Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2)(42)
“Being tapped out,” Bells says. “But this is unusual because—”
Dr. Gutierrez nods. “Yes, Jessica updated me on the situation. Without a way to analyze the serum, I cannot speak to how it’s affecting her. It’s clearly dampening her powers, and her attempts to use them are exhausting her more and more.”
“But she’s okay?” Jess asks.
“Yes, she just needs to rest. I’ve given her electrolytes; with some time, she’ll be fine.”
Abby is pale but alert when they visit her. Jess takes her hand and kisses her forehead. “Don’t do that again,” she says.
“Eh,” Abby says. “Did you see that cup move?”
Jess gives her a weak smile and nods fondly. “It did. Just a little.”
“You scared us there,” Bells says, fluffing up her pillow.
Emma nods. “You heard what my mom said, right? The more you try, the more you’re going to make yourself sick.”
Abby offers a weak smile. “But if I don’t try, I won’t know, will I?”
Ch. 8...
January becomes February without anyone noticing; time creeps forward with a soft whisper. Winter sweeps across the desert with biting, sharp winds. Bells goes for a run every morning before school starts: an easy amble around the neighborhood and then out to the edge of town on the border of the Unmaintained land. He likes the feeling of anticipation before dawn, when he can still see the sliver of moon and the occasional twinkling star. A sprinkle of hoarfrost is scattered across the ground, pooling in rock piles and the spaces between plants.
Bells is midway through his morning run when he notices pink everywhere. Streamers hang from the restaurants, and hearts and balloons and stuffed fictional animals like bears decorate all the downtown windows.
Bells crunches on the dirt path with a little more force than necessary and he almost trips over a rock. Valentine’s Day. It’s a commercial holiday celebrated by the Collective, and people are encouraged to buy gifts and shower everyone they love with holocards and presents and candy. Since middle school he and Emma and Jess have exchanged presents. It’s never been a big deal; he’s never expected it to be. But this year… it’s different.
First, Abby and Jess have plans, have had plans for weeks and have been talking nonstop about them, especially since Jess has been trying to keep Abby’s mind off her powers. Jess commissioned an artist—Bells—to draw Abby and her parents as protagonists in their own comic book, and Abby bought Jess some vintage DVDs and also several signed posters from the cast of the Vindicated series.
It was strange being consulted by both of them about their gifts, but it gave Bells an idea. Maybe his gift for Emma can be the start of something new.
Abby isn’t in school Monday; Jess says she wasn’t feeling well all weekend, and Abby blew off hanging out with her today. Emma offers to ditch volleyball practice, and Bells begs off his afternoon shift at the restaurant, and after school they all go to Jess’ house to hang out in the basement and watch Vindicated to cheer her up.
“Hey, we can’t have an official you-know-what meeting here,” Brendan says when he sees them heading for the basement. “Abby’s house is the best place, you know that.”
“Abby’s not feeling well, and this isn’t a meeting,” Bells says. “We’re just gonna hang out with Jess and actually watch some movies.”
“Oh,” Brendan says. His face falls, and he scoots back a little from Bells, as a blush colors his cheeks.
Bells tries not to laugh; he knows Brendan has a little crush on him. He thought the kid would grow out of it, but apparently not yet. “How’s it going with finding the R—”
“Nnn,” Brendan says. He claps a hand to Bells’ mouth, and then snatches his hand back. “I uh, I’ve made some progress. Hopefully we’ll have some results soon.”
“Hey, Bren-Bren!” Jess calls from the basement. “This is an off night! No business talk!”
“Okay,” Brendan says, rolling his eyes.
During the movie Emma is distracted, constantly checking her DED, and then giggling and glancing at Bells and Jess, and then giggling some more. Trying to pinpoint what’s putting her in this mood is making Bells hyper-aware. It can’t be the movie; while Jess loves the action-packed spy series, it’s a bit too cheesy for Emma, and she never fails to make fun of the implausible setups.
Bells doesn’t care; the most entertaining thing is the banter between Jess and Emma as they debate whether the series is amazing or awful. Tonight, though, Emma isn’t really watching the movie, and, when Bells throws his arm around her shoulder, she grins at him.
Bells bites his lip and then smiles back; his hope grows.
Valentine’s Day is this Saturday, and, by Friday, Bells decides to tell her how he feels. He went to the farm earlier this week and picked a bunch of the brightest sunflowers, earning him a glare from his brother. Now he’s staring at the flowers, which stand in a vase. He doesn’t want to risk the flowers drooping, so he messages Emma and invites her over and doesn’t use all caps so she knows he’s serious.
Bells ties and reties a ribbon on the sunflowers and then paces. Should he pick a different color ribbon? Maybe pink? Emma’s favorite color is purple, though. And which painting should he give her? There’s one he did of the three of them, and there’s one he did of Emma as an engineer in the future with all of her dreams coming true.