The Persistence of Renegade X

by Chelsea M. Campbell

  Right as my phone rings. It’s Mom.

  I glance in the rearview mirror at Xavier, slightly worried it’s going to be bad news, then answer the phone. “Hello?”

  “Hello?” She sounds confused. “Damien? Is that you?”

  “Who else would it be?”

  “I must have hit the wrong number. I was trying to call that sushi place I like before they close. I’d better go. Talk to you later—”

  “Wait! Is… is everything okay? What happened?”

  “Hmm? Oh, you mean Taylor?”

  “Yes, of course I mean Taylor!”

  She clucks her tongue, like that’s a silly question. “It’s sweet of you to worry, Damien, but he’s going to be fine. The doctor said face wounds bleed a lot, but his injuries aren’t nearly as serious as they seemed at first. We’re leaving the doctor’s right now, actually, and if we’re going to pick up dinner on the way, I’ve really got to—”

  “So, what, you just weren’t going to call me?”

  “For what? You don’t even like sushi.”

  “For Xavier, Mom!”

  “Damien, sweetie, you do not have to yell. I can hear you just fine.”

  “You seriously weren’t going to call me, were you?”

  “Well… of course I was. After Taylor and I had a little downtime. It’s so hard to get a minute of peace and quiet around here.”

  I glance at the clock on the dashboard. Maybe we can stop by Mom’s house and still beat Gordon and Helen home. Maybe. If there’s no traffic and I drive super fast. “We’re coming over.”

  “X,” Riley whispers, “are you sure we have time for that?”

  I shake my head, because I’m pretty sure we don’t—or at least that it’ll be cutting it close—but I’m not keeping Xavier for even one second longer than I have to.

  I pull up in front of Mom’s house. “Come on,” I tell Xavier, turning around to give him a stern look. “Out of the car. Everyone else? Stay here.”

  An annoying whine emanates from Xavier. “But—”

  “Now.” I get out and open his door, practically dragging him out of the car.

  He stomps his feet as I march him across the yard up to the front door. I’m just about to pound on it, so Mom can’t pretend she doesn’t hear me, when the door springs open.

  Mom’s standing there. There’s a look of surprise on her face when she sees us, and she has a twenty-dollar bill in her hand that she quickly shoves into her pocket. “Oh—my boys!” She stumbles a little as she tries to make that sound casual.

  “Expecting someone else?” I ask her. “Maybe someone carrying a pizza?”

  She rolls her eyes at me. “I told you, Damien, we’re having sushi. Did my two boys have fun tonight?”

  “No,” we both say at the same time. I give Xavier a look, annoyed that we actually agree on something for once. “Next time you have an emergency, don’t call me.”

  Mom’s too busy making a face at something behind me to acknowledge that. I turn and see Alex standing there, looking guilty, like he knows he’s not supposed to be here, but also trying to peek past me into the house. I can’t help sounding super annoyed when I say, “I thought I told you to stay in the car?!” And what the hell was everybody else doing that they just let him wander off? I glance over. Everyone’s watching—including Kat, who’s transformed back into herself and taken Xavier’s seat—so I guess they didn’t actually let him wander off. But still.

  Mom makes a tsking sound. “I told you you couldn’t watch both of them at once. I suppose I’m lucky my little sweetiekins made it back in one piece.”

  I turn to glare at her. “Mom, seriously.”

  She clucks her tongue again.

  This is the thanks I get for watching her monster child all night. “Come on.” I ignore her and grab Alex’s arm, trying to lead him back to the car, and I hear the front door shut as Mom goes back inside, taking Xavier with her. “If you need to use the bathroom again, you’re just going to have to hold it. We don’t have time.”

  He digs his feet in and jerks his arm away from me. “Can’t I see your room?”

  I gape at him. “It’s bad enough you got out of the car when I told you not to—twice—and now I just said we don’t have time to go to the bathroom. What makes you think we have time for a tour?!”

  Alex winces at that and shrinks back a little.

  I feel a pang of guilt. Maybe I’m being too harsh. But also he’s not the one who’s going to be grounded for a year if we don’t get home in time. And he’s also not the one responsible for a nine-year-old who doesn’t listen to a word I say, even when he knows it might get him killed. Though at least in this situation it’s just me who’s going to get killed.

  Alex sticks out his lower lip, his shoulders hunched, and kicks at the ground. “I liked you better before you started acting like Amelia.”

  “You mean, back when I wasn’t your babysitter?”

  He nods.

  I sigh. “Yeah, me, too. Tonight’s been… a lot crazier than I anticipated.”

  “I thought it was going to be fun, but it wasn’t.”

  “Really?” I raise an eyebrow at him. “Not at all?”

  He considers that. “Well, maybe it was a little bit fun, like when we were being chased and you zapped that guy and we got away and stuff. And when you zapped Xavier.” He pauses, glancing up at me. “Is he really your brother?” He cringes a little at the thought.

  “Yes, unfortunately. It’s… kind of a long story.” One we definitely don’t have time for right now. “I’ll tell you later. We have to go.”

  He looks longingly at the house, like he knows he’s never going to have another chance to see it.

  I crouch down so I’m at eye level with him. “Listen, Alex, you’ve already seen my room.”

  “Not your old room. Not where you used to live.”

  “I know, but…” I take a deep breath. “I don’t actually have a room here anymore. Mom didn’t waste any time giving it to Xavier. After she replaced— After I moved in with you guys. So, even if we had time, which we don’t, I couldn’t show it to you. There’s nothing left to see.”

  I think I said that pretty non-chalantly, as if it’s no big deal that my mom’s basically erased my entire existence, but I must not have been as cool about it as I thought, because Alex gets this really serious, almost pitying look on his face. Or maybe it’s just that no matter how casual I try to make it sound, there’s no disguising how bad that is.

  “I’m happier at your house,” I tell him. “And you’re definitely my favorite brother, in case that was in question.”

  “It wasn’t,” he says, but a look of relief washes over him anyway, and he grins at me.

  I smile back at him. Then my phone chimes. It’s a text from Helen that says they’re almost home.

  Alex reads it, too, and then we both look up at each other, our eyes meeting in horror.

  “Come on—we have to go!” he says, and then we race back to the car as fast as we can.

  Chapter 8

  I’M DREADING SEEING GORDON and Helen’s car in the driveway when we finally—finally—get home, but it’s not there. A huge weight lifts off my shoulders, even though we’re not in the clear yet. We all scramble to get out of the car. I toss Alex the keys, and he runs for the front door.

  “You guys get out of here,” I tell Riley as Sarah hands Jess to me. They can walk the rest of the way.

  “I could really use a drink of water,” Riley says.

  I glare at him. “No way. You’re not coming in the house right now. Not dressed like that”—I indicate their superhero costumes—“and not when Gordon and Helen will be home any second.” Not because they’d be mad to find them there, but because Riley’s a terrible liar at the best of times, which this isn’t, and one look at his face would give everything away.

  He laughs. “I was kidding, X.”

  I roll my eyes at him. Then he and Sarah say good-bye and wander off in the direction of
Sarah’s house.

  Kat grabs the car seat out of the trunk, and we run inside. She tosses it in the hall closet where it belongs while I thunk down on the couch next to Alex. I lean my head back, unable to believe we actually made it, and Jess immediately sticks her finger up my nose.

  Alex laughs as I make a startled sound and push Jess’s hand away.

  Kat comes and sits down with us, looking about as exhausted as I feel. “This?” she says, gesturing with her arms and obviously meaning the whole evening in general. “Not worth it.”

  “Agreed.”

  Right as I say that, I hear Gordon and Helen’s car pull into the driveway. I swallow, hoping nobody notices my car has moved or that it’s still warm or anything. Electricity zips along my nerves.

  I turn to Alex. “Not a word about what happened tonight. We watched the movie Kat brought, the one about the dolphins and their lost turtle. Jess was a little cranky, but ultimately well behaved. And I did not let you eat a whole bag of candy—you just ate a few of the purple ones, because that’s all that was left in that bag.”

  “Amelia must have eaten the rest of them,” Alex suggests.

  “Exactly.” I smile at him.

  The front door opens. Gordon and Helen come in, looking relieved to see us all just sitting on the couch, which I find irritating. I mean, what did they think was going to happen?

  “We just finished the movie!” Alex says, even though no one asked.

  Gordon frowns, looking a little suspicious, and I tilt my head at Alex, trying to discreetly motion for him to shut up.

  Amelia comes stomping in, looking very not pleased to see us here.

  “What’s wrong, Amelia?” I ask. “Did you screw up your routine?”

  “She was actually really great,” Gordon says, beaming at her.

  “Her whole group was,” Helen adds.

  Amelia huffs at them. “You don’t have to sound so surprised. I told you the routine would be way better once we were on stage and in costume.”

  “We watched the movie!” Alex says again. Then he laughs nervously.

  Amelia looks over at me, an annoyingly self-satisfied look on her face as she stomps into the kitchen, as if she thinks Alex is about to give us away. Which he maybe kind of is.

  “It was about some dolphins. Their turtle got lost, but they found it. The end.”

  Gordon and Helen are staring at Alex like he’s an alien.

  “Dude,” I whisper, nudging him with my arm.

  Kat’s biting her lip, looking kind of pale.

  “It… it makes you laugh and it makes you cry,” Alex mutters, echoing what Kat said earlier.

  “Uh-huh.” Helen directs a sharp look at Gordon, shaking her head a little before disappearing into their bedroom to get changed.

  There’s a squeak of outrage from the kitchen, and then Amelia shouts, “Who ate all the candy?!”

  “It’s on top of the fridge!” I call back.

  She comes storming back into the living room with the leftover bag. “There should be two of these, not one.”

  I shrug. “It’s not my fault if you’ve had one too many late-night binges.”

  She scowls at me. “I haven’t. And Alex’s mouth is purple.”

  Alex sinks down into the couch cushions and doesn’t look at her.

  Amelia glares at him. She’s about to say something else when her phone rings. She grabs it and hurries upstairs to her room.

  Gordon comes and stands awkwardly in front of us. Well, in front of me specifically. “Damien… I think I know what happened tonight.” He sighs, rubbing his forehead. “Did you really think you were going to be able to keep this from me?”

  I exchange a quick glance with Kat, which I know probably looks suspicious, but seriously, how could he possibly know? “Well, Dad, I, uh, I didn’t want to worry you. Over nothing.”

  Jess sits in my lap, obliviously playing with the edge of my sleeve, while meanwhile Alex, who’s sitting next to me, looks like he’s about to wet himself in terror. And Kat looks like she wishes she was anywhere but here right now, which makes two of us.

  “This is not nothing.” Gordon doesn’t sound angry, exactly, but definitely disappointed. We all brace ourselves for the worst, and then he holds up the DVD case for Revenge of the Zombie Werewolves V. “I really think Alex is too young for this stuff. Jess, too, but I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you didn’t let her watch it.”

  “Uh… no. Of course not.” I can’t help smiling with relief that that’s all he thinks happened. Which hopefully doesn’t give me away, because I’m supposed to be getting in trouble here. “And no more B horror movies for Alex. Got it.”

  Gordon gives me a look.

  “Or any horror movies,” I add.

  He exhales, his shoulders deflating. He looks super relieved, either because I didn’t argue with him or because it’s over and he doesn’t have to lay down the law anymore. Maybe he doesn’t like having to be the bad guy, either.

  He wanders off into the bedroom.

  I glance over at Kat, then at Alex. None of us says anything, but there’s this shared moment of relief between us, because we actually just got away with that.

  Then Amelia comes tromping down the stairs again. She’s changed out of her dance costume and into a T-shirt and jeans. The bag of leftover candy, I notice, has disappeared into her room.

  Kat gives me a worried look.

  Amelia catches me staring at her and comes over. “What?” she snaps.

  “Nothing. Just that it looks like I didn’t need your help after all.”

  Kat pinches my arm, probably as a warning not to piss of Amelia when she could, like, totally ruin our lives right now.

  “I could still tell Mom and Dad, you know,” Amelia says, though she keeps her voice down, and she sounds more hurt than pissed.

  “What,” I ask, “and tell them you knew and didn’t say anything? They’d never trust you again, either.”

  Her nostrils flare as she stands there, considering that. “It’s not fair. They have no idea what a terrible babysitter you are, and now they’re going to ask you all the time and not me. Just because you’re older, even though I have way more experience.”

  “Hey. I was a damned good babysitter. Ow.” I scrunch up my face as Jess pulls really hard on my ear.

  Amelia rolls her eyes at me.

  “I was. But maybe…” I take a deep breath. “Maybe there’s a teeny tiny chance that—”

  “That I’m better?” Amelia finishes, her eyes suddenly lighting up.

  “No. I was going to say maybe there’s a teeny tiny chance that it’s not my thing. So, I’m retiring from the babysitting business. It’s all yours.”

  “What?” She stares at me.

  “Once was enough. And I have way better ways of making two dollars an hour.” I wiggle my eyebrows at Kat.

  Kat smacks my arm. “You already owe me three dollars. And like I said before, I’m not paying you for something you’d do for free.”

  Amelia wrinkles her nose at us. “Ew, gross.” Then she puts her hands on her hips and gives Alex her typical bossy look, though it’s undermined a little because she’s also trying not to smile, now that her job is safe and she’s back in her element. “It’s getting late. You should be getting ready for bed.”

  “But I don’t want to!” he whines. He looks over at me.

  I shrug, then nod, even though I’m officially off duty.

  Alex slowly gets up and trudges over to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

  Jess plops down in his spot on the couch. She picks up her comb from where she left it earlier and brandishes it at me. “You still need to be beautiful.”

  “Uh, you know who really needs help with that?” I point her toward Amelia.

  Jess squeezes her comb extra tight and gives Amelia a really determined look.

  Amelia takes a step back from the couch. “No, Jess.” Judging from the fear in her eyes, she’s been subject t
o Jess’s beauty regimen before. She grabs the comb from her before picking her up. “You want to watch my dance video instead?”

  “No!” Jess screams. She reaches out to me and Kat for help as Amelia carts her off to the dining room.

  “Come on,” Amelia says. “We can have snacks. Like when we watch movies. You like that.”

  Amelia plunks her down at the dining table, then uses her power to teleport a cell phone to her. I say a cell phone, because it’s obviously not hers, since hers is covered in bling stickers and this one’s not.

  Then two seconds later Helen shouts, “Amelia! Did you just take my phone?!”

  “I’m showing Jess the video!” Amelia calls back, with absolutely no intention of returning it.

  We sit there for a few moments, and then Kat leans over and pokes my knee. “You want to go over to my house?”

  “Why, Kat,” I say, grinning at her, “I thought you’d never ask.”

  AUTHOR'S NOTE

  Thank you so much for reading! You are AWESOME! (Obviously.) If you enjoyed this book, it would be super helpful to me if you could leave a review. Reviews have a big impact on the life of a book (and a series) and allow me to keep writing stories you love!

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CHELSEA M. CAMPBELL grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains a lot. And then rains some more. She finished her first novel when she was twelve, sent it out, and promptly got rejected. Since then, she’s earned a degree in Latin and Ancient Greek, become an obsessive knitter and fiber artist, and started a collection of glass grapes.

  Besides writing, studying ancient languages, and collecting useless objects, Chelsea is a pop-culture fangirl at heart and can often be found rewatching episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Parks and Recreation, or dying a lot in Dark Souls. You can visit her online and sign up for her newsletter to get a free copy of Damien Locke’s Guide to Golden City at www.chelseamcampbell.com.