Sahara stared at the twins, they returned it. Slowly, Sahara turned to glance at Alegra, she didn't even blink. Her eyes turned to Orion whose face was blank, and then to Naomi who was chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip. Gaze returning to her own cards, Sahara slowly pulled out a card. All eyes watched her.
"Five," Sahara announced as she slapped the card down.
"Six," Alegra retorted at once as she added her own.
The twins exchanged a glance.
"Out," Arden announced for them.
"Out," Orion followed their lead.
All eyes turned to Naomi. She looked up. The twins leaned forward in anticipation.
"Out, out, out, out," Reagan chanted.
Naomi looked back at her cards.
"Out, out, out, out," Reagan continued.
Slowly, Naomi reached for a card.
Everyone held their breaths.
"Seven," Naomi chirped happily as she slammed the card down.
"What!" Sahara exclaimed.
"No!" Reagan covered his face and Arden let his head drop to the table.
Orion shook his head as he pushed his chair back and Alegra stared at the little girl in disbelief.
"That's the fifth one in a row!" Reagan complained. He turned to glare at Alegra. "Why did you ever teach her how to play Howden?"
"Hey, I didn't know she'd get this good," Alegra defended herself. "But..." a smile spread over her face, "we might be able to make some real points hustling some people if she keeps this up."
Chaos broke out around the table and Sahara sat back and watched. The twins had taught her how to play Howden a little while back. It was apparently a very popular card game in Regona.
"Not fair, you taught her how to cheat!" Reagan was accusing Alegra.
"You're disturbing people," Alegra replied as she motioned to the area around them. As Drake's Café was still closed, the crew had headed to another. It was too hot to stay in the warehouse. Now, they were seated in the back of the café and playing cards together.
Sahara glanced towards the main room. Terrell was the only one who had opted out. He was currently sitting at the bar where he had somehow gotten a girl to buy him some sort of blue drink. As the café had no strawberry milk, he had a lollipop stuck in his mouth. When Sahara saw him make the girl beside him laugh, she turned away. She didn't want to see it. It set off a pang of something inside her she'd never felt before.
When she turned around, she found Arden watching her. He raised his eyebrows, yet she ignored him.
"This sucks," Alegra muttered as she tossed her cards on the table.
"Losing usually does," Arden replied.
"No...I don't mean Howden. We haven't had a race in a week."
"And it's still ridiculously hot," Sahara added.
Alegra nodded. "I hate to say this. But our whole plan of moving up in rank isn't going too well."
True. At this rate, it's going to take years to get to the top and get Rayne's attention. Sahara leaned her chin in her hands. How will I ever get home? The thought took her by surprise. She had almost forgotten about the Kane's in the last few weeks. She felt guilt engulf her. The whole reason I started this was to get home. She looked up at the others. And yet...it almost feels like I've found a home here. She shook her head. No. This isn't my world. I've got to get back to my real family.
"Orion?" Alegra's voice drifted into Sahara's thoughts.
"It's not that easy," Orion replied. "We had the twins try get another challenge. No one in the next ten seems interested."
"It means we don't have a reputation," Arden murmured.
"We have moved up little though," Reagan tried to see the bright side.
Alegra shook her head. "It's still far from the top."
"It's taking too long," Sahara murmured.
All eyes turned to her.
"I just thought it would be a lot quicker," Sahara told them.
"How many points are you willing to pay for a reputation that'll get you challenges like never before?" Terrell's voice asked from behind Sahara.
She jumped in surprise.
Alegra glared at him as though disapproving his sudden interruption. "Tsk, as if you could make that happen," she told him dryly. "Stop trying to get points for things you can't do."
Terrell just grinned as he took a chair from a nearby table and sat down with the crew.
"Besides, if you could do that then why didn't you before?" Alegra added.
Terrell shrugged. "Maybe because I wanted to see how far you could get on your own."
Alegra rolled her eyes.
"Could you make it happen?" Sahara asked.
Orion was watching closely, as though to measure Terrell's answer to the question.
Terrell turned to Sahara. "I'm not sure if you want to go that way. If you continue to do what you were, you'll build your reputation slowly and solidly but..."
"It'll take time," Sahara finished for him.
Terrell nodded.
"And...say if you could make our reputation grow, what then?" Arden asked as he leaned forward in anticipation.
Terrell shrugged. "You'll have little room to breathe from one challenge to the next. Not to mention, you may have some challenges that are a waste and time consuming."
It was Alegra's laugh that broke the tension. "Yeah. Like you could make something like that happen." She got to her feet. "I say, let's go find somewhere else to cool off. This place is getting too crowded."
The others didn't protest as they got up. Sahara, however, paused. She stayed by Terrell as the others began to make their way from the café. Once they were out of earshot, she turned to him.
"Can you do it?" she asked. Something told her he could.
Terrell looked at her. "Do you want me to?"
Sahara paused.
"Things will get crazy, and they may get too much to handle. I can't tell you the outcome."
"If it gets us to the top faster..." Sahara paused, "then I don't see why not."
A smile spread across Terrell's face.
"Besides," Sahara couldn't resist. "The twins...the others...they all seem to have placed a lot of trust in you. That means that if we face any trouble, you'll be there to help us, right?"
Terrell's smile disappeared. "Are you trying to force me to protect you or something?" he asked.
Sahara grinned cheekily. "I don't know. We pay you so much rent I thought it's only fair." She bounded out of reach before Terrell could react, and with a laugh she hurried up to catch up with the others. Terrell got up and followed with a grin on his face.
There was barely anyone outside. It was too hot for that. A message had been sent via bracelet that the cooling system would take a couple days to fix. It had already been over a week.
"Ah...how I miss the good old days," Reagan complained as they all walked lifelessly and aimlessly, trying to find somewhere cool to go. "They're even out of ice cream!"
"Stop reminding us," Alegra told him through gritted teeth.
"Where'd Terrell go?" Arden asked.
Sahara turned around to see that he had indeed disappeared.
"Probably off with some girl," Alegra muttered.
"I'm a girl," Naomi told her.
"I know that, honey," Alegra replied.
They continued to walk, the heat blasting down on them. In the end, they settled for another small restaurant where all they did was sit and order more cool drinks. No one talked much. In fact, the whole city seemed unusually quiet. And then, just like that, there was another shudder.
The twins sat up straight.
"It's fixed," Reagan said, hope in his eyes.
Arden nodded in agreement.
"How do you know?" Sahara asked.
All around the café teens were looking around and the murmuring began.
Orion had pulled up a screen on his bracelet. He typed away rapidly before looking up. He nodded his head once.
"We're saved!" Reagan exclaimed as he hugged his brother.
"Get off," Arden told him as he pushed his twin.
"How long till the heat goes?" Alegra asked Orion.
"It should start cooling off in an hour. Things should be back to normal around midnight," was the reply she got.
"Midnight," Naomi sang.
"Ahh..." Reagan pouted. "That's too long!"
"Better than it being never," Arden told him.
"So...what do we do until then?" Sahara asked. Since they weren't working at the café and they had no challenges, things had gotten pretty quiet.
"Sleep?" Naomi suggested.
"Are you crazy?" Reagan asked. "It's noon."
"It's never too early to sleep," Naomi replied jutting her chin out.
"You've been around Terrell too long," Sahara told her.
Orion pushed his chair back. "I say we might as well head back to the warehouse."
The others looked at him.
"You seriously want to go sleep?" Arden asked.
"No. But resting while we can isn't a bad idea."
"Rest from doing what?" Alegra muttered.
"We don't know when Jack is going to open the café again," Orion pointed out. "And who knows when we'll get a challenge."
"You have a point there," Sahara agreed.
They paid for their drinks and headed back to the warehouse. Terrell wasn't there and no one bothered to call him. He disappeared a lot, so it wasn't unusual. In the end they ended up doing little other than just hanging out. Naomi fell asleep on the carpet with Mo next to her. Alegra sat in a chair, staring into the air while Orion started doing something on his bracelet again. Reagan lay half on the couch and Arden sat on the floor with his back against it, making clicking noises to signify how bored he was. Sahara watched with little interest. The heat was slowly decreasing, however, it was still hot for any of the crew to feel like doing much.
Suddenly, Orion sat up straight. "What in the..."
Sahara turned her eyes towards him, Alegra and the twins didn't even move.
"You okay?" Sahara asked lazily.
Orion looked up, his eyes filled with wonder. "You won't believe this."
Arden stopped clicking and Reagan suddenly looked alert. Even Alegra stopped staring into space and turned her attention to Orion. He was busy pouring over something on the 3D hologram screen before him.
"Spit it out. What's up?" Alegra asked in a bored tone.
"Some of the chat rooms..." Orion looked up, "They're suddenly discussing the same thing."
"Which is...?"
"Us."
"Seriously?" Reagan asked.
Orion nodded. The twins scrambled to their feet and rushed over to him. One looked over each of his shoulders.
"Whoa," Reagan breathed.
Alegra sat up.
"What's going on?" Sahara asked.
"It wouldn't have caught my attention if it was just one. But four different ones at once," Orion murmured without looking up. "I know it's not RCR, but still..."
Sahara knew of the chat rooms. There was one main one known as RCR. Terrell had told her that before the virus it was already a place where if something major happened, it would end up being discussed by the citizens on RCR. However, there were a lot of smaller chat rooms that existed separately from RCR. Apparently being talked about in more than one of these was not a small deal either.
"What are they saying?" Alegra asked.
There was no reply as the boys were too engrossed in reading to head her any attention.
With a sigh, Alegra got up and walked towards them. She shoved Reagan out of the way and took his spot behind Orion.
"Hey!" Reagan protested, yet he found another spot from which he could see.
Sahara watched, not wanting to cause the space around Orion to get too crowded.
"Who spouted this nonsense?" Arden asked. "It's..."
"Perfect," Alegra breathed.
Arden shot her a surprised look.
"With this, our bluff will really get out there," Alegra explained.
That got Sahara's attention. "What does it say?"
Reagan looked up, a grin on his face. "Oh, just some gossip about us being a mysterious new crew. Apparently we're a 'real threat'...oh, and something about you..." he looked back at the screen, "quote, being a freakily scary and mysterious leader who's appeared from nowhere and is going to take the city by storm, end quote."
"Scary?" Sahara asked.
Reagan nodded.
"You're also apparently someone who's been sitting around watching because no one was worth racing and now you're on a search to find someone who can match your skills," Arden added.
"What?"
"I can't find a source," Orion said as he looked confused. "There's no trace...it really started out with more than one person."
"I wonder how..." Alegra began. She never got to finish as the warehouse door burst open so hard that Naomi woke and sat straight up, her eyes wide. Mo dashed for cover.
All eyes turned to find Terrell standing there. He looked mighty pleased with himself.
"Good news," he announced as he strolled in. "You've got a challenge."
"Really?" Reagan asked excitedly.
Terrell nodded.
Sahara noticed that both Orion and Alegra looked at Terrell with gazes that were filled with suspicion.
"Just like that?" Alegra asked.
"Apparently you're reputation went up...people seem to be finally actually talking about you," Terrell replied as he walked over to Sahara.
"And you wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?" Orion asked the question weighing on his mind.
"Hey, you're crew is actually getting talked about for once. Isn't that all that should matter?" Terrell winked at Sahara, confirming her suspicion.
How? She couldn't help but wonder as Terrell turned to face the others.
"It's bound to make you get a lot more challenges," Terrell continued.
"And how exactly did all this start?" Orion wasn't about to give up.
"Someone may have spread some rumors," Terrell said.
Alegra shot him a suspicious look. "And that someone would be who exactly?"
"Hey," Terrell defended himself. "An image will help you all rise faster."
"More challenges equals more racing," Reagan agreed.
"What makes you think we can keep winning?" Orion asked.
Terrell raised an eyebrow. "Against this small fry?"
"Says the one who hasn't raced even once!" Alegra told him.
"Hey," Terrell help up his hands in defense. "I'm an advisor here, remember? I leave the racing up to the experts." He grinned as he said it, as though in on some sort of joke.
Alegra watched him, her eyes narrowed.
"Um..." Sahara spoke up timidly.
"When do we race?" Arden cut her off.
"Race?" Naomi asked as she sleepily rubbed her eyes.
"Well," Terrell reached the counters. He pulled himself up so that he sat on one. "They actually want to talk to you first." He pointed a figure at Sahara.
"Me?" she asked.
Terrell nodded. "Apparently you're a pretty scary boarder. Their leader wanted to talk to you; make the challenge official."
"When?" Alegra repeated Arden's question.
"When it cools down a bit," Terrell replied.
"So...around midnight?" Reagan asked.
"Nah, not that late. Two hours from now."
"That's good," Orion said.
"Nope. It actually isn't," Terrell replied as he pulled a lollipop out of his pocket.
Alegra raised her eyebrows.
"You see," he began to unwrap it. "There's a reason they want to meet Sahara in person."
"Which is?" Alegra asked.
"They're not a stupid crew." Terrell popped the lollipop into his mouth. "The Sahara in the rumors is a tough, possibly even scary, person.
"So?" Reagan asked while Naomi eyed the lollipop.
"Have you met Sahara?" Terrell replied as he pulled another lollipop from his pocket. He held it out and Naomi scurried over and happily took it from him. Terrell didn't react as the little girl managed to somehow get up on the counter beside him. Unwrapping her lollipop, she happily began to eat it.
Orion looked up. "What you're saying is that they want to meet Sahara in person first to confirm the rumors."
Terrell popped the lollipop out and pointed it at Orion. "Bingo."
"In other words...if the Sahara they meet doesn't act like the rumors...they'll call our bluff and not race," Orion finished off.
"You got it." Terrell put the lollipop back in his mouth.
"Sahara just has to act like the rumors say," Arden spoke up.
"That's genius!" Reagan announced.
Sahara shifted uncomfortably. "And...how exactly am I supposed to act?"
"Like Alegra," Terrell told her. He got a glare form Alegra and yet ignored it.
"Show them your teeth and growl!" Naomi yelled.
"Frown and glare at anyone and everything," Reagan added.
"Don't speak a word, go for the silent type," Arden suggested.
Orion nodded to that one.
"If she's going to act the part, she needs to dress the part!" Alegra joined in.
Sahara somehow got the feeling that everyone was excited at suddenly having something to do.
"Um..." Sahara tried.
"I'll get her dressed!" Alegra announced.
"Bu..." Sahara never got to finish as she found herself being dragged away by the other girl towards the bathroom.
She was in there for at least half an hour. Alegra ran around, gathering clothes. She forced Sahara to try out one thing after the other. When she was finally satisfied, she began to work on her hair. Sahara gave up trying to protest, for the other girl was dead set on what she was doing. Instead, she sat silently, letting Alegra do her work. At one point, Alegra started doing something to her hair using some sort of light from her bracelet.
"I'm adding streaks," Alegra told her.
With the bracelet? Sahara wondered.
In the next moment, Alegra walked in front of her and pulled up a screen on her hologram. To Sahara's surprise, she did a 3D scan of her face.
"What are you doing?" Sahara asked as Alegra began to do something to the 3D image.
Alegra glanced up in surprise. "Makeup," she told Sahara.
How is that doing makeup? Sahara wondered. She watched in silence as Alegra continued what she was doing to the 3D hologram.
Finally, she nodded to herself. "How does this look?" she asked as she made the image turn.
Sahara found herself staring at an image of her own face. The only difference was that the one before her was wearing heavy makeup, especially dark eyeliner.
"Um..." Sahara wasn't too sure about it.
"It gives off a 'don't mess with me' look," Alegra told her. Before Sahara could say another word, Alegra held the 3D image up right in front of her.
"What...?" Sahara began.
"Hold still," Alegra warned.
Sahara watched in wonder as lights sprung out towards her face. She felt a tingle.
"Close your eyes," Alegra ordered.
Sahara did so.
"Alright, we're done," she was told a moment later.
Slowly, Sahara opened her eyes. Was that how they do their makeup here? She thought in surprise.
"One last thing," Alegra told her as she pulled something out form her pocket and un-wrapped it. She stuck it into Sahara's mouth.
"Wh...?"
"Chew," Alegra commanded.
Sahara did as she was told only to realize that the thing was gum.
"Okay, let's go," Alegra announced as she lead the way to the door.
Sahara got to her feet unsteadily, swaying from side to side. She made it to the door, using the frame to support herself.
"Let me present to you the new Sahara," Alegra was announcing to the others. When Sahara didn't appear, she turned and pulled her out. "Tada," she said.
Sahara walked out, her head shyly down.
"Come on," Alegra whispered. "Add some swag. Be a bad girl. Someone full of confidence." She pushed her forward.
Sahara stumbled a few steps before recovering. Confidence, she told herself. Slowly, she lifted her head. Jutting her chin out, she began to walk. She placed one leg in front of the other, her hips swaying at every step she took. She wore black boots with heels, the cause of her constant stumbling. Jeans shorts with a few holes were topped off by a brown loose shirt with a black leather jacket over it. Her hair had streaks added to it and was stylishly swept to the side. It shone more than it had in her entire life. Eyeliner surrounded her eyes and she chewed a wad of gum as she looked from one corner of the room to the other, seeming to take in everything.
The twins had leaned forward, mouths dropping, Naomi was staring, as though she didn't recognize this person, and Orion had his eyebrows raised. Even Terrell looked surprised while Alegra stood back, a pleased expression on her face.
"You did it," Arden whispered in awe.
"Wow," was all Reagan could say.
Orion nodded in approval.
And then Sahara stumbled and swallowed her gum. She began to choke. Alegra jumped forward and began to pat her on the back.
"I...don't think I can do this," Sahara gasped. She was having a hard time walking in the heels and she felt very self conscious. This just wasn't her.
"Hey, if we're going to pull off this bluff we're all going to have to pitch in," Alegra told her as she continued to pat her on the back.
"This might actually work," Arden said.
Sahara looked in Terrell's direction. He was looking at her thoughtfully.
"She looks like a zombie," he commented.
"Scary," Naomi agreed.
"I think she looks hot," Reagan announced.
Sahara went beetroot as Arden nodded in agreement.
"I like her better without all the paint." Terrell said.
"It's makeup," Alegra snapped.
"Paint," Naomi said from beside Terrell.
"That's it, twerp!" Terrell and her high fived.
Sahara grabbed a chair to support herself as she swayed again.
"Has she already reached the age of rebellion?" Alegra muttered as she looked at Naomi. She shook her head and turned to glare at Terrell. "You're a bad influence."
"What makes you say that?" He asked curiously.
"You're self centered."
Terrell didn't bother to deny it.
"Often a jerk," Alegra had begun to count it down on her fingers.
"Yes."
"A pain in the butt."
"Sure."
"Mooch all our money."
"Mm."
"Have a terrible taste in what to get addicted to."
"Uh huh."
"No sense of dignity."
"Yeah."
"A terrible boarder."
"Y–" Terrell paused. "Ha," he broke into a grin. "You almost got me on that one."
Sahara stared at him in disbelief. He would agree to everything else but that? She wobbled again.
"So, how about we head out and get us that challenge?" Orion took the moment to interrupt.
"Do you really think we can pull this off?" Sahara asked.
"Sure," Alegra told her.
Sahara wasn't so sure.
"Okay then, Falcons, shall we go?" Orion got up.
"Have fun," Terrell told them.
"You're coming with us," Alegra told him firmly.
Before Terrell could move, the twins leapt up and each grabbed one of his arms. They began to drag him outside.
"This is kidnapping!" Terrell yelled.
"Yay!" Naomi replied as she ran after them.
Alegra turned to Sahara. "Ready?"
"I can't board in these," Sahara told her in panic as she pointed to her boots.
Alegra let out a sigh. She walked to Sahara, knelt down, and pressed something next to the heel.
To Sahara's surprise, the heels of her boots snapped into the sole above, making them boots without heels.
"Better?" Alegra asked.
Sahara nodded, her eyes wide in wonder. Regona never ceased to amaze her.
"Alright, let's go kick some butt." Alegra cheerfully turned and followed the others.
Sahara followed, feeling a lot less confident than the others. This is crazy, she thought.