Conner stepped through the double-doors, Ethan and Trent on either side of him. Ahead, he saw a familiar girl sticking up posters. “Oh, hey,” he said, nudging Ethan. “There’s Krista.”

“I still have no idea why she even talks to you.”

“Dude, don’t be a hater. Just because I got the magic.”

Trent snorted with laughter, leaning against the wall. “I’m with Ethan on this one. I’ve talked to Krista in math class. She’s kinda deep. And you’re, well . . .”

His grin suggested he was looking more for a reaction than anything else. Obviously, today was ‘let’s-all-pick-on-Conner’ day. But, weirdly, he didn’t mind. Felt almost happy about it. Because at least it was a distraction.

And, really, if he needed a distraction from inner thoughts, wasn’t that, like, proof that he was deep?

Ethan finished Trent’s sentence. “Not deep?”

“I didn’t want to say it.”

Oh, ha ha. Very funny. “You guys are supposed to back me up, remember?” Like they ever did. “Where’s the love?”

Ethan just grinned at him.

“Now, observe,” said Conner. “She likes me.”

He left them standing by the doors, walking to where Krista was sticking up another poster. From the amount of green, probably environmental rather than gay-rights. Had a rainbow, though. “Krista.”

“Oh, hey, Conner.” She finished sticking up the poster, moving on to another.

“What are the posters about?”

She handed him one, a colorful sheet with the words ‘save the tree’ curving over a drawing of a tree—Conner assumed the one she wanted to rescue.

“So, there’s a tree that needs saving?”

“Yeah. Behind the school. It is over one hundred years old, and Randall,” she almost spat the name, “Wants to tear it down to make a new parking lot.”

He didn’t really care, but something about the fact that Krista so obviously did interested him. “Really?”

“It’s a crime against nature. This tree has been part of the eco-system longer than any of us have even been here! Dozens of creatures depend on it!”

Conner looked down at the poster again. “So, when’s the protest?”

“You want to help?”

Not really. “Yes.”

She paused. “Since the first one you came on, you’ve not really seemed interested.”

And there was a very good reason for that. “I’ve just been really busy.” But going on a protest would be the perfect way to prove to Ethan and Trent that he could so be deep. Also, with luck he could drag one of them along, so he wouldn’t have to be bored.

And he just wanted to see their faces when he told them. This could win him hours of amusement, easily. “Where do I sign up?”

“Really?”

“Just tell me what to do.”

--

“Save the tree! Save the tree! Save the tree!”

Conner scowled at the crowd, wishing they’d stop chanting for a bit. How was he supposed to talk when they were making so much noise? And couldn’t the builders just hurry up and do something so this could end? They currently seemed happy just standing at watching the protest, chatting amongst themselves and using the bulldozer to lean against.

Ethan nodded at his sign. “I think you’re supposed to be holding that up. Not leaning on it.”

Whatever. Trent was working at the cyberspace, and Kira had been too busy laughing at him to agree to come, so it was just Conner and Ethan. Along with every hippy the school possessed.

Cassidy and Devin appeared from the direction of the school, Devin’s camera over his shoulder. Conner nudged Ethan. “Hey, there’s Cassidy.”

“Shut up.”

Ethan was so easy.

Conner watched as Krista almost walked into Cassidy, provoking some sort of argument, while Devin allowed himself to be pulled into the group of protesters.

“Admit it,” ordered Ethan, as the protesters started tying Devin to the tree. “There is no way you care about the tree. You’re just doing it to try and prove me and Trent wrong.”

“Ethan, I am hurt. Krista believes me.”

“Dude, do you really care about the tree?”

Conner shook his head. “She doesn’t need to know that. I just have to make it look like I care.”

“Just as I thought!”

Conner winced at the sound of Krista’s voice, turning to see her glaring at him. “You can’t teach an old jock new tricks,” she said. “Do us a favor, and leave this to the people who really care!”

“Oooh,” said Ethan, as Krista stormed off.

“Ouch.” Apologies clearly needed later.

“Get your men working!”

Conner jumped at the sound of Randall’s voice, magnified to several times its usual volume by a megaphone. She flapped a clipboard at the man leaning against the bulldozer. “I have a permit!”

“Finally,” muttered Ethan. “Some entertainment.”

Conner rose onto his tiptoes, trying to peer over the crowd to get a better view, but found there were too many signs in the way. “Come on,” he said. “We can see over here.” Hopefully Randall would come off looking like an idiot. He couldn’t see Krista backing down just because someone started shouting.

And, right enough, he saw Krista had moved to stand in front of the bulldozer. He hesitated, before taking a step towards her. It was dangerous, and . . .

Ethan grabbed his arm. “Dude, do you really want her to get even madder at you? She’ll be fine.”

The driver started up the bulldozer, then leaned out to wave Krista aside. “Kid, I’ve got my orders!”

At least he seemed to have morals. Conner wouldn’t be surprised if Randall ordered him to run Krista over.

Which was why she should really move.

“Stop worrying,” Ethan told him. “It’s called risking something for what you believe in. Lots of people do it.”

Well, he didn’t have to say it like that. Conner risked stuff all the time for what he believed in. He just didn’t do it in front of bulldozers.

He thought he risked stuff, anyway. Didn’t he?

“I’m not moving,” Krista said, sounding worryingly like she meant it.

Conner watched in relief as the man moved to get out of the van. A scraping noise sounded above them. Already nervous, he looked up, to see the metal cage starting to fall.

Onto Krista.

“Krista!”

Forgetting the crowd he used his super-speed to get to Krista, everything slowing around him as he covered the distance in an instant.

“Look out!”

She looked up, gasping, freezing to the spot. Conner slammed into her, desperate to get her out of the way. His force threw them forwards, breath knocked out of them as they hit the ground. Behind them, he heard the cage slam into the ground.

Too close. Way too close.

Krista still looked shaky, skin paler than usual. “You okay?” Conner asked.

She looked at him, wide-eyed. “How’d you—p”

Dr. O was going to kill him if people started asking questions. He tried to grin. “It’s just part of being an old jock.”

She laughed, slumping back against the ground. Conner thought about getting up, then decided against. Krista wasn’t the only one who felt shaky.

Ethan arrived to look down at them. “You guys okay?”

“Yeah, thanks to Conner,” said Krista, giving him another smile.

“Yeah. Conner, Dr. O’s just talking to Randall.”

Conner stared up at him, trying to read Ethan’s tone of voice. Was he mad because Conner had risked exposing them? Maybe there had been another way of saving Krista, but there hadn’t been anytime to think.

Conner thought it had been worth the risk. And no one seemed to have noticed. No one was staring at him, anyway.

“Everybody out of here!” Randall’s voice blared through the megaphone, making them all jump a second time. “Go on, shoo!”

“I have to go,” said Krista, pushing herself up. “I need to find Leanne . . .”

“I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yeah!”

“Well,” said Ethan. “At least she’s not mad at you anymore.”

--

Conner caught up with Krista just before she left the school grounds. He watched her as they walked, judging her response to his words. “Look, I know what people say about me, but, there’s a lot more going on in my life.” And at that moment, he really wanted to tell her, just to tell somebody who might be able to help him.

He remembered what Ethan had said, about Krista standing up for her beliefs. Maybe if he told her, she’d be able to tell him how to be a better ranger, feel about it like she did about the environment. Because she felt so passionate about it, devoted most of her time to it. If she were a ranger, he’d bet she would never groan when her communicator bleeped.

He couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t tell her, he just . . .

“That tree is really important to me,” she said. “I can’t spend time with someone who won’t take my passion seriously.”

“I promise, as long as I’m around, nothing will happen to that tree.”

Maybe her passion would start to rub off if he spent enough time around her. It was always worth a try.

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“Now,” he said, “You want to go get a smoothie at Hayley’s?”

“Are they organic?”

Conner paused, trying to remember. They probably were, weren’t they? Hayley seemed that type of person. “’Course,” he said, praying he wasn’t wrong. “Completely organic.”

She smiled, linking her arm through his. “Then that sounds perfect. And I can tell you a little more about how you can help tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“For the protest, of course!”

--

Conner stood in the Dino Lab, between Trent and Kira, watching Dr. O and Hayley work on the computers. Ethan stood on the other side of Trent. With nothing else to do but wait for information, the four of them watched the screen, showing an image of the hole where the tree used to grow.

Seeing Krista appear was like a confirmation of everything he’d been thinking. He knew how passionately she felt: of course she wouldn’t have suddenly realized the danger and decided against! He shouldn’t have let her leave the Cyberspace, should somehow have sorted everything out before it got this far. Hadn’t he promised Krista that nothing would happen to the tree while he was around?

Of course, that had been before he’d known Mesogog wanted it.

“Hey,” said Kira, just in case none of them had noticed. “There’s Krista.”

Conner turned, and walked away.

--