Page 20 of No Capes
“You missed your calling as a basketball player,” he teases.
“I mean it.”
“Fine.” D.S. lifts his hands from my dresser and studies his gloves. He rubs his palm, rippling the shadows that run up his arms. “All you have to do is turn off your location. Easy peasy, Roberts.”
I know that location data gives corporations the ability to change their ads and tech companies the intelligence to adjust maps and search engine results. Movies taught me that if you’re going to rob a bank, only bring a burner phone so police can’t track it. I did not knowanyonecould hack someone’s location.
He observes while I retrieve my phone and switch off the location. A red dot on his watch disappears. The bed squeaks when I settle back into it, and he gives a pleased nod. “You’re on the Capital City High swim team, right?”
That catches me off guard. “Obviously.” My room is onlyfullof trophies.
“And you share a lane with Aaron Ryan?”
“How do you know that?”
He stills, listening. The dobermans bark, but not ferociously.
My dad is home.
A thud comes from downstairs as my dad unlocks the deadbolt.
D.S. turns back to me.
“I need you to find out if Aaron has Superpowers. I’ll show you a way to contact me in due time.” He prances back to the windowsill. “Nice chat, Roberts. Fix that window.”
He leaps off the windowsill like a cat pouncing on the sky, taking the nearest shadows with him. The dobermans bark and whine for more treats below, giving life to our otherwise quiet street.
It’s the second time in hours that I’ve heard about Aaron being special, but a Super? No way. He’s a talented swimmer, but the school tests athletes for powers.
The bedroom door cracks open, letting in light from the hall.
“Bedtime, Madaroni?” Dad pokes his head in.
I nod, still deep in thought, and my dad retreats.
I remember when Arielle tested me before my first swim practice. She’d tested all of us, having special permission from the government, and acted stupidly smug about her status for months afterward. I’d swallowed the testing liquid, and she’d waited four seconds before declaring me hopelessly normal. For Kristen, she’d waited five. Arielle never said what the testingliquid would do if you were a Super, no one ever did, but Arielle would keep the secret for the prestige rather than the ethics.
Aaron can’t have powers and be on the swim team. That couldn’t have been what D.S. wanted me to find out about Aaron. There must be something else that he’s hoping I’ll discover along the way.
Seven
October has a variety of Wednesdays. There’s one where night comes far too soon, another where everyone has a secret crush on someone just alittleout of their league, one where pumpkin-flavored everything replaces apple-flavored everything, and one that thinks it’s a Wednesday in August.
On a Wednesday a few weeks after I visited the police station, marked by Molly bringing pumpkin-flavored donuts for everyone in World History, something amazing happens.
“And what you’ll find as you study these topics,” Mr. Meyers lectures, “is that we’re not sure who discovered water, but we’re fairly certain it wasn’t the fish.”
Kristen tilts her notebook at me.Deep,she scrawls in the margin.
“Like the ocean,” I whisper.
Good thing we can swim,she scribbles.
I glance at the clock above the classroom door. One of the many unfortunate aspects of Capital City High is that the clocks hardly ever work. They end up being more decorative than useful—and we’re not allowed to have our phones out while teachers are teaching. Except for the clock in this room. Mr. Meyers is not a teacher who will tolerate something not functioning and he maintains his timepiece personally.
Yes!I am pleased to learn there are only three minutes left of class.
Suddenly, the school secretary, Ms. Bedelia, hops on the loudspeaker. Ms. Bedelia is everyone’s favorite adult because she always wears fun sweaters with cats on them. As usual, she sounds cheery and over-caffeinated.
