Meta (Book 3): Rise of The Circle

by Reynolds, Tom

  I laugh in return to be polite, but I'm still looking over my shoulder to make sure no one overheard him and somehow figured out through his sarcasm that we're both secretly metahumans. Midnight's paranoia is creeping into my own thoughts, yet again.

  "Are you coming to my party tonight?" he asks.

  "Umm, what party tonight?" I reply.

  "Maybe you didn't hear me the first time. I'll try again. I know you can be kind of slow. Hey, Connor. Are you coming to my party tonight? Does that answer your question about 'what' party tonight?"

  "Yes, it's your party."

  "And they say you can't learn any new tricks," Winston says with a punch to my arm. Not a hard punch, though, a joke punch, the kind of punch a friend gives another friend, which is different from the punches I'm used to, which were previously from bullies and more recently from super-powered maniacs.

  "Yeah, sure," I say while trying to figure out in my head if this is the first time I've actually been personally invited to a party by the person throwing the party.

  "Cool. Eight o'clock. See you there," he says as he turns to leave for the next class.

  "Wait, where do you live?"

  "Off-campus apartments."

  "You don't live on campus? Why? I thought we all had to live on campus?" I ask.

  I don't even notice that a straggler has unintentionally crept up behind me on her way out the door. I'm not sure if she heard me and it looks like Winston isn’t either. He gives her a tight-lipped smile as she squeezes past the two of us.

  "You've got to be more careful. Luckily, you're weird to begin with so she probably just thinks you're dumb."

  "Well that's a relief."

  "Steve will give you a ride there. He's got a car here, as long as you don't mind walking home. It's not far."

  30

  When Winston said he lived in an off-campus apartment, he failed to mention that, while that's technically true, he actually has the entire building all to himself. His family is in the real estate business, and they own the place. Michelle prefers to have all of us live on campus, but Winston managed to talk his way into being able to stay at his own place. He successfully argued that it'd look strange for him to live in a cramped dorm room when he could be living here, practically across the street from campus. Of course, that's total bull, but Winston's no dummy. He used Michelle and the academy's own paranoia about secrecy to help him skirt one of their own rules. Genius.

  There's a bunch of reasons why they want all of us staying on campus, but one of the biggest ones is so they can keep an eye on us and make sure we don't do things exactly like what Winston is doing right now. I'm not sure how they expect us to act like “normal” teenagers, though, if they don't want us to find ways to break the rules without them knowing now and then. Of course, I also half expect that they're fully aware of Winston's little plan and still have eyes on us somehow. Maybe they understand that letting us do stupid things like this keeps us from doing even stupider things down the line when it matters more.

  While I figured this would be bigger than a “small get together,” I wasn't expecting the type of party I find in front of me as Steve and I walk up to the building. There are people everywhere: people hanging out on the front lawn, people packing the multiple balconies lining the front of the building, people flowing into the backyard and pool.

  "Connor! You aren't actually physically limited to leaving the campus after all," Winston says as he breaks off from a group he's talking to and gives me a hard clap on the back.

  "Do people really think that?" I stupidly ask.

  "No, not really. Not all of them, at least. I wasn't sure if you were going to show up tonight, though. You're the last person I would expect to make fashionably late entrances."

  "Steve's car battery died before he came to pick me up, so any fashionable lateness can be chalked up to him."

  "Ha! I'd tell him that, but it looks like he already found where the pool is."

  I look over my shoulder and see Steve kicking his sneakers off before running toward the pool and yanking his shirt off with one hand right before he leaps into the air for a cannonball. Those already in the pool, and therefore already wet, cheer for him. Those standing alongside the pool's edge, all of whom were dry up until a second ago, are not as impressed.

  "Here, I just grabbed this for myself, but it's all yours. I'll get another," Winston says as he pushes a red plastic cup into my hands.

  "Oh, I don't really drink," I say.

  "You're not driving tonight, and you've actually managed to make it off campus. One drink isn't going to kill you."

  I hesitantly sniff the red liquid sloshing around in the cup.

  "It's not poisoned. Trust me," Winston says.

  What the hell, I think to myself before I take a swig.

  "Ugh, this is terrible," I say. "What is it?"

  "Oh, come on! There's hardly even anything in it. It's mostly just fruit punch."

  "That's what I'm talking about. It tastes like old candy mixed with pure sugar."

  "Relax, it'll grow on you."

  * * *

  Winston wasn't kidding when he said I'd get used to the taste. After my third cup, I don't even notice it anymore. All of a sudden I'm either finally having a good time, kinda drunk, or both. Probably both. Winston cuts me off after that, whispering into my ear something about loose lips sinking ships. I have to ask him to repeat it three times before he finally just explains that I have to be careful about keeping my secrets secret.

  It turns out that I turn into a real Chatty Cathy when I'm buzzed. I can't help it, though. All of a sudden my social anxieties are gone, and I'm having conversations with my classmates like it's completely normal or something. This is with my real classmates for the most part too, not just the other metas. I'd been so worried about my secrets that I'd barely spoken to most of them before tonight out of concern that I wouldn't be able to keep track of all the lies I have to keep. Now I realize that I do a better job keeping my secrets when I'm not thinking about them constantly. Who knew?

  There's about a dozen of us in a circle all talking and laughing about the way Mr. Yancy pronounces the word “fusion” in chemistry class. The way he says the word rhymes with “onion” for some reason. I'm not doing much of the talking, but I'm still there.

  A new person I don't recognize joins the circle and is introduced by a friend of hers as Ashley. She faces the circle and pivots around slightly on the balls of her feet, giving each of us a small wave as a means of introduction. Most of us give her a small wave back to say hi, including me. That's when I notice her wrist and feel my heart skip a beat. She notices me staring and the conversation slowly quiets down.

  "Everything okay with you?" she asks me.

  "You ... you're wearing metabands," I stammer out, feeling my face beginning to become flush.

  "I am, so you'd better watch out," she yells at me as she assumes a mock fighting stance. Everyone else in the circle laughs, except me. They all notice that I'm not laughing, which seems to make them all laugh even harder.

  "They're not real, Connor," Claire from chemistry class says to me. Ashley notices that I must still look very confused and steps forward to show them to me more closely and explain.

  "They're fakes, obviously. If I were a metahuman, I wouldn't be hanging out with these losers," she jokes, drawing more laughs and a handful of mock protests. "I got them online. They're supposed to be super accurate looks-wise, obviously. I won't be picking up any cars with these on unfortunately."

  She takes one off and places it in my hand.

  "Wow, it really does feel like a real one," I say. She looks at me puzzled. Crap. I just did the thing that Winston was afraid of me doing. "I mean, from what I've read."

  "Oh, for a minute there I thought you were going to tell me that you've actually held one in real life."

  "Ha, no, no, of course not."

  "I was going to say. From what I've heard, most metas aren't too eager to let someone
else try their metabands on, even if they know they won't do anything, especially after that little trick that Iris girl pulled on that nerd who tore up Bay View City."

  "Trick?"

  "When she teleported away with them. I heard she put them on the moon."

  "Mars, actually."

  Ashley is giving me the same “how did you know that?” look as before.

  "That's what I heard, anyway."

  There's a familiar clap on my back again and Winston's voice.

  "Connor here has a brother who's big in the metahuman news industry. Isn't that right?" he asks.

  "Um, yeah," I say as he gives me a suddenly deadly serious look that tells me that I've got to be more careful about what I'm saying.

  "Really? Who does he work for?" she asks.

  "Um, connollyreport.com," I reply.

  "Oh my God! You're kidding. That is, like, my favorite site. I'm not even kidding you. I have it set as my homepage."

  "Connor here is being modest. His brother doesn't just work for them, does he, Mr. Connolly?" Winston says with a smile.

  Ashley's eyes widen as the realization hits her.

  "Wait, your brother is Derrick Connolly? Get out of here."

  "Yeah, he is."

  Ashley suddenly ignores everyone else standing in the circle and cuts through them to stand closer to me.

  "And you're Connor Connolly? Like, the real Connor Connolly?"

  "Umm, yeah," I say with a nervous laugh.

  "I remember reading all about your story. How Omni saved you and that little girl in the woods that night. That was the first metahuman sighting in years and years, and you were actually there!"

  "Yeah, I was."

  "Can I ask you a question?"

  "Sure."

  "What was he like?"

  I catch Winston out of the corner of my eye as he moves from our small group onto another, playing the host, but not before he gives me a look that seems to say, “Remember, don't be an idiot.”

  "He was ... I don't know. Red?"

  "Wow. I can't believe you actually met Omni."

  "Well I didn't really meet him meet him. It was more like I just kinda saw him, you know?"

  "Still. That must have been incredible."

  "Yeah, I mean he was kinda incredible, now that you mention it."

  I hear a throat being cleared behind me and see that it's Winston again as he walks past, another reminder not to lay it on too thick. I can't help it, though. It's nice to have someone asking questions and showing interest in me, even if they don't realize that it's me.

  "I'm sorry if I'm like totally fangirling out. I'm just a big meta geek, as you've probably picked up on by now."

  "I'm the last person to call anyone else a metahuman geek after living with Derrick my whole life. That guy is like a pocket protector with legs when it comes to geeking out about this stuff."

  "Oh, right. I forgot that you and he were orphaned. That's why you live together, right?"

  And just like that this conversation has gone from fun and flattering to awkward and weird. Usually I'm the one who does that, so it's actually kinda nice for someone else to step up to the plate for once.

  "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I forget that these kinds of things happen to real people sometimes, you know?"

  "I know what you mean. It's okay. Don't worry about it."

  "So, do you know if Derrick is hiring any interns for the winter break?"

  "Sorry, I have literally no idea."

  "Hmm, well do you think you can ask him for me?"

  "Um, yeah. Sure."

  "Great!"

  She stands staring at me with a goofy grin on her face. I can feel the awkwardness increasing as the length of time where neither of us is saying anything grows longer.

  "Do you think you can ask him now?" she asks me.

  Is she serious? I look at her eyes and can see that yes, she is absolutely serious.

  "Oh, I'm not really sure if he's busy right now, you know?"

  "Totally. I totally know ... but there's really only one way to find out."

  She's totally, totally serious. What do I do? I don't want to be mean, but I also don't like being put on the spot like this. Should I just call Derrick and ask him? What would I even say? “Hey, Derrick, I snuck off of campus even though your girlfriend specifically told me not to, and now I'm at a party where I'm a little bit drunk and some weird girl won't stop asking me to ask you to let her work for you, so what do you think?”

  I'm beginning to realize that Ashley's idea of awkwardness is out of step with the rest of the world's as she just stands there like a statue, waiting, with no sign of letting me off the hook. My hand reaches for my pocket to grab my phone. Am I really going to call Derrick right now? Maybe I can just pretend like I'm dialing his number and then say that there was no answer?

  Just as I pull my phone out of the pocket of my jeans, I feel it buzzing. I look at the screen and see that it's displaying “Caller Unknown.” I used to see things like that and just assume it was some telemarketer, but I know better nowadays.

  "Can you excuse me for just one minute?" I ask.

  Ashley's expression barely changes as she waits. She doesn't take the cue to step back a little bit and offer me some privacy, so I turn to make some for myself.

  "Hello?" I say into the receiver.

  "Where are you?" Midnight asks on the other end.

  Ah, saved by the masked vigilante.

  "Um," I say as I consider lying for a moment before I realize how futile that usually is with him. "I'm at a party."

  "Get to the rooftop of the parking garage a block south from your current position."

  I should have known that, of course, he knows where I am already. He was asking more about why I am where I am. He's not mad at me for having snuck off campus, even though it's super against the rules. The fact that he's passing up an opportunity to yell at me means whatever is going on is serious. And when it's serious, he's not going to tell me anymore than what is absolutely necessary, especially over the phone. And from the sound of it, all that's absolutely necessary for me to know is that I get to that rooftop.

  I hit the end call button without saying goodbye, remembering that he never says it anyway and feeling slightly proud that I got to end the call for a change.

  It's definitely less than ideal to leave this party when I'm actually having a good time, but I'd be lying to myself if I didn't admit that I'm kinda excited to jump back into action. I have no idea what Midnight is up to, but these types of nights have been few and far between lately. Training is fine and all, and it's nice to be somewhere relatively safe during the day where I don't have to constantly look over my shoulder, waiting for some random attack, but neither is a replacement for a night of cracking bad guy skulls.

  Before I slip my phone into my pocket, I feel it buzz again, and I look down to see a new text message, also from an unknown number.

  Tell no one. You have 3 minutes.

  Pretty safe to assume that one's from Midnight too. I hadn't planned on announcing to the entire party that I was leaving early to go meet up with my vigilante friend for some undisclosed mission, but I didn't think it would be a big problem to mention it to some of the other metas here. When I think about it, I realize that the only reason I feel that way is because I know it would make a few of them jealous. It's not malicious. It just feels good to be enviable once in awhile. It feels good, but maybe it's not actually good for me. That's the type of attitude that gets people in trouble, sooner or later.

  It's also probably a bad idea since there are at least one or two people here who would want to tag along. They'd flat out insist. I know they would, and even if I said “no,” they'd try to follow anyway. I can't even imagine what the look on Midnight's face would be if I showed up at the agreed upon rendezvous point and just happened to have a couple of friends looking to come along with us.

  I'm still a few feet away from the group I was hanging out with, but none of
them are looking in my direction. If I'm going to make it in time, I'd better beat feet. There’s no time for goodbyes, especially when they'd just bring questions that I wouldn't be quick enough to come up with answers for. A few will wonder where I’ve disappeared to, maybe even worry a little bit, but it'll be fine. I'll text Winston after I'm with Midnight. Keep the details vague, but let him know that I'm fine.

  Working my way through the crowded backyard and through the sliding glass door leading into the house, I can see that the party has started growing exponentially in just the short time since I’ve arrived. There are tons of people I don't recognize. I'm not even sure anymore if most of the people here go to the academy.

  As I move through the crowd, I'm feeling grateful that there are so many new people here and so many eyes that don't recognize me. It’s fewer people to think about where I’ve gone. If the other metas here don't know where I went, then they won't have to lie when anyone else asks them. If anyone else asks them, of course. I think I'm probably overestimating just how missed I'm going to be at a party this big.

  Right before I make it to the door, a second before my hand reaches out for the knob, I'm recognized.

  "Connor?" Sarah asks from my right.

  I hadn't seen her standing there. I didn't even know that she was at this party, but of course she's at this party. Everyone's at this party. And of course she would see me now, when I'm trying to sneak out the door.

  "I thought that was you," she says as she makes her way toward me.

  She reaches out and gives me a hug, a friendly hug. No different than any of the others she's given me in the past on the surface, but there's something different about it. I can just feel it.

  "You're not leaving, are you?" she asks.

  "Yeah, unfortunately."

  "You've got to be joking. I feel like this party just got started."

  She's been drinking. Not a lot, but enough to be feeling good right about now, the same way I was feeling before Midnight called me away. Now I just feel kinda dizzy and uncoordinated. "I was kinda hoping when I saw you that we'd maybe have a chance to catch up ..."