"I can't believe this! This is absolutely ridiculous! Completely wrong! Totally and horrifically-"

"Are you going to keep blabbering or do I cut in now and ask what's wrong?" I cut in, Chase slapping the piece of paper down on the lunch table. I scooted my salad to the side, leaning down to look at his progress report.

"What am I supposed to be looking for? I see all A's." I said as Chase made an "ah-ah-ah" noise.

"They may be all A's, but one of them is an A minus. A MINUS." He yelled as I flinched and looked up at him in confusion.

"So? What's the big deal?" I asked as Chase gasped obnoxiously.

"The 'big deal' is that I'm supposed to be the smartest person in the world, and I just got an A minus for home Ec!" Chase argued as he sat down grumpily, hitting his head on the table. It almost sounded like he was crying.

"Chase, Mr. Mattons has never given someone an A+ in his entire career. Not once. He hates kids, but not as much as Principal Perry. He just likes watching the smart ones suffer." I said, rubbing his back as he sighed.

"Yeah but... now I have to go find a way to reclaim my superiority." Chase complained as I shrugged.

"Sign up for Student of the Semester. Every semester, kids compete to see who can best improve the school. Whoever gets the most votes wins free pencils, a bumper sticker, and a cheesy picture of himself on the wall!" I explained as Chase grinned, nodding with excitement.

"That's brilliant, Dottie! Thank you so much!" Chase said before grabbing my face and planting a kiss on my cheek, standing up and running out as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

I sat in my chair, wide eyed and paralyzed with butterflies in my stomach, unsure of what just happened actually happened.

Did Chase really just kiss my cheek? Or am I imagining things again?

The feeling of his soft lips still lingered on my cheek. This is definitely real.

Chase's POV

I walked out of the cafeteria with an evil grin on my face before I froze dead in my tracks, grin dropping to a horrified expression of nothing but absolute terror.

"Chase buddy? What's going on with you? Bree why does your brother look like he just made a terrible mistake?" Leo asked as he waved a hand across my face. I crushed the progress report in my hands. Can they see my heart beating out of my chest?

Did I really just kiss Vanessa's cheek?

"Oh god." I muttered as Adam, Bree and Leo stared at me blankly. I turned to look at them all. "I just involuntarily kissed Vanessa's cheek." I croaked out as the three gasped.

"What does involuntarily mean?" Adam asked as I stiffened up.

"How did you accidentally kiss Vanessa?!" Leo asked as Adam 'oooed.'

"I got so excited about her recommending I sign up for the Student of the Semester competition that I grabbed her face and... kissed her. And now I don't know what to do!" I explained as Bree laughed.

"Finally I'm not the one to embarrass myself around a person I like. But this... is something you can't walk away from or avoid." She said as I scratched my head.

"I Uh- I need to go. I'll see you guys later! Or not if I can find a tall enough bridge..." I muttered, running off.

⁂

Vanessa's POV

I didn't sit with anyone at lunch today. I just went straight to Mr. Davenport's. If I was lucky, Chase would stay after school to do something for the student of the Semester award.

When I walked in, I saw Tasha washing the dishes, dropped all of my stuff and grabbed a cup of water. After that, I decided to fill it with water, sip it...

And then do a spit take.

"Ness! What was that for?!" Tasha asked while giving me a disapproving look.

"CHASE KISSED ME." I yelled as Tasha's mouth dropped open. "Well I mean, he didn't kiss me kiss me but he kissed my cheek! And I don't think he meant to kiss me but he still kissed me! Wait what does that mean? Does he like me? I mean I don't even know if I see him that way. Well, I think he's cute. And really smart. And I like his abs- THATS NOT THE POINT!" I cut myself off as Tasha laughed nervously.

"Vanessa I think you just need to sit down... maybe have a glass of milk. Just... don't spit it out." Tasha said as she guided me to her couch.

"I just.. I just don't know what to do! I mean, Chase is like... my best friend! But Leo's my best friend so I can't say Chase is my best friend." I said as my eyes widened, standing up quickly. "OH GOD. DOES THIS MEAN IM HIS GIRLFRIEND?!"

"No no! Uh Vanessa that's not how this works. Let's just chill out... and I'll get you that milk." Tasha said with an awkward smile as I nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath and sitting back down.

I could suddenly hear Adam and Chase's voices, causing me to shoot up and yell. "OH GOD HES HERE! QUICK! HELP ME HIDE!" I begged as Tasha ushered me to one of the bathrooms.

I shut and locked the door quickly, pressing my ear against the door to listen. "Hey Tasha— what's Vanessa's bag doing here?" I heard Adam say, followed by the jiggling of my bag as he picked it up.

"Oh! I don't know she must have left it when she stopped by to pick something up." Tasha lied as I sighed in gratitude.

"Wait. Vanessa was here? When did she leave?" Chase asked as I shut my eyes tightly, the thundering noise of my heart beating rushing through my ears.

"Oh she uh.. just left. Like before you guys got here." Tasha lied as I nodded slowly, hearing Adam and Chase leave. I unlocked the door slowly, peeking my head out before returning into the kitchen.

"Thank you so much, Tasha." I said as I grabbed my bag.

"Now just you hold on." She stopped me as I halted, slowly turning around. "You and Chase can't ignore each other forever. One of you will have to break the silence." She said as I looked at the ground then back at her.

"Well Tasha. It was lovely getting to know you. Tell Leo that he can visit on weekends and to never bring any of his step siblings." I answered with a smile before booking it out of the home.

⁂

I wish I had a car... and a license.

Gee I've been walking for forever. I should take a shortcut.

I usually took the ling way for scenery, but the short way cut off my travel time by five minutes, probably because one of Mr. Davenport's warehouses was blocking my path. I know I should go around it, but there was just something in me that was screaming for me to go in.

Maybe this was the little voice inside Leo's head he would talk about.

Without a second thought, I snuck into one of the open doors, the smell of chemicals wafting up into my nose. I probably just lost a few nose hairs to that, but who needs them anyways?

I thought I had heard voices, so my instincts to just book it kicked in. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of spilling chemicals and heard footsteps behind me.

"Hey- Dottie?!" I turned to see Adam, Bree and Chase in their mission suits all looking at me with fear. "What are you doing here this place is about to collapse!" Chase asked as I stammered.

"Well I wanted to take a shortcut!" I said, the noise of concrete breaking apart ringing in my ears. I looked up as dust fell onto my shoulder.

"VANESSA NO-!" I saw Chase start to run after me, Bree grabbing him before my whole world fell into darkness as something collapsed on top of me.

⁂

Adam threw block after block of cement off of The pile to find Vanessa. When they found her, Chase scanned her vitals.

She was barely breathing.

Bree ran her back to Mr. Davenport's, almost in tears. Leo had to be dragged out of the lab and locked upstairs. He wasn't allowed to interject in what was about to happen.

"I never thought I would have to do this." Me. Davenport muttered. "if we take Vanessa to the hospital they would either let her die... or she would be paralyzed forever."

"So then what are we going to do? We can't let her die!" Chase argued as Mr. Davenport nodded.

"I know I-... Chase I need you to go to the safe in the other room. The code is 2367.... I need you to take out the bionic chip and give it to me with the chip extractor." Mr. Davenport ordered as Chase backed up.

"You're going to give Vanessa.... Bionics?" Chase asked as everyone turned to their father.

"It's the only way we can save her and allow her to still move. Do it now." Davenport commanded as Chase did so, coming back with the bionic chip extractor and the chip itself.

"So.. what bionics will she have?" Adam asked as Mr. Davenport looked at the chip and sighed. "Oh! Is she gonna have super strength like me!? Look Chase a girl is about to be stronger than you!" He joked as Chase narrowed his eyes at him.

Mr. Davenport only sighed, and shook his head. "I don't know." Was all he could say.