Love wasn't rational.

"In summary," Chen said, using her Nazi march across the stage, a pulse-mike attached to the lapel of her Sensible Black Suit, "there are sufficient grief counselors for any student that wishes to discuss yesterday's incident involving Thomas Proctor." She looked out over the sea of faces, many of which had taken the time to glance at Sophie and Buddy. She actually looked worse than Buddy. Probably because she hadn't been able to defend herself. I would have given a lot to see Buddy and the attacker. I wondered what that guy looked like. I really did.

"No one need shoulder this grief on their own. Thank you for your attention," she finished.

I guess I was just desensitized to everything, being a Cadaver-Manipulator and all. I sorta felt he had been neglectful with Sophie. He shouldn't have tempted fate after that Amanda chick had almost been a casualty.

Chen got down off the stage and we were dismissed from assembly. Waste of time but there were actually students crying. Brother.

Sophie was crying. But I'd give her that. Jonesy watched her with a frustrated look on his face.

"God I want to mangle that prick that did that to Soph," he said to me in a low voice, his fists clenched as he watched Buddy and Sophie together. Her nose was red from crying, her face distorted on the side that'd been hit.

"I hear that, man," I clapped him on the shoulder. If someone touched Jade I'd have a physical reaction. I knew because I had.

Speaking of that I turned toward her and motioned her over. "Hey."

"How's she doin'?" I motioned with my head toward Buddy and Sophie.

She shrugged. "Still kinda shaky. It was okay with the Null last night. She didn't think she'd get any sleep but she did sleep."

"Good." I looked at her and she put her hand on my arm, the palm burning my skin. Everyone melted away around us and her mouth made a little "O." She may know what I was thinking about now.

"He hasn't been back," she said.

The J's looked at her. "Who?" Jonesy asked.

"My dad," she whispered.

"What about Andrea?" I asked.

"She was pissed that I said something, of course."

That didn't make sense to me. You'd think she'd want the cops involved, protecting the two of them.

She nodded. "Yeah, I know, it's weird but it's like a code in our house."

"What is code?" John asked.

"Not telling," she said automatically.

"I could never do the code," Tiff said, hearing that last.

Jade shrugged. "I know it's not normal, but it's all I knew before I lived with Aunt Andrea. And that is all she knows."

Tiff snapped her gum. "That's seriously effed up."

Bry frowned. "Come on sib-spawn, stop elaboratin' and get your butt in the car. It's bad enough I had to suffer through that weak assembly with all the cry babies."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Just a sec, briefs-in-a-bunch."

He exhaled impatiently, stalking off to talk to some other seniors.

Jade smiled at Tiff. "I wish I had just a little," Jade made her index finger and thumb have a tiny little space between them, "of your feisty attitude."

"No," the J's and I said together and Tiff whipped her head in our direction, her eyes like slits.

Jonesy saved it, "There can only be one Tiff," spreading his hands wide

"Damn straight, Jones," she said in cautious agreement.

Cripes.

He winked at us as she began to walk away.

Randi came walking up at the same moment as Alex was backing away from a group of people and he plowed into her, spilling her pulse-reader, purse and all that girl related crap all over the place.

As a bonus, she fell on her ass.

Tiff noticed all this and said, "Nice job, dimwit, creaming Randi. Could you go a step further? Maybe just sit on her and get it over with."

Alex actually looked green. Here was this chick that he had a thing for and he had just used his two hundred and forty pounds of pure muscle to sideswipe her. Into the floor.

Nice.

He recovered, running over to her and tried to help her up. She glared up at him, completely intimidated-not. Perfect.

He ignored her look and jerked her up by her arms and she yelped.

He'd grabbed her too hard and let her go immediately, misjudging his strength in the midst of his desire to right the wrong. Wow.

She fell again.

Jade cringed and walked over to Randi, as did Sophie and Buddy.

"What's going on?" Buddy asked.

Tiff blew a huge bubble and before she could suck it in, John popped it, splattering it all over her face, some of it trying to climb into her hair. She swiped a ton off her face, rolling the gum into itself in a sticky wad and glared at John. Who calmly looked back. "I've been dying to do that since forever."

"Good for you, jackass. Now the crap's in my hair!" Tiff said, unhinged for once, flailing around trying to get all the gum with the rest of the gum.

It was priceless.

Bry laughed and knuckle bumped John. "The things I can't do because she's my sister."

"That was kinda compulsive, Terran," Jonesy said with a smirk of pure admiration.

"I know, I'm sort of shocked myself," he said.

"Argh! This nasty shit is everywhere, John!" Tiff said, beyond annoyed.

He grinned, high color riding his cheekbones, his hair a darkly burnished orange flame on his head.

Alex smiled and Randi laughed, brushing her butt off and taking the hand that he offered. His grip swallowed hers whole and it struck me they were the most unlikely couple. He was tremendous and she was built like a China doll. Fragile and delicate, she came to maybe mid-chest. I guess perv-boy would have to catch a clue. I was thinking she was feistier than Tiff even. I looked at Tiff again.

Probably not today though.

*

The Dump

"I know I'm not a longstanding member of the group," Archer said, looking around the inside of the hideaway, "but I was wondering what your parents thought of the last Parker episode, Caleb?"

Jonesy opened his mouth to elaborate when Lewis said, "Thanks for your willingness, Mark, but I am interested to hear what Caleb has to say."

Jonesy glared at him. I still couldn't recover when he called him Mark.

We had reconvened at the hideaway with a loose plan to go to Gramps'. His house was huge. It wasn't lake weather but he'd have the fire going and food galore.

And no Nazi parent in sight. Mom had been on the warpath (I saw one of the Skopamish in my mind's eye and almost laughed). I thought my friends could use a break. We'd miss her pizza but Gramps had ideas.

Interesting ideas.

"He's a problem. But Parker's an untouchable problem. Garcia said that when he filed his report about the chopper chock full of zombies that he was stonewalled." The group looked at me weird.

"His words, guys."

John clarified, "He was met with resistance and a basic lack of cooperative info exchange."

Tiff snapped her gum. "Nice, Terran. Now, if you'd just put that smartness to use with gum."

John blushed. I thought it was too funny. The one time John had got a wild hair diggin' up his ass to be spontaneous he pulled it on Tiff.

Nice.

I shrugged. "So, it's the cops' call. My parents are leaving it in their hands. Now," I looked at Lewis, who didn't really have the full flavor of the group, "the first time he was gonna take me. I'm not gonna lie, it sorta set the tone from that point on."

Archer smiled. "I would think so."

"Can ya talk like a teenager, Archer? Or is that part of the gay thing?" Jonesy asked rudely.

Sophie said, "Jonesy, lay off. I think it's cool how he expresses himself."

"I can dumb down my sentences directed at you, Mark. Would that be equitable?" Archer said with the ghost of a smile on his lips.

John laughed. "Need a translation, Jonesy?"

He shot a look to John I interpreted as, go die. "No! I get what he's saying, but all that fancy talk..."

"Well then, Mark, reiterate what I just said," Lewis said. And I was pretty sure this time our group may have been busting at the seams with brainiacs. Terran, Sims and now... Archer. Gayness aside, he was Smart as Hell. Mom would have said his gayness didn't define his intellect or some happy shit like that. Of course, the beauty of that was that she wasn't here.

So why did her thoughts come to my mind? I shook my head. Haunted by the parental dynamic.

Jonesy looked helplessly around him. Getting nowhere he huffed, crossing his arms. "I'm pretty sure. But... whatever."

Archer smirked and Alex gave him a guy clap.

"Hey... where's Jade?" Tiff asked, seeing how strange it was that Jade wasn't here with me.

"Mia's pickin' her up," I replied. It got me thinking. I looked down at my old watch and saw she was taking her time. I looked up at Bry, the lantern hissing around the conversations that were going on.

"Did ya talk to Mia?"

He nodded then frowned. "Yeah, she said she'd be here... " he looked at his pulse, his eyes snapping up to mine. "Thirty minutes ago."

"What?" Archer asked, not understanding our immediate alarm.

Jonesy smiled. "Here's the deal, when something happens around Caleb, it could be life threatening."

Way to break in the new guy, Jones.

"Pulse her, Caleb," Sophie said as a logic girl move. Communication is Key.

Right! I swung my pulse up and thumb-swiped it.

Initializing...

The neon green characters illuminated, floating together and flashed-

Hot One- Top five contact.

I waited impatiently while nothing happened. I tapped my foot, itched my head, shifted my weight. The group hanging on the head of a pin. The silence became bloated.

Finally.

Pulse inoperative. Non-receiving.

My head jerked upright and met Bry's eyes. "Can't reach her... " he said, dread filling his face.

"Inoperative," I inserted, panic clutching my body, adrenaline making surging bile rise, engaging the gorge reflex.

"Non-receiving," he added, his eyes holding all the weight of the world.

*

It was a miracle that we got to Jade's house in one piece. We put maniac driving to the test. We piled out of the car and Sophie and Tiff came charging alongside us.

Bry stopped Tiff with a hand on her arm, dragging her over to him before she could bash through Jade's front gate. My eyes flicked to the house, all in white. Silent.

Silent as a tomb.

"No, sister," he shook his head.

She tried to tear her arm away. "Knock it off, Bry! That's Jade in there... and Mia," she added in a low voice and Bry flinched.

He shook her slightly. "You don't get it cuz you're a girl. But you're my sister. I can't let anything happen to you. Got it?" His eyes bored into hers. "Mom and Dad would have my butt in a sling. But more than that, you're a pain in my ass, but I love ya."

She stopped her gum chewing, eyes wide.

"Promise me you won't do something stupid," he said, shaking her again for good measure.

"Okay," she said in a quiet voice.

Wow, a miracle.

John came up next to them. "I'll keep an eye on her."

Bry swept his eyes to Terran, taking in his lanky build and extreme height. But it was his eyes that convinced Bry.

It was like Gramps said- it's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog.

John Terran had a lot of fight.

Bry knew it and nodded his head.

Tiff rolled her eyes like she was having an epileptic fit. Jonesy was all ready to be on point with Sophie when Buddy showed up.

Flanked by all his friends.

Bry and I exchanged an uneasy glance as Diego, Brett, Carson and Brody walked up. Christi was there as the cherry on top of the misery cake.

Fuck me, I moaned inside my head.

"Who invited the ass hats?" Jonesy said, inciting them instantaneously.

Sophie raised her pulse in the air and Jonesy said, "Soph, seriously? Like things aren't stupid enough?"

She rolled her lip between her teeth, the bruise below her eye a grotesque green and violet, the swelling gone, a fine network of bloodshot lightning running through it like spider webbing. "I wanted Buddy to come."

Great idea, I thought miserably. I glanced at Jade's house and Bry and I nodded at each other, getting ready to infiltrate.

"This is swell for you doofuses to show, but I think Jade and Mia are in trouble... " I began.

"Yeah, as much as we'd like to parley, I think you need to piss off," John said and Alex grinned. Terran the Glib.