Fluorescent green letters spelled out East Marina High’s name across the top of the building. Students didn’t pay Jasper and the others much attention as they entered, though one girl tried to hand them flyers for a dance.
“Home of the sea goats,” Holly read off the wall as they walked in. “What the hell is a sea goat?”
“You know, like, a Capricorn.” Jasper scanned the foyer for some indication of which hall they should take.
“A Capricorn?” Holly asked. “As in, the Capricornus constellation?”
“It’s from the Earth zodiac,” Thea explained as she handed Jasper a tablet. A map of the school filled the screen. The team circled around a fountain in the foyer’s center and headed for a hallway entrance.
“What’s a zodiac?”
“They say if you’re born under certain stars, it affects your personality,” Dax told Holly as the team began walking again. “The Earth zodiac has twelve signs.”
Holly’s brow furrowed. “Okay, but what’s a goat?”
“That.” Jasper pointed at the kid walking by in the school’s green and black mascot costume. “Shame I never went to high school. I would have made a great mascot.”
“You didn’t go to high school on Earth?” Thea asked.
“No. I was an elementary school drop out.” Jasper was forced to stop in front of a large cluster of kids in the middle of the hallway. “Uh, excuse me, coming through.”
No one moved. Most didn’t even hear her. One girl shot her a glare.
Jasper raised her voice. “Out of the way, people! Some of us have places to be!” She shoved her way through the group.
“Hey, watch it!” a boy exclaimed.
“If this school were a body, you idiots would be the blood clot that kills us. Move!”
They reached the classroom not long after that. Jasper threw open the door. “What do we have here?” She looked around the empty desks and lab area. The others filed in behind her and chose seats at the back of the room.
“Jasper, do you even know anything about biology?” Holly asked as she settled into a chair.
“Sure I do. The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”
“Where did you hear that?” Thea asked. “It’s not even grammatically correct. ‘Mitochondria’ is plural.”
“What are you going to do to fill the class period?” Holly added before Jasper could respond.
Jasper shrugged. “I’ll let everyone loose in the lab. Let ‘em have fun with chemicals, or whatever. But I think the group project will do most of the work.”
“I hate group projects,” Holly muttered.
“Lucky for you, you don’t actually have to do one. I’m putting you, Thea, and Dax in a group so that you can focus on your other classes with Aymes. Grace, I’m putting you with Aymes. You should probably use a fake name.”
Grace hesitated. “I’m not good at coming up with names.”
“Okay, then your name is Grace O’Paradise now. Talk to Aymes and find out anything you can.” He’d apparently managed to recognize Grace at the mall despite her being out of the makeup she’d worn to Starchatter, so hopefully the look Holly had gone with today—combined with the wig of black hair—would be enough to prevent that from happening again.
“What am I supposed to say to him?” Grace asked.
The bell rang before Jasper could answer, and the door opened to let in the first few students. “I’ll help you later,” Jasper told Grace before walking to the front of the room.
One of the people entering the room wasn’t a student, but a slimy purple man who extended his webbed hand to Jasper. “Nice to meet you. You must be the sub. Miss Elizab?”
Jasper frowned as she shook it. “Uh, yes.” She shot Thea a confused glance. Thea shrugged.
“I’m Principal Price,” he introduced himself. “Mrs. Marianas emailed me this morning and mentioned you’d be taking her place. I haven’t heard of this conference before, it sounds pretty prestigious.”
“Yeah, I heard that too.” Hopefully they’d be done here by the time Marianas realized the conference was fake.
“Excuse me?” A girl raised her hand. She looked to be the same species as Principal Price, but with skin that was magenta instead. Waves of white hair tumbled down her back.
“Yes?” Principal Price nodded at her.
The girl gave Jasper a weird look. “Is it just me, or does this lady look like Van Terra?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Principal Price said. “Why would Van Terra be at a high school on Sa Ren of all places?” He waved his hand dismissively. “Besides, Van Terra has brown eyes and keeps her hair in a ponytail. Miss Elizab here has green eyes, and her hair’s up in a bun.”
“Couldn’t she just change her hair and put in colored contacts?” the girl asked. “Besides, she looks too young to be a teacher.”
“You do look rather young,” Principal Price conceded, turning to Jasper.
“Thank you,” Jasper said. “I drink a mixture of vinegar, fish oil, and diet Cora every morning.”
“See? It all checks out. Be nice to the sub, kids.” Principal Price waved and left.
Jasper folded her arms and looked the girl who’d questioned her identity up and down. “What’s your name?”
“Ileen.”
“Okay, Ileen, answer me this: do you know where Aymes Bell is?”
Ileen shrugged. “Why would I know? He hasn’t been here since—”
The door opened. “Sorry I’m late,” Aymes muttered as he made his way to an empty seat at the back of the class.
“We’re just glad you’re here.” Jasper clapped her hands together. “Now, for the group project.”
Half the class groaned, and the other half waved excitedly at their friends.
“I’m assigning groups.”
Now everyone was groaning. Jasper ignored them as she herded people into sections.
“What’s the project?” Ileen asked.
“Pick a topic and make a poster board or something. I don’t care. Go wild.” Jasper walked to Thea, Holly, and Dax and lowered her voice. “Thea, are you sensing anything on his devices?”
“Yeah, I can sense that they’re all super secure.” Thea glanced at Aymes in annoyance. “I’ll need to get my hands on them to get anything, and it could take me an hour or so to get in.”
“That’s the goal then. Anyone who can get their hands on Aymes’s stuff and get it to Thea gets an A.”
Jasper wandered around the lab for a bit, making note of chemicals and supplies that might come in handy later. As she opened a freezer, she asked, “Angel, is Aymes talking?”
“He’s not saying much,” Grace whispered. “And my group isn’t exactly being cooperative—”
“Don’t worry about them. Just make small talk with Aymes.” Jasper raised an eyebrow. “Huh, Marianas keeps a lot of dead birds.” She closed the freezer and returned to the front of the classroom. “Anyone want to share what they’re working on?”
Ileen raised her hand. “My group came up with a way to clean up the toxic algae on the southern coast that we think will—”
“That’s nice. How about you, Aymes? What’s your group doing?”
Aymes looked up, surprise flashing across his face. “Something with the nervous system, I guess.”
“Okay, well you still have—” Jasper looked at the clock. “Uh…”
“Forty minutes,” Ileen offered.
“Yeah, that. So, get back to work.”
While the students returned to their conversations, Jasper stopped by Aymes’s table. “Aymes, would it be possible for me to arrange a conference with one of your parental or guardian units? Preferably tonight.”
Aymes hesitated a moment. “I think my mom could come tonight.”
“Perfect,” Jasper turned away. Under her breath, she muttered, “It’s all coming together.”
“What was that?” Aymes asked.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”