THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

colors...toward a flat surface.
    The equipment room floor.
    Tucking at the last minute before I hit, I slammed the concrete floor and rolled.
    Gabby slapped down next. “Ouch.” 
    I pushed her out of the way just before...
    Thump!
    “Ah, man, that sucks.”  Laid out flat on the floor, Tony dropped his arms and groaned.
    Gabby muttered, “Are we really back?”
    Forcing myself to sit up, I gripped my dizzy head. “Think so.”
    “Think I’m gonna be sick,” Tony grumbled.
    “Do it and you clean up.”  Gabby pushed herself up, holding her head, too.
    A ding sounded three times out in the hallway.
    Doors opened, voices filled the silence and the sound of hundreds of footsteps slapped through the halls.
    Tony shot upright, fingers clutching his forehead. “What time is it?” 
    We all turned to the black-and-white school clock hanging on the wall.
    “5:00!”  I shoved to my feet. “I’m late for a meeting in Maxwell’s office.”
    Tony struggled to his feet and offered a hand to Gabby, giving her a tug up. “Don’t panic. Maxwell knows it takes five minutes to get from most classes to his office. I hope Suarez didn’t send anyone here to check on us. We were supposed to report in to him by now.”
    Would my fingerprints reveal anything?
    Was I really a C’raydonian? That would be putting a lot of trust in an eleven-year-old boy living in a strange Sphere. I had to know what they found out in this world from my prints. As bad as I wanted to tear out of here and go see Maxwell, I also needed to keep Mr. Suarez happy for any chance of staying in this school.
    Leaving would mean losing my one shot at getting back to Callan. Every minute of waiting to return was already driving me crazy. “What’re we going to do about the computer?”
    Tony and Gabby both looked over where three circles spiraled on the computer screen I’d touched earlier.
    Gabby spoke first, echoing my thoughts. “We can’t lose it.”
    “No,” Tony agreed, picking up the laptop and folding the case shut like a book then shoving it under his arm and wrapping up the power cord. “No one’s touchin’ this but us.”  Then he turned to me with a cocky grin. “You go see Maxwell. I’ll explain to Suarez that we got so involved working on this that we lost track of time.”
    I hesitated, not ready to leave these two with so many questions still raging in my mind about what had happened in the Sphere.
    Gabby brushed the wrecked mass of ponytails back from her face. “I was dodging the front office when I came here to hide. Better swing by and see if I’m in any deeper hot water than what I usually trudge through.”  She smiled up at me then Tony. “Can’t be any worse than facing croggles, huh?”
    Tony snorted. “Guess not, sweet cakes.”
    I even smiled, but the mention of croggles brought another beast to mind.
    I held up my hand to stop both of them from leaving the room. It was time to come clean. “I need to tell you this, even though you’ve probably gotten pieces of it in the last few hours. I came to in the desert this morning with some big hairy beast chasing me that morphed into a more streamlined shape when I climbed into the rocks. I saw it again, outside this room, right before we got sucked into the computer. This time it was a black bird.”
    “Like a crow? Or a vulture?” Gabby asked.
    “Maybe a raven, but who knows with my memory holes. All I know is that it was here for me, and I’m concerned about who else it’d hurt trying to get to me.”
    Gabby and Tony shot quick glances at each other then back at me.
    Maybe I should’ve kept that to myself since V’ru’s information had confirmed my first suspicion that the beast was after me. But I didn’t want to hide this from them after all they’d been through.
    Gabby spoke first. “Do you think it’ll attack just anyone here?”
    “I don’t know. The minute I was around other people, it stopped chasing me. And, I’ll explain later, but V’ru said they were created to track people like me...C’raydonians.”
    “When’d he tell you that?”
    “V’ru spoke to Callan in his mind and he told me as we were running for the pod.”
    Tony chuckled. “Didn’t look like no talkin’ goin’ on to me during that lip lock.” He shrugged, and added, “Don’t give me that look, Xena. I’m not insulting him.” He scratched his head. “Morphing animal-to-bird things, huh? Just try not to burn down the school if you have to kill the