Back to visit old friends
As of today, it's been three months. Three months since the Clue Hunt. Two months ago, Dan and I were attacked by Vespers. Now that Gideon's ring is safe, everything is . . . . calm. We thought that everything would spin out of control, like it did with the Clue Hunt. Suprisingly, it's done the opposite. Dan and I have gone back to school, Nellie's back, Fiske's okay, and school is going great! I looked down at my watch, where Gideon's ring had rested around since the Vesper attack. 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, mid-October. I changed out of my pajama's, and into a white t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and grabbed my dark green jacket. I shoved my jacket into my white and jade green messenger bag, and double-checked to make sure that all of my books were in it. I took out my binder, and made sure that my homework was complete, all correctly answered, and all accounted for. Everything was perfect and there.
"IM received," my computer's monotone voice said. I looked at the screen, sat down, and clicked the 'Open' button. It was from Fifi!
'Hey Ames, are you still gonna' meet me at the pet shop at 6:45?' I forgot!
I typed back quickly, 'Yeah! On my way!' I turned off my computer, grabbed my bag, and ran out of my room.
I ran down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I glanced down at my watch, 6:27. I saw that Nellie had just finished making waffles.
"Good mornin', kiddo! What's the rush?" she asked.
"I've gotta' meet Fifi at the pet shop at 6:45!"
"Hmm. Well, here, eat these real quick before you go," Nellie said, handing me a plate of waffles cut into strips. I poured blueberry syrup onto my plate, and dipped my waffles strips into it. I wolfed all of them down, and jogged over to the bathroom. It had my spare toothbrush in it. I squeezed a little bit of winter mint toothpaste onto my toothbrush, and scrubbed my teeth clean. Once I was finished, I rinsed my mouth with water, cleaned off my toothbrush, yelled a goodbye, pulled on my sneakers, and ran out the front door.
I got to the small pet shop just seconds before 6:45. Fifi's grandmother owned the pet shop. I knocked on the glass door, knowing that it didn't open until 8 o'clock. Fifi came to the door, and opened it. She had pulled her blonde hair back into a braid, and her dark brown eyes gleamed with relief. She wore an apron, that had bird poop splattered on it.
"Thanks so much for coming, Amy. These new parakeet's are driving me crazy!" I smiled, "Anytime, Fifi." I walked into the pet shop, and saw that the parakeet's had gotten loose. Fifi's grandmother, Rosalie, was carrying a light blue parakeet back to it's cage.
"Oh, good morning, Amelia! So nice of you to come and help Fiona," she said.
"It's my pleasure, Rosalie," I said politely.
"I can take care of the parakeets, Fiona. You and Amelia go take care of the kittens. They need to be fed, and make sure the runt is okay," Rosalie said, grabbing ahold of another parakeet.
"Yes, Grandma," Fifi said.
Fifi and I went to the front of the store, where the kittens glass cage was displayed in the window. There were four kittens. We had already named them, since they'd been in the pet shop for a while now. Jack, he was a dark brown male, with white ears, a white underbelly, and green eyes. Genie, she was a silver female, with white patches and yellow eyes. Caramel, a golden colored female with black paws and green eyes. Last, and smallest, Piwi, a silver male with black patches and blue eyes.
Fifi picked up Piwi, "Here, check Piwi over, i'll fill the bowls," she said, handing him to me. I looked Piwi over, checked his pulse, opened his mouth, all that good stuff.
"He's fine, Fifi! I really think he's gonna' make it," I said, hopeful. I smiled at Piwi while Fifi filled the food bowls.
"You hear that, Piwi? You're gonna' make it! You'll be all big and strong soon," I said to the small kitten. I put Piwi back in the cage with his siblings.
Fifi and I finished taking care of the kittens, and Fifi took off her apron. She was wearing a purple sweater, blue jeans, and black cowgirl boots. She grabbed her backpack.
"Alright Grandma, I'm gonna' get goin'! I'll see ya' after school," Fifi said as we walked out the door.
"Bye, sweetie!" her grandmother called after us. We walked down the sidewalk, talking.
"So, three months, huh?" Fifi asked. Fifi was one of my closest friends. She didn't know about the Cahills and such, but she knew that I had had a crazy time visiting with people from a "Special group" that I was included in. I told her about Ian, too. That was what she was really referring to.
"Yeah. I know. Crazy, right?" I asked.
"No. What's really crazy, is that I saw him on the news this morning," Fifi said.
"What? You're joking, right? Our news?" I asked.
"Yeah! Here, I'll pull it up on my phone!" she said. She took her purple iPhone out of her pocket, and pulled up this morning's news on the internet browser.
"Here. Oh, and before I play this, I just wanna' say something," Fifi said.
"What?" I said impatiently.
"He is so cute! I'm sorry, I know you hate him, but he's such a beautiful person!" she said dreamily.
"Wh-whatever!" I stuttered angrily. I took her phone, and pressed the play button.
"I'm here with Natalie Kabra to discuss her new line of shoes. Tell me, Miss. Kabra, what type of shoes are featured?" a blonde reporter woman asked.
"Well, I've decided that not everyone wants to wear heels all the time, I know I don't, and I've made a line of sneakers that are fashionable, yet comfortable," Natalie purred. "Sneakers? May I see a pair?" the reporter asked.
"Of course. Here is a pair of my newest design," Natalie said, holding up a pair of black sneakers with pink laces, and pick rubber on the bottom, and the toe. On the back of the shoe, and hot pick bow was stitched on, with 'NK' embroidered on it.
"Oh my! Those are cute, Miss. Kabra!" the reporter said.
"Thank you, ma'am," Natalie said smugly.
"And now we move on to Natalie's brother, Ian. To discuss his successful art business," the reporter said dreamily.
"Hello," Ian smirked, his accent dazzling the reporter.
"So, what brought you here, Ian?" the reporter asked.
"Well, I only came because Natalie came. She may have her own business, but we are close siblings. Plus, I hadn't visited Boston in some time, so I figured it would be a good excuse. So here I am, hoping to visit a few shops, and visit a few . . . . . old friends," Ian looked straight at the camera, as if he was talking to me.
"In the middle of the school year?" the reporter asked.
"I am home-schooled, ma'am. So that tends to give me a more flexible schedule," Ian said with a smug, matter-of-fact tone.
"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry," the reporter said, "Well, thank you. Back to you, Ben." Fifi took her phone back, and turned off the video.
"Great! Just p-perfect! I c-can't b-believe that j-just when I th-think everything's fine, s-s-something has t-to go wr-wrong! If s-something h-had to g-go wr-wrong, why d-did it h-have to b-be I-Ian?" I stuttered angrily.
"Ames. You're stuttering. Don't worry about Ian, just go about your day normally. Evan Tolliver was talking about you at lunch yesterday!" Fifi said.
"R-really?" I asked excitedly.
"Oh yeah! He said that you should wear a headband more often. He said that it allows him to see your pretty eyes more," Fifi said.
"Oh my gosh! I thought he didn't notice me at all!" I said.
"Oh, he notices you, that's for sure," Fifi said. It was then, that we noticed we had reached our school. "Well, I'll see you in science, Fifi," I said as we walked in the front door. "See ya' Amy!" Fifi said.