Chapter 398
Before we’d wiped out most of the violent cells, my sister had been actively recruiting anyone capable of Transforming. That fell off, and when Lucy started her program on July 1, only five other new recruits began with her. There were a couple leftovers from the March cycle who hadn’t finished for whatever reason, but not enough to keep all three trainers busy. So Aurora and Shane were handling all of the training, only bringing Meagan in when they needed a different point of view.
Sometimes I went with Lucy to training just because I was bored. My mom still made me practice math every day, but not having homework helped. I was finally ungrounded from seeing Brandon at the end of May—my grounding was stretched a bit longer because of my “fresh mouth”—but sticking around the apartment wasn’t an option. Five seconds in the same room with Liz Findley and I was ready to levitate her right on out the door.
“You know, you really should see if there’s any way she’d just let you move out,” Lucy said one day as we were walking back from training to her apartment. She and Tara had been moved over to the “permanent residents” apartment building in May because it was obvious they were both staying. They were no longer roommates, and Dax had his own room, too. All of them were on the fifth floor, the same as the apartment Brandon and Elliott shared. Brandon had been given the option of having his own space or even rooming with Dax but decided to stay with his dad, which I thought was kinda cool. I wish I had that sort of relationship with my parents.
“There’s no way in the world Mom would let me move out,” I replied without even giving it a second thought. “I will be a prisoner in my room until I’m eighteen.”
“It’s really too bad. My mom tried talking to her when she was here, but I guess she didn’t get anywhere either, then. You’re just as much a grown up as I am. Now that I’ve Transformed, I totally get what Aaron always says about age not mattering anymore. I don’t feel like a seventeen-year-old kid. I feel like an adult.”
“Yeah, well, you haven’t deliberately disobeyed your mom and put yourself in a situation where you could’ve been killed—or gone behind her back to strengthen your powers ‘in such a way that was dangerous and inconsiderate to your friends and coworkers.’” I said that last part in a mocking voice, like I was trying to impersonate my mom as if she were a prude or a strict librarian or something.
“True, I haven’t done either of those things, but can’t your mom see how beneficial it is that you did? I mean, look at all of the things you can do that no one else can. Why would she want you to go back to the way you were before?”
We entered the lobby, and before I could answer, I saw my friend Juan Diego, the head custodian, across the way and gave him a big wave. My face instantly lit up, and the fact that I’d just been trying to explain why my mom was justified in caging me like an animal left my thoughts. He took a few steps in my direction, but I was able to rush over to him in the blink of an eye. Lucy isn’t quite as fast as me since she’s only had one dose of Transformation serum, but she came over, too, her blonde ponytail trailing her like a comet’s tail.
“Miss Cassidy! How are you today? You sure are quick.” Juan Diego laughed, and I gave him a tight hug.
“I’m good. Lucy and I were just headed up to her place to grab some lunch. You sure did a nice job on the paint in there.”
“Yeah, I love the teal in the bedroom,” Lucy agreed.
Juan Diego’s already bright smile somehow grew larger. “So glad you like it. It was a lot of fun.” I imagined he meant being in charge of the reconfiguration and finishing out the new apartments on five. His English isn’t great—but it’s much better than my Spanish.
“I didn’t even know you knew how to put up walls and stuff,” I said taking a step back and thinking over what part of that I might’ve been able to say in Spanish. Probably only the part about not knowing.
“Oh, yes. I love construction. Much better than cleaning up. I love that, too, though. I am just so happy to be here. You know, Miss Cassidy, there’s another apartment down the hall from your amiga. When you going to move on your own?”
My eyes doubled in size as I thought about a suitable answer. Juan and I are friends, but not the sort that chit chats about our families in great detail. “Yo no se,” I finally said. I thought about how to say, “I want to move,” but all I knew was, “Yo quiero,” and not move. So I said that.
He understood and fixed it for me. “Quiero mudarme,” he said, nodding with a smile. “You should. If your amigas can, why not you, no?” He laughed heartily and gave me a pat on the shoulder. “I must go. Tengo a lot of work to do today.” He thought for a second, realized part of that was in Spanish, and said, “I have a lot of work to do today.”
“We understood,” Lucy said with a nod. It was great having someone to practice our Spanish with who never laughed at us. “Hasta luego.”
“Have a nice day,” Juan said as I called, “Buenos dias,” and Lucy and I headed for the elevator. We had a feeling he appreciated being able to practice his English, too.
“He’s the nicest,” Lucy said, calling the elevator with her IAC. It was so cool that she had one now so I could talk to her even after my curfew. “It was awesome of him to let me pick out my own paint.”
“Yeah, he’s really great.” I thought about all the people I’d met since this new world had opened up to me and how I would’ve never gotten to meet any of them if it weren’t for my sister going to that Eidolon Festival almost two years ago. Unfortunately, Drew had died because of it, and I guess so had Jack—he’d become a Vampire, anyway—but all of this would still be a secret from me if I hadn’t overheard what Cadence was saying and figured out what was happening.
