“I hope you have apologized to this young lady?” Principal Burnd asked, nodding his head towards Kristi.
“I apologize for my rash and rude behavior,” Troop said, looking straight at Kristi.
He sounded so sincere he almost fooled her. Almost. Troop was a damn good actor.
“Very well. Please do not let this happen again, Troop,” Principal Burnd said. He turned on his heels and went back into the school, satisfied the conflict had been resolved.
“You’re Troop?” Chelsa asked as soon as Principal Burnd was out of earshot.
Troop nodded. “And who are you?”
“Chelsa. That’s Jaiden and that’s Kristi.”
“Are you the three people my mother was referring to when she sent me an instafication?”
Jaiden nodded. Kristi shot Troop a scowl. She was not looking forward to be traveling with this jerk.
“Let’s talk more at the Rex Hotel,” Chelsa said.
Troop shrugged. “Whatever. Lead the way.”
“So you already know about the Naturals and all that fun stuff, right?” Chelsa said.
They sat in the living room of the suite. There was a bowl of pretzels in the center of the coffee table, but only Troop had touched the food.
So far, Kristi had refused to speak to Troop and was more than happy to hand over the get-to-know-you chitchat to Chelsa and Jaiden. Troop’s behavior today had disgusted her.
All her life, she had been treated like scum and ignored. In the past, she might have stood up for herself if somebody made a rude comment or gesture towards her, but she usually pretended nothing happened.
“My mother told me the basic idea of the Naturals,” Troop said. “I don’t know the nitty-gritty details, but yeah, I have the general concept.”
Chelsa quickly reviewed what they had learned from Tiffany today. Once Troop was all caught up, Chelsa said, “I didn’t even recognize you as Troop because you blended so well with all Perfects. I’m curious; why aren’t you considered an outcast at Ludus High School? From what I know, Accidents aren’t treated very well in public.”
“That’s because his friends thought he was a Perfect. He didn’t tell them that he wasn’t one,” Kristi said, jerking her head in Troop’s direction. “He’s just a Perfect wannabe.”
“I do have a name, you know,” Troop said. “It wouldn’t hurt you to use it. And like I said, I’m sorry about what happened today. The only reason I was acting like that was because today’s VicDay. I usually don’t act like that.”
“What’s VicDay?” Chelsa asked.
“Nothing important,” Troop hurriedly answered.
Kristi gave him her best death-stare. He met her eyes and didn’t flinch. She sighed and dropped her gaze to Ghost. Kristi patted her lap and Ghost gracefully leapt besides her on the couch. Troop seemed a bit uncomfortable with a live leopard so close to him.
Good, she thought.
“You understand you can’t continue that sort of behavior while you’re with us, right?” Jaiden said. “You better have a good reason for your behavior.”
Troop sighed. “Long story short. I used to go to a public high school where I was known as an Accident. As a result, I got picked on. I was eventually transferred to Ludus High School after some kids tried to lock me in a classroom and set it on fire. At Ludus, nobody knew I wasn’t a Perfect and they accepted me as I am. Basically, I made the right friends, acted the right way and fit right in.”
“That’s still no excuse for your behavior,” Jaiden said.
“I was getting to that,” Troop said. “You’re either the hunter or the hunted at Ludus High School. I was sick of being tormented all the time at my old high school and decided I was going to take charge of my life. I’ve learned that if you don’t want to be a hunted, then you have to be the hunter. I wasn’t actually going to hurt the girl, you know.”
“I’ll accept that,” said Chelsa.
“Jaiden? Kristi? Do you believe me?”
“I trust Chelsa’s gut instincts, so yeah,” Jaiden said.
Kristi responded to Troop with another one of her death-glares. Troop was a smooth actor and talker for sure, but he wasn’t going to fool her.
“Do you have your electro-slate on you?” Chelsa asked.
“Yeah,” Troop said. He pulled it out from his jacket pocket. The slate was top-of-the-line and looked so new it could’ve been just taken out from the factory.
“Good. Hand it over please,” Chelsa said.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Troop hesitantly forked over his slate to Chelsa.
“Thanks. I’ll be in my room. Don’t disturb me unless it’s an emergency.”
Chelsa left the living room and headed into her bedroom, locking the door behind her.
“What is she doing with my slate?” Troop asked.
“Probably removing the tracker from it,” Jaiden said.
“There’s a tracker in my slate?” Troop sounded surprised.
You would’ve thought he already knew that, considering he was raised in a spy-community. After all, his mom, Tiffany, works for the Revealers, Kristi thought.
“I need some space.” She abruptly stood up and left.
chapter twenty-five
Troop watched Kristi storm out. “Guess we’re off to a rough start.”
“Give her some time,” Jaiden said. “She’ll eventually come around.”
“I hope Chelsa’s not going to destroy my electro-slate.” Troop switched the topic.
Jaiden snorted. “You have no idea.” He proceeded to tell Troop about Chelsa crushing his slate. “Don’t worry, though. She’s good at what she does. Your slate should be safe,” Jaiden reassured Troop.
“So, how long have you guys known each other?” He tossed a pretzel from hand to hand.
“I met Chelsa a few weeks ago. As for Kristi, I’ve known her my whole life; she’s my sister.”
Troop appraised Jaiden. He couldn’t spot any resemblance between the two siblings. He was just about to comment about this when Jaiden suddenly narrowed his eyes and pinned him with an acute stare. “I’m warning you right now, if I see you harm Chelsa or Kristi, you are no longer with us. Do you understand me?”
In a serious tone, Troop replied, “Yes. I swear I won’t purposely harm anyone. The Troop you saw earlier today is a different person from the one you see now.” He didn’t elucidate any further and Jaiden left it at that.
To be honest, Troop wanted to bury all traces of the past behind him.
“So, how did you meet Chelsa?” he asked.
“In jail.”
Troop raised a questioning eyebrow and Jaiden told him how Chelsa had busted him out of jail and taken him and Kristi into her hidden living quarters. The revolving bricks leading into Chelsa’s old home reminded Troop of something familiar.
“Was there a smaller room leading into the main room at Chelsa’s place?” he asked Jaiden.
Jaiden nodded.
“I think I know the place you’re talking about. Lawrence, a senior Revealers member, used to stash his illegal library in there. He relocated his cache a few years ago though, when he ran out of room.”
Jaiden checked the time and said, “Go grab some sleep; it’s already past midnight and we’re heading out early tomorrow.”
“I will in a minute. I’ll just wait until Chelsa returns my electro-slate.”
“Alright.” Jaiden exited the living room, leaving Troop to his own thoughts.
He popped a pretzel into his mouth, savoring its crunch and saltiness. Feeling bored, he counted the ceiling tiles to pass time. One, two, three, four…