We’re back at our old hangout spot by the flagpole again, but this time it’s different. I’ve never been suspended before. I feel like a criminal. I bet Jet does too, even though he’s so cool and hot and Teflon-slick that it looks like he doesn’t care. I can’t believe I’m jealous of a jock.
That’s not all, though. The air’s colder. Shay is in even more layers, looking even more closed off, even more like they don’t want to be here. Antoine’s still dodging well-wishers. Cell’s here. The vampire. We invited the vampire to our table even though he’s the reason all this crazy shit happened in the first place, the reason why Antoine’s sliced up, the reason why we all almost got caught. We should have let Fionn have him. We should have stayed outliers. Celestin Milev—finally got his name out of Jet—isn’t an outlier. He’s right in the middle of everything, and he isn’t careful. He’s lost and he’s confused and he’s a liability, and we risked everything for him. The least he could do is stay out of our way.
But he’s here, and everything’s changing. I got outvoted. Maybe I really am the bad guy. Maybe I really am a bitter hateful bitch who wouldn’t know the right thing to do if it slapped her in the face.
Cell stares at the edge of Antoine’s sleeve, the edge of the stitches, as Jet sits down. Antoine glances at him and pulls it up, revealing the whole mess, the black lattice of fabric embedded in his arm, the half-healed, clumsy lacerations, the shallow marks where the teeth—or whatever they used—broke the skin. It’ll scar. He screwed up his body for life, without a second thought, just to protect us from the Board. Fionn’s practically given up, and it’s all because Antoine is braver than any of us.
“You better fucking say thank you.” Shay snipes. I wouldn’t have been as polite.
“Th-thanks.” Cell says, his shoulders slumped, his perfect blond hair hanging limp around his face, his pretty eyes staring at a bug on the table.
It’s not enough. I want him to beg us not to turn him in. But it’s not up to me.
“How’d you…” he starts.
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Shay says, leaning back and staring off at the mountain. I can’t get a straight answer out of them either. Maybe it’s for my own good.
Jet finally comes over and sits down.
“Okay. Before I tell Cell what’s going on, we got any objections? We… we all know that nobody would rat anybody out, that’s not in question, but… does anyone see a problem with me telling him the truth?”
Like any of us could challenge him on that. Antoine’s sweet and bold but not a fighter, and the rest of us turn to play-doh under the confident cadence of Jet’s voice. I guess this was always gonna happen, with how we are. He was always gonna make the decision.
I would say no. I could. I could have my little fight with him, make a scene, keep Cell out, but then what happens? There’s only one way to stop him from attacking people again, getting caught again, getting killed or dissected or turned into a super or a rat or whatever they’d force him to be. There’s only one way, and as much as I hate it, as much as it goes against all my Moriarty instincts, it’s telling the truth.
He’s got all the blood he needs right here, sitting across the table from him, telling him it’s gonna be alright and he’s among friends now. He’s got all the blood he needs, but he doesn’t know that yet, and if Jet doesn’t tell him, he’ll be a freaked-out loose cannon forever.
No objections. Jet swallows.
“Cell, we’re… the outliers.” he says, cringing on the inside, trying to make it sound cool.
“What? What do you lie about?” Cell asks.
“No, outliers, like in math, dumbass.” Shay interjects.
“Screw you, dude.”
“I’m not a dude! We’ve been over this!”
“I kind of like ‘out-liars’.” Big air quotes from Antoine. “You know, we’re on the fringes, and we always… lie about stuff. Shay, you and Cell have both been lying your asses off. Kind of think maybe you should just kiss about it and be done with it.”
They both make inarticulate noises of protest that make it clear exactly how lame Antoine is. Jimin laughs. Everyone looks at him and he clams up.
Jet tries to start again, but can’t take it seriously at all this time. He chuckles nervously a little bit before finally getting to the point.
“Okay. We’re the… fucking, Outliars, sure, that’s cute, that won’t get old at all. And Cell, the reason we’re so sneaky about this is because Jimin and I are Class As. Like you. And we can help you. We can all help each other, and if anything… parabiological happens around here, we’re a hell of a lot better than the Biotech Board. Here’s the rundown, okay?”
He nods to Jimin, a signal. Show him what you’ve got. Man, they never coached me in any signals. Maybe I’m the outlier. It doesn’t matter.
This is too interesting to leave alone, too interesting to forget about or drift away from or brush off as stupid and reckless and pointless. There’s never been anything like this, anything this interesting, in my whole hopeless little life of pretending to be smart and accomplishing nothing with it. And you know what else?
They’re my friends. There, I said it.
red-headed android 