Tala Phoenix and the School of Secrets

by Gabby Fawkes

  The next few days, my friends and I settled into our old routine. We didn’t talk about what had happened, didn’t mention pills or dragons. Jeremy kept eating like a bear, and Jenna kept acting like a bitch. Miss Mildred was still on her witch hunt, but was containing it to recess, where she roved the hall, dogging us wherever we went.

  I still wasn’t taking the pills, and I wasn’t just feeling energized, I was feeling unstoppable. Like I could take Miss Mildred if it came to it. After all, gym class for us was basically 99.9% sparring. I wasn’t exactly Bruce Lee, but I could hold my own.

  A glance at Kian in her red-black stripped tank had me giving her an impressed thumbs-up. “Fit goals.”

  Her dark eyes rolled. “Take a look in the mirror, Tal – you’re just as fit.”

  I glanced from her toned upper arms to my toneless ones. “Nah.”

  Kian put on muscle like it was nobody’s business – and looked it. I was by no means out of shape, though. None of us were. We were, as Kakernacker liked to joke, his ‘little lazy army of superkids’ – able to run fast and long, fight smart and dirty and dodge pretty bomb too. You’d be hard-pressed not to be, with the way we’d been driven hard, practically intensively trained, since we were old enough to walk.

  “Oh, you two,” Demi sing-songed. Her gaze slid to the bright blue gym mats splayed over the center of the gym, knowing full well what they meant, though she said nothing.

  She had a point. Out of the three of us, Demi should’ve been the one complaining – she was the weakest by far. She didn’t have allergies like Jeremy, but she was all soft flesh, her body seeming to outright refuse to put on muscle. During drills, I had to feel for her – she never stood a chance.

  Although she did have the whole blue-green eyed, butt-length curly hair thing going for her. Not that that did her any good when it was tied in a sky-high ponytail and her eyes were slit as she wrangled on the mats with whoever was lucky enough to spar her.

  Although usually it was just practice drills, today was the real deal.

  “Fight time,” Kian said, eyeing Jenna like she was a particularly tempting punching bag. “My fav.”

  “It would be a shame if Jenna’s ski-slope nose got pounded into a lopsided staircase right before graduation photos,” I said. Demi and Jeremy just smiled.

  “LESS TALKING, MORE TEAM CHOOSING!” Mr. Kakernacker shouted.

  Or said, rather, in that he shouted to speak. He bit into a block of honey, tore off a chunk and began chomping on it as he blustered about us.

  Kian glared at his muscled back as he went by. “Who the hell's idea was it to teach a bunch of crazy kids how to fight, anyway?”

  I shrugged, grinned. “To build an army of psychos?”

  “I always suspected there was a bigger purpose to all this.”

  We paused, whirling around to look at Demi, the one who’d spoken. Loftily, at that.

  The corner of her smile cracked her dimple and she burst into quiet giggles. “You guys.”

  “Whatever, maybe I’d be able to tell when you’re joking if you weren’t all Pollyana Mother Teresa all the time…” Kian muttered. She trailed off as Kakernacker turned to give us his Final Warning Glare.

  As I took in his muscles bulging out of his basketball jersey, I stifled a pang.

  Our gym teacher was generally accepted as being a bit…unhinged. But unhinged was exactly what we’d need to defeat Jenna if she’d assembled the star team it was looking like she had.

  “THESE YOUR TEAMS?” Kakernacker said.

  “Yeah.” Jenna smirked our way. “We’re ready to win.”

  I gulped. Jenna on her own was actually pretty fit – seeing as her hobbies when not matching her clothes and being a general bitch were going for runs and doing pushups. Tania and Aerwyna were meh. But then there was Hulda. Hulda was… in a class of her own. And in a place like this, that was really saying something.

  Both teams got onto the court, assuming our battle-ready positions. Kian nudged me, motioning to Hulda with her head. “You want her, or should I?”

  Glancing her way, I repressed a shudder. Hulda was 6’4” of surly beef-covered muscle with a face like a boiled cabbage and a non-existent smile. That, with the murderous look her hooded eyes were giving us, did not bode well for whoever faced off against her.

  “I’ll take her,” I said.

  We’ll destroy her, the voice growled happily as a tingling that felt weirdly like approval went through me. My hand dove into the pocket of my gym shorts to get at the piece of paper I’d stashed there. As I satisfyingly crunched it up more, not for the first time thinking about how weird a habit this was, I reasoned out my choice to myself.

  Even if Kian was a scrappier fighter, I’d still have the best chance, since I hadn’t taken the pills for a few days now.

  “Hey, at least she won’t be shit-talking you,” Kian said, trying to lighten the mood.

  Hulda communicated solely in nods or shakes of the head, although she seemed to understand what was said to her (rumor had it she was German).

  “Great,” I said weakly, unable to tear my gaze off my stocky opponent.

  Despite it being gym, she was wearing the same blue jeans and neoprene windbreaker she always did.

  You can do this, I told myself.

  “Dum spiro spero,” I said weakly.

  Kian smirked. “While we breathe, we hope.”

  “RULES ARE – FOUR AGAINST FOUR, ALTHOUGH YOU CAN FIGHT WHOEVER YOU LIKE. ANYTHING GOES. YOUR OPPONENT SAYS ‘LET UP,’ YOU ‘LET UP’!” Kakernacker was saying as he strut between us. “UNDERSTOOD?”

  “Yes!” we chorused.

  “GET READY THEN!” he said, striding off.

  “This should be good,” Jenna said.

  “Oh, it really should be,” Kian said, grinning. Like me, she was probably imagining how satisfying it would be having her fist connect with Jenna’s uppity face.

  I was trying to imagine how you even punched someone like Hulda, who looked like a walking wall, when the whistle shrieked.

  Looks like I was about to find out. Oh yay.

  As everyone else advanced, Demi against Tania, Jeremy against Aerwyna, and Jenna wasting no time in beating it over to Kian, Hulda alone remained stationary.

  I advanced slowly, ready for any sudden movements. But Hulda just stood there, glaring at me, as though daring me to try.

  “THAT’S IT!” Kakernacker was roaring, watching the others.

  I inched all the way up to Hulda, jabbing out a fist into thin air, mili-inches from her face. She didn’t flinch. I backed away, waiting. But a hit back never came.

  Pretty sure I’d seen her annihilate other kids during sparring months ago with a single punch. Must’ve been my lucky day.

  Behind me, Jenna had Kian by the hair, so I decided to help there first. One punch to Jenna’s muscley gut sent her sprawling.

  “Thanks,” Kian said. “But hey, what about-”

  I shrugged and we glanced over to Hulda, who was still in the same place, as punch-me-and-I’ll-eat-you-for-breakfast-lunch-and-dinner as ever.

  Demi and Tania seemed fairly evenly matched, although Demi was getting more than her share of hits in. Jeremy was the one who was having trouble.

  “C’mon Jer,” I chastised him as I went over.

  He was clearly holding back against Aerwyna, who, while her thin-handed swipes were admirable, wasn’t nearly as strong.

  He chewed on the inside of his lip. “But she’s…”

  “A girl.” Kian raised a fist. “And this girl is gonna whoop your ass if you don’t.”

  As Demi joined us, I was surprised to see Tania on the ground too, gingerly getting herself up. Demi had beaten her that easy?

  Off to the side, Jenna was screaming at Hulda, who seemed oblivious to her abuse. “You freaking elephant – move! Do something!”

  I glanced at Kian, who was already cracking her knuckles with a smile. “You want to, or should I?”

  We both advanced. Even wit
h Tania rushing over to join Jenna, it only took a few hits for both of them to be down on their asses again. They looked as surprised as I felt.

  Both of them were fit – fitter than Kian and I, or so I thought.

  Now Kakernacker was yelling at Hulda too. “FIGHT – YOU HAVE TO!” while Jenna let out a wail. “It’s not fair! There’s only two of us actually trying.”

  I followed her gaze to see Aerwyna flitting out of the gym. Jeremy joined us.

  “What happened?” Demi asked.

  He looked sheepish. “I… well, I hit her.”

  “And?”

  “She fell, and then she left.”

  I grinned, and we high-fived him.

  Jenna was majorly pissed. “That was total BS! Two of my team members just left and wouldn’t even fight!”

  “Fine,” I said. “Rematch then. You and Tania against me and Kian.”

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I’d screwed up.

  “Uh, Tala?” Demi said.

  But it was Jenna’s smile that said it all: I will end you.

  I smiled back with more confidence than I was feeling: Not before I end you first.

  “Carthago delegenda est,” Kian said, which I knew meant she was on board. 100%. My nervousness was quelled a bit by just how clear her eyes looked.

  I peered at her. “You haven’t been…”

  She shook her head. “Not now.”

  I kept on staring as she looked away, humming a vaguely-recognizable song to herself. What was up with Kian? My hand dove into my pocket, but found nothing. Looked like I’d have to deal with the symphony of stress in my gut the bad old-fashioned way – spiraling.

  Now definitely wasn’t the time for Kian and me to have a tell-all heart-to-heart, but still. Why couldn’t she have pulled me aside, made up some crappy excuse to Kakernacker and then spilled in the bathroom? All I could do now was to admonish myself not to jump to conclusions or overreact – when I wasn’t entirely sure I was even doing that.

  Kakernacker had finally given up shrieking at Hulda and had decided to be somewhat mollified by my suggestion of a two-on-two rematch. “KIAN AND TALA – YES – YOU AGAINST JENNA AND TANIA.”

  Everyone else moved off the court, Kakernacker shrilled the whistle, and the match began.

  Immediately, Jenna slid in, trying to trip me. I grabbed her leg and flipped her. I was going to help Kian with Tania, but my feisty friend had already gotten a few jabs in. Besides, now Jenna was up again, sending a punch my way. I blocked it, giving her one of my own.

  The satisfaction that rippled through me at the sight of her staggering back, clutching her ribs was indescribable. And weird – since when did I get a dopamine rush from punching someone, even someone who deserved it?

  Already, I was on her again, my hands on her shoulders, hers on mine.

  I could see the shock in her face – How are you doing this? – but I only smiled.

  We rolled around on the ground, as our classmates cheered and hooted.

  “Smack a bitch!” Timmy shrilled.

  I did just that. When my hand connected with Jenna’s face, exhilaration flooded through me. A cough wracked through her and my other fist connected with the other side of her head.

  Beyond me, everything was a blurred buzz, with nothing left but Jenna’s stupid sneering face, so infinitely punchable… hit after hit I delivered her, each exploding satisfaction stronger in my gut. Burn her, end her, make her pay... the voice rejoiced in my head. My hands were starting to heat up, though I ignored it. All that mattered was getting in the next hit.

  I could do this – I was doing this – no one could stop me from doing this. Jenna was finally getting exactly what she deserved.

  Hit blurred into hit until something pulled me back. I gazed stupidly at Kian’s white face. “Tala what the hell?”

  I looked back to see Jenna sputtering blood. Ohhkay, so I may have gone at that one too hard, but still. It was just Jenna.

  Just Jenna, I reminded myself, as my shoulders slumped and I wrenched away. Bile twined at the base of my throat, but I swallowed it back. It was just Jenna.

  It was then I realized that Kian was still standing there, looking at me strangely.

  “What?” I said Kian.

  “Didn’t you hear?” she said. “Kakernacker blew the whistle. Jenna ceded.”

  It was only when I got to my feet and saw how everyone was gaping at me that I realized just how badly I’d screwed up.

  And then I saw Kakernacker. Though his face was as red and straining with sweat as ever, for once he was speechless.

  Me, all I could think was: Looks like you don’t have to wonder about who’ll be transferred next – it’s going to be you.

  6

  “Salootum preemum, ian a preenceepeeo poppytatum.”

  I stifled a groan as the play began. Stevie was butchering her Latin lines so much that Cody lifted his head up and asked, “Do you even Latin?”

  As everyone started laughing, Miss Mildred snapped a ruler against her desk. “SILENCE!”

  The one nice thing about today’s play – Menaechami, apparently – was that it had Stevie, Marley, Owen, and Timmy in the main roles. Which meant, as part of the disregarded audience, I could finally ask Kian and Demi what I’d been meaning to.

  After my gym mishap, I’d been sent straight to Kelly Keenn, and force-fed two pills. I’d felt so crap that I’d slept almost a whole day, and only just made it to class now.

  “You stopped taking the pills too?” I whispered, as we watched Timmy swing around a plastic sword, even though it wasn’t his turn.

  Kian nodded. “You were right. Although I feel weird.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Guys,” Demi hissed.

  I quickly saw why - Miss Mildred was looking our way, clearly not as concentrated on the play as I’d thought. I shut up.

  As much as I was dying to know, it could wait for tonight.

  At the end of class, once we’d been sufficiently tormented by the shit rendition of the confusing play, Miss Mildred took center stage to make a special announcement. “Administration is in the process of narrowing down the perpetrators. Very soon they will be caught and punished adequately.”

  Her gaze swept our way. “Of course, mercy could be shown if they only confessed…”

  I leaned over to whisper in Kian’s ear, “Bullshit.”

  If they were really as close as they were claiming, why not just confront us and get it over with? It wasn’t like this was the outside world, where anyone gave a damn about justice.

  “You have something to say, Tala?” Miss Mildred asked.

  My gaze met hers. Oh, I had something to say all right.

  “Labor omnia vincent,” I said smoothly.

  The whole class erupted into a fit of giggles. Even Cody and Stevie, who smiled about once every semester.

  Miss Mildred’s lips twisted. But even she couldn’t fault that ‘work conquers all’ – wasn’t she the one always barking at us to work harder, faster, better?

  In any case, she was back at her desk now, scribbling something ominous on a piece of paper.

  “You’re dismissed,” she said, not even looking at us.

  As we walked out, Demi tried craning over to get a glimpse of what was on Miss Mildred’s paper without success. “Why do I get the feeling that that wasn’t good?”

  “Guys…” Jeremy said, but we ignored him.

  Miss Mildred was too far away to hear us. Besides, she was half-deaf anyway.

  “Because Miss Mildred is a soulless bitch, whose sole aim in life is to punish as many students as possible?” Kian asked darkly.

  “Guys,” Jeremy said, sharper now.

  That was when we noticed Owen lingering nearby. His handsome face was drawn into an expression even more serious than his usual one.

  We fell silent.

  “Just wanted to say,” he said, leaning in and lowering his voice. “You guys be careful.”

&n
bsp; I stared at him. Owen had always been a good guy, but he’d never been overly friendly with us – or anyone for that matter.

  “What do you mean?” Kian said.

  “I just…” He looked around, shook his head. “I can’t. Just– be careful, all right?”

  And before we could begin to answer, he was gone.

  “Wait! Tonight–” Kian began before I clapped a hand over her mouth.

  “You nuts?” Jeremy hissed.

  “What?” she said. “He clearly has something important to tell us, so…”

  “So we just out and say what we’re almost in trouble for?” Jeremy said.

  Jeremy looked livid, stressed like I hadn’t seen him before. Kian looked downright shocked at his response, and opened her mouth to retort angrily.

  “He’s right,” I said before she could. “Just because you were crushing hard-”

  “Ugh, screw you all!” Kian exclaimed, storming past.

  I didn’t stop her. Okay, so maybe she had made me promise me not to tell about her Super Secret Crush – but that was six freaking years ago. Didn’t crushes expire or something if you didn’t do anything about them for too long?

  “You okay?” Demi was saying.

  Jeremy was breathing deeply, his lips drawn back and his hands clenched. “I’m hungry.” He set off for the cafeteria, then did an about-face. “No. Need to walk.” He stormed off.

  “He stopped taking the meds too?” I quietly asked Demi, and she nodded.

  “We all did. And you’re right – only-” She looked around. Which was getting really annoying if you asked me. Right now the only person within earshot was little Tamarin the seven-year-old hell-raiser, who looked to be picking a locker lock. This place was weird.

  “Tonight,” Demi said.

  By the end of dinner, Jeremy was back in the cafeteria. Kian still wasn’t back, but I wasn’t overly worried – she was probably just huddled up in the library, blasting Radiohead at one of the computers (they had no internet, but did have a few ‘90s CDs the sympathetic librarian Ms. Marumle had uploaded). Or back in our room, playing soccer with the few clothes I had.

  Kian could be a force of nature, but she tended to get over things quickly, at least.