“And test firing in 3, 2, 1... firing.”

The light bloomed, showing me I wore my goggles for nothing. The Engine strained against the reinforced clamps holding it in place; if any broke and the engine shifted the fuel line would cut off and the engine would stop, but for now everything was in the green and the monitor was showing four thousand pounds of thrust, which meant the clamps wouldn't hold more than thirty seconds.

Four thousand pounds of thrust out of a jet engine this size was pretty ridiculous, but I bet I could get it up to six with a few adjustments.

Speaking of adjustments, the data showed the engine didn't need any; the engine was stable and the test successful. My finger hovered over the cut-off switch, watching the screen for any deviation.

There wasn't any, and at twenty-seven seconds I pressed the button; the engine coughed and died. I removed my sound canceling headphones.

“The test is a success. Jeeves, remember to recycle the clamps; they held, but I don't trust them for the next round of testing.”

“Understood, mistress.”

Ricky, Maggie, Sam, and Ian took off their own goggles and ear protection (Safety was important!), already starting to gush, at least in Maggie's case. “Min, that was amazing! You hit the button and fwoosh! How did it do?”

“Four thousand pounds of thrust. Which, for what it's going to be installed in, is frankly a bit ridiculous.”

I looked over at the other corner of the lab through the open door; the jet was rolled there, out of the way. It had one engine installed already, with the open mount still mocking me. It was the roughly the size of a compact car and weighed in at just under a thousand pounds, most of that being safety features I couldn't skimp on. Or wasn't allowed to skimp on, even though I wouldn't be flying it. Mom was on a serious safety kick lately, and it had slowed everything down.

I had been forced to make so many other things before the jet, like the goggles and the headphones and the force field generator, just to scratch that annoying itch in the back of my mind.

And being told chapter and verse on what I had to build and when before I could move on to the fun stuff had gotten old fast.

But now, all that was finally over. I could install the second engine, and probably tomorrow now since it was nine, Crash could go on his first test flight.

Wait, it was nine already? Final assembly and the test had taken three hours, and Ian had been out here the entire time?!? Mom was going to kill me!

I shut off the force field around the engine and donned my gloves, built for tolerance to extreme heat. Jeeves stopped me, and snatched them off, putting them on his own hands. “I'll clean up here, Mistress Min. You go inside. You still have some homework to complete, after all.”

Urk. I knew I'd forgotten something. Homework had gotten more tedious lately, and I could only write so fast. Stupid slow hands. Jeeves refused to do it for me, even if I dictated; when I asked why he said it was a deal with my Mom.

I wasn't touching that.

I led the way inside, Ian slowing just before I got to the door. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he just silently gestured me in. Did he think I'd be the sacrificial offering?

“Mom, I'm done! Jeeves is cleaning up.”

“Alright. I didn't hear anything blow up, so I assume it worked?” Came her response from upstairs. Wonder what she was up to?

“Just perfectly. It ran like a top, and the clamps even held.”

Mom came down just as I reached the living room; a movie was paused, and Dad was sitting there with popcorn. So, an impromptu movie night? With an old horror movie, it looked like. That kind of sucked, I liked horror movies. Sure I'd seen this one, but they probably didn't know that.

Mom was all dressed up. That was weird.

“Good to know. It was pretty loud in here, did the sound baffling work?”

Sigh, I had made her and Dad headphones like I had too. “Yes Mom, it all worked.”

I wasn't about to tell her that I hadn't put all the baffling on since it seemed pointless in an engine test. Besides, I needed to see some of the mechanism in action.

“Alright. Are the dishes done?”

Urk. “No?”

“Then do them. Your homework done?”

“Mostly?” How do Mom's always know?

“Then do that after.”

I started the water with a sigh. Ian grinned on the way up the stairs, no doubt on the way to use the computer I built for him. Insufferable jerk.

“So...” I jumped. Mom was still here? “The Halloween dance is tomorrow, right?”

Oh wait, it was. Tomorrow was Friday already? Time flew when you were building jet engines and making money. I wondered again why they didn't have it on Halloween; I mean it was just a day later.

“Yeah, it is.”

Mom started handing me the dirty dishes, a weird look on her face. Coy? Sly? I wasn't sure what it was.

“So... got your costume all ready?”

I couldn't help but grin. I hadn't shown the costumes to anyone. “I've got mine and Jeeves's costume ready.”

I'd had to send away for them in order to keep it a secret from Jeeves, but it would be worth it; my revenge would be sweet!

Mom made a hmm noise, and handed me a glass. “So, are you going with anyone?”

Well of course I was. It wouldn't do to go alone anywhere, in this day and age. “I'm going with Jeeves, of course. And Maggie and Sam are coming with us. Ricky and Ralph are coming too. We should be safe from weirdos.”

Mom stopped and looked at me, a glass in hand and her mouth open.

“What?”

“Nothing honey, nothing. Ian is going to want to do some trick-or-treating Saturday. The plan is for me to take him, did you want to go?”

“Mooom, I'm too old for trick-or-treating.” Well too old for the treating part anyway. Last year Ricky and I had switched the Halloween decorations for the entire street as a prank; it was hilarious. The looks on some faces had been... well, I had never wanted a camera more than at that moment.

We had made sure to switch them back the next night, of course. Well, the ones who hadn't already traded decorations back; it was a prank, not something malicious.

“Sure you are, honey, sure you are. Though if you dressed up people would never suspect.”

Did... Mom just make a short joke at me? I turned to look, right into her wide grin. She had! “Mom, not cool at all.”

She ruffled my hair. “Don't break any of my dishes; I'm going to go back to the movie before your dad sends out a search party.”

She made a show of walking casually out of reach, which wasn't really that far. At least I could reach the sink, I guess.

A sniff picked up the hint of wine on her breath; just what was going on here, while I was testing a jet engine just outside? You'd think they would be more worried about that, but since the last – discussion, there had been nothing. Well, nothing except the sit down to discuss safety features and precautions I would be taking.

They had insisted on the force field and blast shields to cover the test area, just in case the engine blew up, the only thing to take damage would be the yard. As if anything I built was just going to randomly blow up! I was careful. Even Jeeves, who had more reason and opportunity to blow up than anything else I'd made, was perfectly stable, routine maintenance aside.

I finished the dishes and headed upstairs. Speaking of Jeeves, I'd kind of expected him before now. Maybe he was checking the status of the grass? Dad hadn't said anything yet, but I was pretty sure he'd noticed the way that Jeeves's slightly off-color grass was slowly taking over his pristine yard. Jeeves was supposed to be fixing it when I was asleep, but so far he hadn't managed to kill or even halt the spread of the grass. I didn't want to step in, but if Dad blamed me I'd have to. The only good news about it was the grass didn't seem to want to jump property lines at all; there was a sharp delineation between that side of our yard and the Herschel's yard.

My books were there on the desk, mocking my lack of desire. Getting through English was chore now, and one not even speed-reading could completely help me with. I almost wrote down some random crap just to get done with the stupid worksheet I had to do, but remembered the deal to keep my grades up just in time. If I kept solid A's, I would be able to order some more exotic materials online, things I couldn't just print out.

I had to correct two errors in my math worksheet before solving the twenty problems on it. I hoped Mr. Mullins appreciated the effort, because quite honestly it annoyed me to do it. The proper format of the question was even online, and corrected in more recent versions of the book we were using.

Just to be a jerk I put a few of the more esoteric equations regarding calculating the distance and mass of black holes down in the margins of the paper; he would probably have to look them up, and in so doing might stumble on how bad his book is.

Then I realized I was an idiot and had just given up that I knew those calculations. On a worksheet I wasn't allowed to copy off, and so couldn't just throw it away and start over. Maybe he wouldn't look those up after all, or care? Maybe he wouldn't understand the true significance?

I couldn't even scribble them out or sabotage them now since there would be people wondering why I did that. It would draw less suspicion to leave them alone and play it off as the prank it was.

I was just finishing up when Jeeves opened the door. I yawned and eyed the sitting squarely on the platter in his hand. With that, I could stay up some more, and maybe game or something....

I took a sip and almost yawned it back out. The chances of me staying awake long didn't look good, but I wasn't going to let the chance to unwind a bit go easily, especially after all that tedium.

I booted up my real time strategy game and went hunting for opponents online. I could crush at least one victim before sleep claimed me. It would be quick, I held too many advantages; quick reflexes, a quick better than state of the art computer, and knowledge of the code the game was based on. I was already the third highest rank tier the game offered (platinum, a lovely metal I liked to work with) with almost no games played.

There were even videos made on how to play the game and a budding professional scene. Going pro as a gamer was basically outing one's self as a nerd, but if I could sneak the idea past Mom and Dad it might be fun. Then again, did it count as a real sport? That would make it off limits to me.

The chime of a found match interrupted my musings. And would you look at this? My opponent was named “FlashGordon”. I wondered who that could be? Did Gordo have something he may not want his football team friends to know? Or was I wrong and it was a different Gordon?

Whoever it was, I crushed him. Soundly. He played well but I snuck some invisible units into his base, attacked with some other troops, and used those to mask the real attack. It was oddly satisfying to see his rank slip downward; if it was Gordo, I'd know pretty quickly tomorrow.

There was a polite knock on my door, right as the coffee was failing me and I was getting ready for bed. “Sis, you awake?”

“What do you want, Ian?”

The door began to open. I lunged and shouldered it closed. I heard him stumble back. “That wasn't an invitation to come in, Ian, it was a question!”

“Oh, sorry.” He apologized, sounding a little confused.

Well, he could just be confused; I wasn't about to explain to Mom why Ian's first glimpse of an undressed girl was his sister. I'd already gotten that particular lecture, and I hadn't even done anything wrong! I'd been wearing a shirt! Bras were stupid, but apparently not optional.

So of course he asked. “Just what are you doing in there, sis?”

He knew the use of 'sis' rankled; he was doing it on purpose. “Dressing.”

“Oh.”

Sigh. “What do you want, Ian?”

“Is it safe to come in?”

It was; I had buttoned up my pajamas in record time. I levered myself off the door.

“Yes, it's safe.”

He opened the door a crack, and slid inside, facing the hall. He couldn't look more suspicious if he tried.

I asked for the third time. “What do you want, Ian?”

He hedged. “Well, I wanted to see if you would make me something.”

Right, of course, and judging by the looks of things, what he wanted was something Mom and Dad wouldn't approve of.

“What, exactly?”

“Well, Halloween is coming up, and I have my costume ready. I want to go as Megaman, but the arm gun the stores sell is, well, lame.”

I knew of it; it was made of cheap plastic and shot little foam balls. I clamped down tightly on my thoughts, stopping the influx of ideas and improvements I could glean from such a thing cold. “Go on.”

“Well, I was hoping you could help me out, and build a better one. One that was actually a laser – but not a damaging one or anything! Just harmless light.”

Hmm, maybe one that was a flashlight, with a large beam but light battery... our parents would hardly object to that, it would make Ian more safe, not less.

“Alright, I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises. You didn't leave me much time, after all.” I scowled at him, my face stern. Actually, two days was plenty of time for such a small thing, at least with a 3d printer, but he didn't need to know that. He was my brother, and I had to mess with him somehow.

His face fell a bit. “I know, I'm sorry. I was worried you'd just say no.”

“I admit I was tempted to,” I'd already built him a lot, after all. “Now get out please, I need sleep.”

“Alright, I'm gone!” He slid out the door again, then stuck his head back in. “Even if you don't get it done, thanks for trying.”

I waved him off irritably, and the door shut again. I climbed into bed, giving Jeeves my hardest look. “And you, I feel like you should be closer to the door to prevent such occurrences.”

“I knew it was Ian in the hallway, and I preferred not to risk causing him harm.”

Huh. Guess he had a point; Mom would dismantle him herself if he hurt one of us.

“Fine, whatever. Try and solve your grass issue before your down time. I'm going to sleep; turn out the light on your way out, please.”

He did. “Sleep well, Mistress Min.” He said softly before closing the door.

…..

I guess I did sleep well since I slept right past my alarm. I didn't understand it; I was doing everything right, eating well, exercising (mostly) well, keeping a schedule, and trying not to stress my brain (thinking too hard sounded stupid and inaccurate). Yet I still felt slow and scattered, with my thoughts taking too long to focus and my body barely reacting to my commands.

A look at the clock showed how late I was; it was 7:15! Where was Jeeves?

The door opened. “I am here Mistress Min, please do not panic.”

I eased myself upright using the headboard of my bed, eyeing his platter. It had coffee and some sort of pastry on it. I would have called it a doughnut, but nothing Jeeves made was ever so simple. “I am not panicking.”

The platter was set down on a tray, which was set over my legs. Clearly, I wasn't meant to get up.

“Please, Mistress Min, take your time. You were warned that even with the best care, mornings like this would happen. The school has already been alerted that you are likely to be late, and you may use the extra time to recover.”

So I could go to school when I wanted, huh?

“Mistress Min, if you skip classes in order to continue construction on your projects, I am to inform your mother.”

“Spoilsport.”

Hm, that implied Mom wasn't home. And how did Jeeves know what I was thinking, anyway? Was it that obvious?

Jeeves grinned at me, capturing my hands in his and steadying my coffee cup so I could drink. “Yes Mistress Min, it is obvious. And your Mother is still present, but will leave before eight-o-clock. She is currently enjoying breakfast downstairs.”

Well, at least she trusted Jeeves enough to stop looking over his shoulder whenever he did anything, finally. Acting like I didn't notice her conveniently being down the hall got old fast. At least she hadn't actually been eavesdropping.

I sipped coffee and reached for my laptop. Jeeves retrieved it for me. “Eat your scone please.”

“That is not a scone.” Jeeves had made scones for me before, and aside from being triangular, these things looked nothing like those.

“It is. Specifically, a pumpkin scone with cinnamon butter.”

“No way. How could you possibly make butter out of cinnamon? Isn't butter an oil?” Cinnamon wouldn't render into an oil, it was a tree bark.

“Eat your breakfast.”

I took a nibble. It was good. In fact, it was amazing. “Went for a festive touch today, huh? What do you have planned for lunch?”

“It will be a pleasant surprise, I assure you.”

So he wasn't telling; my revenge tonight would be sweet, and another slow morning wasn't going to stop me from seeing it.

Jeeves went to work on my feet, kneading them gently to improve the circulation while I nibbled and watched a video stream. Some time later Mom came in without knocking, just as Jeeves was working his way to my calves.

“Morning honey.”

“Morning Mom. And you're supposed to knock.”

She smirked. “Why, you could be doing something I wouldn't approve of?”

I felt my face heat, which was kind of a good sign for the anemia. “Mom! Don't be weird. It's just that I could be....” Wait, would it matter if I was undressing in front of Mom, anymore?

I decided to amend what I was going to say. “It's just that the rules should apply to everyone, and everyone else in the house has to knock. It's a privacy and respect thing.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You have a point, but if you're sick? Mornings like these happen often, and if you aren't responsive I'd be coming in anyway; you're my child.”

She had a point, in her own paranoid way. Maybe she didn't trust Jeeves as much as I thought after all. Or maybe she trusted me more; that would be nice.

Jeeves started working on my other calf. I began to feel warmer, which was a good sign. I continued to read; my patents had made the news, after a fashion. There was a report on Lockheed buying a new engine design that could start a “modest revolution”, and everyone wondering who had designed and developed it. True to his word, Shecky was keeping my name out of things, and so far no one had been able to find my actual patents regarding it.

Which, like rushing the approval process itself was either Shecky's or the government's doing, or maybe both. I was a bit suspicious about what the government wanted from me, but so far they hadn't asked for anything, and if my engine was going to be used for fighter jets (a good idea, in my opinion, the cut in fuel costs alone would be enormous) Lockheed would handle it.

It made me a little nervous to have the CIA watching me, and no government agency even asking me for anything. The spin in my head slowed.

“Alright, I think I feel well enough to shower.”

“Of course, Mistress Min.”

Jeeves helped me into the bathroom, and I could hear him take up position outside it. The warm water helped, and I took my time; either I'd get into trouble, or I wouldn't.

Jeeves stuck another pumpkin scone in my face as I exited. I chewed as I focused on the stairs – wouldn't do to take a fall. My wobble had all but vanished, and my head felt stable. A bit more coffee while Jeeves double checked and packed my bag and I was ready to go.

It was odd walking through the town after school started; the streets were empty. Even most of the commuters were gone, done with their commutes and settling in to work. In fact, the only people I spotted were my tails.

The quiet and birdsong was kind of nice, though, and the sun was just warm enough to feel through my lab coat and sweater. It might even be warm enough to shrug the coat off, later. Maybe I could convince the coach to let me go back outside during gym, just to sit and warm up in the sun.

Jeeves followed me into the school itself, hovering very close.

The halls were empty, of course. I turned towards my first class... and the bell rang. Jeeves steered me gently to a wall, and placed himself in front of me and braced against the wall with his arms, taking all the hits and bumps I would have taken. It was probably a good thing, so I fought down the flash of anger. I wasn't that fragile, and he knew it... he was just doing his job.

The crush passed, or at least lessened, and Jeeves removed his hands. I should be polite, at least.

“Thank you, Jeeves.”

“You're welcome, Mistress Min.”

He let me lead the way, and I picked a careful route, slowly weaving through the crowd. I made it to Mr. Mullins class with a good thirty seconds to spare and placed my homework on his desk; sure I was supposed to wait for class to start and just hand it in then, but I didn't feel like it. Mr. Mullins just took it without a word.

I sat down and Samantha was looming over me. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Just felt a little bad this morning, I'm fine now.”

“Anemia?” She asked, holding eye contact.

“Yeah. Don't worry, we're still on for tonight.” I replied in kind. She nodded and moved back to her seat.

Which made room for Ricky, who almost fell over himself running over. “You okay Min?”

I made the sigh as loud as I could. “Yes, I am. Just had a little trouble this morning is all.”

Ricky actually sagged in relief; what was going on with him? I mean this was a step up from the stares and whispers everyone else was content with. “Good, that's good.”

Ralph slapped him on the back. “Sorry to break this up man, but you're kind of holding up the line.”

I looked, and there was a line of people waiting to get into their seats behind Ricky, most of them with more than a little impatience. It made sense; the bell was about to ring, after all. Ricky shot Ralph a look he normally reserved for Gordon, but moved.

Ralph sat, took one look at me, and said, “I heard.”

And that was enough.

Class passed uneventfully except for the moment when Mr. Mullins looked up from his glance at my homework; I did my best to pay attention and keep my mind from wandering. I succeeded with only a few random designs for drones popping into my head, using versions of my engine. A little big for drones, but they would be fast....

No! Bad Min, no mind wandering!

I thrust the ideas away, and when the bell rang I was steady, getting up and heading out with the rest of the class. I wasn't too concerned with noting the homework assignment, Jeeves had my back.

Walking into Geography class was more of the same, only with Maggie at my desk, chattering a mile a minute. “Oh my God Min are you okay? I heard you were out, and your Mom called the office but here you are! Sam said you looked a little pale, but you seem fine and....”

I had to interrupt her or she'd never sit down. “I am fine, it was just a small bout of my stupid anemia.”

She winced; all my friends, old and new, were used to the episodes I had by now. “Sorry.”

“Don't be, it's alright. And before you ask, yes, we're still on for tonight.”

She grinned and made a show of steepling her fingers. “Excellent.”

“I feel I should point out that you aren't a Bond villain.”

She scoffed. “That you know! Well, see you in a bit.”

As she passed by on her way to the back I noticed Gordon watching me; he looked a bit red faced. Maybe that had really been him last night? What were the odds? He tore his gaze away and faced front as the bell rang. Great, he was probably still mad too.

Geography was boring, no great surprise there. I wondered why people had the urge to name terrain and features of terrain random silly things, and it wasn't the first time. Sort of an idle 'who comes up with this stuff?' only for the world in general. And then of course, I idly wondered how many people wondered the same thing, which also wasn't the first time. Geography was just that boring.

Then Gym came around. I walked right up to Coach Howard. “I want to go outside.”

Coach sighed. “You know I can't let you do that unless I have someone to watch you, and I don't even have a teacher's aide this year.”

I had an answer for that this time, one I'd been waiting to use. “Jeeves can watch me; he supposed to anyway.”

Coach Howard looked behind me, to Jeeves, and sighed again. “It's supposed to be an actual school authority.”

“I'm pretty sure Jeeves can count, as a vouched for agent of my family. He's not going to let anything happen to me, after all, and I just want to sit down in the sun. I'm not going any farther than out the door.” I pointed. The gym was cold, I wanted my sun.

“Alright, fine, you can go. But stay within shouting distance of the door; if I look and don't see you....”

“Right, you'll tell my Mom and she'll kill me, I know.” I interrupted, already starting out.

“And where do you think you're going?”

I stopped. He'd just told me I could go! But looking back, it wasn't me he was talking to, it was Ralph.

“With her? Come on, one more isn't going to matter; Jeeves can watch us both.”

I looked at Jeeves, to find him looking at me. He didn't seem to care either way.

“Can you do that, Jeeves?” Coach Howard asked him directly. “Keep in mind if you agree and fail, you're putting your ability to come and go at this school with Min at risk.”

Jeeves actually appeared to consider it for a moment, visibly hesitating, at least for him. I had to signal him. “I agree to those terms, Coach Howard.”

It wasn't a big deal, I mean he watched four of us for lunch off school grounds as it was, and Ralph wasn't going to cause any trouble.

“Alright, go ahead then. I expect to see you back here, at least to check in before lunch. Got it?”

“I got it Coach, I'll be back for the bell.”

Jeeves beat me to the door, opening it in time for me to go through. He held it for Ralph too but managed to get ahead of me again, spreading a blanket on the inviting patch of lawn I was heading towards. I took the inferred invitation and lay down, right in the sun, eyes closed even after my glasses darkened.

I heard Ralph plop down beside me as I stretched out spread eagle with a sigh of pure bliss. That gym had been awfully cold.

Jeeves snagged a leg. “Jeeves, what are you doing?”

“Massage?”

“Not right now, thanks. I want warm, and while your hands are warm, they aren't sunlight.”

He placed my leg back where he found it, gently. I could feel Ralph smirking. None of it entered his voice, however.

“Yeah, this is a day for being lazy. Hopefully to be followed by a night of carefree partying.”

“That's the plan.” I agreed.

A few minutes passed in comfortable silence before Ralph broke it. “So, got your costume figured out?”

I smiled. “Yep, sure do. I had it figured out weeks ago in fact; it's all ready to go. So, did you procrastinate?”

“Oh, no, no,” He hastened to assure me. “just asking is all. My costume is...good, if I do say so myself.”

He didn't sound too sure about that. I guess I'd find out in a few hours.

Our comfortable silence continued.

Which meant that of course, Jeeves had to ruin it. “Please wake, Mistress Min.”

“I'm awake. Sheesh, I wasn't even asleep.” That was my story, and I was sticking to it. Where was I again? Oh right, in the yard outside the gym; I could still hear the last rings... the after-rings? What was it called when the bell has already rang yet you can still hear it? Whatever, I could still hear those in my ear.

“You were most definitely asleep, Mistress Min, and you promised Coach Howard that you would check back in before the bell signaling lunch.”

Ralph was looking at me with an apology in his eyes – I hope he didn't see anything weird. Like me asleep and rolling around; I tended to move. Though I hadn't been asleep, maybe it had looked like I was, and I didn't want him getting weird ideas.

I rubbed my eyes, getting reoriented, and realized my glasses were off. I found and slipped them on (I didn't remember taking them off) and Jeeves helped me up. Then he fell in behind me, which meant he wasn't setting up lunch. “Don't you have a lunch to get?”

Come to think of it, he'd been with me all day, which meant he hadn't been cooking. I didn't have any money for the cafeteria food, so what was I going to eat?

“Already taken care of, Mistress Min. Lunch will be waiting for you in the location you favor.”

“Why don't you just say the usual spot, Jeeves?” It was like he went out of his way to be as obtuse as possible.

“I did.” I looked back in time to see the lack of emotion on his face, which was odd; he was good enough to match word to emotion nearly perfectly. Was he trying to be funny?

I wish I could figure out how I managed to get him to understand humor. Well, if I had... his sense of humor wasn't exactly the best. If I could perfect that, I could make stupid amounts of money.

The contrast between outside and the gym was even more stark in the other direction; going back into the relatively dark and cold building was like splashing cold water on my face. I had to stop a second and let my glasses adjust, so I sidestepped. Ralph came in right behind me, and he didn't have any trouble at all; he kept walking.

My glasses lightened enough to see again, and I could make out Coach Howard standing in the middle of the gym, a basketball under one arm. Ralph was already talking to him; he met my gaze and I waved. He nodded, so I left.

As annoying as it was, I'd have to walk around and then go out the front door, since I knew Coach wouldn't want me to just walk back out the gym door. The halls were full, but most of the people were headed to the cafeteria, as always. Maybe even more than usual since today there were Halloween cupcakes offered; the cooks slaved over them every year, and while they weren't spectacular or anything, there was enough for every student to get one. That was a sort of cooking magic in itself.

There were usually extras since some kids refused to eat them or were allergic, even those had a tendency to vanish. Eaten by spooks no doubt – or the staff.

This time, rather than be blinded again I took my glasses off. Best anti-glare technology or not, I hated these things. I kept going while holding them up so they would adjust.

When I put them back on I nearly got ran over.

“Jeeves, just what is that?”

“A delivery truck, Mistress Min.”

It was indeed a truck. From one of my favorite fast food places, a local joint, Dan's Grill. A fast food place that had two locations, and did not deliver. But here was their battered old truck, and there was my customary table, tablecloth, candles, and all, with containers (normally used for takeout) of Dan's Grill food heaped on it. Dan, the owner, a bald heayset guy who just screamed 'grill cook' was even there in person. Wringing his hands, waiting for us with a pensive expression at odds with his character.

“How did you even manage this?” How had he gotten Dan to deliver anything?

“I called, of course, while you were sleeping.” Was Jeeves's reply; okay he was obviously screwing with me. Dan's eyes narrowed as we closed, breaking that nebulous boundary only someone who owned the setup Dan was currently using would cross, no doubt wondering if we were who he was waiting on.

Jeeves hastened ahead to pull out the chair I used, the one under the tree, and I sat, with my stupid glasses adjusting yet again. In front of me was a large of my favorite burger; a totally sloppy beef and cheddar. A double, no less, with bacon on top. Even the grease sitting on the bun must be giving Jeeves fits; what was he doing?

“Are you Minerva Campbell?” Dan asked, wiping his hands on his apron.

“Yes, sir, I am. I'm told this is for me?”

“Well, a catered lunch for a party of six, for Minerva Campbell, phoned in by one Jeeves Campbell?”

I hooked a thumb. “That's Jeeves.”

Dan shifted, taking all that was Jeeves in for the second time. I could see the moment when he dismissed me, switching to 'adult mode' to talk shop with Jeeves.

“There is the matter of the payment sir...”

Jeeves cocked his head. “Did the Debit card not clear?”

Dan shook his head emphatically. “No sir, it cleared! But it was a little too much, even for this.”

Jeeves waved him off. “You took a request for food on short notice and filled it. I can tell you got all the orders placed correct, and you drove to us and arrived ahead of the appointed time given. As far as I am concerned, the overage is a perfectly acceptable tip, and you are welcome to it.”

Dan looked conflicted, still partly anxious, yet relieved.

“Thank you, sir. Just be aware, I don't normally cater.”

Jeeves bowed. “I am aware, Dan of Dan's Grill. I appreciate you making the exception – and it will be an exception.”

“Yeah, right, okay... thank you for your business.” Dan got back into this truck with a dazed look; he waved at me pulling out.

I returned it. I could completely understand; Jeeves had that kind of effect on people, at least at first.

Wait... Ralph, Ricky, Sam, Maggie, and myself. That was five; who was the sixth meal for?

I turned to ask to find Jeeves opening one container on his lap. “What are you doing?”

He looked at me and smiled. “I am eating lunch, of course.”

His lunch looked exactly like mine, right down to the amount of salt I liked on my fries, and I doubted that was coincidence. Jeeves waited, watching me. He had actually tucked a napkin into his shirt to keep it clean; that was never going to work. Was he waiting on me to start?

Maggie arrived. “Hey Min, how are you feeling?”

“I'm okay. It was just a minor thing.”

Sam had a good grasp of the important: “What's all this?”

I shrugged. “Jeeves was busy watching me, so he called for takeout. Well, catering.”

“From Dan's Grill.” she stated.

“Yes.”

Maggie looked around as if seeing the spread for the first time, which she well might have been. “The greasiest greasy spoon in the county?”

“Hey, I happen to like it!” How dare they defame the best fast food to exist?!?

Maggie sat down at her usual spot and opened her container. “Of course you do; I never said it wasn't good. It's just criminally bad for you is all. He ordered for us too?”

“Well, you do eat with me.” I wasn't about to share mine either; if she didn't like what she got, she was just out of luck.

Maggie's food turned out to be a simple chicken sandwich, with fries. Sam was already picking at a garden fresh salad that was actually from a garden. I ate a fry, and that was what Jeeves was waiting for after all; He picked up his burger and took a bite.

“So, why is Jeeves eating?”

“Not sure.” He did have a small stomach but didn't actually use the food for fuel at all. I had a suspicion....

“I am sampling Mistress Min's sustenance, of course,” Jeeves replied loftily, confirming it.

“What, is that like poison tasting?” Maggie asked him, popping a fry in her mouth.

“Not quite, Maggie. If I were testing for poisons I would be sampling Mistress Min's order; I am instead sampling the order itself in order to recreate it at a later date.”

“So you're going to recreate Dan's Grill food?”

Jeeves nodded. “Whenever it should be convenient and healthy to do so.”

Ha. There was no way it would be the same.

We all ate, and I at least enjoyed the slight breeze; it ruffled my hair. I wanted more sun, but I'd had enough; I'd probably just get hot now.

Ricky and Ralph showed up together, just steps behind each other. Ricky had his favorite roast beef with fries and (and cheese to dunk the fries in) waiting for him, and Ralph had a bacon lettuce and tomato on toasted rye with dill pickle chips waiting for him.

Ricky just shrugged and took his seat, but Ralph stopped and looked at Jeeves. “How did you know?”

Jeeves just smiled, so I answered. “Jeeves has culinary powers. Among those is guessing what people's favorite foods are. So far he hasn't been wrong, even once.”

Ralph shrugged and sat. “Well he's right again, this is my favorite from Dan's. Not the weirdest power I've heard of.”

We ate in record time, fast food was easy to eat and we didn't need to worry about being messy. Well, none of us but Jeeves, who actually still looked spotless despite not having any room at the table. I cleaned my hands off while Jeeves started cleaning up; I wondered where he kept the table and chairs since he didn't have time to go all the way back home for them.

Then I decided I didn't really want to know.

“Come on, let's go for a walk before we have to go back to class!” Maggie said, grabbing Sam and all but grabbing me before starting off.

I shrugged. A walk sounded fine to me, I wasn't in any hurry to go back inside.

I caught up, Maggie was already forging ahead. A look to my right and Ralph was there, stuffing the last few of his chips in his mouth. Ricky was on my left, using a napkin to wipe his hands off.

“Come on! Let's see who's at the ball field!”

As it turned out, the ball field was on the dark and less sunny side of the school, so there were only a few kids hanging out there, and those were the self-styled social outcasts. Maggie led us all the way around the school, and then inside, checking out all the decorations and critiquing them.

She didn't like the orange and brown ones or the silly faced ghosts, but then again no one else did either. She'd helped put them up, and the story about how she fought with the teachers to leave those out was absolutely fascinating.

Then I noticed we had a tail. Gordon was behind us, making no real secret of being there. I had to distract Ricky; if Ricky saw him, he'd attack, and without back-up he'd lose. Probably badly. I couldn't really do much except send Jeeves in, and that would get both of us in trouble and Jeeves kicked off campus forever. He was following us without a doubt, hands jammed in his pockets and looking our way.

So, what to do about it? I could ignore him; I didn't have any classes left with him for the day, and it would be trivial to dodge him. But that just meant if he was following us for Ricky, Ricky would be isolated. No, the best thing to do would be to see what he wants.

Still I had to wait a bit, for Maggie to cross the track in order to talk to a few of her cheerleader friends, Sam already in tow and the two R's (that was a great name for them, come to think of it) dragging their heels a bit, but following.

“I just remembered something I forgot to check guys; go ahead without me, I'll catch up.”

Of course, hearing that, they all stopped in their tracks. “Everything okay?”

I waved them on. “Everything is fine. Just need to return a phone call I got earlier from a guy at Lockheed. They had some performance questions.”

I felt bad lying to them; it was a text, and I'd already answered it; but it was for greater good of stopping bullies, so it was justified. When the group moved on without me, I walked back around the corner with Jeeves on my heels. Sure enough, Gordon was waiting.

He looked nervous, almost like he was fighting throwing up. That was very odd for him; usually, the prospect of violence had him jumping around like an eagerly like a puppy or something. Not that I was afraid – Gordon would have to be very stupid to attack me, even if Jeeves wasn't there to intervene, and Gordon wasn't that stupid, no matter what Ricky believed.

“Hello, Gordon. Is there something you want to discuss?”

He fidgeted. Fidgeted! What was he so nervous about? It took me raising an eyebrow (Mom's trick with Dad, I think, though it seemed to have wider use than I first suspected) to get him to spill.

“That was you last night, wasn't it?”

“Yes, it was. I thought it was you Gordon... your online tag was clever, but not very anonymous.”

He snorted. “Neither is yours, really.”

That was fair. “What do you want, Gordon?”

He scuffed a foot in the grass. “Look, I wanted to say I'm sorry. Again, that is, and not have it look like the school made me this time. I really am sorry for what I did, attacking you when you came back to school. You're tiny, and it was wrong, dude or not. But yeah especially if not, and...”

Well, color me touched. Sort of. I held up a hand. “Stop. Just stop before you dig a hole you can't get out of. Apology accepted. I'll make this clear, though, and you can tell anyone who asks. I'm not a dude, not anymore. Apparently, it's a thing that can happen, though it's not common.”

Gordon shuddered and ran a hand through his hair. Had he actually combed it this morning? And that shirt... it was a dress shirt. Was it new? “Sucks to be you.”

Well on that we could agree. “It sure does. Don't worry about me telling the school you're a computer nerd. I won't, even if people cared.”

He chuckled, backing into the brick wall and holding it up. “Nah, I ain't worried about that. I just wanted things to be cool between us. So, you going to the Halloween thing tonight?”

“Yep, sure am; wouldn't miss it.”

His gaze sharpened. “Then I guess Pam and I will see you there. Bringing him?” He pointed at Jeeves, who had been remarkably silent this entire conversation.

I couldn't resist a smirk. “Of course, he's part of the costume. And yeah, we'll see you there. I won't act like I don't know you either.”

Gordon chuckled again. “Part of the costume, huh? Can't wait to see it then. It better not be one of those lame horse things.”

As if I could be so tacky.

Gordon levered himself off the wall, and his face turned serious. “Look, man, almost time for the bell, I gotta go, but there's something else you should know. Keep an eye on Pam, alright? She ain't your friend, and she's... well, she's mad about something. She's saying some mean crap about you. I just thought you should know.”

He waved while I reeled. Pam, of all people?

…...

Study hall was all about distractions. Doing my homework while ignoring Pam. Helping Maggie with her homework while ignoring Pam, and chatting with Sam while ignoring Pam... okay well maybe not that, Sam still tried to talk less than Jeeves did, but there was more than a little ignoring going on.

Still, I couldn't help notice that Pam was shooting me looks, rapid possibly spite-filled looks which were gone as soon as I noticed them.

“Maggie, Sam...” I whispered, not sure how to bring it up. “Does Pam hate me, or something?”

Face, meet palm. I don't think I could have been less smooth there.

My two friends shared a look, then scooted closer. Maggie started off, of course, whispering back. “Pam... well Pam has some issues.”

“Jealous.” Sam interjected, and Maggie gave a faint nod.

“Right. So yeah she's been saying some stupid things about you, off and on. Just stuff in the Gym locker room or at lunch. Nothing at all unusual for her, and nothing she hasn't done to other girls before, so don't worry about it. Sam and I have been handling it for you, and no one actually believes the things she says.”

But... Pam?!? Why? She seemed so nice, to everyone. No, I wasn't going to let it bother me. It really wasn't anything different than dealing with Gordon or the anti-mutant jerks on the basketball team every day.

Well, except Gordon was a pretty stand up guy.

Was that it? Was Pam anti-mutant? Or even a hero-groupie? After all, what else did Pam have to be jealous about? Heck if I could trade her my powers I would in a heartbeat; sure sometimes they were fun, but it wasn't worth all the time I spent sick.

“Anything I should know about?” I mean, I hadn't heard a peep. If it was bad, surely someone would tell me, right?

Maggie shook her head. “Nah, nothing out of the ordinary. Typical high school crap.”

Sam looked like she was going to say something, but a glance from Maggie and her mouth shut with an audible clack of teeth.

“Don't worry about it, we're handling it.” Maggie stated firmly. “Aren't we Sam?”

Sam nodded. But telling me not to worry just made me worry more. I still managed to get caught up, and get Maggie caught up before the bell rang. Sam didn't need any help from me.

The walk to English class was quick today, and soon I was handing in another paper. I already wanted more sunlight, and the lecture picking apart more Shakespeare was... well, Mrs. Holmes tried her best, but there was only so much one could take of him, great as he was. I couldn't wait until we started Steinbeck, and I was still a little confused how these lectures helped us conjugate verbs better. I was beginning to think Mrs. Holmes had missed her calling as a college professor of creative writing or something.

Just before I lost all hope of being able to stay awake anymore (And I'd just totally not slept a few hours ago!) the final bell rang, and were officially released from institutional confinement.

I waited until the initial crush passed, and got up. Sam and Maggie had also waited. The two R's (heh) were also nearby; Ricky was trying his best to look like he wasn't waiting on us or listening in, and Ralph was checking the hallway.

“So, meet up after we get ready?”

Well, this was new. “Meet where? The school?”

Maggie almost shouted. “Heck no! I'm not coming back here alone and waiting, we're all going to meet at your house. Our parents already know. After all, what's the point of owning a mad-sciency lab-shed if you don't use it for Halloween parties?”

It would take more time than we had left to point out all the flaws in her logic, so I settled for just rolling my eyes like Sam did. Even if Mom and Dad didn't know, they would be fine with it, since there was safety in numbers and all that. But it would be just like Mom to know, discuss it with everyone else, and leave me out of the loop.

“Alright, fine. I was going to run final checks on Crash, but I guess an extra day won't hurt.”

Maggie blew a raspberry at me, all but dragging me down the hall. “Please; it's not like you can't do both. Besides, you've been holding out on me. I want to see what this amazing costume idea of yours is.”

“Fine. See you at the lab.”

We all split up. It felt kind of odd walking home alone (or well with Jeeves, close enough). But I managed. At least I still had my two tails.

Home was quiet... too quiet. Mom was in the kitchen, making something. Jeeves was replaced for another night in the kitchen, it seemed. But it was for the best tonight since he wouldn't have the time to cook and I wouldn't be eating more than snacks here tonight anyway.

Speaking of snacks, there were Halloween themed cookies and candy in separate bowls, just sitting there. There were even popcorn balls! I snagged one and ignored Jeeves clearing his throat behind me; I'd eat one if I wanted.

“Min, don't spoil your dinner.”

“I took the ball out of my mouth so she wouldn't know. “Okay, Mom! It all looks good, though. Where is it all going?”

Mom turned around with a grin, catching me in the act. “To your lab of course. Silly.”

I popped the popcorn ball back in my mouth with a shrug. Two could play it that game; my next words were spoken with my mouth full, which always drives Moms wild. “Alright Mom, I'll grab it then. Well, Jeeves will. The gang is getting costumed up, and then they'll be here.”

She frowned and I got out while the getting was good, snagging the candy. Jeeves grabbed the rest without prompting.

“No experiments! Ian's going to be out back!”

I could deal with that; at least it seemed like Mom was getting more forgiving about having Ian in the lab; there may be hope for him on that front. I reached the door and the retinal scanner, input the code and waited impatiently, popcorn ball still lodged firmly between my teeth.

The door opened and I put down my mostly ill-gotten gains. We both set our bowls down on the main workbench. But it was time, now. I didn't want to re-open the lab, and it had a bathroom, so...

“Jeeves, go and retrieve the two black and orange striped garment bags in my closet. There should only be two of them.”

Jeeves left with a short “As you command, mistress.”

I plugged my computer in and started running my final checks on Crash; I could activate him anytime, but something was telling me to wait. So far I hadn't turned up anything wrong, but it was more the prospect of not just lifting the lid a little on Pandora's box, but kicking it off. Jeeves had been at least half mistake, after all – once people saw Crash, any questions about pulling a repeat would be answered.

But the timer on how powerful my power was was already ticking, wasn't it? At least some of what I'd done already was in the public domain. My address was well known, and if the mob wanted to beat a path to the door, clamoring for robots of their own, they could do so already.

It would be hard to tell them all no. Maybe I could buy and automate a factory? No, that was a terrible idea.

Jeeves returned, garment bags draped over an arm and a coffee and tea service in his other hand. I took the first – it was mine.

“Alright. You can change out here, I'm going into the bathroom to change.”

“Understood, mistress Min.”

Changing didn't take long at all. The pants, shirt, vest, and jacket were custom tailored to my sizes and fit perfectly, just like they had last week. The worst part was tying the canary yellow tie. A quick look in the mirror to make sure my hair wasn't caught in the jacket and I was done; dressed just like Jeeves had been a few moments ago, more or less.

I made the turn of the century striped suit with tails look pretty good if I did say so myself. I still had to wear my glasses or be blind, but I was now the servant. Which of course meant that Jeeves was now my other half.

“Jeeves are you all dressed?”

“I am, mistress, though I admit some difficulty in the jewelry.”

I opened the door to find Jeeves outside it, dressed in one of the dresses like he made for me upon his arrival, something advertised as goth-lolita at the Halloween costume site I'd gone to. It was custom tailored for him, like mine, but with a little padding up top hidden in the lace.

He probably made his costume look better than I could; somehow he was making it work, even with the heels off and earrings sliding off his ears. I had bought clip-ons, but that was looking to be a mistake.

I took the earrings from him, applied a dab of epoxy to each, and placed them carefully on each ear; I could always spray him later with the dissolving agent here in the lab or use a blow dryer. Neither method would hurt him.

A few finishing touches with makeup and Jeeves looked more feminine than I probably could on my best day. I fought down the wave of jealousy. Other people had gone through worse than I have to end up looking... well, like X-ray. So I had no right to complain, even in my own head.

Jeeves poured me more coffee. “Thank you Jeeves, but we are going to get into character a bit tonight. I'm going to be the butler at the party and get you drinks and stuff, and you are going to be the lady.”

He adjusted my tie, gently, and I had to fight down bad feelings again. “As you command, mistress Min. Tonight, at the party, you shall be butler Min and I shall be Lady Jeeves.”

Well, at least he was getting into it. This was going to be fun, I couldn't wait!