Rainbow Rush (Cape High Series Book 19)

by R. J. Ross

  “Time for lights out, everyone!” Banshee calls out. “Vinny, you need to head to your place.”

  “I’m going,” he says, leaving the room, “but if I hear you said any of that to Jimmi, I’m coming down just to yell at you, got it?” he says over his shoulder.

  “Yeah, yeah,” I say, piling up my things and heading for the bed as Malina gets off to go to her room. “Bye,” I add more quietly, falling onto my blankets and falling asleep.

  ***

  “Did you really go all the way up to Central?” Dolly asks as Ruckus walks into the house. She’s sitting at the dining room table, painting her fingernails red and white. “Didn’t Century say—”

  “Century was taking too long,” Ruckus says, heading for her chair and dropping down. She lets out a sigh. “I practically got attacked by Maximum. What does Maximum have to do with Hy-bo? It doesn’t make any sense!”

  “Maximum is the second-in-command of Central,” Dolly says, holding up her hand to examine her job. “And I’m pretty sure they went to school together, right? She’s such a cutie, so I’m not going to complain. She’ll probably be a lot more fun than you are.”

  “I’m not looking for someone FUN!” Ruckus says. “Why does no one other than me take this job seriously? Even our villains treat this like it’s a huge joke! The only one that even halfway takes me seriously is Jersey. That’s one person out of four.”

  Dolly turns and stares at her. “You don’t think I work hard?” she asks quietly.

  “You play with dolls, Dolly,” Ruckus says. “It’s the same thing a six-year-old would do!”

  “Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to do what I do?” Dolly asks, but her voice is tiny. “No, I don’t want to fight. All we ever do is fight. I thought we could at least TRY to get to know each other—I was going to offer to do your nails tonight, and everything! But—but I don’t feel like doing that anymore,” she says, getting to her feet and running off to her bedroom.

  “Who said I WANTED my nails done?” Ruckus demands to the empty room. She growls under her breath as she sees the red fingernail polish left open and dripping on the tablecloth. “You can’t even clean up your own mess,” she mutters, getting up to do so. Her eyes fall on a box full of nail polishes, all metallic in nature, ranging from gold to opalescent. There are also gemstones and stencils, and a little plastic nail lamp.

  She isn’t going to feel guilty. She isn’t.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Okay, Carla, you… well, I was going to ask if you have everything you need, but you’re only going to be there for two weeks, you know?” Nico says as he looks pointedly at the massive stuffed unicorn under my arm. It took me three trips in and out of the campus to get my luggage out here, and one of the trips was solely to get the unicorn. It was extremely hard to see the glowing footprints around him, too. “If you’re planning to run, I… guess I’ll carry half of it,” he says, just staring at the pile next to me. “Did you forget anything, though? Like the sink?”

  “Can we teleport?” I ask, a bit sheepishly.

  “Can we hold all of it and still reach the watch?” he asks in return.

  “I can help,” Rocco calls through the force field that surrounds the school.

  “Good idea. Get out here, Rocco, and just because it’s a good excuse, we’ll take the Shadowlands. I want to scan it and see if I’m right.”

  “But the dinos might try to eat my unicorn,” I protest as Rocco steps into view. “and he might stink really bad afterwards, too… I guess I could spray him with something when we get there?” Or maybe they’ll have the super-sized washing machines like we have here.

  “I’ll carry the unicorn,” Nico says with a sigh. “They won’t go after me.”

  “They don’t go after Lance, either. Maybe we should get Lance to carry the unicorn and then—” I start out, only to stop myself as they just look at me. “Or… I could leave the unicorn here,” I say, pouting. I LIKE my unicorn, okay? A lot of the time I have trouble sleeping on my bed, so I sleep on the unicorn, instead. I figure if I’m that far away from everyone, I’m going to need all the comfort I can get, right?

  “I’ll carry it,” Nico says, taking it from my hold and grabbing one of my bags, as well. “Rocco, you’ll have to grab my arm. I don’t have a free hand at the moment.”

  “Got it,” Rocco says, swinging my backpack over one shoulder before leading us to a nearby shadow. He grabs one of Nico’s wrists and I grab the other. We step into the Shadowlands. It stinks down here, but it’s something I’m sort of used to. I glance around curiously, hearing rustling noises from a distance.

  “You’ve been feeding them properly, right?” I say.

  “I’ve been feeding them all the trash that the dorms and the apartments produce,” Rocco says. “They’ve started to get fat. I would blame it on the Liberties, but everyone knows they don’t throw away leftovers.”

  “Good,” I say. We walk for a while, and with each step I feel more nervous. “Um…” I say.

  “Hmm?” Nico asks, looking over his shoulder.

  “I’m… do you think Ruckus even likes me?”

  “She’s the one that invited you, isn’t she?” Nico says.

  “But I don’t think she really KNEW me when she decided to invite me, because all her complaints about Dolly didn’t make any sense to me,” I say. “So what happens if I go to work with her, only to make things WORSE? Should I apologize for it?”

  “If she has a problem with you, then she’s the one that has the problem,” Rocco says, so sharply that it almost makes me jump. “If this is all about her having a problem with Dolly, or even Skye and the girls—”

  “Rocco,” Nico says quietly.

  “No, Nico,” he says. “I don’t get angry, much, you know? But if that’s what this is, well, she shouldn’t be dragging Carla into the situation, she should be getting out.” Nico is silent for a long moment, and I look over at him.

  “Carla,” he says finally, “you’re hyper—well, usually you are. Once in a while your leg starts shaking so much that the entire room threatens to vibrate. You constantly sing My Little Pony songs, too.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, guiltily.

  “I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world,” he says, making me look up. “Well, no, I WOULD like to add an auto-tune to your voice modulator sometime, but that’s purely because… well, kiddo, you’re more enthusiastic about the notes than you are accurate. Lance starts to howl if he’s in another building at the time.”

  “Shouldn’t it already have that? You made it so people could understand her when she’s running, right?” Rocco says.

  “Are you saying I can’t sing?” I demand, placing my hands on my hips and glaring in their directions.

  “Oh, you can sing,” Nico says, “just not always on key. If it makes you feel any better, Zoe is worse than you are. The girl’s got a tin ear.”

  “I sing WONDERFULLY!” I say.

  “You sing… very energetically,” Rocco says.

  “You, too?” I ask. “Is everyone just going to tell me all the bad parts about me today?”

  “Being tone-deaf isn’t a bad thing, Carla, it’s just part of life. Want me to list all the things you do better than anyone?” Nico asks.

  “YES!” I say.

  “You’ve got the biggest heart I know of,” he says. I feel my cheeks get warm, but a broad smile crosses my face.

  “I do!” I agree. “I was a little worried about people, before, though, but I think there are only a few people as mean as Collector was, out there. And for every one of those people, there are millions of others that just need a smile, right?”

  “Don’t ever stop thinking that,” Nico says. “And remember, Ruckus might be one of those people.”

  “Do you really think that?” I hear Rocco mutter to Nico.

  “No clue, but if anyone can smile for her, it’s Carla,” he replies, not bothering to whisper.

  “I can!” I say, my r
esolution snapping into place. “I can absolutely do that!”

  “That’s my girl,” he says.

  “Now everyone grab on, we’re at the South Branch,” Rocco says. We step into the light a second later and I find myself pulled into a large hug. I let out a surprised laugh, looking up at Century.

  “Sugar, you can’t imagine how much I appreciate this,” he says, putting me down. “We’ve already got your room set up at the dorms, but, well…”

  “Well what?” I ask.

  “Skye offered to take you in, as well, and then Dolly said that they have plenty of rooms at the farmhouse, if you wanted to stay there.”

  “No,” Nico says.

  “Well, I tried to explain that,” Century agrees, “it seems a little strange for the hero to be bunking over at their villain’s place. But Skye never does listen when she gets a wild hair.”

  “Staying at Skye’s is fine,” Nico says, making me look over in surprise. “I’ve got the security system set up, there. Carla would be safe. Staying at some random farmhouse, on the other hand, isn’t going to happen.”

  “What if we let you come in and set up the security?” someone asks from behind us. I turn, seeing Dollface standing there in her polka-dot dress uniform.

  “Dolly!” I say, racing over to her and grabbing her hand. “Hi! I’ve come to work with you for an entire TWO WEEKS!” Which, let’s face it, is a pretty long time for me. It hadn’t sounded like it when it was first brought up, but when I thought about it last night, it got longer and longer. I’m going to be away from my family—both families for that long. It’s sort of scary.”

  “Where’s Ruckus?” Nico asks.

  “I didn’t tell her I was coming,” Dolly says, faking a smile. “We might be roommates, but we’re full-grown adults. We have our own lives, outside of the mask. So if you do our security, will you let her stay with us? That way we can respond to calls as a team.”

  “We’ve already gotten a room set up for her in the campus,” Century says. “Jimmi was planning on having her for dinner one night, as well.”

  “I’ll set up your security system. Rocco, go get Carla moved into the dorms, she can stay over wherever she wants on weekends. You only need an overnight bag for that, Carla. And the unicorn stays in the school.”

  “But—” I say.

  “No carrying the unicorn all over Texas,” he says firmly, “although I’m sure that would have your fans even more excited,” he adds with dry amusement. “Now, do you need anything from me before I go?”

  I look at him, chewing on my bottom lip as my mind races, and then I remember something really important. “Oh! Cisco is here! Nope, I’m good. You can go on home after you finish over at Dolly’s. I bet the school is already missing you, right? They should be starting training hour soon.”

  “Then I’ll do that,” he says, dropping a hand on my head. “Be good, or I’ll switch you over to the villain side.”

  “That might be fun!” I say, getting excited. “Oh, but I can’t. My little brothers and sisters are watching.”

  He lets out a laugh and walks away with Dolly, leaving me there with Century and Rocco. Rocco has a strange look on his face. I tilt my head, looking at him curiously. “You should say hi to Jimmi and Cisco before you leave, Rocco,” I tell him.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he says. “Well, we’re in the school system, right? Let’s go on in.”

  Century picks up the unicorn that Nico had put down, and heads for the entrance. “We don’t have many kids, yet, but I’ve been working on that,” he says as he touches the panel that shoots up. This school is in a cornfield, not a canyon, and it sort of disorients me as I walk in. I’m used to something much more dramatic. The buildings are a lot like the ones back home, though. Well, that figures, since Nico designed it. “I want to look around!” I tell them before zipping off. I take a second to pause and look into the dorms, and then head for the kitchen, and then over to the school building, and then into the science building, and to the back, where… “No tree houses, huh?” I say, feeling a little adrift. We hang out at the tree houses, back home. There’s no pool, either.

  “Is there a problem?” I hear someone ask from behind me. I turn, seeing a very attractive woman watching me with amusement.

  “You’re Cheval!” I say, getting over my disappointment quickly. “HI!”

  “You must be Hypersonic Rainbow,” she says, holding out a hand as I appear in front of her. She doesn’t even blink at my speed. “It’s a pleasure.”

  “No, no, the pleasure is all mine,” I say, taking her hand in both of mine and shaking it enthusiastically. “I showed some of your old reels—Nicohadtoconvertthem—”

  “Slow down, sugar, I’m not going anywhere!” she says with a laugh.

  I take a deep breath, forcing myself to go slower. “Sorry, I’ve been working on that,” I admit. “But I showed your videos to my little brothers and sisters and they’re huge fans, now, too! Can you take me into the Mirrorlands? I’ve always wanted to go! I’ve been in the Shadowlands but it’s really stinky. Are there mirror-dinos? I want to meet a mirror-dino! We feed the shadow-dinos all of the school trash and they didn’t try to eat us on the way here, which is good, but Rocco says they’re getting fat, which probably isn’t very healthy for them, don’t you think?”

  She stares at me. The silence spreads out for one beat, and then two, before she speaks. “Sorry, sweetie, I was just making sure you were finished.”

  I give her a sheepish grin, and she laughs.

  “CARLA!” Cisco shouts, making me look over.

  “CISCO!” I holler back, waving at him with both arms over my head. He’s only thirty feet away, but it still seems to be the appropriate response. “I’m talking with THE Cheval!” I brag.

  “Well, yeah,” he says, “she’s our history teacher.”

  That sort of… ruins the whole bragging rights, now doesn’t it? “Well, she’s not one of MINE,” I say, “except for the next two weeks, that is.”

  “Speaking of which, we’ll have to talk more, later,” Cheval says, looking at her watch. “I need to go prepare for class. Will you be joining us today, Hy-bo?”

  “You can call me Carla,” I tell her. “I’ll see if I can go to class, or not. I’m moving in right now. Cisco, have you seen Rocco? He’s got my stuff.” I just sort of abandoned him and Century, didn’t I? Whoops.

  “He’s in the dorms with Century,” Cisco says, grinning. “Hey, hey, you’ll finally get to meet my dad! He’s just the janitor, though, so I guess it’s not that impressive, huh?”

  “Your father is extremely impressive,” Cheval says as she starts towards the school building. “A psychic type with the ability to learn skills is nothing to scoff at. And there is no shame in being a janitor, especially for a school like this.”

  “Our janitor has a pretty big job, too,” I say. “Whenever Ken isn’t there to talk to, we go to him! Of course we get stuck scrubbing things while we do it, but he says if we’re going to be supers, we should get used to cleaning up other people’s messes, anyway.”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s true. It would be less embarrassing if he didn’t whistle all the time he’s working,” Cisco says, blushing slightly. On a boy that pale, it’s easy to see his blush. He’s so adorable!

  “Carla!” Rocco calls from the dorms. “What’s taking so long?”

  “Coming!” I call back, racing for the dorms. I’m definitely going to have to get to know everyone here! We’ll probably be working together in the future, right? I AM South Branch, after all! I stop on the dorm floor marked “Girls” and look around curiously. One of these rooms is mine, but the one next to mine isn’t Malina’s, and Morgan isn’t down the hall, and—

  Rocco sticks his head out a door, motioning me over. “Turns out Whitney’s your neighbor. That should be fun, right?”

  I feel a little strange as he grins while talking about her. I shove that feeling down, quickly. “It will be! Um, except for the weekends, w
hen I think I’ll be staying with other people. Is this my room?” I ask, stepping into the room and looking around. The walls are white. The bed is white. The carpet is blue. “It’s um…”

  “Boring, isn’t it?” Century says. I look over at him. “Sorry, Carla, we haven’t had the time to personalize the rooms like at your school.”

  “Or Ace, huh?” I say. “It’s okay, I still have my unicorn!” I say, dropping down on the huge stuffed toy. “I will survive, even if he is a bit stinky. Although I already miss the pool…”

  “And the Apocalypse Field,” Rocco says.

  “They don’t have an Apocalypse Field?” I say, my jaw dropping in shock. “But that’s the biggest part of our training!”

  “We’re negotiating for one, now,” Century says. “Remember that we only have a handful of students at the moment, and Jimmi is the only one that could use something that complex. The rest are perfectly fine learning the old-fashioned way.”

  “Oh,” I say.

  “We’ve been doing a bit of promoting, though, on our HTV. In fact, you’ll be a big selling point when you’re fighting the Deadly Darlin’s,” he says. “We’ll make sure people realize it’s temporary, so they’ll be quick to buy the posters.”

  “Is there anything you need me to get you, Carla?” Rocco asks. “You know, since I forgot to do my homework, anyway?”

  “You can’t use me as an excuse for not going to class,” I tell him. “Go home, Rocco, I’ll be fine. I have new friends to make!”

  He nods. “If you ever want to come back early, just call me, got it? I don’t care what I’m doing, I’ll come and get you.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I say, emphatically. “Now go, you’ve already missed training period. If you miss Blackjack’s class… well, not much will happen, but you’re already behind on your schooling enough as it is!”

  “I know, I know,” he says, laughing. “I’ve got to leave the campus to go home, though, so… bye?”

  “Bye, Rocco,” I say as he leaves. My hand stays up in a wave until I hear him leave the building a few seconds later.