I smiled. “I only use my powers for good.”
I heard a click.
Gazing up, I saw Sasha and Barb sitting at a table across from us. Sasha had her phone pointed at Jimmy and I. I did not like the grin on Sasha’s face. Sasha stood up and walked over to us. Barb followed close behind.
Staying out of arm's reach, Sasha showed us the photo of Jimmy and me. “Nice shot,” Sasha said. “I bet Jimmy’s mom would love to see this.” Pointing at Barb, Sasha said, “My associate here, tells me your moms don’t like each other. How about if I share this photo with them? How do you think they’d react?”
I stood up and glared at Sasha and Barb. Barb actually took a step back. “Sorry, Nina, all is fair in love and Science Fairs.”
Sasha snickered. “Pull out of the Science Fair and I’ll make sure Jimmy’s mom and your mom never see this photo.”
Jimmy stood up. “That won’t be necessary,” he said very seriously. He turned to me. “I’m sorry, Nina. We just can’t be friends. I can’t risk making my mom angry with me. You seem like a sweet, nice normal girl. But you’re not worth the risk.” He stood up and picked up his tray. “From now on, I will be eating with the team. Good luck with everything.”
Jimmy walked away.
“Oh wow,” I heard Chris whisper.
“I guess we need a new plan now,” Barb said to Sasha.
Sasha just laughed. “No, we don’t. We broke them up. Therefore, our job here is done.”
I shot up from my seat. Barb took a step backward, but Sasha actually walked towards me.
“Do you think you scare me?” Sasha said leaning into me, baiting me.
Part of me wanted to take a deep breath and calm down. Another stronger part of me wanted to pull out all of Sasha’s hair.
“I’m not somebody you want to mess with, Sasha!” I said.
Sasha laughed. “I’m already messing with you! And I am quite enjoying it.”
I squeezed my hands into fists. Sasha noticed, pointed to my fist and said. “Come on, go ahead and hit me. I can take it. But don’t forget that I’m a black belt, so I can give it too.”
Ruby stood up and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Nina, please calm down.”
Frank shot up and positioned himself between Sasha and me. “Sis, Ruby is right. Stop it.”
I heard their words but the vampire and tiger inside of me wanted to ignore those words.
“Breathe, honey,” I heard Grandma say. “She’s baiting you.” Grandma pointed to the lunch monitor, Mrs. Bird. “You do anything to Sasha and you will be suspended from school and the Science Fair. So breathe.”
I took a deep breath. It didn’t really help. I still wanted to flatten Sasha so badly. But, I figured I would do it mentally instead. “I’m so looking forward to kicking your butts in the Science Fair. Then if you want I’ll kick your actual butt after that,” I said.
Sasha smirked at me. “You know people would love to watch us fight right now. We’d be school legends.”
“Oh, she is so right!“ Chris said. “A video of it would certainly go viral.”
“And isn’t that the truth,” Wayne agreed.
Frank put a big hand on my shoulder. “Come on, sis. Walk away. You have a nice grilled chicken sandwich and tater tots. Let’s not let them go to waste.”
I knew that Frank, Grandma, and even Ruby were right. Sasha wasn’t worth it. She had been testing me. Not sure why. But I still got that weird vibe from her.
I turned and went back to the table. I sat and popped a tater tot into my mouth. “Yummy,” I said. “Sasha, honey, when the Science Fair is over, you and I will have a little talk. Maybe we can learn to be friends.”
“I doubt that very much,” Sasha said.
“In that case, hopefully, we can learn to coexist because if not, one of us is going to have to leave this school and it won’t be me. I like it here.”
“I broke up you and your boyfriend,” Sasha said. “I can do even worse.”
“You’re welcome to try,” I said.
Barb grabbed Sasha by the arm and tugged. Sasha didn’t budge. Yeah, she was strong. “Come on, Sasha, this has just got a little dark, even for me. I just want to win the Science Fair.”
Sasha took a deep breath. “Good point,” she said. “We broke up the perfect secret couple. Our work here is done.”
She turned and walked away. Barb followed close behind.
Nina Note: Had Sasha’s plan really worked? Was that all she wanted to do...drive Jimmy away from me? Did Jimmy really mean what he said? Would he avoid me now...and all because of Sasha and Barb? If so, I had to keep the vampire and tiger in me under control. Sure, I was mad, very very mad. But I couldn’t allow my anger to control me. No good would come of that. I needed to channel that anger to power and move forward. I knew I could do that. I wanted to be with Jimmy but if he was afraid of the risks, then so be it. I couldn’t blame him for being afraid of my mom. It actually made good sense.
What doesn’t make sense is that I have no idea what’s Sasha’s game is? Is she just a mean girl or is there more to her than that?
Chapter 7: Commute
After school, when Ruby and I met Aunt Mika at her car for a ride home, I was fuming. I couldn’t be certain who I felt angrier with, Sasha for taking that picture and threatening to show it to our moms, or Barb for telling Sasha about my potential relationship with Jimmy, or Jimmy for actually backing down. He spent the rest of the school day avoiding me!
Aunt Mika noticed my foul mood the second I sat down. “What’s going on?”
“Jimmy dumped me in the middle of the cafeteria in front of everybody!” I said with my arms crossed and my face frowning.
The car pulled out.
“Then the rumors are true,” Aunt Mika said.
“Yes, sadly,” I said.
“I’ve been trying to calm her down,” Ruby said. “I keep telling her there could be more to this than meets the eye. And she can’t blame Jimmy for being worried about what his mom and her mom thinks.”
“Ruby, go to sleep!” I commanded.
Ruby’s eyes closed and her head dropped forward.
“Good,” I said. “I’m not in the mood to talk logic!”
“The girl’s right you know,” Aunt Mika told me.
“What do you mean?” I prompted.
“Oh, come on, Nixy you're not stupid. You knew the risk of seeing Jimmy. If your mom finds out she might put him in a trance until you graduate,” Aunt Mika said. “And this Sasha girl, there's something about her that I don't trust.”
“Of course, you don’t trust her, she made Jimmy dump me.”
“You know it’s more than that,” Aunt Mika insisted. “There’s something different about her. Not even Anna can get a read on her.”
“Do you think she’s a vampire hunter?” I asked.
“Jimmy would have known if she was. There aren’t a lot of them and they all pretty much know each other. Jimmy would have told you,” Aunt Mika said.
“Then what it is?” I asked.
Aunt Mika shrugged. “Not sure. But we’ll figure it out. I’ve seen the way that boy looks at you, he’s not one to be scared off easily.” A slight delay then, “Besides, you can be a bit much. It’s not easy for the male ego to deal with a female as aggressive and strong as you are. Give the boy time. He’ll come around.”
“Gee, I’m getting love advice from my Aunt who’s a zombie,” I groaned.
“A zombie rock star,” she corrected. “I know love.” Looking over her shoulder she grinned at me.
I noticed something with two legs on top of the car's hood. There on top of our moving car stood another Phantom Ninja. Pointing to the front of the hood I said, “Aunt Mika do you see that?”
Turning forward, Aunt Mika said. “Yeah, hard to miss that. Being mostly dead, I can see other mostly dead things. Let me guess...this is a phantom ninja?”
“Yep,” I said.
“Aunt Mika jerked the car to t
he left and then suddenly to the right. The ninja bent down and smiled at us. He waved and called out, “I am a ninja, and it takes more than that to lose me.”
The ninja slid through the window and sat in the passenger’s seat of the car. “Oh, this is an interesting way to travel.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
The ninja crossed his arms. “I do have a name!”
“Which is?” Aunt Mika asked.
The ninja looked upwards. “I actually can’t remember. I guess when you die, names are no longer important.”
We heard a siren behind us. Turning I saw the red light of a police car closing in on us. Aunt Mika seemed more interested in the ninja than the police car.
“So, how did you get to be a ninja?” Aunt Mika asked, still ignoring the police.
“Work, train, work some more,” the ninja replied.
“And do bad stuff,” I added.
The ninja looked at me. “Kid, I did things for the other side, things I'm not super proud of but I wouldn't call them super bad. I would call them looking at things from a different perspective.” He pointed to the red shining light growing closer and closer. “That sound is annoying.”
“Let’s deal with the policeman first,” I said.
“Do you want me to get rid of him?” the ninja asked. “Ninjas are really good at that. It may be what we do best. But a little-known fact is that we are also excellent chefs.”
“No hurting him!” I ordered.
“Check, I’ll just get rid of his car and that annoying light!” the ninja said grabbing a throwing star.
“She said, DON’T HURT HIM!” Aunt Mika pulled the car to the side of the road.
“You sure?” the ninja asked.
“Yes, that’s what I said!” I yelled at the ninja.
“Have I mentioned I’m good at cooking?” the ninja asked.
“Far out!!! Yes, you have.”
“Can you tell my memory kind of stinks?” the ninja asked.
“Yep,” I said.
“Now be quiet while we deal with this police officer,” Aunt Mika cautioned.
“Whom, I am NOT supposed to hurt. Correct?” the ninja asked.
“Yes!” Both my aunt and I shouted.
Aunt Mika turned off the car. We sat waiting for the officer to walk up to the car. The officer didn’t seem to be in any hurry.
“Don't hurt him. Don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt him,” the ninja repeated.
The officer reached the window of the car. He was an older officer. He tapped on the window. Aunt Mika lowered the window.
“May I help you, officer?” Aunt Mika said softly and sweetly.
“I noticed you were driving a bit erratically back there ma’am,” the officer said.
“You sure you don’t want me to hurt him?” the phantom ninja whispered.
“Sorry, officer, there was a bee in the car and I got scared,” Aunt Mika said in her meekest voice.
“Hey, don’t I know you,” the office said.
“Ah, I’m not sure,” Aunt Mika said.
“You used to be the lead singer of that group!” the officer said with a smile.
“Yes, I had one hit record a LONG time ago. I’m a music teacher now,” Aunt Mika said.
“Well I liked your music,” the policeman said.
“Thanks!” Aunt Mika said. “Well, thanks for noticing. I promise I'll drive safer now. I guess the bee flew out when I opened the window.”
“Hmm,” the officer said, scratching his head. “I didn’t see anything and I am super observant. Like I knew right away who you were.”
“You saw the bee!” I told the officer in my command voice.
The officer nodded. “I saw the bee,” he said. “It looked like a stinging bee,” he added.
“Therefore, you will let us go!” I ordered.
“Therefore, I will let you go!” the officer said. He patted the car on the roof. “Drive safe, Miss.”
“Drive safely,” the ninja corrected. As we watched the officer walk away. The ninja looked at us. “Ninja’s also believe in using proper grammar. You gotta be smart to be a ninja.”
Aunt Mika started up the car again.
“Okay, ninja, why are you here?” I asked. “Surely you have better things to do than to flirt with my aunt.”
“I am a ninja, I do not flirt. I court.”
“Whatever! Why are you here?” Mika asked.
“I come with an invitation to the girl,” he said pointing at me. “We of the phantom ninjas feel you may be worthy of us. After all, you are vampire and tiger. Nothing says ninja better than that.”
I really wasn’t planning on joining the phantom ninja, but I realized this was a chance to learn more about them.
“What do I gain by becoming a phantom ninja?” I asked.
“You gain the knowledge that you are part of something bigger than you. Bigger than anybody. We are big,” he said.
“Yes, I get that,” I said. “What are your goals?” I asked.
“To protect the weak,” he said.
“At what cost?” I asked.
“No cost in money or gold or silver. We do this out of the kindness of our hearts.”
“I can’t believe you do this out of the kindness of your dead hearts,” I replied, shaking my head.
“All I know is our master wants us to protect the weak. I understand the master may want to use them someday for something special.”
“Who’s your master?” I asked.
The ninja waved a finger at me. “I can not say that. You must become one of us to learn that.”
Sitting back in my seat, I crossed my arms and said, “Beat it freak. I’m my own boss.”
“Besides your mom and dad,” Aunt Mika added.
“He knows what I mean.”
“Let me get this straight, that’s a no,” the ninja asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Now go back to wherever you came from.”
“Is it a hard no?” the ninja asked.
“Yes!” I said.
The ninja looked at my aunt. “She’s in a mood.”
“Her boyfriend may have dumped her today,” Aunt Mika said.
“I can hurt him for you,” the ninja offered.
“No!” I said. “Not needed.”
The ninja glanced into my eyes. “I can tell from your eyes there was another woman involved. Did he leave you for her? I can get rid of her?”
“No, he didn’t leave me for her,” I said.
The ninja kept looking into my eyes. “Ah, he left you because of her. Who is this her?”
“Her name is Sasha Stein,” I said without even thinking.
The ninja’s eyes opened wide. “Yikes!” he said. The ninja crossed his hand in front of his face. He bowed. He disappeared.
“Any idea what that was about?” I asked Aunt Mika.
“None,” she said. “But phantom ninjas being around can’t be a good sign.”
“It’s really weird that he seemed to know who Sasha was,” I said.
“I wouldn’t read too much into that,” Aunt Mika said. “After all, his brain did seem a little warped. Trust me, being mostly dead can be bad for the brain. And I’m pretty sure that phantom ninjas are more dead than I am.”
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I got excited hoping it would be a text from Jimmy explaining himself. Instead, it was a text from Frank. Frank didn't normally send texts during practice. The boy had a hard time doing two things at once.
Glancing at the text, it said: I’ve talked to Jimmy. Well, actually, Jimmy came over and talked to me. He can explain. Well, I mean he did explain to me. I will explain to you when I see you after practice. Well not right after practice cuz I have to walk home and stuff. Then I probably need to shower so I don’t stink up the house. But, after that, I can explain to you why Jimmy did what he did. I like Jimmy!
“What’s the text say?” Aunt Mika asked.
“It’s from Frank. Apparently, he talked to Jimmy and he w
ants to explain to me what happened. This ought to be good,” I said.
“Nixy, give you brother and Jimmy a break. I’m sure they are both just looking out for you.”
“How can you be sure of that?” I asked.
“Because I know your brother well. And I’ve had a bit to do with Jimmy. I believe you can trust him. Remember, your mom's a really scary lady. You can't blame him for being cautious!”
Nina Note: I understood Aunt Mika’s logic. I also understood why Jimmy might have been afraid of my mom and his mom. Still, none of that made it any easier to accept. And I feel really sad.
Chapter 8: Friendship has power
When our house came into sight, I woke Ruby up with a little tap on the shoulder.
“Ruby, wake up please.”
Ruby’s eyes popped open. “What happened?”
“Nixy, put you to sleep because she was in a rotten mood,” Aunt Mika told her.
Ruby thought about those words. “Yeah, I guess you have had a pretty rotten day!”
“Thank you for understanding,” I said, feeling a little guilty.
“What did I miss?” Ruby asked.
“How do you know you missed something?” I countered.
“Are you serious Nina? With you, something is always happening.”
“The girl knows you so well,” Aunt Mika said pulling the car into the driveway.
“A phantom ninja came to me. He wants me to join them.”
“Why?” Ruby asked.
“He said he wants me to help them defend the weak,” I told her while getting out of the car.
“That doesn’t sound right,” Ruby said. “I’ve been doing some digging on the supernatural web, phantom ninjas do not appear to be the defenders of the weak. If anything they target the weak.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “They are bad news...I wonder why they want me?”
“Because you are also bad news,” the now familiar voice of the phantom ninja said.
Turning I saw him standing on top of the Aunt Mika’s car. He held a throwing star in his right hand.
“I thought you were gone,” I told him.
“I’m a ninja!” he shrugged as if that really answered my question.
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