Her Royal Madness

Her Royal Madness Part 1

It was the last day of school. Finally, I was free from the confines of institutionalized learning. Finally, I was free to spend the entire summer in the library, studying what I wanted for a change. 

One thing I wasn't free from was my older brother Henry. He picked me up after school as usual, accompanied by his friends Nicholas and Martin. I should have known something strange was going to happen because they were talking about school. 

"Hey guys," Martin said, "how did you do on that algebra exam?" 

"I aced it," said Nicholas, "Eighty-seven percent. That'll help make up for that D I got in English. What about you Hank?" 

"Fifty-eight percent," exclaimed Henry, "exactly what I needed to get a C+. Mrs. Plinski was a little annoyed at me though. Apparently I got the toughest problems completely correct, but I really messed up on the easy questions." 

I should know better than trying to understand my brother but I couldn't resist. "Henry you're an idiot. Why would you want a C when you obviously could have gotten an easy A if you wanted to?" 

"All part of my master plan, Nerd-elaine." Why can't he call me Maddie like everyone else? Or at least Madelaine. It is my name. "I got it all figured out. If I finish my freshman year with a solid C+ average, I can still play sports, but everyone will know I belong with the jocks not with the science geeks and math nerds (no offense little sister). Then I'll start moving my grades up to a B- in sophomore, a B+ in junior, and finally for my senior year, nothing but A's and all the best colleges will come around begging for me to apply to them." 

Do you see what I mean? He was actually serious. I'll never learn. 

"Hank you got it made," Martin said. "If I tried anything like that I'd be dead. Especially now." 

"Whaddya mean Mash?" Nicholas asked. 

"Well my brother Brian called last night from Tucson. The stupid idiot lost his scholarship."  

Henry took this news personally. "What? They can't do that! Didn't he lead the team in sacks last season and third in total tackles? Not to mention PAC-12 rookie of the year and everything else? There's no way they can let him go." 

"Yeah, yeah, I know my brother the hero." Out of all of Henry's friends I get Martin the most. I know what it's like when everyone tells you how great your brother is. "But the jerk was on academic probation all year and didn't bother to bring his grades up. So he flunked out and they pulled his scholarship. My dad blew a gasket. He totally freaked out. After he finished yelling at my dumb brother, he hung up the phone and had a go at me. Basically, now, if I even think about getting anything less than a B+, I'm grounded big time. And that includes football." 

"What's he yelling at you for?" Nicholas said. "This has nothing to do with you." 

"Yeah," Henry added, "Even if you are a big dumb ape, there's no way you'd ever let anything like that happen to you." 

"It's okay. He was just upset. But I really gotta bust my butt next year or else. I thought Dad was riding me before, but now - whoa!" 

Martin stopped dead in his tracks, so suddenly that Nicholas walked right into him, and fell to the ground. Henry, being a little quicker, did not quite trip. He took one stumbling step, caught himself and stopped. None of them were moving. They just stared straight ahead. 

I swear, five seconds ago there was nobody else on the whole block. And now there she was, not ten feet in front of us. A strange woman. She definitely wasn't from around here. Her hair was trimmed short at the back and spiky on top. The lower part of it was snow white, brightening to a vivid blue on top. About the same height as Henry, she wore a shiny black skintight suit that revealed a lean muscular body with just the right amount of curves. She was the kind of woman who made teenage boys act like complete idiots and underdeveloped twelve-year-old girls feel woefully inadequate. 

She was beautiful and exotic. She was even more dangerous. Slung low on her hips was a belt with a well worn holster holding what looked like a ray gun from a old science fiction movie. Her icy blue eyes scanned every direction for unseen dangers. She glided like a cat, ready to spring into action.