05: Testing the Waters

“And you’re not going to tell me
she didn’t make a move on you. At least test the waters.”
“The waters,” he said, “were not receptive.”
“If they had been, I’d have drowned her in them already.”

J.D. Robb

“You wouldn’t believe this guy!” Leslie exclaimed, indicating Logan with her thumb as they met Aiesha and Jie in the school parking lot Monday morning. “Dad said something stupid, and he went after him, reading him the riot act. Let me tell you, he’s downright scary when he sets his mind to it. His eyes get all beady, stop blinking and...”

“What happened?” Jie asked, her eyes widening.

“Forget the nonsense about me being a mama grizzly, you should’a seen Logan. When Mom and Dad started in about Ai’s parents, I froze, terrified of what they’d do, but her boyfriend is fearless.”

“It’s encouraging he’s willing to defend us, yet I still worry about you two,” Ai said. “Things seem tense, whether they say anything antagonistic or not.”

Leslie sighed. “Yeah, they can’t wrap their heads around his being like he is and keep hoping he’ll magically grow out of it.”

“That might make the next visit a bit difficult,” Aiesha noted. “They’ll likely be watching us like hawks.”

“Let em,” she replied. “I’m not worried. Not only will Logan support us, but his laser-focus comes in handy in these situations.”

“Yeah, Logan’s mentioned how he reacts to bullies.”

“It might not be bravery,” she conceded. “I’m not sure he processes threats the same way. He seems to think he can simply out-think a punch to the face.”

“Still, it’s nice knowing he’ll go to the mat for us.” Jie nudged Ai. “So, when are you two going to do the deed? You’re officially a couple, so ... he kinda needs to prove you’re not strictly gay.”

They looked at Logan, who was blushing and studiously looking away, pretending he wasn’t listening to every word.

“I don’t know, seems like we need to set a date. How’s your schedule, sweetie,” she purred, as they entered the building. “It’ll definitely send a strong message. We may have to make some noise, maybe bang the headboard or break a lamp or two.”

“Yeah, that’ll keep things calm and under control,” he countered.

Shouting broke out behind them, in front of the school. They glanced at one another.

“Sounds like a fight,” Jie noted.

“I saw Roger with a couple of his pals. It was only a matter of time.” Logan hesitated, then turned and headed back out.

“What’re you doing?” Leslie asked, hurrying to keep up.

“What he has to,” Ai observed, familiar with his current thinking, rather than his sister’s comfort with his traditional thinking.

“What do we do?” Jie surveyed the others, still unsure of her role.

“Stick close to me. Consider this a live demonstration of our new abilities.” He pushed his way through the swinging entrance doors. “I’m guessing we’ll have to get close, so this might get a tad dicey, but it’s a perfect opportunity to test our mettle.”

Once outside, it was obvious it was a confrontation, but the violence hadn’t begun. There was a mass of students standing around shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” surrounding Roger and his buddies, and one nervous underclassman and some leery friends, cowering behind him.

Logan pushed through the crowd, brushing the bystanders aside. They stared but meeting his gaze, fell back. His countenance indicated his intent, and as more students moved away, others did too.

Breaking through the inner ring, he paused, giving the girls time to regroup and assay the situation. “Let me lead,” he advised in a low, barely audible voice. “I’ll need to get his attention and don’t want any of you getting hurt.”

“Are you—” Jie started before catching a quick glare from Ai, so she bit her lip and squared her shoulders, deciding it wasn’t the time to argue. This was about their standing as a group. Whatever Logan was trying to prove, he was willing to defend them, so they needed to do the same for him.

Roger towered before one kid, while the crush of students wouldn’t allow his friends to scurry away as they wanted. Behind Roger and between him and Logan’s girls, stood his two buddies punching their fists and shouting, though this was clearly Roger’s show. They were there for backup, sending a message rather than getting their hands dirty.

Logan strode up to them. As he instructed, his girls were a half step behind, observing everyone so they could anticipate trouble before it occurred. He stopped just shy of Roger’s pals.

“Hey, dickweed!” he shouted. “What the hell are you bothering him for, as I’m the one sleeping with your momma!”

The shouting immediately ceased, no one knowing how to interpret this unexpected surprise. Roger’s two associates turned and stared, clearly confused, but the school’s bully spun, his eyes dilating as he focused on Logan.

“You heard me,” he continued. “I know you’re a little slow, but I figured you’d get the message sooner or later.”

“Step back, you little shit, or...” he warned, stepping forward. His previous prey, seeing the disruption, made a break for it, the other students too distracted to block their way.

“Or else what? You pretend to be tough, but you’re a friggin’ coward, picking on freshman rather than someone who dares confront you.”

The girls noticed Logan partially raised his right hand, which was an obvious-enough signal they watched it, hoping for a clue about what they were supposed to do.

Roger growled and strode towards him. Despite his pet theories, it looked like it might get ugly. Jie wanted to check whether any school officials might intervene but didn’t dare take her eyes off him.

“What’re you gonna do about it, you little twerp?” Roger shouted, as Logan closed his open hand in a tight fist, his brow furrowing while holding his stomach. Guessing his intent, Logan’s team concentrated on their common foe as they had their bugs that morning.

Roger’s expression changed, from rage and bluster to confusion. His eyes constricted and a moment later, he wavered. Taking it as confirmation, they redoubled their efforts, with Logan keeping his fist tight, holding it like a club beside him.

Roger leaned forward, bending slightly and grasped his tummy. He mumbled something, but everyone was too focused to pay much attention, but his confederates’ eyes were suddenly on him. They too, were watching their guy, taking their cues from him. As he faltered, they hesitated, unsure how to proceed.

“I ... I think...” Roger began before turning and stumbling away, making several feet before sinking to his knees. Logan’s hand relaxed, opening again.

“Well, that’s done,” he said, spinning and walking away, without glancing back. The girls, still watching at Roger’s friends, fell in behind him as the two bruisers rushed to the big guy’s aid. Logan’s team headed back to the building without further word. As they reached the swarm of buzzing students it was already breaking up, the potential excitement of a fight evaporating before their eyes. The kids parted, allowing them to make a strategic and notable departure, none paying attention to anyone else.

Entering the school, the other two girls breathed a sigh of relief, but Logan and his sister were concentrating just as hard as before.

“I can’t believe we got away with it,” Jie gasped.

“Got away?” Ai said. “I’m dumbfounded it worked! An ant is one thing, even with their exoskeleton, but someone as big as Roger is another.”

“Keep walking,” Logan urged, keeping his voice low. “We don’t want anybody from the principal’s office to notice we were involved with the situation outside.”

“I’ll tell you, I’m practically shaking,” Ai admitted. “I was so tense; my body doesn’t know how to respond.”

He glanced back, checking for anyone observing them. It was then the other girls noticed Leslie’s expression. Her eyes were riveted on her brother, though they were unsure what it signified.

“You know this isn’t over,” she cautioned.

Logan shrugged. “It is for me. We proved what we set out to. Roger was a mere afterthought, he’s unimportant.”

“Still, he won’t take it laying down.”

“Take what? He got dizzy and had a tummy ache. It was clear we didn’t do a thing. All we did was to stare him down.”

“I doubt he’ll see it that way, after all, you challenged him, and he can’t let such an obvious rebuke go unpunished.”

“We’ll deal with it if he tries, but personally, I’m not worried.”

“Except, next time, we might not be there to support you, and if they catch you by surprise...”

“Either way, we’ll cope with it. But the one thing I won’t do is brag about it. Don’t mention it. Roger just picked a bad time to get sick, it’s all there is to it. We didn’t do anything, understood? But now that we know the technique works on people, the next step is to try diminishing the strength of the spirits around us. Once we verify it does, we can choose which need watching and which don’t.”

They agreed, but no one was as convinced at Logan appeared to be.

“Hey,” Leslie chided, catching up to him after his third-period class. “You know better than that. You’re not supposed to leave unless one of us is here to back you up.”

“Relax, you don’t think I’d risk everyone if I hadn’t done my research, did you?”

She cocked her head as they proceeded down the hall, Leslie’s eyes scanning the hallway ahead of them. Logan didn’t appear worried.

“What’s that mean? What research?”

“Once we determined we could affect living things, I started expanding my investigation. The neighbor’s dog, Alison’s cat and ... a few friends.”

“How does it work? You zap whoever crosses your path?”

“No. I worked to ensure I didn’t harm anyone. So, I did it a segment at a time and observed them to guarantee there were no lasting effects.”

“So, you knew we’d succeed, before you decided to confront Roger?”

“I had a good idea, but it was a fortunate, natural extension of my research. When people are angry, they’re unpredictable, as a malevolent ghost might be. I needed to confirm we can maintain control during a hostile, fraught and uncertain situation.”

“Still, anything could have happened. Just because it worked the one time, doesn’t mean it’ll work the same the next.”

“Yeah, but having survived it once, we’re more knowledgeable and we’re quick, we adapt. If they change, we switch tactics, but each time, we learn and grow stronger. The more challenges we face, the more adept we become.”

“Enough to survive a surprise assault, where you can’t defend yourself?”

“I hope so, but I’m confident I can fight them on my own, even if surprised. Though my odds improve if they attack one at a time. If they come at me en masse, it’s wee bit trickier.”

“All right, then at least wait for support so we can learn from it as well.”

“It makes sense. Phrased like that, I’ll bide my time, though I’ll do it outside of class, rather than hiding like I’m terrified of my own shadow. I do have some pride, you know.”

“Yeah, I never suspected,” she teased, rolling her eyes. “Okay, this is where I leave you for my own class, be careful. You may think you can take care of yourself, but you still can’t predict the unexpected.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” he promised, “but this is unnecessary.”

“Better safe than sorry,” she said, waving as she headed off in another direction.

It was just after his fifth period class when it happened. Exiting the classroom, he recognized two familiar faces. Before he could react, they grabbed him, restraining his arms and dragging him away from the door.

There were gasps from the other students, but most simply stared, their eyes widening as they kept back, observing from a safe distance. Logan didn’t resist. This was what he feared might happen. He believed he could handle any single opponent, even if surprised, but multiple opponents, whom he couldn’t even see, were more problematic. There wasn’t much point in fighting, he needed to bid his time, wait for an opening and hopefully catch them by surprise.

Roger, leaning against the wall, approached, grinning triumphantly. Expecting this eventuality, Logan’s mind once more went into overdrive, doing what it usually did when he come up with approaches others never considered. Rather than physically resisting, he concentrated on specifics. Several simultaneous details: Aton’s hand holding his right arm and Tony’s right calf, on his left. He couldn’t see either and wasn’t sure how effective focusing on separate, out of sight body parts was, but hoped for the best.

“So, you took the claims about your mother seriously? You know I was just trying to get you to concentrate on me, so the other kid could slip away. It was actually your father I’m interested in. Your Mom, not so much. I would have stayed to talk, but you seemed distracted. But you’ve proven my point, you’re such a coward you’re unwilling to face anyone who stands up to you one-on-one, even if they’re as thin and unathletic as I am.”