The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 36

John POV

Sera had passed up her last chance to tell John before he found out himself. He'd already given her enough time by now, and had already done some digging, but that had been her last one... he'd stopped them from hanging out this time, but she'd still told him she was busy and left things unexplained.

He wasn't going to let things stay that way for long. He had a plan. Sera may have been busy and the internet might not have known much about Spectre, but they weren't the only options. There was a tall blond idiot who also happened to know.

John had heard Arlo talking with Sera about Spectre before. It was how he'd first become suspicious, before Sera had become busy and they'd fought. The fact that Arlo knew gave John another option. Even if he was one of John's least favorite people, Arlo did have the information that John needed... and that meant that he could get to it. Sera might not tell me, but he will. I'll make sure of it. If Arlo didn't tell him willingly, John would just have to use a little bit of violence. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, though. He was still nervous about using his ability.

Earlier that day, John had found Arlo in the hallway. He'd forced himself to approach Arlo calmly even though his senses were all screaming at him to punch the other guy (which he'd listened to a lot before his suspension) or to leave as fast as he could. Arlo had appeared just as annoyed that John was talking to him as John felt. It wasn't like he wanted to talk to him. It had been the only remaining choice.

It had taken awhile to convince Arlo to talk to him after school. Arlo hadn't seemed to think that John knew anything; he'd told him to ask Sera himself. It was only when John had mentioned Spectre that Arlo's face had gone pale and he'd agreed.

Now, John walked back into the school building to meet with Arlo, wishing he could've gotten boba with Sera instead. The thought made him frown. Arlo doesn't even like boba. His frown only deepened as he made his way up to the roof, where Arlo would be waiting.

When he opened the door, Arlo was already there. They frowned at each other for a minute before Arlo spoke. "I thought we agreed to meet right after school."

"It is right after school," John told him, frown shaping into a glare.

"It's been ten minutes," Arlo answered. This little- that's barely any time! John crossed his arms, remembering once again why he hated Arlo. The blond seemed to be having the same thought. He frowned back at John.

There was a silence where both of them simply stood there hating each other before John remembered that he'd had a point for this meeting. "So, about Sera." Just ignore this blond idiot, I'm doing this for her.

"You should have just waited for her to tell you. Do you really have so little patience?" Arlo asked him, causing John to grind his teeth. I hate him so much! He forced his fists to unclench.

"She's working for something that's dangerous. I'm not going to wait," John told Arlo, his voice resolute. Arlo sighed.

"What do you know about Spectre?" He asked, giving up on forcing John to wait.

John bit his lip. He really didn't know much, but if he showed that, Arlo might not tell him... I'll just have to tell him my theory with more confidence than I have. John just hoped it wouldn't be wrong... he wouldn't want to see the expression on Arlo's face if it was.

"They're a dangerous organization that studies ability use," John answered, beginning with the obvious. He took a deep breath before continuing. "They took Sera's ability."

Arlo's blue eyes widened, showing John that he was correct in this guess. John decided to continue.

"She must've made some sort of deal with them to get it back... I'm assuming that's why she's always busy working there?" Arlo nodded slowly at this. "So how do I get her out?"

He sighed. "I don't know, John." There was a slight sadness in his eyes that confused John. He looks unsure of himself. It was strange to see. The Arlo that John had dealt with had always seemed to think that he was right, even if John shoved the evidence that he wasn't in his face. He had forced John into the hierarchy without thought. Now, though, it seemed that he'd changed. Just like I did, I guess. John sighed. He didn't want to think about confusing stuff like that right now.

"Tell me how it all happened," John prompted him. Arlo raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you already knew?" He questioned. "You knew they'd taken her ability. You knew there was a deal."

John grimaced. "I... I made a guess."

Arlo stared at him for a second. "I didn't expect that from you." John frowned. Is he trying to make me angry? Does he really think I'm so dumb that I couldn't figure something out? The expression on Arlo's face told him as much.

Another minute of silence passed before Arlo began to explain. "Seraphina's sister works for Spectre. She was the one who offered us the deal when she learned that Spectre had taken away Seraphina's ability."

John's eyes widened. Sera's sister? She hadn't talked about her much. It had come up once in conversation, but Sera hadn't seemed to want to discuss it... apparently her sister had left a long time ago to flee the high expectations pressed on them by their parents. Sera had never seen her again after that. Until now, I guess. It must've been hard for her to see someone who abandoned her. He winced at the thought that he hadn't been there to support her for that. Instead, it had been Arlo by her side.

The thought of that made John's heart tug in a somewhat unfamiliar emotion. Why wasn't I there? Why couldn't it have been me by her side? His eyes narrowed in confusion. Am I worried she's going to replace me? It's not like Arlo is her new best friend. He sighed and shook his head. He needed to stop getting distracted.

"What happened then? What was the deal about?" John asked. Shaking his head at John's impatience, Arlo opened his mouth and explained the rest of the situation.

John wouldn't have to wait any longer to confront Sera.