Claire doesn’t stop her fast walking until the clinic has fallen out of sight behind us and we’ve long passed the bus stop she must have got off at. The street the clinic’s on being annoyingly flat and straight with the only turn offs leading to alleys that neither of us want to go down. As such, it’s tiredness that gets her to stop more than my own weak attempts to calm her down. At least I’ve managed to convince her not to call the police on the place.
We both know what the chances are that anything would be done before the clinic’s had a chance to hide any evidence. Assuming that whoever turns up to investigate them even wants to do so. No doubt, the manager has a few cred-sticks or similar on hand to deal with anyone asking questions. Also, somewhat selfishly, I don’t want to risk drawing attention to myself.
“Right! I don’t want to think about that anymore. We’re here to have a nice lunch and so that’s what we’ll do.” Claire slaps her cheeks after coming to a sudden stop. Banishing the nervous anger that has animated her ever since we left the store. Her free hand finally stopping its tapping out and deleting of the emergency number over and over again as she instead swipes through to our group chat.
Around her shoulder, I can see Lilly has sent a new message letting us know she won’t be coming after all. The earlier texts hidden by Claires crazy large font size and the reply she’s rapidly tapping out. From what little context I can glean from there, it looks like the dojo Lilly goes to has received a surprise challenge and so now she’s staying to ‘defend’ it. Martial artists are weird.
“Looks like it’s just us then. You have room to share a pizza after those ‘small’ snacks?”
“HmmMM.” I raise the volume of my hum of agreement to try and hide the rumbling of my stomach. The thought of pizza pulling me away from other, more illegal considerations. A clinic with scavenged stock is a lot less likely to report it stolen or want to call the police themselves if someone breaks in. Not to mention the cred-sticks they likely keep on hand to both purchase the ripped ‘ware and to handle any ‘costs of business’ that might arise. Another possible way I can add to my Uni fund.
Claire’s giggling snort draws me fully out of the half-cooked plan. Her twitching smile letting me know that the attempt to hide how hungry I am wasn’t very successful. Her arm snaking back through mine to link us together as she starts us walking down the street at a more normal pace.
“Haha, maybe you are still getting taller! Enough ‘small snacks’ and you might be looking down at me some day.”
“I’d need a lot of pizza to make a stool that high.”
Claire rolls her eyes at the poor joke and soon we’re talking about how best to go about building a four-inch-high brick made out of pizza. My own opinion, that making a solid lump of dough and putting sauce on it is cheating, not going down well with Claire’s more direct reasoning. The conversation is too inane to last us all the way to the nearest place offering a line of dough though and so we soon come around to discussing our missing member.
“Should we go cheer Lilly on? Her dojo is quite a while away so we’d have to get a few buses.”
“Nope!” Claire pops the P with enough force to startle a flock of birds from their balcony perch just above us. The flutter of pigeon wings sending a few droplets of not yet evaporated rain falling down onto our heads.
“Lilly chose beating people up over lunch with her friends. We should send her cute pictures of us having fun instead! ‘It’s about… sending a message’.” She does her best impression of a cartoon villain with the last sentence. Sticking her phone out ahead to snap a selfie of us just as we cross the road towards the literal hole in the wall pizza place her map had directed us to. The camera catching her brilliantly fake smile and me in the middle of rolling my eyes in an impression of her own earlier reaction to my own poor joke.
“What’s that from?”
“No idea, my brother just says it a lot.” I bump into her shoulder with a smile at the nonsense reply, not resisting as she pushes me back and our linked arms almost take us both into the stream along the road. Only a slightly boosted hop letting me avoid making a splash as we get back onto the sidewalk with a shared laugh.
Still bumping into each other with faux-unsteadiness as we approach what I’m almost certain is just a window into someone’s kitchen. A thick monitor board showing a scrolling list of menu items and prices where it’s held to the pavement by a heavily weighted baseboard. My eyes narrowing as I look closer and see a nozzle poking up from either side. Likely the weight can be made to spray capsaicin or something similar on command. A show of deterrence I wouldn’t have expected from such a low budget, and likely un-permitted, business. One that makes me reconsider how easy it might be to knock over the clinic that likely has better protections.
Claire’s squawk of surprise as she goes bouncing off my shoulder snaps me back to the present. My distraction making me forget to go limp when she bumps into me and so sending her staggering away with her footing slipping out from under her. Luckily, our arms are still linked and so, without thinking, I sweep her up and back onto her feet. Her weight barely noticeable thanks to my enhanced strength.
I freeze in sudden panic the moment Claire’s back on her feet and I realise what I’ve just done. My thoughtless grin locked in place and wide eyes meeting hers as she blinks up at me in confusion. No way could I have done that two months ago.
I watch Claire’s face as the confusion clears, my arms just one question away from trembling as I silently curse at myself for getting too comfortable. In a way, it’s better I forgot about how to act when being pushed rather than the other way around. The thought of what might’ve happened to Claire’s shoulder had the roles been reversed making me hold my breath in imagined horror. Then, she smiles. Lips barely moving but eyes sparkling with a light that lets me breathe easy again.
“Oh wow, Millie. I know I said to take me out to dinner first but you won’t even let me eat?” I drop her. Her screaming laugh immediately devolving into snorts as she hangs off my shoulders instead of actually standing up herself. This time however, I remember to act like I should when forced to bear the entirety of a weight greater than mine. Letting myself slowly collapse under my taller friend’s weight before she finally puts some strength into her legs.
We’re still laughing when we stagger free of one another, my earlier fears forgotten as Claire holds her phone up to snap a picture of us standing in front of the menu. My attention taken instead by the pictures of delicious looking things while Claire sends off another round of guilt-tripping messages to Lilly. The smell of thin cheese, pineapple, tofu’d tuna and something generically spicy making me lick my lips as my eyes rove across the menu advertising far more than I’d expected.
“You okay if I order?” Claire waves me off with a promise to pay me back later and a demand I pose for another picture. I escape before she can get more than two. Leaving her playing with the servos in her face to get an expression of perfected wistfulness as she stares up at the sky. My back and shaking head caught a few times as I turn to walk away. The image no doubt about to be edited to include Lilly turning her back on us or something similarly silly. I don’t point out that the chances of her checking her phone while either watching someone fight or doing so herself are remarkably low.
“Yosh! What’ll it be boss?!” I do a double take as I walk up to the tinted window with a sliding opening at the bottom. The plastic getting clearer as I approach until I get within arm’s reach and it becomes obvious that the Japanese man on the other side was likely there the whole time. I do my best to ignore the sudden burning on my cheeks at the thought of him watching us mess around, clearing my throat and reminding myself not to stare.
His traditional clothing, as well as the tattoos I can see peeking out from under them, making me want to ask what he’s doing selling pizza even as I worry over this likely being a front business. A look at the obviously lived in kitchen behind him which connects to a small apartment having me swallow the worries along with my curiosity. Perhaps he is a gang member helping to launder creds, perhaps he just has some unfortunately scary looking tats or this might even be a side hustle for when he’s not breaking legs. Regardless, as long as the food’s good, it’s nothing to do with me.
I place my order and tap a Cred-chip to the plug-in provided. The man setting a few of the machines around him to working as I speak and so handing me the first half of my order as soon as I’ve paid. The pizza itself still needing a few minutes more as the man turns around to help the noisy kneading machine tucked away between a coffee pot and a tower of stacked up microwaves.
His turn letting me see the katana dangling from his waist and so dismissing the last of my thoughts to turn this place over if the clinic proves too hard a target. While there are undoubtedly loose creds on hand, it really might just be a small business and I’d feel bad enough robbing someone where they live already. Even if he’s not a Supe, going after someone in their home feels like crossing a line. Plus, I don’t really want to be the kind of villain normal people would spit on if they could.
“Here. Smoothie.” I press the strawberry flavoured mix of thickening agents and ice into Claire’s hand. Her fingers closing around the thin plastic on instinct before she looks at me with confusion. A shiver flashing down my spine as the minute movements of her face say ‘shock’ even as the rest of it is frozen in a carefully arranged look of deepest longing. Taking a long sip of my own banana flavoured blend to try and hide the way my eyes glance away from the uncanny result.
“What’s this for?” I keep sucking on the straw until my cheeks are touching teeth and Claire has remembered to drop her face back to its default setting. Wincing as a flash of brain freeze makes me fumble pulling out my own phone.
“Didn’t you want to ‘send a message’? Plus, I got a little extra Pocket money this week.” We take another pose for the next picture that I send off to the group chat. My smirk real as I look into the camera and think about how Claire might react if she found out I have enough to buy a few hundred smoothies on me right now. It doesn’t last long though when the mental version of her starts asking where it all came from.
“Your dad’s not pressuring you again, is he? You know he only ever sends money when he wants something.” Claire’s look of concern has me immediately regretting the play on words. My dad is the last thing I want to talk about right now. With everything else that’s happened, I’d almost stopped worrying that he might’ve noticed when my phone went out of service during the jewellery heist. Given that the apartment’s security would’ve reported uncle Owen dropping me off and how school was cancelled, it's already odd enough that he hasn’t called to check up on me by now.
“No, I haven’t heard from him. Maybe it’s, uhm, just because there’s no nannies now?” Claire looks about as doubtful of that as I would be. Just because dad’s not spending money on a caretaker for me doesn’t mean it would suddenly start going to me. That’s not how his kind of people think. Still, the explanation seems enough for Claire to accept and soon she’s trying to claim that I got more fruit flavouring than her as my smoothie is a different colour. We send Lilly a picture of them side by side to ask for a ruling. The absence of her steady personality felt with each second that we wait for the pizza to be ready.
“I really don’t think the guy decides how much flavouring we get, it’s all done by machine you- ah!” The cold grip of Claire’s hand around my bicep has me jerking away from a close examination of my half-drunk smoothie. The slick plastic almost slipping from my grip as I freeze mid-motion with the sudden worry that moving too quickly might hurt her. Claire taking full advantage of my aborted escape to just squeeze harder on the lacking muscle.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Hmm, so this isn’t where the strength is, huh?” I give my trapped arm a little tug to see if Claire’s going to let me free after her inspection. Finding myself still stuck, and with my eyes now narrowing in annoyance as Claire focus shifts to poking me in the side, I use my free arm to press the partially frozen smoothie to her cheek.
“Ah!” She jumps away with a hint of teasing smile. Meeting my mock glare as I take another sip of my sweet drink while stepping out of easy reach before answering. My bones might all be healed by now but everything else still aches in a way that her poking isn’t helping with.
“It’s because I’m a gymnast. I know how to shift my weight and use someone else’s. That’s why we started falling over once you were still. You’re too heavy for me without momentum to help.”
“Too heavy? I’m not the one eating double lunch!” I hide my smile behind the smoothie as I dodge away from Claire’s attempt to poke at my rumbling stomach. Pleased with myself for getting the half-lie past her thanks to the insult I’d slipped in. I probably could sweep her up like I did earlier without my boosted strength but not with such a poor stance or grip. I make a mental note to be more careful in future, if I slip up like that while Lilly is around no doubt she’ll see through my bullshit immediately.
“Order up!”
------------------------
It takes us around ten minutes of walking before we get to the only bit of ‘public space’ nearby that both of us feel safe sitting in. The long rectangular box holding the pizza that my rumbling stomach really doesn’t want to share only lightly burning my fingers by the time the concrete plaza comes into sight. The shaded alley we’d walked through to get here spitting us back out into the blinding sunlight shining down at the hexagonal courtyard between some nicer looking apartment buildings. The, technically, gated community we’ve hopped a fence to get into having either survived the storm undamaged or already repaired whatever had occurred.
The map on Claire’s phone had shown the place to have a second area with fake grass and even a few trees but we both know we’d be escorted out of there within a few minutes of entering. I’m already surprised we’ve gotten this far without the place’s security noting us on the cameras and coming to throw us out. My eyes re-adjusting to the light of the sun and revealing the communities ‘youth space’, a set of stairs descending down towards a large open area where a group of kids around our age are playing basketball to one side.
I freeze at the sight of them, feet already wanting to take me away if not for Claire’s arm looped through mine like an anchor. Subtly, she flicks her head towards the pile of jackets and bags piled up against one of the poles. My eyes following the motion to notice how most of them show the icon for Plantagenet’s, a religious private school with a much smaller intake than Osterholt. The thought that none of the noisy boys below will recognise me causing the knot in my shoulders to unwind before I could even become fully aware of it.
Confident that I’m not about to be heckled, I let my eyes wander away from the group filling the place with the sounds of squeaking trainers and shouted plays. Outside of the court, almost no part of the concrete’s grey surface is still visible where murals both artistic and boring have been painted over it in every colour imaginable. Most with spray cans, the artwork bracketed by thick lines of black or white, but I can see more than a few handprints and brushstrokes as well. Although, the effort needed for the last makes it by far the minority. Even as I watch, a girl wearing a vent-mask is quickly spraying over a giant Byzantine crucifix with her own version of Tenjin’s mascot. Or patron, technically.
The dour old Japanese man with his lecturer’s rod and tightly leashed bull almost unrecognisable as the girl fills in the lines of her creation with a mix of colours that would make a rainbow blush. Imagining how a Tenjin hard-liner might react on seeing their precious icon in anything besides single shades of black and white has me smiling as Claire pulls us over to a spot where the paint looks old enough to be dry. The smile on my face turning wry as we sit down and I notice how the ground is uneven from the many layers of paint that have been built up over it. My nails picking at the peeling layer under me as Claire pulls the plastic pizza box from my hands.
“Holy shit, Millie. Is this real ham?” I look up from my now paint crusted nails to Claire’s shocked expression. Her eyes wide as she leans away from the slice of ham and mushroom pizza as if it might suddenly bite her. It hadn’t been the most expensive thing on the menu, but it had been in the top three.
“Real mushrooms and cheese too. Marinaras just flavouring still, but there’s extra of it.”
“Millie! I can’t pay you back for this! Don’t tell me this is more pocket money?”
I block Claire’s worried attempt to put her half-eaten slice back into the box. Ducking my head with a guilty smile to hide from the worried look that I know will see right through any lie. From both a fiscal and secrecy perspective, I should not have splurged on this. But, as the smell of the pizza reaches my nose and sets my mouth to watering, I can’t bring myself to regret it.
Licking my lips, I take in the smell before closing my eyes to better appreciate the flavour as I take a large bite. I’ve had real meat and veg a handful of times before. Birthday’s, Christmases… a few other special events. All of them from before mum went missing as, besides the trackers and occasional reminder that he’s watching, dad never provides anything the court doesn’t force him to.
The ham on this pizza is mostly fat; the unlucky pig likely raised in a converted apartment and pumped full of all sorts of drugs I don’t want to think about. The mushrooms too, are small and wrinkly, possibly grown in the same place as the pig given all they need is darkness and shit. The not-technically-a-vegetable one of the few truly organic things that can be found throughout Throne. Albeit, not usually being safe to eat. The cheese, I’m quite certain, I’ve been scammed on. I’ve had real mozzarella once before and this isn’t nearly stringy enough.
It's the best thing I’ve eaten in almost ten years.
“Forget it. You pay me back all the time. I don’t want to think about what school would be like without you and Lilly.” An unintentional sniffle slips through in my reply and I almost wipe a line of grease across my face when I go to dab at me eyes before remembering to use the back of my hand instead. Looking away in embarrassment at the suddenly rising lump in my throat that has me blinking rapidly. The stray tears a mix of actual gratefulness and the utterly delicious slice of fried dough I’m struggling not to stuff down fast enough to choke.
“Idiot. We’ll alwa- ah.” Claire’s soft voice cuts out with a sudden scrape of plastic on stone as she goes to lean over to hug me. Both of us freezing in place as we look down to see the pizza box tipped over and sliding slowly down the next step. The barely touched cheesy goodness inside spilling out across the painted floor.
“AH! My reward!” “Five second rule! Five second rule!” We act quickly to scoop the spilled pieces back into the box before more than a few seconds have passed. Trying to lift the slices directly upwards so as to prevent any more dirt from getting caught in the cheese and then placing the dirtied slices on one side of the box. Claire holding the last, and most affected, piece in the air as we both examine it intently for any more signs of dust, grit or paint. My friend concluding her inspection with a sharp nod of the head before taking a hefty bite. My own hand left hanging in place where I’d just been about to remove a paint chip. Claire sees my hand, narrows her eyes and, with a shift of her cheeks, spit out a fleck of red paint into her free hand.
“Hmm, got it!”
“The one I saw was green.” I say while chewing my lip, fingers already reaching to pull the half-eaten slice away from Claire before she can take another bite.
“Ah. I thought it was a bit crunchier than before.” Her deadpan delivery tricks me into laughing before I realise it and soon Claire joins in as she pulls her paint spattered slice away from me. My shout that she should just throw it to the birds being ignored as she takes another exaggerated bite. This one proving too much to swallow when she finds a tiny chunk of broken concrete hidden in the fold where crust meets base.
Emotional moment broken by the fallen pizza, and Claire’s insistence on not wasting any, we soon recover from our laughter to fight over the not-quite-as-dirty slices. The few that had stayed in the box entirely being quickly devoured before we remember to get a picture to taunt Lilly with. Making sure we get a slice without any dirt or paint on for the photo taking up several minutes after that.
Heavy topics, and interrogations over creds, thankfully left behind as we return to demolishing the pizza and I successfully beg Claire to let me see her homework. Being essentially bedridden for the last two days hasn’t given me much chance to do any of the work Osterholt sent us to complete over the unplanned break. Given that school starts back again tomorrow, I already know what I’ll be doing tonight. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of classes in common and those we do generally see me doing AP work where Claire’s in the standard track. It should still save me some time though.
I finish copying what I can from her work as we split the last slice of pizza between us. Conversation lapsed as I focus on deciphering her notes and overly fancy writing. In my enthusiasm to get a look at her assignments, I’d forgotten that Claire is the only person I know who writes whole essays with a stylus instead of just typing them like a normal person.
Glancing up with a sigh after copying the last of her answers for the meta-studies quiz, and making myself a note to check them later, I look up to see Claire staring at the boys playing basketball down below. The intensity of the match apparently increased to the point they’ve all stripped off their shirts to better focus on showing off for the camera drone I now notice above them. Claire’s eyes showing no care for the suddenly appeared observer, her attention instead following the shift of toned muscles under well-tanned skin as she licks the last of the pizza’s grease from her lips.
“Enjoying the show?” Claire can’t blush thanks to her faceplate but she still looks over to me with a startled grin that has the same effect. Her eyes narrowing into something sharp as I eat my own last slice with a laugh and lean over to gather up the trash. Her hand seizing my wrist the moment I look away and freezing me in place with the fear of hurting her.
“Hmm, more… thinking about joining in. The teams are equal right now so we’d need… another.”
“Ah, I… don’t really want to be on camera. Even a small news stream is-” A clang of steel on stone and the shattering sound of glass has us both ducking low over the step. My eyes finding the source with a shot of ice-cold adrenaline as I pull Claire up onto her feet and push her behind me.
Up near the top of one of the apartment buildings surrounding us, a giant lizard is crawling from a window and onto the roof. Several stories up and on the far side of the plaza, I still feel certain it’s powerful legs could send it leaping towards us in an instant. A head at least the size of my torso twitching back and forth as it forces itself the rest of the way out of a window far too small for its bulk. The sun doing its best to blind me as I see it flick a pair of yellow-orange eyes down to look at the soft-skinned monkeys hollering and hooting up at it.
My own eyes squinting against the late noon’s light to try and make out where it’s looking so that I know where best to run. The light making me unsure if its scales are a deep green or shining black but, as my eyes adjust a little to the light, at least leaving me certain that it’s not the escaped monster I’d first assumed.
Monsters, after all, don’t tend to be wearing the ragged remnants of a security guard’s outfit or care about holding a backpack in their jaws as they escape. A tear along the bags side spilling a fine mist of purple powder down into the courtyard before the Supe reaches up with one massive taloned hand to hold it shut. Pausing a moment as they cling to the buildings side to take the bag from their mouth before they scuttle the rest of the way up onto the roof and out of sight.
It all happens in a matter of seconds, from the moment of the Supe’s appearance to when they exit barely being enough time for a full breath or the first scream. Not mine or Claire’s funnily enough. Although, I’m still lightly trembling with poorly caged adrenaline as Claire almost falls over from being half-thrown behind me. The thought of having to pick her up and run, because there’s no way she could keep up with me, making me feel like I’m about to throw up from nerves. I’d been about half a second from following through on the fireman’s carry before realising the giant lizard was a Supe. A transformed person, whether temporary or not, being a lot less likely to try and eat us than an escaped monster.
“Fuck! The drone! Hey, come back we were only just getting started!” I look down to where the private school boys are shouting up at the camera drone as it flies off after the almost certainly a villainous Supe. Soft news or talent scouting forgotten in favour of the far more interesting story. Far more dangerous too and I watch the little hunk of steel and rotors disappear with a thought for just how likely it might be that the pilot will ever get it back.
The boys don’t seem to care about that though. Shouting after the buzzing box as it zips away from them or trying to show off one last time in hopes the operator might turn around after all. None of them seem overly bothered about the gaping hole spilling pulverised concrete and the occasional stick of rebar down onto the steps. Nor the chance that the villain might come back.
My jittery mind not able to adjust quite so well as I fail to accept how quickly the situation has changed and then changed again. A full body shiver having me looking around for more threats as my senses narrow to a focused point straining for some sign of what’s next to go wrong. My gaze snapping back to the hole when a security guard sticks his head out of the shattered window. A grim look on his face as he waves at the kids below to stay away from the space underneath. The sound of Claire catching herself from the fall I almost caused making me flinch in sudden shame for forgetting her even as it finally lets me start to relax with the confirmation that she’s safe. It’s that moment of laxness that distracts me from the true threat.
A long and frustrated sigh from behind being the only warning I get before Claire is striding past with her hand once again wrapped tightly around my wrist. Her heavy steps not stopping as she reaches the limit of what our linked arms allow and so forcing me to follow her or reveal how immovable I’ve become. The grumbling tirade spilling from her lips pulling my attention away from the still slowly crumbling wall on the plaza’s far side.
“No. No, no, no! We are having fun today, Millie. It’s our last year before you and Lilly will be dragged off to college and so, I don’t care if it’s a monster or a kaiju, we are not wasting a day off school.”
“Wha- Claire, I-”
“Hey!” Claire’s shout cuts off my attempt to calm her down. The sudden noise cutting through the group of boys still either shouting up at the spot where the drone disappeared or now arguing over who’s got the best chance of being scouted by a professional team. The dozen sets of eyes all turning towards us as Claire continues dragging me down the steps and having me shrink behind her on instinct. The fear that these guys might have seen that damn video after all making me want to re-visit the idea of just picking Claire up and running.
“Can we play? My friend here is crazy good at jumping!” I don’t need to see Claire’s face to know she’s using her perfect smile. The immediate acceptance of the boys as they re-divide the teams and start setting up for a new game all the evidence needed to know she’s using her charms. My own grimace hidden behind her as I whisper-hiss into her ear as we walk down the final few steps to the sunken court.
“Claire! Gymnastics isn’t the same as basketball! An- and, I’m already gonna to have to put up with this tomorrow do I really have to do it today as well?”
“Come on, the camera’s gone right? And Plantagenet’s an all-boys school, you know. Let’s just have some fun. Tomorrow can wait ‘til tomorrow.” She spins back around to face me with a more honest smile, or smirk to be accurate. Putting a bounce into her steps as some of the braver boys come over to introduce themselves. My eyes skating over faces I don’t recognise and seeing not an ounce of recognition in turn. The mix of shy and cocky grins slowly having my tightly pursed lips rise into a more honest smile of my own.
‘When was the last time I spent time with people my age who weren’t either looking to get a reaction out of me or just wanted to know about Amelia?’
“Alright but don’t expect me to go easy on you. I always play to win.”
thanks for reading!
