Gamma Accidents #1: Journey

Johnny is doing with his exams.

  "Mr Global Director, Sir?" a fresh voice said, sounding painfully polite to cover painful nervousness.

  Urban Danger turned his head slightly to see Audrey Jones wearing a stunning, though still modest and professional, blue dress with her long black hair for once not in a business bun but falling, gracefully, around her shoulders and down her back.

  "Miss Jones, you look remarkable," Urban Danger complimented. "Where's Mr Swift?"

  "That's what I need to talk to you about," she said, fiddling with her glasses, anxiously. Her voice wavered as she tried to calm herself down and maintain her professional tone. "Rust left, two days ago."

  Urban's eyebrows rose slightly higher. "He did what?"

  "He just left," Audrey repeated. "He said there was nothing more for him to do, he said he had trained the kids as best he could and he said he had to get away. I don't know where he is, I have no way of contacting him and, frankly, if I did find him, I'd probably k-"

  Danger held up a hand. "Is that all that's troubling you, Miss Jones?"

  "No, there's more," she admitted, her expression betraying how defeated she felt. She took a deep breath. "I can't find the kids. I've tried phoning them but they don't answer and they haven't shown up yet and... and I'm totally losing it now!"

  Audrey, hyperventilating and completely freaking out, walked off, to the restroom, hoping to collect herself and at least put on a brave face.

  She bumped shoulders with Bella as she exited the gym.

  "Where are the boys?" Audrey demanded.

  "Around..." Bella replied, evasively, slowly rolling her eyes away, hoping Audrey didn't see through her.

  Audrey threw her hands up, giving up even trying. She walked away, convinced this had been a total waste of time and energy.

  Bella entered the vast gymnasium, surprised at how amazing it looked. Over the past month, Bella had seen so many different sides of the Summer Valley Hero High gym. One moment, it looked empty, lonely and echoed every word spoken; the next moment it was filled with students blasting, flying, spinning or blurring through an intense obstacle course.

  Right now, it looked pretty spiffy with strings of different coloured lanterns hanging above; pale-coloured streamers and balloons strewn here and there randomly; a long refreshment table decorated with adorably small candles; even the basketball hoops looked fancy with ribbons, streamers and balloons tied around their unattractive metal bases.

  A large banner hung above a slightly-higher-than-the-ground stage announced: Welcome, Global Director Danger!

  A band consisting of five Hero High students was playing for the event. They were playing fun tunes, dances tracks and one or two slow songs.

  Bella was on a mission, she told herself as she felt the urge to join in dancing. She loved dancing.

  Her eyes scanned the vast, decorated gym. Some students danced happily, most making a fool of themselves but enjoying it nonetheless. Most students stood around in exclusive circles no one else was allowed to join. Inside the circles, they just chatted about stupid, mundane, insignificant stuff Bella couldn't be bothered about. And, as at every event, the wallflowers, waiting, hopefully, on the sidelines for someone to talk to them, laugh with them, or invite them to dance.

  Bella had been given a simple task: find Urban Danger and protect him. The only problem: she didn't know what Urban Danger looked like.

  She had seen pictures of his father, Samuel Danger. Jack had shown her the photos in his dad's albums many times. Nevertheless, she had no way of knowing if Urban looked anything like him.

  She knew, if nothing else, he would be black. She kept her eyes peeled for dark, black skin. Her eyes caught Mr Hilton, the lanky gym teacher, dancing like a piece of gangly spaghetti. Nope, not him.

  It didn't take long for her search to be rewarded. Soon, she saw a solidly built man with skin the colour of pure cocoa standing by the punch table.

  It had to be him, she convinced herself as she fought the throng of dancing students to reach him. He was the spitting image of his father.

  Her journey across the dance floor was gruelling. Sandwiched by two different teenage dancing circles, pressed in like a sardine, Bella couldn't help but wonder if she had had better odds beating the spinning blades on the Hero Training obstacle course.

  Just in front of her, she could see the social sciences teacher, old Mrs Opal, dancing with the English teacher, Mr Shakes.

  Short and stout with frizzy white hair in a messy bun and thick-rimmed, bug-eye glasses, little old Mrs Opal laughed as she "boogied."

  "Shake it, Mr Shakes!" she yelled, pure delight written on every wrinkled feature of her weathered face as she bopped along to the cheerful beat. She had pretty incredible moves for someone nearing ninety.

  Mr Shakes, on the other hand, danced like a broken-hipped, injured-winged, half-frozen chicken jumping on a hot-coal fire.

  Bella decided it was safer to duck her head, cover her eyes and keep walking or else risk engraving disturbing, permanent images on her young and innocent mind.

  She finally made her way to the refreshments table... but Urban was gone.

  "Oh, come on!" Bella exclaimed, annoyed.

  "What's wrong, Sweet?" a mocking voice came from behind Bella, making her jump. "Lose your stupid friends?"

  Bella groaned, inwardly, and turned around to see Sara Cover, immaculately dressed in a stylish, white lace dress with her phony-blonde hair done-up all fancy, standing with her arms crossed and a smug expression on her perfectly made-up face.

  Bella smiled, falsely. "Lovely evening, isn't it?" she said, struggling to remain polite. She could try to think of smart, snide remarks but it would just waste time and she told herself she had nothing to prove to Sara.

  Sara looked down her powdered nose at Bella's floral dress. "You know this is a formal event, right?"

  Bella had sewn the dress herself, with her mother's help. The comment made her blood boil but she didn't have to defend anything.

  "This is formal," Bella replied simply, looking past Sara at the crowds, searching for Urban.

  "You put your hair in a ponytail?" Sara pointed with disdain.

  Bella's dark brown hair was always either left to fall on her shoulders or tied in a messy, hasty ponytail. "Look closely, I put a flower clip in, too."

  "Where'd you get that bracelet, a cereal box?"

  "Yes, as a matter of fact, and it's my favourite. Hey, where's your sister?"

  For the past month, Bella noticed that you never see one Cover twin without the other. They stuck together like magnets and if you only saw one, then there was something wrong.

  "Looking for Jack. And are those beach sandals?" Sara continued. She was seriously starting to get on Bella's nerves as the Gamma Accident tried to carry out her mission, battling to ignore the annoying girl's existence.

  Bella glanced down at Sara's high heels, boosting the already tall girl's height.

  "You know, I'm proud of my height," Bella retorted. "I don't need to look like a fashion magazine cut-out, I don't need your approval because you've made it clear you don't want to be my friend and you know what? I hope you'll excuse me because I have a list as long as your manicured nails of better things to do than stand here and listen to you pick at me like I'm some kind of bone scrap. Have a nice evening."

  With that, Bella walked away, standing tall and proud in her floral dress, summer sandals, cereal box bangle and hasty ponytail.

  28

  Acting as mission control again, Jack resided on the gym's roof, gazing up at the star-filled night sky. It was beautiful.

  He was alone but unafraid. He was ready and prepared for anything that was about to happen.

  Their enemy was going to make an appearance tonight and he was sure of it. Jack seemed to have been born with a sixth sense for danger. If he said he felt danger, then that meant something was about to happen and it was time to start running. So far, he had always been right.

  He leaned again
st the air conditioner unit, listening to the muffled music playing inside the gymnasium. As he surveyed his peaceful surroundings, he couldn't help but wish he were inside with his friends. Bella would have loved to dance, Caleb would be attacking the food table and Ethan would probably be coaxing Ty into lightening up and enjoying himself.

  Jack kept tags on his friends via the walkie-talkie system. Dean had actually laughed when Jack first pulled out the trusted radios.

  "This isn't 1992," Dean had said. "We have cell phones."

  "Yeah, but then you have to scroll through contacts, wait for the other person to pick up and on the other side, it rings and makes noise," Ethan explained. "Walkie-talkies completely circumvent those problems... so long as we stay in range."

  Jack fiddled with his radio, checking the batteries and adjusting the frequency. He radioed Caleb.

  "Hey, Cal," he said. "See anything yet?"

  "No," came Caleb's unenthusiastic reply. He sounded bored to tears. With an attention span as long as a common teenager's text message, he often found himself bored.

  The lack of sleep wasn't helping, either.

  As he stood outside the gym doors, looking up at the starry night sky, listening and feeling the loud, muffled tunes playing inside the gymnasium, he couldn't help but wish he were somewhere else.

  "I'm so alooooone," he complained to Jack.

  "Just remember, this won't last forever. Just keep telling yourself that we'll all be hanging out again, on our favourite beach in Crashton, soon," Jack said.

  "Okay," Caleb said and lowered his radio.

  Ty was hiding in the bushes by