Mr. Davenport lowered the cyber desk as I ignored the 3rd text from Trent to do his homework. He was really starting to tick me off.

"Okay, guys, you have been trained for all kinds of missions. But you are about to enter a soul-bruising, confidence-crushing, apocalyptic environment: high school. Adam, Bree, your glitch test results are fairly stable." Davenport said as we all cheered.

"Yes! I'm going to school!" Bree cheered as Adam high-fived his sister.

"I'm fairly stable!" He yelled as I sighed a laugh. Mr. Davenport looked over to Chase, and I could tel by the expression it would not be good.

"But Chase, I'm still concerned about your commando app." Davenport said as Leo grimaced.

"Commando App? Put on some underpants. We're going to school!" He said as I gave him a weird look.

"No, see, in the face of an imminent threat, Chase's Commando App kicks in and he becomes a fearless brute I like to call Spike." Mr Davenport grinned as he gripped Chase's shoulders.

"Spike? Sounds scary." I said as Adam and Bree nodded. "What is the commando app anyway?" I asked as Davenport smiled.

"It's kinda like a fight-or-flight thing, except I took out the flight part, 'cause, useless. And I replaced it with a testosterone level of like a Tasmanian devil-wolverine-shark-lion hybrid... that's mad." Mr. Davenport explained as I gave them a weird look.

"Don't worry, Mr. Davenport. I promise that Spike won't rear his ugly head." Chase promised as I snorted. "What?" Chase asked as I snickered.

"Sorry, just the thought of a brute man in your body. It's hilarious." I joked as Davenport shook his head.

"It's not hilarious. Remember last Christmas when I made the mistake of giving Adam boxing gloves?" Mr. Davenport reminded as the four grimaced at the memory.

"Ugh, I'm still coughing up tinsel." Adam said and blew out.

"You know, letting Chase go to school, isn't such a good idea. I can't risk Spike coming out." Mr. Davenport said as I gave him a sad look.

"Mr. Davenport come on Chase has to go! You can't break up the trio." I said as Chase and Leo nodded.

"Exactly! And With these guys, I'll finally get a prime spot in the cafeteria. That's right, y'all. Put on your coats 'cause I'm about to ride your tail!" Leo cheered as he rode an imaginary pony. I put a hand in his shoulder.

"Don't do that again." I whispered and patted his shoulder.

"Mr. Davenport, I can't miss school. This is the beginning of my academic achievements and career trajectory. I mean, the road to astronaut lawyer has to start somewhere." Chase begged as I began to walk away over to the cyber-desk, managing to find the research on everyone's chips.

"Uh excuse you-?" Mr. Davenport said as I dropped the research. "What are you doing?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"To be honest... I got no clue." I said as Mr. Davenport nodded slowly.

⁂

I followed Adam, Bree, Chase and Leo into the lunchroom, quickly going to turn around after spotting Principal Perry only to be stopped by Leo.

"Come on, Leo! You know she's still pissed at me after I tackled her for trying to steal my pepperoni pizza!" I said as Leo patted my arm.

"You'll be fine, Nessie. Just... don't make eye contact." Leo persisted as Chase leaned forward.

"Who is that?" He asked as I shrugged Leo off.

"That. Is Principal Perry. She's like a chihuahua if it was a gorilla in a past life." I stated as Leo nodded slowly.

"And she has the temperament of a junkyard dog stuffed in a really bad pantsuit." He continued as I felt a cold shiver.

"Trust me, you do not want to get on her bad side. I have detention for the next two weeks because of a fucking pepperoni pizza." I complained and yanked on my backpack.

"Hey, you! No tongue rings in school! Don't try to hide it. I will take a metal detector to your face!" Perry bellowed as my eyes widened.

I looked over to Bree, who was currently gawking at Jackson Hale, the schools pretty boy of the week. And the guy who happened to owe my $20 for stopping Trent from beating Leo up last week.

"This is it. My chance for romance. On TV, the new girl always drops her books and the cute guy with the soulful eyes picks them up." Bree said as I quickly walked over to her.

"Don't." I said, stopping her from dropping the books as Mr. Kalvin walked past. "The boy never does it for a new girl. The guys here are like... I can't even come up with a good enough insult for them. Trust me you're better off with the weird artist guy." I admitted as Bree frowned.

"Okay, your social life is determined by where you sit. We can't sit at the cool table. But... we can be cool table adjacent." Leo said as Bree looked over to Adam.

"FYI. Adam just sat at the cool table." Bree pointed out as Leo shook his head quickly.

"What?! He can't sit there! That's where the football players sit with the cheerleaders. And they pride themselves on finding very clever places to stuff your pudding cup." Leo exclaimed as I nodded, recalling a memory of watching Trent shove a pudding cup in a place where the sun definitely doesn't shine on Leo.

"Those girls are actually talking to him. And they can't talk about shapes and colors forever. See ya." Chase said and began walking over to the table, sitting down next to one of the cheerleaders. I covered my mouth for a moment as I visualized what would soon be happening to the poor geek.

"This is a rescue mission now, Nessie. It is life or death. And I'd rather walk out of here alive instead of being dragged out in a body bag." Leo said as I shook my head, the two of us walking over to the cool table.

Now, I didn't want to brag, but I was the kid who could sit anywhere. As long as it wasn't Trent's seat, I was safe.

"Oh, hey, guys!" Adam said with a smile. "Look, these girls just told me when the football players get here, I'm getting a free pudding cup!" He cheered as I nodded with a thin looked smile, standing next to Chase.

"Hi!" Leo said, waving to one of the cheerleaders as I leaned down next to Chase.

"Unless you want to be the next visitor at the funeral home... walk. Away." I whispered as he gave me a weird look before brushing it off. I gasped and stood up, shaking my head.

"Ah nah. If y'all think you're safe then I'd. Hate to see what danger looks like to you guys. Leo, if you need me, I'll be at cool table adjacent." I said and sat at the empty table, watching Trent walk in. "Oh dear." I muttered to myself, slowly turning around.

"Hey. That's my seat." Trent said to Chase. I covered my eyes, peeking out through my fingers to see Chase look over at me for assistance. I merely shook my head and continued to watch. "Get lost before I use you like a napkin!"

"Chase, we should probably go. He's not very absorbent." Bree said with a smile as Trent ran his tongue over his teeth, grabbing Chases drink and dumping it on the table. This will not end well for Chase.

"Oh! Looks like a spill." Trent laughed, gripping Chase's shirt and hauling him up from the chair. "Looks like I'm gonna wipe it with your face!"

I watched with wide eyes as Chase's sweet face turned into an angry bull. It was as if he had suddenly been possessed. He pinned Trent to the table, causing me to quickly stand up.

"Think again, Bubbleneck. I'm gonna rip out your kneecaps and use them as hockey pucks." Chase said in an unusually deep voice. Adam shot up, clamoring dramatically over to all of us.

"Okay, I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I think Spike's back." He said as I gave him an obvious look. I looked back over to Cha... Spike, shaking my head at Trent. Spike let him go, Trent backing up to his team.

"You have no idea who you're messing with. Okay? Pudding cuuuups!" Trent yelled as the football team handed him the chocolate pudding, Spike taking them out of his hands. He outstretched his arms, squishing the pudding cups onto the football team. My mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Chase is definitely not going to be a favorite of Trent's..." I said to Leo as he nodded slowly.

"You're dead!" Trent yelled as Spike roared at them, the football team tumbling back and running out. Trent laughed nervously. "You're lucky that we have to go to the reading center right now!" He said before running out. Everyone cheered for Spike, who grinned with a weird look.

"Take a seat, compadres. This is our table now." Spike spike as I slowly sat down next to him.

I don't trust what's is coming our way.

"Hello, ladies." Leo started, holding his backpack awkwardly as he tried to flirt with the cheerleaders. "You may remember me from health class when I passed out during the Miracle of Birth video. It's good to see you again." He continued as I laid back in my seat, rolling my eyes.

"Leo. Buddy." I said with a forced smile. "You are the worst flirt I've ever had to witness. Just take a seat and admire them weirdly."

"You got it." Leo smiled, sitting down next to me and scooting closer to the cheerleader, who only smiled with a fake giggle.

⁂

All of us walked down the hallway, Leo doing what he does best and embarrassing himself. "Yeah! Make way for the Aloha Dogs! Woof! Woof! Wo-"

I put my hand on his shoulder, shaking my head in disappointment. "Stop before we make someone else the Alpha leader." I threatened as Leo nodded slowly.

"Wait... if we're the Aloha Dogs then.." Bree said before purposely dropping her books, several boys helping to pick them up as another walked past, handing Spike a slip of paper.

"What's this?" He asked in his still very weird and deep voice.

"That would be an all access hall pass. Only the football team gets it because they are Perry's favorites. Guess we are now an exception." I said as fixed my backpack's position as Spike scoffed.

" I can go anywhere I want already. These," Spike said as he began to flex. I gave him a weird look. "are my hall passes."

I leaned down towards Leo, still watching Spike. "If he keeps doing that I'm going to need something to scoop my eyes out."  I whispered as he nodded in agreement.

Spike suddenly stopped flexing, his demeanor completely changing. Oh dear. "Commando App disengaged? Guys! Why was I in commando mode?" Chase asked as everyone started to make high pitched noises.

"You were in commando mode?" Bree asked with a strange look.

"I didn't see a Commando Mode." Leo lied as I raised my hands in defense.

"I had nothing to do with what's been happening." I said as Adam looked down at everyone.

"That's good guys, keep lying." He said as I gave him a dumbfounded look.

"You guys were supposed to watch out for me!" Chase argued as I walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder

"And we did! We watched Spike manhandle Trent and pudding pop the whole defensive line!" I said and looked at Chase with a smile. He narrowed his eyes at me, to which I responded with back up behind Adam.

"If he turns into Spike again I'm using you as a shield." I said as Adam looked down at me and frowned.

"This is so gonna come back to haunt my Supreme Court nomination." Chase said as I dropped my head in disappointment, shaking it slowly.

"You know what Spike would say to that? Nothing. He'd rip out your rib cage and play it like a xylophone." Bree said as we all nodded to her statement.

"Yeah, I like him. He's like a big, fun monster, and you're a sad little buddy." Adam mocked as I smacked his head. "Hey! Watch it I'm having a good hair day."

"I'll get Spike back." Leo said as he cleared his throat, puffing out his chest. "Get lost before I use you like a napkin!." He yelled, jumping into Chase and trying to lift him up, failing miserably.

I grabbed Leo's shirt, yanking him off Chase and pointing aggressively. "You guys can't use Chase's commando app for your own personal gain! That's really insensitive." I said with a glare as the three looked down at their feet.

"Thank you, Vanessa." Chase said as I nodded.

"You're welcome. Now just... don't get angry again. I don't want to see Spike flex in a stripped shirt and skinny jeans." I said as Chase's eyes widened in fear, watching me walk back to the cafeteria.

We all sat back down at the "cool table," Leo waving a slice of his food around. "Hey baby, wanna nibble?" He asked as I covered my face in embarrassment.

"Hey there's Trent! I better go apologize." Chase said as I quickly grabbed his shirt, yanking him back down in his chair.

"Chase, do you really want to do that? Maybe you should mail him a greeting card! It's much more personal and he can't use your face as a plunger when he clogs the toilet!" I said with a hopeful smile as Chase squirmed at the thought.

"Guys, look. The cheerleaders cut up my food into tiny pieces. I'm eating a turkey burger through a straw. Mmm. Gibblet-y!" Adam said as he slurped his food through said straw. I grimaced at the scene as Principal Perry walked in, definitely not happy.

"HEY! NEW KID! Come here!" Perry yelled as Chase shot up, walking over as I looked to Leo.

"Do you have a good feeling about this?" I asked him as he shook his head quickly. I mimicked the move. "Yeah me either."

I watched the scene unfold, Perry yelling at all of us to stand up, ultimately reactivating Chase's Commando App. I cried quietly, looking over to Adam and Bree.

"You guys seriously couldn't teach him how to control that?! There's no on and off switch?!" I yelled .

"Watch who you're talking to, sports bra! I bet you panicked, threw yourself off the track, and blamed the other team for your weakness." Spike yelled as I sucked in a breath.

"You think that maybe this Spike thing has gotten a little out of hand?" Leo asked as I slowly turned to him.

"He may have crossed the line at sports bra." Bree and I said in unison.

"I had to quit because of that accident!" Perry said as I crossed my arms, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Quit? Or move out of the state in shame?" Spike argued as everyone 'ooed'

"He doesn't know!" Perry yelled, looking around. "He wasn't there!" She continued as I shook my head.

"You are all going to be the downfall of my high school years." I said to no one in particular, watching as Perry and Spike continued to fight.

"All right, kid. I'll make you a deal. Let's be civilized and settle this the old-fashioned way. With a bone-crushing grudge match on the football field!" Principal Perry said as I groaned.

"We're in. Me, him, her, her.." Spike mused, throwing a wink my way as I held back a grimace. "... and him." He deadpanned, looking at Leo.

"You and your band of nobodies versus my fighting dingoes!"

⁂

"So I've been humiliated.

Lost the football game because Chase returned at the worst time.

And now, thanks to him, I have to do Trent's homework for the next to weeks... without pay.

God I hate high school.

And the worst part? Chase is mad at me for not stopping him from being Spike. It's not my fault he can't control his temper!" I said and leaned on the fridge as Eddy blinked.

"Well here's a news flash for you, Ness. I DONT CARE." Eddy yelled as I groaned, swiping him away and opened up the freezer, pulling out a tub of ice cream.

"Hey.. Ness?" I turned my head to Chase, who was awkwardly messing with his hands as he walked over to the island.

"Hello Chase. What's up? Here to snap at me again for not stopping Spike?" I complained as I felt my heart skip a small beat. I was probably a little harsh for that.

" I shouldn't have accused you for not doing anything about Spike. I guess I was just upset that I missed my first day of school that I thought it would be a good idea to tell at someone for it. I'm sorry." Chase apologized as I stabbed a spoon into the ice cream, causing him to flinch with wide eyes as Is miles at him.

"Well... Apology accepted. But next time, take your anger out on a wall. Or Eddy. Maybe both." I said as Chase chuckled nervously, nodding.

"Note taken." He said as he started to walk back to the lab. "Oh and Vanessa?" He started. I turned my head to face him, the spoon hanging from my mouth. "Thanks for sticking up for me after my commando app was deactivated... the first time." He said as I smiled and nodded.

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Chase." I responded as he nodded and waved goodnight. I sat down at the island, slowly picking away at the ice cream.