Controlling Interest: Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Misattributed Identity Syndrome

I didn’t expect to start Tuesday by asking my dad for a dog.

“He’s really well behaved,” I said. “And weren’t you saying I should be safer? What’s safer than having a big dog?”

Danny rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. “A dog.”

“He’s a rescue, from the shelter my friend works at.” That wasn’t even a lie. The dog I’d saved from Hookwolf’s fighting ring was definitely a rescue, and Rachel volunteered nearly all of her free time at a warehouse that she owned, taking care of as many dogs as she could handle.

She’d shown me her warehouse and shared her identity last night. When Rachel had pulled out the pit bull we’d saved on our first night out, he’d come over wagging his tail.

“You can give him a treat,” Rachel had said to me. “But tell him to sit first.”

“Sit.” I’d said, and he’d sat right there at my feet.

How could I not want to keep him?

“A dog,” Danny replied, “is a big responsibility.”

“I know, Dad.” I crossed my arms. “But I’m bringing in a lot of money from my babysitting job; Ms. Kayden pays really well. I was even thinking I could help with some of the bills on top of that! And I’ll take him on runs with me in the morning to get his energy out.”

He paused, looking at me. When I was younger, I used to always be able to tell what my dad was thinking. Or maybe back then, I was just delusional.

Now I just stared back at him until he sighed, rubbing his forehead. “You’ll take care of feeding him and training him?” His voice came out stern. “And if he tears up the house while you’re at school…”

“He’s already crate trained,” I said. Calling what those skinheads had done to those dogs ‘crate training’ felt squicky, but it was true that most of them were pretty calm in their own kennels. “And I promise to buy everything he needs myself, and train him too. My friend is really good at training, and she’s given me lots of tips.”

Danny sighed. “You don’t have to help with the bills.”

I leaned forward against my will. “You mean?”

“We can get your dog.”

I jolted forward, arms wrapping around his waist. “Thanks, Dad!”

“Oof.” He patted my shoulder. “What’s his name anyway?”

I stepped back, wiggling with excitement. “I’m gonna name him Champ.” He’d survived the fighting pits and helped take out Hookwolf. That made him a champion to me.

“Well, as long as you keep your promises, we shouldn’t have any problems.”

“I will.” I nodded. “You’ll see.”

He smiled at me. “Want me to drive you to school then?”

“Oh, uh…” I paused. “Sure, if you have time.”

“I always have time for you, kiddo.” He placed a hand on my shoulder again, and I smiled back up at him.

“Thanks.”

Maybe it wasn’t true, but…I liked pretending it was. Dad and I, we would look out for each other.

“Well? Go get your backpack, Taylor. I’ll get the car warmed up,” Dad said.

“Sure.”

Was it weird, being so happy? I was getting a new dog, and a new friend—I was pretty sure; it was hard to tell with Rachel, but I liked her. I’d gone out as a hero, teamed up with another group of heroes, and we’d dealt, if not a major blow, at least a blow to one of the gangs ruining my home.

Not to mention the duffle bag of cash I’d hidden in the coal chute. I hadn’t had a chance to count it yet, but even if I didn’t get another chance to hit stash houses like that, the money should be more than enough to cover all of Champ’s needs with more than enough left over to improve my kit.

Already I was thinking about what to do to upgrade my costume. I could finally afford some real hardware, like an upgrade to my baton, and some actual first aid supplies for my utility belt. EpiPens were surprisingly expensive, but now I could make sure to carry a few in case anyone was allergic to bee stings.

All of that came from my first weekend as a cape. Even the thought of going to school couldn’t get me down.

After giving Danny a hug goodbye, I hustled towards the computer lab. Mrs. Knott was usually there early, which made it a safe haven from my bullies. Even if Emma wasn’t focusing on me as much, there was no point in giving her an easy target.

In the halls I noticed the knots of Empire kids were sullen and defensive. I couldn’t hold back a smile, knowing that I’d caused that.

I ducked inside the computer lab just before a few girls from Emma’s clique caught sight of me. I mentally placed a gnat on each of them. I wondered if I could keep track of them throughout the day. Each time I’d went out as a cape, my ability to sense things through my insects had been much more useful than I’d expected, but I’d never tried to track someone over long periods before.

All of Winslow fit easily in my range, so if I could use that trick to avoid Emma and Sophia as well, it would be perfect.

I shared a good morning with Mrs. Knott, who told me that I could get started on today’s project early. We were learning how to code a simple calculator, and I was already mostly done with what we were going to be adding.

I used the time before the bell rang to log in to a machine at the back of the room and check my school email. Thankfully, this one hadn’t been flooded by hate mail yet, but I did have a new message from Ms. Kayden asking if I could babysit Thursday afternoon.

I sent a quick confirmation before class started. Compared to taking on Nazis, programming a calculator wasn’t super interesting, but this was still my favorite class. I pounded out the next lines of code and quickly double checked that the buttons all looked right.

Normally, that’s where I’d read ahead, right now it was just a fancy visual interface after all. But instead, I pulled up PHO, just to check what was going on.

Then I found the hate mail had been waiting for me here.

[B]♦  Private message from Point_Me_TheSky:[/B]

[INDENT]

[B]Point_Me_TheSky New Message:[/B] What the fuck bug?

I thought you were a hero. Why'd you join a villain group in two days?

Hookwolf or no, don't expect me to play nice next time I catch you or any of your new friends trying to burn down the Bay.

[/INDENT]

I stared at the message, mouth gaping before I flipped over to the main forums so fast I almost broke the mouse.

Just like my first night out, there was a thread about the Undersiders hitting the Empire. Unlike last time, people were much less happy about it. I started to read the main updates, before pausing, jaw clenched as my heart dropped into my stomach.

The Undersiders were villains. Worse, they were known Villains who had a long string of successful robberies from the other gangs as well as normal civilians. Someone said that they’d hit a casino, but even if I didn’t have the time to check that it was obvious that everyone thought they were villains.

And they also thought that the Undersiders had a new Bug Controller.

I bit my lip as I saw the comments turn into an all-out hate fest against me and my ‘new team’, even though they’d lied to me. Sure, there were a few people who were still on our side, but not very many, because we’d started a running fire.

In one of the earlier houses, maybe the second one, the drugs had started burning the foundation of the house, and from there, it spread and damaged several houses. People were homeless now, because of us.

Normally, even in Brockton, people knew not to mess with firefighters. Villains burned just as easily as civilians a lot of the time, but last night another gang had hit the Empire as well. Brokton Bay had a lot of those.

More than I’d thought, considering I joined one. The bitter thought lodged in the back of my throat as I got a fuller view of what I’d been unknowingly a part of.

The Azn Bad Boyz, or ABB, was Brockton’s pan-Asian gang. Aside from Lung, the growing rage dragon who’d once taken on the entire local Protectorate and walked away, they had a teleporter and a new tinker who specialized in explosives.

The firefighters and other emergency services had been too busy last night to deal with the ‘small fire’ we’d started, because the ABB had shown up with bombs: lots and lots of bombs. I’d participated in what people were calling the opening salvo of a broader gang war. The very thing I’d been trying to stop.

There was no question that the Empire would retaliate. They were already pushing against the heroes, the other gangs. If I knew anything about bullies, now that they’d taken a hit, the Empire would swing back twice as hard.

My head hit my hands, and I barely remembered to log out.

I’d done that. What good did burning drugs do if I burned houses too? Now everyone thought I was a villain, including the only hero I’d ever met. Now even if I messaged her back, would Glory Girl even believe me? From past experience, I doubted it.

Even if the Heroes were better, I’d helped burn down people’s houses last night. I wasn’t sure if I’d believe me.

But it wasn’t my fault.

The Undersiders had lied to me. Rachel had lied to me. I clenched my fingers in my hair. I’d told Rachel that I’d pick up Champ from her tonight, and now I didn’t know what I’d do if I faced her.

All of my earlier happiness had burned to ash in front of me, and then the bell rang.

I got up, leaving the classroom with my insides still roiling. I had Mr. Gladly today, and knowing him, he’d want to bring up the cape fight that just went down; his way of being ‘cool’ and ‘plugged in’, which meant another hour of hearing people talk about the new villain on the Undersiders.

Suffice it to say, when Sophia cornered me in the hall, I was not in the mood.

With my bugs, I just sensed someone striding towards me with purpose. I rolled back a step as Sophia bulled her way through the space in front of me. “Watch where you’re going, Hebert.”

I staggered out of her way, dark glare bubbling across my features. Sophia must have seen it out of the corner of her eye, because she stopped and turned back towards me. Just my luck.

“What? Little baby upset?” she asked.

Sophia never had the best material out of Emma’s cronies; it was always the threat of physical violence that made her so scary. But after Hookwolf…

She still wasn’t worth it, I told myself. Instead, I pushed the rage out of me and into my growing swarm before turning away and walking the other direction. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for Sophia.

Once again, I felt her chasing after me through the crowd, shoving other students out of the way. Couldn’t this fricking bitch leave me alone for one more day? Of course that was asking for too much. Of course my day wouldn’t be completely ruined until Sophia shoved me in another locker for kicks.

Fine.

This time, I stepped to the side right as she lunged and threw my elbow back over my shoulder. I didn’t aim, but either through dumb luck or because Sophia was just so sure I would never fight back, my elbow hit her cheek with a hard smack.

She rolled with the blow, spinning around so fast I didn’t see her follow up punch until it rocked my head back. My glasses went flying. I gasped, half from surprise and half from the pain.

“Don’t you dare walk your bitch ass away from me.” Sophia’s voice cut through the hall. Through my power, I could already feel a circle starting to form. Other people whooping and jostling, ready to see another smackdown.

Just like the dog in the ring.

“Was gonna let you off with just a warning.” Someone was talking. “But then you decided to get uppity.”

I let the rage crash back into me and screamed.

She dodged, but I knew she would. Instead of committing, I’d first thrown my weight obviously to one side. The moment her foot left the ground I spun, catching her other leg with mine.

My only regret was that I couldn’t see the look on her face.

Then her hands clamped down on my calf and I hit the ground as well. My elbow banged the tile hard enough to make me shriek. I kicked, but she slipped right past it, pinning me. So close I could see the twisted, hateful rictus of her features looming over me as she pressed her forearm against my throat.

I thrashed fruitlessly, her hands clamping tight as iron around my wrists and suddenly I could barely move, barely breathe. All of my muscles locked up, bugs rushing up the walls to—

“All right break it up! Break it up!”

Sophia’s weight vanished between one breath and the next, and I gasped for air. I scrabbled to my hands and knees on instinct just in time for a teacher to shove through the circle. “What’s going on here, ladies?”

I coughed, staggering upright.

I almost fell, but then strong hands grip my elbow. “Nothing, Mr. G.”

My head snapped up as Sophia spoke.

“Taylor just bumped into someone, we were looking for her glasses.” Suiting word to deed, Sophia stepped over and swept something off the floor. “Thanks for getting the other kids out of the way.”

I blinked at her as she pushed the glasses into my hands.

“Is that true, Taylor?” Mr. Gladly asked.

I put my glasses back on. Around us, the crowd has already mostly split, just a few who wanted to see if we got detention were left. Sophia stood next to me, looking relaxed, but her fingers were pressed tight against my arm.

For once, I wasn’t happy with the bulky hoodie I’d chose to wear.

I looked back to Mr. Gladly. “Yeah.” I pulled my arm away from Sophia. “Some—” Bitch. “—one knocked me over.”

He stared at the two of us for a few seconds, hands planted on his hips. Then he turned to look at the rest of the stragglers. “Well? I’m sure you all have somewhere to be.” Then, to us, “Don’t be late for class, ladies.”

Sophia and I parted to let him down the hall, and also because we couldn’t stand each other.

The moment he was past, she turned an absolutely murderous glare at me. This time, I met it head on, standing straight so that she had to tilt her chin up petulantly. It made her look much less threatening.

“Don’t be late for class, Sophia,” I said.

Her glared turned into a frown, brow furrowed. Then she snorted. “Whatever. I’ll deal with you tomorrow.”

Normally, I just would have taken her comments, but like I said, today I just wasn’t in the mood.

“Looking forward to it.”

Again, she paused, looking back at me with a complicated expression on her face, but if I couldn’t read my own dad, there was no way I could puzzle out what a complete psychopath like Sophia was thinking.

Instead, I locked eyes with Mr. Gladly, who was waiting by the door to his classroom, and walked past her.

For saving me from getting my ass kicked, I even preemptively forgave him for making me sit through an hour of ‘current events’ discussion about what an idiot I’d been last night. It was even kinda funny hearing Sophia defend the Undersiders and “especially that new bug cape who took out Hookwolf”.

Even though she said we all belonged behind bars later.

My almost-fight with Sophia had helped me work out a much more pressing problem, though. I’d go see Rachel tonight, in person. She deserved at least that much from me, even if I was less okay with the rest of the Undersiders.

Looking back, it felt like Regent had been making fun of me all night. While I wasn’t petty enough to pay him back for that, it didn’t mean I wanted to work with him or the rest of them again. Rachel was different; we’d taken down Hookwolf together. For now, I just had to make it through the day and see if I was still picking up a new dog. At least if I spent the money on that, it would be going towards something good.

It all depended on what Rachel had to say.

~  ~*

“Thought you knew.” She grunted as we picked up another bag of dog food. Barks filled the air.

I huffed, helping her pour the dry kibble out into the bowls. “Even though I’m a hero?”

“Didn’t look like a hero,” Rachel replied. “Didn’t care.”

“…Fair enough.” Even Glory Girl had thought my costume was a little villainous. “The dogs were more important.”

“Mmm.” Rachel nodded. “Take that side, don’t give them the bowls until they sit.”

“You’ve taught all of them to sit already?”

She looked at me.

I tilted my head, waiting.

After a moment, Rachel grunted. “Had that group before. I’m taking the new ones.”

“Oh, right…that makes sense.”

It was kind of the only thing that made sense. I started to sort my thoughts as I took the bowls of dogfood over the first row of kennels. With my bugs, it wasn’t even that hard to separate them out. Pretty much every dog Rachel had would go after a juicy looking beetle if one flew over their nose.

The few bugs I lost were well worth not getting swarmed by all the very hungry dogs.

I’d come here angry, upset, and looking for a fight. I’d thought maybe Rachel had set me up from the beginning, told All Seeing Eye that she could con me into being a villain.

Rachel had asked me to help her with the dogs again.

“Here you go, Champ.” My new dog had his own little spot away from the rest of the group. Rachel’s warehouse didn’t have a dog run so much as a fenced off yard where enough of the asphalt had been torn up to allow grass to grow, and then a half fence across the inside so she could separate the dogs.

Champ had been given a little spot by the door, complete with a bottle of flea and tick shampoo and some other things Rachel had put together for me. So, instead of fighting, I’d helped her with the dogs.

“Do you care?” I asked after we’d finished feeding everyone. “About heroes and villains?”

Rachel grunted and shook her head.

I looked down. “So you’re just with the Undersiders because they pay you for the dogs?”

She nodded. “Used to get paid more, had some boss,” she said. “I told them I’d leave if they didn’t keep paying me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “A boss other than All Seeing Eye.”

Rachel folded her arms. “She didn’t think I knew what was going on.”

I nodded, processing that as well. So the Undersiders used to have a boss? What did that even mean? Well, it meant most of them were probably in it for the money, like Rachel. Whether the rest of them thought that Grue was the leader like I had was anyone’s guess.

“Well, if you see your new boss, tell her not to contact me.” I stood up, brushing off my pants. “I’m trying to be a hero still, but…I’ll still help you with the dogs, if you want.”

She grunted. “You know where to find me.”

I took that as a yes and tried to hold back my smile. “Thanks for Champ.”

At that, her eyes swiveled to me, brow furrowed and dark.

After a second, I added. “Please let me know if I’m doing anything wrong. I want to take care of him.”

“Good,” she said. “He’ll take care of you, too.” At my side, Champ wagged his tail, butting the side of his face into my leg hard enough to almost knock me over.

Maybe if I could bring him to school with me, he’d take care of Sophia as well.

I helped Rachel let the dogs out and got the running a bit after dinner, and then my dad came and picked me up a block away from the ‘shelter’. Fortunately, he liked Champ, though I thought that was mostly because he wanted a big scary dog to keep me safe.

Part of me wondered if the whole ‘unwritten rules’ that Grue had told me about was a lie, but either way, I wouldn’t turn in Rachel.

I went to school the next day with my taser stuffed into the front of my hoodie, but Sophia didn’t show.

I didn’t delude myself into thinking that I’d scared her off. That stay of execution only meant that Emma was back to mocking me like she’d never left, because of course the world was dead set on wiping out all the progress I’d made over the last week. It left me feeling suspended, just waiting through the other shoe to drop all the way through the day and till I went to babysit for Ms. Kayden.

Against my better judgement, I brought Champ. I just couldn’t leave him at home alone all day, and I was pretty sure Ms. Kayden’s apartment had a dog run he could explore.

It didn’t turn out to matter.

“Oh,” she said, when she opened the door. “That’s a big dog.”

“He’s a rescue.” I tugged his leash slightly. “Champ, sit.”

He sat, tail wagging against the carpet.

“Sorry, he’s good with babies, but if you don’t want him—”

“No, no, come in already.” Ms. Kayden stepped back. She snagged her blazer off the rack and threw it on. She seemed frazzled. “Aster’s in the bedroom again; I’ll probably be back extra late this time, and uh. Shoot, there was something else.”

I paused, waiting.

“Oh right.” She hustled over to the counter, before practically shoving a glossy box into my hands. “I, uh, wanted to get you something.”

I blinked in surprise. “A cellphone?” One of the latest DragOS models, too. “This, Ms. Kayden I just—”

“Please, keep it. I was supposed to—I mean, I wanted to make it up to you, for working such long hours.” She nodded once, determined. “And also, I felt bad about you walking home so late without a phone. Though, it’s good that you have a dog.”

At that, she paused, looking at Champ again. He wiggled a little on his shoulders, rocking back and forth as he looked back at her.

“Almost feels like I’ve seen you before, buddy,” she said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Do you…go to a lot of shelters?”

“No.” Kayden shook her head.

“Okaaay.” The other alternative was much less flattering, but after all the comments I’d heard about being a ‘nice girl’, I was starting to have reservations about my current employer.

“Oh, now I’m late! Anyway, my number’s already in the phone, but I’ll call you when I’m heading home, bye!”

“Ah, but—” I paused as the door to the apartment slammed shut behind her. “…She didn’t even lock the door.”

With a sigh, I flipped the deadbolt, got Champ settled down with a toy, and pulled my new phone out of its packaging.

I was also starting to suspect that she’d bought me a cell phone so that she could get ahold of me easier. At least she paid well for the long hours, and taking care of Aster wasn’t really that hard. Ms. Kayden didn’t even seem to care what activities I did with her.

Well, whatever. I had bigger issues, like Nazis and Sophia coming for my head tomorrow. Luckily, neither of those mattered here.

~  ~*

The next day, Sophia was pissed, and so was I.

I could see it on her face the moment she stormed into the classroom. If Mr. Quinlan wasn’t there, she might have tackled me. I might have welcomed it.

I had no clue what pissed her off—as far as I was aware, seething rage was Sophia’s default state of being—but I had a good reason to be utterly enraged.

Hookwolf had escaped. The one unabashedly good thing I’d managed to accomplish, undone last night. Whole first period, I sat there with my fists clenched so tight around the legs of my desk that the metal bit into my palms.

I wanted to scream.

Instead, I left class slowly. A fly on the underside of Sophia’s bag let me know that she followed after me, quickly at first, then slower when she realized I wasn’t trying to get away.

Usually, I did everything I could to avoid Sophia between classes. Not today. Instead I blazed down the halls, all but shoving people out of the way. When I hit the stairs, Sophia suddenly sped up. I took the two at a time to the second floor. This wing was overcrowded, but old. The walls were cinderblock, and the no windows in the doors.

I came to a stop just as the bell rang and the last set of guys hustled into their classroom. Just around the corner, a group of stoners were lighting up something acrid in the alcove over the broken staircase.

I dropped my backpack to the ground.

“Thought you were gonna run,” Sophia said.

I turned around.

She stood about ten feet away from me, ‘pistols at dawn’ length. Arms crossed, already glaring. I tried to remember why I’d been so scared of this, but I couldn’t summon the feeling.

“That was you, yesterday,” I replied.

Her glare deepened into ‘gonna rip out your intestines’ territory. “Some of us have lives outside of getting stepped on, Hebert.”

“Is that what you’re gonna do, step on me?” I rolled my arms. “Okay. Let’s fucking do this.”

That, of all things, made her pause. “You think you can fight me?” she asked.

“Did fine yesterday.”

“Lucky hit.” She shook her hands out. “Someone needs to remind you why people like you don’t fight back.”

I laughed. “Come on then, remind me.” Then I charged.

She didn’t expect that, but still she easily stepped to the side and shoved me out of the way. I ducked beneath a punch towards the back of my head, spinning.

I grazed her cheek, then she hit me hard in the stomach.

I staggered back and pushed off the lockers. Sophia’s kick rang down the hallway. I tackled her while her leg was raised.

With a grunt, she rolled and threw me off. I scrabbled back to my feet just in time to get punched in the face. She hooked my legs and I hit the ground again.

“Stay down.”

I headbutted her and she buckled. “Make me!”

Down the hall, the stoner kids got up, looking at us. One of them ran off while I grappled with Sophia on the tile. She flipped me, almost pinning me this time before I rolled away and back to my feet.

“Fucking bitch.” Sophia pushed herself to her feet, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. “Was trying to put you down easy, but now you’re just asking for it.”

I circled, but this time Sophia lunged. She ducked a wild punch and slammed her fist into my stomach. Then a knee. I spat up all over the floor.

“There,” she said. “that’s a better—”

I wrapped my arms around her middle, and this time I hooked her leg.

We went down for the third time. “Stop fucking talking!” I got a good punch in before she grabbed my hair, twisting me off hard enough for me to scream. I thrashed, slamming my elbow into her side again and again even as she smacked me against the cold tile.

An arm snaked around my throat, constricting painfully. My eyes bulged. I threw my weight back, but she was on top of me now. My nails dragged at her arm, but I couldn’t breathe I couldn’t think I—

“What in the hell is going on here!”

Again, Sophia was back on her feet in a flash, leaving me rasping and coughing on the ground.

“Hebert attacked me. I was just defending herself.”

“Yeah. That’s—” I coughed again. “That’s why she was choking me.”

I was not surprised when Blackwell came to a stop in front of me as I slowly dragged myself to my feet. “We have a zero-tolerance policy towards this type of behavior, Ms. Hebert.”

“So that’s why you tolerate her beating the shit out of me but not the other way?” I asked.

“You do not get to attack other students!”

“What happed to her word against my word?” I shook my head, “You know what, fuck you too.”

“I’ll have you expelled for that kind of language young lady!” Blackwell shouted, but I’d already tuned her out. Instead, I turned to a smirking Sophia.

I took a step towards her. “What, gonna cry about it now, Hebert?”

“Must be nice.” I took another step. “When the man is always on your side.”

“What you gonna do about it?” she asked.

I came to a stop in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Sophia let me, arms crossed, looking up at me with an expression that I wanted to rip right off her face.

“That is enough!” Blackwell shouted.

Both of us ignored her.

“You’re too much of a pussy,” Sophia said.

I punched her in the nose so hard I felt my hand pop.

Her head snapped back. I ducked on instinct as a blind haymaker flew over my head. I hit her twice more stomach, pain lancing up my arm.

“If she’s gonna side with you I then I better deserve it!” I screamed at her. Unfortunately, I only managed one or two more good hits before Sophia got her arms up and hit me hard enough in the temple that the world spun around me.

I hit the ground, then something hit me. And then it hit me again, and again.

I came to in the nurse’s office to the sound of my dad yelling at the top of his lungs.

Everything was fuzzy, like I was wrapped in gauze, but inside instead. The thought made me giggle.

It hurt.

“Still laughing?” Came a voice.

I stopped, rolling my head over. On the other side of the room, Sophia was sitting on the one other cot. There wasn’t a single teacher, probably because of dad. I hope he punched them in the face too.

“Fuck you, Sophia,” I said.

She snorted, though it came out more like a hiss through the actual gauze packed around her nose. “Spend a year and a half lying down and taking it, then this?” Through the blurry haze, I felt like I heard something like respect in her voice. “The fuck is up with you, Hebert?”

My own voice, however, continued working without my consent. “Not gonna tell you anything.”

“Sure.” She rolled her eyes. “But you knew I was gonna beat the crap out of you, right?”

“So?” The light flickered, and my eyes blinked rapidly. “You’re gonna be a bitch. Better make you work for it.”

“Light work,” she said.

“Broke your nose,” I replied. “Want me to do it again?”

“As if you can even move.”

I grit my teeth, ignoring the floating, the throbbing in my head. Physical things like pain I couldn’t push away from me like emotions, but if I just focused instead on my anger, it did enough. Grunting, panting, I pushed myself upright, swinging one leg off the bed.

I glared at her head on. “Wanna find out what I can do?”

“Wow.” Sophia cocked an eyebrow. “A real predator hiding there the whole time? I don’t fucking believe it.”

A second leg joined the first on the floor. “I can live with a man for ten years,” I told her. “Eat with him, work with him. Then I can take him and throw him into a volcano, and on that day, I’ll finally meet him.”

She blinked in confusion.

I stepped forward. “You threw me into a volcano, Sophia.” Another step. “This is me.” In the walls, insects started to rasp and whisper. Her eyes flicked to the side. “Nice to meet you.”

The door to the infirmary opened.

“See!” Blackwell shouted. “Your daughter is the aggressive party, and I will not—”

“Nah, Principal Blackwell,” Sophia said. She folded her hand behind her head. “Taylor and I were just talking.”

I stared at her, silently. Then, I relaxed my hands.

“I don’t care what you believe about my daughter,” Dad said. I could hear the barely-contained rage in his voice. “But I am taking her to the hospital for a potential concussion, and you can expect to hear from my lawyer.”

I blinked in surprise as Dad settled an arm around me, steadying me. I’d been swaying.

“Let’s get out of here, kiddo.”

I gave one last parting look towards Sophia. She met my gaze head on, not smirking or glaring at me this time. Instead, she had a blank expression on her face as my dad slowly shepherded me out of the room.

The last thing I saw before the door closed was a jaunty wave.

Dad got me into the car as gently as he could, making sure I was buckled in and handing me a pack of ice he’d gotten from the nurse before Principal Blackwell got involved. He started talking as he pulled out of the parking lot, explaining what had happened while I was unconscious. Apparently I’d woken back up a few times, but I didn’t remember that.

Which was probably why we were going to the hospital.

“Talked them down from expulsion, but I still—” Dad grit his teeth.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’ve already put the paperwork together to transfer to Immaculata if I have to. They have scholarships. Ms. Kayden said she’d put my name in.”

Dad looked at me for a second before flipping on his signal and pulling over the car. “The bullying…it kept going for that long?”

“Never stopped.” I looked down, shifting the ice pack against my forehead. “They pretended for a week or so, then business as usual.”

“Fucking—” He shook his head. “You’re done going there. I’m going to bury that godforsaken school.”

“Dad.” I reached out, grabbing for his hand. “Dad it’s…it’s okay,” I said. “Thanks for…backing me up.”

“It’s not okay,” he said. “And I always have your back, Taylor. I, you…” He sucked in a deep breath before letting it go. “And you’re never going back there.”

“Okay, that part…that part’s good.”

We went to Brockton General. I didn’t catch a glimpse of Panacea, which was always the thing people talked about when they had hospital visits, like she was our very own cryptid.

The normal, non-cape, doctor did some tests and told me I likely didn’t have a concussion, but that I shouldn’t sleep for the next six to eight hours and told me to ice my bruises.

I told Dad that we could talk about it tomorrow, once my everything didn’t hurt, and as much as it did hurt, I felt almost empty inside, clean, but utterly exhausted. Ready to put Winslow behind me forever and focus on what mattered.

Of course, I couldn’t end my day on such an even note.

When I got home, All Seeing Eye texted me on my new phone.

So. The message said. How do you feel about your little escapade against the Empire now?