"Dad! We're home!" I called as we walked in the door.
"How was your first day of school?" he called, popping his head out from his office.
"Nick got a girlfriend!" Katie blurted. I groaned.
"No, I don't," Nick replied, frowning. "I'm only thirteen."
"She said she loves you," Daniel teased, a smirk on his face. This caused Nick to go red. "I don't know what you're talking about," was his response.
Dad just shook his head. "Well, I have some juice and crackers in the kitchen. I'm sure you're hungry."
"Yeah, we are," Max agreed. "Those school lunches are barely big enough to be snacks!" Everyone laughed, and I was glad that the subject had changed from Nick's love life. At least for now.
Anya toddled into the kitchen and I picked her up, smiling. "Hey, Anya! Did you miss us too much?"
The little girl just looked deep into my eyes and said, "Your teacher's really mean."
I stared at her, then looked at dad. "I – I didn't tell her that! How did she know that?"
Dad looked at the two of us solemnly. "It seems Anya has an additional power." He paused.
"She can read minds," dad told me.
"What?" Max cried. "Well, maybe I can do it too!" He looked at me. "Think of a number!"
I rolled my eyes. "Ask someone else."
"Okay, I'll ask Katie!" Max looked at Katie. "Is it seven?"
Katie shook her head. "No! Not even.
Max looked dismayed. "No, not even close!" he mimicked her – but in a perfect imitation of Katie's voice. It literally sounded like Katies's voice was coming out of his mouth.
We all stared at him. Even Nick looked shocked.
"So…." Daniel trailed off. "Another new power?"
Dad nodded. Max grinned. "Awesome!" He looked at me. "Hi, I'm Robym and I command you to bow down to my leader-ness!" he exclaimed, but in my voice. My jaw dropped, then I pounced at him. "Hey!" I yelled as he cracked up.
Then I had an idea. A crazy, amazing idea.
~~::~~
"Are you sure this is the right phone number?" Daniel whispered as I dialed the phone. I nodded. "Yeah. She practically wrote it all over Nick's notebook."
"Alright," Max said. "I'm ready."
We held our breath as the phone rang. And rang. And rang. Katie was keeping watch outside of my room – anyone who wanted to come in would be stopped, thanks to her blabbing.
Finally, the phone went to voice mail. "Hi! This is Amy! You've reached my phone, but I can't come to the phone right now because I'm probably off doing something else! I hope you'll leave a message so I can call you back later, but don't forget to leave your name and number so I can call you back!" The phone beeped.
"Hey, this is Nick," Max said in Nick's voice. "Sorry, but I don't feel the same way about you. I hope you don't talk to me ever, ever, ever again." Then he hung up.
I facepalmed. I hadn't told Nick to say that last part, but whatever.
"Yeah! I am a genius!" Max yelled. "High five!"
Daniel tried to give him a high five and hit me instead. "I need to practice that," he explained.
I rolled my eyes, debating whether or not to tell Max that I was the one that came up with the plan in the first place.
Oh well. I grinned, just thinking about our plan. I couldn't wait to see how well it turned out.
~~::~~
The next day at school, I was sitting in my desk next to Daniel, watching to see when Amy would come in.
"Is she here yet?" Daniel asked anxiously. I frowned.
"Like I told you thirty seconds ago. No."
Finally, the dark-haired girl came into the room. I expected her to be crying, or at least look a little sad.
Instead, her smile, if possible, was even bigger than the day before. She ran right for Nick, almost plowing into him.
"Hi!" she said, grinning. "That call I got yesterday? So funny! That was the best prank call ever…totally made my day!"
Nick just looked really confused. "Uh….no problem?"
Amy turned and waved to me and Daniel. "Hi, Robyn! Hi, Daniel!"
"Hi there," I said in a monotone voice, ready to punch that girl. Why was she so dang happy all the time? Maybe she just wasn't right in the head.
Daniel exchanged a glance with me – well, kind of, if blind kids can exchange glances.
"This was not part of the plan," I muttered.
~~::~~
Later that day, we had P.E., which made me feel a whole lot better. Coach Thompson was apparently a huge fan of dodgeball – he told us so himself.
So of course, that was what we ended up playing. Amy and some other kid named Ryan were team captains – of course, Amy picked Nick. She didn't seem to want us on her team, though. Ryan picked me third… I convinced him to take Daniel, though he didn't look very happy about it.
"I hate this game," Daniel complained as a ball hit him –he was the first to get out.
I was pretty good at it, though – I was stronger and faster than the average eigth-grader, and definitely able to dodge things.
Nick, on the other team, was hurling dodgeballs as fast as he could. Amy was just hiding behind him, using him as a human shield.
I shook my head. Pathetic.
"Robyn! Look out!" Matt – also on my team – called, right before a ball slammed into my chest, sending me to the ground. I glared at the other team's side. Nick had been the one to throw that ball.
Of course, after that game ended, Coach made us run. Turned out Amy was a good runner though – not as good as me, of course.
"Take your time!" Coach Thompson yelled as the two of us ran, Amy struggling to keep up.
"I'm….gonna….win!" Amy panted.
"No!" I yelled, then started running even faster. Before I knew it, she was way behind me. I grinned triumphantly as I finished running. She could never be better than me at that. I'd barely broken a sweat.
Amy caught up to me sometime later, Nick at her side. He ran slower, just for her. "How….can you…run that fast?" she panted, still out of breath.
I smirked. "Let's just say I've had a lot of training."
Amy smiled real big again. "Then maybe you can teach me something!" She looked at Nick. "Can I come over to your house today? Please?"
Nick nodded at the same time I shook my head. "No!" I said.
"Sure," Nick cut me off.
My fists clenched, but I tried to keep myself from yelling at him. "Cla-Nick, since when do you make the calls? I'm the leader!"
"Leader of what?" Amy asked, looking very interested. I frowned. She could never, ever find out about the pack.
"Leader of the Cheetah Club," Daniel responded, popping up behind us. He'd stuck with Matt when we had to run.
"Really?" Amy smiled. "That sounds like fun! Can I join?"
I groaned, smacking my forehead with my hand. If this girl was coming over, it was going to be a long day….
