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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">Brian
glared at
Archie. "Not a polite question. But she wouldn't cheat. She
just wouldn't.
Besides, it's Janie and I who have gifts, which we wouldn't
have told anyone about.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Except
that idiot Emperor Roxbury showed up
with his stupid giant robots. Why did Roxbury have to show up
here? Now I have
the principal, the guidance counselors, the school
psychiatrist, and half my
teachers wanting to be real sure Janie and I don't lose our
tempers. I don't.
After all, Janie and I <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>had
our gifts for
years now. No one ever suspected anything. Maybe some gamers.
Janie plays under
an Overton cage."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"That
was
just Trisha? Running fast?" MacDonald nodded. "She's for sure
fast.
Maybe she should join the girls’ cross-country team."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"Out
of the
question. Please don't ask her. I mean it. Just don't ask her.
It's
complicated. But she wouldn't want to say no. She just can't
say yes,"
Brian said.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"GR!
And
Joe?" MacDonald asked, pausing to take another bite of salad.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"He
disappeared," Brian answered. He drank half of his glass of
milk.
"That's been a super-incredible pain-in-the-neck. There were
all these
people who think Eclipse learned her City of Steel move from
Janie. But she’s
never met Eclipse. We don't even know what Eclipse looks like.
Not for sure. So
there are all these crazy people. They think Joe taught
Eclipse. No one knows
how to find Joe. You saw the papers.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We
had the National team and a bunch of people from the Federal
District on our
doorsteps. I met Speaker Ming!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>And
Krystal North!"</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-ansi-language:
EN" lang="EN">*****</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-ansi-language:
EN" lang="EN">Janie sat in a quiet corner, munching on her
sandwich and reading a book on
Territories. Most days, she had friends to sit and talk with,
but her schedule
today was a bit complicated. She really did not want to talk
to anyone at the
moment. There were already people who know about Trisha being
grounded. Most of
them would be nice. Or sympathetic. She also knew a couple of
meanies, people
who didn't like her because she had her Highly Respected
ranking, and would
take it out on Trisha.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-ansi-language:
EN" lang="EN">There, however, came Ingrid Fairhaven. Ingrid
was a nice person. That's why
she got along so well with Trisha. They were both just nice
people. She was
even nice to Trisha’s younger sister, even though Janie was a
whole grade level
lower. A lot of eighth-graders just looked down their noses at
seventh graders,
as though they were some inferior sort of insect. Ingrid
waved. Janie waved
back.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-ansi-language:
EN" lang="EN">Ingrid sat down at the end of the table, looked
around to see no one was
really in earshot, and leaned over to Janie. "I promise I
won't call you
out of your book," Ingrid said. "You're the best Five Games
player
this school ever had. But I saw your picture in the paper. You
and those
Grandmasters. And the Speaker of the House. That was really
frigid. Are you all
right?"</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"I'm
just
great," Janie said. "They were all nice to me. Well, I had a
champion, a persona who protects me. And they grilled me on my
move for two
hours. Girl, but they gave away a lot of good ways to think
about moves. I was
really tired afterwards. Yesterday I won two correspondence
games!"</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"I'm
more-or-less your sister's best friend. I won't pry," Ingrid
said. "I
want to help. If I can. Suddenly she dropped out of the music
club. She told me
that she was grounded, and that she didn't know why. If you
can think of
anything I can do to help her, just let me know."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">Janie
frowned
pensively. "Please don't tell anyone else."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"Not
in a
million years," Ingrid said.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"If
I said
something to you, could you repeat it to her?" Janie said.
Ingrid nodded. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>"Mom
and Dad said that Brian and I can't
talk to her unless they're in the room listening. But there's
something I'd
like to say to her, and I can't, because I don't want my
parents to hear
it."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"That
is
totally weird," Ingrid said. "Of course I will. And I won't
tell
anyone else what the message was."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"Please
tell
her. Brian and I both love her. And neither of us can figure
out why mom and
dad are mad at her. We just can't. It doesn't make any sense."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"Will
do.
Wait. Did they cut off her allowance, too?" Ingrid asked.
"That
matters.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"That
was
this morning. She only gets lunch money. But I think she's
dipping into her
piggy bank to get enough to eat at lunch. She's a real jock,
and eats a lot
just to keep up her weight." Janie shook her head. It was all
so crazy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"I
won't
tell anyone. That's beyond strange. But we can't have her
going around
hungry," Ingrid said. "I just don’t know what I can do."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"Brian
and I
will sneak money from our allowances, just to be sure she
isn't hungry,"
Janie said. "But we will get into super deep trouble with our
parents when
we do that and they find out. We’ll do it anyhow." Janie
remembered
Sunssword explaining about the life support gift. She and her
two siblings
could get along for a while without eating, just by calling on
their gifts, but
that wasn't healthy while you were growing up. She didn't want
Trisha to do
that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">"I'll
see if
I can find something," Ingrid said. "Mayhaps my mom knows the
answer.
Besides, I owe Trisha a ton for dropping out of music club. I
was sure I was
going to lose the lead singer spot to her." The two girls
smiled at each
other.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language:EN"
lang="EN">* * * * *</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN" lang="EN">Trisha
opened the
house's side door and slipped in, closing it very carefully so
it would make
next to no noise. Her parents complained about everything.
They'd complain if
she slammed the door, even if she didn't. She kicked off her
shoes, carefully
untied the shoelaces, and stacked them properly at the door
entrance.</span></p>
<br>
<br>
</p>
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