I freeze, panting hard as I meet the wide and oh so very blue eyes of my second oldest friend. Claire blinks back at me, blonde ringlets falling across the doll-like vanity plate of her face while she stares wide-eyed at where I’ve got her arm and shoulder pressed up against the wall.

  “Wow, Millie. Can’t you at least take me out to dinner first?”

  I flinch away as if slapped, dropping the knife back into my Pocket and putting both hands behind my back. As far away as possible from the pouch on my hoodie, and the many weapons inside. My fingers feel thick and clumsy as I fidget with the ruffles of my skirt. Staring at the floor as the red of my cheeks now really does shift to fluster and I listen to the quickly approaching squeaks of Lilly’s trainers.

  I glance back down the corridor to where my taller friend is power walking towards us. Silver tracksuit and ball cap, even inside, doing little to obscure the harsh pinch of her olive cheeks where her lips are pressed to a grey tightness. I flinch again on meeting her eyes, dark orbs wide where they follow the movement of my hands like a mongoose tracks a cobra.

  The sight has me swallowing my apology as my eyes find a nice spot on the floor to focus on. Claire not seeming to notice my worries or hesitance as she hops away from the wall. Showing me her back as she brushes casually against me and turns to face the approaching footsteps.

  “Hey, did you see that? Millie’s so fast, and strong! Maybe I really should get into a sport as well. Complete our little posse of athletic bitch-es.”

  Claire does some shadow boxing, poorly, as Lilly comes to a stop beside us. My hands wringing together behind me as I prepare to be chewed out for almost putting Claire through a wall. Of the two of them, Lilly’s never quite looked at me the same after seeing that damn video.

  Despite my annoyance, I still can’t help the burst of amusement from seeing that the runner’s toned arms and legs are hidden under the baggy tracksuit she’s adopted for the winter. For someone who works out so hard for the perfect figure, a rarity already, she rarely shows it off once the weather turns. I keep my eyes on her covered legs as I watch the tenseness in her stance slowly fade. A sigh leaving her as she makes a point of dodging effortlessly around Claire’s fists to stand closer to me. Although, she still keeps most of the corridor’s width between us.

  “I’ve tried to teach you taekwondo before remember? You chipped a nail and kept getting my hair stuck in between your teeth. A Kiai isn’t a bite.”

  “I was improving on it! If a fight is all about using your arms and legs, then why not teeth as well?”

  A small grin finds its way back onto my lips as I watch Lilly gently catch and pull Claire’s hands into a proper stance. My voice rising to join in before her eyes flick to mine and my smile freezes from the spark of panic I spot there. In an instant, Lilly’s grip tightens unconsciously around Claire’s hands. Her feet shifting and core tensing as she twists her shoulders to face me fully. A stance I’ve gotten painfully familiar with over the last few weeks.

  Caution.

  “Come on, Lilly! Let’s go to our lunch room already. I’m hungry.”

  Claire breaks the stand-off by looping her arm around the distracted fighter, ruining her stance with a tug and a smile. Lilly’s eyes soften as they slide back to Claire and I watch the tension bleed out of her in a long exhale. Her lips pulling up into a smirk as she uses her now set stance to resist the smaller girls pull. Though, whatever snarky reply she’s about to give is interrupted when my stomach reminds me again of just how empty it is.

  Lilly fixes me with a different kind of look as I grip my chest with a wince, the rumbling sending painful vibrations through my ribs. The sound, either of my stomach or the small hiss of pain that slips out my lips, is apparently loud enough to be heard even over the crowd of kids now pouring into Selic’s room to eat their own lunch. Lilly’s caution fades to exasperation as she sniffs haughtily and finally allows Claire to pull us both along beside her. My own arm somehow finding itself trapped by the blonde’s pink sweater before I can realise what’s happening.

  “Are you sure you’re doing okay living on your own, Millie? No breakfast I can understand, I also struggle to eat before a race, but that hoodie…” She shakes her head in mock defeat while flicking a finger against a coffee stain on the oversized sweater. I do my best not to draw attention to the way she hesitates to touch me or the slight tremble in her arm.

  The hoodie had been the cleanest thing in the laundry basket that would hide all my cuts and scrapes and still give me a pocket large enough to use my Power. I’d still considered just wearing the same cardigan as yesterday and hoping no one noticed the small blood stains.

  “Yeah, I’m doing fine on my own and dad does still send me money every month now that the nannies aren’t visiting. I just… forgot to do laundry yesterday and, uhh, also forgot to pack lunch for today.”

  “Milie!” Claire’s disapproving look has me ducking down with a smile as I rush to defend myself. Forgetting, as I do, that I never thought to come up with an actual excuse for why I slept through half of yesterday.

  “I know, I know! Usually, I make batch lunches on Sunday. I just had a lot on this weekend.”

  “Oh? You weren’t with Jason, were you?”

  Lilly’s seemingly innocent tone almost has me answer truthfully on instinct. Not on what we were doing, I’m not quite that bad of a liar. But just admitting to spending time with the boy who my friends think is barely one step above a street-kid would be bad enough. I cough to try and hide my pause, risking a glance to the side to see if they’re suspicious and then coughing louder on seeing their intense expressions.

  Claire’s, of course, is little more than a slight shift of eyes and lips, given that her vanity plate is near immobile and robs her face of most movement. Not that I need to look at her face when the sudden tightness of her grip is a good enough hint as to her suspicions. My friend’s opinions on Jason, with the exception of Amelia, has been aligned from the moment they’d first met him. It didn’t matter much that one had known him since we were all three foot high and the other only found out he existed two years ago. Jason hasn’t changed all that much.

  “No! I was… trying to follow a recipe and lost track of the time.”

  “Oh? You made something? Was it nice? Can you make it for me too?”

  “Uhh, no. I messed it up and just went to bed early.”

  Claire stops, actually stops, right there in the middle of the corridor. Blocking the way for the boys behind us who start to complain before a glance from Lilly sends them back the other way. Feet squeaking on the floor as the group goes to use the buildings second stairwell instead of the one we’re heading for.

  Slowly, not reacting in the slightest to the annoyed group behind us, the blonde girl turns to look at me with what seems all the frozen disapproval in the world. I try very hard not to quail under the disbelieving weight of her gaze. Eyes that have known me far too long to be fooled boring into me with the certainty that I’ve never managed to hold out for long once caught.

  I swallow thickly, not letting my eyes dart away as I grasp tighter onto the phone in my hoodie for support. Finding some strength in my bruised spine, I raise my chin back at her to try and get enough height to look her in the eyes directly. It’s only a difference of a few inches but one of us is wearing flats.

  “Alright, emergency measures. We’re coming over this weekend and teaching you how to cook.”

  We break away from our stare-off at Lilly’s clap, me flinching and Claire just narrowing her eyes as she turns to look at the other girl. Whatever demand for support in grilling me she’s about to make being interrupted in the worst way possible.

  “Yo, yo, she’s gettin’ closer.”

  A group of girls I don’t recognise are blocking the stairs. A whisper shout drawing my attention away from Claire just in time to catch a flash of neon purple hair. One of the girls darting back into the scrum of matching red togas patterned in white brocade. The closest turning their backs to us with a giggle as their friends look to see what I’ll do.

  A round of snickers and half-smothered laughs has me gritting my teeth as we come to a stop in front of them. I’d hoped everyone who wanted to poke me had gotten their fix last week but clearly, in a school this big, there’s always going to be someone new who wants to see what I’ll do when provoked.

  One of the girls with her back to me, notably taller and bulkier than the rest, glances over her shoulder after our footsteps come to a stop just behind her. The amusement on her veiny face only growing as she meets my glare. Bulging pecs and thick neck almost bursting from the tight under-armour she’s wearing beneath the toga’s fabric. Her muscles trembling as she wiggles her eyebrows down at me with a little shuffle of the shoulders. The giant’s friends break out into laughter as my lips press together into a bloodless line.

  “Heather, right?” Claire’s syrupy voice stops me from cracking a tooth with how hard I’m clenching my teeth. Her hand on Lilly’s chest similarly preventing her from doing something unwise. Violence has worked rather well in the past, mostly on the way to and from school, but the girl before us looks to have been on growth hormones since before she could walk. Her close shaved head almost brushing against the top of the doorway above us while her thighs must be almost as thick as my waist.

  “Yeah, what’s it- ah!”

  Heather stumbles back as Claire all but hugs her side, hands reaching up to caress the significantly bigger girl’s neck and face swooping dangerously close to her chest. Claire’s cheeks split apart with a slight whir of hidden rotors to reveal a perfect row of teeth. Her face tilting upwards as it rearranges itself into a dazzling smile. The fluttering of her eyes sending the wall of muscle tripping over herself as she flinches back from the sudden touch.

  Claire just leans further onto Heather chest even as the giant goes red faced and continues backing up further. Pulling her friends alongside her before Claire stops her retreat with a grip on the collar of her under armour. Smile still beatific as she rises up on tip-toes to nearly brush her teeth against Heather's lips. A hungry sigh slipping through her teeth as the rest of the posse look on wide eyed while hurrying to get their cameras pointed at the new spectacle.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  The near seven foot of augmented flesh has a final look around for support. Arms thicker than Claire’s chest hovering uncertainly behind her back while the rest of us look on. My friend pays them no mind as she pulls, or more realistically leads, Heather’s head down to where she can put her beaming smile next to the taller girl’s ear.

  “Thanks for moving.”

  She steps away with her face still frozen in its perfect smile, hands shooting back to grab me and Lilly before hurrying us past the broken blockade before anyone can think to stop us. The tight clop of her half-heels punctuating Heather’s spluttering as her friends break out into more laughter behind us.

  I keep my head down and eyes forward as we pass them. Not looking up again after seeing Claire’s manufactured expression return to its default position. The edges of her lips struggling to twitch up into something closer to a sneer. Lilly being less subtle and outright twisting around to flash a middle finger back at the now arguing group behind us. It sounds like more than a few had been streaming the confrontation and Heather isn’t quite so happy about the result.

  Not that she’ll be worried about being called a bully or anything. It's never bullying because it’s never the same group more than twice or so. They tend to get bored after not getting a reaction and it’s not like many have actually sought me out. Most of the time, these little confrontations are simply chance. One bored group or another seeing me walk by and deciding to poke the girl who lost it on camera. Sometimes, I wonder if any of them actually saw that damn video. It’s like none of them remember the blood.

  ‘Of course they do, they all just assume it was Amelia.’

  The flash of guilt that thought brings up does more to smother my anger than steady breaths or broken property ever could. The thought of how much harder she must be having it making it easy not to turn back around when I hear the argument die down and the same commentary as always start up. Easier, anyway.

  “Damn, you see that look? She was definitely the one who started it.”

  “Yeah, but I woulda’ ended it. You seein’ these moves, bitch?”

  “Look at this big ‘nance, thinkin’ she’s the next Bocelli.”

  The sound of more laughter chases us down the stairs as Claire again stops Lilly from going back with a whisper too quiet for me to catch. The group above thankfully not moving from their spot as we turn out of sight. Though, their voices still reach us and make me want to hurry further away.

  Instead, I let Claire keep our steps slow and measured as we make distance from the group behind us. Their conversation growing fainter as it switches to betting odds for local gladiators in the upcoming Halloween game. The focus quickly becoming how likely any of the group are to become, or marry, one once the school year ends. The handful of athletic scholarship spots the local universities provide being a dream for many to base a better life around.

  In the over fifteen hundred students who’ll be graduating alongside me, there’s probably only one or two who have an actual chance at getting one though. Those whose parents decided that path for them a long time ago and had the ability to give them all the resources our over-stuffed school can’t provide.

  Heather is probably one of those aiming for such a spot and I feel a burst of empathy for the girl at the path that’s likely been chosen for her. Success in the colosseum is as much about popularity as skill, more so really, and, given I’ve got no idea who she is, it seems likely her parent’s efforts are about to be wasted.

  ‘No wonder she wanted to poke me. She must be desperate for anything that might draw a recruiter’s attention.’

  I stuff down the brief flare of camaraderie for a girl who wanted to use me as a stepping stone. Anyone aiming for one of the coveted athletic spots should have known the unlikelihood of success from the start given who they’d be competing with. A corporate sponsorship is far more likely, though still not something more than a few dozen of us can hope to aim for. It’s the very thing I’d been planning my own life around until recently. Or, rather my dad had been.

  ‘Still is, probably.’

  And won’t that be a shock when he finds out I’m going somewhere else, somewhere better, than ACME’s grand new academy and with my own money too. A smile slides back onto my face as the future office worker’s voices fade back into the indistinct hum that fills the school at lunch times. My heart beating faster as I imagine the moment when I can tell my dad that I’ll no longer be needing him to cover the rent. Imagining, with a little sigh of contentment, the moment when I can be free again.

  The imagined future lasts until we’re almost at the next landing and I’ve recovered enough from the confrontation to remember Lilly’s earlier declaration.

  “I know how to cook!”

  My shout breaks the tense silence that had covered the other two while I was off daydreaming for a few seconds. Claire hiccupping a laugh and Lilly startling so badly that her foot misses the next stair completely. She falls with a squawk that only has Claire’s laugh growing even as their tangled arms drag both to the ground. My own feet remaining planted firmly beneath me, despite Claire’s tightened grip on my own arm, thanks to my enhanced strength.

  I glare down at the tangled pair as Claire half hangs from my side and Lilly struggles to stand with their legs and arms now tangled together. The blond not helping as she makes no attempt to free herself. Blue eyes squinted shut as laughter twitches at her frozen face and her legs somehow get even more tangled up with Lilly’s.

  “Why didn’t you then?!” Lilly finally calls out to me after she manages to lever off enough of Claire’s weight to pull herself mostly upright again. Pushing the still laughing girl into my side as she keeps hold of the banister for support.

  “I was busy!”

  “Yes! With Jason! Admit it!” Claire slips her hand from Lilly’s arm to wrap it around my neck and dangle off me. A smile twitching at the edges of her frozen lips while the hand that been wrapped around my own arm now jabs a finger accusingly into my chest.

  “No! I was shopping and just lost track of where I was. Talk to the security if you want. They saw Uncle Owen bring me back.” I huff out a sigh of annoyance at the memory of the guards who’d been about to detain uncle Owen, and probably shoot his car. Pushing Claire off me, and settling her back on her feet, with an absent grip on her waist.

  “They wouldn’t let him in though. I think you two are the only one’s dad's left on the whitelist.”

  I barely get the chance to feel annoyed at the thought of dad’s refusal to let uncle Owen in before Claire is again wrapping her arms around my neck. My eyes narrowing when I spot how her lips are twitching against the motors in the suggestion of a devilishly grin.

  “Oooo, we’re still allowed in huh? Sounds like the perfect excuse for a sleepover. We should let Amelia know too. Perhaps, show up at her place?”

  My denial, both of my need for cooking lessons and of an unplanned sleepover, grinds to a halt at Claires suggestion. The casualness of her tone, and closeness of her face, making my mind take half a second to actually parse what she said. Lilly too, has frozen where she still stands on the stairs. Her eyes narrowed and lips pursed into a thin line as Claire’s doll-like face looks back and forth between us.

  “I know she’s not replying to our texts… but that just means we need to try harder!

  I share a look with Lilly around Claire’s smile, both of us hesitating to refuse the suggestion. Although, I’d wager for very different reasons. I worry at my lip again while trying to think of some way to deny Claire without giving this conversation a chance to continue. Amelia is a friend and I owe her… a lot but I still don’t know how I can ever face her again.

  “Claire, she’s still got another few weeks off school. Maybe we just-”

  A full body flinch has me break out of Claire’s grip and almost throw her down the stairs thanks to my boosted strength. Claire releasing an eep of surprise and Lilly cutting herself off as she grabs onto the smaller girl to stop her fall. Lilly tries to pull Claire back up the stairs, and away from me but succeeds only halfway as Claire retains a grip on my arm that just gets tighter for the pull.

  I barely notice the touch or the returned caution on Lilly’s face. Standing tense and frozen with my free hand gripped tight to the phone in my pocket that has finally started to ring.

  I barely stop myself from pulling the phone out to accept the call right then and there. Only the concerned faces of my friends, and the knowledge that they’d immediately recognise how it isn’t my actual phone, stopping me from doing so. My muscles still tense as Claire stares up at Lilly’s face a moment before the taller girl relaxes her grip. The blonde at once turning to walk down the stairs and pull me into a proper hug. A look of worry actually managing to break through the near expressionless plate of her face as she squeezes the tenseness from my shoulders.

  I’m far too slow and tender from the sudden movement to dodge away. Not even trying to resist as Claire uses her superior height to carefully pull my head down into the crook of her neck. A half hug thanks to Lilly still not releasing her other arm. I want little more than to just let myself sink into the softness of Claire’s sweater and enjoy the melon scent of her hair where it’s tickling my nose. Even the cold of her faceplate as it taps my ear feels more comforting than chilling. Unfortunately, the phone isn’t going to ring forever.

  I pull away with a stumble as I take another step down the stairs and finally get onto the landing of the second floor. Opening my mouth to try and explain what’s going on and then pausing on finding that nothing comes to mind but the truth.

  “I have to take this call.”

  Claire’s eyes turn pinched as she glances over at Lilly, the two sharing a silent conversation that I can already imagine will lead to me being grilled for details later on. Claire lets her grip loosen to a handhold as she looks back to me with a sigh. The sudden movement sending more pain washing out from my still tender elbow. Pain that I do my best to hide. The careful squeeze she gives my hand, and the look of deeper concern in her eyes, tells me I wasn’t very successful.

  “Your dad?”

  “Uhh, yeah. I’ve gotta’ answer this.”

  I pull further away from Claire as her eyes turn suddenly doubtful. That same slight expression of scrutiny from earlier starting to overtake her concern. I hold in a swallow, heartrate spiking again as I see her eyes narrow to full interrogation mode and feel her hand tightening around my own.

  “Milie.”

  “Go on ahead, I’ll get somethin’ from the cafeteria and meet you there.”

  “Millie, you-”

  It’s not hard to slip my palm from Claire’s grip, spinning back around to rush out of the stairwell before she can react. Harder, actually, to make sure that I don’t hurt her with my boosted strength. Even a little above peak human is enough to accidentally break a baseline’s fragile bones. She still calls out from behind me, feet pounding across the landing to follow before I hear Lilly telling her to stop. For all that I hate how the other girl is wary of me now, it does come in handy whenever I need some privacy.

  I keep rushing until I’m out into the corridor and back where people can see me. Striding past the classrooms on the second floor without looking inside and flinching only a little when I hear a bark of laughter just as I pass. I enter the stairwell on the buildings other side at a rising jog. Halfway to the next landing before realising that I have no chance of making it to the top floor before the call goes to voicemail.

  Counting the rings that have already passed, I exit back onto the third floor and look around desperately for somewhere to take a call without being overheard. Unfortunately, the meta studies rooms are popular with both students and teachers. A place where those on the higher floors can eat without the constant wind chill that seeps through the glass of their own classrooms.

  The phone rings for the fourth time, the buzz shocking me forward towards the only choice left to me. I move along the corridor as quickly as I can without running, hoping that Mr Selic won’t be looking out his door as I pass by his now noisy room. Getting to the entrance of the girl’s toilets and freezing on hearing the voices inside.

  “Yeah, I’m gonna work at my tia’s salon after graduating. She’s been teachin’ me how to use the bio-printer they just got.”

  “Oh my god, you’re so lucky! Did you get to use it?”

  “Ya, just feel these hands. Skins only a day old.”

  I grimace at the Ooh’s and Ahh’s that follow. Rubbing my fingers against my own calloused palms and, with only a second more hesitation, turn to walk into the boy’s toilets instead. My face burns as I slip around the poorly tiled corner, a stench I’ve only experienced from a distance now assaulting my nostrils and almost making me gag.

  I bite my lip to hold in the noise, glancing along the row of urinals and then quickly checking the stools before climbing onto a toilet seat near the exit. The phone comes out as it goes through a fifth ring and I risk waiting a moment longer to check the ID.

  ‘Unknown Caller +00 800-437-7950’

  I don’t recognise the number. Nor is it one of the two I have saved to this phone. I’m not sure if that’s better or a lot, lot worse. The fifth ring stops as I hesitate and I hurry to tap the accept call button before it can go to voicemail. Whether its Jason with a smuggled phone or someone from MEA calling separately, I can’t risk missing it. My heart thunders in my chest hard enough to set my ribs to aching as I wait for the final connection. The tap of a mic having me swallow and almost cough from the dryness in my throat.

  “Hello there! We’ve been trying to reach you about your vehicle’s extended warranty. Could you give us your license and registration so we can proceed?”

  Dumbfounded, I stare at the phone screen while the AI’s voice tries to get me to hand over personal data or engage in a conversation that might trick them out of me. It’s voice a perfect imitation of human but word choice and long experience clueing me in to its synthetic nature. Only the very best of VI’s know how to mimic breathing right.

  I tap the button to hang up, rage like little I’ve ever felt already ripping through me and making my finger shake as it taps against the screen hard enough to send a crack though it. Fury roaring higher with each pounding beat of my heart, filling my ears with the rushing of blood and almost covering the voice still echoing around the stall.

  “Could you provide us your date of birth so we can continue? I understand this might not be the best time but it really is important that we sort this out now before you get on the road again.”

  I tap the button a dozen more times as rage turns rapidly to panic and I start to seriously consider crushing the phone in my hand. I can’t hang up.

  ‘This isn’t a spam call. It’s a fucking tracker!’

  Or maybe just a fishing trip to get me to try and get me to unmask myself with at least some level of deniability. Assuming whoever’s on the other side is still paying lip service to the Founder’s guarantee. Either way crushing the phone and throwing the parts down a storm drain is my best solution. Unfortunately, this is the only phone with Legit’s number as well as the fence’s.

  The only one I can be sure they’ll both pick up a call from and know to contact if needed. If I lose it, I’ll lose my last contact with the villainous side of the world and my best chance of getting Jason back along with it.

  thanks for reading!