I paced back and forth in the lab as Adam stuck packages of candy inside his jacket, Bree filing her nails as she propped her legs up on a table. I hissed in pain as I looked down at my thumb, realizing that I had been nervously biting them practically down to the bone.

Everyone turned their heads as Chase ran out of the elevator, a wide grin on his face "Tonight's the night!" He started speeding right past me and spun around. "The new frozen yogurt shop is opening! Fifty-two flavors, and four of them are sugar free." Bree paused from filing her nails, slowly turning to her brother, who scoffed. "Oh, who are you kidding? You passed out when you first discovered nail polish."

Bree shrugged as Adam giggled to himself, walking over to us. "I've heard of those yogurt places. They get you by charging extra for toppings. So, I'm bringing my own." Adam unzipped his large jacket, revealing well over a dozen toppings. Chase's eyes widened in unamusement. Adam chuckled. "You don't wanna even know whats in my pockets." He said as he slapped them, a pop echoing in the lab as Adam yelled. "Ah! Hot butterscotch-- hot butterscotch!" He waddled away as I hummed biting my other thumb as Bree frowned.

"Are you alright, Ness? You've gone through three fingers." She asked as my brows raised and I looked over at her, nodding.

"Huh? Yeah. Oh yeah I'm dandy. Peachy, if you will. Never been better." I lied and frowned, biting another nail.

"You've been pacing and biting your nails all day. What's going on?" Chase asked as I shook my head.

"It can wait. Today is just a day of fun and relaxation. Fro-yo, am I right?" I forced a laugh as Bree and Chase shared a concerned look as Mr. Davenport walked in with Leo.

"Sorry, you guys are coming home straight after school. So no flavors, no fro-yo, no hanging with the bros, peeps, and homies." I slowly turned from Chase and Bree to look at Mr. Davenport, frowning.

"'Bros, peeps and homies'? No... just... don't." Bree waved a hand at her dad as he rolled his eyes.

"And what do you mean no fro-yo? I've been freaking out all day, man! I want my yogurt!" I argued as Mr. Davenport raised his hand up, watching my fingers sparkle with electricity.

"What's got you in sucha grouchy mood? Did they run out of human foot stools at the rich guy club?" Leo joked with a frown as Mr. Davenport glared at him.

"Did all of you forget that Marcus found the lab yesterday? He could have discovered their bionic secret." Mr Davenport reminded as I raised a finger up.

"By "their bionic secret' you mean Adam, Bree, and Chase's, right? Because we all remember that 14-year old boy that hacked into your homemade Pentagon." I said as Mr Davenport nodded.

"Right. Vanessa, your bionics should be safe, but Marcus did see four capsules, so I hope he thinks it Leo--" Mr Davenport paused, slowly turning to the boy, who grinned. "Maybe it would be better if they did know about your bionics."

"Hey!" Leo frowned as Mr Davenport raised his hands defensively.

"Leo, it's not that Mr Davenport would be the one to say that capsule its yours... You just... don't look like you have bionics." I smiled softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Look the bottom line is... I'm going to be keeping a tighter leash on you four. And Leo, because I can't always be there, you have to step it up and do a better job of watching out for them." Davenport stated as Leo nodded.

"No problem, Big D. I may have let one goon get too close, but I won't let any more Marcuses slip through the cracks. From now on you can call me the enforcer!" Leo stood like a hero as we all frowned at him and shook our heads.

Leo walked down into the lab with an all-too-confident strut, glaring at me as I tried to hold back an amusement snort from how dumb he appeared. If he really wanted to look intimidating like an enforcer, then he'd have to gain a few... a lot— of muscle.

"Alright everyone! The hammer is down. No more talking boys." Leo started as he turned to Bree and I, even though he probably knew of Chase and I'd relationship. "No more talking to girls." He turned to look at Chase, giving him an odd look before turning to Adam. "And no more helping old ladies to their cars!"

"I was helping your grandmother—" Chase started before Leo leaned closer to him menacingly.

"Trust. No one." He said through gritted teeth as I cackled. "This funny to you, Nessie?"

"No. It's hilarious that you think you'd actually be able to control what we do now because you and Mr Davenport messed up."

"It ain't my fault Marcus is like a slug! Slimy, gross, conniving and an all around as—"

"Hey! That's my friend." Adam frowned as Leo nodded in disappointment.

"Right. You're friend just so happens to be a lying sphinx!"

"MARCUS IS A CAT?!" Adam yelled as he stood up. I looked up at him with a frown, crossing my arms.

"If he does find out our secret, can we get rid of him first?" Bree asked, pointing to Adam as Me. Davenport ran in, excitement radiating off of his body as he did an odd dance while screaming repeatedly.

"It's here!" He yelled about a dozen times as Eddie popped up on the screen.

"Whatever it is, I hope it's a big ok' box of masculinity. Because I never want to see that again."

"Just— follow me!" Mr Davenport bolted to the door that led to our garage, everyone jumping up with the same excitement as we all followed him.

I froze in my spot as my mouth dropped open, staring at a brand new, very fancy looking car. "Holy shit, mr Davenport! Who'd you have to kill to get this?"

"I didn't kill anybody. Meet the world's first self-driving car, designed by yours truly." He grinned and pointed to himself as every nodded with a wide smile. "That's right, just when you thought I couldn't get more awesome, boom! I got more awesome!" He danced in place as we all grimaced.

"And, boom!" Bree cheered before dropping her arms. "I still want to be dropped off a block away from school."

I hummed in amusement as Leo continued to ask questions. "So how does this thing drive itself?" Mr. Davenport beamed as Leo asked the question, gesturing to his 'amazing creation.'

"Oh, well, uh, see this panel on top? It receives a satellite signal and sends all the pertinent information to the car's on-board computer and voila, it drives itself! Hey, did I mention, by the way, that this car goes 200 miles an hour? No? That's because it goes 300!" Davenport yelled as the four of us grinned in excitement, ready to step into the self-driving vehicle.

"Question." I raised my hand as Davenport raised a brow, tilting his head. "Does this come in a one seater.... two wheels... and a handle—"

"I didn't make a self driving motorcycle, Vanessa." I grunted in disappointment, crossing my arms.

"Well, my excitement was just murdered and thrown into the deep end. I'm going to get ready for school." I walked out of the garage as Tasha walked in.

——————

"Vanessa! There you are." I turned around in confusion to see Marcus run up to me, a smile on his face.

"Oh! Hey Marc—"

"Nessie! Get away from the creep!" Leo yelled as everyone turned their heads, watching as Leo pulled out a metal detector wand, aiming it past Marcus. The wand beeped, which seemed to go by unnoticed by everyone but me.

"Oh, come on, Leo. I'm just trying to strike up a conversation with Vanessa." Marcus swung his arm around my shoulder as I tended up awkwardly, hearing an odd noise from behind us as Marcus' arm was quickly pulled off and replaced by Chase's.

I turned to look at Chase, seeing a slightly jealous look in his eye as he peered at Marcus, who didn't seem to notice it.

"Anyways, you guys excited for the new frozen yogurt shop? I heard they're giving out unlimited toppings! Principal Perry's been camped out for a week." Marcus grinned as I frowned.

"Explains why no one has been going to classes." I commented as Bree and Adam finally walked up.

"What?! I wish someone would have told me that before i put gummy worms in my shoes." Adam complained as I frowned at him.

"Why didn't you just get baggies of topping and keep them in your bag?" I asked, everyone slowly turning to look at him.

"Because that's where I keep this guy." Adam suddenly pulled out a giant snake and I screamed, jumping into Chase's arms like a cartoon.

"SNAKE." Leo screeched as Adam frowned, hiding the snake away. Chase set me down as I stared wide-eyes at the bag, stepping away from it and closer to Leo.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, slowly turning to Marcus. "Uh... Sorry Marcus. We can't go to the yogurt shop... Mr. Davenport is having us do chores." Marcus raised his brow high into the air, which made me have to hide a strange look. How does he do that?

"Yeah. We have a lot of stuff to do at home." Bree made an attempt to lie, but it didn't work out very well, since Adam scoffed and started to blabber.

"Uh, no, we have an uptight dad whose afraid we'll reveal our secret—" Bree jabbed her brother in the side. "Ow! Oh— secret recipe for chili. Yeah, that works, let's go." Adam started running off, Bree following.

Chase grabbed my arm as he forced me to follow along, Leo last to lead.

———————

"Ugh! Vivian Peters just sent me a text bragging about how awesome the yogurt shop is! I don't even know how she got my number!" I complained, sulking on the ground.

"Everyone from school is checking in at the yogurt shop! Even Susie Reynolds, and she's lactose intolerant." Bree frowned, staring at her phone as Mr. Davenport walked into the lab.

"Alright guys... I need to make sure Tasha's dinner is very special... So stay far... far... away." He whispered as I looked up at him, frowning.

"Alright. then send us to a different galaxy with a yogurt shop!" I glared daggers into Davenport, watching him frown.

"Just. Stay away for the night." He ordered, quickly walking out as I sat up, Chase's phone beeping.

"I knew we should have gone to the grand opening with Marcus! He just texted me and said that principal Perry is shotgunning tutti-fruity straight from the dispenser!" Chase showed me the picture of Marcus grinning as he stood in front of Perry, doing exactly as he explained.

"Oh come on! I don't even like Perry but I would have cheered her on for that!" I crossed my arms in disappointment as Bree yelled in annoyance, flailing her arms.

"We are missing the biggest social event of our lives. Let's just go!" I stood up quickly as Chase did, shaking his head.

"We can't... You know Mr. Davenport won't be happy about it."

"Yeah.. but Davenport said we stay far, far away... and the yogurt shop is far far away." Adam spoke as Chase slowly turned to him, a grin on his face as he shrugged.

"Your razor thin logic works for me!" The three of us started to run out of the lab, getting stopped by Bree.

"Wait. What about Leo?"

"Leo has been way to uptight recently. I don't want him ruining our day because Marcus is there." I spoke up.

"We just have to be quick." Chase said as a grin appeared on Adam's face.

"Mr. Davenport's car is quick."

"Are you crazy?!" I asked as Adam frowned. "Davenport will murder us if he finds out we drove that."

"Well... You're the only one with a license... and the car drives itself anyways." Bree shrugged as she slowly stepped towards me, Adam snapping his fingers.

"Can't argue with that!"

hey look i updated it.
this has been sitting in the drafts since i published this book 💀