~5~ Catching Up

(Brian’s POV)

“99 bottles of beer on the wall. 99 bottles of—”

“Shut up,” Joey commanded me. I groaned.

“Stop,” Angel told the both of us.

“Are we there yet?” I whined.

“Brian Hart,” she scolded, sounding like my mother. “You’ve been in a car longer than this. There’s only twenty miles to go. Calm down.”

“Yeah. Calm down,” Joey repeated. I looked to the backseat and saw him on his phone.

“Some of us aren’t as easily amused,” I replied, even though I of all people was probably the easiest to amuse. “What’s so amusing on that phone of yours?”

“None of your business,” he hissed.

“Is it Meghan?” Angel asked, focusing on the road. Joey looked up.

“Y-yeah.”

WAIT. What was this? Was Angel Hallow actually showing a bit of remorse or jealousy? Jealous—I knew was easy for her, but was she sad about this fact? And Joey! After all these years—eh, only one—is he still sympathetic towards Angel? YES HE WAS AND I KNOW IT, because I have a gift of perception.

It only upset me because I know he wasn’t the one for her…and the fact that why should he be considered for a second chance when I was the one busting my a$$ to still be her best friend but no more…

“What’s she up to?” Angel asked, using her body language as if saying ‘I’m trying to seem like I’m busy and not caring’.

“She’s kind of pissed at me for leaving her,” Joey informed. It’s either he broke up with her over impulse from seeing Angel after all this time, or he’s just testing the waters to see if Angel will react in a way that he wants or not.

“Why’d you do that?” Angel said casually, making it go either way.

“I knew that if she was awake when I left, she’d wanna come,” Joey shrugged. “She’s pissed at just that factor. I didn’t even tell her that I left to come see you.”

“Should I be offended?” Angel whispered to me.

“Yes,” I said only to stir up trouble.

“She doesn’t really…like you,” Joey said.

“Understandable,” I commented. Angel’s right hand collided with my abs.

“Ow!” I exclaimed. “I meant because girls just don’t like you. I mean, look at you. You’re beautiful, smart, athletic—a guy’s perfect girl. She’s just intimidated probably. Right Joey?”

Of course he said yes. He was still in love with her for Christ’s sake.

“So have you had any other girlfriends since last year?” I inquired just for small talk.

“I’ve had two others for a short time. And I still have one,” he answered with a scoff. “I said I left her, not that I broke up with her.”

“Whatever,” I sighed.

“And you? Any girlfriends?” he asked me. “Or boyfriends.”

“Har har,” I spat. “I had a girlfriend in South America, but it wasn’t really serious. Only two weeks. Other than that, nope.”

Mainly because my senior year was full of being around Angel, Lulu, and Lacy. I mean those girls knew everything about any girl I’d ever consider having a crush on. Plus, with Angel around, I felt as if I wouldn’t be better off with anyone else apparently.

“What about that girl you dumped Angel for?” Joey asked. I looked over to Angel with apologetic eyes.

“I already explained that situation to Angel and it’s none of your business,” I mumbled. If I hadn’t hesitated for just two seconds when Angel confronted me about the truth, we still would’ve been together and we wouldn’t be dealing with the sh!t we are now.

“Yeah, Joey. It’s fine. No need to bring it up,” Angel added, leaning towards my side of the battle. “I’ve had a drama free life for the past year and I don’t want any more to start now.”

“Sorry Princess, but that wish probably won’t be granted,” I said, nudging her side. She started to playfully pout.

“Especially if Zac comes back in the picture,” Joey said loud enough for all of us to hear. Angel’s jaw tightened and I shot Joey an angered look. He was such a douchebag. And he knew it too, because once he realized Angel’s uncomfortableness, he changed the subject. “So a year without drama? Lucky you, huh…”

I like how she considered it “drama free” when her brother was basically famous for creating a so-far working cure for Diabetes; her best friend traveling the world half way through the year for medicine research; her other best friend basically boy shopping her way through the year; and last and not least…her not-yet boyfriend completely closing himself off from the world, including her.

“Yeah I guess,” she replied unsure. “But I guess that streaks over now.”

You had no idea.

***

“Wow. You work fast,” I almost immediately heard Devin say when we all entered his little medical room. He looked the same as always, only with his eyes being extremely gray—which was completely different from their brown normality.

“That’s what she said,” I joked, striding over to his bed side. I gave him a hug.

“Nice to see you again,” he smiled, even though he had seen me a month ago along with Angel.

“You too…sort of,” I said. I didn’t want the next time for me to see him in a freaking hospital bed. What was really going on here? Why did he and Angel need us?

“Devin,” Joey addressed. They exchanged nods and smiles but that was it. Some best friendship, huh? But then again, they probably saw each other or talked frequently. “Why did you need us here?”

Angel moved over to sit in a recliner by the window and pull a book from between the cushion and arm. Obviously, she’d been here a few too many times before. Devin looked over to her as if in panic.

“Where’s Zac?” he asked. I looked down. Angel said nothing.

“Who cares?” Joey said in the silence. “What do you need us for?”

“I can’t need you for anything if Zac isn’t here,” Devin said. He looked back over to Angel. “Where is he?”

“She doesn’t know,” I spoke.

“And you?” Devin asked. “You two are buddy-buddy. You should know where he is!”

Why was he so angry? The Devin we all knew wasn’t this…temper mental. It’s as if the old Angel was arriving in him…or even the old Zac.

“Bro, calm down,” Joey said. “They don’t know where he is. No one does.”

“Not even Vanessa,” Angel added.

Devin’s face looked dark and evil for a second.

“Go get Rivers,” he ordered.

“Devin, he’s all the way back home—”

“Angel!” he scolded.

“Hey!” I yelled. “Stop talking to her like she’s in trouble or some sh!t. She’s your sister! It’s just a reunion. Not a life or death situation.”

“It is a life or death situation, you idiot,” Devin hissed. What? I looked to Angel.

“He’s sick,” she whispered. I looked back to Devin. He blinked a few times as if coming out of a trans. He looked up at me and Joey and Angel in apology.

“Sh!t,” he commented towards his previous actions I assumed. “Look. My powers are taking over my body and my emotions.”

“How is that possible?” I asked.

“Because I don’t have—”

“Triggers,” Joey finished. Oh right. He was a science freak too. “You don’t have a start and stop so your powers fly freely.”

Devin nodded.

“Why do you need us though?” I whispered. Devin’s powers were powerful. No one knew he had them a year ago when Luke kidnapped all of us, but he had them long enough to interpret them and control them. He harnessed the power of wind. He could bend it and produce it anywhere and any way. It almost looked telekinetic.

“You each have triggers,” he said. “If I mix all of your powers together—”

“No,” Angel denied. “You’re not mixing all of them together for one super…super powers!”

“I need to!” Devin yelled. “I need to target specific genes in their blood stream and immune system to enable it in the last batch of the Drug so I can be cured.”

“In order for that, I need all of you,” he said. “Including you Angel.”

“Don’t use her,” Joey said. “She’s of no importance. She never took the Drug.”

“She was affected—”

“Indirectly,” I reminded. I guess that’s what the Drug did to us too; made us protective of her. Or maybe I’d always been that way with her. Yeah. That was it. “You won’t benefit to anything by using her.”

“Fine,” he said. He pulled out a manila folder from under his pillow and held it out for one of us. Joey took it and I read from over his shoulder. Devin had nearly replicated our information. Joey looked over each file but when we got to Zac’s, he dropped the folder onto the bed.

“It isn’t going to work,” Joey said. “Zac’s out of the picture.”

“Is he dead?” Devin spat with absolutely no emotional strings to himself or even his sister. She sat, not blinking and waiting for someone to answer.

“No, but—”

“Then go find him,” Devin demanded. “Better yet, have Sherman or Rivers find him since they’re his second pair of parents.”

The Drug was definitely getting to him now. He’d never insulted any of us and now it was as if it was uncontrollable. That just made our “mission” that much more important.

“Devin. He’s not—”

“Fine,” I said. Everyone looked over to me. “We’ll find him.”

Not just because of Devin’s…condition, but for Angel and her heartbreak. She needed to see him one more time to either get over him or fall more in love with him in order to finally listen to her heart. I was sort of jealous of her reaction anytime Zac’s name was mentioned.