“That would normally be the consequences of such an action.” Zephyr glanced briefly at Conleth. “However, in your case, I have been persuaded to make an exception.”
Now he really felt like a stupid little kid. Why hadn’t he spotted the obvious giant hole in his plan?
Of course stupid Conleth wouldn’t want Paige to leave. And stupid Conleth could talk his way around anything. He always knew the right thing to say.Hisplans never went wrong. He’d probably never made a single mistake in his entire life.
Stupid, perfect Conleth.
“I don’t want you to make an exception!” he spat out past the lump in his throat. “If you don’t kick me out, I’ll—I’ll do something even worse. You have to send me home!”
Zephyr and stupid Conleth exchanged one of those irritating looks that grown-ups sometimes did, where they seemed to be having a whole silent conversation over the top of your head. As if something had been decided, Zephyr nodded. Without another word, he got up and left, closing the office door behind him.
Which left Archie, his bear, and stupid Conleth.
If this had been a movie, this would have been the part where stupid Conleth let out an evil laugh—Mwahahahaha!—and launched into a monologue about how no one could stop him now. Then Archie could have said something cool and cutting, like “You can take my desserts, but you’ll never take my sister!”, and then Conleth would have…well, probably not thrown him into a pit of snakes (sadly), but at least grounded him for a whole week.
Instead, stupid Conleth looked at him for a long moment, fingers tapping. Then he pushed himself away from the wall.
“Come on,” was all he said.
Archie trailed after him, now a little more hopeful. Maybe stupid Conleth planned to lure him out of camp and abandon him in the middle of the wilderness (from which, naturally, Archie would escape with his awesome bear powers, and get back just in the nick of time to yell “OBJECTION!” right at the dramatic part of the wedding).
Unfortunately, this soon proved not to be the case. Whatever evil scheme his nemesis had in mind, it apparently involved…basketball?
Stupid Conleth sent the ball winging perfectly through the hoop from halfway across the court. In a blur of speed, he caught the basketball before it could hit the ground. “Here. Your turn.”
“Wha-?” Archie started, but the ball was always bouncing toward him. He just about managed to catch it before it smacked into his chest.
He wanted to ask what the heck was going on, but stupid Conleth raised his eyebrows in a challenging sort of way.Since there was no way he was gonna letthatone slide, Archie focused on the hoop. He dribbled the ball a few times, then took a shot.
The ballboingedoff the rim, rebounding back. Stupid Conleth intercepted it with an effortless catch.
“One-zero to me,” he said. He spun the ball on his finger, then sent it neatly back through the hoop. “Two-zero. You can get it this time.”
Giving him a glare, Archie dashed after the ball. He tried another shot, but missed entirely. Stupid Conleth caught it in midair, spun, and scored another perfect basket.
Archie folded his arms, letting the ball bounce past him. “You could at leastpretendto be giving me a chance.”
“Yes, but then you’d know I was holding back,” his nemesis said calmly. “Are you going to get the ball, or would you rather concede defeat?”
Shoot. Now he was stuck on this basketball court for the rest of his life.
Archie was eight points down before he finally managed to get the ball through the hoop. The surge of victory was short-lived, as stupid Conleth’s next shot bounced off the backboard. Archie glared at him.
The counselor held up his hands. “I genuinely missed that one. I’ll swear it in front of Rufus, if you like.”
Appeased, Archie went to get the ball. “Let’s score your misses against my baskets. That’s more fair.”
“Wouldn’t that make it rather easy for me to win?”
Archie passed the ball to him. “No, because you’d have to mess up deliberately.”
“Huh.” Conleth threw the ball, which arced right through the center of the hoop without touching the rim. “I can’t argue with that. One all, then.”
His body felt looser now, which weirdly made the rest of him feel looser, too. It was like having something to do with his hands cleared out room in his head, giving him space to think.
He threw the ball, managing to score another basket. “Why’d you bring me out here?”
Conleth snagged the ball as it bounced back. “To talk.”
