36. P̶ O̶ W̶ E̶ R̶ :̶ D̶r̶e̶a̶m̶s̶ | Blacksdale

CHAPTER II

BRRRRRIIIINNNNGGGGG

"Kayla! Kayla, wait up!"

Kayla let out an annoyed huff and slammed her locker, hopping briskly down the hall with her arms folded across her chest.

"Kayla, hey! Wouldjya stop?" Zill flew in front of the red kangaroo, hands extended toward her pleadingly.

"Why? So you can feed me more excuses about how you actually did the right thing instead of screwin' everything up?" Kayla sneered, moving one hand to her hip.

"No! I—" Zill stopped and gave a helpless sigh. "Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry," he told Kayla. "You're right. I screwed up. I shouldn't have thrown that guy away."

"No, what you shouldn't've done is messed with my mission!" Kayla retorted hotly. "I had it under control, but you stuffed your big nose in it and just—just—ugh!" She pushed past Zill, fed up.

"Kayla, please!" Zill begged, running over to her side. "I wanna make it up to you!"

"Yeah? An' 'ow're ya gonna do that, mate?" Kayla asked in a sarcastic tone.

"With these."

Kayla stopped walking and turned to Zill, who was now grinning hopefully and holding two tickets in his hand.

"Check it out," he told her. "I got two tickets to see L.E.X. live this Friday. You like concerts, right?"

Kayla let out a disbelieving chuckle. "L.E.X.?" she repeated. "As in Alexis? Your sistah? You gotta be kiddin' me."

Zill's face fell. "What do you—"

"You know I like concerts, eh? That's rippah, mate," Kayla sneered. "But if you evah asked, you'd know I love Celestina. L.E.X. ain't even 'alf 'er calibah."

At that, an expression of hurt and anger crossed Zill's face. "Oh, come on. That was uncalled for," he snapped.

"Maybe so, but it's the truth." Kayla narrowed her eyes behind her glasses. "Take someone else to that concert, you self-absorbed jerk. I ain't interested." With that, she hopped past Zill, chin held high.

Zill watched her go, then walked over to his locker and slammed his head against it, letting out a frustrated groan.

~*~

By the time gym class rolled around, Zill was still sore over his failed make-up attempt with Kayla. Two of his dodgeball teammates—Addison and Jack—noticed this, and made their way over to him to ask about it before the match began.

"Hey, Zillion," Addison greeted the sullen chimera. "Why the long face?"

"Yeah, man," Jack agreed. "You look like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"No, it's not that," Zill told them in a dull tone. "It's just... well... last night, Kayla and I ran into each other near the outskirts."

"Oh, really? What were you doing out there?" Addison asked, curious.

Zill chuckled. "Saving your tail."

Addison blinked, his eyes widening. "Huh?"

"Some Odd was trying to break into your house," Zill explained. "Kayla was fighting it off when I showed up, and I saved her from it." He winced, adding, "Then I threw it clear out of the city—which royally ticked her off."

Jack sighed. "Let me guess: she wanted to interrogate it."

"Bingo. And I screwed up her plans."