They couldn’t tell the entire truth about either of these facts. The authorities wouldn’t find two of the stolen vials because they had exploded in the Sahara, and they wouldn’t be able to tell them how the bombs had gotten there. But they would have the footage of the vials from the Race, and the blond-bearded officer’s involvement in stealing them in the first place and setting up Chief Shar. Thanks to Malcolm’s alerts, the police and security had already discovered and detained most of the soldiers Muns had ready to attack. Thankfully, because Muns was in a virtual world, his order to attack had only gone to virtual soldiers. The real soldiers had not yet made their move.
“I have a feeling he won’t be walking free for a very long time,” Grandpa said, still grinning.
“Attack the school?” Abby’s father said.
“Yes, honey,” his wife said. “You’ve slept through quite a bit.”
“Is the school okay?”
“We’ll have some issues, I’m sure,” Grandpa said. “After what has happened this year, I’m sure parents will be concerned for their students’ safety. Thankfully, we haven’t lost one. In time, our good reputation will return.”
“I’m sure I have a lot to catch up on,” Abby’s father said.
“Yes,” Grandpa said. “And the best people to tell it would be your son and your daughter.”
Abby and Derick both smiled.
• • •
The electric guitar faded, and a woman in a glittering dress approached the edge of a large stage. The piano came in light and slow.
Oh, no. Another slow song.
Every Race ended with a dance.
“Oh, yeah!” Carol yelled. Abby watched as her best friend sprinted through the crowd to get to Derick first. He didn’t see her coming until she was only a few feet away. He didn’t have a chance. Apparently Carol didn’t care that the DJ had just finished announcing that this was a boy’s choice dance.
Abby laughed out loud. She couldn’t help it. At least Derick was there, alive and breathing. And he
had
admitted that Carol was cute.
And there was only one Derick and one of her. When they had traveled back in time fifteen minutes, there had been two of both of them. After those fifteen minutes were over, both Abbys and both Dericks melded into one. Abby wasn’t completely sure how it had happened, but it had. And she was grateful it had.
Abby was just glad the Race was over and everything was okay.
She took a deep breath as a boy passed her and asked a girl in a purple dress to dance. She watched as another boy asked a girl close to her. It was all happening again. She thought of what her brother had said in the message he’d sent when he thought he was going to die: sometimes people her age didn’t always see what made someone else so amazing. Maybe sometimes the very best girls aren’t invited to dance.
But it still hurt a little. She knew it didn’t make her any less pretty or fun to be around, but it bothered her.
She walked toward the door.
Then she stopped. If she could win the Race and destroy a tranquilizer bomb, she could face a slow song.
Abby began to walk around the gym. Boys too shy to ask girls leaned their chairs up against the walls or joked loudly with their also-too-shy friends. At first, Abby thought she’d find one that looked the shyest, the easiest to ask, but then she remembered all the ways she had been brave before. Might as well do it right. She searched until she found someone she wanted to dance with. A boy from her English class. He was speaking with several of his friends.
Abby’s pulse quickened as she walked up to the group. In some ways she would rather face a tranquilizer bomb.
“Hey, Greydon,” she said, hoping her voice wasn’t trembling. “Do you want to dance?”
Her heart beat loudly.
“Um, I think it’s boys’ choice,” one of Greydon’s friends said.
“Okay then,” Abby said. “Do you want to ask
me
to dance?” She couldn’t believe how brave she was being.
Greydon smiled. “Um. Sure. Would you like to dance?” He took her arm and they walked into the crowd and started to dance. It had worked. It had actually worked. And Greydon didn’t even seem disappointed.
The dance was both fantastic and awkward at the same time. They tried to talk a little, but they practically had to scream to hear each other over the music. It’s really hard to get to know someone that way. She was pretty sure he complimented her on how well she’d done in the Race. And thought she was pretty cool. Before she knew it, the dance was over.
“Thanks,” Abby said.
“Yeah, thanks,” Greydon answered, and turned and moved back to his friends.
That went all right. It took a little courage, but it went all right.
But Abby hoped the next slow dance wasn’t for a little while longer.
The woman in a glittering dress faded and the next song began.
“Well, congratulations on your win.” The words came from a girl. They were a compliment, but they sure sounded like an insult.
Jacqueline.
Abby hadn’t seen her approach, her boyfriend in tow. “And you even talked a poor boy into dancing with you.”
“Hey, Jackie, calm down,” the boyfriend said.
She sneered back, for once being rude when a boy could see.
“Thanks for the compliment,” Abby said, ignoring that it wasn’t meant as one. “And Greydon seems nice.”
Jacqueline smiled like a beast about to eat. “Sooner or later he’ll figure out that you don’t deserve to be here, that you—”
“I’m sorry,” a deep voice said. “You saying something?” Abby turned. It was Malcolm. He stood tall and broad-shouldered, his large arms folded over his chest. He glared down at Jacqueline through his dreadlocks.
But it wasn’t just Malcolm.
It was everybody. Anjum, Maria, Piper, Rafa, Derick, Nia, and Jess.
Nia folded her arms too and stood on her tiptoes. “Yeah,” she said.
“I . . . I,” Jacqueline stammered.
“Because if you’ve got a problem with Abby,” Maria said, “you’ve got a problem with all of us.”
“I don’t have a problem,” Jacqueline said, backing away from the group. She smiled big, showing off her gleaming teeth. “You must have misunderstood what I was saying.”
“Leave my sister alone,” Derick said firmly. “Don’t misunderstand that.”
Jacqueline and her boyfriend walked away.
“Yeah,” Carol added, “or I’ll give you some of this.” She did a karate kick. “Or this.” She did another. “Or maybe some of this.” She chopped in succession as fast as she could.
“Carol, give it up,” Malcolm said.
“Are you sure I can’t just kick her once?” Carol asked, pantomiming a kick. “Because I really,
really
want to.”
“I can fight my own battles,” Abby said.
Carol nodded. “All right. You’ve definitely proved that. So
you
kick her.”
Abby laughed. “No. That’s not my style.” She would let it go. She’d prove every day that she belonged at Cragbridge Hall, that she was good enough. Maybe Jacqueline would figure it out; maybe she wouldn’t. That was her choice.
“It doesn’t look like her boyfriend appreciated what she was saying,” Piper said, and pointed across the gym. Jacqueline tried to grab his hand, but he pulled away. He said something they couldn’t hear, and pointed in Abby’s direction. Maybe over time people figure out how we are. They see the good or the bad—whichever we try harder at.
Mr. Sul stood on the stage at the front of the gym. He brushed back his dark hair. “Thanks to everyone for coming to this dance,” he said, his voice amplified. He didn’t have the charisma of Landon or Sarah. “I have a few announcements that should probably be shared with the whole school. Thankfully, the bomb threat was an empty one,” Mr. Sul lied. Of course, telling everyone that there
had
been bombs—and that they had been discovered using a time machine, grabbed by a student and a falcon, and thrown in the Sahara Desert, where they had exploded safely away from everyone—probably would have been too complicated.
Abby glanced over at Derick. She was incredibly grateful to have him around. He had done better than he was supposed to. He had changed his future. And she was very optimistic that his future from here on out looked very bright.
“As I’m sure you’ve heard,” Mr. Sul continued, “sadly, we did have a member of our security involved in several thefts. He is awaiting trial now.” Abby and the Spartans would have to testify in the case. “We are sorry for all of the trouble, but we must be cautious in these situations.” He gazed over the entire student body. “We are also grateful for those security and police officers who discovered armed people in the crowd outside the school. We aren’t sure what their intentions were, but our security had it well under control.”
Abby remembered all too well how it would have gone if she hadn’t changed it. She remembered the battle, the soldiers invading the school. Thankfully, with Muns stunned and in the virtual booth, he never had the chance to give the final order. The soldiers were detained before they could do much harm.
“And now, I’ll turn it over to our student body officers.”
Mr. Sul stood awkwardly on the stage while Landon and Sarah walked out.
“Thank you, Mr. Sul,” Landon said, wearing a big smile, a black suit, and his hair in its usual spikes. “And thanks again for coming to the dance that ends . . . the . . . Race!” The crowd cheered. Sarah, wearing a black dress with a silver jacket, moved her hands up and down, signaling for more noise. The crowd answered. The student body officers both held the audience’s attention much better than Mr. Sul had.
“We never got a chance to fully recognize our winners,” Sarah said. “Please welcome to the stage . . . the Spartans!” After the first cheer, Sarah cupped her hand to her ear and got more noise from the crowd. “Come on up, guys!” Both Landon and Sarah waved the team to the front.
A slow dance, and then having to go in front of everyone from school. Not Abby’s favorite night.
Abby made her way to the stage. Most of the team beat her there. She hoped her light-blue dress looked okay.
“One more round of applause for Anjum, Jess, Malcolm, Nia, Maria, Piper, Rafa, Carol, Derick, and Abby!” Landon cheered, working the crowd.
Abby tried to smile big and wave, but she was pretty sure it was clear that she was completely uncomfortable.
Sarah reached into a black velvet case and pulled out a trophy. “Each of you gets one of these!” she said, holding the trophy high.
“You have proved you are some of the best and brightest at this school,” Landon said. One by one, Landon and Sarah gave each of them a trophy.
“And of course,” Landon said, “there is still the box.” A security officer, flanked by two more, brought out the black box. “Because of the recent controversies, security is going to have to check out the key inside the box.” The students in the crowd didn’t know how to react. Each member of the Spartans pressed their fingers to the box. Abby could feel herself being scanned, and then the box fell open. The security officers took the box away. Grandpa would make sure that Mrs. Flink got her key back.
“Here is a replacement key,” Sarah said. “It unlocks a safe in the Cragbridge Hall main office, a safe that contains scholarships for all the members of the team for the rest of their years at Cragbridge Hall.”
The crowd went crazy. It was an expensive school to attend, and the team members had all just received free passes. “And unlimited milkshakes for the rest of the year?” Carol asked hopefully.
“Don’t push it,” Abby said, elbowing her friend. But she knew very well her grandfather would give them to Carol if she asked. He had upped the scholarship prize to the team’s entire stay at the school. The real prize had only been for a month’s tuition, but a group of students
had
saved the world, so Grandpa felt he could reward them a bit more.
“Now let’s get back to dancing!” Sarah said.
The crowd responded with yells and jumping up and down.
Before they left the stage, Anjum called all of the team together. They huddled in a circle. “You deserve these,” he said, pointing to the trophies. He still looked a little nervous with all the people around. “You deserve them more than most people here know.” He smiled. “The person impersonating me told you he wanted you happy on this day, the day you won. Are you?”
Abby smiled and nodded.
“Did we ever figure out who was impersonating you?” Piper asked.
“No,” Anjum said. “And he could have been anywhere. Mr. Silverton is still trying to track it.”
“Well, if we find him, let’s use the robots again and I’ll shoot him for y’all,” Malcolm said.
“One more thing,” Abby said. “I know my grandpa told you how much he appreciates all you’ve done and how grateful he is that you’ve promised to keep his secret.” Abby paused. “I am too. And I was hoping that if we ever have any sort of emergency again, that we could call on you.”
“Definitely,” Nia said.
“The Spartans will make another stand—whenever you need,” Anjum said.
“I’m just glad it wasn’t a last stand,” Maria said.
“So am I,” Malcolm said. “And so is my mama.”
Abby was grateful too. It had been so close.
They had done it. Abby stood next to Derick in the circle and just squeezed his shoulder. She didn’t want to embarrass him. He squeezed back. She’d had quite an experience her first year at Cragbridge Hall. She wondered what the future would bring. She had felt tempted to use the Bridge to see, but she’d decided against it. Even if it wasn’t good, she would just have to do something to make it better. Might as well just work for the better future without seeing it.
Acknowledgments
I used to teach. Those were good days. Once a year I, along with some other teachers, would invite students to be as creative as possible and do a project related to a theme we had studied. The students astounded us. They painted pictures, wrote and recorded songs, took amazing photos, engineered model buildings, and filmed and edited impressive movies. I remember one of them even made a giant rubberband ball bigger than your head. (I don’t remember how the ball fit the theme, but I definitely remember that ball.) I learned that if you give students a little room and a little time, they will create something awesome. Though they never designed virtual samurai worlds or relay races using crazy inventions, I think the seed for the Race was in there somewhere. Thanks to all the creative kids out there!