The Juniors - The Villains of Valley View

THIRTEEN / "Kind of Like a Cavity"

I cocked my head. "Are you implying that I should start using my powers?" I asked because it sounded a lot like he was.

"No; your powers are useless."

I dropped my mouth open in shock. How could he call my powers useless? Not only have I helped out countless times on missions, but I could make Josie Junior a member of the National Honor Society with one shift of my eyes if I wanted to!

"What would Renee say about this?" I asked. It was the only thing I could think of. And then I thought about how Jaxon isn't a completely heartless asshole. "What would North say? How would you feel if Jake found out you were Justice?"

He seemed to pause for a moment. But I can never tell when something gets to Jaxon or when he's just really annoyed. He frowned, meaning it was most likely the latter, and finally shut the door in my face.

I huffed out a breath and turned on my heels to walk away. There is no way he's getting away with this. There's no way we make it past this without being detected.

~~

"What's got you in such a funk?" Renee asked when I stepped into the kitchen.

I threw my head back and groaned. This isn't something I'm interested in talking about with her. I didn't want to just outright snitch on Jaxon in case he really was going to think about what I brought up. Maybe my words did sort of resonate with him?

Maybe I'm giving him too much of the benefit of the doubt. This is Justice we're talking about. Someone who is extremely and annoyingly selfish. He's a certified asshole, and I don't even know why I waste my time.

That's why I don't want to bring it up to Lawmaker. I don't need to spend anymore time on him. After our little 'talk' I spent an hour trolling on Twitter, and now I'm hungry.

"I'm hungry," I grumbled on the way to the fridge. I sighed and pulled it open. Wait... did I see something— someone in the corner of my eye?

I turned my head slowly to see Eva Madden sitting at the island with Renee and facing me and the fridge.

"Oh. Uh, hi, Mrs. Madden," I said with a frown. My eyes shifted to Renee as I gave her a look of confusion, my eyebrows raised to the sky.

"How are you, Josie?" the blonde asked.

It took me a moment to ease up. I wasn't used to seeing our neighbors in my kitchen. Amy and Jake sometimes sprawled on my couch or in Jaxon's or my room, sure. And sometimes Amy sat up on the island with me in-between her legs and playing with her soft, bouncy hair— um anyway (that only happened once or twice). So no, I wasn't used to Eva or any of the Maddens being in my kitchen. At least not while I was around.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good. How 'bout—" I paused to chuckle. "How about you?"

"Fine, thanks, darling."

I smiled briefly before settling back on the fridge. "What's the occasion?" I asked rather distractedly. There was finally fruit in this fridge, but I wasn't sure if I wanted an apple from here or Cheetos from my secret stash in the cupboard. Duh. Definitely the latter. I closed the fridge as I waited for a reply from Renee that probably would not be coming.

"I can't have friends over?" Renee asked. Ah yes, her signature of answering questions with questions.

I don't know why she has to do things like that, but she always has. Supposedly it's to make sure she stays in charge, but I don't think anyone's really charging to uphold that mantle these days. Not when this town is what we've been given to work with. So maybe she should quit it.