Legacy Mutation (Book Eight)

Chapter 60: Their Parents' Legacy

Lunch time comes, the Hamatos and their friends heading to the cafeteria. As they enter, the other students seem to quiet and watch them. The entire school knows of their supposed accident, and seeing them come back is certainly interesting.

The group suppresses groans as Katie dashes towards them with the cheerleading squad behind her.

"Dean! Guys! You're all back! That's so great!" she squeals.

Mackenzie smiles. "We dedicated a cheer to you guys at one of the games you missed. Sorry you had to miss it."

"You guys? As in...all of us?" Mitch asks slowly.

Mackenzie nods as she flicks some of her red hair over her shoulder. "Of course! You guys were all so brave after such a tragedy."

The other cheerleaders nod and agree readily. Copeland stares at them in shock, completely dumbfounded.

"Well...thanks girls. That's really sweet of you," Dean says, flashing a winning smile.

The girls look over as Chase and some of the other jocks head over, looking relieved.

"Dean! Great to see you up and about, man!" Chase says. "Sorry about your legs. That must suck."

Dean forces himself not to look sad. "I'll be alright."

Chase looks to the others with a grin. "You guys are back too! That's great! That halls aren't the same without the Hamatos and their clique, huh?"

"Did we just step into an alternate reality?" Dakota asks.

"Possibly, although the chances are slim," Asher returns.

"Aren't they all just so brave?" Katie gushes.

"True heroes," one of the linebackers agrees.

Mitch grins proudly, Copeland slaps herself across the face, and Dakota and Asher just look stupefied for one of the rarer times in their life. Their friends just grin.

"Let's get some lunch, huh?" Nixie suggests.

"Could we push our tables together?" Chase asks. "We'd love to catch up with you guys."

"Sounds good to me," Elisabeth pipes up. "Come on."

The large group heads to an empty set of tables, settling down. Just as they do, a few kids with dyed or black hair heads over; the emo kids.

"Copeland, good to see you back with your groupies," one comments, a girl with pink hair.

"Thanks Jenna," Copeland says.

"How's everything with you?" a boy with a few piercings asks and shaggy black hair asks, looking around at everyone at the table. "You've missed lots."

Chase glances over at them, raising an eyebrow. "I like your piercings," he comments, pointing to the boy.

The boy smiles a little. "Thanks man."

The kids sit down at the empty spots.

"I'm Grayson."

"Chase."

"Cool name."

"Thanks!"

Slowly, a few music kids start walking over, both band kids and rockstar types. They ask how everyone's doing, settling down to talk to everyone. The group gets larger and larger with each passing minute. Mathletes and the honour roll students head over to talk to Asher and Dakota, while the slackers and the pranksters try to talk to Mitch and Nixie.

Suddenly, Dean looks around, noticing that the lunchroom is looking a lot different. Emo kids and band nerds are talking to one another, hockey players and science geeks, cheerleaders and drama club kids, slackers and artists...everyone is mixed up and talking together. Most of the cliques, most of the grades, kids from all over the school are mingling and talking to one another as though they're old friends.

All because the Hamatos, with their diverse friendships, came back to school.

Dean's mouth falls open, his expression difficult to place. Elisabeth laughs and pokes his jaw, teasing him lightly.

"Guys...look at what you did," Tiki whispers.

"No way. This stuff doesn't happen in real life," Copeland mutters.

"It just did," Nixie laughs.

"Amazing..." Ruby murmurs.

"It's unreal," Asher agrees.

Lukas grins, standing up and high-fiving a few people nearby because he can. Dakota stands up and joins him, enjoying the happiness that's seeming to surround the diverse group of people. Mitch leaps onto the table and sets off a party popper, making people cheer as confetti rains down.

"Hold on, dudes! I've got more in my backpack!" Mitch shouts, grabbing the bag and starting to chuck the cannons into the gathering. "THIS IS SO COOL!"

Laughs run through the group as the poppers go off around the room. One of the band kids takes out his trumpet and starts playing, making people nearby either laugh or shy away from the sudden noise. Some of the rockstar kids, the ones who laughed at the trumpet, get their guitars and start playing.

"We're gonna get in so much trouble," Nixie says, a devious grin on her face. She gets to her feet and cups her hands around her mouth. "HEY! SOMEONE START PLAYING SOME DANCE TUNES! GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

A few people whoop, random sandwiches sailing into the air.

"You know...we may not be the big shot heroes out parents were," Dean says. "But...if this is the legacy that we're continuing for them, bringing people together...then I'll be okay. We'll be okay."

"That's so sappy, Dean. Shell..." Copeland mutters.

"Maple tree sappy," Tiki adds in with a laugh.

Dean shrugs. "Oh well."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Everyone jumps, seeing a very angry looking principal standing at the doorways as everything falls silent, He runs a hand over his nearly bald head, sighing heavily.

"Everyone, get to class. Goodness," he grumbles.

Everyone nods and disperses, babbling about the spontaneous lunchtime party. Mitch refuses to step down from the table, throwing his hands up and grinning.

"I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONFETTI! I REGRET NOTHING!" he shouts. The principal glares at him, making him laugh sheepishly and hop down. "But...I will definitely help the janitors sweep all this up."

The principal smiles, even lets out a small laugh. "Well...it is good to have the Hamatos back."

They laugh softly, Dean pushing himself to his feet as he readies his crutches. Together, they head off to whatever lays ahead.

Of course, for Mitch and Nixie, that's a lot of cleaning.