Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2)(3)

Bells and Emma let go and spring back. It’s not weird that they were holding hands; Jess wouldn’t think it’s weird, but she’d definitely think something was up if Bells acted like it was weird that they were holding hands. Maybe he should move—

“Okay, I’m back! Oh, hey, Emma! Wait, why am I sideways? Did your DED fall off its dock again?”

Emma runs her hand through her hair. “Yeah, it did; you know he never leaves it in a stable place.” She glances at Bells and then back at Jess’ hologram. “I, ah, just came over to say bye to Bells. Did you know he has to leave today?”

“What? Nooo, I’m babysitting. I can’t leave.” Jess moans. “I want to come see you off. Are you taking the train? I guess if I take Brendan with me we can—?i ?n c?t, Brendan, seriously. I’m trying to say bye to Bells, can you not—Brendan, I’m serious, not the house programming—” she looks to her right and then back at them. “I’m so sorry. I think the basement is on fire now. I love you, and have a great time in Aerial City, okay? Call me when you get there!”

The hologram disappears. Emma is only a few feet away, but she might as well be on the other side of the room. Had he imagined their almost-kiss?

He steps forward…

“Bells, we’ve got to leave now or we’re gonna be late for the train!” his dad calls.

“Sorry, I gotta…” Bells stuffs the rest of his clothes in the duffel. Emma turns the bag on its side and sits on it so Bells can zip it closed. Huffing a bit, he picks it up. “Thanks for coming over, Em.”

Emma follows him out into the hall. Bells’ parents and his brothers are already waiting by the car. Bells can’t ask one of them to stay behind so Emma can come along. It’s better this way, he guesses. He doesn’t want to say goodbye to her in front of them.

Bells goes for one last hug, and Emma sighs, squeezing him.

“Hey,” she blurts. “What Jess said. Me too.”

“Definitely. I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Yeah,” Emma says quietly. “That.”

Bells is squished in the back seat between his two older brothers, who keep trading glances while his parents chat about the farm. It’s an hour drive to Las Vegas, an hour more of teasing, but Andover doesn’t have its own hovertrain stop. While Bells could have taken the bus, his family wanted to see him off properly.

“Did you have a nice goodbye with your girlfriend, little bro?” Sean asks, knocking his shoulder against Bells playfully.

“Emma’s not my girlfriend.” Bells folds his arms and scowls.

“Sure she isn’t.” Simon laughs, elbowing Bells. “She just came over because she’ll miss you so much,” he says, his voice high-pitched and syrupy sweet.

“Oh, Bells,” Sean says in falsetto, “I love you so much; call me every night when you’re gone!”

“Stop it,” Bells says, but his brothers are on a roll, and there’s no stopping them now as the Emma impressions get more and more ridiculous.

“Oh, stop teasing your brother,” his dad says. With his broad shoulders and deep, gruff voice, Nick Broussard might seem an imposing figure, but he’s got a soft spot for his kids, especially Bells, his youngest, although Bells could do without the babying—from any of his family.

“But he makes it so easy.” Sean grins at him. “And I’ve missed him so much.”

“And you came all the way from Clairborne to make fun of me? It’s not like you can’t visit more often,” Bells says.

His mother looks up from the car’s computer console and levels his brother with a steady gaze. “That’s true,” Collette says. “We’d love to see you more.”

Sean shrugs. “It’s hard work maintaining all of our crops and making sure they stay hidden.”

“Ah, so it is close! I know it’s within an hour’s drive,” Bells says, smirking.

The glances between his parents confirm that he’s right. “You know we can’t tell you where Clairborne is just yet. It’s not because we don’t think you’re responsible…” Collete trails off, patting his hand.

Bells bites down on the sarcastic comment on the tip of his tongue. It’s frustrating, being the only one in the family who doesn’t know.

“Reduce the risk, I know,” Bells says.

“That’s right, son,” Nick says, smiling.

With his family’s secret farms and the government’s ever-watchful eye on meta-humans, going to Meta-Human Training is a risk. Bells would have started working at Clairborne, the secret farm, as his older brothers did once they turned fifteen, but he signed up for training instead. He’s only worked on the “official” Broussard farm, two miles past the solar fields outside of town, where the Broussards maintain a respectable number of acres for produce that’s sold to the North American Collective. Bells is pretty sure he knows where most of their crops grow, though. He tried following his brother once, but he was caught immediately and sent home.

“It’s somewhere in the mountains, right? Come on, you can tell me. I know all about Grassroots.”

“That they’re terrible for eating?” Nick says loudly.

Bells rolls his eyes. He really doesn’t think the NAC has the car bugged, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Grassroots, the underground farmers’ market the Broussards manage, is important to too many people.