FRIDAY AFTERNOON

So there I was in the limousine, with Hardict, Principal Jackson, Ms. Shelley, and two girls who were around my age and grade as we made the trek towards Millerfield Hills where everyone was waiting. I turned to the blonde Amazon sitting on my right. “You’re from Willingham Prep in Harper’s Valley, right?” I asked her, noticing her charcoal and white school uniform.

She smiled at me. “Name’s Natalie Edmonds,” she said in a thick Texan drawl. “I moved from Abilene back in June. “You’re from Texas too?”

“Cedar Valley, outside of Fort Worth,” I said. I pointed to the redhead dressed in a khaki skirt and a light pink blouse. “And you?”

She smirked. “Name’s Allie Turner and I attend West Monroe. I’m optionally from Houston but I’m near Hilton Creek now.” She gave me a brief smile before returning to her tablet

“Looks like you three all share something in common,” Hardict said brightly. “You’re all from the Lone Star State.”

“It’s more than that,” Allie said. “Natalie’s the main dancer for the boy’s glee club over at their school St. Andrews for Boys. I’m with the cheerleaders and football team. And Xavier’s cool with the rich kids representing Bellevue Estates, which we’re heading as we speak. We’re the insiders for the popular kids.”

“But for how long?” Natalie asked me worriedly as we entered the rich subdivision. “I was supposed to the dumb blonde chick I was told to be by my mom and I have an IQ over 160. They made fun of me back home. Allie, you got abused by your dad and got kicked out for no reason. And Xavier was abused by his older sister who’s in jail. Maybe they’ll humiliate us and send us back home. Like they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it practically is.”

“Don’t think that,” Jackson admonished her. “All you need to do is let yourself have a great time and see the surprise that you’ll all be in for. Trust me on this. Trust yourselves.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes until we arrived at Alex’s mega-mansion that was at least half as big as the ones seen outside of Hollywood.

“Come along, everyone! The day awaits!” Hardict said merrily as servants handled our bags.

We all jostled out of the limo and made a beeline to the main foyer where it wasn’t nearly as luxuriously decorated like I though it would be. In fact, the house in general was minimally decorated and yet so contemporary-looking and painted in the shades of the beachside.

We then made it into the parlor where there were a few bottles of snacks and drinks waiting for us, Norah Jones playing softly from the stereo. “You’ll wait in here, Xavier, as Ms. Hardict and I take the girls to see their friends and families,” Principal Jackson told me. “We’ll have one of the maids come for you later as your room is being set up as we speak.”

I nodded. “Have fun, ladies,” I told Natalie and Allie.

“We will,” Natalie said as the principal, vice-principal and counselor guided her and Allie out of the hallway.

I grabbed a bottle of club soda with a few finger sandwiches and sat down, silently praying for everyone to be okay. I knew that I could trust Principal Jackson and VP Hardict, but what if Natalie was right and we’re here to be humiliated for their pleasure. I did not want to relive my freshman and sophomore years all over again, not when I was just letting go of the past.

“Don’t overthink things,” Ms. Shelly gently scolded me as she joined me. “You’re going to have a great time here. And you’ll be surprised at what you’ll experience.”

“You think so,” I asked her hopefully.

“I know so,” she said, standing up. “I got to check on the status of your room and if everyone else is ready for you. Those two girls were stunned when they found out. But they’ll adjust.”

“Found out about what?”

She gave me a playful smirk. “You’ll have to see for yourself,” she said before leaving.

It would take until nearly 6pm until one of the maids, a matronly Hispanic woman in her forties led me to one of the elevators near the ballroom. “You’re to take the elevator to the sub-basement level,” she informed me in her native Honduran accent. “This is as far as I can go. Everyone is waiting for you.”

I took a deep breath and stepped inside the elevator. “Thank you,” I said quietly as the doors shut.

As the elevator descended, I took a few deep breaths to calm down my nerves. Okay, Xavier Bryshere Reeves, I told myself. You can do this. You’ve survived nearly being run over and nearly being put under by Coretta. You’ve been bullied in middle school and in high school before coming here to California. Your parents love you and your friends think you’re cool. Whatever’s waiting for you, know that you got this. How bad could it be?

Finally, the elevator slows to a stop. “Good evening, Xavier Reeves,” a computerized feminine voce said from nowhere. “By stepping out of the elevator you agree to the NDA that you signed at James Madison High School. Do you accept?”

I faced one of the cameras in the corner, taking yet another deep breath to calm my nerves. “I came too far tur turn back and forget everything now,” I said. “I wouldn’t want to even if I was given the chance to even try. I accept.”

“Very well.” The doors swung open with a flourish. “Welcome to HQ.”

HQ? What the hell?

I shrugged my shoulders and stepped out of the elevator.

And what I saw next made my blood turn to ice and my jaw drop open real low.

It was like I had stepped into a superhero comic book. The room was at least the size of three football fields long and four of them wide. One side of the room had computers and screen monitors that had every city of the state of California. Some of them had cities from the entire USA. The other side of the room was a training ground with boxing dummies, weapons of Kung-Fu, and the like.

Upstairs looked like a rest area/gaming area with snacks of all kinds, a couple arcade games, a pinball machine, and even an area for studying complete with computers. There were even a few sofa beds. But the other room looked like one for wardrobe changes, with lockers and cubbies that were locked up.

“Hello?” I called out as I got back downstairs. “Anyone here?”

“What do you think?” I heard a deep voice say from behind me.

I whirled around and saw the most stunning sight of my life. Two groups of people wearing what looked like a cross between outfits of the Power Rangers and that of the X-Men movies. Their helmets fully covered their faces. One group was sporting the primary colors of the rainbow, one member wearing silver and the other member wearing gold. The other group was in neon colors.

I opened my mouth to scream or yell but no sound came out. It was like I was in shock.

“Are you okay,” the one from the first group, the leader in red, asked me.

I quickly regained my composure. “You wouldn’t happen to be the Legion of Sentinels, would you?” I said, trying not to have a panic attack. Alex was nowhere to be found. If they are who I thought they were, I was in deep trouble.

“Yes, young Xavier,” a member in blue said to me. “We’ve been expecting you.”

Oh great. It was time for me to get out of here. “I’m sorry for coming into your territory like this,” I began to say profusely. “I thought my friends and parents were down here, at least my principal told me so. I’ll leave and never come back, I promise.” I began to slowly edge my way to the elevator all while babbling like a lunatic out of Bedlam. Hey, you would too if you were in my shoes.

The one in red and the other in blue started chuckling as they took off their helmets, revealing familiar faces and cocky smiles.

Holy, Texas crackers, Georgia cheese, Iowa wine and Washington grapes.

“That was way too fun,” the familiar voice of Alex said as he came towards me. I had to admit, he looked great in his red and white outfit. “You should’ve seen the look on your faces.”

“Way too funny,” JR, the one in deep blue, chuckled as he put his glasses back on. He spun around in a dance-like way. “What do you think, Zay? Cool, huh?”

He motioned the other members from the first group to take off their helmets, revealing themselves to be the other Bellevue kids. Yasmine, looking sweet in yellow, rushed up to me. “Welcome to our HQ, Zay!” she exclaimed.

“I think Cutie Pie looks a little shocked,” Ava, dressed in gold, said as she and a stunningly- silver-dressed Zach came next.

“Oh, wow,” I said. “This is so unreal.”

“And that’s not all,” Principal Jackson, in a green and gold version of the uniform said as he and VP Hardict (in deep violet, her hair in a ponytail) joined the fray with my parents dressed normally as was Ms. Shelley. He pointed to the other group in the neon-colored outfits. “Okay kids, it’s time for the big reveal!”

The other kids took off their helmets and then I saw… oh wow!

The ones in neon were my fellow ragtag gang! “SURPRISE!!!” They exclaimed, waving jazz hands.

Maddie, dressed in hot pink, raced up to me and gave me a big hug. “Isn’t this amazing?!” she beamed in excitement.

Rakeem, looking cool in jet black, joined her. “Sorry for the scare, man,” he said, looking like a cow that had ate a lot of hay and was ready to give milk. “We always wanted to do that. As you can tell, we’re the Legion of Sentinels. Sworn to protect and serve the country.”

“Don’t worry about your parents,” Hardict said. “They wished that they were that cool to join us.”

“Amen to that,” Mom drawled.

I couldn’t believe it. This nerd of yours was in a room full of superheroes. I bet Natalie and Allie were feeling the same type of way I was.

“Xavier, are you okay?” Principal Jackson said, smiling softly.

I took a deep breath. “Well,” I began, “Given all the circumstances and this ‘surprise,’ there’s only one reaction I can give you at a time like this.”

“What’s that?” everyone said in unison.

And that, my readers, is when I passed out completely. In a way, I was good at it.

“Uh-oh,” was the last thing I heard Carli and Trent say before the darkness took me under once more. FML, right?