Free Sophomore Freak (Reject High: A Young Adult Science Fiction Series Book 2) by Brian Thompson

reason, though, she wasn’t using it on me. I could still breathe and my knee was holding up.
    “Are you going to play nice, Jason?” she asked me.
    A large, silver box the size of a guitar case lay next to her foot. What was in it?
    I jammed the bag of prisms into my back pocket and held up my hands in surrender. “It’s not like I have a choice.”
    “You always have a choice,” she said, touching a tiny bluetooth headset in her ear canal. “I’ve got them,” she said after a second or two. “Meet me at this location when you finish with Sasha.”
    Finish with Sasha? My insides boiled with anger. What did that mean?
    The woman lifted the case by the handle. “After you, Ms. Martinez.”
    Ruby, dressed in her restaurant manager’s outfit of black pants and a red shirt, led us. It was the first time I had been inside of Rhapsody’s house past the living room in the front. The decorations were modest throughout and the white appliances looked yellow. I’m sure they weren’t dirty – it was probably from age and use.
    We passed Rhapsody’s room. I expected the walls to be painted black and covered with some heavy metal posters or something. Instead, the room was white. Her bed had a tan comforter on it, and the carpet was a dull shade of brown. Spread out on the floor was a jewelry-making kit – necklaces and ring settings for the prisms.
    Hidden in the far corner underneath a bed sheet was the safe we stole from Welker. The blonde paused in front of us. She noticed it, smiled, and moved forward. Curious, I took a peek myself.
    “Quit it!” Rhapsody said, poking me in the back. “Eyes ahead. Keep going.”
    Her mom showed us to the living room, where we sat in off-white furniture pieces patterned with flowers. The DHS agent took the biggest chair. Rhapsody and I sat next to each other on the loveseat.
    I put most of my weight on my left butt cheek, since the prisms were tucked inside of my right back pocket. Rhapsody reached over and held my hand to keep me from moving around so much. My neck got hot when she did that, so I let go of her fingers and made a fist. Ruby stood in the middle of the room and avoided eye contact.
    “I guess I’ll start,” said the agent. She rubbed her hands against her gray slacks. “My name is Courtney Stafford and you should think of me as a friend.”
    “Why should we be friends with a Department of Homeland Security agent? Immigration, IRS. . .these are not friendly agencies to me.” Ruby posed a good question.
    Courtney sighed and eyed both of us. “We are your friends. Hear me out.”
    Ruby excused herself to the bathroom down the hall. Our “friend” lowered her voice to just above a whisper.
    “Honestly, I’m not really from the DHS, but you need to know. . .”
    “You showed me a fake badge?” Ruby shouted. “That’s it. I’m calling the cops, like I should have done in the first place.”
    I threw up my hands. Rhapsody cursed and Ruby gave her daughter a look.
    “Really with the staring?” she asked her. “Whoever-she-is from wherever lied about her identity! She’s sitting in our living room and you’re mad I said ‘sh. . .”
    Ruby opened the front door. “Get out of my house, Lady, right now.”
    “Wait, Ruby!” I said. “She might know. . .about us. Who are you really?”
    “That’s actually kind of. . .tough to explain ,” she answered.
    “Really?” Rhapsody said with all the sarcasm in the world. “Hi,” she said, extending her hand to me. “I’m Rhapsody Lowe. Who are you?”
    “Jason Champion.” I played along, but didn’t shake her hand. Things were still weird between us. “Not real complicated to me, Courtney. What do you think, Ruby?”
    She waved her hand at her throat. Ruby wanted no parts of this conversation.
    Courtney pursed her lips. “My real first name is Eris. Stafford is my last name. Call me ‘Eris’ just once , Jason, and I’ll shoot you with goshenite in your good knee.”
    I doubted that. “How much