Authors Note: I am celebrating my ten year anniversary on fanfiction! I am celebrating by revisiting my first fandom and hopefully posting a couple of stories later this month. This is my second story as part of that collection. The other characters mentioned in this story is Sector E in England. 513 is Sarah (named after Sarah Jane Smith), Big Boy is RJ, and umbrella boy is Maxwell. This is set sometime after the end of my story One of Them.
Any and all grammar mistakes are my own and I apologize! I ran this through a checker and hopefully it caught everything.
Hope you enjoy this and please drop a review.
London England. The home of many famous landmarks, the birth of great literature, and some of the best schools in the world. It was the place Nigel Uno's parents moved back to when he was gone with the Galactic Kids Next Door. It was where he was dropped off when he came back home with close to zero memories of his travels.
Nigel sighed as he sunk down in his seat drying himself off from the rain. The train swayed slightly as it came to a full stop for more passengers to come on and others to leave. Pulling out his phone, he looked down at the time smiled at the text he had gotten. It was from his American friend, Abby Lincoln, checking in on him. He exactly wasn't sure how he had become her friend, but it was nice to have someone who cared from so far away.
Curiously he saw that he had read the two messages from her. She reminded him that a friend visiting England checking out a university tomorrow and visiting her friend Sarah too. Abby wanted him to meet up with her and show her around some. She had texted him a phone number and the name Rachel McKenzie. Sounded simple enough, he thought, before checking his work schedule. He'd have to call her once dinner was over. Hey wait a second that name sounded familiar, he thought, trying to place it. Didn't his friend Sarah have a pen pal named Rachel come to visit?
Finally, the train stopped at his destination and climbed back out. The pub he was meeting his friends were around here somewhere.
"Oi Nigel!" called a voice from behind him.
"Sarah," he said finding her in the throng of people. He could spot her from a mile away wearing that long colorful scarf around her neck. Not to mention her perpetually messy black hair. Sarah held out a bag of Nesbit's toffee for him to take.
Taking a toffee his eyes settled on someone stood next to her he didn't recognize. At least not at first as the other girl waved at him. Something in his mind clicked wondering if this was the same person Abby wanted him to meet. Before he could ask who she was, another body slammed up against his. Wincing he saw yet another friend join in their small group. His large frame and the number 437 on his police uniform practically in his face.
"We just need one more person and then I'll introduce you to my friend," said Sarah gesturing to the blond girl.
Curious Nigel stepped away from the taller boy and closer to the girls. The new girl looked nice at least. She was familiar somehow, but Nigel couldn't place how or why. The least Sarah could do was at least tell them her name.
The pub door opened behind them and out popped a boy with his umbrella in hand. "What are you doing out here? I've been saving a place in line," he said glaring at them.
Rolling her eyes annoyed Sarah just went inside with the others following. Apparently their third person was there the entire time. At least now they could figure out who the mystery girl was. Although, he had a feeling he knew who she was thinking back to his text message.
"Excuse but are you Rachel McKenzie? From Virginia?" asked Nigel pushing his glasses up his nose.
The girl looked over at him and smiled a small laugh escaping her lips. "I'm guessing you are Nigel Uno?"
"You two know each other?" asked Sarah putting a hand on her hip confused. The other boys shared a look as well until something in their minds must have clicked. Sarah talked about her friend Rachel, whom she had met online, all the time. This had to be her pen pal from a Dr. Time Space and the Continuums website.
Rachel and Nigel glanced at each other unsure how to answer that. "Well I have a pen pal in America too. Her name is Abby, and she wanted me to meet Rachel and show her around," said Nigel. "We would have probably met before, but it seems both of us are so busy."
"Yea me and Abby are friends, and she mentioned that she had a friend in England that I should meet," said Rachel. "But I would have never thought that you and Sarah were friends."
"Well this is great one less person for me to introduce you to," said Sarah jokingly. "Rachel these are my other friends." She gestured to the three boys. "Maxwell and Rupert although we call him RJ."
In turn, she pointed to Maxwell still donning his old-fashioned bowler hat and holding his umbrella. Rupert sighing at the use of his full name and ran a hand through his orange hair.
Nigel pushed up the sleeves of his button-down dark red shirt before heading inside. So, this was Rachel huh? She seemed friendly enough and was clearly smart to consider studying here. No wonder she seemed so familiar though he heard about her from Abby.
Still, something nagged him in the back of his mind that this wasn't their first face to face meeting. Instead, he focused on her and saw Rachel McKenzie had brown eyes. It was one of the first things that Nigel noticed upon meeting her the first time. Honestly, he wasn't sure what to expect when he met her. Rachel smiled softly at him before they entered the pub. The sweet smell of fish and chips automatically hitting his face.
"I'll grab us drinks," said Sarah taking off her long and colorful scarf and wrapping it around her waist. "Maxwell why don't you help me? Then you guys can find us a seat."
From there they broke apart to find a big enough table for the four of them until they found one. Right there nestled in the pub corner. Nigel still pondering what to say to Rachel as she talked with RJ about school or something. He was a police officer and just gotten off work as he ditched his long coat. She was telling him about how she was considering study abroad in London for a year.
RJ excused himself to the loo leaving the two of them alone. Maxwell and Sarah still at the counter ordering some snacks to go with their drinks. Figures, he thought, smiling and shook his head. Finally, he turned back to Rachel. She looked pretty comfy sitting there blending in naturally with the locals.
"So, Nigel how did you meet Abby?"
He opened his mouth and then closed it. Then finally added, "I'm not entirely sure exactly. Um, I used to live around that area of America too. Then my parents moved back to England when I was around twelve. I guess we must have exchanged phone numbers and talking ever since."
"That sounds really cool that you kept in touch with her. We met in junior high and still talk too. We have the same group of friends and everything."
"So, what do you think of England so far?"
"I haven't seen much. I just landed two days ago, and it took some convincing for my mom to let me meet you guys. She's been protective since Sarah and I met online. Then I only know you through Abby."
"Understandable. We'll have a lot of neat places to show you the tower of London is cool to see. RJ can show you all the favorite places to eat in the city."
Their conversation switched to other topics naturally while the others joined them. Sarah cheered some as she put down the hot food and passed around the drinks. Then some tasty treats that seemed to make Rachel excited. Occasionally, Nigel found himself watching Rachel more closely then usual. She was fun and interesting her brown eyes lighting up. Her stories of America made it sound fascinating. The fact that she wanted to study here was new to him.
It also didn't help that he thought she was pretty. Her dark purple shirt and light-colored blue jeans showed off a rather curvy frame. The accent was charming too. Was it possible that he could like her so much after only knowing her for a day? Then again, she was nice and everything.
The warm feeling started to fade as Maxwell finally had to remind them of the time. It was getting late as he noticed that Rachel paled.
"I can walk you back to your hotel if you like," said Nigel smoothly gently taking her hand. She looked down at his and then up at him a playful smile on his lips.
"But then you'd have to meet my mother," said Rachel teasingly as the color returned to her cheeks.
"I don't mind, really."
The blond nodded finally agreeing to it with Sarah of course. Nigel sighed happy to get to know her better. If she decided to study here, then they would have to become friends over time. Or starting now he guessed before they filed out of the pub. He listened as they talked about their science fiction show and how they were going to watch the newest episode together.
"So, Nigel," said Rachel turning to him and holding out her phone. "Would you care to exchange phone numbers?"
"Of course, only if you give me yours."
She broke out into a smile where he noticed a small crooked tooth in the front. Huh, that was kind of cute. Here he was again noticing the small details about her that he didn't notice before. She handed him her phone as he put his number in it and vice versa.
They rounded the corner to the hotel as Nigel handed his phone to Sarah.
"Care to take our picture? We'll have to send it to Abby and let her know that we found each other."
She just rolled her eyes and gestured for Rachel to stand next to him. They grinned at the camera with Nigel putting an arm around the pretty blond. She flushed at the contact as the camera captured the moment.
"Maybe while I'm here we can get to know each other," said Nigel. "Maybe we could do something together while you're here."
"I'd like that Nigel," said Rachel heading inside the lobby, a woman that looked similiar to her waiting. The two young adults waved before she added. "You have my number, just call me."
Rachel flushed and nodded before turning back to Sarah. They said their goodbyes as Nigel looked down at the message that he sent Abby with the picture attached. They looked happy together like they had known each other for a long. Honestly, he was kind of hoping that she would be around for longer then two weeks.
It was the start of something at least.
