Tag Archives: Nick’s Dad

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 6

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Taking the phone, I ran down to the family room, and turned on the television. Dad frowned at me from the counter where he was eating cereal. “It’s a little early for television—”

“No, Dad, this is different.” I still had the phone in my hand. “You said News 10?”

“That’s it,” Kayla replied.

I didn’t watch TV in the morning, mostly because I wasn’t up, but I knew that normally News 10 gave a little local news and weather before cutting over to “The Today Show” for most of each hour.

It wasn’t cutting over. Terry Smith, the Very Square-Jawed male anchor sat at the desk with DebbieLynn Vonk, the Very Beautiful, Blonde, female anchor.

They were laughing as I turned on the TV, and they kept on laughing for a long time. Too long. As in, “How much longer are they going to show these people laughing,” long.
Continue reading Under 30: Part 6 →

Arc 2.9: Rivalry

Rivalry: Part 1

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Hitting the Chinese buffet at eleven at night went better than any other part of the evening. I think we both felt a little weird going there in the same clothes we wore to the prom, but we didn’t have anything to change into but our costumes.

So yeah, we were overdressed.

On the whole though, it went better than any other part of the night — no burnt food, no bloodthirsty maniacs, just the two of us.
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 1 →

Arc 2.6: Chemistry

Chemistry: Part 6

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I couldn’t think of a person I’d least like to hear say those words, but it didn’t really matter what I thought.

Sean, still limping a little, but off the crutches he’d been using since our fight, pushed through the crowd. The fact that Dayton, Sean’s much larger friend, walked with him undoubtedly helped with the pushing.

Ignoring Vaughn, he said, “So what do I do?”

“Just hold out your arm.” Keith put drips of each liquid on Sean’s forearm.
Continue reading Chemistry: Part 6 →

Arc 2.5: Three

Three: Part 1

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If you happen to know the right person in the FBI, it’s not that hard to get the stealth suit plus a highly modified guitar controller through airport security.

The Department of Homeland Security guys at Grand Lake’s airport had looked at each other and then at me as the guitar controller (in its lead lined cloth case) rolled through the X-ray machine. The metal detector’s alarm went off as I stepped through too.

I blamed the sonic systems, but the utility belt hidden under my jacket didn’t help.

They waved me on anyway.
Continue reading Three: Part 1 →

Arc 2.3: Bullies and Counselors

Bullies and Counselors: Part 7

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The kick didn’t do as much damage as it could have — by which I mean that it didn’t make his knee point the wrong direction. On the other hand, it did do what it was supposed to.

Sean fell over, landing in the snow next to where Jody held my arm down.

He didn’t stop talking either. “I can’t stand on my leg. I can’t stand on my fucking leg…”
Continue reading Bullies and Counselors: Part 7 →

Arc 2.2: Rattling Cages

Rattling Cages: Part 9

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Christmas day. In any other year, getting out of the house would have been a challenge. When Grandpa Vander Sloot was alive, we always seemed to have one of Mom’s brothers’ families at our house for Christmas. This year everyone had done their own thing. I suppose we could have gone to visit Dad’s family, but we’d visited Grandpa and Grandma Klein in Wyoming last year.

Wyoming is a long drive from Michigan and it doesn’t get any better in the winter.

We stayed home.

On Christmas day it turned out to be just the four of us. After we’d opened presents, gone to church, had dinner, and hung around the house for a while, visiting Haley’s family cottage sounded like a good idea.
Continue reading Rattling Cages: Part 9 →

Arc 2.2: Rattling Cages

Rattling Cages: Part 6

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You would think after all that that we were on the edge of some sort of attack, that the Executioner would just start killing people, but you would be wrong. Nothing happened.

December continued its steady march toward Christmas.

I finished off reviving Cassie’s dad’s normal motorcycle (even though she wasn’t going to do much with it during the winter), worked on the prototype for the guitar, and logged a few hours on the flight simulator that Isaac assured me would be a close match to the Heroes League jet.
Continue reading Rattling Cages: Part 6 →

Arc 2.0: Aftermath

Aftermath: Part 5

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The police came twenty minutes later. Haley had to knock the guy out three more times while we were waiting for them. We’d moved him back into his room to keep him warm while we waited — not that it made the room much warmer. I’d broken his window when he jumped me.

We had to deal with predictable issues in the meantime. The man with the camera wouldn’t leave us alone. He hung around and asked questions until the police arrived.
Continue reading Aftermath: Part 5 →

Arc 1.4: In the Public Eye

In the Public Eye: Part 60

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I shut down HQ for the night around 11:23 pm, knowing even as I did it that my parents weren’t going to be happy.

We had arrived back at 10:47 pm. In theory, I suppose, I could have been home on time if I’d skipped showering and let everyone else turn things off. Unfortunately just taking off the armor and putting it away took 10 minutes. Short of asking Jaclyn to carry me back to the house at full speed, I couldn’t see any way to be home on time.
Continue reading In the Public Eye: Part 60 →

Arc 1.4: In the Public Eye

In the Public Eye: Part 36

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“Uh, hi?”

I stood on a corner a couple blocks from my house. The street was dark and music came from the house behind me. With all the windows shut, I couldn’t tell what kind except that it definitely included a bass drum. Cars lined the street in front of it. A man in a devil costume walked up to the front door and stepped inside.

I felt naked. My armor sat back in HQ and I wasn’t wearing the full stealth suit — just the part that could fit under clothes.
Continue reading In the Public Eye: Part 36 →