The Trials of Renegade X (26 page)

“Why don’t you just tell your dad about your lightning power? Then she won’t have anything on you. And don’t you think he’ll take it better, coming from you?”

“You know I can’t do that. He’s actually sort of proud of me right now, going to Heroesworth and trying to get my
H
and everything.” And supposedly trying out for the flying team, though that’s one area where he will just have to be disappointed. “And if he knew I had a villain power, especially such a destructive one, he’d think I’m dangerous.”

“You
are
dangerous. I saw what you did to the wall. And to those robots.”

“Yeah, okay, but I don’t want
him
to think that. Plus ... if he finds out, he might think that even if I do get my
H
, I’m never really going to be a hero.” Just like how villains would never see me as the real thing because I can fly. Though I guess now that I can shoot lightning from my hands, I could probably fake it, except for the whole
X
on my thumb thing. “And he’s the Crimson Flash. He’s been voted Most Beloved Superhero or whatever. They made a documentary about him. A stupid one, but still. There’s a reason I wasn’t in it. He
can’t
have a son with lightning powers.”

“But, Damien, he already does.”

“But he doesn’t know it, and neither does anyone else, and I’d like to keep it that way.” He’s ashamed enough of me as it is. I don’t need to give him one more reason. Plus, I know how he’d look at me if he knew. Like I was some sort of criminal. Like I didn’t belong in this family or at Heroesworth. And, okay, maybe saying I “belong” at Heroesworth is pushing it, but I don’t want him to think I shouldn’t be there.

“And when someone finds out?” Kat says.

“No one’s going to find out. At least, not as long as I find someone to go to Homecoming with Amelia. Which, I admit, is going to be difficult, especially after tonight. I mean, I brought her a perfectly good candidate, and do you know what she did?”

“Didn’t have the same taste in guys as you?”

“She stole his shirt. With her power. Like, right off his back. And that was after being a bitch to him the whole night.”

Kat laughs.

“Laugh all you want, but you’re the one who’s going to have to find some way to go on living without me once I’m dead. It’s not going to be easy.”

“Are you sure it went that badly? Because I’m not hearing anything that means she didn’t like him.”

“Just because the night ended with her half undressing him does
not
make it a success. As I’ve heard her say very loudly through the walls several times while on the phone with her friends, tonight was the most embarrassing night of her life.”

“So, what you’re saying is she cares what he thinks. And that she stole some of his clothes and told all her friends about it.” Kat waits for that to sink in.

“I don’t know. You weren’t there. It was a—”

A knock on the door interrupts me, followed by Amelia’s voice saying, “Damien?”

“Hold on,” I tell Kat, sighing and getting up to answer it.

“Do you have my magazine?” Amelia says when I open the door.

“
No
.”

“Isn’t that it, on your bed?” She holds out her hand and calls it to her. She looks it over, seeing that I’ve partially filled out the quiz, and raises her eyebrows. “You want to know if your guy friends
like
you?”

“No, I already know they do. The quiz just confirms it. And you could have just taken that back without coming over here.”

“But then I wouldn’t know that you
stole
it. And also, I need to talk to you.” She stands there, biting her lip, not saying anything.

“Well?”

“It’s private.”

I gesture to the fact that there’s no one else here.

She glances over at the stairs, like she’s afraid someone might be listening below. Which I highly doubt. “Can’t I just come in? It’s about what you
owe
me.”

I’m pretty sure what I “owe” her at this point is a pair of cement shoes and a drop off the Golden City Bridge. But I move aside and let her in anyway. “Fine, let’s get this over with. And don’t touch my pillow.” I close the door and grab my phone, telling Kat I’ll have to call her back.

Amelia sits on the edge of my bed. She rolls up her magazine and then unrolls it again. She plays with the corner of the cover, bending it back and forth.

I fold my arms and glare at her. “It’s funny you should want to talk to me, because I want to talk to you, too. Just because I ’owe’ you doesn’t mean you can be a bitch to my guests.”

Her mouth drops open. “I—” Her face goes red and she makes a grab for my pillow, either forgetting or not caring that I told her not to.

I snatch it off the bed before she can get her hands on it.

She uses her power and makes it appear in her arms anyway, clutching it to her chest.

“Seriously? You couldn’t, like, call up your own bedding to ruin?”

She ignores me. “I didn’t mean to be a—” She swallows, not finishing that thought. “Zach didn’t even talk to me. He’s the one who was rude.”

Uh, right. Blame the kid who was too terrified to look up from his dinner all night. “Being quiet isn’t a criminal offense.” A lesson she could stand to learn. “You’re the one who kept putting him down.”

“I was nervous,” she says.

“
Mean
I think is the word you’re looking for.”

“I just wanted him to ... you know.”

“What? To know you think you’re better than him? I think you established that.”

“I just wanted him to notice me.” She stares at the floor.

“Is that why you stole his shirt?”

She lets out a squeak and then flops backward onto my bed, holding my pillow over her eyes. “That was an
accident
. I didn’t mean to do it. And now he probably hates me.”

I grab my pillow again, not letting her hide under it, and make her look at me. “He probably thinks that
you
hate
him
.”

“But I don’t.” She sighs and sits back up. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I changed my mind. About what you owe me.”

“Oh, no. That’s not how it works. You made it perfectly clear what you want. So, unless you’re telling me I’m off the hook”—which I wouldn’t trust anyway—“then we have nothing to talk about.”

“I want Zach.” As soon as she says it, she must realize what it sounds like, because then her cheeks go red. “I mean, I want to go to Homecoming with him.”

I raise an eyebrow at her. “Why? So you can drop a bunch of pig’s blood on him?”

“I like him. He’s cute, like his—”

“Don’t say it.”

“—brother. Do you think he’s already going with someone?”

“Well, I don’t know.” I study the back of my hand, like I have better things to think about than whether or not the guy I was trying to set her up with is available. “I don’t think so, but I don’t see what it would matter to you.” Unless of course Kat was right and my mission tonight wasn’t as big of a disaster as I thought. Which is what it’s starting to sound like.

“Because. I just told you. I
like
him. And you have to get me a date to Homecoming, and I want to go with Zach. So you have to make that happen.”

“No. You said a warm body. You said
anyone
.” Not that there is anyone else, but I’m not telling her that. And even if she’s decided she likes Zach, she still has to be the one to ask him. I haven’t come this far just to be thwarted. Plus, does she really think it will work out between them if she makes me ask him for her? Especially after how she treated him tonight.

“I changed my mind.”

“That wasn’t the deal. And anyway, Zach is my friend.” Sort of. “And you can’t date my friends.” What was that Kat’s dad said about how forbidding her to see me would only make her want me more?

“He’s not your friend. He’s your friend’s
brother
. You’re not even in the same grade. And you can’t tell me who I can go out with. It’s not like you’ve asked anybody else, right?”

“I’ll find someone. There’s got to be somebody else out there who isn’t busy Saturday night.”

“But—”

“Anyone but Zach. After the way you acted tonight? He’d probably think I was joking or setting him up for something. I’m not doing that to him.”

“Well, maybe if you brought him over again, I could apologize, and—”

“And what? I told you, I’m not asking him out for you. You can’t take Zach to Homecoming, Amelia, and that’s final.”

Chapter 20

I THROW A STICK for Heraldo in the park on Wednesday afternoon. He watches it sail off and land a ways away, but doesn’t chase it. Not until he looks up at Sarah and she says, “Go get it, boy!” Only then does he go bounding after it.

Slighted by a dog. Go figure. “So,” I say to Sarah, “you’re, um, feeling better now, right?”

She wrinkles her eyebrows. “Better than what?”

“Than before. I mean, since Sunday.” Since I secretly shot her with her personality enhancer.

“What happened on Sunday? You mean since you and Riley are friends now?” She smiles at that. It’s an “I told you so” smile.

I cringe inwardly and roll my eyes at her. “Let’s not put a label on it.” The Invisible Douche and I are
not
friends, but if it makes Sarah happy to think that, I won’t correct her.

Heraldo comes running back. He shoves the stick—which is now covered in drool—at Sarah, even though I’m the one who threw it for him. She takes it and throws it again, wiping dog slobber off her hand on the side of her jeans.

“And,” I add, “that’s not what I meant.”

She frowns, considering that. “I don’t know what else you would mean.”

I shrug. “Just ... Do you feel different? Since Sunday?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I— Heraldo!” She claps her hands with a loud
smack
to get his attention.

Heraldo stops chasing the unfortunate jogger he decided should now throw the stick for him and comes slinking back. Not that he does a very good job of slinking, being a Great Dane and all, but he is definitely cowed after Sarah’s scolding.

“Sit,” she says, and he sits. Right on my foot. “And I guess I have felt kind of ... I don’t know. Better than I have in a while.”

See? Riley can shove it, because I was right. The personality enhancer worked, thanks to the little jolt I gave it. And no one ever got to use it on me. Which they might have if I hadn’t accidentally broken it in the first place. So, all in all, a successful blundering. “That’s great, Sarah,” I say, extricating my foot out from under Heraldo. Who is not the world’s lightest dog, that’s for sure. “And you’re not still, um, mad about your mind-control signals not working?” Which have since been fixed, thanks to an anonymous tip Kat called in.

She laughs. “No. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I breathe a sigh of relief and feel my shoulders relax.
Not
that I didn’t think she was better. But it’s kind of reassuring to hear her sounding like her old self again. “Let’s just forget it ever happened.” Especially since it was sort of my fault.

“Right.” She hooks the leash onto Heraldo’s collar and starts walking. “So, are you coming with us on Saturday?”

“
With you?
No. But I will be there.” And, if everything goes according to plan, Amelia and Zach will be there, too. Though I guess if things don’t go according to plan, I won’t be anywhere, but whatever. “In my best swimming trunks.”

Sarah makes a face and gapes at me, as if I was already wearing them. “You’re going to
what
? Damien, don’t you know Homecoming is supposed to be formal?”

“Of course I know. I’m not an idiot.” It’s also almost October. Do I really think even Heroesworth would be stupid enough to hold a beach-themed dance when it’s practically freezing out? Besides, if it was a beach theme, I’d show up in a parka. She should know that.

“You’ll look ridiculous if you arrive in just your underwear.”

“Underwear? Who said anything about underwear?” An orangey-red leaf flutters down from one of the trees as we walk by, and I snatch it out of the air. I spin the stem back and forth between my fingers, watching the leaf twirl. “Swimming trunks are an acceptable form of being dressed.”

“Right, and wearing a bikini
isn’t
like wearing lingerie.” She rolls her eyes. “Swimming clothes might as well be underwear. Everyone’s going to be staring at you all night.”

I grin. “You think—” I stop myself from saying, “You think Mr. Perfect will be jealous?” since that’s probably not something I would say if I was friends with him. Well, actually, it probably
is
something I would say, but I suspect Sarah might not see it that way and take it as a sign of us not getting along. So instead I tell her, “That’s kind of the point.”

“Don’t you want to look nice?”

“Oh, Sarah. I am going to look
very
nice.” I decide I’m done with the leaf, but I don’t want to just abandon it, so I tuck it behind her ear. “That’s a present,” I tell her. “You can’t ever get rid of it or my feelings will be hurt.”

She half snorts, half laughs as she reaches up to touch it. “You’re going to look stupid, is what you mean. You’re supposed to get dressed up. Even if you don’t have a date.”

Heraldo sees a squirrel and suddenly tugs on the leash, jerking Sarah’s arm as he lunges toward it. Sarah scolds him, and he reluctantly lets it go.

“First of all,” I tell her, once Heraldo is behaving again, “I will not look stupid.” Or, if I do, it will be a carefully calculated amount of stupid, which will quickly be overshadowed by how bad-ass I’ll be for being the only guy there brave enough to show up in little more than his underwear. “Second, I will be getting plenty dressed up next weekend for the Homecoming dance at Vilmore.” Since Kat’s dad will be there and Kat has to dress appropriately. And because her dad already thinks I’m not good enough for her, and also because this is her first chance to show off her amazing boyfriend from out of town to all her new friends and delusional would-be suitors. “And, third, I
will
have a date, because I’m bringing Kat. Who will also be in a swimsuit, so I won’t be the only one.”