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came to rest on Mike.
    â€œWelcome to Windham, Mister Prior.”

 
    Chapter Seven
    Â 
    Mike trudged out of History in a daze.
    So that was it. He was descended from the most reviled person in Guardian history, and Stockton hated him for it. That was why his mom had never told him about his past, why Mrs. Jorisch had freaked when she saw his name on the list, and why Mrs. Caulderon had told her son Aaron to stay away from him. And that was why he had blown the other kids out of the water in his classes. He was big evil, public enemy number one, the reason a whole clan of Guardians and Gargoyles had been cut off from their natural brothers and sisters.
    Well, that cleared things up.
    Except, it wasn’t him. It was an uber-great grandfather, some nut who played the traitor card for whatever the other side was offering him. Mike had nothing to do with it. And yet, Stockton clearly thought he did, as if he was responsible.
    Which was plain old stupid.
    â€œListen, Mike, it’s not that bad,” Aaron tried as they walked through the halls. “So grandpa killed a few people. What’s the big deal?”
    Julius Brutus, who was tagging along, squeaked, “He didn’t just kill a few people, Aaron! He caused the whole clan to get cut off. We are alone because of him. Haven’t you read the chapter yet?”
    â€œWell, when you put it that way,” Mike muttered. He shifted his textbooks from one arm to the other. He knew they were trying to help, but it wasn’t working. Besides, the way everyone else was looking at him, there wasn’t anything they could say. Stockton had screwed him, and now Mike was getting evil-death stares from people he didn’t even know—
    WHAM .
    All of a sudden, Mike was on the floor, his books strewn everywhere.
    â€œHey, look where you’re going!”
    Mike looked up to see a bulldozer of a kid standing over him. He wore khaki shorts and a black t-shirt that said “I Crush Nerds.” The boy’s fists were balled at his sides, and he was chomping on something – peanuts, maybe? – with spittle flying everywhere. On the guy’s arm hung a long-legged girl wearing a pink hoodie, a skirt that looked like a belt, and tall heels. She was chewing gum like she was from Southern California.
    â€œWait – aren’t you the Prior kid?”
    Ohhhh, here we go, Mike thought as he gathered himself up to full height. The guy wasn’t any taller than he was, but he was definitely a bit wider. And not because he had any love handles.
    â€œHey, you got a problem with my boy?” Aaron said as he stepped between Mike and the jerk.
    â€œWhat if I do?” The jerk stepped right up to Aaron, despite his height disadvantage, but the girl on his arm pulled him back.
    â€œCome on, Zachariah,” she said between gum bubbles.
    â€œForget it, man,” Mike said to Aaron. He checked his books, making sure he had all of them, and started to walk away.
    â€œHey, I was talking to you.”
    The guy – Zachariah? – moved to block Mike’s way. Then he poked Mike in the chest.
    Hard.
    â€œMy dad told me stories about your family. How they tortured Guardians for secrets, then destroyed Gargoyles while they slept.”
    By now a crowd of people had gathered, probably hoping for a fight. Mike eyed the guy’s finger, which was still resting on his pectoral. It would be so easy to grab it, snap it back, and punch the kid in the face with the follow-through… Sensei Jon had just showed that to him like a week ago…
    â€œSorry,” Mike said. He brushed Zachariah’s finger off. He wasn’t going to start this. “Can’t do anything about some old guy from back in the day.”
    Zachariah put his finger back on Mike’s chest, pushing even harder this time. “Neither can I. But I sure can do something about you.” He pushed his Leno-style chin outwards in a weird attempt to look