The Seven (Fist of Light Series) (10 page)

While I was brooding, I snatched up a pair of clothes that Jas brought and deposited them on the ground next to the car. There was no way I was going to be the first one to mess up this ride, and so carefully took off my ruined clothes and stuffed them into the brown bag, transferring my wallet and lucky quarter to the new pair of expensive jeans, once I had gotten them on. The routine of putting on some clothes had reduced my anger slightly, and by the time I entered and shut the car door, most of it had receded.

But it was still there, lurking, and so I delivered an ultimatum. “If anything like this happens again, we won’t last as friends.”

“Hey, man, we’re brothers now. We have to have each other’s back, even more so than we did previously. You have more rights than five minutes ago, so there’s less chance of being killed out of hand. That’s the good news. The bad news is that every Clan member is likely going to have an agenda concerning you, and not all of them are going to be looking out for your best interests. But don’t worry, I’ll see them coming, and should be able to reroute most of them out of our collective path.”

I responded by not responding. Confusing, maybe, but it gets the job done. Sometimes. It didn’t really help me this time, though, because I couldn’t help but grin boyishly as the car turned over. When I pushed down on the accelerator, the stock 550-hp engine in the GT 500 emitted a definite rumble. I further increased the pressure on the accelerator until the purring rumble became an earth-shaking roar. If there was anything that could sway me to join the dark side, this car was it. By this point, Jas was smiling, and we shared a quick grin. All sins are forgotten when fast cars enter into the equation. It was akin to blasphemy to bring your problems inside.

I released the clutch and gave it some gas, I didn’t even think about what might come next in my life. I didn’t dwell on the fact that my life would most certainly be in danger from now until my untimely demise. As I shifted into second gear around sixty, all that was left to worry about was the road. Of course, after that, I had to bring the speed down to the level designated by the flow of cars upon the thoroughfare. The street had too many hairpin turns for me to go any faster. The traffic hindered me even further, but I promised myself that I’d see what this baby could do, sooner or later.

Conversation was much less painful to instigate than expected. “So, you’re a rich shape-shifter who belongs to a secret club full of ‘em. And I’m a rookie something-or-other who just got a rude awakening.”

“Learn fast or die hard. That’s what they say right?” Jas replied thoughtfully.

I had to laugh at his stoic expression as he imparted this bit of information. “I think that’s ‘Live free or die hard.’” Close, I thought.

The streets were packed with the usual teeming masses, but it was less dense here, for this area was distant from any of the main thoroughfares. While I was enjoying the Mustang, the novelty of having a car was slightly diminished by my plight. Despite my earlier statement, it appeared that there were some exceptions to the rule when bringing problems into a car like this.

“You’ll be fine. I’ve got your back. There might be a whole new world out there that’s ready to eat you alive, but there are also places you’d never dreamed existed, with things that will literally blow the top off your head, if you stare too hard at them. My father has this amazing private library. I’m sure you can get your feet under you by learning more about what’s skulking around the dregs of society, snatching up the unwary.”

I didn’t enlighten Jas to the fact that I already knew much about the new world by proxy, through Jeeves. There just wasn’t any practical experience to go with the information, and that needed to be rectified. As he had yet to earn my full extension of trust, he didn’t get the full story.

Though the library could still be useful. At this stage, I only had vague notions of creatures straight out of fantasy, and not much more. I would need to work overtime to discover the particulars of this new development.

I presented Jas with a smile and a nod. “Yeah, sounds like a plan to me. I’ll check it out. Maybe I’ll learn something useful.”

An inquisitive glance was thrown my way, but Jas left it at that. “So, you ready for football? I’m sure you’d be numero dos on the team in a jiffy. Number two, of course, because you can never match my level of awesome.”

I hadn’t even thought about football since I had last spoken with Mr. Sanders. Although it sounded cliché, my perceptions had been altered to an astounding degree in the past day. I had my eyes opened to a world that is regarded as fantasy by the general population, including me. The fact that I had been introduced to it just when emerging from my own metaphorical cocoon helped in my digestion of it. I hadn’t even thought to question my sanity or the credulity of the situation after I first embraced my power. There was no mistake; this was no dream I was going to wake up from if I tapped my shoes together and recited a few lines of poetry or pinched myself hard enough. Next to everything that I had been introduced to, playing football was worth nada. Now that my existence was at stake, I doubted that time could be wasted on something as trivial as a game of ball. I told myself it wouldn’t be any fun, anyway, because I would be able to cream all of them with my newfound mojo.

I repeated that to myself several more times before I was able to make it stick as I pulled into the parking lot at the high school. Most everyone hadn’t arrived yet, so I drove into a desolate wasteland, with some life sprouting defiantly in the face of the early morning. Teenagers are not morning people. I picked a spot at random and decided that I would drown out all conversation with the extremely loud music and heated seats. I toggled the heated seat control switch for the passenger and driver then increased the volume so that the music was blasting. The radio defaulted to 94.9, so the music playing was naturally a cosmopolitan mix of horrible female singers and mostly mediocre rap.

Jas took all this in stride. I had a sudden perception that he was very sensitive when it came to moods, probably a super-duper mood sensor power or something like that. It became necessary for me to turn down the music when Em showed up at the passenger-side door. She was wearing a pink T-shirt that proclaimed “Bow Down Before The All-Powerful ___” The blank had been filled in with Em. She also was sporting a pair of jean shorts that couldn’t be close to regulation length. They made it next to impossible not to stare at some very shapely legs. Her smile was a brilliant flash of white teeth, but it lessened somewhat when her eyes settled on Jas. Apparently she didn’t hold much love for him, and it was clear that Jas was either completely ignorant of the fact or purposefully ignoring the subtle clues. It was odd that he could read me like a book but couldn’t do the same with Em. Maybe dampening my emotions was a developed skill.

I rolled down the passenger window with the switch and Em leaned inside the interior of the car as it completed its journey. The movement did some interesting things to the contours of her shirt, not that I was looking.

I tried to divide my attention between her face and her proclamation of greatness as she talked. I was just analyzing every facet of the situation, really. “Hey, Caleb, Jas, how are you? Nice car. I like the new look.” Her effervescent voice gave me the chills while simultaneously putting me on the edge.

I guessed that I wasn’t supposed to respond to about half of those statements, so I just commented on the one that wouldn’t have me thanking her all day. “I’m feeling different. How about you?”

The smile she gave me held an undertone that I couldn’t quite decipher, so I decided to put it off for further thought at a later date. I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. “You sure look different. Oh, and I think we should talk after school, or whenever you can make the time… I have something important I need to tell you.”

I had a very reliable guess on what exactly she wanted to discuss. I knew now that she had picked me out from the moment she realized my gifts, and she was on me like a dollar meal at McDonald’s. I tapped my head a few times for a dual purpose: to dislodge the inactive brain matter that was dwelling within and to get Jeeves to pay attention. I didn’t think that my sixth sense was going to give me a sneak peek at Em, so I decided that it would be pertinent to have Jeeves have a look see. I couldn’t know whether he got anything, though because he didn’t initiate any mental communication, and I wasn’t about to. A guy can only do so many things at once. I presumed he was only being polite and not interrupting. That was definitely his style, for sure.

The bell rang, and I decided it was high time to break up the party. I waited for Em to extricate herself from the window and Jas to exit the side door before rolling it up and getting out. Then I closed the driver’s door possessively before locking it behind me. I shoved the keys into one of my front pockets due habit born through pangs of paranoia; I didn’t want to lose them to some average school pickpocket, or accidental misplacement. I knew it seemed an absurd statement to talk about thieves in a school filled with the rich and successful, but it appeared to me that the affluent were even worse thieves than the poor. Where those left without anything but the clothes on their back were reduced to stealing the bare essentials or begging for their lives, the rich stole from others just because they felt like they deserved your stuff.

Jas threw me a wave before ambling off. “See ya later, boss.”

I returned the gesture before pivoting toward Em. “Ready for a new day?”

She gave me a winning smile from over her shoulder. “Of course, silly. I’m always prepared for everything.”

I voiced my curiosity over Em’s previous comment. I didn’t see why it needed to wait ‘til after school. “So, what’s this thing you wanted to talk to me about?”

The look she gave me was intense, and direct. “Oh, I think you know, Caleb. We need to have a little chat about the abilities you’ve recently acquired. I think you’ll find yourself Enlightened, after I show you the way. Meet me in the stadium.”

I didn’t respond, mostly because I didn’t have even the fragmented pieces of an appropriate response. But she took my non-response as an admission of acceptance. She nodded to herself before her smile appeared once more.

Fifth period came and went in the blink of an eye, and I was in front of Coach Sanders, with Jas, shortly after I had changed into my P.E. clothes. We were in Sanders’ office, and it was a modest affair, severely lacking in the trophies one would expect to accumulate over the passing of years. When Jas and I entered, we found Mr. Sanders lounging in a black leather chair, feet propped up on an industrial desk. It was a cluttered mess occupied with photographs of family members, though there was one picture of a past championship, trophy held aloft in one of the coach’s powerful hands.

A gleeful smile lit up his face when he noticed our arrival. “Jas, my boy, it’s great to see you. Caleb, glad you came. Still interested in taking me up on my offer?”

I shifted from foot to foot restlessly, butterflies tingling relentlessly. I wasn’t sure how Mr. Sanders would take rejection and wasn’t keen on having yet another teacher who wished me ill. “Yeah, well, about that. A lot has happened, and I don’t think it’s possible to join the team. I’m going to have to devote a lot of my time to other pursuits, and I wouldn’t want to join the team without putting forth a full effort.”

I thought it was quite the eloquent speech. For a millisecond, the coach’s smile turned to ash and something close to exasperation replaced it, but it passed so quickly that I thought it was but my imagination that had conjured the image. A firm, whiter-than-white smile replaced it, and everything returned to normal. This was a kind, understanding person, not capable of being angry with me because it wasn’t in his nature.

His tone was ponderous when he responded, but light-hearted. “Caleb, that’s quite all right. I could have used someone like you, of course. We are going to the playoffs, and every advantage counts. I wish you luck in whatever you feel is necessary. If you ever need anything, just call.”