Chapter 28 — Staying in the Spotlight

  "Publicity is a strange beast. When I sought stardom in my youth, it fought back with every fiber of its being, as if I had offended its crass nature. No matter my method, I had to fight for every scrap of attention, clawing my way up the heap of my fellows to eke out my mere existence, forcing myself to the limelight I loathed in exchange for waves of tokens that put bread on my table and a roof over my head. I wonder then, if fame for fame's sake is so obstinate — if those whose stars shine brightest through sheer chance have ever seen a struggle like our own.

  If they haven't, is there any worth to such renown? Or is it merely notoriety, to be milked by the public to whatever end it desires?"

  ~Cinza, the Rallsburg Diaries

  Hailey swooped down onto the roof of the apartment, and Jessica let go. Hailey turned to her, gesturing downward, then pointing at Jessica.

  She frowned, pointing at herself, then created a quick picture in midair — a sketch of a car, with a fifth wheel floating in space beside it. She gestured at a space under the awning near the roof access, which looked like a perfect spot to stargaze or watch videos on her phone.

  "Of course not!" Hailey said emphatically, shaking her head to punctuate it. It's time Jessica got back into the world again.

  She took Jessica's hand in hers, which was nice and warm in spite of the November chill, with the wind blowing over the rooftop and fluttering their scarves. Jessica had taken to keeping a constant warmth spell going whenever they took flight, now that autumn had really hit home.

  "I want you to come," she added, pointing at herself, then between the two of them rapidly and nodding. "I want them to meet you."

  Jessica shrugged. She gave an overdramatic sigh, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward. She gestured to the door with a resigned flourish.

  Hailey grinned. She unlocked the door with a spell — a new design that Jonathan Hudson had posted on the site. He'd apparently been cooped up all week and decided to spend some of it working on new magic, and he'd come up with a Movement magic routine that would unlock virtually any mechanical lock without thought or effort, and even avoided tripping alarm sensors. The way he'd described it was so simple and straightforward, Hailey didn't even need to know why it worked. She just followed the steps, and boom — door unlocked.

  She held Jessica's hand tight and lead her down the stairs. They hit the landing right as Rupert emerged from the stairwell, a box in his hands.

  He nearly dropped it. "...I wasn't sure you were still coming," he said, his eyes wide. Hailey realized he hadn't seen her in person since she'd changed.

  "Come on," she said jovially. "I couldn't miss this."

  "Hi, Jess," he added, giving her a little wave. Jessica returned it, though as more footsteps echoed up the stairwell, she shrunk back a little. Jessica had long-since stopped caring what strangers thought of her, but this was different. These were Hailey's friends, and suddenly Jessica reverted to the old, shy girl Hailey had nearly forgotten.

  "...Jesus, Piao, what is in here?"

  "About four work servers, so don't you dare drop it."

  "Our electricity bill's gonna be massive…"

  "I can spend school grant money on it, it's okay."

  The pair of them emerged onto the landing, lugging a huge box between them. As they turned around, Trevor caught sight of Hailey.

  Hailey saw it coming a split second before it happened. His hands slipped, and his mouth fell open just as the box fell out of his hands.

  It stopped in mid-air.

  Elissa looked around, confused. "What the…" As she saw Hailey, she froze too — but only for a second. "I knew it!"

  "...What?" asked Hailey. She still had a hand out, palm upward, while she levitated the box in mid-air between the two of them. "You did?"

  She shook her head. "Okay, no, not this. But I knew you had some huge secret between the two of you!" Elissa turned to Rupert. "You're dating Hailey Winscombe?"

  Rupert smiled, but didn't say anything.

  "It's just floating…" Trevor muttered, staring at the heavy server equipment. "How's it…"

  Hailey grinned. She slid it out of the way, bringing it to rest halfway down the hall. "Mind opening the door for me?"

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  Hailey followed Elissa back down to the street, and — with a bit more effort than she'd expected — lifted every single remaining box in one huge load. They hurried back upstairs, past a gawking tenant on the staircase who practically dove out of the way of the levitating pile of boxes.

  Elissa laughed. "That is so awesome."

  "Sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner," said Hailey, even while she swung the boxes around the corner. She was constantly feeling out the hallway ahead with bursts of wind, so she knew there wasn't anyone in the way. "But, you know—"

  "Well, duh," said Elissa. "Don't worry about it, Hales."

  "I'm just glad I don't have to go by Hailey Johnson anymore," she added, as Elissa hurried to open the apartment door. "I can't believe that's all I could come up with."

  "I was going to ask, what's up with the long names anyway?" Elissa moved out of the way while Hailey rearranged the boxes so they'd fit through the door in order. She hovered them through like a cardboard train, settling them in a neat pile in the empty space at the corner of Trevor's apartment. "You and your mom both have them."

  "Family tradition," she replied. "It goes back to my great-great-great-grandmother."

  "Were you like, nobility?"

  "No. I'm pretty sure we were dirt poor, actually." She grinned. "We just liked to sound important."

  "You're really her," Trevor muttered, still staring dumbfounded.

  Hailey shrugged. "The one and only." She glanced around the boxes of stuff. "You want help unpacking, Elissa? I'm not doing anything today."

  "You aren't?" she asked. "Aren't you like, super famous? It's Friday, I thought you'd have loads of stuff to do at a time like this."

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  With how much my email's blowing up right now, I really wish I wasn't… Rupert glanced at her, obviously wondering the same thing. Hailey shook her head. "Today I'm just Hailey, and I'm hanging out with my friends."

  "That's how you beat me in arm wrestling!" Trevor exclaimed abruptly.

  Everyone looked at him. Elissa giggled. "Well, duh."

  "I want a fair rematch," he demanded.

  Hailey shook her head. "You'd still lose, man."

  "But—"

  She took a seat in the recliner near the window, near where Jessica had taken a spot in the corner, watching the people and the cars far below them. "Let's just have a day off, okay? It's been weeks, guys."

  "You've been busy," agreed Rupert, settling onto the couch next to her. "It's about time you had a real break."

  Elissa took a spot on the couch opposite, and after a few moments, Trevor sat down nearby. Hailey saw her shoot a glance toward him, and inch ever so slightly closer. She smiled. "So, how'd this happen? When I got the message from Rupert that you two were moving in together…"

  "Well, Piao's roommate was always leaving in November, and she never managed to find anyone else," said Trevor.

  "I tried," added Elissa. She kicked him in the knee gently. "But then I figured, Trevor needs a roommate too, and I hate my dorm anyway, so… why not?"

  "This is a pretty bad neighborhood though," said Hailey dubiously.

  "Forget that, though," said Trevor. He leaned forward slightly. "You're… you're… what's the word again?"

  "Awakened," supplied Elissa.

  "Yeah, that."

  Hailey nodded. "I am."

  Jessica made a noise suddenly, and pointed out the window far down into the street. Hailey glanced over. All the way in the alley opposite, a wall had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. A man was standing in front of it, confused. He took a step forward, as if to touch it.

  Jessica frowned. A rock hurtled out of nowhere through the illusory wall, striking the man in the stomach. Another followed, when he didn't get the message right away. After the third, he bolted.

  She turned back to Hailey, giving her a quick nod.

  "...What just happened?" asked Elissa, glancing between the two of them. "Also, who is that?"

  "This is Jess, my best friend." Hailey hesitated. "...She can't talk though. Or understand you… So, yeah."

  It took a few tries, but Hailey got them to understand. Jessica just sighed after the third or fourth time, obviously knowing which conversation Hailey was having yet again — and the endless looks of pained sympathy. Rupert got up and put on a kettle, gesturing at it to Jessica. She hurried over, and soon enough the two of them were enjoying the tea while Hailey finally got Elissa and Trevor on the same page.

  "So you guys just go around as superheroes in downtown Seattle all day?" asked Elissa, accepting a mug from Rupert.

  "Well, yeah. I figure, if we can do some good, why not?" Hailey shrugged. "You guys are kind of the reason we started, you know."

  "What did we do?" said Trevor, glancing at Elissa — who had slid completely across the couch during the Jessica story and was now right next to him.

  "You told me only the really powerful people could make a difference. And hey, I'm powerful, so I figured I should get out there and do it."

  Trevor frowned. "I thought we were talking about money."

  Hailey grinned. "Money's not as fun."

  Trevor laughed, but both Elissa and Rupert shot her concerned looks.

  Oh god, I didn't mean it like that… "What I meant was, I don't really know how to get things to change with money. I don't really have much either, just what Mom gets to me."

  Trevor waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, we got it."

  "So how do we awaken?" asked Elissa excitedly.

  Hailey gulped. She hadn't expected that question, somehow. Of course they were gonna ask me that. What was I thinking? "I, uhh…"

  Elissa glanced at Trevor. "You want to, right?"

  "Hell yeah," he agreed. "This sounds incredible."

  "How's it work?" she continued, turning back to Hailey.

  I… what do I say? Hailey wasn't sure they should awaken. She obviously couldn't do it with the page she had on her. "It's dangerous."

  "Dangerous how?"

  Her phone buzzed. Hailey checked it, grateful for the excuse to dodge the question for a moment.

  Wes: Landing at SeaTac tomorrow morning.

  ...What? He's coming here? Why's he coming here?

  "Hales?" asked Elissa nervously.

  "Nothing." She pocketed her phone again. "You guys remember what happened, right?"

  Trevor frowned. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean where I'm from. Why I'm famous." She took a breath, trying to impress the gravity of her point. "It's been really dangerous, you know."

  People have died. Including all those people I never reached out to… Russell Wallace's words echoed in her ears. After the interview was shut down, Hailey left the studio in a hurry, without a word to anyone. She knew she'd screwed up, between taking advantage of her new fame and the words she'd let slip on screen. It was only thanks to Kendra's unexpected intervention that she hadn't gone onto say something even worse. She couldn't bring these two into her world.

  They didn't look convinced. "So let us help you out. We can handle it," said Trevor. Elissa took his hand, nodding enthusiastically.

  "You can't," she improvised.

  Elissa looked disheartened, but Trevor didn't buy it for a second. "Nuh-uh. I read those excerpts a dozen times. Cinza specifically said that anyone can."

  Oh… I only skimmed them. I was kinda busy flying across the country to punch Nate in the face… "Look, it's not going to happen."

  "Why not?" asked Elissa. "We could help you."

  "People have died," Hailey shot back. "A lot of people. I nearly died a bunch of times!"

  "But—"

  "No," Hailey said firmly.

  Trevor glared at her. "Go on, say it."

  "...Say what?"

  "That we're not good enough. Us humans."

  "Huh?"

  "Don't you trust us?" asked Elissa.

  "Nah," said Trevor, before Hailey could answer. "She didn't trust us enough before, why would she now? She's been lying to us for months."

  "I'm trying to help you," Hailey cried, getting to her feet.

  "No, you're herding us. Like we're kids, not smart enough to take care of ourselves."

  "Hailey, isn't more people on your side a good thing?" asked Elissa.

  Rupert set aside his mug of tea. "I think she'd prefer there weren't sides at all."

  "No," said Hailey, to her boyfriend's muted surprise.

  "No?"

  "There's gonna be sides. There's always sides." Hailey's eyes narrowed. "And anybody on the other side's gonna find out exactly what I can do with magic."

  Nobody said anything. Hailey was fuming, while Elissa and Trevor both seemed subdued. She hadn't enjoyed shouting them down, but she had to do it. They weren't taking this seriously. They hadn't gone through what she had. Now they wanted to awaken, just like that?

  A soft, warm hand grasped hers. Jessica appeared at her side, slipping around the room while Hailey was busy shouting down the other three. She pulled Hailey out the door and back upstairs to the roof, out of the awkward silence and uncomfortable heat that suddenly pervaded the apartment.

  As soon as they were alone, Jessica hugged her tight. Hailey shook her head. "I'm okay, Jess." She pointed at herself and gave a thumbs up.

  Jessica frowned. She flapped her hands in an impression of people shouting, then shook her head emphatically.

  "I agree with Jess, love," said Rupert, emerging through the roof door.

  "Not you too," she snapped.

  "Is it such a bad idea?"

  "How well do you know them?" asked Hailey. She continued before he could get a word out. "What'll happen when they can do anything they want with a wave of their fingers and a bit of energy? You heard about the guy who robbed a bank this week right?"

  "...Yes."

  "Totally normal guy. Not a single thing in his background to suggest he'd rob a bank. But now he's got magic powers, thinks he can just rob the place and nobody will find out it's him because he can do magic."

  "He wasn't exactly the smartest bulb on the tree," Rupert pointed out.

  "That's not my point though," she went on. "My point is, that's what everyone else is gonna think. Us awakened don't really have a great track record so far. They don't get what joining this means yet."

  "So help them understand."

  Hailey hesitated. Why am I feeling so stubborn about this anyway? Trevor's not wrong, more people on my side is a good thing… Aren't we heading that way in the end anyway? Everybody awakened? "They're not ready."

  "Hailey—"

  Her phone buzzed. Hailey snatched it off her belt clip, desperate for an escape from the conversation.

  Jeremy: Call me dammit

  Jeremy: Need to talk

  "What's happened?" asked Rupert, fearful.

  Hailey shook her head. "That's the real reason why. You're afraid that I just got a text message. We're all terrified every single day now. Because there's people out here hunting us, and they could be anyone. I'm not bringing Elissa and Trevor into that." She sighed. "It's Jeremy, by the way. He wants me to call him."

  Rupert visibly relaxed. "I'm sorry, love."

  "It's okay." She gave him a quick hug, and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry I started yelling at your friends."

  "I'm sure they'll be fine. I'll talk to them."

  "Thanks."

  Rupert disappeared downstairs. Hailey held up the phone, showing Jessica the photo of Jeremy so she'd know who Hailey was calling.

  "Hello?"

  "About fuckin' time," Jeremy growled. "I've been tryin' to reach you all week."

  "Sorry. I've… been busy."

  "No kiddin'. You know how many reports I've seen of you on the SPD net?"

  Hailey gulped. "The police?"

  "Yeah, no shit. You think you can go around bein' a vigilante and not get noticed?"

  "Oh."

  "Don't worry, it's officially all rumors. Listen, we gotta talk. There's a lot happenin' right now."

  "...Yeah." Hailey glanced over at Jessica, who was watching her conversation with interest. "Are you in Seattle?"