Last of My Kind

Some Family Secrets

        The next morning, I was jumping the rooftops going to HLA as usual. I noticed Yuma running top speed while shouting, "I'm late again! Why didn't you wake me up, Astral!?"

        Astral came out just behind him and answered, "For an hour, I said, 'Yuma, wake up.'"

        "Well you should've said it louder!"

        Bronk started skateboarding past, knowing that he was going to be first in their usual race. But a duck family crossing his path made him stop so abruptly he got thrown off.

        "Now that was a wipe-out," Rio commented on Bronk's crash. Bronk jumped back up only to realize his arm got scraped from the fall. As a kind gesture, Rio wrapped the scrape in a piece of cloth. After she walked away, Bronk started mooning over Rio again, oblivious to Yuma riding away on his skateboard.

        While I stayed just outside the open window to listen, Tori started talking about a project due next week. She said Bronk's name, but got no reaction from him.

        "Earth to Bronk," Tori attempted. "Come in."

        Cathy tried, "They're giving away donuts in the cafeteria, Bronk. All you can eat; first come, first serve."

        Flip concluded, "Nothing." When Bronk dreamily sighed Rio's name, all of us sweatdropped, not surprised.

        "Boy, Bronk has got it," Caswell mused, "Real bad."

        Tori got his attention by suggesting him to ask her out, though Bronk was worried she doesn't like him. Everyone gave their opinions, but what really stuck out was Shark being her twin brother. Flip suggested Bronk earning Shark's respect, with "Ray" finding a duel making the most sense. I witnessed a thought of Shark being defeated and giving Bronk his sister's hand. Then a wedding scenario of Rio and Bronk getting married appeared. As I was working off the nausea from those scenes, Bronk went off to challenge Shark to a duel. Yuma - of course - was too busy chowing down and didn't hear anything in the conversation.

        Out of curiosity, I secretly teleported to the roof to hear Shark's reaction. As I expected, Shark denied Bronk's challenge, saying that only Yuma comes close to being good enough. I knew that he meant that only Yuma was good enough as a duelist, not as Rio's boyfriend. But he was so vague about it, that Bronk took it the wrong way. Caswell and Flip -- who were eavesdropping from just behind the door -- also misunderstood. I saw yet another nauseating scene of Rio and Yuma getting married. Bronk was locked in a daze as Shark casually walked away. Caswell and Flip decided to show it, and posted it on Flip's blog: "Flip's Daily Quips."

        The next day, Everyone was in a frenzy from hearing the gossip from the two boys, Tori especially. I also got the news from my bracelet, which behaved like a d-pad infused with Shadow Energy. Tori and Cat looked pretty ticked about it, while I kept getting tormented by their thoughts. Everyone's over-imaginative scenarios were wreaking havoc on my stomach. And I just got over the drama of the robotic love-story, too!

        To avoid any more cheesy-queasy thoughts from those guys, I wandered off to find Rio. It didn't take long to track her down, but all of HLA seemed to read Flip's blog. Everyone was assuming that Rio and Yuma were dating. We got up to one of the outdoor halls to hear Bronk revealing what Shark said to Yuma.

        "So that's why everyone thinks we're dating?" She questioned, her voice rising, "I should've known that Reginald was at the center of all this."

        After school, Rio called Shark and had the whole gang meet up at the tennis court. When he came, Rio challenged her older twin to a duel. Shark mused, "You too? A lot of that going around today." Rio snapped that she was serious and showed Shark the post on Flip's Daily Quips.