We're Different

Chapter 13

       "The hammer is down, people," Leo informed us as we stood back in the lab and I took large bites of the last of my breakfast. Leo pointed to Bree. "No more talking to boys." He pointed to Adam next. "No more talking to girls." He shot a deadly glare at me. "No more talking to Marcus." Finally, he looked at Chase. "No more helping old ladies to their cars!"
"I was helping your grandmother," Chase shot back.
"Trust no one!"
"Leo, I'm fairly sure you're going over board. Besides, who is going to take you seriously? You're shorter than almost everyone at school."
"Skai will fight you to be able to talk to Marcus again," Bree warned Leo. "She does love him."
"I do not..." My face blushed red, despite my angered tone. Mr. Davenport burst into the room and looked like a girl who had just gotten a new pair of shoes.
"It's here!" He squealed. "It's here, it's here, it's here, it's here, it's here!"
"What?" Bree asked, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "What is it?" Eddy activated on his little screen by us.
"Whatever it is, I hope it came with a big box of masculinity because I never want to see that again." I chuckled at Eddy's joke, as did Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo. Mr. Davenport rolled his eyes at our amusement.
"Just come here." We followed him into the garage and my eyes widened at the sight. A sleek, silver car that I knew had not been there before. "Meet the world's first self-driving car, designed by yours truly. That's right, just when you thought I couldn't get more awesome, boom! I got more awesome!"
"And, boom! I still want to be dropped off a block away from school." Mr. Davenport's smile dropped to an unamused look at Bree's response, but it quickly came back up when he talked about the car again.
"So how does this thing drive itself?" Leo asked.
"Oh, well, uh, see this panel on top? It receives a satellite signal and sends all the pertinent information to the car's on-board computer and voila, it drives itself! Hey, did I mention, by the way, that this car goes 200 miles an hour? No? That's because it goes 300!" He clicked a button on the keys and the car beeped, and then began speaking.
"Good morning, Donald. Would you like to take a ride?" I screeched and stumbled back, right into Bree, who, luckily, caught me.
"Witchcraft!" I screamed, pointing at the car. Bree laughed.
"Relax, Skai. It's not witchcraft, it's technology, just like you."
"Oh... that makes a lot more sense... I feel like a huge idiot now." Tasha came in and ushered all of us out.
"Guys, what are you doing? You're going to be late to school! Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" We all rushed back into the house, and all grabbed our bags, and then headed out to school.

I walked into the double doors and was greeted by Marcus standing there, talking to a few guys on the football team. As soon as he noticed me, he waved and walked over to me.
"Morning, Skai. Your hair looks lovely, and the hat is a nice touch."
"Thank you, Marcus. You're looking dashing as always." I looked at his large, brown eyes and smiled. How could Leo not trust this guy?
"Anyways, I need to ask you something. I was wondering if-"
"Skai!" I whipped around to see Leo walking towards us and sighed. Marcus raised his eyebrow at the tiny boy as he came over and yanked me away from Marcus.
"Sorry, Marcus, but Skai's no longer available."
"Leo, you can't just-"
"I am taking her away now." Leo yanked me towards the others, who looked just as miserable as I did. I should have remembered that Marcus wouldn't give up easily, however, as when I turned around, Marcus was walking towards us. I smiled at him and he came over.
"Hey guys. What's up?"
"I'll tell you what's up: your time here. Get lost, creepy." Leo pointed in another direction, but Marcus put his arm down and chuckled, clearly trying to keep his composure.
"Silly Leo." He walked closer and put a hand on my shoulder, but faced all four of us. "So, guys, are you excited for the new frozen yogurt shop? They're giving out free toppings. Principal Perry's been camped out for a week." I chuckled at that image.
"Wha-free topping? Someone could have told me that before I filled my socks with gummy frogs." Marcus looked at Adam with a questioning look.
"It's a long story. I'll try and tell you later." I shot Leo a death glare as I said my last sentence.
"Stranger danger," Leo hissed as he passed by the other three.
"Uh, sorry Marcus. We can't go," Bree sighed.
"We have chores," Chase lied.
"No we don't." I tried to shush Adam, but he wasn't paying attention. "We have an uptight dad who's afraid we'll reveal our secret-" He caught himself. "-recipe for chili! Ooh, that works. Let's go!" Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo raced away, while I stayed by Marcus.
"What was that all about?"
"I'm not entirely sure. After all, I'm not family, I'm just Bree's friend." The warning bell rang and Marcus and I had to part. "I'll see you later."
"Goodbye, my dear Juliette. I pray that we shall meet again." I rolled my eyes at his cheesiness.
"Great, now you're doing that too."