No pimples, either, rank dog.
And of course, the punk was better dressed. But then, who wasn’t? Since Cherise Gautier thought these tacky, heinous Hawaiian shirts of the middle-aged tourist kept her only son out of trouble—and they definitely were the best birth control ever invented ’cause no female looked at him and thought, hey, gotta get me some of that—Nick wore them with as much pride as he could muster.
For the record, that amount of pride would fit onto the tip of a flea’s needle.
Dropping his hand, Nathan glanced past Nick’s shoulder to where Kody and Caleb were waiting. “Yeah, Kody told me you were her boyfriend. Sorry if I pissed you off earlier. I had no idea. But I should have known that a girl that pretty would have been taken. I was just kind of hoping, you know?”
Nick would have felt a little better had Nathan not dropped his gaze meaningfully down to his garishly orange glow-in-the-dark shirt. But he was man enough to take it. Besides, if the school lost power, this shirt doubled as a glow stick.
Who would feel the fool then?
“Sorry I overreacted.”
Nathan snorted. “It’s okay. I get it. I’m the new kid in town and I overstepped. Won’t happen again. I promise.”
Yeah, dang straight on that.
The bell rang.
With a sharp, nervous twitch, Nathan shifted his books. “Down the hall? Right side? Across from 130?”
“That’s it.”
“Thanks again.”
As Nathan left, Nick had that feeling that he’d lived this moment before. A phantom memory that hung just at the edge of his mind. Teasing and annoying. He could see the faintest outlines of it. But the harder he tried to look at it, the more elusive it became.
What was his mind trying to tell him? Why did he feel like this particular moment was a repeat?
It was the strangest sense of déjà vu.
He went back to Kody and Caleb. “Is it me or is there something oddly familiar about this day?”
Kody nodded. “I keep thinking that, too. And the same with Nathan. I feel like I’ve seen him before, somewhere.”
Scratching at his chin, Caleb shrugged. “I have no comment. Humans all look alike to me. And all my days run together, especially the ones where we’re fighting demons.”
Nick knew he wasn’t serious about the human comment. He was just being contrary. However … “So Nathan is definitely human, right?”
Kody pulled back. “Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know. I had a strange sensation when he first appeared earlier. Kind of like my Wonder Twin powers activated for no reason. It’s why I’m walking around like a cat in a Doberman factory. I can’t shake the unsettled feeling I had. Makes me wish I still had Nashira in my pocket. Not that she’d have given me a straight answer. Still, I’d have felt better with her cryptic crap than being completely blind, going with nothing but a bad feeling in my gut.”
Caleb groaned. “Bad feelings in your gut give me an ulcer.”
“Tell me about it.” He laughed as he went into class and checked his phone for messages.
Still nothing from Aeron.
Something was definitely up. It wasn’t typical of Legolas to space like this. He didn’t just drift off and vanish for no reason.
Caleb?
He nodded. I’m on it. I already heard your nervous thoughts about our errant irritant. Out loud, he got up and went to ask to go to the bathroom.
Nick wanted to go, too, but knew better than to ask. Teacher would never approve that. One student out, okay. Two equaled delinquents up to no good in the minds of the establishment. Dang inconvenience when the safety of the entire world was at stake.
Maybe I should fake a heart attack?
Nah, he knew better. Karma was a bitch, and he didn’t mean Karma Deveraux, who could be quite special when stirred. Real karma had a way of delivering up nasty retribution and anytime he ever told even the smallest lie, it came back on him with interest. If he faked a heart attack, with his luck, some coronary hell-beast would rise up to rip his heart out and eat it, or worse, feed it to him during lunch. That was just how Nick’s luck went. He was the type of guy who could buy a lottery ticket, scratch it off, and it would be a bill he’d have to pay.
As Nick started taking notes another thought occurred to him.
Where was Nashira? He hadn’t heard from her in a while now, either. Nor Dagon, for that matter.
His Power Rangers had abandoned him. They didn’t normally do that … Definitely weren’t supposed to do that.