Rivals Read online

  “Just a friendly warning,” Barb replied.

  I figured this had to be more than a friendly warning, but right now I didn't really have a lot of time to think too hard about this. I wanted to get home before my mom and dad left for the North Pole.

  Running at full speed, I caught Mom and Dad just as they were climbing into a limo. Mom hugged me. “Nice of you to run home to say goodbye.”

  I hugged her back. “Are you really going to the North Pole?” I asked.

  "Yes, a scientific research team invited your dad, and you know your dad can't say no to science. We'll only be gone ten days. I'm sure you guys will be okay. After all, you are strong, and Aunt Mika is here. Anything you need before we go?"

  I shook my head. “Nah, nothing we can’t handle here.”

  Nina Note: Who would have thought that the most normal thing to happen to me would be my parents going to the North Pole? Yep, I never knew what would happen next in my life. I kind of liked that. I also liked that I could drain Bear. So yeah, a werebear had shown up. And there were trolls. And yeah, I had Sasha to deal with and she wanted to take me down. I felt confident I would be able to handle everything.

  Chapter 8: Homework

  That night, I sat in my room studying for a history test on the Apollo Project and Man’s First Trip to the Moon. I needed a little normal kid time. I found the studying to be relaxing. Besides, space travel was cool. Hard to believe that the phone in my pocket had more computing power than all the computers on Earth did in the 1960’s. Yet, men still landed on the moon.

  Funny, usually when I’m doing homework, I get a text or ten from Ruby. Tonight...nothing. I decided to text her.

  NINA> Hey what’s up?

  RUBY> Just studying for a test tomorrow.

  Then nothing. Nada.

  NINA> R U mad at me?

  RUBY> I really don’t know. I guess I’m more disappointed.

  NINA> Are we okay???

  RUBY> I’m going to take the bus tomorrow. C U in school.

  NINA> Ok…

  Wow, that hurt. It also got me thinking. Maybe I did rely on my powers too much at times. These powers can be tempting to use. I needed to learn that I should only use them when I really needed them. I took a couple of deep breaths. I could fix this with Ruby. But for now, I needed to concentrate on history.

  “Neil Armstrong may have been the first man on the moon but he was a terrible kisser!” I heard the now oh too familiar voice of Grandma Jasmine.

  “What are you talking about, Grandma Jasmine?”

  “We dated once or twice when he was in college. I figured if I was going to hang out with humans, I might as well have fun with a good one,” Grandma Jasmine said. “But his lips were like a wet noodle.”

  “Maybe that’s because he had no passion for you!” Grandma Thorn said, popping into my room.

  Grandma Jasmine stood there, her mouth open. “No, that can’t be. Look at me. I was even slightly hotter in the 60’s. I had these cute pink hot pants. I’d walk down the street. Every man and a lot of women would freeze in their tracks. I literally stopped traffic.”

  “Grandmas, I have a test on this tomorrow and I am pretty certain it won’t be related to kissing,” I said.

  “It should be. Kissing is important, it lets you gauge and judge a man,” Grandma Jasmine said.

  “She has a point," Grandma Thorn said. "Like in her case, she could judge that Neil Armstrong had no interest in her, despite her hot pants."

  “Please, I was the one who wasn’t interested in him,” Grandma Jasmine insisted.

  “Sure!” Grandma Thorn teased.

  Grandma Jasmine laughed. “You have no idea.”

  Grandma Jasmine sat down on my bed. “What else do you need to know about the space program? Personally, I don’t know why humans are so keen to leave this planet. After all, they barely understand this one, yet they want to go to new worlds.”

  “Humans love to explore,” Grandma Thorn told her. “That’s how we learn. That’s what makes us special. You vampires are just so happy to simply keep things the way they are. Let’s face it, you’re old and boring.”

  Grandma Jasmine snickered. “I am not old and I’m never boring.”

  Grandma Jasmine put her arm around me. I knew she wanted to show Grandma Thorn that she could touch me and Grandma Thorn couldn’t. “Let me see what else your silly book says.”

  Grandma Jasmine caught a glimpse of my phone. “I see your pet human is angry. You need to put her in her place.”

  “Her place is by my side,” I said, slamming my hand onto my desk and smashing it in two. “Oops, my bad!” I said.

  “You can use your vampire energy to solder the desk back into one piece,” Grandma Jasmine said. “Pick up the two sides and lock them together.”

  I picked up the sides of my desk and held them together with one hand.

  “Now, think warm thoughts and rub your other hand over the middle of the desk surface to bond the parts together!” Grandma Jasmine told me.

  “That can’t work!” I said.

  “Not with that attitude it won’t!” Grandma Jasmine told me. “Being who we are is an attitude and a belief.”

  Grandma Thorn nodded. “Listen to Jasmine, dear.”

  “That’s the wisest thing you ever said,” Jasmine told her.

  Thinking about the sun, I waved my hand over the crack in my desk. My mouth popped open as the heat from my body sealed the two parts of the desk together.

  “See…you’re young but wise. Grandma Jasmine can teach you things,” she told me.

  “Jasmine, you were twice the age I died at before I was even born!” Grandma Thorn said.

  “I’m young looking and thinking, and really that’s all that matters,” Grandma Jasmine replied.

  Grandma Thorn sighed. “You do have a point.”

  “Of course, I do! I’m not just a beautiful person. I am incredibly smart. I’ve lived a long time and I’ve learned stuff along the way.”

  “Hmmm, the wise ones do learn along the way,” Grandma Thorn said.

  “Exactly!” Grandma Jasmine smiled.

  I caught Grandma Thorn rolling her eyes, but Grandma Jasmine didn’t notice and I decided it would be best for all not to tell her.

  Grandma Jasmine put her hand on my shoulder. "You could just convince your teacher to give you an A. After all, you know this stuff. Why bother taking the test?"

  “Because she likes to prove to herself that she can do it...without supernatural help,” Grandma Thorn told her.

  “Why?” Grandma Jasmine asked. Turning back to me, she said, “You have the blood of the first line of vampires in you. You have nothing to prove. You are superior. Plus, as much as it pains me to admit it because you have some weretiger blood, it makes you even more special, more unique. Honey, you are one of a kind. You could rule this place if you wanted.”

  “I don’t want that!” I said firmly.

  “That’s what makes you so special!” Grandma Thorn said.

  Grandma Jasmine sighed. “I see I have my work cut out for me here. I guess I might have to stimulate you a little more so you can really see how great you can be!”

  “Please don’t!” I told her.

  Grandma Jasmine pointed to my desk. “Didn’t I cause you to break your desk and then show you how to harness your inner energy to fix it?”

  I nodded. “You did.”

  Grandma Jasmine smiled. “Believe me, honey, I’m just warming up.”

  “Jasmine, you have to admit the desk thing was kind of an accident,” Grandma Thorn told her. “No way you planned that.”

  Grandma Jasmine snickered. “Honey, in my world there are no accidents. I’m always in control. I know what I am doing and how the world responds to me.”

  “Oh really?” Grandma Thorn said, walking up to Grandma Jasmine.

  Grandma Thorn slammed her foot down on Grandma Jasmine’s foot.

  “Ouch!” Grandma Jasmine screamed in pain. She hopped over to m
y bed, took her shoe off and started rubbing her foot. “You did that on purpose!”

  Grandma Thorn rolled her eyes.

  “Wait, you can become solid?” I asked Grandma Thorn.

  “With great difficulty and it takes a lot out of me," she said. "But I did that to prove a point. Jasmine, you don't control the world around you, you simply react and respond to it."

  Grandma Thorn bent down and kissed me on the head. I actually felt it. "I have to go and recharge now. You study hard."

  She disappeared.

  “Phew I never thought she’d leave,” Grandma Jasmine said. “Some beings just don’t know when they aren’t wanted!”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, imagine that,” I groaned.

  Grandma Jasmine stood up and slipped her foot back into her high heels. “Honey, I can teach you stuff. Lots of stuff. You can be anything and do anything. Your only limit is your ambition!”

  “Right now, I just want to do well on this history test,” I said.

  “What about making your pet human like you again?”

  “She’s NOT a pet. And this will blow over. It will take some time, maybe a gesture on my part. But I will fix it,” I insisted.

  “You could just make her like you,” Grandma Jasmine said. “That’s actually easier than fixing your desk. Human minds are so pliable. It’s fun! I love making them think they are teapots! It’s so cute.” She chuckled to herself. “It makes me really appreciate humans more when I see they are ours to play with.”

  “They are NOT!” I said.

  Grandma Jasmine sighed. “Let’s just agree to disagree. But I know I can make you better!” She flapped her arms, turned into a bat and flew out of my room. I stood up and closed the window.

  Nina Notes: I admit Grandma Jasmine can teach me stuff. I had no idea that I could harness my internal energy like that. That was seriously cool. But I thought I could also teach her something…humility. I could also teach her that while vampires might have certain advantages over normal humans, it didn’t mean we could use humans as toys or pets.

  I had to wonder what she meant by that parting remark about making me better. I was a little worried about what she’d try next in order to prove herself. But I guess I’d just deal with it when it happened. Like Grandma Thorn said...that’s actually all we can do…see what the world throws at us and then react to it.

  I did need to make matters right with Ruby! Not sure how though…

  Chapter 9: More Schooling

  While heading to school with Aunt Mika and Frank, I decided I would do whatever it took to make it up with Ruby. I hated the fact that she was mad at me. It made my stomach hurt.

  Aunt Mika avoided the Ruby topic. She brought up my other problems. “You talked with both your grandmas last night,” she said.

  “Yep,” I replied.

  “What is Jasmine up to?” Aunt Mika asked.

  “She wants to make me better,” I groaned.

  Frank turned from the front seat to look at me. “Wait, ‘better’? You’re pretty amazing now!”

  “Thanks, Frank."

  “Sure, you have awful morning breath, a temper at times and your laugh can sound like a hyena with a sore throat. Plus, you have terrible taste in movies. I mean, come on: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? As well, you don’t even like classical music.”

  “You can stop now, Frank.”

  “My point is, sis, nobody is perfect. We all have flaws. But your flaws, except for your temper, are very minor. Most of them, and hopefully the temper, will improve as you age.”

  Aunt Mika pointed to Frank. “What he said!”

  “Thanks, guys, you just need to tell that to Jasmine!"

  “Oh, I will,” Frank said.

  “Oh, I won’t,” Aunt Mika added. “That woman scares me no end. I know I’m already mostly dead, but she threatened to turn me into a lawn chair once, just because I brought her a hot dog with ketchup instead of mustard.” She paused for a moment. “I think you get your temper from her side.”

  “Agreed,” Frank said. “Everyone on Dad’s side of the family is literally a pussycat.”

  “I take it Jasmine is the reason Ruby is catching the bus to school today?” Aunt Mika asked.

  “No, she complained about Frank’s B-O so she didn’t want to come,” I said, letting my temper out a bit.

  Frank sniffed himself. "I don't have B-O, at least not at the beginning of the day!" he said. "I smell nice. Like soap!"

  “She’s just picking on you, boy,” Aunt Mika told him.

  Frank pointed at me and smiled. “See…temper.”

  “Yes, I know,” I said to Frank.” And yes, Jasmine told Ruby I’d used my command voice on her once or twice.”

  “You know, sis, friends don’t make friends do whatever they want with their spooky command voice,” Frank said.

  Lowering my head, I sighed. “Yes, I know.”

  “And you will make it right. Right?” Aunt Mika said.

  “Yes,” I mumbled.

  “Good!” Aunt Mika said. “I think I’m pretty great at this parenting stuff.”

  “Do you want kids of your own?” Frank asked.

  Aunt Mika shook her head. “No, this is fine for a few days, but not for my entire life! Seriously, you kids are a lot of work!” She looked back at me, “No offense.”

  “Just a little taken,” I said with a hint of a smile.

  Walking into the school being the astute tiger and vampire that I was, I noticed a crowd around Ruby. They were pointing and chuckling.

  One of them, who I believe was Lester, taunted, “Ruby, Ruby, Booger Eater. Ha!”

  Ruby glared back at him.

  Bear stopped me before I could break up the crowd. “Whatcha going to do?”

  Pulling my arm from his grasp, I said, “I’m going to defend my friend.”

  “You want to defend a booger eater? Gross!” Bear told me, sticking a finger in his mouth to pretend to barf.

  “She is not a booger eater!”

  Bear showed me his phone. Of course, it was on the school’s blog and there was a post that read: ‘School Brain - not so brainy as she eats boogers.’ There was a picture of a girl with her back to the camera and her elbow lifted.

  I walked over to the crowd gathered around Ruby. “Come on, people. You all know Ruby! She is NOT a booger eater.”

  “But there’s a picture and it’s on the Internet!” Lester said.

  A few of the kids nodded.

  “People, my Grandma Thorn has a wise saying: don’t believe everything you hear and believe only half of what you see and even less than that if you see it on the Internet.”

  “It’s kind of a long saying,” Frank said.

  Moving up to Ruby, I put my arm around her. “My point is, you’ve all seen Ruby a lot. Have any of you ever seen her eat a booger?” I asked.

  “I have!” Wayne said.

  “Me too!” Chris said.

  “I might have also!” Timmy said.

  “Guys what?” Ruby said. “Why are you saying that?”

  “Cause it’s true!” Wayne said.

  “Everybody go to class now!” I ordered.

  The entire crowd of kids turned and walked away; all of them except for Sasha. She stood there smirking. She waved to me and blew me a mock kiss.

  “She has something to do with this,” I muttered.

  “How?” Frank asked. “She’s just a normal human.”

  “She might have some hypnotic training but there’s no way she could turn my friends against me like that,” Ruby said. Ruby looked at me. “Thanks for helping me out. Nice to know you can use your command voice for good.”

  “I guess I deserved that,” I said.

  “Yeah, you did,” Ruby told me. “From now on if you want me to do something, please just ask,” Ruby said.

  “I will!” I assured her.

  “You three!" bellowed the voice of Principle Peters. "Why aren't you in homerooms yet?"

  “The bell hasn’t r
ung,” I said.

  Principal Peters pointed at me. “You, Nina Thorn, you have detention with Coach J.”

  “But sir, Coach J has extra practice today,” I told him.

  “That’s fine, he can do both!” Principal Peters said. He turned and walked away.

  The bell rang.

  We turned and walked to homeroom.

  “That’s weird,” Ruby said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Jimmy didn’t come and hang out with you before homeroom....”

  “That is weird,” I said.

  “Oh, he texted me,” Frank said. “Jimmy said he needs to do some extra work with Sasha.”

  “That can’t be true!" I said, far more upset than I wanted to sound.

  Frank nodded. “He said his mom wants him to teach Sasha how to fight better so that’s how he will be spending all his spare time for the next week or so.”

  NINA NOTE: Yes, something very weird was going on at school. Yes, we had trolls who were making Ruby’s life miserable on the Internet. But something else was going on. Now, Jimmy, my Jimmy, was spending time, all his spare time with Sasha. And Sasha seemed to have way more control over people than I thought she should have had. I needed to get to the bottom of this and fast.

  Chapter 10: Bad or Weird Day or Both

  You know your day is going bad when your history and science quiz is the highlight of the day. Sitting at my desk, I beamed with confidence as Ms. Mars passed out the test. Despite my Grandma Jasmine’s interference, I knew that I would ace this test.

  I was racing through the quiz when I heard a voice from behind me.

  “Psst, that event took place in 1969!”

  Looking over my shoulder, I saw a phantom ninja lurking behind me. I figured I’d ignore him.

  The ninja tapped me on the shoulder. “Look, I know this stuff. Trust me. I’m a ninja!”

  Ignoring the ninja, I moved on to the next question. Which two colleges did Neil Armstrong attend? That was Ms. Mars subtle way of showing us that college is important.