The Hercules Project

Chapter 6

Hormonal Reactions

I came to staring up into the clear blue New Mexico sky in an instant of clarity and immediately tried to get my bearings. As long as my ears weren't playing tricks on me, the world had fallen totally silent. Probably not a good thing.

Lifting my head was easier than it should have been, body slumped down so I half hung from my chair. My eyes followed the downward motion, across the line of the school, over the staring, amazed faces of the crowd, down to Jimmy sprawled in the dirt at my feet, his vacant eyes no longer empty.

He looked terrified. Paul crouched near him, finally breaking the eerie quiet with his whimpering. The thud of feet approaching told me the teacher on duty was on his way.

"What happened?" I whispered it, more to myself than anyone else and saw Melody twitch, her gaping jaw snapping shut.

"What's going on here?" Mr. Pendergast huffed to a stop. Like he really cared or something. More like we disturbed his peace. From the scowl on his face he wasn't impressed with being ignored by the black suits the day before. "Mind telling me what happened, Wyatt?"

I would have liked to. Really.

"I don't know, sir."

"He attacked me!" Jimmy jumped to his feet, wiping blood from his nose. He held out his crimson hand to show the teacher. "See?"

I hit him? How? A quick look down at my hands told me they weren't marked. Didn't hurt, either. How could I possibly have hit him that hard from the position I was in? And not feel it?

Mr. Pendergast obviously thought the same thing. "Really. That's a shame, Mr. Anders. Be more careful next time and stop blaming other people for your clumsiness." He looked down at me. "Enjoy your ride yesterday?"

"No," I said, in all honesty.

He grunted something and left.

Jimmy and Paul still stared, both of them twitching a little like their bodies were telling them to run but they couldn't quite make it happen. I faked a lunge at them. Jimmy squealed and bolted.

Cool.

As enjoyable as that was, I needed to get out of there. Going to school was turning out to be a bad idea for real. For the second time I thought of my cell phone and came up empty.

I said a few bad words under my breath before turning my wheelchair and heading to the office. Past the now whispering mob of students, some of whom smiled at me and gave me thumbs-up. I wasn't the only one Jimmy and Paul used as a lunch counter.

"Wyatt!"

I paused, hands clenching around the tops of my wheels and waited for Melody to catch up. She had her curls in a headband today, a few escaping to frame her face.

Sigh.

"Hi," I said.

"That was amazing!" She giggled. My favorite. "The look on Jimmy's face..." She rolled her eyes. "I guess he's not so tough."

Funny thing about bullies.

"Where did you go yesterday?" Her questions came a mile a minute, blue eyes the exact shade of the sky. "Those men were like secret agents or something, weren't they?"

"My dad sent them." Pity was intolerable. Mystery on the other hand... I wasn't above using the situation to my own advantage.

She giggled again. "That's really awesome." Melody frowned then, a little pucker forming between her perfectly arched eyebrows. "You look different."

That confirmed it. I wasn't the only one noticing. And the fact she even knew enough for a comparison was amazing.

"New treatment," I said. "Seems to be working."

"Where are you headed now?" She was back to twirling her hair on her finger, long nail the same pink as her toes. I loved how she did that.

"The office," I said. "I'm not feeling well."

Just the opposite, but it was the only excuse I had.

"Can I walk with you?" She stood next to me, bare knee exposed beneath her tartan mini-skirt brushing against my fingers, hovering so close the cherry scent of her made my heart leap.

"Sure."

It was the best two minutes of my life.

The school secretary smiled, confused, when we entered.

"Hello, Wyatt, Melody," she said. "Why are you here? Not feeling well?"

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

"Symptoms?"

I shrugged, liking the way my muscles felt when I did, the flexibility of my body, the new strength and energy. I longed to get out of there, to go somewhere I could test the limits of what was happening. To see if I could bring on another bout of the tingles.

"I had a seizure," I said. And wanted to laugh. Some seizure. This kind I could handle.

"Are you all right? Shall I call your father?" She reached for the phone when I stopped her.

"I'm okay," I said. "It was a mild one, but I guess it freaked everyone out." Melody nodded in agreement with a great deal of enthusiasm, blonde curls bobbing. "I've been having them lately, out of the blue. My doctor says there is nothing they can do." Okay, that was sort of a lie, but I justified it. There wasn't anything anyone could do, as far as I knew. Whatever was happening to me just had to run its course.

Frankly, I couldn't wait.

"Want to talk to Mr. Tait?"

I didn't want to see the principal, but I did need to go home, that much was certain. So, I nodded and smiled at Mrs. Paters.

"I'll wait for you," Melody said.

Mrs. Paters winked at me as she pushed me back through the office toward a closed door. She paused to knock. A deep voice said, "Come." She flipped the door handle down and wheeled me inside.

Despite his old-fashioned ideas about kids and their parents, I always liked Mr. Tait, our principal. He was big, like my father. Even played football like Dad in college. Mr. Tait always dealt with me fairly and didn't baby me like I was disabled, knowing I hated being treated different. He looked up from his desk as I entered and smiled when he saw me. The florescent light above him made his bald head glow.

Mr. Tait stood up and leaned over to shake my hand. I thought it was weird, but it was kind of cool at the same time.

"Nice to see you, Wyatt." His rumbling voice filled the office. "How's your dad?"

"Fine, sir, busy," I said.

"Good to hear. You're looking wonderful yourself. Feeling better these days?"

Yet another confirmation. Mrs. Paters looked at me funny, like she was just seeing it herself.

"You know, eating right, getting some exercise."

"Got it," Mr. Tait said. "Now, maybe you can tell my why I'm having the pleasure of your company?" He waved Mrs. Paters out. Mr. Tait sighed and sat back in his chair, the swivel seat creaking under his weight. Unlike my father, Mr. Tait put some padding on around his middle, making him look more square than tall. "Care to tell me what happened?"

"I think I need to go home," I said. I told him the same seizure story and saw him wince in sympathy.

"I'll take care of it, Wyatt," he said. "I'll call Ms. Franks and have her come get you."

Perfect.

"I do feel tired." I tried to sound grave about my condition while jumping for joy at the chance to escape prying eyes.

Mr. Tait reached for his computer to look up my number. "Consider it done. Now, take a load off and I'll be right back." The weak jab was annoying, but I let it go. People made bad jokes like that to me all the time. Guess it made them feel better or something. Like they knew I was different, but wanting to prove they weren't nervous about my condition.

Yeah, right.

He jotted down the number and left the office. Part of me wondered why he couldn't just talk to Abigail in front of me, while the other part didn't care, so wrapped up in the rush of my evolution he could have pulled out a Star Trek communicator and I wouldn't have noticed.

There was one person determined to make sure I did pay attention. The door creaked and Melody eased herself inside, closing it behind her.

"I thought you'd like some company." Her blue eyes burned through me as she stood there with one hip c****d toward me, twisting that same piece of gum into a slow, sexy loop.

It was very hot in Mr. Tait's office. Why hadn't I noticed before?

Melody oozed toward me, the gum returning to her mouth, pink lips turning upward as she smiled at me. "Can I sit in your chair?"

"I'm sort of using it." Stupid. Stupid!

She giggled. "That's okay," she said. "We can share."

No. Way. Could my life get any better?

She weighed nothing it seemed as she turned sideways and planted her skirted self in my lap. Her curls brushed my cheek as she spun sideways, leaning close to me, one arm sliding around my shoulders, her sweet gum breath invading my senses. I stared like a total i***t while a bubble slowly expanded from her bow-like lips, the sticky sweetness brushing my mouth just as it popped, the breath of her washing over my face.

Melody's smile almost did me in as she ran one fingertip down my cheek to the tip of my chin, eyelashes heavy over her sultry gaze.

"Would you like to kiss me, Wyatt?"

My heart stopped dead and refused to start again while I gasped for a breath and felt a weak patter in my chest and knew I wasn't about to expire from happiness after all.

My mouth opened as I tried to speak. The answer was yes, YES! She didn't give me a chance to say the word. The question answered itself.

She leaned closer, closer, filling my entire world with the soft, delicious warmth of her. Nothing else mattered, no one else existed, only me and Melody and the shining wetness of her mouth.

The moment Melody's cherry lips settled on mine, my whole body went haywire.

***