Equilibrium (29 page)

“Gross,
A
!” Ariele muttered.

“And what do you do after lacrosse? I bet you don’t smell of cookies and angels,” I laughed.

“Maybe not, but you’re in a league of your own. Seriously yuck!”

“Oh, be quiet and hand me the towel, will you,” I sighed, hoping that I was going to be able to subdue some of this rich aroma. I was hoping to get close to Kellan.

Half an hour and three packs of wipes later, I felt and looked fresh, or so I hoped. “All right?” I asked Ariele, who waited patiently while I applied my lip gloss.

“Yes, you’ll do,” she said, giving me the thumbs-up. We walked over to the cafeteria and into the onslaught. Kellan came over to me and put his arms around me. He looked beat up, his lips were all bloody and his eyes were slightly swollen.

“Geez, what happened, Kellan?” I asked, putting my finger on his cracked lips.

He flinched. “Nothing. Just a minor skirmish with the other team in the locker room.”

I looked over at David and Harry–they looked just as bad. Sheesh, what did I miss? “What happened, guys?”

“Nothing,” they said in unison.

Maria came up and put her arm around me. “Tell you later, let it be for now,” she whispered.

“Look, you guys look like you need to see a doctor. Let’s head over to the hospital.”

“No need,” Coach Stanislaw said from behind me. I’ve got a doctor on the way. Let’s sit down and wait. That will give us time to grab a bite to eat.”

Good idea, I thought. I was starving.

Coach sat down and looked around at all of us. His expression was far from happy, even
though we had won. Won by three goals, to be precise. We had been awesome.

“We’ve been banned from the next game,” he said with an accusing tone. “And it’s a league game, so that really sucks. I’m very disappointed and angry with all of you. What were you thinking?”

“We didn’t have much choice,” Harry said defensively. “They came into
our c
hanging room.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Shut up, Arizona!” Justin said, throwing his pizza crust in my direction.

Kellan, Harry and David were at his side in less than a second.

So was Coach Stanislaw. “Sit. Back. Down!” he growled as he got between them.

Kellan, Harry and David walked back to their seats, glowering. I was bursting with curiosity, wondering what had happened. By the looks of things, none of the boys were going to say anything useful, so I pulled at Maria’s sleeve and asked her to come to the restroom with me.

“I’m coming as well,” Ariele said, and walked with us.

As soon as we were out of Coach’s earshot, I whispered, “Spill, Maria!”

“It’s all your fault,” she said accusingly.

“What’s all my fault?”

“The other team were none to happy with you,” she said.

“They aren’t supposed to be happy!” Ariele responded impatiently. “They are the
other
team.”

“Oh, don’t encourage this, Ariele,” Maria shot back. “I’ve been to
hundreds
of games! We almost always win. That’s not what this is about. This is about poor sportsmanship.”

Ariele and I looked at each other and succumbed to the giggles
. Poor sportsmanship
? L-O-L!

“Oh, stop! This isn’t
New Jersey
, Ariele,” Maria said pointedly. “God knows what’s come over you, Arizona! You can’t go around hitting people. Substituting violence for ability is just not right.”

I bit down hard on my lips to avoid collapsing on the floor in a pile of laughter. Ariele gave in to full blown chuckles. I gave her
the look
, tried to ignore her and turned to Maria. “Sorry, Maria, you’re right,” I said, trying not to snicker. “What happened with the guys?”

“Six or seven guys from the other team decided to have it out with our guys and stormed into the locker room. I don’t know what was said exactly, something about a Barbie defending a sissy team, but there was a mad scramble and fight. They’re in a worse shape than our guys. Both teams have been banned from next week’s games,” she said, glaring at me.

“Oh, come on! It’s hardly my fault,” I said between snorts, slightly peeved that I had missed out on all the fun.

“I give up,” sighed Maria. “Let’s go back. I think I should make sure Harry’s okay.”

We walked back to the cafeteria, mostly in silence, with the occasional snort of a giggle erupting from Ariele. I went over and put my arms around Kellan and kissed his head, plunking myself on his lap.

“You okay? Are you annoyed with me?” I asked, trying my very best to look apologetic.

“No, I guess not. You were on fire out there. Is this how you always played back in Princeton?” he whispered.

I nodded and he shook his head.

“You may have to tone it down a bit,” he suggested.

“I don’t think so,” Ariele interjected.

He shook his head again. “I can’t wait to see you at lacrosse!” he laughed.

“Where did Coach go?” I asked looking around.

“He yelled some more and then took off. He’s very disappointed in us,” David said. We’ve got to wait here until the doctor checks us out.”

“You okay, David?” I asked, looking at the cut on his forehead.

“Yup, fine. No worries.”

“Shrimp, care to explain?” Harry grunted, walking up with Maria.

“’Splain what?”

“You were beyond amazing out there–on fire. There’s no way you could have picked up that control and strength from watching me play, is there?” he prompted. “You’ve played before? When? Where? How?”

“Here’s the doctor now,” I said, pointing to a tall brunette with a tell-tale stethoscope around her neck. “You guys better get checked out. I’ll wait for you in my car, Kellan.”

“That was a close call!” Ariele muttered, as soon as they left. “You’d better tell him the whole story soon.”

“No kidding! I’m going to go and wait for Kellan in my car. Are you coming?”

“Yeah. Can you drop me off? I drove over with Maria. I’m guessing that she’s going to hang with your brother for a while. I want to know how your talk with your mom went. So, spill.”

“It was good, like I said before, Ariele.”

“Did she tell you how you got here?”

“She brought me through the portal when I was eight-ish. I’ve lived here as Arizona Darley ever since. She can’t explain this change in me.”

“You’re kidding?” she frowned.

“She seemed sincere. I kind of believe her. So it’s a
mystery
. With Gertrude being the only clue.”

“What’s your dog got to do with this?”

“I don’t know. Mom went through the portal to get Gertrude and that’s when the apparent switch in me happened.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Ariele said. “I’m going to have to have a similar talk with my mom. I bet she knows more than she is letting on. I’m guessing we came through the portal as well. I wonder if she knew beforehand that we were going to be brought through the portal?”

I shrugged. My head hurt from trying to analyze all the different permutations. I needed a distraction. The game had been great for that. Too bad I missed out on the fight. We got to the Jeep and I noticed a flyer on the windshield. I took it and skimmed over it, and handed it to Ariele as we got in the car.

The flyer featured a witch on a broomstick with a blurb about the upcoming Halloween dance. I hadn’t exactly forgotten about it, but I did avoid thinking about it. From what Ali had said, we needed to get
dressed up
for this–not a strong point of mine. Which reminded me, hadn’t Ariele mentioned going with Ingrid? I smirked.

“So, what’s this with you and Ingrid?”

“Whatcha mean?” she drawled innocently, in a bad southern accent.

“Aren’t you going to the Halloween dance with her?”

“I might be….”

“You are! So what’s going on? What’s that little rhyme you’re so fond of? Ariele and Ingrid, sitting in a tree….”

She smacked me, real hard on my shoulder. I guess I deserved it. Then she acted all coy, which was so unlike her.

“I kinda like her. She’s cute, don’t you think?” Ariele asked, looking at me for confirmation.

“Sheesh, I don’t know. I guess. She’s pretty. I haven’t even spoken to her.”

“Well, she’s lovely. I’ll introduce you to her, you’ll like her. Anyhow, yes, we’re going to the dance together.”

“Don’t tell me you’re all organized with costumes and all?” I said, looking over at her hopefully. Much to my disappointment she nodded.

“Ingrid took care of it. You know I never would have! So yes, it’s all been sorted out. Though, I can’t tell you any more. It’s supposed to be a surprise. I don’t know myself.”

Her door opened suddenly and I jerked forward ready for action. It was just Kellan. He’d been quick.

“Scoot over, Ariele. I’m going to leave my bike here and ride with you guys.” He got in and made himself comfortable reaching for the flyer in Ariele’s lap. “What’s this?” He looked it over and chuckled. “We have to talk about this
tonight
, Shrimp. We must be the most disorganized couple in Mountain View High.”

“Well, we’ve been busy time traveling and all....”

Once we dropped off Ariele, I drove out toward the lake, acutely aware that we were being followed. I noticed the white, unmarked car leave the ice rink parking lot just behind mine. I hadn’t given it a second thought until now, and I hadn’t mentioned it to Kellan or Ariele. While we were stopped at Ariele’s place, the white car had driven past the Jeep and parked a bit further up from us. Then it had started up again, just as I had. It was definitely following us now.

“Who do you think
that
is?” I asked, slightly concerned, although I assumed that it was the feds.

“That, who?” Kellan shrugged.

“We’re being followed–have been since we left the rink. I’m assuming it’s the feds.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t assume it’s the feds,” Kellan said. “It could be anyone–the guys from the other team or even Dr. Sen’s accomplices.”

I had considered the possibility that it may have had something to do with Dr. Sen, but it had never occurred to me that the opposing team could be pursuing us, looking for a fight. I looked over at Kellan. He looked beat, his lips cut and encrusted with dried blood. It was just the two of us, against how many of them? I started going over various strategies in my head.

“Arizona, let’s drive to your house instead. It’s not safe here. We were sort of told not to go to the lake anyway,” Kellan suggested.

I guess that was the sensible thing to do considering we didn’t really know who or how many were following us. I turned the car around and drove home, passing the white car. I tried to get a peek, but it was too dark. The white car turned around as well and followed us all the way home. I was hoping that my car wouldn’t break down. I checked the gas meter–we should be okay. The car went past us as I pulled into the driveway. I sighed in relief and we went inside. Rupert was sitting and reading by the fireplace. There were no signs of Mom.

“Hey, Rupert,” Kellan said, getting his attention.

“Hey, kids,” Rupert replied, looking up at us. “Whatever happened to your face, Kellan?”

“Oh, just an after-game skirmish, nothing serious. I’m fine,” Kellan reassured him.

“Ollie said it was a great game. Said that you reminded her of herself at that age, Arizona. I guess that means you showed the boys a thing or two?” he winked.

“Don’t encourage her,” Kellan sighed. “She was totally out of line.”

“NOT,” I said and punched his shoulder.

“See what I mean,” Kellan muttered.

“Yes, no hitting, Arizona,” Rupert admonished.

“We were followed tonight,” I said, changing the subject. “It was a bit scary.”

“Do you know by whom?” Rupert asked.

“Not sure, we hoped it was the feds, but don’t know for sure. They followed us from the rink all the way home. It was a white car. I didn’t get the license plate. I should have,” I sighed.

“Let me make a quick call,” Rupert said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

I put my arms around Kellan and squeezed him. “We’ve got to talk about Halloween costumes,” I giggled.

Rupert came back, nodding reassuringly. “It was the feds. Just keeping you safe. They said that they thought you were trying to sneak off to the lake. Is that right?”

We nodded.

“Well, don’t. You’ve been asked not to unless you have our permission. Clear?”

We nodded again.

“Can we go and hang out in the basement for a while?” I asked.

“Yes, but not for long. You’ve got school tomorrow.”

“Come on, we’ve got things to discuss, important Halloween stuff,” I said, as I took Kellan’s arms and dragged him down the stairs. “Maybe we should just skip it all together, and do something, just the two of us,” I suggested. “I have no idea what to do for costumes. It’s probably too late to get costumes, anyway.”

He stopped me halfway down and pulled me to him. “There is no way we’re missing the dance. I have some ideas for costumes,” he said and brushed my lips with his.

O
livia was totally convinced that Arizona was Arizona
Stevens
as she had watched her daughter take the boy down at the ice-hockey game. If there had been any doubts before, they had now been totally wiped away. She drove to her office to think and left Rupert in charge of the kids. Arizona Darley was lost–lost inside Arizona Stevens. Would she ever emerge again? Did she need to? How had this happened?