“Okay, that was not me,” she shot back defensively. “That was some people I didn’t even know – friends of some friends of some friends – whom I graciously allowed into what was actually a private party. But this isn’t about me, so let’s not go off-topic.”
“Fine,” I said with a snicker. “Staying on topic, I was surprised the chaperones didn’t jump in once the Colossus started making a scene.”
“Those kids are all future teammates. They have to learn to deal with each other, including all aspects of their relationships, and dealing with a jerk at a party is a lot easier than having to do it in the field.”
“So, you just let them rumble if they need to?”
She shook her head. “It rarely comes to that, and if it looked serious, someone would have stepped in.”
“Okay,” I droned, letting her answer percolate for a moment. “Switching gears for a second, were all the parties and premieres you’ve gotten me invites for just part of some recruiting effort?”
If my bluntness took her by surprise, Avis didn’t show it.
Waffling a hand from side to side, she said, “Not per se. First and foremost, I wanted you to have fun and not spend a bunch of time moping around because you missed your mom and grandparents. Second, I wanted you to know that you’re welcome here and will always have a place with me, no matter what. That goes for my sisters, too, because none of us want to lose you again.”
I simply nodded at this. Her last statement referenced the fact that until very recently, I hadn’t even known I had any cousins. They had intentionally stayed out of my life, wrongly thinking it was what my mom wanted, and we had only managed to reconnect a couple of months earlier.
“Finally,” Avis continued, “if it turned out that you liked the city, the people, and everything else, I wanted you to see that the A-List is a good group. That way, if you ever decided to weigh your options, we would be top-of-mind.”
“Hmmm,” I droned. “So basically, from a recruiting standpoint, this wasn’t the full-court press.”
“Hardly,” she said with a slight laugh. “Believe me, once word got out that Kid Sensation was my cousin, there were those who wanted to pull out all the stops to lure you onto the team. If you thought the movie premiere and other stuff you attended were extravagant, you should see the stuff I turned down.”
I laughed and then stated, “I’ll take your word for it.”
“Come on,” she said with a grin. “Let’s go see what Henrietta is making for breakfast.”
“You want me to do the honors?” I asked.
Avis seemed to consider for a moment, then said, “Sure. Go ahead.”
Having gotten her okay, I teleported us to the interior of the penthouse, making us pop up in the living room. Almost immediately, we heard voices coming from the kitchen and headed there. Upon entering, we saw Smokey sitting on a stool at an island counter, chatting with Avis’s cook, Henrietta.
Dressed in a black chef coat and sporting a toque blanche, Henrietta spied us the second we entered her domain. She was a young woman, maybe thirty years old, with features that would probably be described as handsome rather than pretty, and a smile that could light up a room.
“Good morning, Jim,” Henrietta said while whisking something around in a bowl. “Miss Avis.”
I returned the greeting and got her thousand-watt-smile in return, which almost made me feel giddy.
“I told you before, Henrietta, it’s just ‘Avis,’” my cousin admonished as she tossed the box of donuts onto the counter. “You make me feel like an old lady.”
“Yes, Miss Avis,” Henrietta replied, causing my cousin to shake her head in dismay, while Smokey and I snickered.
“And feel free to take that silly hat off,” Avis added. “You make me feel like I’m on a cooking show.”
“Yes, Miss Avis,” Henrietta said, although I noticed she made no effort to remove her toque blanche, which again, Smokey and I found hilarious.
“So,” Avis droned a few moments later, “I see you met Smokescreen.”
Henrietta nodded. “Yes, he was kind enough to come introduce himself.”
“Well,” Smokey commented, “I didn’t want her to suddenly see a stranger in here and go into panic mode.”
“I wasn’t concerned,” Henrietta assured him. “Any man who makes his way into this place uninvited is going to have a very bad day.”
As she finished speaking, she exchanged a knowing glance with Avis. I got the impression there was a story there, which I’d have to tease out of my cousin later.
“Anyway,” Henrietta continued, “breakfast is omelets, and I’m taking orders.”
At that juncture, I noticed for the first time that there were numerous bowls on the counter near the cooktop where she was standing. From what I could see, each contained different items: grated cheese, chopped peppers, diced tomatoes, and so on.
“I’ll go first,” Avis said. “Just cheese in mine, please. I’m going to have enough to do at the gym just working off the donuts I had earlier.”
She interlocked her fingers and lifted her arms above her head as she spoke, stretching and bending slightly from side to side. Noticing Smokey looking at her with what seemed like more than casual interest, I telekinetically gave him a thump behind the ear. Wincing, he turned to me with a perplexed look.
Opening up a telepathic channel, I said, <Dude, tell me you were not ogling my cousin.>
<I wasn’t ogling anybody!> he insisted.
<Then why were your eyes practically popping out of your skull? And is that drool on your chin?>
<Funny,> he replied sarcastically. <But since you just have to know, she’s got, like, washboard abs. I was going to ask her about her workout routine.>
<I bet,> I replied flatly. <Atalanta’s going to love hearing about this.>
Mentally, Smokey seemed to gulp. Atalanta was another teen super and someone Smokey had started seeing fairly recently, after breaking up with his longtime girlfriend Sarah. Hailing from a small but wealthy
