out. Say it worked. What happens when PETA hears about your origin story? They’ll come after you, even though they’re hypocritical monsters.”
“But,” Nick said weakly, “people eat crickets in some cultures. You can get them covered in chocolate and everything.”
“Yes, but they don’t get tortured. What if they do have a soul? Do you want that on your conscience? And what happens if it comes back and haunts you? Do you really want a ghost cricket around forever? It’ll probably chirp really loudly next to your ear and eventually drive you crazy. I don’t want my best friend to go insane because of ghost crickets.”
Nick looked forlornly at his idea board. Cosmo hadn’t said anything about a rebuttal when one of your ideas could potentially make you a serial killer and/or cause you to be haunted by a ghost cricket. It should have come with a warning.
He knew he needed to be the bigger person here. He picked up the specimen jar and went to the window in his room. He pushed it open, the sounds of the street below pouring in. He didn’t know how people could live in the middle of nowhere. It’d be too quiet. Nova City was like his mind, always moving. It was comforting, in a way.
“Okay, little guy,” he said to the cricket, “today’s your lucky day. You got a stay of execution. Be free!” He unscrewed the lid to the jar and flicked his wrist toward the window.
Except the cricket landed on the windowsill, and then immediately turned and jumped straight at Nick. Given that it was the size of a small Buick, he screamed and took a stumbling step back. It landed on his arm. He waved it wildly, trying to get it off before it could maul him.
He succeeded in that regard, but at great cost. The cricket launched itself at Gibby, who made a noise as if she got punched in the stomach, trying to push herself back on the bed and hitting her head against the wall. “No,” she moaned. “Oh god, no.”
The cricket landed on Nick’s pillow. With a warrior’s cry, Nick picked up a textbook off his desk and threw it at the cricket, only to hit Seth in the arm when he tried to reach for the bug himself.
“Ow!” Seth cried. “Why did you throw a book at me?”
“I didn’t! You got in my way!”
“You’re all useless,” Jazz said, rolling her eyes. She stood, smoothing her skirt. She reached down and slid off one of her heels, flipped it over in a deft move, and then smashed it against Nick’s pillow.
It was quiet, after.
She lifted her shoe.
There was a black, wet smudge on Nick’s pillow.
“There,” Jazz said, lifting her leg and sliding her heel back on. “Now that that’s over with, I saw pizza downstairs, and I think I’ve earned a slice. If you’ll excuse me.”
Her hair streamed behind her as she exited the room.
“I’m sorry, Nick,” Gibby said, staring after her girlfriend.
Nick sighed. “It’s fine. It’s just a bug—”
“No. Not about that. I’m sorry that I’m now aroused on your bed.”
“Ack! Gross! Get off, get off, get off!”
8
“If I’m going to be haunted by ghost bugs, it will be all your fault!” Nick called as he watched Jazz and Gibby walk down the sidewalk from his house. Gibby flipped him off. Jazz waved. Those crazy kids. He hoped they made it.
Dad and Cap were in the kitchen, munching on leftover pizza. “Don’t tell my wife,” Cap warned him through a mouthful of sausage. “I’ll arrest you, and you’ll never see the sun again.”
“That’s police intimidation,” Nick said. “I have a Tumblr with almost six hundred followers. They’ll hear about this, mark my words.”
“What did he say?” Cap asked Dad.
“Teenager speak,” Dad said. “It’s like the message board at the station.”
“Oh.” Cap looked at Nick. “You a snitch now?”
“You’re damn—”
“Nick.”
“—darn right I am,” Nick said. “Gotta bring down the corruption within the Nova City Police Department. I’ll be a hero.”
“Speaking of being a hero,” Dad said, “that was an awful lot of screaming you did for a bug.”
“Jazz should have kept her mouth shut,” Nick mumbled. “I’m going back upstairs so I don’t have to watch two old men being weird.”
“Keep the door open!” Dad called after him.
“Why are you even—? You know what? I don’t have time for your nonsense.” They weren’t leave the door open friends. Seth was obviously kissing other people, much to Nick’s consternation. As he climbed the stairs, he thought about