Category Archives: Book 05: Freshman Year

Arc 4.6: Settling In

Settling In: Part 2

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Marcus followed them, lengthening his legs as he jumped, and stretching his arms to grab the ledge on the other side. His leap reminded me of a frog somehow.

If it weren’t night, I could have blamed it on his green costume. I only recognized him because I knew he was coming, and because no normal human could stretch like that.

Frog-like or not, the way his shape briefly blocked the stars made me think of Batman cartoons—which ironically brought me back to reality. Continue reading Settling In: Part 2 →

Arc 4.6: Settling In

Settling In: Part 1

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Even three nights later, I still found myself thinking about the conversation. I’d talked about it with Haley, (and for that matter Daniel, Cassie, and Vaughn) and we all agreed it wasn’t likely that Courtney would be able to recreate the power impregnator on her own.

Despite what you might see in the movies, being a chemistry major doesn’t automatically qualify you to construct a device that activates powers hidden in a person’s DNA.

I mean, honestly, it would have been a lot of work for me to construct one, and I had Grandpa’s documentation.

I knew that, and yet on Thursday night I lay in my bunk, staring at the ceiling, and wondering what she planned to do with her powers anyway.

She could already pass for a model. What else did she want? Continue reading Settling In: Part 1 →

Arc 4.5: Orientation

Orientation: Part 5

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Fifteen minutes later, she stepped out of the office, and started walking toward the hall. I waved to her, and she slowed, letting me catch up.

“Did you just see your advisor too?”

“Kind of. I got out, and then I noticed you were in there, and thought I’d say hi when you got out.”

Then I wondered if I’d been too honest. She could take that a bunch of ways ranging from “creepy stalker” to “he’s interested in me” to “just being friendly.”

Continue reading Orientation: Part 5 →

Arc 4.5: Orientation

Orientation: Part 4

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The cafeteria had more than one level, allowing people on the edges to take in everyone on the main level of the room. Vaughn and Cassie sat together at a table with a view, but also one that wasn’t more than ten feet from an exit.

I wondered if that was intentional or accidental. Lee would have approved, though he probably would have positioned Vaughn with his back to the wall and Cassie nearer to the edge.

She’d work better as a lookout because she could take a lot of damage and still report back, giving Vaughn time to counterattack.

Not that any of us were likely to be attacked in the cafeteria—at least not this early in the semester. Continue reading Orientation: Part 4 →

Arc 4.5: Orientation

Orientation: Part 3

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Haley colored. “Sorry. I wasn’t going to take it or anything. I just wanted to look at it. My mom has the same book.”

Jeremy turned out to be a slightly chunky guy in shorts and t-shirt. The t-shirt said “Gevil” (except the “e” was a sigma) in Google’s multi-colored letters. Jeremy himself had a small mustache and five o’clock shadow.

“Does she actually believe it?”

“What? No. I don’t think so. I think she bought it at a garage sale. It was really popular once, and she was curious, so…”

After a pause, she said, “I’m Haley, Nick’s girlfriend.” Continue reading Orientation: Part 3 →

Arc 4.4: TBD

TBD: Part 10

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“Yeah?” He pulled the tab, and opened the can, barely seeming to care.

That annoyed me, because it wasn’t as if I’d volunteered the information. He’d asked. I didn’t see any reason to start a conversation with him. If anything, I’d be willing to go out of my way to avoid it.

I pressed the down button on the elevator. If nothing else, I could leave.

“Have you been telling stories about me?”

Continue reading TBD: Part 10 →

Arc 4.4: TBD

TBD: Part 9

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I got on my stationary bike, and ignored Sean. I didn’t have anything to say to him.

As the woman in scrubs taped sensors to my arm and chest, and after she’d explained to me what I had to do, I turned to Jenny. “I saw Brooke before I met my adviser. I don’t know where she is now.”

From the row of bikes behind me, Brooke said, “Back here.”

I turned toward her voice and saw her. “Hi. I didn’t notice you.” Continue reading TBD: Part 9 →

Arc 4.4: TBD

TBD: Part 8

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“No reason you should remember me. Like a lot of people I attended your grandfather’s funeral, but not as myself, and I wasn’t around much during the years when you were your grandfather’s lab assistant.”

That had to be how it looked from the outside. “After the Rocket’s retirement as a hero, he stayed home and worked on devices for the community with his grandson as an assistant.”

It was accurate as far as it went, but it felt less like my life, and more like I was an appendage to Grandpa’s.

Continue reading TBD: Part 8 →