by R. J. Ross
“Hello, Zoe, did I interrupt?” he asks.
“No, of course not,” I say, closing down the schematics and glancing over at the half-built computer behind me. “How can I help you, Isotonic?”
“I’m calling to make an offer,” he says, leaning forward on his desk. “My daughter is in your school right now, but I don’t want to leave her there. We have enough problems in our family as it is. Plus, Hard Knocks’ boys will be growing into their powers in the next year or two, as well as a few others that I know of—and all the healers that we haven’t found yet.”
“So you want my father to set up Cape High North?” I say.
“I was thinking that you could,” he says. “I realize you’re only sixteen, but honestly, you strike me as a very responsible sixteen year old.”
“I work with my father,” I say firmly. “And I go through Mastermental, first, but,” I say before he can protest, “I’m willing to let you say you’ve asked my opinion,” I say with a little smile. “And I’m willing to listen to what you think you have to offer to our prestigious school.” I sit down on my stool, crossing my legs and preparing myself for an interesting offer. Before he can start, though, a light flashes and I wave my hand at another monitor.
“Negatia,” I say, honestly trying not to laugh. “How can I help you?”
“I’m calling to make an offer,” she says.
“Oh? What for?” I ask, making myself comfortable. This is going to be fun.
My name is Zoe Rosenthorn-Masters. I’m going to change the world—very, very soon.
Bonus Chapters:
Patience
“So how’s work going?” I ask Max, leaning into his side as our little group of four heads through the open mall. My eyes are following Carla, who keeps getting excited one moment, only to get shy the next when Rocco has to grab her hand to keep her from using her powers. I know that I should be the one doing it—but it’s way too entertaining to watch Rocco do it!
“We haven’t found any,” Max admits, his arm curved around my waist. “I’m not sure if we’re going to—it’s not the typical healer that jumps out to meet a villain, you know? Even though Ace went up north, he hasn’t found anyone, either.”
“And there’s always the chance that they’ve moved,” I admit. “Like Rochester and Cisco, they probably ran the moment they were outed.” I sigh, pulling away and grabbing his hand instead. “We need to get the stuff to throw Carla’s birthday party, too,” I tell him. “I’m thinking My Little Pony decorations. We need enough for the entire school—and a cake, right, Carla?”
“A HUGE cake!” Carla says, looking back at us, and when that’s not enough apparently, coming back to my side. “There should be cupcakes, too, that way I can take a few to Sandra’s room. And then I want to do karaoke! Do we have a karaoke machine?”
“No, but we can make one!” I say.
“Um—” she says, hesitating abruptly, “do you think we could, um, invite my family here? We can blindfold them and everything, or maybe we could use teleportation, you know, so they don’t know where the school is—but—”
“Or I could bring them,” Rocco offers. “But it stinks the way I go,” he admits.
“We can do the teleporting thing—they tend to complain a lot,” Carla says. Max laughs.
“I want to meet the siblings,” Max says. “Do you know if they have powers or not yet?”
“Nico STILL refuses to tell me!” Carla complains, looking at him. “I should at LEAST be able to warn Ma, right? Like, can you imagine how scary it is to have your kid here one second, gone the next?” she demands, her hands on her hips.
We stare at her. When that doesn’t work, Rocco says a bit blandly, “I think we can imagine it.”
“EXACTLY!” Carla says. “It’s terrifying!”
We keep staring at her pointedly, just waiting. When that doesn’t work, Max goes, “I know Trent knows EXACTLY how it feels.”
“Of course he does! Emily teleports!”
“Carla?” Rocco says, placing a hand on her shoulder. She yelps and moves so fast that she disappears, reappearing behind me. Max, the jerk, starts laughing his head off.
“You know, Carla and I are going to just go to the ladies’ room for a bit,” I say, feeling compassion. I’ve been there, okay? I know how she feels right now. I let go of Max’s hand and slip my arm around Carla’s, tugging her along. The further we go, the more embarrassed she looks, I notice. The moment she lets the door close behind us, she explodes in a rant so fast that I almost don’t catch it all. The general gist? She’s blowing her first date EVER, and Rocco doesn’t even seem to realize that it IS a date, so she’s not sure which is more embarrassing.
The poor girl.
“But,” I have to point out, “if he doesn’t realize it, isn’t it better? Consider this practice for when you DO have your first date!” I say.
“But he doesn’t take me seriously at all!” she says, pouting. I can’t exactly argue that, honestly. I frown slightly, thinking about it for a moment.
“Let’s fix that,” I say, opening my purse and digging out a few things. My coloring and hers are exact opposites, but I tend to wear more neutral colors, so I pull out my makeup. I pick out the softest pink eye shadow, peach lip gloss and black mascara—none of which she actually needs, since she’s beautiful. But hey, a girl needs some war paint if she’s going to battle! Once I’m done with her makeup, I grab her hand and haul her out. “Max? We’re going clothing shopping,” I call over to him, dragging her to a Forever 21.
About twenty minutes later I pull her out of the store wearing a pair of clunky heeled boots and an adorable white babydoll dress.
“I’m not sure—” Carla says, tugging my hand. “Maybe this is the wrong dress—do you think it’s the right dress? I thought—”
“You look beautiful,” I tell her.
“Wow, you really did go clothing shopping,” Max says, making me look over. He and Rocco head for us, but it’s the strange look on Rocco’s face that makes me grin. “You look great, Carla!” Max says.
“At least you won’t be disappearing with those shoes on, right?” Rocco says finally.
I can literally hear Carla’s heart break. She turns and runs away, leaving both of them looking confused. “You’re a moron,” I tell Rocco bluntly before chasing after her at top speed.
He does have a point, though. Those heels are just enough to make it easy for me to catch up to her in a few seconds. She’s sitting on the edge of a waterfall, staring at her boots like she’s about to cry. I drop down next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She sighs. “I give up,” she says. “Boys are stupid.” She leans into me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“They are,” I agree. “At least Rocco was just then. But hey—you look gorgeous and you just turned fourteen—so there’s absolutely NO reason to let one stupid boy mess up your day.”
“Yeah! And I’ll just find a boyfriend WAY better than him!” she says, standing up. “Let’s go get something to eat!” she says. There’s still a hint of hurt in her eyes, but I don’t say anything about it as I get up.
***
“What just happened?” Rocco asks, long after the two girls disappear. “No, seriously, what just happened? I just said the truth!”
“You just screwed up royally,” Max says bluntly.
“All I said was that the shoes would keep her from running off—which obviously isn’t the case.”
“You really have to ask?” Max asks. “Because it’s pretty obvious that Carla has a crush on you.”
“She—she’s fourteen! Barely fourteen!”
“So?” Max asks.
“I’m almost eighteen—she’s way too young for me!”
“Now, sure,” Max agrees. “But think about it this way, my Dad’s well over a hundred years, but he has an eighteen year old son. Yours is around that, too, I think. In the long run,” he says very casually, “four years is a drop in the bucket. Which is why you, you
moron, should keep your hands to yourself and that cute little girl happy with you--as well as her massive group of brothers and sisters. It’ll be no time at all before she grows up into the freaking BABE that she promises to be and four years difference isn't as big a deal. It’s called being patient. If you're going to be a super villain, it's one of the FIRST things you need to learn.”
“But—”
“No ‘buts,'" Max says as the two girls head for them at a walk. Every guy they pass turns and stares, not that either girl notices. “My girlfriend is right, by the way. You’re a moron,” he says silently. He holds out a hand to Zoe, who takes it with a smile.
“We want to go to lunch,” she says.
“Sounds good,” he says. “What do you want, Carla? Anything at all.”
“Pizza!” she says.
“New York deep dish?”
“Sure!”
“Rocco, get us to New York,” Max says.
He’d just been relegated to taxi, Rocco thinks irritably. And Carla won’t even look at him.
He really IS a moron.
Civility Wars
“I have to humbly disagree,” Mastermental says, sitting at the curved table in the special meeting hall at Central Hall. “Since she has been a ward of Cape High--” he pauses, looking at Century pointedly, “Central, she is officially a member of Central Hall. That means I have first claim on her--and since I don’t plan on handing her over to any of you, this entire conversation is a moot point.”
“That’s a fancy way of putting it, Mastermental, but we’re not buying it,” Century says, lounging in his own chair with his hand on his Stetson. He’s come decked out in his best, complete with thousand dollar boots and a one-of-a-kind southern cut suit made by Armani. “We want to see her for ourselves, and hear what she has to say for herself.”
“I think she’d make a wonderful addition to my team,” Negatia says, leaning back and crossing her legs. “I’ve got several plays written up already that will make use of her very unique, special talents.”
“I have the perfect setting for her,” Isotonic says, glowering at the others. “I’ve even got my special team writing up her back story as we speak--”
“She has a perfectly fine back story, and I’ve already called in the photographers for her debut posters,” Mastermental says.
They start arguing over whether debut posters are too ostentatious or if they’re not nearly enough when a light flashes and a screen lights up to the right. A tall, sharp looking British hero appears on the screen. The Hall leaders instantly jerk to attention, glaring at the new comer.
“I don’t recall inviting you to this little meeting, Knight,” Mastermental says.
“Am I interrupting?” Knight says in a tone that says he’d PLANNED to be. “I called to open negotiations.”
“For who?” Century asks, his eyes narrowed.
“The gargoyle girl,” Knight says. “She’d be perfect for my little team. Let’s face it, you people don’t have the right architecture for a gargoyle hero--”
“That doesn’t matter!” the entire group says.
“And that’s how the first Super War will begin!” I finish cheerfully, kicking my legs. I finally coaxed Sandra out of her room with a pint of ice cream, so we’re sitting on top of the dorms, watching the sun set as I explain how important a role she’ll play in the future.
She snorts. “Yeah, right!” she says. “Maybe they’d do that over YOU, but they won’t do it over me!” She takes a huge bite of rocky road. “I’m going to wind up unwanted--”
I bring out my phone and call Century. “Hey, Century? Wanna meet our female tank? She promises to be amazing, already, and she’s only fifteen.”
He looks a bit surprised at first, and I can see him planning to scold me for interrupting, but he stops at the question. His eyes widen ever so slightly. “I would LOVE to meet her, sugar.” He reaches up and straightens his tie. I get the feeling he’s at a formal affair, if the image of a well dressed woman standing behind him is any indicator.
“No! He’ll--” Sandra starts out, trying to cover her face with her large stone hands. I turn the phone towards her, ruthlessly. A low, appreciative whistle comes over the phone and Sandra hesitantly peeks between her fingers.
“Let me see your face, darlin,” Century says. “Wait--” he turns, heading away from the party. “Now,” he says. I reach out and tug one hand away. “What a stunner,” he says in admiration. “Zoe, sugar, put me on the list of prospective Halls, will you?” he adds after glancing around.
“Will do!” I say cheerfully.
“And keep her off the channels, will you?” Century says. “We don’t want anyone getting upstart ideas.”
“I can’t promise that,” I say evilly. “Have fun at your party, Century!” I add, waving before hanging up on him. I ignore it when he tries to call back. “Want to meet Isotonic?” I ask her.
She hesitates for all of a second before a wicked grin crosses her face. “Sounds like fun!”
~About the Author~
R.J. Ross has been writing since junior high, when she discovered that it could help her keep an A in English Class. She lives in Missouri, where she works as a secretary for the family business and spends all of her free time writing. If you would like to see more of her work, you can find several short stories at amazon.com/author/rjross!
Like her on Facebook for bonus material such as character profiles, unpublished information, and status updates at https://www.facebook.com/capehigh! Or check out her blog for free Cape High short stories at https://capehigh.wordpress.com or follow her on twitter @rjrosscapehigh
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~About the Cover Designer~
Cheyanne is a native Texan with a fear of cold weather and a coffee addiction that probably needs an intervention. She loves books, sarcasm, nail polish and paid holidays. She lives near the beach with her family, one spoiled rotten puppy and a cat that is plotting to take over the world, one scratched up welcome mat at a time. A recent day-job quitter, Cheyanne can be found furiously typing on her computer, probably complaining on Twitter about how she should be writing. When she’s not honing her procrastination skills, she’s writing books for teenagers. She is the author of several books for teens and recently turned her love of superheroes and writing for teens into books about teenage superheroes. Find more about her books at www.CheyanneYoung.com or follow her on Twitter @NormalChey