CHAPTER TWO

 

At lunch, Gabriel, Brent, and Piper decided to give it another try with Tahlita. The girl couldn’t forget everything, could she? Maybe with enough prodding they could trigger a memory.

Tahlita sat in her usual spot in the back corner, eating alfalfa sprouts on bread. Gabriel wasn’t sure what kid other than her actually liked alfalfa sprouts. Just that should be enough to clue her in that she was from another part of the universe.

They weaved their way through the noisy crowd of kids who carried trays of steaming soup and sandwiches and past the cafeteria line where trays of sandwiches and baskets of fruit were lined in a row. They plunked down beside Tahlita on the bench. Piper sat across from her. They figured having a girl speak to Tahlita might be better than two boys.

Tahlita grunted but didn’t lift her head. She just kept sticking alfalfa sprouts in her mouth. “You guys don’t give up, do you?” she asked around a mouthful, her long, dark hair slung around her face like a cocoon. “I told you already that I remember nothing from my past.”

“But you didn’t look up and you still knew it was us!” Brent exclaimed. “See? You have powers!”

Tahlita sighed, looked up, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. “No, Brent. I didn’t need to look up at you guys to know who it was. You come here every day with stories of a place called Valta. Was I supposed to think it could be somebody else because today is so special?” Her voice dripped sarcasm and she cocked a brow. Her question was met with silence. “No, I didn’t think so.” She dug into her sprouts again.

“Listen,” Piper said. “We’re not trying to be a pain or anything. We just want to help you figure things out. Would you like to hang out after school and go see my cat Tratta maybe?”

They’d tried going to Tahlita’s house, pretending to visit her new stepbrother Cole, but she had disappeared into her room and refused to come out. Cole had even brought her to Gabriel’s twelfth birthday party last weekend, but she just hung out by herself reading a book on the sofa all day. Piper had suggested that maybe seeing Tratta, the talking cat from Valta that Flossie had given her, might set off a memory or two.

Tahlita groaned. “I hate cats. I’m allergic. Besides, I’m fine where I am. All I know is that the police found me wandering the streets in Harmony City. I’d been there for about six months trying to evade authorities. My parents obviously dumped me because if I was lost, they sure didn’t bother trying to find me.” She shrugged, wiped her mouth, and took a drink of milk. “I don’t need you guys trying to fill my head with lies. And if what you say is true—which it isn’t by the way, but even if it was—I still wouldn’t want to go anywhere. Besides, what you guys are talking about could get you committed, you know.” She peered up at them and scowled.

Brent grumbled and sunk his head in his hands, obviously feeling as frustrated as Gabriel. Between Cedric and Tahlita’s stubbornness, they’d never get her back with her father.

Gabriel shuddered at the thought of Dane patrolling the streets. Who knew what mayhem he could cause? What if he could shape-shift like other Zeverons? That would really suck. He hoped Dane had dropped Cedric off at the portal, then stayed in Valta where he belonged. But Dane had said he was going to find Tahlita. He’d already searched all of Valta, and after seeing how Gabriel, Brent, and Piper had survived world hopping unhurt, Dane could have figured he’d be fine, too.

After a moment, Brent jumped to his feet. “Seriously, dude and dudettes, I’m starving! Let’s pick up this convo later. I gotta eat before I starve to death.” He headed off toward the cafeteria line, calling over his shoulder as he went. “I hope they have burgers today!”

Piper gasped.

“What?” Gabriel followed her gaze. Cedric was walking their way with his cousin Trevor Morley, who had moved to Willow Creek from out of town recently. Trevor was otherwise known as “Bull” because he was bigger than any seventh grader should be. Trays in hand, they were so caught up in whatever lame conversation they were having, that they weren’t paying attention to the crowd. With Brent practically jogging toward the food counter and looking over his shoulder at Gabriel and Piper, it would be a head-on collision of epic proportions.

“Watch it—” Piper started to call, but it was too late. Trevor’s tray flung high into the air. Today’s soup special came crashing down over the three of them. Trevor stumbled sideways a step, and knocked into Cedric, causing Cedric to fall. Cedric’s tray clattered to the ground beside him. An orange rolled across the floor and stopped at Brent’s feet.

The room fell silent. It seemed like the temperature suddenly sky-rocketed in the room. All eyes locked on Brent, Trevor, and Cedric—even Tahlita looked up from her web of hair.

“You’re dead!” Trevor rasped, whipping his baseball cap off and throwing it to the ground. Coiled springs of blond hair bounced free. He balled his hands into fists at his sides.

Gabriel jumped up and ran toward them. “Knock it off,” he yelled. “It was an accident.”

Trevor chuckled in a mock-laugh. “What are you gonna do, loser?”

Cedric clambered to his feet beside Trevor. “Yeah, Stone,” he said with a snicker as he brushed himself off. “This is between Brent and Bull.”

Even though Brent was big for his age, Trevor was a whole year older, and looked like he was in the ninth grade or something. He probably should have been, Gabriel figured. Maybe he’d failed a couple of grades. Either that or his mother fed him steak from the age of one.

Gabriel tugged a five-dollar bill out of his jeans pocket. “Here.” He held the bill out to Trevor. “Take this and buy another lunch, okay?”

Trevor smirked. “Another lunch?” he asked with a snicker. “And what about our clothes?” He waved his hands in front of his white shirt that now had brown stains and chunks of carrots splattered across it. He lifted his chin toward Cedric. “What about you, Ced?” Trevor gave Cedric a once-over. “Looks like you have a few spots.” He turned his attention back on Gabriel, narrowing his blue eyes. “You got money for new shirts too, Stone?”

“Shut it,” Brent snapped, stepping forward and squaring his shoulders. “It wasn’t my fault. We banged into each other, Bull.”

Trevor poked Brent in the chest. “You shut it, Chapman. And I think you need to clean up this mess you made.” His smirk grew wider. “With your face, that is.”

After that everything seemed to move in slow motion. Trevor grabbed Brent by the scruff of the neck. Cedric pushed Gabriel backward when he tried to intervene. A group of kids began chanting, “Fight, fight, fight!” Trevor’s face twisted into weird angles like some rabid dog. He stuck his face an inch in front of Brent’s. “C’mon, Chapman. You gonna fight or wimp out, sucker?”

Brent made a low rumbling sound in his chest and pulled his closed fist back, about to pummel Bull in the side of the head. Brent was never one to back down from a fight. Gabriel’s stomach sank. He could feel a school suspension looming like a dark cloud.

Freaking A.

But before Gabriel could manage to get away from Cedric and try to stop the disaster, something flung through the air knocking Trevor in the head. It was an orange and Gabriel wondered if Piper had thrown it, but he was too busy ducking punches from Cedric to check.

Then a wave of gasps filled the room. Gabriel closed his eyes.

Just awesome.

A teacher must have heard the noise and come in to break up the fight. Yup. Suspension was so happening. That’d go over real well with his parents.

More gasps echoed through the air, followed by complete silence.

Trevor stopped swinging, and Cedric and Gabriel quit fighting. Trevor rubbed his head where the orange had struck him and peered around the cafeteria, his face a mask of shock and awe.

Gabriel followed his gaze. “What the—”

At least fifty apples, oranges, and bananas hung suspended in mid-air. Several moved forward and encircled Trevor and Cedric’s heads. Brent staggered backward. Gabriel’s mouth gaped open.

Gabriel figured he wasn’t seeing straight. His eyesight must’ve been fuzzy from a blow to the head or something. How could fruit dangle in the air? He blinked, but the fruit still hung, swaying left to right, threatening to launch at Trevor and Cedric’s heads. Cedric and Trevor backed away toward the exit, palms raised.

It was like … magic.

Magic …

Wait.

Gabriel slowly shifted his line of sight toward Tahlita, who still sat quietly at her bench. Except now, her hair was pulled tight behind her ears, her eyes narrowed.

She met Gabriel’s stare.

Magic! Gabriel thought again.

Tahlita’s eyes widened the moment he thought the word.

Splat! The produce hurtled to the ground in a spraying mess of fruit cocktail.

Piper slapped a hand over her mouth. “Ay, caramba!” she said through her fingers, gaping at Tahlita.

Gabriel already knew Tahlita was a Valtan, a Zeveron girl with some kind of powers, but now he knew what she could do—or at least part of what she could do. She could move things … like telekinesis or whatever.

As sick as that was, it was even better that Tahlita knew Gabriel caught her red-handed … and now she’d have to admit she was anything but human.

Epic!