Shit.
Everything was so strange at the moment, she’d forgotten to pay attention to her surroundings!
Slowly, she looked up and across the aisle at the three girls who, at the very least, she knew had been watching the small drama playing out. They were still watching but now they just appeared . . . curious. And . . . and hungry?
The one sitting alone took a quick glance around before scrambling over and sticking her hand into the lunchbox Mads still held so she could grab her own scorpion. Ignoring the stings she now had all over her hand, she shoved the scorpion into her mouth, crunching on it as if it was peanut brittle and smiling seconds before the other two girls followed suit.
Mads watched, shocked. Like Mads, they were all stung. Multiple times. But none of them had a reaction. Unlike her cousin. Who, by now, was having seizures, foam leaking from the corners of her mouth. Her eyes even rolled to the back of her head so all they could see were the whites.
And the kid? What was she doing? Still holding Tilda’s mouth shut. Still ignoring the punches and slaps from both Tilda and Gella. And still smiling. Happily.
Boy, Mads was going to get it tonight when she went home, but she didn’t care. For once, she was enjoying herself! How could she not when her cousins were the ones on the receiving end of—ack!
A big hand wrapped around Mads’s throat and lifted her off the seat. She almost lost control of the still-open lunchbox, but one of the other girls grabbed it and secured the latch, trapping the rest of the scorpions inside.
Mads and the kid were both yanked away from the twins and carried to the front of the bus.
Mads hadn’t even realized the bus had been pulled over or that the driver had come to get them. She should have. The bus driver was her aunt. And the twins were her cubs. Not her favorites but she liked them way more than she liked Mads. Her aunt opened the doors and threw Mads and the kid out of her bus. A few minutes later two of the other girls came flying out. But the other Asian girl, who looked too old for junior high, walked off herself. For whatever reason, Mads’s aunt didn’t lay a finger on this one, even though she appeared to be easy prey in three-inch heels, which seemed highly inappropriate for a thirteen-year-old. Fortunately, she carried everyone’s backpacks and lunch bags and even Mads’s basketball. A kind gesture they all appreciated.
The bus shifted into gear and rumbled off, leaving the five of them standing on the sidewalk with their stuff by their feet.
“I love breaking in the new bus drivers!” the kid finally announced with a wide smile, throwing her arms up in the air like she’d actually won something.
“Does she know the closest hospital is the other way?” the girl with the long hair asked.
Mads shook her head. “She’s not taking them to the hospital. She has other daughters she likes better. So if they don’t make it . . .” Mads shrugged. “She’ll get over it.”
Max wiped away her concern—what there was of it—with a wave of her hand. “Such whining from those two. Those scorpions weren’t even that poisonous. I’ve eaten way more deadly ones.”
“Centruroides sculpturatus,” the reader stated, but when everyone just stared at her she simply added, “Arizona bark scorpion. That’s what those were. Poisonous but probably not deadly to a healthy hyena adolescent.” She paused a moment before pointing at the watch on her wrist and announcing, “We’re going to be late.”
“Is that a Minnie Mouse watch?” Mads wanted to know.
The girl quickly covered the watch with her free hand. “For now. But I am saving up for something much better.”
“Late for what?” Max asked.
“School.”
“That’s a big concern for you?”
“Being late is always a big concern for me,” the reader explained. “I don’t like being late.”
The kid shrugged. “I don’t like school. We should ditch! How about the mall?”
“Don’t you think someone will notice us in the mall?”
“We’ll tell ’em we’re homeschooled.”
“I’m not ditching,” Mads told them. “I’m trying out for the basketball team today. I’m not missing it.”
“How far is school?” the other Asian chick asked. “I’m not wearing my walking heels.”
“How old are you?” Mads had to ask.
“Thirteen.”
“Really? Because you look twenty-three.”
“Awwww.” She smiled warmly. “Thank you.”
“We need to start walking if we’re going to get to school on time,” the reader pushed, tapping her watch face again and again. It was a little . . . obsessive.
“We’ve got, like, twenty minutes to get there.”
“Anything could happen between here and there. Anything.” She leaned in closer. “Anything.”
“What about the bus driver?” long hair asked.
“What about her?” Max replied.
“You did poison her children.”
“Only one.”
“She won’t say anything,” Mads assured them. “It would be too hard to explain why her child survived a Utah meowing tarantula.”
“An Arizona bark scorpion.”
“We go to school,” Mads continued, ignoring the reader’s annoying correction, “and act like nothing happened.”
“Perfect!” Max cheered. “As long as my sister doesn’t find out about this . . . fuck!” She looked down at the ground. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
“What?” Mads demanded. She felt like the worst thing ever was coming for them. Because this was the first time she’d seen the kid look . . . worried. About anything.
“Tell me your names,” she ordered. “Quick!”
“I’m Mads.”
“Emily,” the reader said. “But my family calls me Tock.”
“Cass. Future star of stage and scr—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. What about you, supermodel?”
“Gong Zhao. From Hong Kong.” When Max just scrunched up her face and shook her head as if completely confused by the simple Asian name, the supermodel rolled her eyes and sighed. “Americans. Just call me Nelle.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so. And that’s Nelle with two Es. N-e-l-l-e. Get it right.”
“Fine. Whatever.”
Forcing a large smile onto her face, Max turned around as a very old, very battered convertible sputtered to a stop at the curb in front of them. The vehicle was filled to capacity with older teenage girls. It was a mix of girls of all races, but Mads knew from the scent they were all one species. Wolves. A black teen illegally sitting on the top of the backseat—how did they not get pulled over?—stared hard at Max for several long seconds.
“Hey!” Max called out.
The teen didn’t respond. Instead, she stepped over and around all the teens illegally shoved into the car, and jumped free. She was taller than Max. Bigger. She moved like a wolf, like a stalking animal. Although she did smell a little different. Canine, but also . . . not.
“What’cha doing out here, Max?”
“Just hanging out with my friends,” Max easily answered.