SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

2 - one giant headache

THE STORM CHURNED into a miniature hurricane. Funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalk like the tendrils of a monster jellyfish.

Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats, and backpacks. Briar skidded across the slick floor to make it to the doors.

Leo lost his balance and almost toppled over the railing, but Jason grabbed his jacket and pulled him back.

"Thanks, man!" Leo yelled.

"Go, go, go!" said Coach Hedge.

Briar and Dylan were holding the doors open, herding the other kids inside. There was a weird instinct that was telling her that she needed to protect every one of them. She plastered on a reassuring smile and told the others it would be okay, encouraging them to keep moving. She saw Jason, Leo, and Coach Hedge running toward them, but they weren't moving very much.

Dylan and Briar pushed one more kid inside, then lost their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk.

Briar tugged at the handles. Inside, the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors seemed to be stuck.

"Dylan, help!" Briar shouted.

Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his Cowboys jersey rippling in the wind, like he was suddenly enjoying the storm.

"Sorry, Briar," he said. "I'm done helping."

He flicked his wrist, and she flew backward, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck. She groaned, her vision turning black for a second before it became semi-clear again. There was immense pain in her head, but she'd been dealing with that for hours now.

"Bri!" Jason tried to charge forward, but the wind was against him, and Coach Hedge pushed him back.

"Coach," Jason said, "let me go!"

"Jason, Leo, stay behind me," the coach ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster."

"What?" Leo demanded. A rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster?"

The coach's cap blew off, and sticking up above his curly hair were two bumps — like the knots cartoon characters get when they're bonked on the head. Coach Hedge lifted his baseball bat — but it wasn't a regular bat anymore. Somehow it had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.

Briar wondered if her vision was alright, because what the fuck.

Dylan gave Coach Hedge that psycho happy smile. "Oh, come on, Coach. Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? I've been on your team the entire season, and you didn't even know. You're losing your nose, grandpa."

The coach made an angry sound like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down."

"You think you can protect three half-bloods at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck."

Dylan pointed at Leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed. Somehow he managed to twist in midair, and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously for any handhold. Finally he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung there by his fingertips.

"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"

Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Jason his club. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that thing busy" — he stabbed a thumb at Dylan — "while I get Leo."