Onyx gave a little whine at the door and I thunked him affectionately on his squarish black head.

"You be a good dog when I'm gone and take care of Mom, k?"

That last part was for Mom's benefit. Obviously, Onyx couldn't know what I meant.

The Dog pushed his head into the Boy's hand and closed his eyes in pleasure at the rough pat the Boy gave. The Boy had a specific way of showing he was Pleased with the Dog that was unique to him. He relished being one of the favorites in the pack.

The Dog cocked his ears at the command, swiveling his eyes to the Alpha Female. He watched her all the time as it was? Was there a reason for this special directive?

He lifted his nose into the air, scenting it for the emotion of the pack... he smelled the faintest aroma of the water that females so often made from their eyes. It was perplexing. The scent was not especially unlike the emotion he would scent on other sentient beings after injury... yet, none was present.

The humans were a mystery. Complicating things beyond what the Dog could understand.

He gave a bark in response to his Boy. He would Watch the Alpha Female this day.

Huh... Onyx barked like an answer. Oh well, he was paying attention even if he didn't understand. I gave him a little scratch behind his ears.

The Dog felt the answer from his Boy, the pleasure in the affirmation that he would do as he was told.

He loved his Boy.

I walked out the door feeling pretty good about the day (even though it was a Monday). I pulsed the lock open on the Camaro and slid behind the wheel, the locks engaging when I shut the door.

I headed over to Jade's, internally tensing when I thought about running into her foster brother. I hated that guy; I'd like to see his steaming guts on the side of the road. Actually, I got a nice smile thinking about that as a solution. I was going to Reactive Management classes and the instructor there would have said I needed to visualize my inner calm.

I think I missed getting that when they were handing them out to people. Like I don't even think I was in line for that.

That was part of the Fun Probation. They'd determined in court that I needed to learn better control.

Translation: I needed to not allow zombies to pop up every time shit got exciting.

Yeah, like they could manage that? Them and who else?

Asshats.

The Camaro purred up to the curb, not two blocks from Jade's old house and she looked as if her hand had been on the knob, just waiting to escape. I got outta the car and walked around to her door. I'd like to claim I was a gentleman and wanted to open the car door, but what I really wanted was to put my hands on her and know she was safe, feel her tangible presence like a solid weight in my grasp.

Make sure she was okay.

I so couldn't wait until her birthday. All this skulking around would be over. Her lame ten o'clock curfews, the rationed food... her creepy ass foster siblings. I had no patience for their motivations. It was really obvious to him... to the Js. The chicks weren't so sure. Well, Tiff was sure. He remembered when Jade had gotten all her crap moved into their basement.

*

Tiff looked around at the dungeon-like room, cement walls and floor, not a lick of paint on any surface. Kind of looked like a garage, I thought. After a full minute of perusal, she blew a bubble the size of her head and popped it, snapping it back into compliance with a loud bang.

"Where's the drain?" she'd cackled.

"What?" Jade asked, frowning.

"Ya know, so you can just hose down the place when it needs a scrub."

Jade had burst into tears and Tiff had asked, "What?"

I just shook my head. The grief of losing her family, being displaced, moving into a depressing shithole without light and brightness just did Jade in on some level. I'd seen it taking daily chunks out of her, getting worse week by week.

I watched Jade come across the front porch of the flat roofed dump, the porch had a swayback, like it'd never been straight and level. How these losers didn't get nailed as a Crap Placement for fostering was beyond him. Well, it was government-driven, right? I loved the government... stand-up Dudes, them.

Jade had really grown up, she was nice and curvy, she'd lost that extra thin edge she'd had last year and was all hour glass gorgeous. The extra weight was in all the right places. Made her soft and curved just where a girl should be. But she was all-woman now. She wore short heels, very spiky in hot pink leather and the bag I'd given her last year was over her shoulder, her hair loose and straight like I liked it with ginormous, skinny silver hoops swinging as she walked. Sophie had been a bad influence on her and she wore a hot pink cheetah top with one shoulder exposed.

It totally made me want to kiss the cafe-au-lait skin that peeked through the gap in the material. I took her into my arms for a hug and looked over her shoulder and into the eyes of Howie.

Foster brother Dickhead Extraordinaire.

He smirked. There was no love lost, as Gramps would have said. I knew where he should be. Right in the middle of Carson's group. Yeah, he'd fit right in, round peg in a round hole.

Jade tilted her head back, staring into my eyes. "What?" she breathed out and I caught a whiff of her minty breath, mixing with her vanilla body spray in a tantalizing mix.

I jerked my chin behind her.

"Howie?" she asked, sure, our flesh touching, taking the guesswork out of the whole universe.

I nodded. "Yeah, that'd be him."

She squeezed my forearm, our bare skin connecting and I relaxed a little. "He hasn't done anything."

"Today," I responded.

She ducked her head, giggling.

So wasn't funny. "Yeah, true."

"Let's go," I said, wanting to get her out of sight of Howie.

"K," she answered softly as I opened the door and held it for her. I slammed it shut and headed around to my side. I peeked in at Jade and she was pulsing someone, her dark hair a curtain on either side of her face, the pink metallic pulse peeking out of her hands, the nail tips bright pink too. I smiled, very girly.

I like.

I looked up as I opened my door and Howie shot me the bird.

I gave him the salute right back. I was thinkin' sometime he and I were gonna go, my hands unconsciously flexing into fists.

Uh-huh.

His ass was on the back burner at the moment though. I had bigger fish to fry.

I pulsed my engine on and we roared off toward school, leaving the neighborhood and its evil memories behind us.

For the moment.

*

I kissed Jade as she walked into Empath class. I wanted to add tongue but it wouldn't have been spontaneous, it would've been all for Tulle.

Not that it wouldn't have been enjoyable as hell.

As it was she glared at us as I released Jade from my embrace. All pissed about the PDA. Well, she was one of the Consistent Adults. Yeah. There were some of those around.

"Miss LeClerc," Tulle said dryly, shutting the door with the softest click.

In my face.

Huh.

I turned and almost ran into Jonesy. His face broke into a grin. "Hey Hart, how's it hanging?"

Ah... great. "Okay, what about you?" Jonesy went on about his female exploits and I rolled my eyes. "What Hart? Ya gay? You don't want to hear about The Chick Battalion?"

Not really. I opened my mouth to reply when Archer came up, hearing that last part and said, "Sexual orientation has zero to do with interest, Mark."

"Can it, Archer, it was an expression, don't get your nutsack in a twist."

Lewis' face actually clenched. That'd been my reaction. Sounded like a painful situation.

"God, you guys! Is it Monday or what?" Jonesy asked, sensing our mood.

"Maybe Caleb isn't enthusiastic about you regaling us with tales of your dalliances, Mark?" Archer stated slyly.

"You're killin' me with the verbiage, Archer," Jonesy said, fake strangling his own neck.

Alex and Randi walked up. He'd taken to walking her to classes now. I guess she wasn't too put off with his obvious perv vibe.

"Hey," she said by way of greeting.

We said hey back and then Tiff, Sophie and John joined the group. "Hey guys," snap-crackle-pop with the gum. "Where's Jade?"

"Class," I said.

"Already?" Tiff said around her wad of gum. I couldn't take my eyes off the neon green of her hoodie, it hurt to look at it.

"Yeah, Tulle's a damn battleax..." Jonesy said.

Just then, coincidence of all, Griswold came by, her PE whistle bouncing against her rotundness. "Language!" she barked and Jonesy jumped a foot.

He threw a hand over his heart. "Man, almost pissed my pants, she scared the crap outta me!"

Excrement-much. I got the crooked mouth on the spot.

"She's got a way with that," Sophie said, smiling.

On her tail was Carson and friends. As he walked past he nodded at the girls, thinking maybe they'd be soft to his attention or some deluded bullshit like that.

Nope.

"Keep walking dickless," Tiff muttered under her breath.

Carson stopped in his tracks and then turned. He glared at Tiff, Diego walking up beside him.

"Effing fantastic," Jonesy said in a low voice, giving Tiff a sideways glare.

She did have a way of starting crap. I sighed. At least I didn't have to watch Brett salivating over Jade. There was that.

Carson glared down at Tiff and she blew a big bubble, snapping it so loud it echoed in the emptying hallway. Well, it had been getting empty but there was just something about a fight.

It drew a crowd.

This was no different, kids began to congregate around the group and this was a singular time I thought Tiff could have not said anything. It was the first week of school for shit's sake!

"You're a slow learner, Tiff," Carson stated.

"That's what they tell me," she said, unfazed. John slapped his forehead.

Carson looked at the rest of us, his eyes settling on Archer. Then he smiled.

"Ya know, I'll let this little bitch think whatever she wants. I know what I got," he grabbed his crotch inelegantly to emphasize his point and Sophie said eewww in the background and his eyes slipped to hers.

"Nah..." Tiff began.

Don't say it, I thought dismally, knowing the handwriting was on the GD wall anyway.

"I think you're searching for it, myself," she said, smiling.

Oh shit. Carson's eyes snapped back to Tiff.

Diego came forward until he was towering over her. God love her she didn't move a muscle. "Ya know, you take chances with that mouth of yours. I could think of things you could do with your pie hole that have nothing to do with talking."

He and Diego closed in around Tiff and us guys behind her.

"Try it and lose it, Diego," Tiff said as a promise.

Tiff should have been a guy, I swear.

Diego grabbed the back of her head and I swear my heart stopped beating in my chest.

Was this clown gonna try something with Tiff in the middle of God and country?

He should've been paying attention because she jabbed him in the throat in a move so efficient and quick I barely tracked it.

"Holy shit!" Jonesy chortled. "That was righteous!"

The group of kids that had congregated parted like the Red Sea when the click of heels sounded in the hallway like machine gun fire.

Shit, Chen.

Kids scattered like thrown birdseed.

Randi paled and Diego was clutching his throat, his breath hissing in great swooping gulps. He couldn't get enough air in his lungs.

Not that his brain needed a lot of oxygen.

Tiff hadn't broken a sweat, grinning from ear to ear.

Chen pushed kids aside like meat hanging on hooks. "What's going on here?"

Randi paled. Her normally dusky skin took on an undertone of ashen gray.

"Merranda?" Chen said, her eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. She was Chinese so that was really saying something. I could hear the ghost of Mom's voice berating the racial profiling.

Randi, usually a prolific talker, was stumbling along.

It wasn't every day that your mom, the acting principal, comes upon you and a known group of troublemakers in which you're center-stage. No indeedy. She opened and closed her mouth several times and Tiff stepped into the rescue. Diego gasped like a fish in the background.

"What's wrong with Diego?" Chen asked suspiciously, her eyes trained on Diego.

"Asthma," Tiff responded without missing a beat.

Chen's brows furrowed as she looked at Diego, Tiff winked at Randi and she took a shaky breath of relief.

"He doesn't have an inhaler? Does he need to visit the nurse?"

Diego shook his head. It would be miserable for a dude to expose his dressing down by a girl... to anybody.

Chen looked back at Tiff, who returned the intense glare with impunity, she didn't even blink.