How Many Heroes

7- Pennies

   Carlo's bus shook back and forth, making me nauseated. I figured that if we didn't get off soon, I'd let up my breakfast all over the seats.

   "So...where are we going again?" Hathaway asked Luke. He was sitting with Jesse across form Maria, Luke and I with his chair turned so he could face us. He seemed pretty pissed to be spending his Saturday afternoon going on a seemingly useless journey.

   "Pennies," Luke replied. His thigh bobbed up and down. Ever since the chaos at Hathaway's debate last night, he had been unusually on edge.

   "Can you be any more vague? Where in Pennies?" Hathaway demanded. I don't think he meant to go off on him, but he had linked Luke's strange behavior to his botched debate, which he certainly couldn't forget.

   "I don't know, exactly," Luke said.

   Beside me, Maria let out a deep sigh. "How about an easier question. Why are we going to Pennies?"

   Luke ran his fingers through his hair. "You know last night, when people in masks attacked the debate? Well, they were there for a reason. They kidnapped two people: Mary Atwell, the girl Hathaway was competing against, and a boy named Zachary Watson. I thought they were only after Hathaway, but ..." he shook his head.

   "Why would they be after Hath?" Jesse asked. He face was a little paler that usual. Mine probably was too. Vandalizing Maria's house was one thing. A physical attack on one of my friends created an entirely different level of fear.

   Luke tilted his head to the side, thinking. "I have a...theory ... that the people who attacked the debate- students, probably - are led by Amy. Amy hates the five of us, mostly because of me, but also because she likes setting people up against each other. Inspiring hatred. We go totally against that idea- we're a mix of races and cultures and ideology. Hathaway is the reason that's possible."

   Hathaway glared at him. "You know that doesn't make any sense."

   "Of course you wouldn't understand," Maria said, laughing a little. "You're the golden boy. You're rich, you're parents are the mayor and a friggin' world-class lawyer, you're strong, intimidating, and some people find you attractive."

   "Some people?" Jesse muttered.

   "Shut up," Maria snapped. "The point is, you're the only thing protecting us. Let's face it, if people didn't have so much respect for you, the four of us would be eaten alive when we go to Ambrose."

   I nodded. My stuttering and weak appearance made me an easy target, Maria was Mexican and wasn't a skinny girl like Amy, and Jesse was Asian and gay. Without Hathaway, we would be dead meat. Even Luke, though I felt like he could take more than any of us, would have a harder time.

   Hathaway seemed to be at a loss for words. He had clearly never realized the impact he had on people. Finally, he managed, "But how did you know she would be after me?"

   Luke looked down at his jeans. "Well... Amy directs a lot of this type of stuff- kidnappings, thievery and whatnot. I... followed her, I guess and found out she would be at the debate. I had no idea what she was going to do until the lights went out. A double kidnapping in the dark. I went for Hathaway, so the attackers kept me busy while she got the other student. I think she hid them in Pennies, at a place I go to often."

   "Why would she do that?" I asked, but I already knew the answer.

   "A warning. If I keep interfering with her gang, one day I would regret it."

   Hathaway narrowed his eyes. "What? She'll send the gang you've been looking for after you? Don't you want that?"

   "Not after me," Luke said, and no one spoke for the rest of the bus ride.