MAEGYA | ix. "BABY MOUNTAIN GOATS?" VIVE LA PRAGUE
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THEA SWORE IN every language she knew how.
She hastily pulled her green turtleneck over her head, wisps of hair stamped to her face as she yanked her flannel over her trembling frame. Her fingers patted down her tousled dark locks in an attempt to make the situation not look as egregious as it got. Bex buttoned the front of her blouse as quickly as she could, careful not to miss a button. With a jerk of her arm, she sent her unfolded new suit in the air. Thea rotated her wrist and curled her fingers inward, the air-born uniform and her own dress disappearing in incandescent light.
"Thank you!" Bex piped up as she shot the blonde woman a nod. She was pulled out of the pub by Thea, convening with a frozen Peter.
The sudden influx of sunlight was blinding but Thea quickly rushed in front of Peter to face him. His shoulders were stiff, face paralyzed with fear and an unrelenting panic rendering him silent. Her eyes caught Brad clutching his phone and rushing to the bus.
"What did he say?" Thea inquired.
Peter's mouth opened and closed, stuttered sounds tumbling from his lips. He looked at Bex. "He's gonna show it to Mr. Dell and we might get suspended but then he said he's gonna show it to MJ—"
"To MJ?" Bex cried out, her dark brows furrowing together in horror. Her fingers were lit with a familiar blue light, darker than water glinting under sunlight.
"One Fire Blade— I have good aim!" Thea reasoned as Peter shot her an incredulous look. "We can fix this!"
"I said no killing people!" he hissed, his voice higher from panic. "Both of you!"
"Okay, put your one foot in front of the other, and, everybody, back on the bus!" Mr. Dell announced with startling energy. He marched down the wooden steps with a bottle of water in one hand and an armada of their classmates trailing behind them as the doors to the pitch-black bus slid open.
The trio didn't waste time in hurrying back, trying to force their way to the front of the group. Thea could see Brad's glossy dark hair towering above everyone else and grabbing the back seat. She quickly snatched a double-seater at the very front. Bex occupied the seat directly behind them, sticking her head through the crevice between Thea and Peter. She craned her neck past her shoulder, watching Brad all the way in the back stare intently at his phone.
"What's he even doing?" Bex grumbled incredulously. "Adding filters? Hashtags?"
"Yeah, hashtag-suspended, hashtag-freaky four." Thea nudged Peter who hastily searched his bag for his EDITH glasses. "Hashtag-you better figure out what to do before I steer."
"Okay, okay, I got it," Peter murmured, twisting and wringing his fingers as he sunk lower in his seat. "Uh, EDITH? Hey. There's this guy in my class who's gonna ruin everything and..." His voice rose a bit from incoherent mumbling. "Um, Brad Davis, he has a photo of us... Is Brad a target? Yeah, yeah, he's a target." His eyes suddenly widened, blanching in fear. "Initiating what, now? EDITH?"
