Super Powereds: Year 3 (100 page)

                Several girls, including Alice and Angela, came out to hear what their boss had to say. Many of the employees looked confused, but a keen eye could spot a flicker of excitement dancing in Angela’s eyes. Alice noticed that gleam only a second before Roger started talking again, which robbed her of the chance to put the pieces together.

                “As I’m sure you all know, in two weeks, spring break will be upon us. For the bar, that means we’ll be almost completely dead. Feel free to take off if you want; honestly, if no one feels like working, I’ll just close the place. It’s not worth the cost to run it for so few customers anyway. But, before that happens, Six-Shooter has an annual tradition to send our college students off in style. On the last day when classes are held, a Friday this year, there’s an event at the bar. We call it the Cowgirl Rodeo, and it’s about as bad as the name implies.”

                Roger had to pause for a moment, as Angela had started clapping wildly from her spot in the back. He waited, watching her until she finally stopped the applause, though the wide grin on her face remained unabated.

                “Thank you for the enthusiasm. Some of you may have heard of or even been to this event before, but I’m going to cover the basics so everyone knows what they’re in for. The Cowgirl Rodeo is a tournament held each year on the night before spring break starts, only the games we play are lewd or alcoholic, and the competitors are all young women. There will be things like a bull ride, a no hands shot race, and the ever popular three-beer roping contest. Whoever wins the most points will receive a thousand dollars for their team, as well as some bar merchandise.”

                Already, he could feel some of the glares coming from his employees. Despite his usually unflappable nature, this was the part of the speech every year where he had to force himself not to rush through and explain. It was important he treated this calmly, so their reactions would mirror it.

                “I know some of you are going to be uncomfortable with this kind of event,” Roger said, meeting the eyes that were glaring at him the fiercest. “And if you don’t want to work that night, I’m not going to make you. Or you can work in the back if you need the pay. No one has to be associated with this in any way if it makes them uncomfortable. I want to be clear on that from the outset. Yes, it’s a busy night, but the potential revenue is not more important to me than my employees and their comfort in their place of work.”

                Some of the glares softened, others remained hard. That was about what Roger had expected, so he pressed on.

                “That said, for those of you who want to participate in the games, that’s perfectly acceptable. We open it up to everyone of legal drinking age, employees included. Since all the events are scored based on observable metrics, there’s no way for favoritism to come into play, which means we have no conflict in letting you all enter if you want.”

                “Who would enter something like that in the first place?”

Roger couldn’t quite make out the voice; it came from the back of the crowd of waitresses. Before he had a chance to try and guess the person so he could address them, another voice piped up, this one far easier to place.

                “Me!” Angela declared, lifting her hand high into the air. “And this girl, too!” Angela grabbed Alice’s arm and thrust it skyward with her own, causing Alice to quickly try and pull it back while fighting off a sudden onset of shyness.

                “People who want cash do it,” Roger said, giving up on answering the person directly. “Or people who just like to cut loose in these sorts of events. In the case of our own Angela, I suspect it comes from a love of being in the spotlight.”

                “Guilty,” Angela admitted, finally letting go of Alice’s hand and nearly causing the more demure young woman to tumble onto her ass as she pulled free.

                “The point is, whatever the reason, people enjoy it, and they enter of their own volition,” Roger continued. “As I said before, I understand that some of you will find an event like this objectionable, but the fact remains that our number of entrants grows every year. So, while I respect your desire not to be associated with something inherently a bit wild and perhaps lewd, I do expect you to treat those who choose to participate with respect. The goal of the night is for everyone to have fun, enjoy the start of their spring break, and of course, for the bar to make enough to sustain the week-long draught of people. If you don’t want to work that night, you are free to take it off with no ill feelings. But if you show up, I expect your game faces on. The night will be crazy, and we need to do our best to make sure everyone has a fun, safe time.”

                Roger knew there would be some waiting in his office after this was over, asking not to be scheduled that night. He’d meant what he said, though; those who didn’t want to work such a shitshow were free to skip it, just as those who wanted to participate were allowed to sign up.

                “One last thing: entry requires a team of two to three people. Anyone who wants to play in the games must be signed up by the Thursday before the Cowgirl Rodeo. Sign-ups are online, or in my office, whichever is easiest for you.”

                Angela let out a yelp of excitement that caused everyone to wince, ending the meeting more effectively than anything Roger could come up with.

186.

               “Are we seriously doing nothing for spring break?” Jill flopped onto the couch, squishing herself between Thomas and Vince as the previews on the movie began to roll. Since it was Saturday, and most everyone was sore from all the training for mid-semester testing, people had gathered at the house shared by Violet, Thomas, and the Murray siblings for movies and lounging. After two lackluster comedies, Violet had coaxed everyone into agreeing to an action flick that promised lots of blood and very little dialogue. Despite the fact that they all saw too much action during the week as it was, they’d eventually let her wheedle them into it.

                “That came out of nowhere,” Hershel said. He and Mary were sharing a loveseat, her head still resting on his shoulder from when she had struggled to stay awake through the anti-climactic climax of the last film.

                “Not really,” Jill replied. “Alice told us about the Cowgirl Rodeo thing that she’s doing, and it got me thinking about spring break.”

                “Hold up,” Alice said from her spot on the ground, back resting against the couch. “I never said I was going to do it. I said Angela 
wanted
 me to do it, but that I wasn’t sure.”

                “Yeah, and how many times has anyone ever seen Angela not get what she wants?” Jill countered. No one had a good answer for that. Chad might have been able to supply one, but he was taking the person being discussed on a date that night, which rather proved Jill’s point in and of itself. “But I mean, come on, first year we had the river trip, then last year, we went to Alice’s awesome beach cabin. It seems nuts that our options this year are sit on our asses or just go home and see family.”

                “You could always spend the time training,” Vince suggested.

                It was Violet who responded to Vince, before any of the others could. Cupping her hands against her mouth, she let out a fierce breath, resulting in a sound that mimicked someone passing gas. “Fuuuuuck that,” she said, once she’d lowered her hand. “All we do here is train. A little break now and then is a good thing. I’m with Jill, I want to do something. I don’t even care what.”

                “Have you considered being Angela’s partner in the Cowgirl Rodeo?” Alice said.

                “Can’t, already going to make Jill or Sasha do it with me,” Violet shot back. “You’re still stuck with the big bad blonde.”

                “Good luck with Sasha. She’s been all about the training lately,” Jill said. “I’ve barely seen her these past couple of weeks.”

                “Which just makes you all the more likely to be my target,” Violet replied. She scooped her hand into the bowl of popcorn, spilling more than a few kernels in the process, and dumped as many pieces as she could hold into her mouth. This impressive act of eating was washed down by a swig of cheap beer, which could, in no possible way, taste good paired with the popcorn.

                “I may be down for that, once we find out more about it,” Jill admitted. “But I’m talking about spring break proper. Someone has to be doing something fun.”

                “It’s harder these days,” Camille said. She was on the other side of Vince, though there was still enough space between them to easily rest a small pillow. Progress with those two, like every other aspect of their social skills, was an exercise in slow steps forward. “Some of us have jobs, and even those who don’t have other stuff. Taking whole weeks to waste time isn’t as easy as it used to be.”

                “Ohhh no. No, no, no, horseshit no.” Jill nearly stuttered as she spat out that proclamation of disagreement. “We are only
halfway
 through college. Our carefree days cannot be fucking behind us. I do not accept this.”

                “Whether you accept it or not, Camille isn’t wrong.” Will spoke from his chair—which had been stolen out of the kitchen—as he ate dried seaweed out of a cellophane packet. He’d offered his movie snack around the room, but there hadn’t been any takers. “Things are just more complicated now than they were when we first got here. I don’t anticipate seeing that trend change anytime soon, either.”

                “That’s all the more reason why we should do something,” Jill said. She stood from her seat and addressed the room, rendering the already half-ignored previews completely inaudible. “Come on, we’re young and dumb and we have 
fucking superpowers
. We cannot let an entire spring break pass by unmarked. I will not stand for it.”

                “You just did,” Thomas pointed out. “You literally stood to make your point, which is as close to standing for it as I can picture.”

                “No, I’m standing for the unwillingness to . . . because I . . . oh, fuck you. You know I’m right about this.” Jill fell back into her seat, barely resisting the urge to cross her arms.

                “Maybe we could . . . throw a party?” Camille suggested tentatively. She caught a few surprised glances at her willingness to suggest mayhem, but most of the group knew her well enough to realize there was a bit of a maniac under her quiet facade.

                “Right spirit, but it wouldn’t work very well,” Hershel said. “Most of our friends will be gone. A party would more or less be all of us, except we’d be playing drinking games instead of watching a movie.”

                “And several of us don’t drink,” Mary interjected from Hershel’s side.

                “Yeah, party was a good idea, just not for this occasion,” Jill agreed. “Besides, we can do a party any night. Spring break is about stuff we can only do during that time. It’s like Mardi Gras, except you don’t have to drive all the way to Louisiana to experience it.”

                “I suppose going to the beach again is out,” Alice said. “Though I’d wager I could get the cabin again if needed.”

                “Too far, and too many of us have jobs. Without the full week off, it’s harder to coordinate that sort of event.” Jill stared at the flickering screen as the previews finally ended and the film began to play.

                “Well, how about you figure something out and run it by us,” Violet suggested. “And in the meantime, we all shut up and watch 
Blood Battler Five
.”

                “Oh, mark my words, I’ll think of something.” Jill’s eyes remained on the screen, but her focus was nowhere near the violent images flashing across it. She was racking her brain, trying to think of a way to commemorate their next-to-last spring break. It mattered to her, even if she didn’t want to come out and say why.

                Besides, everyone already knew what she would tell them. Math wasn’t that hard to do, and it was obvious that, for some of them, this would be the last spring break they would spend as part of an HCP group.

187.

               Chad snared Sasha’s punch as it came within millimeters from his face, quickly turning her momentum into a powerful toss that shattered the concrete when she hit. If not for her enhanced endurance, Sasha would have been severely crippled, if not dead. As it was, she could tell as soon as she landed that she would either need to visit a healer or be walking with a limp for the next few weeks.

                “And that ends Chad Taylor’s exam,” Professor Fletcher announced. “All four assailants were taken out in two minutes, forty-seven seconds. Anyone who needs healing, please head to the infirmary or see Ms. Belden. Otherwise, get clear for the next group.”

                Before Sasha could pull herself up, Chad was standing over her with a hand extended. A stubborn, willful part of her wanted to take offense at the gesture, as though he were looking down on her in a metaphorical sense, rather than a literal one. But she pushed that piece of her aside, a task that was getting easier the more she practiced it, and accepted his help with hefting herself up. It was courtesy; something Chad showed most people he beat the hell out of. Heck, had the roles been reversed, she’d have felt compelled to do the same thing.