Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 23 - Like Father, Like Daughter - IV

  After a few mouthfuls, Damian spoke up again. "So Q, how much homework did you pile up for today?"

  Quinn shook his head. "I got most of it done already."

  Annette looked up sharply. "You did? When?"

  "...In California," he said, shrugging.

  Damian laughed. "So that's what you were doing all day in your room?"

  "Well I had plans today," said Quinn, with a sideways glance at Natalie. Her ears got hot. She quickly dug into her french toast, not wanting to look up at anyone at the table.

  "Slow down there, Jenny," said Damian. "Don't choke on it."

  Natalie slowed down, though she still didn't want to look up at them. She wondered how long it would take Quinn to catch on to the teasing. Half of her just wanted to shout it out right away, but now that she knew he hadn't actually said it, she was worried what he might think.

  Of course, her fears doubled over a moment later as the topic shifted.

  "You're lucky we booked our trip back last week," said Damian. "Apparently, getting a flight out here right now is impossible."

  "Is it now?" asked Annette mildly.

  "I heard it from Phil. Said there's such a huge uptick over the last couple days that they might declare a state of emergency. People are flooding in from all over the country. Some people even further away."

  "Oh, honestly," sighed Annette. "What do they think they're going to find?"

  "Magic, duh," said Quinn.

  Natalie looked up, surprised. She hadn't really understood what they were talking about. She hadn't looked up anything on the news, too afraid of what might be there. About her, her father, about any of them.

  "What do you mean?" asked Annette.

  "It's the big trending tag of the weekend," said Damian, while Annette fished another piece of bacon off the center plate. "Supposedly, if you go to the Rallsburg site, you can learn how to do magic."

  Oh... oh no. That's... not totally wrong. I mean, it's not likely, but if someone finds a Scrap or something floating around...

  "That sounds crazy," said Quinn, with a straight face.

  "That's what I said," agreed Annette, throwing Damian a look.

  He shrugged. "Do you see me packing my bags for a road trip? I'm with you."

  "But people are gonna try anyway, right?" asked Quinn.

  "Sure," said Damian, nodding. "Probably won't affect us too much up here. Most of it's gonna be south of SeaTac. Olympia's gonna be a mess though."

  "Thus the governor's state of emergency?" asked Annette.

  "Probably. I mean, Rallsburg's right on the border of a national park. They're not gonna be happy about people trampling all over. It was bad enough with the huge FBI sweeps."

  "It's such a nice park, too," sighed Annette.

  "Yeah. I loved it there," said Natalie.

  They all looked at her, slightly surprised. Natalie shrunk in her chair a little. "Sorry," she murmured.

  Damian laughed. "Not at all, Jenny. Feel free to jump in any time."

  "If you don't, my husband will never shut up," added Annette.