Ditto Ditto Read Free

patiently for our chance to get on the massive scale to be weighed.  You wouldn’t think we’d top 550--we don’t, but we’re close enough that the guy with the piece of paper in his hand looks at us a little strangely.  I mean, Ditto and I barely top the five foot mark and are as skinny as can be, while Trent doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him.  He’s just muscular--and REALLY heavy.
    “I work out,” Trent says blandly when the look lasts too long.
    “He does,” I say, pointing at his arm, “ALL the time.”
    “Yep,” Ditto agrees.  “So can we go up the stairs yet?”
    “First I have to read this to you,” the man says, still looking at Trent a bit strangely.  He rattles off a lot of words, which I promptly ignore, then motions us up the massive stairway to the top.
    “Did you see his face?” Ditto asks as we start up the steps, joining a seriously long line.  “Think he figured it out?”
    “He would have if it’d been Jack,” Trent admits.  “He started out at almost four, but last we checked he was nearing five--Dad thinks he’s going through a growth spurt.”
    “Shhh,” I say, noticing the norms in front of us glancing back.  “His brother’s seriously fat,” I tell one that’s bold enough to keep looking.  “Like REALLY fat.  Don’t go judging,” I add, giving him a dirty look.  “Fat people are people too!”
    Trent starts laughing, wrapping an arm around my waist to pull me back.  “Calm down, he didn’t say anything, Em,” he says.  The line starts moving, but Trent doesn’t put me down, merely carries me up the stairs as if I weigh nothing. 
    “I can walk,” I say finally, even though I’ve gotten really comfortable already.  There’s just something so awesome about being able to be carried at my age.
    “I know,” he says.  “Just wait until I tell Jack you stood up for him, his mind is going to be blown.”
    “She called him fat,” Ditto says, licking an ice cream bar as she hops up the stairs in front of us.  When did she get ice cream?  Oh man, she made it appear, didn’t she?  Nico’s going to kill us... “I don’t see how that’s sticking up for him,” she goes on.
    “Where’d she--” Trent asks me silently.
    “Don’t ask,” I mutter.  “He’s a fat head, at least,” I add to Ditto.
    “Don’t see me arguing,” she says cheerfully.  “Hey, hey, can I be in front?  It’s one of those raft thingies, I’ve always wanted to be in front!”
    “But--” I start out.  “I want to be in front, too.”
    “How about this,” he says, putting me down as the line stops again, “Ditto goes in front the first time, Em the second, and then we go swimming?”
    “That works!” Ditto says before I can respond.  The group in front of us gets into the raft and I dare to look down, watching in wonder as they race straight down the slide.  Before I know it, we’re being strapped in and sent over the edge.  I scream the entire way down, lifting my hands in the air.  I wish I could fly--I don’t think I’ll ever be able to, though.
    “Yeah!” Trent says when we pull to a stop.  He hops out, picking first me and then Ditto out of the ride.  “Let’s do that again!”
    “Sure--” I start out, only to stop as people start screaming.  We automatically start looking around, Trent groaning loudly already.  He doesn’t even know what’s happened and he’s already sure that it’s one of our--
    The crashing sound of glass comes from overhead and we all look up, watching in shock as Mega comes crashing into the area, glass pieces sprinkling down on us.  I hear people scream more, trying to get out of the crowded pool before the large super hero lands on them--and Nico shoots out, grabbing him before he crashes.
    “There goes our cover,” Trent says with a sigh.  Nico at least slipped a mask on before flying, but it’s pretty obvious that he was already here.  He’s wearing swimming trunks, after all.  Trent looks