* * * * *
Knowing that some guy from another dimension with a whole army of freaks was hunting for me wasn’t a nice feeling. Not knowing why was even worse. And knowing he was running a secret campaign to take all my freedom away made me want to throw something across the room.
The fact that I now had one less thing to get me out of my house didn’t feel great, either. Jerry might as well have moved to another state.
I kept looking over my shoulder and in the booth at Burger Planet, Westonville’s only fast food joint. The Saturn-shaped light above us glared down and made a bright ring on the table. The statue of their creepy mascot didn’t help things, either. The astronaut stood there in the middle of the restaurant with his lifeless eyes, smiling at me like a deranged puppet. I really thought A. Gist ought to team up with him. They both liked to stalk people.
What a great way to end summer vacation.
I let my burger sit on its wrapper in front of me. Ryan wasn’t faring great, either. He hadn’t even ordered anything. Instead, he stared down into the table as if it were a bottomless pit.
Penny reached over the table and gave me a pat on the shoulder. Moisture rimmed the bottom of her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I had no idea.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I never should’ve done the prank,” I said, checking the parking lot again for the Shadow Regime. My mind spun faster and faster with it all. What would they do next? Make it illegal for us to sit in Burger Planet for being too young? Make it so I couldn’t have contact with my friends, too? I faced Penny as she rubbed her eyes. “Now what? We can really use your brain right now.”
Penny lowered her voice as if the people in the next booth were agents of the Shadow Regime. “From what I heard, it sounds like those guys won’t come after you if there’s witnesses. It’s a good thing we start school this week. You might want to do a lot of after-school stuff this year so you don’t have to be home alone so much. We’ll walk home with you every day and try to be with you if your parents leave the house. Ryan and I will make sure you’re always around people.”
“I’m sure my mom will force me into something I hate,” I said.
Ryan perked up a bit. “I heard the high school has a comic book club. We can join that when it starts. If there’s a fee, my mom will probably pay for both of us.”
“Thanks,” I said. Some of the weight lifted off my shoulders. It felt better talking about normal stuff. And I couldn’t exactly go to the cops and have them put a restraining order on the Ruler of Ageism, and my parents would never believe me, but having my friends around to understand what I had to deal with helped a ton. One thing still nagged at me, though. “That note I got warned me to leave town.”
“And it came from a Shadow Regime guy,” Penny said. “I’m not sure if you should trust it. I also find it creepy that he knew which house was yours.”
Oh. Good point.
“I…I think if that guy wanted to hurt me, he would’ve told his boss where I live. He didn’t.” I was throwing stuff out there. “Otherwise A. Gist wouldn’t have gone to Jerry looking for me. Maybe not all the Shadow Regime people are jerks.” If I wasn’t right, I was in big trouble. I made a silent prayer to that Shadow One—well, I think that’s what those people called themselves—that he’d stay quiet about my address.
“Maybe,” Penny said. “But I still want to have you over at my house today. They don’t know I’m your friend since I didn’t participate in your…prank.”
“And I think I’ll be taking these off,” Ryan said, slipping his goggles over his hair and hiding them down in his lap. “I might cut my hair, too. I’d rather look like everyone else than get kidnapped by shadow freaks.”
I forced myself to take a bite from the burger. It felt like a rock going down. “He’s not after you. But yeah, lose the goggles. We don’t want anyone torturing you for info about me. Or Jerry.”
The burger fell from my hand. I’d just given myself a great thought. How long did Jerry have before the Shadow Regime dragged him off to interrogate him? He couldn’t hold out long, not with A. Gist’s infinite patience.
Penny’s mouth turned into an O of horror. “You’re right. If there’s anyone they’ll go after first, it’ll be him.”