The Juniors - The Villains of Valley View

SEVENTEEN / "...Is Bliss "

Nah. Can't be Jake. He's too much of a goody.

But his fiery ass little sister. I knew something was off about her the second she found friendship with Josie. And she's a little bit weird. All the mood swings and anger. Shit. Wait, no fucking way the targets have been in front of our faces the whole fucking time...

"I was just using it! And then that song came on, the one I hate—"

"Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon?"

"Yes! And I don't know, I was using it and then it just snapped, like... so can you help or not?"

Of course I'd help my best friend. But... he's an assignment. Not one I care to ace, because that would imply Renee was capable of leading her team to victory, and I couldn't have that happening. "It's pretty Chao—tic in there, isn't it?" I teased subtly. I kept a scrutinizing look on my face as Jake's eyes widened.

"I— yes! Just come on!" Jake faltered slightly but eventually regained his speech ability.

My hands waved unsurely in the air for a second. "Wait— I just need to—" I turned around to the couple that was still looking. "You guys aren't going to steal anything right?"

They turned to give me a weird look before going back to whatever they were doing.

"Cool, great!" I exclaimed before running after Jake.

When we got to the kitchen in the Round Up's eating spot, smoothie mix was gushing out of the dispensers.

I shut the back door and with wide eyes I went over to the machine. My brown and white adidas forums were getting soggy in the orange mix. "Dude, what the fuck?" I exhaled incredulously. "You're gonna clean this shit up right?"

Jake burst with anger. "Well, I need to stop it first!"

The machine hummed as I looked away from Jake. "If the gift shop is ransacked when I get back, I will never forgive you Jake."

"Whatever!" he yelled. Then he trudged through the sludge toward the machine. He looked around and stopped to look at me. "Do you see anything to stop it, Jaxon?"

"I think there's an outlet behind it," I responded. The smoothie maker was bigger than the counter it was on, but the counter itself was pressed tight against the wall. It was way too heavy for him to lift, but I knew I could. Even though I'm 60% sure he's probably a villain, I didn't want to expose my super strength.

Jake's eyes slowly closed. "It's making a huge mess. And worst of all, the store is losing a lot of money because of this. I have to stop it."

I frowned. "It has to stop at some point, right?"

"The backup generator is impossible to shut off, and it's hooked up to all the mix. Jeff fool proofed it when he left me the store for the weekend."

Jake earned a lot of responsibility for only working here a few weeks.

"Jaxon, what you're about to see, don't tell anyone about it."

I squinted in confusion as Jake removed his long sleeve Round Up work shirt. "Your scrawny arms?" I asked as he was just left in a white sleeveless shirt.

Jake rolled his eyes but grabbed the top of the machine and the countertop. This kid is absolutely delusional. There's no way he can—

But he did move it. It wasn't just moving inch-by-inch. Jake easily pushed it a foot away.