Project Chimera

  It mentioned the animal abilities, which Charlie skimmed—she already knew about those. Then she got to the section on the bracelet’s modes. “Listen,” she said. “Finally some information we can use.”

  Maria and Mac stopped reading the documents in their hands and looked up.

  “‘The Mark Five exhibits three modes.

  “‘Dormant Mode. In the dormant mode the device is reactionary and only allows abilities to be activated when it senses that the user needs them. The user has no control over the selection of abilities and cannot choose to activate any. If the device senses the user is under attack, it will automatically switch to defense mode.

  “‘Defense Mode. In defense mode the device is still reactionary, but it also allows the user to choose to use abilities by activating them on the dial. In this mode the device also goes on lockdown and cannot be removed from the user’s arm without being keyed in.

  “‘Battle Mode. In battle mode a soldier initiates the device manually during combat. This mode allows the user free range of all the abilities.’”

  Charlie looked up.

  “So that’s what happened when you destroyed the bathroom,” exclaimed Mac.

  “Shh!” said Maria, looking around guardedly for teachers patrolling the area.

  “Part. Of. The bathroom,” Charlie said through tight lips.

  “He’s only saying it like that now to tease you,” Maria told Charlie. “You should have seen him when Kelly found out. He totally defended you.”

  “Kelly knows?” exclaimed Charlie. She glanced around, realizing she’d said that a little too loudly, but Kelly wasn’t in sight.

  “After you left my house the other day,” said Maria, looking guilty, “she guessed it. I said you didn’t do it, but I don’t think she believed me.”

  “Anyway,” said Mac impatiently, poking his finger at the paper, “what’s this Battle Mode? It sounds cool, like you can just choose your abilities instead of hoping the right one activates.”

  “Me want,” said Charlie.

  “But more important,” said Maria, “does it say what the access code is so we can deactivate Defense Mode? Maybe then you can go into Battle Mode.”

  “Good point.” Charlie quickly scanned the rest of the page as the bell sounded, ending lunch period. “Dang it,” she muttered. She picked up her backpack with one hand and the envelope with the other, searching the next page as the three got up to go to class. “Ahh, I think . . . Yes! Here it is,” she said, quickly looking over the code as they merged into the crowd of students.

  Maria put her hand on Charlie’s arm. “Awesome! Let us know if you’re able to deactivate it. Here comes Kelly. I’m not sure . . . if . . .” She trailed off, a look of consternation on her face.

  “If I should tell her all of this? I think you’re right. Lately something with her seems . . . odd.”

  “What else is new?” Mac griped.

  “Well, you don’t have to be mean about it,” Maria said to him. She turned back to Charlie. “I noticed it too.”

  Mac shrugged and the three parted ways.

  Kelly caught up with Charlie to walk to fifth period. “What’ve you been doing?” she asked.

  Charlie glanced around uneasily and hurried to put the papers back into the envelope. “Nothing much—just reading about . . . You know.” She stuffed the envelope into her backpack and swung the strap over her shoulder as she jostled through the crowd.

  “Ooh,” said Kelly knowingly. Her cell phone rang and she frowned at it. Then she waved Charlie to continue without her and answered it.

  Charlie went to class. Halfway through, Kelly came in and dropped a note on the teacher’s desk, then went to her seat. Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying.

  When fifth period was over, Charlie and Kelly fell in step to go to theater class, and Charlie glanced sidelong at her. “Are you all right?”

  Kelly averted her gaze as they crossed the courtyard. “Yeah. Just had a phone fight with my mom. Nobody listens to me.” She stomped on a bee that had alighted on some clover. “I’m sorry about your dad. I hope he’s okay.”

  “Thanks.” Charlie’s eyes teared up a little, but she fought back the emotion. “I’m sorry about your parental problems too. Are you ready for the game?”

  “More than ready,” said Kelly, and her face clouded. “I can’t wait to kick the crap out of that ball and pretend it’s my . . . Never mind.”

  Her what? Mother? Her father? Charlie was surprised at first that that was where her mind led her, but then, after thinking it through, she wasn’t. Kelly was having a really hard time with her parents and their divorce. And they didn’t seem to be very supportive of Kelly right now—in fact, they acted like Kelly was just an annoyance in their lives. And it sounded like things were getting uglier and uglier for her.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Charlie asked.

  Kelly was silent for a moment as they walked into the theater building. “I mean, I’m fine, I guess,” she said quietly. “They’re either yelling at me or totally ignoring me. Usually ignoring. So I suppose that’s not the worst thing.” But she said it like it really was the worst thing. And for a person like Kelly, who wanted, even needed, a lot of attention, it was probably really hard.

  Before Charlie could respond, Kelly pulled away and walked quickly to her fan club, squealing, “Darlings, did you hear what the next show will be? I can’t wait for Mr. Anderson to tell you all!”

  Charlie shook her head a little in amazement. Kelly was the best actor Charlie had ever seen. She’d turned off her feelings just like that, and she was amazingly convincing. Even Charlie got caught up in her excitement. It was becoming harder and harder to figure out when Kelly was being her true self and when she was faking.

  Sara, Charlie’s friend who had been the stage manager for the last show, sidled up to her and watched Kelly, too. “Do you think she really knows what the next show is? Or is she just pretending in order to make herself look special?”

  Charlie sighed, perplexed by the complex girl. With parents like Kelly had, maybe acting and playing to her fan club was the only way Kelly could feel important. The theater was her place to get the attention her parents weren’t giving her. “I honestly have no idea what Kelly is trying to do most of the time.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Disaster on the Field

  After school Charlie headed straight outside toward the locker room, checking her phone as she walked. There was just one text message from her mom, reminding Charlie to check in after school to make sure she was okay. Charlie texted that all was normal.

  “I’ll see you at your game,” replied Mrs. Wilde. “Picking up Andy and heading over.”

  Charlie smiled, though it felt bittersweet. Her mom had been so busy working ever since they’d moved here that Charlie was starting to get used to her missing things. It was sad that it took this kind of situation with Dad to change all that. “So your leave of absence is happening? Starting now?” Charlie texted.

  “Yep!” Mrs. Wilde replied. “Through spring break for sure and then we’ll see. So I’m all yours.”

  That made Charlie think about her dad and his job, and she grew worried. “What about Dad? What will happen with his job if he’s not there?”

  “I called in sick for him for the rest of this week. He has spring break next week like you, so we’re covered for a while. Don’t worry, sweetie! I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Charlie pressed Send and blinked away a second round of tears for the day, reminding herself to act normal. She shoved her backpack and phone into her locker and changed into her sports tank, soccer uniform, shin guards, and cleats. Teammates around her were doing the same.

  Maria and Charlie slammed their locker doors shut at the same time and were the first ones outside. They ran together to get a ball and started passing it back and forth as the opposing team’s bus pulled into the parking lot. The field, which had been flooded two days ago from a little bit of rain, was
dry as a bone today. The desert was a crazy place. Charlie was learning that more and more all the time.

  “Did you deactivate your bracelet?” Maria asked in a low voice, chipping the ball to Charlie from close range.

  “Not yet. I haven’t had time. I don’t want anybody to see me messing with it.”

  “Good move.”

  “Is there anything else you want to know about the Mark Two before I hand over the envelope to Dr. Sharma?” Charlie asked.

  “No thanks—I’m good. It was fun to have the abilities but not the fur and the tail. I’m glad to be rid of it and let you take on the bad guys.”

  Charlie smiled as the rest of their team joined them on the field. The opposing team soon followed. Maria and Charlie and the rest of Summit’s players all went over to circle around Coach Candy for some final encouraging words.

  The stands had filled up with parents and friends. Mac watched the action from his usual spot, looking a little lost and bored without his phone or iPad. Charlie’s mom and brother sat in the section next to Mac. The absence of Charlie’s dad was particularly glaring, and a wave of sadness washed over Charlie. Maria’s mom and stepdad, along with Maria’s three stepbrothers, sat a few rows in front of her family.

  Charlie didn’t see Kelly’s dad anywhere. Did she have any siblings or any other family who might come and watch her play? Charlie didn’t know—but she did remember that no one from Kelly’s family had come to see her in the musical either, which was really sad because she was so talented. Charlie would make a point of asking sometime. Maybe Kelly just needed somebody to truly care about what was going on in her life, like parents were supposed to do. Charlie knew now that in public Kelly liked to pretend everything was perfect. But it was clearly far from that.

  The starters took their places and the game began. Charlie lagged a bit—she just wasn’t able to focus like usual. But Kelly and Maria were tearing up the field, making some excellent plays together. The opposing team soon caught on to their strategy, though, and started doubling up the defense on them. That only seemed to spur Kelly on. She pushed roughly through a crowd of opponents, who then went after Maria to stop her from teaming up with Kelly.

  But it didn’t matter. Kelly had the ball and she didn’t need any help. As Maria charged through the opposing team trying to catch up, Kelly took the ball to the box. And as Maria broke free, Kelly faced off with the goalie and defenders and slammed the ball into the net before anybody could block it. As the crowd erupted, a defensive player stepped into Maria’s path. Too late to stop, Maria jumped wildly and went flying into the air above the other players’ heads. Charlie, focused on the goal, barely saw it out of the corner of her eye. She joined the crowd in roaring approval for Kelly.

  “Yes!” shouted Charlie. “Great job, Kel!” She turned around and ran toward her position on the field as the opposing team regrouped on their side. That’s when she noticed Maria was down.

  “Charlie!” howled Maria. “Help!”

  Maria’s voice sounded frightened and very odd. Charlie’s bracelet grew warm and she ran fast, dodging her teammates, some of whom were also heading over to Maria to see what had happened. When Charlie reached Maria’s side, she gasped.

  “What is going on?” exclaimed Charlie. Maria’s beard and fur were back! Charlie dropped to her knees and whipped off her shirt, glad she’d worn her sports tank underneath today. “Stand back, everybody!” she shouted. “Make room!” She flung the shirt on Maria’s face and desperately looked around. She waved and caught her mother’s eye in the crowd and motioned her to come over.

  Being a doctor, Mrs. Wilde was usually on alert for injuries at sports events, and she bolted onto the field. Coach Candy was coming toward them as well, and Ken and Maytée and the boys were standing up, looking anxious and straining to see.

  Charlie bent to Maria’s ear. “How did this happen? You gave the bracelet back!”

  “I don’t know,” moaned Maria. “The tail is there too—I can feel it bunched up in my shorts. This is horrible!”

  “Well, breathe! Meditate! Do those yoga things!”

  “Stop yelling—that’s not helping!”

  “Right,” said Charlie, trying to calm down, but people were crowding around. “Okay. Phew. Here we go. Breathe, Maria. Very calm. Everything is calm. How the heck . . . What caused it? Was it just adrenaline or what? Did you get hurt?”

  “Shh,” said Maria. “We’ll talk about that later, okay?”

  “Right,” said Charlie again. She stayed nearby to try to block others from getting too close.

  Charlie’s mom pushed through the crowd. She quickly greeted Coach Candy and reminded her who she was. “If you could get the team to move way back and give us some space, that would help so much,” she said to Coach and a few others.

  Mom knelt next to Maria’s head as Charlie moved down and grasped Maria’s hand. She tried not to cringe when she felt a patch of fur there, too. “What happened?” Mrs. Wilde asked.

  “She turned into a weremonkey again,” Charlie said in a harsh whisper. “Without the bracelet!”

  “Om,” said Maria forcefully. “Ommm.”

  Mrs. Wilde’s eyes widened, but her words came out calm. “All right,” she said slowly. “Let’s think about meadows and sweet little kittens.”

  “I prefer puppies,” said Maria, her voice muffled under Charlie’s shirt.

  “Puppies . . . napping on your stomach while you read a book,” said Mrs. Wilde. She smiled weakly and gave Charlie a look begging for help.

  “Puppies walking on cute wobbly feet,” said Charlie, and shrugged anxiously at her mother.

  “In . . . a meadow,” said Mrs. Wilde, cringing.

  “All of them breathing very softly and evenly,” said Charlie. “And doing . . . yoga . . .” She was so stressed out, she could feel her bracelet grow even warmer.

  Coach Candy returned. “How are we doing?” she asked.

  “She’s just catching her breath now,” said Mrs. Wilde. “I’ll finish checking her over, but we should be good to go shortly.”

  “Thanks, Dr. Wilde.” Coach Candy frowned, seeing the shirt still covering Maria’s face, but she retreated again.

  Desperately Charlie looked around to make sure they still had privacy, and her eyes landed on Maria’s mother, who was coming over. “Oh no,” she whispered. “Keep working it, Maria. I’ll go take care of your mom.”

  “My mom is coming?” Maria screeched. “If she finds out this fur thing happened again, we’re toast!”

  “No. It’s fine. Be calm. I’ll be back in a few.”

  “Tell her not to embarrass me!”

  “Okay,” said Charlie uncertainly. She sprinted over to Maria’s mom. “Hi, Mrs. Torres! Hey, did you see that? Crazy! Anyway, Maria’s fine. She’s just catching her breath. My mom’s with her. I’m not sure if you know she’s an ER doctor—she says everything’s good. No concussion or anything like that—Maria just fell hard on her back and got the wind knocked out of her. She wants to keep playing.”

  “Are you sure?” Maytée said, concerned. “She’s been down a long time.”

  “I’m sure,” said Charlie. “She told me to tell you she’s okay and, um . . . not to embarrass her.”

  Maytée emitted a relieved laugh. “It figures. Sounds like typical Maria. She’d want to keep playing even if she’d broken her neck. Gracias, Charlie.”

  “No problem. She’s a fighter.”

  Mrs. Torres turned to go back to her seat.

  Charlie caught Mac’s eye in the stands, and gave him a look of panic. He tensed and shook his head like he didn’t understand. Charlie cupped her chin and drew her hand downward in a cone shape to make an air beard. Mac frowned, then his face exploded in shock. He sat there helpless as Charlie turned back and ran to her mother’s side.

  Kelly was next to Maria now, too, having figured out what had happened. She held her hand and was talking gently. Charlie watched them. Soon the T-shirt began moving the slightest bi
t, flattening against Maria’s face.

  “There,” said Kelly, peeking under the shirt, then pulling it away. “We did it.” She looked up and saw Charlie and handed the shirt to her.

  “Is it gone?” asked Maria, feeling under her bum. She sat up.

  “Looks that way,” said Charlie. She put the shirt back on. “Do you think you should sit out the rest of the game?”

  Maria waved to her mom and stepdad to confirm she was okay, and the crowd cheered. “I guess I’d better,” she said. “I don’t want that to happen again. Why did it, though? I don’t understand.”

  “No idea,” said Charlie.

  “I’ll call Dr. Sharma and see if she knows why it happened without the device,” said Mrs. Wilde. “Meanwhile, let’s get the game going. I’ll let your coach know that I want you to sit out as a precaution.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Mrs. Dr. Wilde.”

  “You’re welcome. Limp a little so it looks real.” Mrs. Wilde helped Maria to her feet and walked her to the sidelines.

  “Do you think . . . ,” Charlie began, turning to look at Kelly. The truth of what had happened to Maria, without her wearing the bracelet, began to sink in.

  “That the weremonkey thing is permanent?” asked Kelly. “Gosh, I hope not. That would be the worst.”

  They watched Maria take a seat, then parted and went back to their positions. Coach Candy subbed in another halfback to take Maria’s place.

  Despite her powers Charlie couldn’t find her energy. She could run fast, but she stumbled over the ball or kicked it out of bounds. The wind had been let out of Kelly’s sails, too. Their team lost 4–3. The loss felt like an ominous sign of even worse things to come.

  CHAPTER 16

  Really Not Funny Anymore

  After the game Maria, Mac, Kelly, Charlie, and their families gathered in the parking lot. Maria convinced her mom to let her go over to Charlie’s house to do homework and have dinner. “That way Mrs. Dr. Wilde can keep an eye on my injuries,” she said.