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Gibby said, “Yeah, that’s putting it mildly.”
Nick led them down the stairs to the second floor and back to the room where he hid when he’d first arrived at the hospital. The table with the penis drawn underneath it was still there, and Nick pulled Gibby and Jazz inside before shutting the door behind them.
“Is this our official hospital hangout spot?” Jazz asked. “I like that we have that.”
“Where’s Seth?” Nick demanded.
Jazz looked confused. “I don’t… know? He wasn’t in school again today.” She looked between Nick and Gibby. “Why? What’s going on?”
Gibby stared down at the floor.
That pissed Nick off. “Well? Care to explain?”
Gibby looked up. Her darkened eyes were bloodshot, like she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Which, given that she’d been in Seth’s ear the night before, made sense. “Look, Nick. If we could… wait. Okay?” She jerked her head toward Jazz. “Now might not be the right time.”
She had a point. Jazz was oblivious to everything, and it was probably best to keep her that way. It didn’t stop him from glaring daggers at Gibby.
“What’s going on?” Jazz asked. “Why are you guys staring at each other like that?”
“It’s nothing,” Nick growled. “Just a frank exchange of ideas and questioning certain choices that were made.”
“Maybe certain choices were made by people other than me,” Gibby snapped. “Choices that I didn’t agree with but had to respect anyway.”
Nick scoffed. “Oh, I’m sure you fought so hard against those choices.”
“I did! I told them you should know!”
“You could have told me!”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell!”
“Maybe if you’d grown someballs,you could have—”
“Oh, you want to talk about balls, Nick? How about actually having some when it comes to Seth and—”
“Are you guys talking about how Seth and Owen are Pyro Storm and Shadow Star?” Jazz asked.
“Yes,” Nick and Gibby snapped at the same time. It took a moment for it to sink in what she’d said. They both turned to gape at her.
Jazz nodded. “It makes sense now. Carry on.”
Nick and Gibby breathed as one as Jazz smoothed out her cheerleader uniform like she hadn’t just stunned them completely.
Nick recovered first. “How the hell did you know?”
Jazz rolled her eyes. “I figured it out a long time ago. I thought it was something we didn’t talk about. I mean, come on. It was obvious.”
Nick was incredulous. “Itwas?”
Jazz shrugged. “Every time there was a big fight between Shadow Star and Pyro Storm, Owen and Seth would be absent or late the next day. Or they’d show up with weird bruises. And then you dated Owen, who was most likely doing it to get a rise out of Seth, and not just because Seth already had feelings for you. It probably didn’t help that Seth started being Pyro Storm shortly after your mom passed away, and then Owen tried to make it all about him by turning into Shadow Star. I mean, I get it. I would be upset too if I tried to do something to keep my friends and the city safe, and then this other Extraordinary comes out of nowhere and takes all the credit and then manages to infiltrate our friend group.” Jazz’s brow furrowed. “And then Rebecca Firestone gets involved and gives all the press to Owen and makes him look like the hero, even though it was really Seth doing most of the work.”
Nick’s mind was blown. “Holy crap.”
“I want to make out with you so hard right now,” Gibby said rather aggressively.
Jazz looked pleased with herself. “Did I really figure it out before either of you? Wow. I’m wonderful.”
“This is literally the stupidest day of my life,” Nick lamented to no one in particular.
