Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 20 - Retreat - II

  Tyler and Mitch had claimed the back two rows of the bus. As eighth graders and nearly the oldest in the school, it was pretty much without argument. Kelsey had made it on too, to Natalie's relief. Not that she didn't like the guys, but it was nice to have another girl around. There were some things she just couldn't talk to them about, for obvious reasons.

  The bus driver, a bald man with an infectious smile and a cheerful belly laugh that Natalie had seen around the school a few times, fell silent as soon as she and Steven walked up to the door. Steven said "Hi" and walked right past without a second glance, but the man's smile faded slightly as he saw her.

  Natalie's good mood deflated. "Hi," she said in a muted voice. "I'm Jenny. I... I'm going over to Steven's house today. Okay?" She held out the note.

  His eyes were already making that slight circular motion that meant he was following the scar on her face. Natalie held out the note a little more insistently, and he snapped back into his usual self. He took the note and looked it over carefully. He nodded, adding in an overly chipper tone, "Okie-dokey! Welcome aboard!"

  Natalie quickly followed Steven to the back of the bus, trying to ignore the stares and pointed whispers from every row of seats as she went by. She gratefully fell onto the empty back seat, across from Kelsey and behind Steven and Mitch.

  "Whoah, how'd you get on?" asked Mitch.

  "Got permission," she said, holding up the piece of paper.

  Mitch recognized it immediately. He grinned. "Nice."

  The rest of the group was already talking about something else, some game Kelsey and Steven played online that Natalie didn't know much about. She had a laptop that Lily bought for her, but it wasn't really for gaming. The only games she played were on her phone.

  Speaking of which...

  Her phone had buzzed in her pocket the moment she'd walked out of the building. Pulling it out, she saw a couple messages, both from Lily.

  L: Come home. Something happened.

  L: We need to talk. Call me.

  She's never texted me before... And she called the school. What if it's serious? Natalie's finger hovered over the big L on the screen. They never typed in a full name on phones, just the first letter. Just in case. There were so few people from Rallsburg she kept in contact with, it wasn't hard to remember who was who.

  "Jenny?" Kelsey asked quietly, leaning across the aisle. Mitch and Tyler were arguing about which boss in the game was the hardest. Steven was staring out the window, silent. "What's up?"

  "I dunno." What if... what if it's Dad? Maybe he did something...

  "Is it Lily?"

  "Yeah."

  Of all the group besides Quinn, Kelsey was the one she'd probably talked to the most about Lily and Kendra, and their (lack of) parenting. Natalie didn't want to sound ungrateful, since she knew they didn't have to take her in, or help her get into school, or any of the many other things she did, but she still felt like they were only tolerating her. Like she was an annoying distraction in the way of... well, whatever they did all day.

  "What's she want?"

  "Says I have to come home. That we gotta talk."

  "Do you want to?"