"Hi, Mia! Do you think I should ask someone out for the school dance or—"

"Shut—p, RenRen. Shut the—up."

"You and your crappy wi-fi are almost as—"

"Stop it," I told Mia and RenRen over the call. They were just jokingly bickering, but they had been going on for a long time and I could sense Millard getting impatient.

"I've been summoned!" Philip pulled his jacket hoodie down and laughed. 

"Turn your volume down, Philip."

I relayed the message to him. "Volume down, Millard said."

"I'm wearing headphones." Philip gave a thumbs-up and showed the white earphone cords. He seemed to be in a car, so that explained him wearing an extra layer of clothing in the heat. I remember him saying how he would get his leg checked today; his dad believed his ad libbed story about how he tripped and fell on someone's unfinished art project.

Beatrice sat beside Millard while Arden held his hand, proving to herself he was actually there. Aerron towered over me, mumbling a greeting for Philip. I waved at the screen for RenRen to see, but he had his camera off and I could hear chatter on his end. Maybe he was off running errands.

Arden glanced nervously at Beatrice. Despite being out with her parents a lot, the last foreigner she saw was probably her dad. Or she found Beatrice really pretty. Or, she was waiting for Mia, Philip, and Laurence to settle down.

Elize hesitantly stood beside Aerron, unable to sit beside me. It was getting hot in Aerron's living room, and I couldn't leave my house unattended without permission to go out and without telling Arden's mom. 

RenRen grunted into his mic. "Sorry, I fell."

"Deserved," Aerron murmured. I elbowed him as Elize called everyone's attention and shut them up. Millard thanked her. 

"Alright, sorry, kids, but erm—" Aerron grabbed my phone and held it up higher so Millard and everyone else was brought into view. Everyone but me, of course. Just the top of my head could be seen by the camera. I scoffed. Typical Aerron. 

"—I'll be quick, I promise. This is Arden, she's new and she'll be going with us on the trip to the lab. We're really close to getting an exact location, but whether we know the address or not we're going on that trip, as soon as we can."

"Our school year ends on March 26," Elize said. "No more events or report cards after that."

"Sometime in April it is, then. Pack your bags, we have to prepare despite it being a month away. Try to get used to your weapons as much as you can, especially you, Arden."

My cousin nodded and looked at me, and I gave her a reassuring thumbs-up. "That's my cousin, guys!" I grinned to the video call. "Her name's Arden and she's great! And new," I added.

"Wait!" Arden cried. "I um—"

"See? I told you. Millard, I gave them a list of things to pack this morning."

"Good job, Laurence. Now, Arden, what's the problem?"

"I don't have a weapon, I used Diana's."

"Oh. Didn't you say you had an extra bolo?" I asked Aerron, turning back to face him. 

He shoved my shoulder. "Don't look at me like that."

"I'm not looking at you in any way!" I whined. Elize muttered something about how he wouldn't get a date to the school dance if he kept acting like that.

"Stop that," Beatrice said firmly. Then she put on a sour expression. "Eurgh. I think I channeled my inner Miss P back there. But Aerron, don't you have an extra?"

Aerron gave the phone to Elize and disappeared up the stairs. He came back holding a long knife sheathed in thick black cloth, a rusted buckle holding the case together. He said she could have it, and told her to clean it regularly. "Take care of it, please. It's the only other bolo I have."

"Thank you. Uh, any tips on how to use it?"

Aerron squinted. "I thought you were good already. Beatrice said you were."

"I-I wanted to see if Diana's sword was real so I picked it up but the Creature that was left ran towards me, so I just...I just started swinging it like they do in movies..." Arden's voice faded away under Aerron's gaze.

"Yeah, that's what we do, more or less, just try to look where you're swinging and think about your moves. Danger's attached to us at the hip, but don't worry. We've got seven people on this team, plus Millard and Beatrice. No one's allowed to die. You'll be fine."

Aerron put a hand on her head and patted her hair a little roughly. I could feel half the people in the room stiffen. Aerron showing affection or reassurance? Amazing. Rare. Flabbergasting.

Arden had only met him today, so she didn't think of it as much of a big deal. Elize, however, had her brows arched. Beatrice looked nothing short of amused. I looked around in shock, checking if everyone else had seen it too, half-sarcastic.

Even Aerron was surprised. Right after doing it, his hand froze above her head, and his lips were pulled tight into a straight line. His eyes said, shit. Wow. Since when was I so good at reading people? 

Balling his hands into fists, he stiffly walked away and took the phone from Elize.

"Aerron being gentle?" I gasped, keeping my eyes on him. "Woaaah."

"You want me to hit you?"

"Be as nice as you were with Arden, please. Why are you so damn friendly to her?"

Aerron slouched and turned to Millard. "Are we done yet?"

"Almost." The collar of his shirt moved as he adjusted it. "I know your school year is coming to an end, as Elize said, so I want you to focus on your studies. We're leaving on April fourth, is that alright with you?"

"What do we say to our parents about that?" Mia asked. 

"Leave that to us. Now, er, between today and that date, please keep yourselves safe. You have to be in good condition, because Tomaszewski's lab is nowhere near here. It's in the province somewhere, and it'll take us around two days at the least to get there."

I raised my hand as if participating in a discussion at school. "Yeah, about that, we're okay with staying in the car for like 24 hours. Stopping at gas stations for showers and bathroom breaks is enough."

Beatrice and Millard shared a look. Honestly, I don't know how they could do things like that. How could Beatrice understand whatever look Millard had in his eyes when his eyes couldn't even be seen? She nodded, and then said, "Alright. Millard and I will take turns driving. Are you sure that you wouldn't want to sleep in a bed every night?"

"That would slow us down and put our guard down," Philip said on his end of the call. "Besides, car rides are fun."

"Noted. Now, pack your bags well, as lightly as possible. Try not to get into trouble. And please try to keep this group a secret. We're all set for the trip, including Arden, so an extra member would change our plans a bit. Okay, kids? April 4. Laurence, can I see the things you've told them to pack?"

Then he sent us home without any other delays. I waved goodbye to Elize. Her katana was strapped to her scooter so it was tied tight against the stem and wasn't too obvious at first glance. Her dark brown eyes smiled along with her mouth as she waved back. "See you at school!" 

"Come on," I told Arden, prompting her to get on my bike. I stepped on the pedals and rode back to my house, hyper at the thought of finally leaving for an adventure with my friends.

While waiting for her parents to pick her up, I sat with my cousin in my garage. A few moths flew around the lightbulb, and the back of my neck was feeling damp. I wished to open our gate to let some air in, but my parents wouldn't let me.

I sighed and leaned back, wiping the sweat off my forehead. The school dance. Oh shit, the school dance. Sixth graders were included, right? Who would go with me? Who would I go with? Students could bring people from other schools, and RenRen had plans for that night. Aerron was sure to go with Elize and one of my classmates was already bringing Mia—so that left Philip. Oh my God, was he gonna ask me out for the dance? I'll wear my best dress the, and borrow shoes—wait. Don't be stupid, Diana. He has a whole class of girls his age to ask out.

"Diana?" My cousin snapped me out of my thoughts. She had a worried expression on her face, and I immediately knew I had to comfort her.

I sat up straight. "Yeah, what's wrong?"

"What if I'm not good enough? To use this?" She nudged the sword, now hers, at her feet. "I don't have much experience as you; I only started today and I haven't even met everyone."

I frowned and chewed on my bottom lip. She had a tendency to doubt herself. "It's okay. I'll be with you on the trip."

"Yes, that's the problem, what if I lag behind? I don't want to be a problem to you—"

"What? You're never a problem. And we're fighting the same thing with the same weapons. You're not gonna lag behind."

She gave me a look like, are you sure? Then she sighed. "I'm a little scared. I mean, not scared, because that knife is really sharp so more like nervous. Those things are straight out of fiction, like they came jumped out of a screen. And then I'm going on a road trip with a bunch of kids I barely know."

Arden stopped there, and I waited for her to continue. "I got off topic, didn't I?"

I nodded. "Yes, you did."

She chuckled, pushing me, then I pushed her back and we were laughing. Our voices echoed through the garage, shoes scraping against the gravel. It seemed like her parents were hours away.

After that died down, she said, "I'm not scared. I'm really not. I just don't know what I'll have to do to help you. That's what I signed up for, right? I want to help, like always. It feels nice when I do things for people. Now I'm also doing it for myself. But...I don't know." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "But I don't want to mess up and disappoint you. I hate getting things wrong."

"It's fine if you get things wrong. I get things wrong all the time!" I said. That response didn't help.

"I have never ever gone on something like this, Diana...I'm not as good as the rest of you. I'm like...like a raw egg while the rest of you are hard boiled." The shoulder which I had rested my hand on was shaking. Then I realized she was laughing. "Ugh, what kind of comparison is that?"

"You weirdo!" I said, laughing along with her.

She shook her head. "You're the weirdo here, you and your invisible babysitter!"

I opened my mouth, but stopped, thinking about it. "He's not my babysitter. And you're younger than me!"

"Then he's our babysitter!"

"Yes he is! And he's gonna be with us the entire trip, okay? Don't worry, Arden. Besides, Aerron seems to like you, and if Aerron likes you, you're safe."

"Like as a crush!?"

"Ew, no! Ew. Yuck. Not on my watch is he gonna crush on my cousin. You don't like him in that way, do you?"

"No?"

"He likes Elize. Probably."

"His best friend's Philip, right? The one you're madly in love with?"

"...Well I wouldn't say madly in love..."