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He finished his breakfast.
He put the bowl in the sink. He put the milk in the fridge.
He picked up his backpack after placing his lunch inside and turned to leave the kitchen.
“Nick.”
He stopped, convinced he’d been caught. His dad had used his supercop senses and had known the moment Nick tried to hide the pill. He’d take Nick to the precinct to interrogate him, and then Nick would be forced to spill what Bob had told him yesterday, and how confused that made him because if he was being honest, Seth had biceps apparently, but he was sort of fond of the way Seth had looked before, and if he wasreallythinking about it, he was maybe fond of the way Seth talked and breathed and existed in ways he hadn’t really thought about, and he didn’t want to seem shallow if he found out that hemighthave a crush on his best friend now. Becausewhat would that say about him if Seth was all buff now with massive shoulders and then Nick decided he wanted to touch them? It shouldn’t matter how a person looked, it was the inside that counted.
That was completely at odds with his destiny with Shadow Star, because they were obviously meant to be together, right? Nick wrote stories about him and had his autograph, and Shadow Star knew his name, so that had to mean something. Life would just be so much easier if Seth and Shadow Star were the same person, but that was ridiculous. Because Shadow Star was a superhero who saved the city from the forces of evil while Seth had to deal with feral cat emergencies which, to be fair, weren’t any less important. They were just important on a different scale.
Add in the fact that Nick had to become an Extraordinary so he could help the big lug standing in front of him, even if he wasn’t feeling exactly charitable at the moment.
“What?” he asked, wondering if this was the moment when everything would be okay again.
Dad stared at him for a beat, then sighed. “Have a good day at school.”
Nick swallowed thickly and opened his mouth to say something, but turned around and walked out of the kitchen instead.
He was running a little behind by the time he reached the Franklin Street station. Jazz and Gibby were waiting for him on the bench near the stairs. Seth’s train would be arriving in a few minutes, which meant Nick had a little bit of time to decide how to act. Seth hadn’t texted to say he wasn’t coming in to school today, so Nick expected him shortly.
“Hey, Nicky,” Jazz said as he approached. She squinted up at him. “You okay? You look… sweaty.”
“I’m fine,” Nick said, though it came out in a squeak. He coughed and lowered his voice at least four octaves. “I’m fine.” It sounded like he was snarling. “Um. Have you seen Seth?”
Gibby narrowed her eyes. “No. Why?”
“No reason. No reason at all.” He laughed awkwardly. “I mean, why would there need to be a reason for anything at all ever?”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jazz asked, sounding concerned. “You’re really sweaty.”
“It’s not sweat. It’s… raining.”
“Strange,” Gibby said. “There wasn’t a cloud in the sky fifteen minutes ago.”
“A flash flood,” Nick said, glancing around the station. He didn’t see Seth yet. “Just on my street. Freak thing. Probably will never happen again. So, listen. Here’s the thing. Today is going to be weird, and youcan’t say anything.”
Jazz and Gibby exchanged a look and had one of their silent conversations that Nick would never understand. They looked back at him.
“Why is it going to be weird?” Gibby asked.
“Just… like. Okay. So. Um. Feelings. And I—there were ghosts. Tuberculosis insane asylum ghosts. And I had Cinnamon Bread-Shaped Chomps this morning for an apology, so I’m a little wired. And I’m still so mad. But. I don’t know at who? I think it’s at almost everyone. Like. Is that okay?Ithink it’s okay. And then there’s Phase Three. I don’t know. It’s just this whole thing.”
“Wow,” Jazz whispered. “That was… I don’t know what that was.”
“Why are you mad at us?” Gibby demanded.
Nick wasn’t quite sure, so he told them as much.
They didn’t seem appeased.
“You sound like you have a lot to work through,” Jazz told him sagely.
Nick was relieved. “Right? It’s just… I’m having all thesefeelings—”
“Hey, guys,” Seth said from behind them.
Now, it should be said that Nick had never really had someone in love with him before. Yes, it would have to mean Bob was telling the truth, but since Nick never heard him lie about anything before, he didn’t think Bob would have picked such a horrible time to start.
