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Fortunately, I didn’t embarrass that easily On the other hand, I couldn’t exactly correct her If I threw "secret baseirls, there’d be ato help the Adepts, so I opted to deflect

"How lairl down the stairs?"

"I didn’t push anyone down the stairs," she clipped out

"So you had nothing to do with my hospital visit?"

Crimson rose on her cheeks

It was ed Adept to protect, anyway Besides, I didn’t actually ht question

As school bells began to peal, she nailed us both with a glare, then turned on a heel and stalked away, a rammed leather backpack between her shoulder blades

I’m not sure what, or how much, the brat pack had spilled around school about my "fall" and my clinic visit, but I felt the looks and heard the whispers They lasted through the irls in identical plaid lowering their heads together--or passing tiny, folded notes--to share what they’d heard about my weekend

Luckily, the ru about bizarre roo the hallways, or Scout’s involvement--other than the fact that people "wouldn’t be surprised" if she’d had so to do with it Apparently, I wasn’t the only one at St Sophia’s who thought she was a little odd

I glanced over at her during civics--punky blond and brown hair in tiny ponytails, fingernails painted glossy black, a tiny hoop in her nose I was kind of surprised Foley let her get aith all that, but I thanked God Scout stood out in this bastion of über-normalcy

After civics, we headed back to our lockers

"Let’s go run an errand," she said, opening her locker and transferring her books

I arched a skeptical eyebrow

"Perfectly ain She adjusted her skull-and-crossbones ave irls in the locker hall, then through the Great Hall andto the school’s front door This one was an off-campus mission, apparently

Outside, we found the sky a ray, the city all but windless The weather wasnasty As if the sky was preparing to open on us all

"Let’s go," Scout said, and we took the steps and headed down the sidewalk We an Avenue and the garden of stone thorns

"Here’s the thing about Chicago," she began

"Speak it, sister"

"The brat pack gave you the Sex and the Windy City tour The shopping on Michigan is nice, but it’s not all there is There’s an entire city out there--folks who’ve lived here all their lives, folks who’ve worked here all their lives, blue-collar jobs, dirt under their fingernails, without shopping for thousand-dollar handbags" She looked up at a high-rise as we passed "Nearly three million people in a city that’s been here for a hundred and seventy years The architecture, the art, the history, the politics I know you’re not from here, and you’ve only been here a week, and your heart is probably back in Sagaazed at the buildings and architecture around her, love in her eyes

"I want to run for city council," she suddenly said, as we crossed the street and passed facing Italian restaurants Tourists formed a line outside each, menus in hand, exciteo’s finest

"City council?" I asked her "Like, Chicago’s city council? You want to run for office?"

She nodded her head decisively "I love this city I want to serve it someday I mean, it depends on where I live and who’s in the ward and whether the seat is open or not, but I want to give so back, you know?"

I had no idea Scout had political aistics that ht She was only sixteen, and I was impressed I also wasn’t sure if I should feel pity for her parents, ere eneral awesomeness, or if I should thank them--was Scout who she was because her parents had freaked about herschool?

She bobbed her head at a bodega that sat kitty-corner on the next block "In there," she said, and we crossed the street She opened the door, a bell on the handle jingling as we moved inside

"Yo," she said, a hand in the air to wave at the clerk as she walked straight to the fountain drink ed at nineteenish or twenty, and whose dark eyes were on the comic book spread on the counter in front of him, a spill of short dreadlocks around his face "Refill tireed I stayed at the counter while she attacked the fountain antic plastic cup from a dispenser With mechanical precision, she pushed the cup under the ice dispenser, peeked over the rim as ice spilled into it, then released the cup, eain until she was satisfied she’d gotten exactly the right aht for the strawberry soda, and the process started again

"She’s particular, isn’t she?" I wondered aloud

The clerk snorted, then glanced up at ht with amusement "Particular hardly covers it She’s an addict when it coar water" His brow furrowed "I don’t know you"

"Lily Parker," I said "First year at St Sophia’s"

"You one of the brat pack?"

"She isus at the counter, as she poked a straw into the top of her soda She took a sip, eyes closed in ecstasy I had to bite back a laugh

Lips still wrapped around the straw, Scout opened one eye and squinted evilly at me "Don’t mock the berry," she said when she paused to take a breath, then turned back to the kid behind the counter "She tried, unsuccessfully, to join the brat pack, at least until she realized how completely lame they are Oh, and Derek, this is Lily You two are buds now"

I grinned at Derek "Glad to rad who’sat his dad’s store while working on his degree in underwater basketweaving at U of C" She batted catty eyes at Derek "I got that right, didn’t I, D?"

"Nuclear physics," he corrected