Cole Gibsen

“The other ninja righted himself and moved beside her. "Any last words?" he asked.I rolled my eyes. Why did people always ask you that before they killed you? It wasn't like you were going to say something that would make them change their minds."Yes," I answered. The first tendril of power pushed though my wound and wisped the hair around my head. If I was going down, at least I would take them down with me. "Why did the chicken cross the road."She hesitated and glanced at the guy. Her eyes were scrunched in a way that I knew she was frowning under her mask. The other ninja looked at her and shrugged.I licked my dry lips. "To escape the onslaught of exploding ki headed his way.”

“Don't worry," he said, as if sensing my hesitation. "I promise that even if I got a whole truck full of smelly gym clothes, I'd stay right here, waiting, until you got back."I smiled and continued to my bedroom."Oh, and Rileigh?"I froze without turning. "Yes?""I hope I remember you first.”

“After my fight with the kunoichi, I thought I'd never hear from Whitley again, but he seemed to get a kick out of sending me Wish You Were Here postcards from around the world.”

“Q was a true warrior.”

“After he'd gone, I slammed the door shut and, after the day I had, wasn't the least bit surprised to see my closet door open and Whitley stick his head out."Son of hibachi," I muttered. Now I would have to add burning all of my clothes to my list of things to do."What?" He exited the closet with a smile. "I don't even get a hello?"I held up a finger. "Wait right here."He shrugged.I shut the door behind me and marched back into the living room and pointed at Dr. Wendell. "You. Come with me. Now."Wide-eyed, he rose from the couch and followed me to my door. Before I opened it, I turned to him. "You said part of your job was to protect me, right?"He nodded, his brow knit in lines of confusion."Just to prove how bad you suck at your job, look at this."I swung open the door and Whitley waved from his perch at the end of my bed.Dr. Wendell's mouth dropped and he took a step back. "Wait. What is-who is that?""That"-I gestured to the boy on my bed-"is Whitley, aka Zeami, aka the psycho who tried to kill me, steal my powers, and burnt down my house."Whitley smiled. "Guilty as charged."I folded my arms and glared at Dr. Wendell. "If you're supposedly protecting me, how could you let my past-life murderer walk right into my bedroom and hide out in my closet?"Dr. Wendell shook his head, his skin a shade paler than it had been moments ago. "But I-I didn't-how-" He looked at Whitley. "How did you get in here?"Whitley rolled his eyes. "Through the door. Duh."Dr. Wendell pushed me behind him, bringing his shaking fists in front of his face. "It doesn't matter. If you want to kill Rileigh, you're going to have to get past me.”

“I whispered, "We could be home in our jammies.”

“My mom is having a Scentsy party tomorrow," he said."The scented-wax thingies? Random. But go on."He laced his fingers together on his lap. "I was thinking... I know how much you love to smell things."I nodded. I could spend hours in a candle store sticking my nose inside every jar. "True. I do love to smell.""Well, instead of going on your suicide mission, you could just come to the party. We could go smell crazy and even sneak a few of my mom's JELL-O shots. Eh?" He poked a finger in my ribs. "Epic, right?”

“Sumi may have my vow, but you have my heart, Rileigh Martin. I will never stop loving you.”

“Go ahead, you guys. I'm not done with Kim yet." Braden made annoying kissing noises while Michelle giggled."Fine with me," Kim said. He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it to the ground. Sweat glistened on the tight muscles of his chest. Standing under the orange glow of the setting sun, he looked like a golden statue brought to life."That's not fair." I struggled to swallow past the sudden dryness of my tongue. "That's distracting."He flashed me a grin that ignited a fire low inside me. "That would be the point. Call it a tactical move."Braden used the tree to pull himself up. "Well, boys and girls, I think it's time we moved along. This fight is about to lose its PG-13 rating."Michelle nudged him in the side. "I think it's cute."Something prickled on the back of my neck and I turned to find Quentin staring at me with a look between confusion and pain. As I tried to decipher its meaning, Kim used that moment to snatch my wrist and twist it behind my back. He pulled me in, pinning me against his chest, and lowered his head to place a kiss just below my ear."I may need to take notes." Braden pretended to open an invisible notebook. "So, what do you call this martial arts style, Kim? Kung fu-ling around? How about jujits-you-some?”

“Riiiight," Braden said, jogging to Michelle's side. "Nothing says How have you been? like a punch in the face." He pushed a stray lock of auburn hair beneath a bandana."Which reminds me." I held my hands up in a fight stance and motioned him closer with my fingers. "I haven't had a chance to say hello to you yet, Braden.""Funny." He rolled his eyes but didn't move.”

“But he was wrong about the sun—I didn’t need it. All the sun in the world wouldn’t stop a flower from dying—if it had no one to care for it.”

“This is it.” Morgan gestured to the French doors like she was modeling a prize on a game show. “Here we have door number one. Will it lead our contestant to the dog-faced man of her dreams? Or will she find an axe-wielding psychopath? Stay tuned.”

“Smalls, my parents' house is pretty big. The odds are more in favor of a burglar sneaking around than your boy-boy. I can't let you take that risk alone. If you're gonna get murdered, then I'm gonna get murdered with you." She shrugged. "It's what any good friend would do.”