The Pyramid Chronicles: Fortuna Guard (#2)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Interrupter

After losing to Eric, Sam found himself at the front of the crowd, cheering on the ping pong matches that played out in rapid succession. When Raveena finally slipped up and lost her winning streak to a hydrokinetic senior, Summer took her paddle and held it up. "Anyone else wanna go?"

Eric glanced around, probably looking for Adam, but he hadn't returned yet.

"All right, then, you and me," Summer said, nodding at the senior as she took her place at the end of the table. Veronica moved to stand near Summer and joined that part of the crowd in cheering her on.

This match was the longest yet, but in the end, Summer held onto her title. After her victory, other altered sprang forward to claim the paddles, eager to play rematches with friends who had defeated them.

Sam glanced at Eric. "I'm gonna go grab another drink, wanna come?"

"Sure."

Once they were away from the crowd and Sam didn't have to shout for Eric to hear him, he asked, "Is Adam coming back?"

"Hm?" Eric asked as he assessed the soda options. "Oh, uh, yeah, I think so. I think he's just tired."

"Is he doing okay?" Sam reached for a cup and poured himself some orange soda.

"He misses his friends. Hopefully he'll get to see them this summer." Eric reached for the bottle as Sam set it down. "I think Adam was always a little jealous that Summer and I could bond over both having powers. He had to keep his abilities hidden from his friends."

Sam nodded. "Do you think that's why he wanted to be friends with Willow?"

"Yeah, that's probably part of it." Eric turned around and took a sip of his drink as he looked over the party. "Well, it's going to be rough for a few months, but once this is all over he'll be okay. He was going to go off to college in the fall, anyway." He took another sip.

Sam watched the other kids cheer on the next ping pong match. Summer slipped away from the crowd and hurried toward him and Eric. Veronica followed.

"Apparently the cryos are going to try to build an ice slide," Summer said when she reached them.

"They went off to find water bottles," Veronica added.

"Sounds fun," Sam said. And cold. He felt a surge of relief at Veronica's delighted expression, though. He hadn't seen her this relaxed in a long time.

"Yeah!" Summer threw a glance back over her shoulder. "I'm just glad it didn't turn out lame."

Eric laughed. "I don't think anything you've ever done has ever been lame."

"If you say so." Summer grinned. "Anyway, are you guys coming back over?"

"I'll be there in a minute," Eric said. "I'm just gonna finish this."

"Me too," Sam added.

Summer and Veronica ran off to rejoin the other altered. Sam took another sip of his drink.

"I'm glad everyone else is having fun," Eric said. "I mean, I have been, too. But it's like if I stand still for too long, I can feel the weight of all my stress again."

"Yeah," Sam said. His hand tightened around his cup. "I feel the same way."

~

Veronica and Summer returned to the ping pong table to find it had been taken over by a very loud and aggressive card game. The paddles and balls had been claimed by a group now playing each other on the other side of the room, bouncing the ball off the floor and walls and even the ceiling. Between that and the card game, the two cryokinetics had started on their ice slide. Another cluster of kids stood nearby, chatting while they sipped on drinks and occasionally breaking out into song when the music changed.