Justice has been startled twice already tonight, and she turned her music off just so she could keep an ear out for more would-be assailants. But Junior, damn him to hell, is light-footed enough that he manages to sneak up on her anyway. The light touch on her shoulder feels too soft to be intentional, like it's a ghost or a shadow made of smoke or something, and Justice picks up her textbook and wheels around without thinking about it at all.

But it's not a shadow. It's one of her idiot squadmates, and she smacks him clean in the jaw with her physics hardcover, spine-first.