Capítulo V- Doble Personalidad

     Patience skipped down to the lab excited for Adam, Bree, and Chase's first official day of school. Her ponytail swung side to side as she skipped to the cyber desk, well-fed with pancakes. She promised she would be there at 7:00 am to join them and Leo. Now, that they were able to be free out into the world, Patience couldn't contain herself and told her dad about it this morning during breakfast. She told him a half lie that Leo barely spoke to his step-siblings before Tasha's marriage. She was able to go through with it and cheered herself for being able to. 

     The Davenport family and Leo gathered around the center cyber desk. Their heads turned to Patience entering the lab. They greeted her at her arrival as Mr. Davenport stated, "Okay, guys, you have been trained for all kinds of missions but you're about to enter a soul-bruising, confidence-crushing, apocalyptical environment," he took a pause, "high school."

          "Good morning, guys?" Patience tilted her head, "Mr. Davenport, if you state that high school is like that, you'll scare them."

     "I'm preparing them," he reasoned. Patience pursed her lips and shrugged. "Adam, Bree, your glitch test results are fairly stable."

     "Yes!" Bree grinned, turning her hands into a fist, "I'm going to school."

     Adam punched his hands in the air, "I'm fairly stable!"

     "What about Chase?" Patience asked.

     "Chase. His situation is actually quite difficult. I am still concerned about your commando app," he said.

     Leo grimaced with attitude, "Commando app? Put on some underpants. We're going to school."

     "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 clarified, shaking Chase as he grinned, menacingly. "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 uh, like a Tasmanian devil-wolverine-shark-lion hybrid that's mad."

     Leo's grin grew as Mr. Davenport described the app while Patience's forehead creased in concern. "He has a split personality?"

     "Exactly!"

     "Don't worry, Mr. Davenport. I promise that Spike won't rear his ugly head," Chase smiled, assuring.

     Davenport rose his eyebrows, "Oh, yeah? You mean like last Christmas when I made the mistake of giving Adam boxing gloves?"

     "Ugh, I'm still coughing up tinsel," Adam frowned, shuddering.

     "You know, letting Chase go to school isn't such a good idea. I can't risk Spike coming out," Mr. Davenport said, drifting away.

     Patience and Leo caught up to him. "Please, Mr. Davenport! From what you're saying, it only gets activated when he's angry. I can stay by his side and make sure it doesn't go off. And you know me, that's the last thing I want to do, make people upset."

     Mr. Davenport quirked an eyebrow, "Last week you disregarded every order I gave you."

     Patience rose a finger to give any reason. Nothing came out and she lowered her hand. "Last week doesn't count."

     "Come on, Big D. Chase has to come. With these guys, I'll get the prime spot in the cafeteria." Leo looked at Adam, Bree, and Chase, nodding, "That's right, y'all. Put on your coats, 'cause I'm about to ride your tail!" Leo galloped in place as if he was riding a horse. He slowly came to a stop under Mr. Davenport's stare.

     Adam wrapped an arm around Bree, "Don't worry. We'll make sure he stays out of trouble, right guys?" 

     Bree agreed, "Yeah, it's one for all and all for one. Unless, of course, you guys make me look bad. In which case, I'm grabbing Patience and we're dropping you lame-os."

     "I didn't say I would."

     "Just go with it for now."

     "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.

     "Okay. But I better not get a call from the art teacher saying that Spike ripped out her larynx. Actually, she wouldn't be able to say anything, because Spike ripped out her lar- Anyway, the point is, just keep him out of trouble." says Davenport, persuaded by the five teens.

     "Hey, look what I found," Adam smiled and put on the boxing gloves. He punched the air three times and aimed the final one at Chase's stomach. Chase flew back holding his injury. Adam yelped and used Bree and Patience as shields. Under the glare of Mr. Davenport, Adam explained himself, "Look, I'm sorry, but if he's that close to the gloves, it's gonna happen."

     Patience hovered over Chase and her hair fell over her shoulder. "Are you okay?" Chase only groaned holding his abdomen. Patience glanced at Adam, "Adam, help me pick him up."

     Still holding Bree in front of him, he said, "No, I think I'm okay here." Patience rested her hands on her hips waiting for him. "Okay, fine."

     Mr. Davenport dropped the five teens at the main entrance of Misson Creek High. Unlike the first time they stepped foot on campus, they were collected and kept their hands to themselves. On the way there, Leo and Patience told them the basics of social norms and told Bree to not go hugging any more lunch ladies. The mission creek lunch ladies knew how to put up a fight and the two teens have seen it more times than any freshman should.

     It was currently 7:45 am and the busses had already arrived. The student body flooded the school halls to get their school breakfast. Leo and Patience continued to give Adam, Bree, and Chase tips on surviving their first day as they walked together in a herd. The cafeteria was loud for it being early in the morning. Most people in the school weren't early birds, but with their friends next to them, all of a sudden they needed to speak to each other like it was a concert.

     Leo and Patience stopped them by the gym doors seeing Principal Perry arguing with a student a few feet ahead. Leo lowered his voice, "Okay, that's Principal Perry. She has the temperament of a junkyard dog stuffed into a really bad pantsuit."

     Patience pursed her lips, "Yeah, Principal Perry never calls anyone by their name. It's either the last name or name-calling with or without their first name following. Mine is 'Perky Patience'. It has been since day one."

     "Hey, you!" Patience snapped her head up thinking Perry was calling her out. Instead, Perry passed the group, narrowing her eyes at another student at the other end of the gym. "No tongue rings in school! Don't try and hide it. I will take a metal detector to your face!"

     Bree gasped eyeing a boy walking towards them with his backpack slung over his shoulder. "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 dropped her books before Patience could stop her. An incoming teacher slipped on his back, and the papers he carried floated to the ground. The teacher glared at Bree and she sheepishly smiled, "Oops! Sorry, I'm new."

     Patience nervously laughed and waved at the teacher goodbye, "Sorry! Enjoy your morning!" She clarified, "High school doesn't work like that with our status. It's determined where you sit and who you hang out with."

     Leo added, "Yep. We can't sit at the cool table because the football players will use us as their tackle dummies, but we can be at cool table adjacent."

     "FYI, Adam just sat down at the cool table," Bree acknowledged, placing her hands on her hips

     Leo and Patience's eyes widened. They whipped their heads to Adam, who had two oranges up to his eyes making the cheerleaders laugh. "When did he get over there?"

     "He can't sit there! That's where the football players sit with the cheerleaders and they pride themselves on finding clever ways to stuff your pudding cup," Leo panicked.

     Chase pointed at the table, "Those girls are actually talking to him and they can't talk about shapes and colors forever. See ya!" 

     "Wait, no!" Patience tried pulling him back. Chase dodged her grip and advanced to the cheerleaders. "What are they doing? We're supposed to be avoiding conflict."

     Leo gripped the straps to his backpack, "The football players are gonna turn them into the fifth food group. It's a rescue mission. Move-in. Move-in." He crossed his feet over one another like a grapevine to the table as Bree and Patience walked normally to it.

     Adam's eyebrows rose setting eyes on them, "Oh, hey, guys." With the orange, he motioned to the cheerleaders, "These girls just told me when the football players get here, I'm getting a free putting cup."

     "I promise that it won't be in the way you think," Patience forcefully laughed.

     "Hi," Leo awkwardly waved at the cheerleaders. "Walk away," he mumbled to Chase from the corner of his mouth. He then faced the cheerleaders, "How's it going?" Leo leaned towards him again, "You're in grave danger."

    Patience's ears perked up hearing Trent's hollers down the hall. She became tense when their footsteps marched behind them as he was joined by the rest of his teammates. She wasn't afraid of Trent herself. She was afraid for Chase. "We gotta go," she tried pulling Chase's shirt but he didn't budge.

     Trent lowered his head between Leo and Patience's heads. He took a deep inhale and lifted his head to the ceiling. Leo apologized moving away from him. Patience stayed in her place next to Chase, blocking him away from Trent. "Well, if it isn't Perky Patience standing in my way."

     "Hey, Trent. I know that's supposed to be an insult but I'll take it as a compliment. How's the weather outside?" Patience stalled as she tapped Chase's shoulder, begging him to move. Chase was too anxious to leave his spot.

     "Move," Trent demanded.

     "I heard the weather was going to be nice but it isn't a surprise since it's nearly spring-"

     "Move."

     "I think the weather looks lovely-," Trent pushed Patience out of the way. She tripped over her feet misstepping into Leo.

     Trent slammed his hand on the lunch table and gripped the back of Chase's chair, trapping him in place. Chase avoided Trent's glare. He forced him to look up at him, "Hey. That's my seat. Get lost before I use you like a napkin." He slapped the table laughing to influence the football team to laugh with him.

     "Chase, we should probably go." Bree sweetly smiled, excusing him, "He's not very absorbent."

     "Yeah, so I think you'd be wasting your time. We'll just take him," Patience reached over to Chase. Trent turned his back to her to prevent her from grabbing him.

     Trent pouted and grabbed someone's sealed cup. He removed the cap and straw. "OH!" he groaned, spilling the drink on the table. The cheerleaders' chairs scratched the floor as they scooted back as the water spread across the table. "Look a spill!" Trent clutched Chase's shirt, bringing him closer to him, "I think I'm gonna wipe it up with your face."

      Chase's face hardened to a frown. He weaved his arms around Trent to trap him in his hold. He smashed his face to the table and Patience jumped back, bringing her hand to her mouth. "Think again, bubble neck," he said in a deep voice. "I'm gonna rip out your kneecaps and use them as hockey pucks."

     Adam scrambled from his chair to Bree, Leo, and Patience. He tripped over the chair in front of Patience before he fixed his posture. "Okay, I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I think Spike's back."

     Patience nodded, licking her lips nervously, "Yeah, I think I can tell the difference."

     Spike's grip tightened on him, demanding, "Say sorry to the pretty lady."

     "What pretty lady?" Trent managed to get out. He could only see straight up ahead from his face pressed to the table.

     "The one you pushed," he turned Trent to face Patience. Her mouth was twisted and she looked around with her cheeks flushed finding embarrassment she was involved even more.

     "What? No, way! She was in my way! People don't get in my way."

     "Fine, then I'll make you apologize," Spike let go of Trent, pushing him to the football players. 

     "You have no idea who you're messing with. Okay?" Trent yelled, "Putting cups!" The two students closest to him with pudding cups swiftly set them in his hands.

     "Oh, I'll take those," Spike snatched the putting cups out of Trent's hold. 

     "Hey!"

     Spike squeezed the cups and pudding erupted from their plastic containers. It splattered on their football uniform which might leave a stain if not treated right away. Some players had specs on their faces. Trent however, a blob of pudding landed on his mouth, seeping into it. He groaned recognizing the taste.

     Trent opened his eyes and wiped the pudding from his mouth. He flickered it to the ground, opening his eyes. "You're dead!" Spike roared at them and they backed away, tripping over their feet. "You, okay," he jabbed at him, "okay. You're lucky that we have to go to the reading center right now." Trent turned around and ran out of the cafeteria.

     A round of applause and cheers from the school made Spike smirk smugly. He pulled up his sleeves, motioning to the cool table, "Take a seat, compadres." He pulled a chair next to him, talking to Patience, "Sorry about him. Next time, I'll make sure he apologizes. Here's your seat."

     "Uh, thank you, but I think I'll sit right here," Patience pulled her own chair next to where Leo was going to sit. 

     "Suit it yourself."

     Leo held onto his backpack's straps as he cooly said to the cheerleaders, "Hello, Ladies. You may remember me from health class when I passed out during the miracle of birth video. It's good to see you again."

     The cheerleaders giggled at the memory. Leo took the empty seat between Patience and Spike. She leaned over to him, whispering, "Don't you think that was a little over the top?"

     "Patience, they've been terrorizing us for years. Live a little," Leo grinned. 

     Patience removed her backpack to sit comfortably on the chair. She looked around to see Adam, Bree, and Leo speak to the cheerleaders as Spike set his feet on the table, leaning back on his chair with his hands behind his head. She moved her chair forward getting an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

-

edited: March 24, 2023