suddenly, making Nick jump. “You don’t need to do that. Because I already decided I’m going to help him.”
“And me,” Gibby said.
Everyone looked at Jazz.
She had a mouthful of quinoa tabbouleh.
Gibby elbowed her in the side.
“Oh,” Jazz said, a piece of avocado falling from her mouth. “And me.”
“So, you see,” Seth said smugly, “Nick doesn’t need your help. We’ve got it covered.”
“Wow,” Nick breathed. “My heart is so full. It’s like my birthday except better.”
Owen rolled his eyes. “Right, well. Good luck with that. Nicky, if you really want to find out how to become an Extraordinary, you come find me. I’ll show you things these guys won’t even begin to tell you.”
And with that, he got up and walked away. Nick had to admit it was a pretty epic exit.
It didn’t hurt that Owen looked pretty okay in those jeans.
But Nick didn’t have time to think about that now. He had support.
“Okay!” he said, grinning so wide, his face hurt. “Operation Turn Nick into an Extraordinary and Live Happily Ever After with Shadow Star in a Villa Off the Coast of Italy Where We Feed Each Other Grapes by Hand is underway!” He paused, considering. “I might need to work on the name of the operation, but you get the idea. Let’s do this thing!”
The bell rang.
“After school gets out,” Nick said hastily. “Because education is important, and my dad will murder me if I don’t get at least a B average. I have to go. My class is on the opposite end of campus. Bye!”
7
Even though Nick had the support of his closest friends and an operation planned (at least in name only), it wasn’t until the weekend that he was able to get things going. Not because he didn’t want to start sooner (oh lord, did he) but because apparently junior year meant the teachers decided there should be at least forty-six hours of homework every night. Nick often wondered what happened in their childhoods to make them want to grow up and make his life miserable.
Not only did they ask for essays and warn of evils-to-come such as pop quizzes, they were also telling the students they needed to start thinking of their futures. Nick didn’t know how to explain that he was trying to do just that, but they were getting in his way. Sure, they were talking about things like colleges and vocational schools, and Nick was more focused on being able to conduct electricity through his fingertips, but still. It was easier to think about being an Extraordinary than it was to think about getting older.
Then Dad had a rare Saturday off, so they’d gotten pizza from Tony’s for an early lunch, sitting outside on the ancient tables, watching people go by, making up stories about who they were and where they were coming from and where they were going. It was something they’d done since Nick could remember. And Before, Mom had laughed and laughed at some of the stuff they’d come up with. She’d said they were the most creative people she’d ever known, and that she thought Nick would grow up to be an author one day.
It’d taken time After to—it hadn’t been easy. Nick had been confused and angry and scared, and Dad had been hollow-eyed and barely speaking. There were times Nick hadn’t seen him for days, their schedules so opposite, it was like they were merely roommates, and there’d been a moment when he’d been unable to sleep, his thoughts racing, thinking that he hated his father. He’d hated him for not protecting Mom even though he’d been nowhere near the bank when it’d happened, hated him for leaving Nick alone when he needed him the most. Hated him for not being strong enough. Hated him for saying, no, Nicky, no you can’t see her, kid, you can’t, it’s better off you remember her as she was. Then she came home in an urn, nothing but a pile of ashes that Nick couldn’t believe had once been his mother. They’d spread the ashes near the lighthouse, neither of them speaking.
It had gotten better, albeit slowly. Nick knew Cap had something to do with it, because suddenly Dad was home all the time, saying with an awkward shrug that it was a forced vacation. It’d lasted a few months, and they’d had to learn how to be the two of them in the same space where there’d once been three.
Things were better now, leading to days like today