“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s get out of here,” Waawaate said, putting his arm around Bugz’s shoulders. His touch felt good and seemed to cool her arms. She wiped her nose with her shirt sleeve and walked with him to the outside doors. Waawaate motioned with his head for Feng to follow. Feng scanned the crowd of stunned teenagers, all of them livestreaming the aftermath of the altercation. Some started to offer commentary to their viewers.

CHAPTER 23

“Why they gotta be like that?” Bugz asked her brother.

“Well, did Stormy say anything mean to you?” Waawaate glanced at Bugz. “Anyway, you’re right. That was super awful. I’ll talk to them later. They should give you a real apology.”

The trio walked to Waawaate’s pickup truck, climbed in, and slammed the doors, Bugz riding shotgun and Feng in the back. Waawaate settled into his seat a little tenderly, his hip apparently still bothering him. “Let’s go for a ride and chill for a bit. I’ll ask dad to call the school.” Waawaate texted with one hand and hit the vehicle’s start button with the other. “Where do you want to go?”

“Take us to the bush.”

Bugz could feel Feng watching her from the back seat as Waawaate slipped the truck into gear. As they left the school parking lot, Bugz pulled out her phone and peered into the Floraverse. She sought comfort from her supernatural friends. I’ll see you soon. She realized the others in the truck were both looking at her.

“Thanks for having my back, Waawaate.” Bugz sighed. She studied Feng through the rearview mirror. “Why did she have to talk about my weight? That’s like the one thing I’m the most sensitive about. What a loser.”

“She was trying to hurt your feelings,” Waawaate said. “Probably insecure herself.”

“I don’t think you look fat.” Feng tried to help cheer Bugz up.

“Really?” Bugz hungered for more.

“No, I don’t think you’re fat.” Feng should have left it at that, but he tried to continue comforting Bugz. “I mean, we’ve all got some extra weight, right?”

“Extra weight?” What is the matter with this guy? Bugz thought. She felt the heaviness of the day dragging her down, taking the way she felt about Feng down with it. She tried to reassure herself that he was just a dumb member of Clan:LESS anyway.

Waawaate turned around to shoot Feng a look and turned back to the road. “No. I think his translator just screwed up. Right, Feng? What you meant was…” His piercing gaze still fixated on Feng through the rearview mirror.

“What I meant was…,” Feng said as Waawaate nodded his head, “that I think you look great.” Feng continued, “You look really, really good.” Waawaate kept nodding. “I mean…” Feng’s face flushed. “You know what I mean.”