Christmas came and went, and before Pip knew it, it had been over a week since she’d responded to Khione. It absolutely wasn’t on purpose, but she doubted her girlfriend would believe that. No time to find out like right before throwing punches at each other.

  Pip shifted in the front seat, phone in her hands, waiting to hear back from her girlfriend. Nothing, yet.

  “I don’t understand why we have to come along,” Amalia complained from the back seat.

  “Because your sister was right,” Mai said from the driver’s seat, her eyes locked on the road. “You need to connect more with supers your own age.”

  “Why not good supers?” Galen asked, leaning so far forward he poked his head through the space between the front seats.

  “Because we’re supposed to learn something about how we’re not actually better supers than them just because we’ve had access to more training,” Theo said. “Something something, we’re stuck up and need to do better.”

  “It’s not stuck up,” Galen said. “It’s practical. How are they supposed to be our peers if we’re so much better than them?”

  “Looks like you need to get them to your level, then,” Mai said. “Isn’t there a saying about teaching to continue your own education?”

  “Dunno.”

  “They’re good people,” Pip said, turning around to look at her siblings. They weren’t all coming along, only Theo, Galen, and Amalia who were in high school. “They’re just not great at using their powers. A lot better than they were a few months ago though.”

  “And we’re here to help them out so you can get them into that gym, right?” Theo asked. “How is that not cheating, Mum?”

  “It’s not cheating,” Mai said. “It’s… strategic.”

  Pip laughed, shaking her head. Why had she ever worried that Mai wouldn’t like this idea? Though, it was a tiny bit cheating. Still, it wasn’t like anyone could prove that, they all went to Laymont Academy together, and Theo, Galen, and Amalia would benefit along with the rest of the people in the LOSERS club aside from Khione and Pip.

  Mai pulled up in front of the gym and they loaded out, gathering up the food Mai had prepared as always for the club. This time, it wasn’t Chinese food, but instead a collection of Greek dishes and desserts she’d made. They carried the load inside, filling up the waiting table as the teenagers swarmed, complementing Mai on her cooking.

  Was that why Mai did it? The appreciation?

  Pip placed the aluminum pan on the table and stepped back, searching the gym for her girlfriend. Khione… wasn’t here?

  August and Frog and Lilly stood out in the middle of the gym floor, already practicing with their powers. The others gathered around eating food and introducing themselves to the other Carters, chattering excitedly about the competition they were going to start training for. But Khione was nowhere to be seen, her coiled white hair and signature leather jacket conspicuously missing.

  “Hey,” Pip grabbed one of the students by the arm. “Have you seen Khione?”

  “No, she hasn’t shown up yet,” she said.

  Pip released her and sighed, glancing back down at her phone. Still no response.

  If Khione wasn’t going to respond, and wasn’t going to show up, Pip would just have to go and find her.

  She didn’t live far away. Pip had picked her up and dropped her off before, and knew she walked to school. It shouldn’t take that long to find her.

  “Hey, Mum,” Pip said, turning to Mai. “Khione hasn’t shown up yet, so I’m going to go check on her, okay? I’ll be back in a bit.”

  “Okay, tell her I’ll save a plate for her.”

  Pip left the gym and took off down the street, desperately hoping Khione was home and that she was headed in the right direction. As she jogged, not wanting to draw attention by full on sprinting off of school grounds and onto the road, she pulled out her phone and shot off a quick text.

  Pip: are u home? i’m coming to get you

  She stuffed the phone deep into the pockets of her leggings and took off, cold nipping at her as she ran. Down the road, her eye snagged on a familiar street sign and though she couldn’t read it, she knew to follow it. It took her up a slight hill, calves burning as she jogged her way up, spying Khione’s house when she reached the top of the incline.

  Slowing back to a walk, she approached the house, snow covering the sidewalk in front of it. Footsteps led up to the one story home, muddled brown from mud. Pip stared at the front door for a moment before marching up to it and ringing the doorbell.

  It resounded quietly beyond the wooden door. Pip waited, rocking from foot to foot for Khione to respond. Hopefully she would, and Pip wouldn’t be left outside freezing all day.

  A tall, older looking black woman opened the door, a look of confusion passing across her face as she stared down at Pip. “It’s a little cold to be selling stuff, don’t you think?”

  “Oh, no, I’m just here to talk to Khione,” Pip said, smiling at the woman. Was this Khione’s mom? They certainly had similar facial structure, with wide, flat noses and heart shaped faces, but her hair was entirely black while Khione’s was mostly white. “She’s a…” Did Khione’s parents know they were dating? “Friend from school. I had a question about homework.”

  “School doesn’t start up til Monday,” the woman said, eyes narrowing as she stared at Pip.

  “Wasn’t there homework over break? If there’s not, I’ve been worrying about nothing!” She laughed and wiped at her forehead, as if wiping away a sheen of sweat. She continued to stare at the woman, waiting.

  After a moment, the woman stepped back and shut the door. From outside, Pip could make out Khione’s name being called, and let out a breath of relief. She really didn’t want to break into a house. That would definitely hurt her chances of getting into the hero program, and also be entirely inappropriate.

  Stuffing her fingers into the deep pockets of her fluffy jacket, Pip waited on the doorstep for the door to open. This time, thank god, it was Khione.

  The moment their eyes met, Khione sucked in a deep breath and moved to close the door.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Without thinking, Pip shot a hand out and wedged it between the door and the doorframe.

  It slammed solidly on her palm.

  She let out a yelp of pain, dancing backwards as she cradled her hand to her chest. Holy shit, that hurt a lot more than she anticipated.

  “Fuck, Pip.” Khione threw the door open and hurried out onto the porch, wearing little more than a pair of ripped jeans and a tank top. “Why did you do that?”

  “I’m fine,” Pip forced out, her eyes watering. Hand throbbing, she looked up at Khione and forced out a smile. “It’s good to see you.”

  “I’m going back inside.”

  “No, wait!” Khione stopped moving, and Pip pushed forward, speaking quickly. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you, I promise. I was just busy, you know. I was with my grandparents and then it was Christmas and it was so busy…”

  “Right.”

  “And either way, I’m sorry. I should have texted you, or called you. I missed you, though. I have a present for you?”

  Khione turned around, leveling her with a hardened stare. “A present.”

  “From Santa’s Workshop!”

  “I’m done.”

  She stepped toward the front door and Pip panicked, reaching out for Khione with her good hand. “I’m serious, Khione. Just come back with me to the gym, and I can show you.”

  “That’s what this is all about, right?” Khione snapped. “Training, so you can win this little competition.”

  “No!”

  “Right. So why not bring the present down here and come inside?”

  “Well… They all miss you. We’ve worked so hard on this!”

  Khione let out a disgusted noise and pulled free from Pip’s grasp. “No, I haven’t. That’s all you, Pip. I didn’t want any part in it, and I don’t want part in it now.”

  “Wait, Khione, please…”

  Before Pip could say any more, Khione stepped back inside, slamming the door shut behind her.

  Pip let out a sharp sigh, staring at the door. What was she supposed to do now?

  She trailed back toward the sidewalk. Passing around the building, she caught sight of Khione through the windows for a moment before she slammed the blinds closed.

  How am I supposed to fix this?

  She made her way back to the gym, shivering in the cold as she progressed up the hill toward the school, hand throbbing against her chest. Bones were broken, it seemed, and not wanting to knit back together. She’d have to have them healed, which meant she wouldn’t even be able to help train today.

  Pip pushed through the foggy gym doors, letting out a sigh as warmth enveloped her. Mai perked up, then frowned, a note of concern entering her voice. “Where’s Khione?”

  “Didn’t want to come,” Pip said, dropping into one of the folding chairs propped up near the tables. “And I broke my hand.”

  “What?” Mai hurried over, squatting in front of Pip and holding out a hand. Pip handed hers over, wincing at Mai poked at it and clucked her tongue. “What did you do?”

  “Slipped,” Pip lied. “It’s icy out.”

  Mai’s frown grew more pointed. “I’m going to have Athena come and take you to the tower for healing.”

  “I can just walk over there,” Pip said. The tower was halfway across town, but maybe the walk would do her some good. She’d be able to think about how to fix things with Khione.

  “Not a chance,” Mai said, phone already in hand. “Your mother will be here any minute. Now, why don’t you tell me what actually happened with Khione?”

  Pip shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

  Mai stared at her softly before patting her on the knee. “That’s okay, baby. It’ll be all right. It’s just your first fight, is all.”

  Definitely not our first.

  It didn’t take long for Athena to reach the gym, hurriedly changed out of her typical Greek-influenced armor and into a mismatched mundane outfit. A ripple went through the gym as she entered, both the students and the Carters pausing, some in awe and the others just to wave to their mother.

  Athena ignored them, walking briskly across the gym to Mai and Pip seated by the door.

  “You broke your hand?” she asked as Pip rose, still cradling her hand to her chest. There was a limit to how much the natural cultivation of a super’s core could heal their physical body, and apparently for Pip, that limit was broken bones. The pain had dulled, at least when she didn’t try to move it, but when she did, every sharp pain and fractured bone made itself loudly known.

  “I’m okay,” Pip said. “Doesn’t hurt that badly. Just isn’t healing on its own.”

  Athena frowned, wrinkles forming around her dark eyes. “Get in the car,” she said, beckoning toward the door. “Was this training related?”

  “No,” Pip said, shaking her head. She hadn’t gotten a chance to use her powers at all today, or work more on her suit of armor, which she still needed to perfect. A waste of a day. She climbed into the car, larger built for Athena’s frame, and sunk into the wide front seat. “Just an accident.”

  Athena shifted the car out of park, engine thrumming. “An accident? Since when do you have accidents?”

  Pip sighed, closing her eyes. “I mean, it was mostly an accident. I was fighting with Khione.”

  “And you broke your hand?” Athena asked, laying on her concern even more heavily. If this continued, Pip would suffocate.

  “Khione tried to shut the door and I decided it was a good idea to put my hand there?”

  Fingers drummed against the leather padded steering wheel, a quiet beat in the car as they moved onto the road, merging into traffic. Around them, despite the snow, people drove like maniacs. Typical.

  “Do you want to talk about what’s going on with you and Khione? I haven’t heard you mention her recently.”

  “She’s mad at me. I forgot to text her over break.” Pip opened her eyes in time to see her mother wince, and leapt to defend herself. “It wasn’t on purpose! I just got busy.”

  “That’s understandable,” Athena said.

  “Only now, she won’t speak to me, and I think she’s still upset about me going to New York to tour the hero program,” Pip said. “She wasn’t happy about the idea of me leaving. She didn’t come to the club today either, and blew up at me about it.”

  “I’m sorry, Pip.”

  Pip stared at her mother, watching her as she drove. Athena and Mai rarely fought, at least that they let the children hear, but Pip had heard them arguing before. Athena had to understand.

  “What should I do?” Pip asked, tucking her knees up to her chest. If Mai was in the car, she’d scold her and tell her to put her feet down, but she wasn’t so Pip hugged her knee to her chest as she spoke. “I don’t want to fight with her.”

  “Have you tried listening to her?” Athena asked, glancing at her from the corner of her eye. “Do you know why she’s so upset? Because it sounds to me like she’s afraid of you leaving.”

  “But I never said I was leaving her,” Pip said, letting out a bitter laugh. Khione was always jumping to conclusions, coming up with stuff that just didn’t make sense. Pip was going to New York for training, not leaving forever. And it wasn’t like she couldn’t come back to visit frequently, with the access she had to the Unity Tower’s transportation array.

  “Did you tell her that?” Athena asked, then held up a hand before Pip could start talking again. “Sometimes, you have to say what you think is the unspoken truth. Not everyone can read your mind.”

  “Okay,” Pip said. “Is that why you and Mum don’t fight very often?”

  Athena’s fingers picked up their beat once more, the rhythm more reserved. “Your mum and I don’t fight that often because we made the conscious decision and commitment to work through everything together. We still argue, sometimes, but we’re a team. We’re not fighting each other, we’re fighting the problem. Or at least, that’s what we try to do. But we’re married, not girlfriends.”

  “Did you fight as girlfriends?”

  “No, we mostly… Nevermind, actually.”

  Pip made a gagging noise, and Athena laughed, falling sober again as the noise faded into the background of rumbling tires and the whirring engine.

  “Mai and I fight,” Athena said, more solemnly. “But at the end of the day, we know we’re a team, and that we love each other, so we try not to ever let it get to the point that we’re fighting. And if that doesn’t work, then we come together and fix the problem as a team. But like I said, we’re married. You can’t take the same advice when it comes to your girlfriend.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because… well. Do you love her? Do you want to fight this as a team, or do you just want to be right? I can’t answer that for you, Pip, and I can’t tell you what to do about it. I just think you should think about why it matters that you fix this. Does that make sense? I’m bad at this.”

  “It makes sense,” Pip murmured. She let her eyes shut again, Athena’s words racing through her mind.

  Did she even love Khione?

  She did… didn’t she?