Chapter 2

When Paige woke up the next morning, Clarice’s bed was empty. In fact, it hadn’t been slept in at all. Instantly worried, Paige ran to Jubilee’s bed, shaking the sleeping girl. “Jubilee, wake up!” Jubilee pulled the blanket over her head. “Go away, Hayseed,” she mumbled.

“But Clarice is missing!” Paige insisted. Jubilee sighed and sat up. “What am I supposed to do about it?!” “Help me find her!” Paige shouted. “Don’t you care at all?!” “Of course I do,” Jubilee replied, yawning. “She’s my friend, too. Fine, I’ll help you.” “Good! Meet me downstairs in five minutes,” Paige said as she left the room. “Downstairs. Five minutes. Right...” Jubilee agreed. Then she looked at her pillow. “...after I get a few winks.” She was out cold before her head hit the pillow.

“About time you woke up.” Ev jumped, and then realized it was only Angelo. “Geez! Don’t do that, man!” Angelo didn’t seem to care that he had startled Ev. “You like Jubilee, right?” As he slowly got out of bed, Ev cast a suspicious eye over at his friend. “She’s all yours, man.” Angelo snickered and then burst out laughing. After he got up from the floor, he started laughing again. “You think--heh--that I want--heh--Jubilee?!” Angelo fell onto the floor again, laughing madly. Ev sighed and reached for a T-shirt.

“She’s a good friend of mine, Ange.” Angelo finally stopped giggling. “Sorry. Anyhow, she ever...come onto you?” Before Angelo could blink, Ev was on him, hauling him up by the collar. “Who told you?! She swore she wouldn’t tell!” “Hey! Back off, Ev! It was a hypothetical question!” “Oh.” Ev slowly let go of Angelo and stepped away. “Hypothetically speaking, you really got some issues,” Angelo said, rubbing his neck.

“Whatever. Why’d you ask?” Ev muttered, searching for his shoes. “Well...it’s Clarice,” Angelo told him. Ev paused. “Whoa. You got it bad, huh?” “What?! NO!” “Calm down!” Ev said, trying not to smile. “So she likes you?” “Yeah, but she likes me more than I like her. A whole lot more than I like her.” “Oh, I see. Want my advice?” Ev asked. “Shoot,” Angelo replied. Ev shrugged. “Don’t break her heart. She’s a nice girl.” “Gee, that really helps me out, Dr. Love,” Angelo mumbled as he left the room. “Be gentle!” his friend shouted after him. “I just might be able to move in for the rebound,” Ev added after he had gone.

Jono made his way through the Biosphere in virtual silence. There were certain times when feeling the wind blow through his hair just made the day seem a lot easier. He certainly needed that feeling this day. No one would be up beside Penance, and she always made for good, if not talkative, company.

He had just passed the boys’ treehouse when he heard a slight whistling noise. Walking a few more feet, he heard it again. *Unless Penny’s taken to whistling show tunes, we might have an intruder here.* Jono stepped into an open clearing, extending his psi-scan to include the entire Biosphere. He picked up the two young boys in the treehouse easily. Penny was still asleep somewhere nearby. The last psi-signature he found was unfamiliar to him.

Jono had just pulled the scarf from his face when a girl stepped into the clearing behind her. Spinning around, he aimed a psionic blast in her direction. The girl instantly disappeared through a portal, and the energy slammed into a tree, nearly uprooting it. Jono paused, confusion on his face. *Blink? Is that you, gel?*

“Yes, it’s me, Jono. Calm down, will you?” Blink appeared beside him, a strange look on her face. “Are you always this trigger-happy?” she asked, tucking a long strand of brown hair behind her ear. He only stared at her in silence. “What?” she asked finally. *Yer...different,* he said at last. Blink shrugged. “So I changed my look a little.” Jono shook his head. *More than that. Yer psi-signature’s different, too. Altered, somehow.* “Really?” she asked in surprise. “Cool.”

“Okay, who’s the dead man that ate the last jelly-filled donut?” Jubilee asked, shaking the empty box. Everyone froze. Angelo extended the skin around his mouth, swallowing his donut whole. That left... “EV!” Jubilee screamed. His mouth was wide open, and he was about to bite into a donut. She tackled him to the floor, wrestling the desired object from his hands. She took a big bite, frowned, and spit the contents onto his plate. “Lemon-filled?! You let me eat lemon-filled?!” “Let you?!” Ev shouted back. “You tried to tear my arm off!”

“That’s enough, children,” Emma said as she walked by. The kitchen fell silent. “Everyone into the Biosphere.” No one moved. “Now!” came the telepathic command. The kitchen was empty in a matter of seconds.

Sean looked over the group of students. “Have any of ye seen Jono or Clarice?” No one had. Ev cast a curious glance at Angelo. “You don’t think...” he begin. “Don’t even go there,” Angelo replied coldly. “I’d be insulted if the thought of them together wasn’t so funny to me.” Ev smirked, but kept his mouth shut.

Jono appeared a few minutes later, with Penance behind him. Clarice walked by his side, something of an indifferent look on her face. “Glad ye three decided to join us,” Sean said, slightly annoyed. He did a double-take when he saw Clarice. *It’s her,* Jono verified, reading his thoughts. Sean nodded slowly, hardly able to believe his eyes. Neither were the the rest of the students.

They’d all known Clarice Ferguson to be a shy, quiet girl. She was friendly and almost kind to a fault, and very dependable. The way she was now dressed suggested none of that. She looked very much like an archer. Aside from a light green tunic, tied at the waist by a strip of violet fabric, she didn’t appear to be wearing much else. Her legs were very visible, thanks to the slits that created tow large flaps near the bottom of the tunic. The whole outfit was complete with a pair light green boots.

“What’s everybody staring at?” Clarice asked. “Your new duds,” Jubilee replied. “Nice look, girl!” “Yeah, nice,” Angelo agreed slowly. “Thanks,” Clarice said with a bright smile. “Glad you like them.”

“So what did you really think of Blink’s wardrobe change?” Ev asked at lunch. Angelo paused and swallowed whatever food he was chewing. “First, it kicked my hormones into overdrive. Then, it kicked me in the head for being so stupid.” “Normally, I wouldn’t bother to ask, but why the second?” Ev wondered. “This is Clarice, Ev,” Angelo explained. “The same shy, scared little girl that we first met when the Phalanx was trying to assimilate us. She’s not supposed to be a violet bombshell in a light green tunic.”

Ev stared at his friend for a moment. “Sorry, Ange, but if liking that outfit is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.” Angelo sighed. “I just can’t see her that way, man. I saved her life once, and from the first time I saw her, I knew she was destined to be the little sister I never had. It just feels...wrong.”

With something of a smirk on his face, Ev clapped him on the back. “I’ve got three words for you.” Angelo froze and stared at him. “Ev, if you tell me you love me, I will kill you. Twice.” Ev laughed. “You’re weird. Seriously, the three words?” He leaned in close, making sure Angelo was paying attention. “GET OVER IT!” Ev yelled in his ear, nearly causing Angelo to go deaf. Before Angelo could recover and strangle him, Ev was running out of the cafeteria, laughing maniacally.

“Lemme get this straight. You’re trying to get Angelo to notice you?” Jubilee asked. Paige sighed loudly. “The girl’s only said it five times already, Lee. You could at least pretend to be paying attention.” “I’m just so not believing this!” Jubilee said, a huge smile on her face. “Who would’ve thought that innocent little Clarice Ferguson wanted to get noticed by a boy? You’d think she’d still be running around screaming about cooties.”

Clarice blushed bright red, showing that all of her innocence wasn’t exactly gone. “Guys, you said you’d help me!” “We will!” Paige promised. “Well, I will, anyway.” “Does he know how you feel?” Jubilee asked, suddenly becoming serious. Clarice blinked. “He’s sort of in denial about it,” she said slowly. “He knows I like him, but he won’t accept it.” Jubilee grinned. “He’s playing hard to get.” Paige shook her head. “Angelo wouldn’t play hard to get. If he was interested in her, she’d know.”

“So what do I do?” Clarice asked. “Two words,” Jubilee said, a wicked look on her face. “Spanish fly.” Clarice gasped at the very thought. “You could always slip him a Mickey,” Jubilee added. “Ah think we’ve heard enough from you!” Paige shouted, losing her patience for a second. Then she turned back to Clarice. “Just tell him how you feel. If you two are as close as you seem, he’ll have to be honest with you. That way, even if he doesn’t want to be more than friends, you’ll know why.”

Clarice smiled. “Wow. Thanks, Paige!” “Hey, what about me?!” Jubilee cried, “I helped, too!” Clarice glared at her. “I want to date him, not drug him.” “Fine, be that way,” Jubilee muttered. “I don’t see what’s so great about Ange anyway. He practically reeks of ‘chutzpah,’ whatever that is.” “Only you would use a word you don’t know the meaning of to describe someone,” Paige declared. “Aren’t we just a living dictionary?” Jubilee asked. “Maybe Ah should talk lahk this so y’all can understand what Ah’m saying!”

“Stop it, both of you!” Clarice looked at the girls. “Jubilee, Paige’s accent is part of who she is. You shouldn’t make fun of it.” “Fine, I take it back,” Jubilee said. “But that still doesn’t show why you like Angelo.” Clarice thought for a moment. “Take away the last letter, and you’ll see how important he is to me.” Before Jubilee could say anything else, she walked out of the bedroom. “You think she’s got a chance?” Jubilee asked. Paige shrugged. “As good a chance as I do with Jono.” A derisive smile appeared on Jubilee’s face. “Yeah, she’s going down in flames.” She barely had time to dodge the pillow that Paige threw at her.

*Guess I should be touched that you came to me for advice, Ange.* Angelo rolled his eyes. “Never mind that. Just dish out the advice. It’s getting worse every day.” Jono nodded and begin to walk away. Angelo ran after him, nearly tripping over a bush in the process. “Is this a way of telling me you don’t have any advice for me?” Jono shook his head. *Just like to walk when I’m thinking. Problem?* Angelo said nothing as they begin to walk around the campus.

*If the gel likes you as much as you say, she’ll come to you,* Jono pointed out. *Let her do most of the talking. Women like us to just listen a lot.* Angelo nodded, keeping his eyes on the ground as they walked. *Whatever you do, don’t be too busy to talk to her. In fact, be even more accessible. As shy as Clarice is, you don’t want to scare her away right off, so you can’t be loud or angry, either. Just stay calm and open-minded.*

“But how do I get her to see we’re not right for each other?” Angelo asked. “We don’t have anything in common.” *Two ways I know of,* Jono replied. *The first is to show you still got feelings for Torres.* Angelo didn’t much like that idea. After all, the girl wanted him dead. Sort of. “What’s the other way?” Jono’s eyes crinkled, as if he was trying his best to smile. *Try talking to her. Like right now.*

Angelo looked up. The first thing he noticed was that they were in the Biosphere. The second was that Clarice and Penance stood a few feet away. “Something tells me I’ve been set up,” Angelo muttered, looking at Jono. *Never,* Jono replied, his eyes crinkling again. *Let’s leave them alone, Penny.* He motioned for the girl to follow him, and Penance quickly obeyed. “I guess it’s just a big coincidence, huh?” Angelo called after them. Jono paused and turned around. *You could say a little red bird told me.* “Yeah, with diamond-hard feathers,” Angelo muttered, turning back to Clarice.

“So, chica, what do we do now?” he asked. “We could go somewhere private and talk,” she suggested quietly. He nodded. “Your room or mine?” Clarice remembered that Jubilee and Paige would be all too interested in their conversation. Aside from that, Angelo’s roommate, Ev, was watching Artie and Leech. They’d be alone in his room. “Yours,” she said quickly. He nodded again and took her hand in his own. Clarice held in a squeal of excitement as she followed him back into the school.