Found (4 page)

I lower myself down gingerly, guarding my ribs. I let a full-fledged wince go this time. No need to hide how much pain I’m in. Dr. Avery gives me a concerned look and takes my hand, helping me lie down slowly. “Sorry, kiddo, I can’t give you any of the good meds until I’m done with the exam.”

While he begins running the ultra scanner over my torso, Dr. Adams plonks down onto the rolling stool and scoots over next to my head.

“Full name?” she asks.

I concentrate on her face and not the now-throbbing ache that is coming from my ribs. “Penelope.” I mouth my lameass middle name. “Black.”

Dr. Adams giggles.
“Katniss, huh? Don’t let my BFF Claire know that, she’ll want to adopt you. Those are her favorite books of all time.”

“Yeah, my mom’s too, probably. The name’s not quite as
classic as she thought it was going to be, I’m guessing.”

Dr. Adams giggles again and shakes her head. “Claire went through a prolonged and unfortunate archery phase – never actually harming any woodland creatures, thank God. And then there was the rainy spring she spent outside of
Zdeb’s Bakery trying to convince her then-boyfriend Jason to throw hot baguettes at her.” Dr. Adams shrugs. “Hey, at least Katniss isn’t your first name. Mine’s Zellie for crying out loud. Short for
Hazel
.”

“Ooh, that
is
a tough call.”

“I know! Between me and Claire, I don’t know who is more embarrassing.”

Or chido
. How did I not know women like this existed?

Chapter Five

Wyatt

I go into the room I’m sharing with Kai and toss my bag onto the bed on the left-hand side. Kai always takes the bed on the right, at least he has for the last four years and, yup, he’s already hung up a U of O calendar and a prom photo of him and Elle on the right side of the room.

I’d met Elle first, when we were twelve. Back when she was a potential Retro and my mom had taken pity on me and made my siblings bring me here for the summer.

Two summers after that, Elle had shown up for the term looking older, hotter, and blonder, if that was possible. She’d always been a dime, but at fourteen, while I was a gawky brace face, she’d become the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. And, bonus, she was actually friends with me and treated me like I was chido. I’d entertained the idea that maybe she’d be my girlfriend for about one minute until a fifteen-year-old Kai had descended the stairs carrying both of their suitcases.

Kai was tall, as tall as I hoped to be given my family history, dark, with dreads that he wore loosely pulled back, and handsome. Every female in the building took one look at him and then at Elle and you could literally feel them all give her a mental high-five.

Kai’s death vision had come to Elle at the dishwashing station in the riverside barbeque place where she worked to help her guardian pay the rent. The story was that right then and there during the sanitizing cycle, the vision had ended, her eyes had flipped open and she’d run outside, immediately spotting Kai. He was going down in the rough undertow of the Mississippi River – just as she’d seen -- where he’d been fishing when his boat tipped. Even though she’d never rewound before, the Society School had prepared her and Elle had expertly rewound Kai to safety. And when his boat docked she’d run up to him and looked into his eyes and known he was her trigger.

Lucky for me, he turned out to be a decent human being and a
bueno friend. It was going to be awesome living only a couple hours from each other when we started college in the fall.

“Hey, man,” Kai says, leaning in from the hall. “Here come your
guncles.”

“Thanks.” I smell my pits, decide I’m rank from the sweaty drive, quickly change into a fresh t-shirt, and finger comb my hair. I know Uncle Ben is going to say it’s too long and makes me look like a hippie.
Whatever. I can take the criticism, as long as he doesn’t force me to go to his stylist and get highlights again.

I close the door to our room behind me and jog toward the rotunda so they don’t have to wade through the other kids or get close enough to smell the weed coming from Reed’s room. It’s not illegal, but none of the adults like the young Retro’s to smoke because of how it affects their abilities.

“Dubya!” Ben says, greeting me with a hug and a noogie. “What is up with your hair, hippie? You been spending a lot of time with Ral over at Roger’s place?” He sniffs my neck. “Never mind, you reek of the ganja. Question answered.” I let his assumption go. Better he thinks it’s me than the whole dorm hall.

“Good to see you,” Christopher says, oblivious to…everything. He hands me a box containing the latest model Ret-tech. “We thought it was only right that you get the first one.”

“Wow. Thanks.” I open the box and gingerly slip the Ret from the packaging. It’s even lighter weight than the last model. I put it on and it immediately powers up, the microscreen lowering. “Uh-”

“Microscreen up,” Christopher commands and the screen rises to my eyebrow level. He clears his throat. “You’ll have to set it to obey your voice. I may have given it a test run.”

I laugh. “You’re so jealous!” I take the Ret off and put it back in the box for now.

He nods. “I’m
soooooo jealous.”

“C’mon, nerds,” Ben says. “We’ve got a
pow-wow to attend.”

We head to the first conference room in the administrative hall. Melody and Raleigh are already sitting at the table, talking in their weird hush-hush
lovey whisper talk that they like to do. They’ve been together since Mel was young, nearly my whole life, and without even being biologically drawn to each other like Zellie and Avery are. Just another thing I got teased about – both of my sisters married their high school sweethearts the second they graduated. Who does that without being knocked up? No way to even explain it. What was I going to say? The Wells girls mated for life.

We all sit down while Ben switches on the screen at the end of the room. “In a minute here, we’ll be able to read what Zellie writes down on Penny’s intake. Wyatt, I know Melody’s briefed you. This should give you a few more basics on the Retro you’ll be Lookout for. I can tell you that from hanging out with her today…she’s skeptical, she’s skittish, and we’re all going to have to work to earn her trust. But, damn, can the girl rewind. She does things I haven’t seen anyone do. She can rewind with one hand while speeding up time with the other, pause large groups for an extended period.”

This was gonna be chido
and
a challenge. “Any extra abilities?” I ask.

Christopher chimes in. “Not that we or she, for that matter, have identified. She’s a weird one. It’s really exciting. I think Reed was our last Retro that varied from the norm?”

“He was,” I reply. Christopher must have been using a lot of mind control juice on Penny if he couldn’t remember something that had pissed him off so much. Reed had the power of persuasion just like he did, only Reed wasn’t forty-five and he needed zero recovery time.

The screen lights up and my sister’s handwriting
appears. We all have a good chuckle over Penny’s middle name. And that’s pretty much the last happy thing that Zellie writes down.

Age seventeen (she thinks, she doesn’t know when her actual birthday is, it was chosen by the state when she was picked up after the deaths of her parents. They determined she was three-years-old at that time).

No next of kin.

Twelve foster families in seven years

Highest level of school completed: 5
th
grade.

No repeating dreams about specific males, no trigger.

Thought she was sleepwalking during her “dreams.”

No substance abuse – feeling like this isn’t completely true,
but she isn’t showing signs of withdrawal. Possible past abuse that she’s not ready to discuss yet.

Violated and tormented a number of times (like seven she says) while out post-rewind.

Sexually active since the age of twelve, not by choice.

I grip the edge of the table until my knuckles turn white. I feel gross, disgusted with myself for even thinking about Penny and the status of her virginity. I vow to treat her with respect and like I’m her brother. No ogling. I will always look her in the eye. A Lookout protects and aids their Retroact. They are not pathetic opportunists that try to get in their Retro’s pants.

Avery’s findings: two cracked ribs – from video we know this was due to a fall post-rewind. Six previous rib fractures. Scarring on the chest, stomach, and thighs. Consistent with burning and cutting. All injuries are well-healed, but still detectable. He’s going to give her pain meds to take as needed for the next week.

Wyatt – make sure she doesn’t overdo it with the medication or engage in too much activity.

Her vision and hearing check out. Coordination. Straight spine. Healthy gums and teeth.

Okay, Avery’s going to let her go. We’ll be out in a sec.

“You’re on,
Wy,” Ben says and switches off the screen. “First things first, take her to the guard station and let Phil get what he needs for her badge and then just make sure she’s comfortable. She’ll be rooming with Elle, which is good. Elle’s a peach. I’ll send Claire over in about an hour to see what personal effects she wants.” He knocks on the table, jolting a dozing Christopher. “Christopher is going to take a power nap and then we’ll figure out what Penny’s schedule will be so you can get her up to speed before school starts tomorrow. Show her the ropes, man. That’s it.”

We all get up and leave the conference room. While my
guncles and my sister and Raleigh head for the staircase up, I go down the hall to the infirmary. I swipe my badge over the door handle. It beeps and opens out. I wait in the lobby, pacing back and forth between the shiny blue chairs, strangely nervous to be meeting this girl I suddenly know way too much about.

The door opens and I take in a deep breath, plaster on my most charming smile…only to be met by the grinning faces of my half-brother and half-sister.

My gaze goes directly to Zellie’s belly. I haven’t seen her since they moved in March. They thought it would be a good idea to get down here early this year and make sure everything was set up for the birth of my nephew. “Whoa,” I say and then consider biting off my tongue. Double cuffs to my ears. Zellie on one, Avery on the other.

“Dude,” my siblings say in unison.

“Sorry! The last time I saw you, you were-” They hold their hands up again. “-not quite as radiant, Zel. That’s all I was gonna say.”

Avery pulls me into a hug.
“Proud of you for braving Rosehell High, little bro.” Zellie comes in from the side, planting a kiss on my cheek and then rubbing her lipstick off my face. “You are free!”

I squirm out of their love attack. “Well, I don’t know about that. Will I ever truly be free when you guys are going to live, like, a ten-minute MAX ride away from me?” While Melody and Raleigh had hovered over me during the
Rosedell years, Avery and Zellie were going to be my Portland shadows.

“Hey, I got your back,” Zellie says, putting her hands in the vicinity of where her hips used to be. “The moms and dads were all set to move to Portland to be closer to the
grandspawn and you, and I convinced them it wasn’t necessary.”

“Really?
How’d you manage that?”

“I promised to
come visit one weekend a month.”

“See,” Avery says, patting me twice on the cheek. “We got you.” And then he attempts some ancient dance that I believe harkens back to the dark ages of the Nineties.
Zellie and I giggle-snort.

The door from the exam room bay opens slowly with a creak and we all settle down, remembering our objective is Penny, not flaunting our happy family reunion.

“What an awesome day of firsts,” Penny quips. “I wake up in a Virginia ditch, find out I’m a Retroact with special powers,
and
I catch a doctor doing the Cabbage Patch.”

Goddamnit
. I look away from her; the desire to ogle is strong. She’s petite. She’s curvy. She’s got crazy rainbow hair and, at a quick count, four facial piercings. And she speaks sarcasm?

I am so screwed.

Chapter Six

Penny

The three Adams’ stare at me like I’m a freak, and then Wyatt looks away. Probably for the best, since I don’t know if I’m blushing because I said something stupid or because I can’t look at him without thinking about that future kiss we’re supposedly going to share.

I take the opportunity to get a good gander at him. He resembles Dr. Avery -- the same wavy, shaggy hair, the same tanned complexion and caramel brown eyes. But he’s built more like Dr. Adams, without the belly of course -- tall and long-limbed, lanky.

It’s…not a bad combination.
And that’s all I’m going to think about that.

“Won’t you follow me?” Wyatt says, oddly formal. I notice that Dr. Adams makes a cross-eyed face at him. I could comment, but decide to give him a break. He’s probably just as nervous about being foisted on me as I am about being foisted upon. Now who’s being oddly formal?

We walk out of the doctor’s office area or whatever they call it, both of us awkwardly waving good-bye.

Wyatt fingers the badge hanging around his neck. “Let’s get you one of these and then I’ll take you to your room.”

“Sounds bueno.”

Phil does a quick scan of my retina right there at the guard station and then takes my
holophoto. He syncs his tablet with a printer dealie and out pops a badge sporting my image and name. One, two and he’s got the lanyard attached. “There ya go, Miss Penny. Now, Wyatt will show you how the badge works, but it’s basically your passkey to most of the rooms within the school. When you leave the grounds, you drop your badge off here with me.”

“Is this the only way out?” I ask. “What about emergency exits?”

Phil smiles down at me. “This is the only way you need to know about for the time being.”

Okaaaay
.

I drop the badge over my head and follow Wyatt back through the rotunda to the dorm hall. Many of the kids are still hanging out. We pass by a bunch of younger girls. A couple give
me a tentative wave and I wave back.

“The first two-thirds of the hall are girl’s rooms,” Wyatt explains, “going from youngest to oldest and then the rest are guy’s rooms, all ages mixed. Some have roommates, some don’t. You’ll find one bathroom for every two dorm rooms. The bathrooms are unisex and sometimes, uh, used for sex, so you
gotta be careful there.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “The teachers let you get away with that?” Great, I’m going to Swingers School.

Wyatt’s face flames red. “Well, they don’t let
me
get away with anything, but the Retro’s and their triggers…it’s biological. They can’t help themselves and after the first two terms the adults gave up trying to stymie the impulse. Hence,” he shoulders open a bathroom door and pokes his hand inside, bringing out a handful of condoms. “They’re everywhere. Safety first and all that. Plus Avery will give you whatever, uh, pills or…can I stop talking about this now?”

“Please.”

Crossing in front of me, Wyatt knocks on one of the green doors, room 36. GAH. So far everything in my glimpse is correct.

A blond girl answers and immediately jumps up, wrapping her arms around Wyatt’s neck. “Kai said you’re staying with him. How
chido! It’s so bueno to see you, buddy.”

Buddy?
Was she for real.

She unwinds herself from him and sets her sights on me. “And you! Hey roomy! Oh. My. Gosh. You are like a celebrity here.” She grabs my arm and drags me into the room, which is funny because I am sure I was giving her my best,
“Bitch, you better not touch me,”
look.

“So, when Melody called, which is bizarre in and of itself because who doesn’t tech these days, and told me I was going to have a newbie roommate this year, I didn’t know what to think. But then she explained your
sitch and I just gotta say, Penny, that I think you are so brave and so strong being on your own all these years. And I hope, y’know, we can be friends and confidantes, like sisters even.” Elle takes my bag from me and carefully places it on the stripped bed across from hers. While her back is turned, Wyatt taps me on the shoulder and then mouths, “She’s chido.”

I shrug. At least her side of the room isn’t overly girly and making me want to puke. Her bedding is navy blue and white and everything is clean and organized. There’s a
Squirrelish Figure poster on the wall. “You like SF?”

She whirls around on me, her eyes wide with excitement. “I do. Do you? That Kent Hahn is such a dime, don’t you think?”

I chuckle, preparing to blow her mind. “Yeah, no I like them. Guess who I saw at LAX and shared a flirty drinking fountain moment with?”

Her mouth drops open.
“You. Are. Shitting. Me!!!!”

Wyatt laughs a nice, deep, sexy laugh that I am by no means paying attention to and brushes his fingertips lightly across my back. “Why don’t you two bond over your mutual love of Kent, and I’ll check back with you when my Aunt Claire gets here.”

I blanch, looking at Elle. “Is he related to everyone?”

Elle smiles at Wyatt. “I’ll let him tell you about that.”

Things I learned about Elle Stott in the twenty-two minutes before Claire arrived:

1. Her first name is also Penelope.

2. Her middle name is not embarrassing. It’s Anne.

3. She’s from Memphis, not the nice part, and she likes it that way.

4. She loves her boyfriend Kai Leland.

5. She loves taking photos of Kai.

6. She’s crafty! Collage is her specialty.

7. For the past three years she’s been taking all of her math and science classes at a community college because she tested out of high school level when she was a freshman.

8. Her parents died when she was three, too.

9. She was raised by her mother’s best friend, Loren.

10. Kai is also her Lookout because she’s an only child.

11. She’s funny.

12. I like her.

“I’m thinking your main concern is comfort, which these beds are not, so I’ll start with a featherbed,” Claire says, making a note on her tablet. “Now, color. From your hairdo, I see you embrace it. What are your feelings about lavender?”

“I don’t have feelings about it. Black will be fine, or grey.”

“Uh-huh. Gotcha. Pop of color. Grey and turquoise?” She looks up for a split second and then nods, her blue/black and platinum streaked bangs falling into her eyes. “Grey and turquoise.”

I peek at Wyatt and our eyes meet. He mouths, “also
chido,” and I decide to trust his judgment. It’s reassuring that he’s so at ease with spazzy, overbearing women.

“Let’s talk clothes. I’m all about your fashion sense. Basic black is great.
I’m loving your boots. I’ll get you a number of similar items and you can veto whatever you don’t want. How are you for underwear?”

I quickly look away from Wyatt, my face heating. Please don’t let her ask me if I prefer thongs or boy shorts.

Claire glances over her shoulder. “Oh, crap, Wy. I forgot you were in here. I’m workin’ my zone, sorry Penny.” She turns to him. “Avert your eyes! Cover your ears!” Wyatt brings his hands up, looking confused. Claire thonks him on the forehead lightly. “No, seriously, get out of here for a minute. I’ve gotta do a bra fitting.”

After Claire leaves, I forego the heavy duty pharms in lieu of an ibuprofen from the bottle on Elle’s desk and meet Wyatt out in the hall. I want to crash out on my unmade bed, but I’m starving, and when Elle left she’d said something about going to the cafeteria. Besides, eating a decent meal will make my ribs heal quicker.

“C’mon,” he says.
“Dinnertime.” We walk to the end of the hallway and have a strange moment where he holds the door to the stairwell open for me and I glitch out, not getting that he is being a gentleman. I come to and hustle through the doorway. The stairwell goes three more floors down, but we just go one more.

“These are all classrooms,” he explains, ever the tour guide, as he points to the orange doors on either side of the hall.

We come to a less-grand version of the rotunda. “Over here,” he gestures to the left, “there’s a lower level entrance to the auditorium. Straight ahead are more classrooms, and this way,” he starts right, “is the cafeteria and lounge.”

We walk into a spacious room that looks more like a nice restaurant than a cafeteria, but then I notice the trays at the end of a food serving line at the rear of the room.
My mouth waters. I hear Wyatt’s stomach growl.

We wind through the crowded tables toward the line. I pretend like I don’t feel most of the eyes in the room on me. Wyatt hands me a bamboo tray and silverware wrapped in a white cloth napkin.
Fancypants.

“Hey
Abbie,” Wyatt says, smiling at the pretty, plus-size woman behind the counter. “This is Penny. She’s new.”

“Hi Penny.
Welcome to the Society School,” Abbie says, nodding at me. “What can I get for you? We’ve got a lot to choose from.”

It all looks yum, but I settle on meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, a Caesar side salad, and apple pie. Wyatt gets double mashed potatoes with butter instead of gravy and points for not acknowledging that I’ve ordered enough food for a large man.

I grab a glass bottle of juice from the cooler at the end of the line and Wyatt fills a cavernous ceramic mug to the rim with black coffee. There’s no cashier.

“So, is the food included in tuition or something?”

Wyatt shakes his head. “Nah, it’s all free. Ben, Christopher, and Claire wanted everyone to be able to attend school no matter what background they come from and actually, all of the employees here are Retros, Seers, or Lookouts. This place is all inclusive in more ways than one.”

Elle waves us over to her table and Kai gives me the once-over, his eyes narrowing. He pushes the chair next to him out with his foot and gestures for Wyatt to sit in it. I put my tray down and offer Kai my hand. “Penny,” I say simply.

He doesn’t shake my hand, just nods and mumbles, “Kai.”

“Yeah, I know. Elle showed me eighty photos of you,” I joke.

Wyatt and Elle laugh and Kai glares at me with his deep brown eyes, making me feel like I’m about as interesting as a turd. But, if Elle and Wyatt like him he must be all right. He’s probably just having an off night, or I remind him of someone who kicked his dog once or something.

I sit down next to Elle and tuck in.
Hellllllll yeah. I have to resist cramming my mouth full and remember that there are other people at the table with me. This is the most, and best, food I’ve had in years. With eats like this, my ribs will be back to normal by morning.

“It’s
bueno, huh?” Elle says, digging into her enchiladas. “I, for sure, never get food like this at home. When I first came here, Wy and I used to have eating contests, and I always beat his ass. I gain, like, ten pounds every summer.”

Kai leans over and presses a kiss against her temple. “And it looks sexy on you,” he says, his whole demeanor changed. Maybe it
is
me.

“Thank you, baby,” Elle coos and takes another bite.

After dinner, we go one room over to the lounge, which has pool tables and ping pong and four gaming centers, as well as a TV alcove. Elle and I shoot pool until Claire comes downstairs to let me know my side of the room is ready. I beg off the game we’re playing. I’m losing anyway, probably because Kai keeps giving me dirty looks like he suspects I’m sharking his girl. Wyatt is too bueno and wholesome to notice this and escorts me back upstairs.

I turn to tell him goodnight and find him staring down at me with this earnest look on his face.

“I hope…” he starts. “This is a bueno place for you, Penny and I hope you’ll stay. I promise to help you figure stuff out, and if I don’t know the answer, one of my brothers or sisters or pseudo aunts and uncles will. I’m really happy that I get to be your Lookout. It’s an honor and I promise I won’t take it lightly. I will protect you to the best of my abilities.” He grins a crooked grin, a dimple popping up on the left side of his mouth. “And my abilities are actually pretty sick for a Normal, in case you’re worried that you’re getting another Retro’s sloppy seconds.”

He carefully lifts my badge and holds it over the door handle, unlocking it. “Sweet dreams.”

“You too,” I breathe, knowing full well why Glimpse Me is going to kiss Glimpse Him and only feeling a little guilty about it.