“Anna.” Teddy grabbed hold of her sleeve and pulled. “Let’s go for a walk.”
She wanted to say something else to Teia. This wasn’t over. She wasn’t just angry, she realized—she felt betrayed. They were supposed to be in this together. She’d always thought of them, the whole group of them, as a team. Friends. Were they still? But she couldn’t think of anything to say, so she followed Teddy and scowled at everything.
“They’re going to get themselves killed,” Anna muttered. “Why can’t they just listen to me? Can’t they see I might actually know what I’m talking about?”
“Maybe they want to get themselves killed. Go out in a blaze of glory,” Teddy said, and Anna looked at him sharply.
“That’s stupid. It’s a stupid idea.”
Teddy shrugged. “I have to admit, if that happened to me everyone would stop asking me what I’m doing after graduation. It’d save a lot of trouble. And I’d get the blaze of glory.”
She stopped. They were almost at the corner of the building, at a stand of shrubbery. Beyond that was lawn, then the wrought-iron fence that separated the school grounds from the road and the city. Part of her wanted to just keep walking. It would feel good but wouldn’t solve anything.
“Please tell me you’re not going to go team up with them.” That you’re not going to stab me in the back, too …
Teddy slumped against the stone wall. “No. They didn’t tell me what they were doing, either. I wouldn’t team up with them now. It’s not just about getting themselves killed, they’re likely to get everybody else killed, too. They’ve got all the firepower, and I don’t want to get in their way.”
“They should have told us,” Anna groused. “We’re supposed to be a team, why didn’t they tell us?”
“Because you’d argue about it, and they didn’t tell me because they knew I’d tell you.” He shrugged, like it was that easy. He still had the lingering shading of a bruise around his eye from his previous encounter.
“Well, thanks for that. I think.”
He chuckled, and the knot in Anna’s gut eased a bit. Maybe she did worry too much. Maybe she was making a big deal out of nothing.
“I just wish I knew which of us was right,” she said.
“You both are, probably. Here’s the thing: I figure I’ve got powers for a reason. I don’t just want to sit on my ass pretending I don’t. I want to use them. And you’re right, there has to be a better way. I think that’s what they’re trying to figure out. What we all are.”
“It’s different for you,” Anna said. She picked a leaf off a lilac bush, tore it apart. “I know you have to get out and use your powers. You can’t keep them shut off all the time. But the thing about me is—my power never shuts off. I can’t ever not use it.” Bethy was at the middle school now, walking down the hall with a gaggle of friends. Mom and Dad were together in her office, talking presumably, which made Anna feel somehow warm and protected even when they were across town. Her grandmother had a charity board meeting at one of the fancy hotel restaurants downtown. She knew exactly where her family was, knew how to find them. She couldn’t get away, and she would never be alone.
“But don’t you want to do something with it?” Teddy said. “Not just have it sitting there?”
Right. That was the whole question. They could be heroes, if they could just figure out how. “We have to show Teia she’s wrong,” Anna said. “Getting on the front page of the papers isn’t the way to do the most good.”
Teddy said, “So, what? Does that mean you’re finally ready to go out and do something, as long as we avoid publicity?”
She took a deep breath and said, “Yes.”
They looked at each other, then back along the building to the stairs, to their rivals. A warning bell rang, summoning them inside. They’d have to talk about it later, but already Anna felt better. Like she had a plan.
Teddy said, “So when do we show them how it’s done?”
“Tonight.”
He grinned. He’d been waiting for her to say the word.
Back in front of the school, just a few minutes before the final bell was due to ring, a car pulled up to the drop-off zone. A latecomer, except that Anna recognized the car and the driver who stormed out, leaving the motor running: Ms. Baker, Teia and Lew’s mom. She came around to the sidewalk, hands on hips, glowering in an expression of fury.
“Teia, Lew, get over here!”
They did so, because how could they argue with that? Warily, Anna and Teddy approached the twins.
“Mom, school’s starting in a minute,” Teia said. Her brow was furrowed, confused.
“You’re not going to school today. Get in the car.”
That should have been great, but something was wrong. Teia hung back, glancing at Anna.