The school bell rang, signaling the end of the first period.

Milly was waiting in the hallway just outside the classroom, leaning against the wall near the door. She checked the time.

08:55 in the morning.

That left a solid five minutes to get to the next class at the top of the hour. Each period worked that way. Nice and easy to remember. Plenty of time to move classes. Milly liked it.

The door remained shut.

That was the part Milly didn’t like so much. Some teachers weren’t exactly punctual. Others seemed to actively resent that a bell was telling them what to do. Crazy as that was.

After about a minute, students came streaming out.

Milly watched the stream like a bear by the river until she spotted a tasty fish and struck! Which was to say, she grabbed Niki by the shoulder and pulled her to shore.

“Hey! Did you take notes?” Milly grinned.

“Milly!” Niki hugged her, taking Milly by surprise. Niki rarely initiated contact. Niki whispered in her ear, “Are you okay?”

Struggling to maintain her composure, Milly just hugged her back. “It’s so good to hear your voice again.” Milly shivered. She hadn’t been ready for the embrace, but she especially wasn’t ready for the strangely tingling gust of hot breath washing over her skin.

Barely a class period had passed, but to Milly it had already been ten days of Milly-time. Ten quiet, lonely days. No matter how many hours of fun activities she’d experienced, it all paled compared to this brief moment.

“How long have you been back?” Niki asked while she herded Milly toward the lockers. The closest thing to privacy.

“Exactly 08:32, as predicted. Sorry for not texting you about it, but I wanted to surprise you in person.” Milly reluctantly let Niki go to grab their biology textbooks. “Well, that and I couldn’t come any sooner since I was kinda preoccupied frantically cleaning up the art room. I probably shouldn’t have left that for the last second… and I really shouldn’t have forgotten to check the time.”

There were many people around that could overhear them talking, but that just meant they couldn’t mention the elephant in the room too directly.

“You have practically all the time in the world and you still ran out of it.” Niki rolled her eyes.

“Hey! It’s not my fault that I can’t set any alarms. I just don’t notice the sound or vibration or anything. I need to be looking at the screen to see the alert pop up.”

“That’s true… hey, have you tried recording yourself and using that as alarms? Wait, I guess any sound could work as long as we speed it up enough. I could probably whip something up to accelerate your phone sounds, but it would take me a while.”

“That’d be great.”

“Oh! I got just the thing! Gimme your phone,” Niki said while she held her hand out.

Milly hesitated.

She didn’t like the idea of anyone else going through her phone. That was super personal. Even if she’d already shared her biggest secret with Niki, Milly wasn’t sure she was ready to risk exposing her playlist from her embarrassing boy band phase last year, or the Slingshot Sue slash fics she’d bookmarked, or an old selfie she took to check for zits when she didn’t have a mirror handy!

On the other hand, Niki was trying to help her. What message would it send if Milly didn’t trust her with her phone for a couple of seconds?

After a moment, Milly reluctantly handed it over, then anxiously hovered over Niki’s shoulder while Niki navigated through her browser with frightening speed.

“Relax. I promise I’m not going through your search history.” Niki gave a sly smirk while she showed Milly a download screen. “This app turns my mom’s phone into a disco ball when she gets an alert. Trust me, you’ll notice flashing lights. Plus, there are some settings you can mess with. Just turn it on when you take some Milly-time.”

Milly took the phone back and scrolled through the options. There was one that let her color the light that immediately appealed to her. “That’s pretty handy, but weird to just have. Is your mom into disco or something?”

“She’s crazy about it, but actually she uses this thing because she’s deaf. If you ask me, those two things are related.” Niki giggled at Milly’s mortified expression. “Relax, she’d think it was funny. Regardless, there are a bunch of gadgets that help her out that might be good for you too.”

“Like what?” Milly asked, eager to move on.

Milly felt awkward, but weirdly also a little glad. Unlike Milly, Niki made no phone calls home. That made sense now in a way that wasn’t horrible.

“For example, a watch that vibrates, which I’m just now realizing won’t help you.” Niki frowned and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Oh, I also know sign language if that’ll help.”

Milly doubted that. She had no patience to stand around watching someone mime in super slow-motion. However, the idea of sharing a ‘secret’ language with Niki felt alluring. “Maybe. Is it hard to learn?”

“You’d be surprised how many gestures you already know. Remember the way Spider-Chan shoots her web?” Niki held up her hand with two fingers pressed to her palm and the rest spread out.

“Duh.” Milly mirrored it. As soon as she did, she saw a blush creep over Niki’s face. “Wait, what’s this mean?”

The second school bell rang, signaling the start of class. If they didn’t get there before attendance got taken, they’d be late.

Niki slammed her locker shut. “Oh, we better hurry!” She ran off, obviously just trying to escape the subject.

“Hey! Get back here!” Even without superspeed, Milly had no problem catching up to her, but it was already too late.

The biology teacher, Mr. Beagle, spotted them from the doorway and was holding it open. “Quickly now. Before the bellhounds tear us apart!”

Milly groaned, but dutifully marched into the classroom while playfully shaking her fist at Niki. “This isn’t over.”

Niki just snickered at her.

Needless to say, Mr. Beagle was one of those that rebelled against the school bell. He was an older man that looked as though they’d grabbed a retired gardener and stuck him in a fancy suit without so much as a shave.

Still, Milly had to admit he was a fun teacher. Even if his attempts at humor were corny and his classes were too long. He always sounded giddy while teaching, as if he was trying to share his favorite movie scene.

Since they were late, Niki had deviously found herself a spot surrounded by people, preventing Milly from taking a seat next to her. That left Milly without the ability to pester Niki into spilling the beans on that web-shooting sign.

Milly sat down in the same row, purely so she could give Niki the side-eye during class.

Mr. Beagle had a habit of getting really engrossed in his subject. So much so that it was easy to get away with using a phone in class.

Milly was grateful for that. While Niki could easily ignore any probing texts, it at least meant Milly could easily check in on Ruth and Orchid. They had been unwittingly working together to paint her and Niki a clear picture.

Kasper and his crew were called The Minutemen. They mainly dealt in smash-and-grab crimes and petty scams. Without fail, each crook always got away before anyone arrived with the power to stop them.

It wasn’t exactly clear how many people were involved, but usually it involved five separate hits in different locations. Sometimes briefly after Orchid confirmed ACE was distracted, other times she wasn’t involved. That showed Niki was right; They had probably coerced more girls into spying.

The trouble was that even if Orchid betrayed them and ACE caught one, the rest would scatter and probably destroy any evidence. Orchid and the others would be in hot water if they couldn’t prove that they were coerced.

Honestly, they were probably still going to be in some trouble, even if they could prove it. They each choose to be accomplices to bigger crimes rather than risk the penalty of a small crime themselves. Granted, it was probably scary, but who knew how many people got hurt because of it? For one, their inaction was what allowed more girls to get roped into the same situation after them. Milly couldn’t imagine letting that happen. It wasn’t right.

Anyway, it didn’t matter if they couldn’t nab all the crooks.

Milly pondered the problem while she stared down at her textbook. The chapter was on bees and their importance. She idly flipped the pages.

Bees were peaceful and cute. It was too bad that on the ranch she mostly dealt with their jerk cousins, the wasps. Little striped terrorists. Whenever they showed up too close to home, it was a hassle to track where they showed up more to narrow down the location of the nest.

Recklessly destroying a nest was a recipe for disaster, though. All those angry homeless wasps. Her dad told her it was best to strike at night, when they were all at the hive. Get 'em all at once before they could counterattack.

Huh, actually…

Milly sat up straight, sketching a little Kasper the waspy ghost in her notebook.

That could work. She just had to make a few quick texts.

————————————

@Orchid

00:00:01:

Where does Kasper live?

Orchid:

I don’t know, but I know where he’s going to be.

00:00:01:

That’ll work.

Orchid:

He usually picks up the Sunday special from the Rib Steakhouse at eight.

00:00:01:

Oof. Got anything closer to now?

Orchid:

No, sorry.

Milly grimaced at her phone. She supposed it made sense. Orchid’s string of thefts had all been on Sundays. That was so far away, though. Especially for her. There had to be some way of speeding this up.

@Ruth

00:00:01:

Does your power work over the phone?

Ruth:

I cannot answer that.

00:00:01:

Right, that makes sense. Sorry.

Ruth:

What is going on?

00:00:01:

I have an idea to snag The Minutemen.

I think I could coax them into striking, but I don’t know how to pinpoint them once they do.

If I did, I’m pretty sure I can catch up to one of them and see where they go. Any ideas?

Ruth:

Give us a minute.

Ruth:

The Minutemen still trigger alarms.

The Response Center from the security firm would be the very first to know.

They have to check if it is a false alarm before alerting law enforcement. 98% are false.

If you have a tight time frame, we might be able to request access to the alarms before they get verified.

00:00:01:

How quickly can you set that up?

Ruth:

Maybe twenty minutes. When are you coaxing them?

00:00:01:

Maybe twenty minutes.

Ruth:

Cool. Are you warming up to this team idea yet?

Milly left Ruth on read.

Thinking about it, it struck Milly as strange that Ruth was so willing to play along. It couldn’t be a small thing to give some total stranger information that could easily be abused. Was Ruth just that desperate for the chance to see a couple of crooks behind bars? Or was this a favor she expected to call in later regardless of how it was used?

Her phone buzzed. A text from Niki.

@Niki Niki:

You look like you ate a bee.

Milly looked to her left to find Niki staring at her from her spot three desks over. Milly’s chest felt a little warmer just knowing that Niki had been looking her way in secret. Was it a silly first thing to think about? Maybe.

Pulling herself together, Milly recapped the situation for Niki.

@Niki

Milly:

So, I’m not sure how to respond to her.

Niki:

I guarantee you that this is nowhere near as easy as she is making it sound.

I’ll bet they are scrambling to make it work. She is 100% trying to impress you.

She wants you bad.

Milly:

Jealous? :P

Niki:

>.

Milly:

Seriously, though. If I start leaning that way, you elbow me this time. >.>

Niki:

Oh, I’ll return the favor, don’t you fret. >:D

Niki started curling her pencil case like it was a dumbbell. All the while making direct eye contact with Milly.

Terrifying!

@Niki

Milly:

…I’m suddenly having second thoughts. >.

Niki:

Hah, you better!

…

Actually, speaking of second thoughts.

Milly:

Oh, this can’t be good.

Niki: Hush!

I was just wondering… Are we still good for tonight?

It’s been 10 days for you and it’s gonna be like what? Another 70?

Milly:

You have a point.

Niki:

…

Milly:

Can we time it so the last couple minutes are in Milly-time?

I think that’s only fair. :3

An eraser bounced off of Milly’s head.

“Miss Krishna, detention!” Mr. Beagle called out.

Milly couldn’t stop grinning. She would take that as a yes.

————————————

The bell rang at 9:55, interrupting Mr. Beagle mid-sentence.

Grumbling, he looked up at the clock. “I swear they ring that thing earlier every year. Remain seated.”

A chorus of groans rose from the class.

“Oh, pipe down. It only takes two minutes to get to any other classroom. We’re using these next three.”

That wasn’t true. Not unless your locker happened to be on route to the next class.

Milly wasn’t actually sure what class that was anymore. She checked her agenda. A chill ran down her spine. Her school schedule wasn’t the only thing she’d forgotten about!

Milly-time: 05:34 - 06:20 = 46 minutes Base-time: 06:20 - 07:46 = 86 minutes Milly-time: 07:46 - 08:32 = 46 minutes Base-time: 08:32 - ? (Prediction: 09:58?)

According to the estimates she had jotted down next to her school schedule, Milly-time was set to start in three minutes too! She might get stuck in class!

Milly swiftly raised her hand. “Mr. Beagle, may I be excused?”

Once again interrupted, Mr. Beagle sighed while he brought his book down. “What’s so important that it can’t wait till the end of a sentence or two?”

“Never mind…” Milly backed down. She could not think of anything on the spot. Well, there was one thing, but she’d die of embarrassment. It wasn’t worth that.

There was no point in arguing. That would only ensure they’d go over time. Her only hope was that he’d wrap up early. Worst case, she’d have to bolt out of the classroom if they came up to her time limit. Detention be damned.

Milly was barely listening to the end of the lecture anymore. Her eyes transfixed on the clock. She felt her phone buzz but only glanced down at it long enough to confirm it wasn’t Niki.

The last minutes of class always felt the longest. Are watched the agonizingly slow progress as the minute hand crept along.

09:56… 57… 57… 57…

Milly blinked. It had become eerily quiet in the classroom. The minute hand wasn’t moving anymore either. That could not be right. It wasn’t Milly-time yet, right?

Everyone around her was frozen in place.

“Rats! Is that clock slow? Who puts a slow clock in class!” Milly grabbed her phone to check, but it displayed the same time.

Milly sunk into her chair, defeated. “I must have miscalculated…”

She couldn’t even leave her seat. Wait, could she even move? At that thought, Milly hastily sat up straight and did her best to assure the same position she had been in.

“Dang it! What do I do now?”

If anyone saw her move or vanish from her seat, the gig was up. She had no chance of moving at anything approaching a normal speed. It would be so obvious!

Milly looked around the room. Nobody but Niki was paying active attention to her. Most of the students just looked bored or were preparing to storm out the minute Mr. Beagle released the floodgates.

What could she do?

Milly sent Niki a text first to alert her. Ironically, she was the only one of them who could move.

Meanwhile, Milly resumed staring at the clock, doing her best not to move.

This was going to be the longest minute of all time.

————————————

One hour of Milly-time later, not even fifteen seconds had crawled by.

Nope! Forget this!

Milly was ready to climb up the walls! She’d been in the same position, vacantly staring at a clock for so long she was pretty sure she was going to see an imprint of the thing every time she closed her eyes!

She had to get out of here!

What if she created a distraction? She could go around and punch the walls or something. The explosions and panic that would create should be good enough for her to slip out with no one noticing.

But a huge event like that would probably get spread around pretty quick. Anyone with a good head on their shoulders might piece together that someone in her class must have had powers. Milly was already suspicious enough with how much class she was missing. She couldn’t afford anyone looking into this.

The fire alarm? No. Someone might notice that she was just sitting there staring at a clock while the alarms blared around her. Worse, they might try to ‘rescue’ her, and then she was in a whole new world of hurt.

Milly risked looking around. As long as she didn’t do it for too long and returned to her original position, nobody should take notice.

To her surprise, the entire class was looking in the same direction but not at Mr. Beagle. Some had even gotten up and moved.

Niki had collapsed to the floor, her face distorted in pain.

Without so much as giving it a second thought, Milly bolted from her chair and weaved between the crowd of students that was forming around Niki. She found Niki was curled up like someone had kicked her in the stomach; Milly recognized the expression instantly, but she couldn’t see anyone that might be the culprit.

Milly's first instinct was to take Niki to the nurse, but she couldn’t recklessly move her! Grinding her teeth in helpless frustration, Milly took another seething look around. Whoever did it couldn’t have gotten far. If she couldn’t move Niki, she’d happily try moving whatever bastard instead. Preferably into a wall!

When Milly looked at Niki again, though, she noticed something strange.

Niki’s hands were clutching her stomach, but one of them held that same spider-chan web-shooting sign. It didn’t look natural at all. It was weird enough to jar Milly into reconsidering the situation. Was Niki trying to tell her something?

Suddenly, it clicked. Niki wasn’t attacked. She was making a scene! Faking cramps, of all things! With all these students standing up and moving around, nobody would notice if Milly snuck out right now!

As Milly ran out the door, she knew one thing for sure.

She owed Niki big time.