Rebel

Chapter Twelve

"Sage! There you are! Where were you?" Alexsandra said, running up to me.

"Taking a nap." I yawned.

"Taking a--" Alexsandra blundered, "Why on earth were you taking a nap when there is so much room decorating to do!?"

"I was tired." I shrugged, looking over her shoulder at the table full of food, "What's for lunch?" Alexsandra looked dumbfounded as I walked over to the table and started shoving sandwiches in my face.

"What did Dr. Morsie want?" Alexsandra asked timidly, walking up to the table.

I looked at her. She was fidgeting with her sleeve. She looked worried, almost like she could tell what I was about to say. I swallowed then turned to face her. "Cathleen wanted me to finish training." I said plainly.

Alexsandra looked horrified, "You mean--"

"That I underwent the Fear Three simulation? Yeah."

"And... Did you succeed?"

I paused, watching Alexsandra's face and the scared look she wore. I couldn't lie to her. She's my best friend, and it would ruin her if she found out I lied. "Yeah." I said, "Yeah I did."

Alexsandra looked relieved. "Congratulations!" She ran up and hugged me.

"Yeah, but you can't tell anyone, got it?"

Alexsandra's face fell. "Why not?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. I was telling her too much. I had a bad feeling about lying to Cathleen. "I just want to be the one to tell them okay? But seriously though, don't tell a soul!"

"Alright, fine." Alexsandra said teasingly. She tried to hold a pouty face, but caught my glance and broke, bursting into laughter. I shot her a weird look. "What?" She asked, "I'm just so happy for you! I haven't even passed Humiliation Two yet."

"Yes you have." I said, giving her a playful shove.

"Well, I have, but I'm stuck on it now."

I sighed, "You could do it if you tried. I believe in you.

Alexsandra gave me a sad smile, "I know you do." Suddenly she perked up, "Well, now that you're here for good, let's go shopping for something to decorate your room with!" I laughed as she grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room.

* * *

"Where's Bailey? I haven't seen her in like a week." I had my face curtained in a golden beam of afternoon sunlight. Alexsandra decided that we should have a picnic outside, so I spent my lunch sitting on a blanket with Alexsandra, Olwyn, and the boys.

"You haven't heard?" Aiden laughed.

"Depends." I said, "What haven't I heard?"

"Bailey passed testing, so three days ago she started the metamorphosis." Olwyn said.

I sat up straight and looked at her. "The what?"

"The metamorphosis." Alexsandra explained, "It's where you sit in a metal box drenched in chemicals until your powers fully develop."

I could almost hear Jace rolling his eyes at Alexsandra's explanation, but I ignored him, "Wow." I said, "I didn't know she had it in her. I'm also marveling at how I didn't know this until now."

Everyone laughed and we continued eating lunch until a new question popped in my mind. "Do any of you guys have your powers?"

Everyone kind of looked awkward like this was a subject they decided not to talk about. Then Olwyn cleared her throat and said, "Yeah. Dario and I have them already, Bailey is getting hers right now, and Jace is on the last simulation."

"Huh." I said, mentally making note that the closer you sit to Cathleen, the further in training you are. That would explain why I had to sit next to Jace yesterday for dinner. But then my stomach plunged. Alexsandra sits at the far end of the table, as far away from Cathleen as possible.

We ate our lunch and Aiden and I had an insult war until Frank came, declaring that it was time for Alexsandra to go to training. "Already?" Alexsandra moaned, standing up, "I'll see you guys later."

"See you!" I called after her.

There was a bit of silence where I just stuffed a bit of burrito in my mouth, then Dario suddenly spoke. "Alright, spit it out. What's going on."

It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. "What do you mean?" I asked, swallowing. He's been suspicious of me ever since I ran into him yesterday.

"You know what I mean." Dario replied, "You and Alex have been acting weird lately, and I want to know why."

I eyed him for a moment, very conscious of everyone's eyes on me. After a while I finally replied. "Yesterday, Dr. Morsie called me to her office a lot earlier than usual. It turns out she was super eager for our next training session because we were gonna do the last simulation."

"Did you pass?" Aiden asked.

I paused again, replaying Cathleen's words in my head. "Actually, do you mind not telling young Alexsandra yet? I know you're best friends, but I need you to keep quiet. Can you do that?" She said I couldn't tell Lex, but she didn't say anything about the others. "Yeah, I did."

Everyone started cheering, patting me on the back and congratulating me. "So why are you acting upset?" Olwyn asked.

"Um," I bit my lip, feeling guilt building up in my gut, "Dr. Morsie actually told me not to tell Alexsandra."

There was dead silence. Everyone had their eyes trained on me, their expressions varying from disbelief to fear. "And... you didn't tell her right?" Jace asked slowly, as if I was a child who didn't understand the situation.

"Um, well, about that..."

All of a sudden a hand was gripping my arm so tight I could feel it bruising. "Hey!" I yelled, struggling to escape their grip. Dario was dragging me toward the willow, a large tree that had a diameter of at least a yard. He yanked me around so that the trunk was in between us and the compound. He leaned in so close I could feel his breath on my ear.

"Whatever you do," he said, "don't tell anyone about this, do you understand? I'll deal with the others, but don't expect me to do anything like this again. And also, do not underestimate Dr. Morsie. She has a way of figuring things out." He let go of me and walked over to the others. I could see the outraged look on Jace's face, the impressed look on Aiden's face, and the bored look that Olwyn was pulling off. Something was very wrong. It was almost like everyone was afraid of Cathleen. I don't think that they would be afraid without reason.

After a little bit of thinking, I walked back to the others and realized that they were talking casually as if nothing ever happened. I made eye contact with Dario, who nodded very slightly.

"Hey Sage." Aiden said, "Where were you?"

"I was just tracking down that weird bird I saw the other day." I said, sitting down on the picnic blanket. "It turns out that weird bird was a pigeon with a sucker stuck to its head."

Everyone laughed and we kept on eating like normal, but I couldn't help occasionally looking at Dario. What did he mean by 'I'll take care of the others?' But then it hit me. He has his power now, and I think I know what it is.