mom!" Skye says, diving at the tank of a woman. "I did it!" she says happily as Tatiana catches her.

"You did very good, kitten! I am proud of you!" Tatiana says, not moving an iota from the impact. "Next, we will test your dramatic entrances!" she declares. "You ARE a super villain, are you not? It is all about the ridiculous drama!"

"Dramatic entrance class?" Nico asks. "Good idea. Who wants to be the hostages?" he calls out to us.

"Me!"

"I'll do it!"

"Can I bring in my doppelgangers?"

"What's the setting?" I turn, looking at all the very enthusiastic looking teens. Not ONE of them is saying no. If I say no, I'll look like a complete pansy.

"Let's do… the traditional bank heist," Nico declares. "Jennifer, consider this your first assignment—you get to be the teller lady."

I gulp, feeling a chill run down my spine. "I don't—"

"I'll be the super hero, if you want," Trent volunteers. "Unless you want one of you guys to do it?"

"Good question—Skye, would you mind taking a fall for an A-class?" he asks Skye.

"For my niece's boyfriend… mmm…" she taps her chin with a finger, looking thoughtful, "I suppoooooseee," she says with a sigh, "but no getting cocky about it!" she adds, appearing right in front of Trent and waving a finger in his face.

"I'm not that stupid," he says with a little grin. "I sort of see this as more MY challenge than yours," he admits a bit sheepishly. She's short and skinny and he's already twice as broad and a good foot taller than she is, but HE'S the one that considers it a challenge.

"Um, what am I supposed to do?" I ask, holding up a hand hesitantly.

"You get to push the button!" Skye says, turning to me with a huge grin. "I did it once myself, but then Century yelled at me and said that it's always got to be the woman behind the counter."

She pushed the silent alarm button herself? Why is it so easy to picture that?

"You pushed the button," Nico repeats, staring at her.

"It was a BUTTON," Skye says, as if that explains everything. "And that one was RED. Who wouldn't want to push it?"

I can't help the choked laugh that escapes me—especially when everyone else starts to fight laughter, as well.