The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus) Read Online Free Page A

short pockets.  "Crap."
    "Left it in your other set of tights?" Sunny drawls.
    "Well it's not like I'm going to carry my license around when working," Max says.  "Oh well, I'll just rob the place," he decides cheerfully.  Trouble.  Serious trouble.  It's worse that he's grinning at the idea.
    "No you won't!" I say.  "This is the closest place we can get snacks from--we want to be able to come back!  Not to mention stealing is wrong!"
    "I like how your first thought is self-preservation," Max says.  "Do either of you have money?"
    "Enough for one pack of two cupcakes," Sunny says.  "Which is one for me and one for Zoe."
    "How'd you get that slushee, anyway?" I ask abruptly.
    "I stole it," Max says.  "There was this kid just coming out of the place with it and I was thirsty."  He takes another drink, as if only remembering that he's holding it now.
    "And he didn't call the cops on you?" Sunny asks.
    "For stealing his slushee," Max says with a bland expression.
    "You mugged him!"
    "I took his slushee, not his wallet.  But I probably should have taken the wallet, now that we're going on a snack run.  Wonder how far he's gotten..."
    "Oh for crying out loud," I cry, getting a headache.  "You can have half of my cupcake.  Just don't rob anyone!"
    "Promise?" Max asks.
    "Yes, I promise," I say.  I'm... confused, actually.  You're confused, too, right?  I mean, here you've got a guy that can lift giant things with his mind and we're arguing over cupcakes. I look at Sunny, who looks like he's got a headache.  But Max is already heading into the gas station, as if he wasn't here earlier to rob some poor guy of his slushee.  "Everyone put your hands--" I hear him say.
    "MAX!" I bellow, racing in after him.  He's insane!  He's absolutely insane!  Sunny reaches him first, wrapping his arms around him and pulling back.
    "He's joking," Sunny tells everyone in the place.  "He's just got a really stupid sense of humor."  He gives Max a dark look, pushing the other teen away from the counter.  "We're just looking for the cupcakes," he adds over his shoulder as I race after them.
    "Your faces!" Max says, breaking out in laughter.  "Oh man, that was too good!"
    "It's not funny!" I say.
    "No... it's a little funny," Sunny admits.  I give him a dirty look and he shrugs.  "No, seriously, you're a jerk, Max," he tells the other boy almost blandly.  "You about gave me a heart attack."  That definitely sounds like a lie.
    Max grins.  "Do you know how many of us there are?" he asks.  "Teens or kids.  Not adults.  And even those, do you know how many of them are kept under wraps?  Completely hidden--even with all the hacking I do of the Hall's information, I can't find them.  We need each other, guys."
    I get the feeling, strangely enough, that he isn't just trying to sway us over to his idea for an Anti-Hall league.  Or maybe I'm just an idiot.  Yeah, I'm really leaning towards the idiot conclusion.  There's no way a super villain of Maximum's league has anything other than his own prerogatives on his mind.
    "How many?" Sunny asks.
    "Probably fifty five in all--but we're talking all over the world," Max says, straightening and starting to walk down one of the aisles of snacks.  "In this town we've got... oh, counting the three of us, probably six or seven that have come into their skills."  He picks up a three pack of cupcakes.  "I haven't met them.  I want to, though."
    "For your idea?" I ask.
    "Sure," he says, looking at the price.  "Can you guys afford two fifty?" he asks.
    Sunny looks at me and I can almost hear him thinking.  "Yeah," he says finally.  "We can afford it."
    "Sweet!  I get my own!"  He hands the pack over to Sunny, who's digging out his wallet.  "We'll keep looking around while you check out," Max says.
    "I'm going with Sunny," I say, following my brother.  It’s a dangerous decision, I realize belatedly.  We're only here because we're playing along with a psychopath.  It's not like