When I pushed into the house, I was surprised to find it empty. After kicking off my shoes and shucking my pack, I wandered through the modest living room towards the kitchen.

  There was a note: Agent Seymour is giving me a ride into town so I can attend an interview and pick up my car. We’re having dinner with the neighbours tonight, so don’t spoil your appetite. Love you, mom.

  “Spoil my appetite with what? The only thing we’ve been able to afford so far are essentials. What do you expect me to snack on, a whole tomato?” I snorted.

  “You actually tried that once, remember? You were so surprised when it exploded all over you,” Angelica laughed as she floated around the living room.

  “I was eight,” I replied sullenly,” and starving at the time because mom’s asshole boss forced her to work a triple shift. Quitting that job was one of the best things she ever did… not that her next few bosses were much better.”

  Since mom wasn’t home, there was no real reason for me to stick around here. I retrieved a pen from my bag and flipped the note over.r ‘Gone to the Taylors to study, you can find me there.’

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe you should shower before you go. You really pushed yourself during self-defense, and I’m sure Ms. Taylor would appreciate it if you didn’t smell like Hairy,” Angelica giggled.

  I wrinkled my nose. “Good point… I kind of forgot about that hour of hell when Olivia doubled over in pain back in the atrium. Either that, or I blocked it from my mind like the traumatic experience that it was.”

  “Just hurry up! Olivia is probably waiting for you,” Angelica prompted.

  “Fine, I’m going,” I muttered. Even though I feigned disinterest, I was really looking forward to the shower. There was only a twenty percent chance you’d get hot water in our old apartment, a sixty percent chance of getting lukewarm, and another twenty percent chance of getting an ice one. I swear the building had only a single residential boiler serving all the apartments and having access to a shower that was nearly guaranteed to be hot, heavenly.

  Digging through my wardrobe, I tried to find something nice to wear. I had plenty of outfits; it’s just that most of them were either from second-hand shops or donated to me. Last year, my teachers even organized a clothing drive for the less fortunate, then passed a few pieces on to me. Most people would have been insulted that they did it so blatantly in front of the rest of the school, but I’d been so used to being isolated by my classmates by that point that I didn’t care. I was just happy to have new clothes.

  After selecting a nice blouse, a clean pair of jeans, and some clean underwear, I jogged over to the bathroom. I turned on the shower, so it had a little time to warm up, before quickly shucking my clothes and chucking them in the hamper. I started to reach up to remove the tracker, as I had with my old watch, until I realized it was unnecessary. The tracker was literally locked to my wrist, and it wasn’t coming off until my next physical. Thankfully, the thing was waterproof, so I didn’t have to worry about it shorting out. And if it did, I wouldn’t have to pay for the replacement; the government would just give me a new one.

  When I stuck my hand into the stream of water, I found it had reached a pleasant, not too warm temperature. After stepping into the stall and closing the door behind me, I just let the water flow over my tired muscles. I hadn’t realized how sore I’d been after the extreme workout. It was actually a little strange. I’d never been that athletic, and after an extreme workout like that, I would have been expected to be practically limping around, yet I’d barely noticed until now. I was exceptionally good at staying focused, so there was a chance I’d just completely blocked it out when I was concentrating on getting Olivia out of the Rupture zone. Still, I couldn’t remember that ever happening before. I made a mental note to bring it up with the doctor during our appointment.

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  I stayed in the shower for a couple of minutes, long enough for the soreness in my muscles to fade, before finally shutting it down. I really wanted to keep standing there for a while longer, maybe another hour or two, but I had places to be. As I stepped out of the shower, I found Angelica floating there, holding a towel.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Keeping an eye on you while the boys are away,” she replied casually.

  “There’s no window in here; you could have waited for me outside,” I said.

  “I was, but I got a little concerned when you didn’t come out, so I wanted to check on you. What if a Rupture had opened in here?”

  A shiver ran down my spine. “Then you probably would have heard me screaming,” I muttered, taking the towel from her and wrapping it around myself. When that was done, I grabbed a second towel off the rack to dry my hair.

  As I sat down on the edge of the tub and started ruffling my hair with the towel, I noticed that the bathroom door was open. “Angelica, did you open the door to get in here?”

  “Of course not, you just forgot to close the door,” the jellyfish replied, waving her tentacles. “I know you’re used to just living with your mom, where it doesn’t matter that much, but now that you have friends nearby, you should get used to closing and locking the door behind yourself.”

  “Right… I’ll be more careful going forward,” I mumbled.

  After spending a minute fighting with my unruly hair, I managed to get it dry enough to pull into a tight ponytail. I’d already wasted enough time in the shower, and I really didn’t want to waste a bunch of time trying to wrangle it into shape. I really needed a haircut.

  Once it was tied back, I quickly threw on my clothes and turned towards Angelica. “How do I look?”

  “Good! You should dress up more often,” she chirped.

  “I would, if I had more nice outfits. It’s best to save them for special occasions,” I replied.

  After slipping past Angelica, I checked the clock in the living room. It was just after four thirty now, so I had a choice. If my mother was planning to be back for dinner, she’d probably be back in the next hour or so, and I was dying to know how the interview went so that I could wait. Or I could head over to Olivia’s place to study as planned.

  Chewing on my lower lip, I considered for a minute before finally jogging over to grab my backpack. I’d already promised Olivia that I’d lend her my notes, and we did have homework to do, so it was better to get it done now. I could find out how things went at dinner.

  There was no point in taking a coat, I was just going next door, so I just slipped on my shoes and pulled open the door. Before I could take a step outside, a massive red form filled the doorway.

  “I thought you’d never open the door,” he whined. “We’ve been standing out here for minutes! I tried to call for you, didn’t you hear?”

  “I was in the shower,” I grumbled, “and you ran off to investigate a Rupture with Tyberius the instant you heard about it. You want to explain why?”

  “Proactive protection! I thought it would be better to investigate the site in case something dangerous came through,” he explained. “Thankfully, it was just the little bottom feeders, nothing to be concerned about.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “How do you know they’re bottom feeders? Have you ever encountered the invaders before?”

  “What? Psh… Of course not,” the bull replied, slowly backing away and looking everywhere but my face. “Where would I have run into something like that?”

  He was so distracted that I stepped off the stoop and fell backwards. Somehow, he managed to land almost perfectly, so he could roll backwards and get back on his feet. Even after that acrobatic act, he still refused to look at me.

  “I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking. Ever since we encountered that Rupture in Coopers, it’s been quite obvious that something strange is going on. I think you know far more about my situation than you’re letting on. Why won't you tell me?” I asked quietly.

  “Because I promised I wouldn’t,” Hairy muttered, taking a couple of steps back.

  “Promised who?!?!” I shouted.

  “Your father!” he shouted back, before slapping his hands over his mouth. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

  I opened my mouth several times; I had so many questions I couldn’t decide what to ask first. What finally came out was, “What?”

  “I said too much! I gotta go!” the bull blubbered before turning around and taking off down the street.

  I considered going after him, but I was still busy processing this information, and Hairy was unnaturally fast. It only took him a couple of seconds to tear down the street and disappear around the corner.

  “Are you okay?” Angelica asked from the doorway.

  “No,” I sighed, “I’m so confused.”

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