Savannah decided to stay the first night of my banishment, so I decided to spend the first night locked in my room with my headphones on. I didn’t know if any specific room was meant to be mine, so I picked at random. I ended up in a smallish bedroom with a bunk bed that faced the side yard. It looked like someone had decided to create a vegetable garden but given up halfway through. Weedy flowers grew interspersed with the odd struggling tomato or pepper plant. There wasn’t much to see beyond that. The electronic gate was only the first and most obvious form of security enlacing the manor. High walls stretched well above the normal limit necessary for privacy, and I had no doubt that there were cameras everywhere. The entire property was also impervious to any kind of wireless signal, which meant no internet. Not for me, in any case.

“Cat?”

I sat up with a start. Savannah stood in the doorway.

“You could’ve knocked,” I said, scowling. I took my headphones off.

“I did. Can I come in?”

“No.”

She came in anyway, sitting on the edge of the bed facing me.

“I couldn’t get them to go easy on you forever. You had to have known this was coming.”

I didn’t meet her eyes. “I never asked you to stick up for me. I never asked you for anything.”

“No,” she agreed. “But you didn’t stick up for yourself, either.” She stood suddenly. “Come on. Let’s eat dinner.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I don’t care. I’m supposed to go over the rules you’ll have to follow until the end of the summer, and I’m hungry.”

“You mean the rules I’ll have to follow until they re-review my case and decide whether or not to make it permanent.”

“Just come to the dining room,” she said. Reluctantly, I followed her. 

“You are not to reveal your identity, or the identity of any of the other members of the Wondrous Twelve, past or present. You are to submit all of your expenditures twice monthly; anything deemed unnecessary will be billed back to you.” Savannah was reading out of a thick Manila folder. “You are not to use your powers.”

“What if someone attacks me? Or the town?” 

Savannah looked up, clearly irritated. “Call the police, or, if you must, call Mr. Tundra.”

I wrinkled my nose. Mr. Tundra was in charge of prioritizing threats reported to the Wondrous Twelve so that Captain could quickly decide where to send us. He also had a massive ego and wasn’t afraid to show it. I’m pretty sure he thought he ran the place. I wouldn’t be calling him.

“Are you listening, Cat?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Good. Because if you miss your curfew, you’ll be in serious trouble.”

“Serious trouble? Like, I’ll be banished to an island instead of a peninsula?” Sarcasm was a reflex for me. It took my mind a moment to actually realize what she’d said. “Wait, curfew?”

“You have to be checked in at the gate by 7pm on the dot each night, and you can’t leave the grounds until 10am the next morning.” She reached into her pocket and pulled something out, handing it to me. It was a simple blue flip phone that weighed what felt like too much for its size. 

“I have a phone. A much better phone.”

“This is the only electronic you’ll be allowed to use here. I’ll be taking your laptop and-”

I cut her off. “No. You can’t!”

“I can and I will,” she said after a moment. I could tell she didn’t know what to say. She never did. “Give me your phone and laptop.”

I glared at her, then stormed to my room in silence.

“Cat!” Savannah called, but she didn’t have to. I was already on my way back, laptop and phone in hand. Then, with some force, I hurled both objects at her. They phased through her, as I knew they would, and shattered against the wall behind her, sending shards of plastic and glass across the room. 

As soon as I saw the look on her face, I felt sunken. Not again, her expression said. Disappointment, with a hint of fear. My eyes widened. 

“I’m sorry,” I told her. Overuse had made the phrase seem insincere coming from me. I locked myself in my room until she’d gone for good. Her little car puttered down the driveway, the gate closed, and the rain started again.