“Taking the visor off,” Eury advised the room by habit. The 14 year-old-girl in pajamas sat on the edge of her bed and looked down at the floor. She removed her violet-crystal visor and placed it on the nightstand next to several spares. Then she slipped on her sleep mask as she lay on the bed. “You there, Abby?” She asked aloud. Her friend was the only person in the room when she gave the warning, but she might have left in the few seconds it took Eury to lay down. Or she may not have felt like talking; the real reason Eury learned to wait until her eyes were covered.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Abby called back. Eury was glad she felt like talking. “What’s up?”
“Who’re you going to be tomorrow?”
“I’m still gonna be Abby I guess. That’s a weird question.”
“NOOooo.” Eury sat up in bed and faced the direction of Abby’s voice. “It’s the first day of school!” Eury threw her hands on the bed in excitement. “The first day of a brand new school! A school just for UNIQUES! No one knows us; we can be who we want to be!”
“Oh, okay,” Abby nodded in understanding, not that her friend could see. “Yeah, I’m still gonna be Abby.” Eury groaned with frustration and threw herself backward on the bed.
“Why aren’t you more excited?”
“I haven’t lived my whole life wanting to go to school,” Abby shrugged. “I’ve already been. It’s not that great.”
“And you’re not even a little bit excited about meeting SoundCrowd?” Eury asked.
“No way. They know we’re on Ballisea’s team; I’m sure they’ll treat us like jerks because we’re the ‘bad guys‘.”
“They wouldn’t do that!” Eury replied. “Probably. Some of them might, but Dirge wouldn’t!”
“Whoever you’re pretending to be will disappear the moment the rest of the students find out we’re Ballisea’s side,” Abby said.
“But it’s my chance to be cool!” Eury whined at the ceiling.
“Eury,” Abby said with a softer, closer voice. Eury felt the bed shift as Abby sat down next to her. “You kill people by looking at them. How much cooler do you want to be?”
“I guess,” she grumbled.
“What’s wrong with Eury?” Eury recognized Lupe’s voice from the direction of the doorway and guessed the girl just walked in.
“She’s nervous about school,” Abby replied.
“I’m not nervous.” Eury faced the direction of Lupe’s voice. “I thought it would be a good time to try out a new me.”
“She thinks she needs a cooler identity,” Abby added.
“What? No way,” Lupe grinned. Only Abby saw it. Eury felt the bed shift in the other direction when Lupe joined them on her bed. “You’ve already got a cool identity.”
“I know. I kill people by looking at them,” Eury said meekly.
“Nu-uh. That’s cool too, but there’s something even better.”
“Really?” Eury sat up again. “What?”
“Yeah, what?” Abby asked.
“You too,” Lupe said. Eury got the impression she was talking to Abby.
“Us three and the boys were all hand-picked by Ballisea. The strongest Unique that ever existed chose us…,” Eury felt Lupe poke her arm to drive the point home. “…to be on her derby team. You both know the stakes; you know she really wants to win this. She thinks we’re the best shot she has. You guys…,” Lupe stood up. Eury felt the bed pop back up in her absence.
“…we’re the B-Squad!”
