“Well now I’m saying ninja catbat!” I return.
“Oh, that’ll go over well,” he says with sarcasm. “Hey, Principal Umino, sorry about earlier. It’s actually a ninja catbat that’s been stealing my comics. Why does it want my comics? Who could say! Maybe
“Ok, ok, I’m sorry, look, calm down,” I say, gesturing at the ground. Downy grey feathers are sifting around his sneakers.
“Crap,” he says, taking a steadying breath.
“Look, let’s just go home,” I say. “Maybe just stop taking comics to school for awhile.”
“Yeah like that’s going to happen,” he grumbles.
“Then just don’t put them in your locker, alright?” I sigh. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this and clear our names. I am not cleaning Tailor’s chalkboard until Christmas.”
“Get to the bottom of it how?” Destin asks.
“It was headed right towards the old lumbermill,” I say. “So that’s where we’re going on Saturday.”
“It’s condemned for a reason,” he says nervously, pulling a feather out of his sleeve and tossing it aside.
“All the more reason it could hide there,” I state, starting the walk home.
Oh, right, Destin molts when he’s freaked out. I probably should have mentioned that sooner.
Chapter 7
Jul
“The pancakes are really good,” I said, smiling weakly.
“Thank you,” Bea said, returning to her own food with no further acknowledgment.
Bea and I were eating our breakfast in relative silence again. I was learning to appreciate her cooking but she didn’t seem to be warming up to me any. Though still nervous about going to school - I was only just finishing my first week - I was gaining a small amount of appetite in the mornings, which was for the best. Her disapproval seemed to lessen when I ate her food. It helped that it was actually really good. I’d never had homemade pancakes before - I’d had some decent ones at restaurants, but nothing like this. I sipped on orange juice while she drank black coffee. A plate of bacon sat between us, but I hadn’t touched it. I still couldn’t tell her I was vegetarian.
“Are you making any friends at school?” she asked suddenly, and I nearly choked on a piece of pancake.
“Um...ah...not yet,” I admitted.
“Why not?” she asked bluntly.
“They’re not um...they don’t...”
“Speak up, Juliet.”
“Everyone seems to have groups of friends already,” I said quickly. “It’s, um, not that big a deal.” I mean, I wasn’t in elementary school. But if I was honest with myself, it was a big deal. I had been almost invisible at my old school, and I was so tired of feeling so alone. But what was my other option? Being rejected?
“You need to be more assertive,” Bea stated. “Just introduce yourself to people and start talking. Eventually you’ll find someone with similar interests.”
Bea gave me a strange look. “It is. Just...try to make some nice, normal friends. I know there are some weird kids at that school...what about Hayley Dupree? She’s a normal girl,” she stated, taking a swig of coffee.
Maybe a little too normal for me.
Ms. Miller was late to class. That hadn’t happened before. I had my mother’s blank journal in my bag, and I occupied myself by searching the pages, fiber by fiber, for the hundredth time. It had to mean something. My fingers traced my mother’s imprinted name as the tardy chemistry teacher burst into the door, all smiles and energy. I closed the journal self-consciously.
“End of term science projects,” Ms. Miller declared, grinning from ear to ear. “These are going to be a lot of fun, I promise. I’ve picked out some really interesting ones. They’re a little too complex for just two people, so what we’re going to do is, I’m going to be putting two tables together for these.”
Mac’s hand shot up. “Do we get to pick our own partners?” he asked.
“I’m assigning them,” Ms. Miller stated, “to avoid unfair grouping.” Her eyes flicked briefly to the left side of the room. Was she looking at Hayley’s table, or Kei’s? Or both? “You’ll be working out the kinks of the experiment you’re assigned, and writing a paper on the experiment’s premise and the lessons you learn creating it. And you’ll prepare a booth to showcase your work at the holiday school festival in two weeks to your families and the school board.”
There were a couple of groans from around the room.
“None of that,” Ms. Miller said, folding her arms. “The festival is a big deal. It sounds like a lot of work, I know, but it will be a lot of fun. There’s a party afterwards, after all.” She smiled. “New students may not be aware, but we can put on quite a shindig.”
“Shindig?” I murmured softly, trying out the old-fashioned word.
Next to me, Camille cracked a smile.
“So!” Ms. Miller said. “Assignments. Here we go. Jacques and Holly, you’re with Errol and Raeleene.” She gave them all handouts. “You’ll be looking at supercooling fluids. Brandon and McKenna, you’re with Yu-Tien and Kristoff. You guys get the effects of polarity on a stream of water. Very cool. Juliet and Camille, you’re with Rhys and Kei.”
My heart seized up. What, really? Work on a project with him for the next two weeks? There was no way I was suave enough to get through this...
I blankly accepted the papers from Ms. Miller describing our experiment. Something to do with color changing chemicals. I vaguely noticed that Mac and Destin were paired with Hayley and Amity, and neither Mac nor Hayley looked happy about it. I guess some siblings just didn’t get along.
Kei made a sly little wave in our direction. I flushed. Camille rolled her eyes and focused on the experiment handout, frowning at the list of chemical equations. I tried to do the same. We were making invisible ink? I regarded it with new interest. This could actually be really cool. And it didn’t look too complex, all you had to do was get the ratios right...
“Alright,” Ms. Miller said. “You can group up and start divvying up tasks. You should start working on getting your experiment right - a gorgeous display won’t help you in the least if you fail the basic science.”
Kei pulled over his chair and wedged it between Camille and I. He curled an arm around each of our shoulders. “I love getting to know new people,” he said.
Camille smacked his arm away. Unfazed, he turned his nearly-invisible smile on me. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Kei. Your turn,” he said.
“Jul,” I said, certain I was bright red. My skin just wasn’t quite dark enough to hide a blush, to my misfortune.
“There, that wasn’t so bad. We’re a team now, Jul. You, me, Grumpy, and Grumpy.” He looked up at his friend, approaching the table. “This is the illustrious Rhys Ryan; he would murder me in my sleep if he could, but he can’t, so he’s stuck with me.”
“Ignore him, he has no personal boundaries,” Rhys said flatly, eyes on the supply list.
“What?” Kei protested. “Someone has to be friendly, and it’s not going to be you.”
Kei wasn’t kidding; Rhys did not look happy to be here. He really was startlingly handsome, but he was completely devoid of Kei’s easy charm. Rhys scribbled four quick notes on the list. “Here’s how this is going to go,”
