A SURPRISE GUEST
The dark sky opened, releasing heavy rainfall over the entire campus. Harley and Max had forgotten their umbrellas, so they decided to cut through the school on their way to the subway depot. Sprig had morphed into a white tiger again. She was tormenting the nervous students, who gave her a wide berth.
“What do you suppose they’re up to?” Max asked now that the girls were safely out of earshot.
“I doubt they’re talking about you, if that’s what you mean.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then why were you acting so weird in class?” Harley said.
“Was I that obvious?”
“You weren’t exactly smooth.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Whatever you say.”
Max paused as he looked to make sure nobody was listening. “It’s just that… w-w-well…”
“When did you get a stuttering problem?”
“Knock it off,” Max said as a grin spread across Harley’s lips. “Do you think Brooke is mad at me?”
“Why would she be?”
“That’s what I’m wondering,” Max said. “I mean, she hasn’t said a word to me in, I don’t know, months. Did I do something wrong?”
“Don’t ask me.”
Max stopped at the glass door that opened out onto the wet lawn. He felt Sprig lick his hand as a streak of lightning shot across the sky. It didn’t look like the rain was going to let up. “If we want to catch the next train to Avalon, we should get going.”
“Can you turn into an umbrella?” Harley asked Sprig. She growled her disapproval as Harley pushed the door open and walked out into the storm.
Max followed, grasping the neck of his jacket to keep the water from seeping in. Sprig decided to morph into a mallard. Water beaded on her feathers as she flew across the lawn and into the entryway of the subway depot.
By the time the boys reached her, they looked like they had jumped into a shower with their clothes on. Harley peeled off his sweatshirt and wrung it out as Max shook some of the water from his hair. Then Sprig jumped into his arms, nestling in for warmth as Max stroked the back of her neck.
“I guess it wouldn’t bug me if she wasn’t hanging out with Natalia all the time,” Max said as they went down the escalator.
“Are we talking about Brooke again?” Harley asked.
“She’s not talking to me. Neither is Ernie. And when was the last time Natalia blew us off?”
“I don’t know.”
“Never.”
“So what’s your point?”
“I don’t know…. It kind of feels like the Grey Griffins are falling apart.”
“Why?” Harley said. “Because Ernie’s acting like a twit and the girls are hanging out together?”
“So you don’t think—”
“No, I don’t,” Harley interrupted.
The boys rode in relative silence as the gears beneath the escalator churned. Sprig snored in Max’s arms.
“Hey, is that Logan?” Harley asked, pointing to a man leaning against a brick pillar below.
“What’s he doing here?”
“He’s your bodyguard, not mine,” Harley said.
“Good afternoon, fellas,” Logan said as the boys stepped off the escalator.
“Are we in trouble or something?” Max asked, deciding to get to the point.
“What makes you say that?”
“You’ve never met us here before.”
“I was thinking about taking you blokes for a bit of a diversion, but if you don’t have the time…”
“We were just going to go to the Spider’s Web,” Max said, “but I guess we could hang out with you instead.”
Harley shrugged.
“Who could pass up enthusiasm like that?” Logan said. He put one hand on Max’s shoulder and another on Harley’s.
“Can Sprig come?” Max asked.
Logan looked down at the faerie in Max’s arms. “It doesn’t bother me, but I don’t think she’ll like it. There’ll be iron, and lots of it.”
“Did you hear that?” Max asked Sprig.
“Yes, we heard,” Sprig said. Like most faeries, spriggans were allergic to iron. She didn’t bother to open her eyes.
“So what do you want to do?”
Sprig jumped out of his arms. Then, without a word, she turned back into a white tiger before prowling up the escalator and onto the front lawn.
The ground started to rumble as a stream of light flared out from the tunnel in the distance. Moments later the Zephyr appeared. Its brakes echoed against the brick walls long after it came to a stop.
“Where are we headed?” Max asked as the boys followed Logan into one of the cars.
“If I told you that, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?”