Close to Home - chapter 13
School was kind of frantic, in the morning, like it always was before a dance. Half the girls seemed to be missing, but the rest were making up for it by being twice as loud and energetic as they usually were. The boys, of course, were trying much harder to be cool, but there was an awful lot of roughhousing going on in the halls, and Cross kept rushing in and out of his office, sometimes with a student or two in tow.
Biology was a joke, but Kon didn't know if that was the fault of the sub or the general pre-dance atmosphere. The closest thing to work she gave them all period was a set of diagrams of the organ systems to color while they watched a video about the kidneys. Normally, Kon was all for easy classwork, but with Dalton's absence, it felt like a slap to the face. They'd done the human body last semester. Kon was a pretty crappy student, and even he already knew what the renal pelvis was. By the time the bell rang, Kon was considering the safety - and deniability - of setting the communal crayon bucket on fire.
Art was better because Jake was there. They handed in the week's assignments, and then Jake tore a page out of his sketchbook to fold a paper football. He had surprisingly good aim at the field goals, and had hit Kon in the nose three times before Kon started cheating.
Delilah had apparently cornered Jake before homeroom to tell him she'd found him a date. "All I know," Jake said as he held his fingers up for goalposts, "is that his name is Russell, and he's a geology major." He ducked Kon's perfect flick. "Geology. I'm going to spend all night with some guy who collects rocks. What the hell are we going to talk about?"
Kon shrugged. "Rocks?" He got hit in the nose again.
They had worksheets in Trig, but all weekend to do them. He ended up sitting by Beth and copying most of the first two, until she noticed and hit him with a ruler. After that, though, she helped him diagram out the stupid word problems, which was the hardest part anyway. Maybe he could get Bart or Jake to help with the rest.
They had a meeting in the library at lunch, but Kon took a detour on the way there when he realized Chase and Hamilton had been kind of surrounded by three guys from the football team. He got there just in time to watch Hamilton drop his bag and roll up his sleeves - and then stop when the guy in front held up both hands and said, "Whoa! We just wanna talk, Ham."
Hamilton looked indecisive. He glanced quickly at Chase, who nodded pointedly across the hall at Kon and then to Katie who had appeared from somewhere. Hamilton backed up a step and dropped his arms, looking a little more confident now that he wasn't outnumbered anymore. "Okay, he said, folding his arms. "Talk."
"You've been cutting practice," the first boy, who seemed to be spokesman, said.
"No, I haven't. I quit."
"You can't quit," one of the other boys - this one blond - said. "Who's gonna be kicker?"
"Cooper-"
"Cooper's shit," the first boy said viciously.
The last boy - apparently Cooper, laughed. "Oh, thanks."
"You are!"
Chase, who had been standing half behind Hamilton clutching his books, stepped forward just enough to hiss in his ear. "You quit?"
"What the fuck was I supposed to do?" Hamilton snapped, red-faced and furious. "Everybody staring in the locker room, nobody talking to me - It's not fucking contagious."
Kon hadn't really thought, before, what it had to be like. Hamilton didn't know he had a superhero looking out for him. He had to believe that every day he stayed after, he was making himself a target. Even if the killer didn't go after him, he had to be terrified his teammates would.
"What's going on?" A woman asked. When Kon turned around, Ms. Marcus was standing in the middle of the hall, with Mel a step behind. She'd been Kon's English teacher, back when he'd died, and she'd always been kind of terrifying when she was angry.
"We're just talking," Cooper muttered, scuffing his shoe on the tile.
"Uh huh," she said, skeptically.
"Yeah," Hamilton said, sounding reluctant. "Team business."
She stared for a moment, cocked her eyebrow at Mel, and then walked down the hall to the water fountain. She didn't go far, though. Obviously she didn't like the way things looked.
Still, she was far enough away that the boys felt safe talking again. "Anyway," the first one said, "you're still on the roster. Coach is counting every day you don't come as a skip."
Hamilton made an exasperated sound. "I turned in my gear-"
"So, get it back," Cooper said. "It's not like Baumhauer threw it out."
"Maybe sterilized it," Hamilton said with a roll of his eyes. "To kill all the gay cooties."
The blond guy snickered. "Gay cooties," he repeated. Cooper punched his arm. "Ow!"
"If Tom gives you a hard time, tell me," the first guy said. "He's just the equipment manager. He's got to do what Coach says, and Coach wants you back. Ferris is about to graduate-"
"If he passes algebra this time," Cooper said, grinning. "Com'mon, man, don't make me do it!"
"Yeah," the blond said, "he's shit. Ow! Stop!"
Hamilton picked up his bag and, after a moment, fixed his sleeves. "I'll think about it." He got an awkward clap on the shoulder from the first two guys, and a good-natured shove from Cooper, who was still grinning. He gave them a little smile back as they left.
"Oh god," Chase said, once they'd moved on. He slumped back against the wall. "Jesus fucking Christ. I need to change my pants."
*
The meeting was short - just a confirmation of what most of them had agreed on at lunch, the day before. They would meet up at Whoa Nellie's to eat, and then caravan together to the community center, both for safety and for maximum impact. Everyone had dates, except for Clarence, who was making a point out of going alone, and they were all going to be wearing matching boutonnieres and corsages, thoughtfully provided by Katie's mother's flower shop.
Ms. Marcus was there; Mel had apparently arranged for her to be their new sponsor, at least until they knew more about Dalton's condition. Kon added her to his mental list of people to watch out for until the killer was caught.
After that, they broke for lunch, and the girls all took off for Caroline's house to get ready. Kon was left to walk alone to English, for once. He really wished Delilah hadn't left - the class was even more of a joke than the morning periods had been, and now he was stuck with Miller making stupid comments from behind him. Kon finally got fed up and, without glancing back, tipped Miller's desk over sideways and spilled him onto the floor - to the great amusement of the class at large.
He buzzed by the hospital, where things were unchanged, and did a flyover of the whole town. The girls seemed to be having a good time, except for Katie, who was cursing fluently as Caroline and Delilah did something to her hair. Reasonably confident that they were in good hands, Kon flew home.
He'd half expected Tim to be there, waiting, so when Krypto was the only one to greet him, Kon fixed himself a snack and then dialed his number.
"Running late," Tim said when he answered, his breath slightly faster than usual. "I'm almost done here."
Someone shouted very close to Tim's communicator and then cried out in pain. "Need a hand?" Kon offered. Maybe the world needed saving and they would have to skip the dance.
"I'll be there."
"You'd better be." Kon finished his milk and set his glass in the sink. "I don't think I could handle the rejection, if I got stood up."
"I think," Tim said, and then didn't finish until several gunshots and a scream later, "that your friend would be willing to console you."
"What are you even doing? It's, like, broad daylight outside."
"Hostage sitch," Tim said quickly. "Couldn't wait. Under control now. I'm on my way."
The line cut out, and Kon rolled his eyes and pocketed his phone. Only Tim would stop to answer the phone while he was being shot at. Still, if he was on his way, Kon ought to get ready. He headed upstairs.
The suit laid out on his bed looked expensive. Kon stared at it for a minute or two, and then gave up trying to figure out just how expensive. It was nothing like Clark's ill-fitting hand-me-downs, that was for sure.
Kon went to take a shower. He brushed his hair and his teeth, and scorched the shadow off his jawline, and then washed his face again to get rid of the ash. It wasn't a real date, or anything, but Kon liked to look good, and if Tim had shelled out for that suit, then Kon figured he was expected to look good. He really kind of wished he could ditch the stupid little glasses for the night, but he was probably taking enough risk just by wearing decent clothes for once.
The suit fit perfectly. Kon wasn't particularly surprised, even though Tim hadn't measured him or anything - or even asked his jean size. It was the first suit Kon had ever worn that actually fit him across the shoulders. He looked in the mirror as he adjusted the plain grey tie. He looked good. Too good, maybe. He forced himself to slump a little and hunch his shoulders in. That ruined the lines of the suit, though, and he would up straight-backed again as soon as he stopped thinking about it.
The suit itself was a dark, gunmetal grey, with a slight shine, and a dove colored silk tie. The shirt was just a bit too dark to call white, but not shiny enough to be silver, and it felt smooth and cool against his skin. Instead of buttons, it had holes for cufflinks - which Tim had thoughtfully provided. They were just plain steel circles with his initials cut in - CK, not KE - but they looked good against the light shirt. They made Kon glad of his telekinesis, though, because he'd never actually worn cufflinks before, and his first attempt to fasten them had nearly ended with him scrounging for them under the bed.
Tim had even provided shoes, the same dark shade of grey as the suit itself, with slick leather soles that made Kon want to hover so he wouldn't scuff them. They were tying themselves on his feet when Martha knocked on the doorframe and stepped inside, her camera in hand and a smile on her face.
"Don't you look sharp," she said, circling Kon once and then reaching out to turn his face from side to side.
"Aw, Ma," Kon said, and ducked his head.
*
Index | 14
Biology was a joke, but Kon didn't know if that was the fault of the sub or the general pre-dance atmosphere. The closest thing to work she gave them all period was a set of diagrams of the organ systems to color while they watched a video about the kidneys. Normally, Kon was all for easy classwork, but with Dalton's absence, it felt like a slap to the face. They'd done the human body last semester. Kon was a pretty crappy student, and even he already knew what the renal pelvis was. By the time the bell rang, Kon was considering the safety - and deniability - of setting the communal crayon bucket on fire.
Art was better because Jake was there. They handed in the week's assignments, and then Jake tore a page out of his sketchbook to fold a paper football. He had surprisingly good aim at the field goals, and had hit Kon in the nose three times before Kon started cheating.
Delilah had apparently cornered Jake before homeroom to tell him she'd found him a date. "All I know," Jake said as he held his fingers up for goalposts, "is that his name is Russell, and he's a geology major." He ducked Kon's perfect flick. "Geology. I'm going to spend all night with some guy who collects rocks. What the hell are we going to talk about?"
Kon shrugged. "Rocks?" He got hit in the nose again.
They had worksheets in Trig, but all weekend to do them. He ended up sitting by Beth and copying most of the first two, until she noticed and hit him with a ruler. After that, though, she helped him diagram out the stupid word problems, which was the hardest part anyway. Maybe he could get Bart or Jake to help with the rest.
They had a meeting in the library at lunch, but Kon took a detour on the way there when he realized Chase and Hamilton had been kind of surrounded by three guys from the football team. He got there just in time to watch Hamilton drop his bag and roll up his sleeves - and then stop when the guy in front held up both hands and said, "Whoa! We just wanna talk, Ham."
Hamilton looked indecisive. He glanced quickly at Chase, who nodded pointedly across the hall at Kon and then to Katie who had appeared from somewhere. Hamilton backed up a step and dropped his arms, looking a little more confident now that he wasn't outnumbered anymore. "Okay, he said, folding his arms. "Talk."
"You've been cutting practice," the first boy, who seemed to be spokesman, said.
"No, I haven't. I quit."
"You can't quit," one of the other boys - this one blond - said. "Who's gonna be kicker?"
"Cooper-"
"Cooper's shit," the first boy said viciously.
The last boy - apparently Cooper, laughed. "Oh, thanks."
"You are!"
Chase, who had been standing half behind Hamilton clutching his books, stepped forward just enough to hiss in his ear. "You quit?"
"What the fuck was I supposed to do?" Hamilton snapped, red-faced and furious. "Everybody staring in the locker room, nobody talking to me - It's not fucking contagious."
Kon hadn't really thought, before, what it had to be like. Hamilton didn't know he had a superhero looking out for him. He had to believe that every day he stayed after, he was making himself a target. Even if the killer didn't go after him, he had to be terrified his teammates would.
"What's going on?" A woman asked. When Kon turned around, Ms. Marcus was standing in the middle of the hall, with Mel a step behind. She'd been Kon's English teacher, back when he'd died, and she'd always been kind of terrifying when she was angry.
"We're just talking," Cooper muttered, scuffing his shoe on the tile.
"Uh huh," she said, skeptically.
"Yeah," Hamilton said, sounding reluctant. "Team business."
She stared for a moment, cocked her eyebrow at Mel, and then walked down the hall to the water fountain. She didn't go far, though. Obviously she didn't like the way things looked.
Still, she was far enough away that the boys felt safe talking again. "Anyway," the first one said, "you're still on the roster. Coach is counting every day you don't come as a skip."
Hamilton made an exasperated sound. "I turned in my gear-"
"So, get it back," Cooper said. "It's not like Baumhauer threw it out."
"Maybe sterilized it," Hamilton said with a roll of his eyes. "To kill all the gay cooties."
The blond guy snickered. "Gay cooties," he repeated. Cooper punched his arm. "Ow!"
"If Tom gives you a hard time, tell me," the first guy said. "He's just the equipment manager. He's got to do what Coach says, and Coach wants you back. Ferris is about to graduate-"
"If he passes algebra this time," Cooper said, grinning. "Com'mon, man, don't make me do it!"
"Yeah," the blond said, "he's shit. Ow! Stop!"
Hamilton picked up his bag and, after a moment, fixed his sleeves. "I'll think about it." He got an awkward clap on the shoulder from the first two guys, and a good-natured shove from Cooper, who was still grinning. He gave them a little smile back as they left.
"Oh god," Chase said, once they'd moved on. He slumped back against the wall. "Jesus fucking Christ. I need to change my pants."
*
The meeting was short - just a confirmation of what most of them had agreed on at lunch, the day before. They would meet up at Whoa Nellie's to eat, and then caravan together to the community center, both for safety and for maximum impact. Everyone had dates, except for Clarence, who was making a point out of going alone, and they were all going to be wearing matching boutonnieres and corsages, thoughtfully provided by Katie's mother's flower shop.
Ms. Marcus was there; Mel had apparently arranged for her to be their new sponsor, at least until they knew more about Dalton's condition. Kon added her to his mental list of people to watch out for until the killer was caught.
After that, they broke for lunch, and the girls all took off for Caroline's house to get ready. Kon was left to walk alone to English, for once. He really wished Delilah hadn't left - the class was even more of a joke than the morning periods had been, and now he was stuck with Miller making stupid comments from behind him. Kon finally got fed up and, without glancing back, tipped Miller's desk over sideways and spilled him onto the floor - to the great amusement of the class at large.
He buzzed by the hospital, where things were unchanged, and did a flyover of the whole town. The girls seemed to be having a good time, except for Katie, who was cursing fluently as Caroline and Delilah did something to her hair. Reasonably confident that they were in good hands, Kon flew home.
He'd half expected Tim to be there, waiting, so when Krypto was the only one to greet him, Kon fixed himself a snack and then dialed his number.
"Running late," Tim said when he answered, his breath slightly faster than usual. "I'm almost done here."
Someone shouted very close to Tim's communicator and then cried out in pain. "Need a hand?" Kon offered. Maybe the world needed saving and they would have to skip the dance.
"I'll be there."
"You'd better be." Kon finished his milk and set his glass in the sink. "I don't think I could handle the rejection, if I got stood up."
"I think," Tim said, and then didn't finish until several gunshots and a scream later, "that your friend would be willing to console you."
"What are you even doing? It's, like, broad daylight outside."
"Hostage sitch," Tim said quickly. "Couldn't wait. Under control now. I'm on my way."
The line cut out, and Kon rolled his eyes and pocketed his phone. Only Tim would stop to answer the phone while he was being shot at. Still, if he was on his way, Kon ought to get ready. He headed upstairs.
The suit laid out on his bed looked expensive. Kon stared at it for a minute or two, and then gave up trying to figure out just how expensive. It was nothing like Clark's ill-fitting hand-me-downs, that was for sure.
Kon went to take a shower. He brushed his hair and his teeth, and scorched the shadow off his jawline, and then washed his face again to get rid of the ash. It wasn't a real date, or anything, but Kon liked to look good, and if Tim had shelled out for that suit, then Kon figured he was expected to look good. He really kind of wished he could ditch the stupid little glasses for the night, but he was probably taking enough risk just by wearing decent clothes for once.
The suit fit perfectly. Kon wasn't particularly surprised, even though Tim hadn't measured him or anything - or even asked his jean size. It was the first suit Kon had ever worn that actually fit him across the shoulders. He looked in the mirror as he adjusted the plain grey tie. He looked good. Too good, maybe. He forced himself to slump a little and hunch his shoulders in. That ruined the lines of the suit, though, and he would up straight-backed again as soon as he stopped thinking about it.
The suit itself was a dark, gunmetal grey, with a slight shine, and a dove colored silk tie. The shirt was just a bit too dark to call white, but not shiny enough to be silver, and it felt smooth and cool against his skin. Instead of buttons, it had holes for cufflinks - which Tim had thoughtfully provided. They were just plain steel circles with his initials cut in - CK, not KE - but they looked good against the light shirt. They made Kon glad of his telekinesis, though, because he'd never actually worn cufflinks before, and his first attempt to fasten them had nearly ended with him scrounging for them under the bed.
Tim had even provided shoes, the same dark shade of grey as the suit itself, with slick leather soles that made Kon want to hover so he wouldn't scuff them. They were tying themselves on his feet when Martha knocked on the doorframe and stepped inside, her camera in hand and a smile on her face.
"Don't you look sharp," she said, circling Kon once and then reaching out to turn his face from side to side.
"Aw, Ma," Kon said, and ducked his head.
*
Index | 14