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  I looked at my sister in surprise, as far as I could remember, she’d always been a girly-girl. “Isn’t that a little dark for your tastes?”

  She looked at me like I was an alien. “No. In fact I’m going to see if I can get my nose pierced for my birthday this year.”

  I snorted. “Good luck with that. I’d like to see dad’s expression when you run it by him.”

  She put her hands on her waist and scowled. “Mom will let me.”

  “Right…”

  Allie mumbled something and then left the room.

  Tweens, I thought. They think they know everything.

  Chapter Five

  I woke up Tuesday morning without Jed sneaking up on me or any remnants of a nightmare where someone was trying to eat my brains. When I made it to the bathroom without any kids charging after me, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The house was so unnaturally quiet that it put me on edge and I just couldn’t enjoy it.

  When I made it to the kitchen, my dad was eating and reading the paper.

  “Well, this is kind of a nice change,” commented my dad as he finished a bowl of cereal. Normally he brought his breakfast downstairs to his Man Cave.

  “Nice? It’s weird. Megan is the only one here and it’s too quiet,” I answered.

  “I’ll take the weird and quiet any day,” he said then glanced at his watch. “Shoot, I’m running late. Bye sweetheart.” He stood up and kissed the top of my head.

  “See you later dad.”

  Just then two-year old Megan came barreling into the kitchen, giggling. “Hi Cassie!” she shouted.

  “Hi Megan,” I answered as she flung herself at me, wrapping her arms tightly around my legs. We’d watched her since she was a baby and I had to admit, she held a special place in my heart.

  I kneeled down and tugged her hair. “Oh…your hair looks so cute today!” Her short blond hair was pulled tightly into two little ponytails. She touched them proudly and smiled with her big doe eyes.

  “Where Jed?” she asked.

  I poked her playfully in the tummy. “Don’t know.”

  She giggled and then asked, “Where Daniel?”

  “Don’t know,” I said, this time tickling her.

  She laughed hysterically as I continued to tickle her. When she’d had enough, I put her on my lap and she asked about the remaining daycare kids.

  I sighed. “Sorry, I really don’t know. I think most of them are sick and stayed home with their mommies to get better.”

  Just then my mom walked into the kitchen and informed me that everyone was sick with the flu. Except for Megan and her mother, Sara, who was six months pregnant.

  “Thank God Sara’s not sick with this virus,” I replied.

  “And she’s not getting that vaccination either. I talked her out of it,” declared my mom proudly.

  “Daddy sick,” Megan said, matter-of-factly. She then raced back into the toy area.

  “Oh. Well hopefully he doesn’t get either of them sick,” I said.

  “I heard that Kevin is just miserable and wants her to stay away from him. I told Sara she could stay here if she wanted to, since her folks live a couple of hours away, and she still has to work. At least until after Megan’s dad gets better. But she declined. She just doesn’t want to impose. Plus, she really wants to take care of him.”

  “Oh,” I said. I looked at my mom’s hair. It looked pretty with the new highlights and colored gray. “Your hair looks nice mom.”

  She smiled at me. “Thanks honey.”

  “And have you lost some weight?” I asked.

  “Maybe a little,” she replied looking down. “I haven’t had time to eat much this week with all of the kids being sick. I’m actually relieved that most of them are gone today.”

  “So am I,” I replied. When the kids were here, my germ phobia was on high alert. Lately, it’s begun to recede.

  My mom turned on the small television sitting on the kitchen counter. She poured herself a cup of coffee and began flipping through the channels.

  “I’m going to karate class again tonight mom,” I told her.

  “Um?” she replied, not really paying attention.

  I raised my voice. “I said I won’t be home until after eight this evening. I’m getting a free manicure from Mae and then I’m going to karate.”

  She turned to me and put her arm around my shoulder. “I’m sorry, honey. I wasn’t trying to ignore you. I was just trying to see if there are any updates about the crisis in Europe.”

  I grabbed a fresh blueberry muffin that was sitting on the stove. “Crisis? Are you talking about that attack at the French hospital?”

  She took a sip of coffee. “Well, there’s been a string of violence and rioting in other countries as well. France, Germany, Italy, everywhere. It’s kind of crazy.”

  “Are they terrorist attacks?”

  “That’s the thing... nobody is really sure who is doing it or why it keep happening. The government isn’t releasing any information and the media is bewildered. It’s just really…bizarre.”

  “Well, I’m sure it will all blow over,” I answered, dismissing it. To me it seemed that violence was pretty normal all over the world at any given moment.

  She shrugged and then turned off the television. “Could you pick up Allie tonight at Kylie’s? They are working on some science project. That way her mom won’t have to drive her home.”

  “Fine, but it won’t be until after eight o’clock.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll let them know. Thanks honey.”

  ~~~

  My truck sputtered to life and then made some weird puttering noises as I drove over to Paige’s house. When she got in to the truck, she looked at me nervously.

  “Are you sure we’re going to make it to school in this rig? It sounds pretty bad.”

  I raised my eyebrows and lied through my teeth. “Ye of little faith…of course I’m sure!”

  “Well…okay.”

  “You worry too much Paige.”

  She shrugged and then her eyes became really round. “I forgot to tell you! Guess what?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “My mom got a tattoo on her lower back! A butterfly tattoo.”

  I smiled. “Your mom got a “tramp stamp”?”

  That’s what some of the guys at school liked to call lower back tattoos.

  She nodded. “Oh my God… yes! Dan made her do it.”

  “I’m sure your mom had some say.”

  Kristie isn’t exactly what I’d call a pushover. She has a sharp tongue and the body of an amazon to back it up.

  “I don’t know, but if she starts getting piercings on odd places of her body, I’m not sticking around.”

  I burst out laughing, trying to imagine Kristie with a tongue ring and a new lisp.

  “It’s not funny,” said Paige, trying to stop the smile threatening her lips.

  My eyes were watering I was laughing so hard. “Oh, come on. It’s funny!”

  She folded her hands across her chest. “Okay, think about your mom getting her nose pierced or something further south.”

  I grimaced. “Okay, that’s totally not funny.”

  The truck made some weird snorting noise and we both looked worriedly at each other.

  “Just please… get us to school,” begged Paige.

  I nodded and we drove in a nervous silence. Miraculously, we made it with minutes to spare.

  “Great, it’s Eva,” I muttered watching as her red car pulled up next to ours. To make matters worse, my truck backfired as she was sliding out of her car.

  Eva ignored us completely, which was a pleasant surprise to us both. The way she was blowing her nose made it obvious as to why.

  The entire school day was pretty much uneventful, although there were even less students then yesterday. Many brought signed permission slips and the line leading to the gymnasium, where the shots were being administered, was never-ending.

  Because I wasn
’t getting any kind of vaccination, I did what I could to avoid getting sick by sucking on vitamin C lozenges throughout the day and drinking bottled green tea. When the final bell of the day rang, we were almost the last vehicle in the parking lot and someone had to give us a jump.

  “See you tomorrow?” I asked her.

  “I might get a ride from Jeremy,” she answered. “Call me if you want one as well.”

  I nodded, hoping that my truck would hold up a few more days. It was probably time to talk to my dad about getting it fixed.

  When I arrived at the nail shop, Mae greeted me with open arms then stared at my eyebrows with disapproval.

  “Eyebrows first,” she announced and then dragged me to the back of the shop where she pushed me into a high-back leather reclining chair. She reclined it until I was looking straight up at her. Taking a small eyebrow comb, she brushed my eyebrows then carefully spread something warm above my eyelids.

  “Wax,” she murmured staring intently at my unruly eyebrows.

  “Oh.”

  “Relax,” she demanded, pressing firmly down on them. I closed my eyes and she ripped away a strip of eyebrow hair.

  “Ah!” I gasped.

  She gave me a wry smile. “Not that bad.”

  When Mae spread wax above my other eye, I grasped onto the arms of the chair and waited as she counted.

  “One, two…” and then she tore it off.

  I flinched and looked up at her. “Hey? What happened to number three?”

  She patted my arm and laughed. “Better this way. Hair comes out easier when you don’t tense up.”

  Mae then picked up the tweezers and began plucking away. When she appeared satisfied with the results, she applied some kind of gel that immediately soothed my irritated skin. She handed me a mirror; my skin was bright pink above my eyes, but I had to admit, my brows definitely looked more sophisticated. I grinned and nodded my approval.

  “No more bushes,” she stated proudly.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  Next Mae took me over to a nail technician.

  “This Ming,” she said and turned to the young girl. “French nails. Sports length.”

  Ming nodded and gave then me a sympathetic look as she examined my nails.

  “Pretty bad, huh?” I asked.

  She shrugged and then began transforming my stubby nails into something less pathetic. Forty-five minutes later, after thanking Mae profusely, I left the shop unable to stop staring at my new French manicure. My fingertips had never looked so clean and white.

  Chapter Six

  I was ravenous when I left Mae’s shop, but there wasn’t enough time to stop anywhere for food. I remembered a vending machine in the karate studio, so I scrounged around in my purse and found some loose change.

  The studio is located in the same mini mall; just two doors down from the nail shop. As I stopped by my truck to grab my sports bag, I noticed Bryce’s motorcycle parked nearby, and the butterflies in my stomach began to flutter. I took a deep breath and walked through the door.

  The front viewing room was unoccupied, the receptionist gone, but the vending machine was full, luckily, with one of my favorite snacks. I purchased a bag of dill pickle potato chips and washed it down with a bottle of water. Knowing I was alone, I released a silent burp but then panicked; my breath was horrible! I scrounged around in my jeans and found enough money for a pack of mints. At least I wouldn’t be attacking anyone with my rancid breath.

  Slipping into the locker room, I brushed my hair back into a ponytail, applied some mascara, and put on some lip gloss that my sister had given me last night. With my new eyebrows, I had to admit I looked pretty darn good.

  Glancing at the time, I noticed that I was running late, so I rushed to put on my uniform. I tied my belt quickly and then respectfully entered the dojo.

  Bryce and Scott were off in a corner practicing with Bokkens, which are wooden Samurai training swords. I caught Bryce’s eye briefly as he leaped over Scott’s Bokken, and counter-attacked. My heart raced as I watched them swinging, jumping, and striking at each other so sinuously. Although I could see that both guys were extremely talented with their Bokkens, there was no denying that Bryce was the expert.

  When they finished up, Scott greeted me with a warm smile while Bryce barely acknowledged my presence, offering only a curt nod as he put his equipment away. It was unnerving, especially after the way he’d teased me only the day before.

  “Cassie,” said Scott kneeling next to me while I stretched my legs. “I’ve been meaning to ask you…what do you think of Nora?”

  I’d completely forgotten about Nora. “Nora? Where is she? She was supposed to be here.” Come to think about it, I hadn’t remembered seeing her at school earlier in the day either.

  He ran a hand over his face and sighed. “Well, I went to pick her up earlier and she was upset. She can’t get in touch with her dad, doesn’t know exactly which city he’s in, and with the violence going on in Germany, she’s really freaking out. She stayed home with her grandmother, to comfort her and find out what’s going on.”

  I stood up quickly. “Oh shoot! Maybe I should give her a call and see if I can help, somehow.”

  Scott shook his head and laughed wryly. “I doubt she’ll be very receptive. I tried sticking around to see if I could help, but she basically told me to “get lost.”

  I sighed. “I’m sure she’s just upset.”

  “Tell me about it. Anyway, that’s why I wanted to ask you about her. I really don’t know her aside from this class. It seems to me that she comes around as some kind of tough ass most of the time. She has this prickly wall around her. Then other times she throws me for a loop by acting normal, almost sweet. I think she actually flirted with me yesterday.”

  I smiled. “Maybe she likes you?”

  He snorted. “Well, she has a strange way of showing it.”

  “Seriously Scott, I know very little about her myself. She hasn’t made many friends at school; she either scares people away or just blows them off. To tell you the truth, I was shocked when she asked me to hang out with her this weekend.”

  Just then Bryce stormed over, interrupting us. “Hey?”

  “Yes?” I answered.

  He studied my face for a minute. “You two going to sit here and waste time or did you actually want to learn something today?”

  His rudeness surprised and irritated me. I glared at him. “Sure, but who put you in charge?”

  Bryce put his hands on his waist. “Excuse me? That’s no way to talk to an instructor, Wild,” he answered gruffly.

  “Respect is earned,” I countered.

  A muscle twitched in his jaw as we stared at each other. Before I had a chance to catch my breath, he stalked away.

  I looked at Scott. “What crawled up his butt?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. He was fine earlier.”

  I glanced towards Bryce, who was now on his cell phone. From the expression on his face, he was in the middle of a very heated discussion.

  Master Jordan took that moment to step out of his office, up-beat as usual.

  “Hi guys! Listen, Bryce’s going to assist you tonight with training. I promised Mae I’d take her to dinner tonight.”

  I released a heavy sigh. “Great.”

  Master Jordan took my arm and pulled me aside. “What is it? Is Bryce giving you any trouble?”

  I shook my head. “Not really, he’s just…grouchy.”

  He scratched his closely cropped beard and said. “Well, I came down hard on him this afternoon for his performance yesterday. This is a respectable karate studio, not a dating service.”

  I looked at him blankly. “What do you mean?”

  “Come on, I heard the way he was flirting with you yesterday.”

  Embarrassed, I lowered my eyes. “Oh.”

  He touched my shoulder. “Cassie, if he gives you any trouble, let me know right away. Call me, text me; whatever you have to do. But sincerely, I don’t t
hink you have to worry about him; he really is a decent guy. He just needed a little reminder of whom and what he’s representing here at the studio.”

  “Well, don’t worry about me. I can certainly take care of myself.”

  Secretly I hadn’t minded the banter between us yesterday. In fact, his taunting blue eyes were all I’d thought about since then. It was one of the reasons I’d showed up today.

  “By the way,” Master Jordan said as he lifted my hands and examined my fingertips. “Your nails look very lovely… for a killing machine.”

  I giggled. “Thank you, Sensei.”

  “Now my dear Cassie, I think they’re waiting for you,” he said releasing my hands and turning me around.

  Bryce avoided eye contact, which made me even more irritated. I hadn’t done anything to deserve his cruel attitude today.

  “See you guys next week!” waved Master Jordan as he walked out of the studio.

  As I waved, I caught Bryce staring at me again. He looked away and took a drink of water.

  “Ready guys?” he asked finally. Then he had us form a line to do several push-ups and sit-ups.

  The next half hour we practiced several difficult kicks and punches which I normally enjoy. Today it was pure hell. Bryce was so intolerable that even Scott noticed and started getting frustrated.

  “Dude, what is your problem? Ever since The Wild One got here, you’ve been riding our asses!”

  I wanted to kick Scott for saying that. He liked to tease me about my nickname too.

  Bryce’s face grew hot. “Look,” he said, “you’re both Black Belts now and I’m here to teach you, not make things easy or comfortable.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t have to be a dick about it,” replied Scott.

  Bryce smiled coldly. “If you can’t handle my way of teaching, then feel free to leave.”

  “Best thing you’ve come up with all night. I’m outta here,” said Scott, grabbing his gym bag. He muttered something under his breath and stomped out of the dojo. Deep down, I knew he’s wanted to leave earlier, to check on Nora. I could tell he was already falling for her.