Pip’s presentation went just about as well as could be expected. She had plenty of information, first hand from Grandma Thalia, but everything had been scratched onto the poster board in the car on the way to school. Still, it should be enough to get her grades up in history class.

  History of Supers was easy though. It was the rest of the classes that were an issue.

  It didn’t help that Khione was in her English class.

  Reaching the doorway, Pip paused outside, peering in to see Khione sitting at the back, reading studiously before class started. She had to get her grades up in English, but for a moment, Pip debated skipping. She still hadn’t figured out where to take Khione for their date, too occupied with working out the kinks of her newfound technique. It wasn’t that she didn’t care for Khione—the blond was super fun to hang out with—but what time did she have for dating?

  Before she could decide whether skipping was worth it to avoid Khione, the girl looked up from her book and locked eyes with Pip. Game over. She had no choice but to walk in, otherwise it really would look like she was running away. Carters didn’t run away.

  “Imagine seeing you here!” Pip exclaimed, plastering a smile on her face as she walked into the room. She scurried to the back, ignoring the glare of their English teacher and grabbed the chair beside Khione. The blond pulled her bag off the seat, setting it down by her feet. Had she been saving the seat for Pip?

  “We have the same class together every day,” Khione said, deadpan as she looked back down at her book. If this was the book they were reading for class, Pip had totally missed that.

  “Well…” Pip plopped down in her chair, shifting uncomfortably behind the desk. She’d left her backpack in her locker, forgetting it during passing period. Hopefully she wouldn’t need to take notes on anything.

  With a sigh, Khione reached into her backpack and pulled out a loose sheet of notebook paper and a pencil. “Here. At least pretend you care for this class.”

  “I care!” Pip protested. “It’s just that reading is hard for me, is all.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Ever heard of dyslexia, Khione?” Pip fired back.

  “If that’s the case, why not just listen to the audiobook?” Khione asked. “I know the library has it. Please tell me you have a library card.”

  Pip sealed her lips shut. She definitely wasn’t going to tell Khione she didn’t have a library card, but really, did she need to say anything? It wasn’t as if it was surprising that Pip didn’t have one.

  “Of course you don’t,” Khione said, shaking her head. “Do you even try to get good grades?”

  Pip shrugged. She had been trying, but there were more important things to focus on. She had to improve her power techniques, and sharpen her fighting skills. Those were more important than good grades. The hero program didn’t require good grades for admission, and that was a boon for every hero like Pip who had a hard time focusing while seated.

  At the bell, the teacher began speaking, and to Pip’s relief, they were still reading the book Pip thought they were. Khione was just reading for no reason, apparently.

  Khione reached across the space between their desks and grabbed the edge of Pip’s paper. Scooting it over, she leaned across to write on the margins.

  Date?

  Pip looked up at her, flashing a smile. She pulled the paper back over, scribbling out a short answer.

  Working on it.

  She tilted the paper for Khione to read, met with a blank stare. The ice princess grabbed the paper, writing furiously. It took Pip a moment to read the squished, scrawled handwriting.

  You still don’t have a plan, do you?

  “I do!” Pip blurted out, slapping a hand over her face as everyone turned to stare at her. The teacher’s glare sent her shrinking in her seat, wishing she hadn’t said anything. “Sorry.”

  “Please, do share with the class,” the teacher said, motioning for her to go ahead.

  God, this man hated her.

  Pip stood, staring across the room at the chalkboard and trying to make sense of what they were meant to be talking about. “Have you ever seen the super-theater adaptation?” she asked.

  “Sit back down.”

  “Yes, sir.” Pip dropped back down into the seat, too hard. Her chair squeaked in protest and she collapsed, hiding her head against the desk. She needed to be done with school. She just needed to be done with school so she could get into the hero program and not have to deal with these terribly embarrassing situations.

  She kept her head down until class was over, not bothering to take notes. She would figure out what they were meant to be learning about later. Or not. It didn’t really matter.

  Khione grabbed her arm before Pip could leave the room. Slipping their arms together, Khione led the way into the hallway, opposite the way Pip needed to go to get to her locker.

  “So, you really don’t have our date planned?”

  She wasn’t going to give this up, was she?

  “I’ve just been busy…”

  “Too busy for me,” Khione said, pulling back. “I see.”

  Pip grabbed her arm, pulling her back. “It’s not that! I’ve just never been on a date before, not really. I don’t know what you expect.”

  “I don’t know…” Khione said. “I just want to spend some time with you, I guess.”

  “Well, I can do that,” Pip said, squeezing her arm. “You could always just come over to my place?”

  “And face your siblings?” Khione barked out a laugh. “No. Not doing that.”

  “Well…” That was a good point. Pip would be hard pressed to sneak Khione into the house without someone finding out, or getting grounded again. It wasn’t that her moms had an issue with her dating, but there was something mortifying about her siblings knowing she was hooking up with someone. “I’ll have a plan before the end of school?”

  “You’d better,” Khione said. She pulled her arm away from Pip’s, taking a step down the hallway before spinning back around on the heel of her boots. With a smirk, she stalked back up to Pip and kissed her on the cheek.

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  Letting out a little whimper, Pip practically melted as she watched Khione waltz away, far too proud of herself.

  Making her way through the halls in a daze, Pip found herself back at her locker, digging through for her science textbook for her next class. As she searched, someone walked up on the other side, their feet visible beneath the edge of the door as Pip searched.

  She didn’t think anything of it until a hand wrapped quietly against the metal.

  Leaning back, Pip peered around the edge of the locker, letting out an exasperated sigh. A boy with spiky green hair and multiple sets of piercings across his face, and a tattoo against dress code peeking out of the top of his collar. “Got a location for you.”

  “Can’t.” Pip shut the locker door, tucking her science book against her body. She’d already been grounded for this, she didn’t need to do it again.

  “Why not?” he asked, hurrying after her. “I know you want to go.”

  “I don’t want to get grounded again.”

  His nose wrinkled. “Yeah, I heard about that. Unfortunate.”

  “And I have more important things to focus on now,” Pip said. She loved her summons, but she needed to focus on the skills she needed to get into and succeed in the hero program.

  “Come on,” Izzy said. He sprinted ahead and leapt in front of her, stopping her in her path. “I made a ton of money off of you.”

  “Too bad, you’ll have to find another person to bet on,” Pip said. She stepped to the side, moving around him.

  Of course, he wouldn’t give up. It’s the reason Pip had ended up at the Summoner’s Ring to begin with. Izzy was a hustler. They’d started talking in class one day and the next thing Pip knew, she’d started sneaking out to fight at the Summoner’s Ring, absolutely wiping the floor while Izzy emptied the pockets of the adults around them.

  Fortunately, he was doing the illegal work while Pip stayed clean. There was nothing illegal about fighting with summons. Betting on them was another thing, however.

  “Just consider it,” Izzy said, placing a folded flier in her hand. “You don’t want to destroy my income stream.”

  Rolling her eyes, Pip walked past Izzy, who finally let her leave and duck into science class. Unfortunately, Izzy had the same class. He sat down on the other side of the room, body angled in her direction. His eyes drilled into her head, forcing her to keep her eyes locked either on the teacher or the science textbook. Cruel and unusual punishment for not being able to go to the Summoner’s Ring.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t still love it. She’d liked watching people fight before she ever got involved herself. But she couldn’t waste time perfecting her summons, and she definitely couldn’t risk getting grounded again.

  Behind the pages of her textbook, Pip folded open the flier. The location wasn’t even all that far from school this time. Not that Pip could go.

  But… What harm was there in watching?

  Plus, Khione was learning how to craft summons. Maybe it was fate that the Summoner’s Ring was happening tonight.

  She’d just have to ask her mom’s permission this time.

  Trying not to bring attention to herself, Pip slipped out her phone and shot a quick text to Khione. Studious girl that she was, she didn’t expect Khione to respond right away, but she needed to let her know that she had a plan.

  A plan, contingent on the hope that she could get Athena to agree.

  Pip skipped the last period of the day. It was PE, and it didn’t matter anywhere. Pip was more athletic than half the people in the class. While she didn’t have her own car, it wasn’t hard to get a ride home, ordering a lift to drop her off a block away from the house. From there, she sprinted up the hill, her calves burning, all the way to the front door.

  She reached for the doorknob just as the door swung inward, her mother towering in the doorway. Eyes landing on Pip, Athena’s eyebrows rose.

  “What are you doing home?”

  “I came to ask you for permission,” Pip gasped. She paused, filling her lungs and doing her best to control her breathing.

  “And you skipped class to do so?” Athena asked. She stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind her. “Why not just call me?”

  “I figured you might not say no if I asked in person.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  Pip nodded. She fished into her pocket, retrieving the flier and handing it to her mother. “I don’t want to go and fight. I want to take my date there,” she said quickly.

  “Date?” Athena looked up from the flier, morbid motherly curiosity sparking in her eyes. “Since when did you have a girlfriend?”

  “Uh. I don’t, exactly. Well. We’re friends. But she said to take her on a date…” Pip shook her head as Athena began to chuckle. “She’s trying to learn how to make summons, so I thought I’d take her here.”

  Athena stared at her, clearly debating between believing her or not. Standing on the step in front of her, Pip did her best to look innocent and unassuming, someone who wouldn't ever cause trouble.

  Whether it worked or not, Athena shrugged. “So long as you stay out of trouble,” she said, giving the flier back.

  “Thank you!” She leapt up and threw her arms around Athena, her mother not so much as shuddering under her weight. “Can I also borrow the car?”

  “Now you're pushing it,” Athena laughed. “But we'll see. I have to go pick the kids up from school first.”

  “Oh, can you drive me back?” Pip asked. “I told Khione I'd meet her after school.”

  Athena shook her head, laughing as she made her way down the stairs. “You could have just waited for me to pick you up.”

  Pausing, Pip thought about it for a second. “Maybe,” she admitted, shaking her head. But then she wouldn’t have had a chance to come up with a backup plan if Athena didn’t let her take Khione to the Summoner’s Ring.

  Joining Pip in the car, she took the opportunity to fix her hair from the jog over. Sitting only at shoulder length, Pip couldn’t do anything fancy with her hair, or even simple, like a ponytail. She could pull her hair up into pigtails, but in an effort to keep from looking childish, she twisted them into simple buns and secured them with large, colorful scrunchies.

  The uniform they had to wear at school was unfortunate, either a pleated skirt or dress pants and a button down shirt. Pip never wore hers properly, the shirt untucked and the pants covered with ironed on patches or platters of paint. She didn’t know anyone who actually wore the uniform right.

  Reaching the school, Pip hopped out the car and raced for the front doors as others left, escaping like the building was on fire. It didn’t take long to find Khione, tapping her foot impatiently by their agreed meeting place, outside the English classroom.

  “You’re late.”

  “Sorry,” Pip said, flashing her a smile. It didn’t matter how much Khione glared, keeping her resting bitch face on, she knew the girl was happy to see her. After all, why else would she wait around in school after dismissal? “I had to go talk to my mom.”

  One of Khione’s perfectly manicured eyebrows arched. “About what?”

  “About our date,” Pip said, doing her best not to beam with pride. “I didn’t want to get grounded again.”

  The second eyebrow rose to match the first. “How would our date get you grounded?”

  “Well,” Pip reached into her pocket, retrieving the creased and crumpled flier. Only printed on printing paper, it had been folded so many times that it was close to tearing, and she’d accidentally squished it while riding back to school. “I’m taking you to the Summoner’s Ring.” She dropped her voice low on the last words, not trying to be overheard.

  “What?” Khione didn’t sound excited. She wasn’t thrilled. She looked disgusted, lip pulled back as she snatched the flier from Pip’s hands. “Why?”

  “Because I thought you would like it.” Was this a bad idea? She’d thought Khione would find it interesting. Should she have just chosen a restaurant to go out to? Or maybe a movie? A typical highschool date, something simple and easy. Ice cream. Coffee. A bookstore, since Khione loved reading. “You’re learning how to craft summons, after all.”

  “Keep your voice down!” Khione snapped, eyes darting from side to side, checking that no one overheard. “Most people here don’t know I’m a super.”

  “You’re in the Losers club though?”

  In typical fashion, Khione glared. “But only people in the club know that,” she said. “And that’s how I’d prefer to keep it.”

  “Well… I can think of something else,” Pip said, reaching for the flier.

  Khione let out a long, ragged sigh. “Fine. We can go to the Summoner’s Ring. This isn’t just an excuse for you to go without getting in trouble, is it?”

  “No! I mean, it is a little bit, but I won’t be fighting,” Pip said. “We’ll just be watching.”

  “Okay,” Khione said. “You’re picking me up, right?”

  “We might be walking,” Pip answered. “I don’t know if Mom will let me borrow the car.”

  “I don’t understand why you only have one car,” Khione said, shaking her head. “If I had your family’s money, I would definitely have my own car.”

  “Well, it’s not really necessary, and we do have a second car. I’m just not allowed to drive it.”

  “Did you crash it or something?”

  Pip didn’t answer.