Marco's dad yelled at me for approximately two hours when he came and picked me up from the school. In addition to the punishments Mr. Chapman and the police had given Marco, he was also going to be grounded for three months and seeing a therapist. I had to sneak the cordless phone from the living room to call Cassie.
"How's Baby Think-It-Through?" I whispered from my hiding place--Marco's closet.
"In my closet," Cassie admitted.
I sighed. "There goes my home ec grade. This is turning out to be a wonderful day. I didn't think anything could top yesterday, when I was assigned a project with Marco, sent back in time, shot, and lost my body. Today is really making an effort, though."
"Yeah," Cassie agreed. "It really hasn't been a good week for you. Although, you have to admit, it is kind of funny to imagine Marco going to the mall and buying a leather mini skirt and bustier. Even if he was in your body."
"Well, actually," I began, but then reconsidered. "Yeah, it is funny. To imagine Marco shopping at Madame Kinka's House of--I mean, wherever you would buy an outfit like that."
"Jake wanted me to tell you there's a meeting tonight at the barn tonight, eleven o'clock. We're going to discuss the situation with you and Marco."
I sighed. "What's left to discuss? We're screwed until those Helmet freaks get back with some good news."
Cassie laughed. "Not the stuck-in-each-other's-bodies situation. The hating-each-other problem. Rachel, what happened to you guys?"
"Why do we have to have a meeting about that? It's not Jake's business if Marco and I don't get along," I avoided the question.
"You know what happened today is everyone's business," Cassie explained patiently. "If you two are fighting this bad...Chapman got involved today. We can't afford to be causing any scenes, especially in front of Controllers."
"I know," I admitted. "But today was just bad. Things are a little weird right now between me and Marco."
"Rachel," Cassie began in her gentle way. "Does this have anything to do with--I mean, do you realize...Marco--"
"No," I cut her off. "We are not going there."
"But--"
"Cassie, you are my best friend and I love you, so you have to understand that...it's nothing. There is nothing."
"Rachel, he--"
I hung up the phone.
* * *
At about midnight, I opened Marco's window, morphed to osprey (seriously, though, they have nothing on bald eagles) and flew to Cassie's barn. Everyone else was already there, which wasn't surprising--I was the only one that was grounded until the end of the school year and had to wait extra-long for Marco's dad and stepmother to to go to bed because they stayed up late discussing "what went wrong" with me. I mean, Marco.
Ax, in his human morph, was trying to get a grasp on the situation.
"I am confused by what happened today," he was saying. "What was inappropriate about the outfit Marco wore?"
"Technically, nothing," Jake said. "It's just not the type of thing girls usually wear to school."
"Clothing is so confusing. I do not understand all the rules behind it. What was wrong with this outfit?"
"Well," Jake began, with the type of look that parents have when they're regretting their decision to have children, "As a rule, you just don't get go to school in black leather skirts, corsets, and--"
(HE WORE OUR OUTFIT?) Tobias exclaimed in horror.
Silence. Dead silence as everyone either turned to stare at Tobias, up in the rafters, or me, currently mid demorph.
(I mean...) Tobias began, probably in an attempt to correct what he had said, but trailed off when he realized there was no saving the situation.
Jake cleared his throat. "Ok," he squeaked in a slightly-higher-than-usual voice. "Back to business. Rachel and Tobias--I mean, Rachel and Marco. The issues."
The silence returned.
"Alright, I guess I'll start," Jake began, trying to sound serious, but still sounding pre-pubescent. "Cassie has found a very serious new problem, and we need everyone one hundred percent to be committed to our mission--no distractions."
"What is the problem? Prob. Lem. Problem," Ax asked.
Cassie sighed. She looked more upset than I'd seen her in a while.
"I went to the elementary school today with my mom," she said. "She was doing a thing on wildlife for the kids, and I was helping her out. I ran into Chapman there."
Marco groaned.
Cassie ignored him. "He's setting up an elementary school version of the Sharing. He said that recent events at the high school today led him to realize the seriousness of today's troubled youth--and that it can be possibly prevented in the next generation by reaching out to younger children."
Everyone turned to stare at Marco and I again.
And here I was thinking that the day couldn't get any worse.
Marco looked as horrified as I felt. "You really think they're going after kids because of me and Rachel?" he asked.
"No," Jake admitted. "They've probably been planning this for a while. But you guys have given them a great example of why the school 'needs' a program to 'better our youth' or whatever. And we're going to need to go after this hard and fast--we cannot afford to be distracted by this thing between you two."
Marco and I nodded obediently.
"Good," Jake said. "Now, Cassie also noticed some construction going on at the school. Supposedly there's some plumbing issues, but we think they might actually be building a Yeerk pool entrance."
I was starting to feel nauseous.
"We need two people to go in and check things out."
"I'll do it," I volunteered.
"Me too," Marco agreed, nodding his head so that his (MY!) blonde hair shimmered in the moonlight coming in through the window. My stomach tingled pleasantly.
Oh god. I was trapped inside a body that was strongly attracted to my actual body. This was so not happening.
"Yeah, right," Jake said. "Like I'm actually going to send the two of you in there alone together. We might as well just go turn ourselves in right now."
"Is he more sarcastic than usual?" Marco asked. (I'll go with Rachel,) Tobias said. Tobias. I couldn't read the tone of his thoughtspeach. Did he misinterpret what was going on? Whatever was going on? Did he think that Marco's stupid crush could actually mean something to me? Because no matter how many times Marco threw himself in front of bullets for me, it was never going to come between me and Tobias. And the fact that I had all but forgotten that Tobias was up there in the rafters was just because everything was so nuts. And probably Marco's body didn't think about Tobias all that much. At least I hoped not.
"Great," I agreed, and smiled up at Tobias until I realized that it probably didn't mean very much coming from Marco's body. I stopped smiling.
We made arrangements for meeting tomorrow, after Tobias and I had checked out the school, and then Jake, Tobias, and Ax wandered off while Cassie brought out Baby Think-It-Through.
"It's definitely your turn," Marco said. He may have even been right. I couldn't remember, but I still shook my head no.
"I'm skipping last period tomorrow to check out the school with Tobias, remember?"
Marco groaned, but packed up Baby Think-It-Through and her diaper bag and took off for the long walk home. I stayed behind to hang out with Cassie.
"Rachel, I know you don't want to talk about this but--" Cassie began.
"I just remembered, I have to do some laundry," I cut her off. I jumped off a hay bale and took off after Marco. "See you tomorrow!" I yelled over my shoulder.
"What was that about?" Marco asked when I caught up to him. I didn't answer. "Oh," he nodded. "You're still mad about the outfit."
"You think?"
Marco shrugged. "Well, I found it under your bed and I just couldn't resist trying it on..."
"Thanks, Marco. You know, I found your pornos under your bed, but it's not like I brought those to school."
Marco cringed. "Yeah, you're right. It was a really stupid thing to do. But Rachel...I know this is a weird reason, but I think I wanted to make you mad at me. Hate me."
No. What was actually weird, I realized, was that I didn't. Hate him. And I really should have.
But Marco wasn't done. "I wanted to make you hate me because I thought it would be easier for everyone. Because lately I've started to feel like I--"
But before he could finish his sentenece I, for the second time that day, hauled off and punched Marco in the face. He fell over and landed in the dirt, Baby Think-It-Through and her accessories scattering around him.
"GOD DAMN IT, RACHEL!" he shrieked. "What the hell was that for?"
"I don't want to hear it!" I exclaimed in frustration. "I don't want to deal with this!"
"Deal with what?"
"With you!"
Marco avoided my eyes and picked up Baby Think-It-Through's plastic bottle to dust it off.
And then I did the stupidest, weirdest, most unexplainable thing in my entire life.
I knelt down in the dirt next to Marco, threw my arms around him and kissed him.
