The Art of The Sleepover
Courtney, Alexi, and Harmony lay curled up on Courtney's couch, eyes glued to the horror movie currently playing on the TV. It was midnight in their hometown of Miami, Florida. A chilly night in October. Alexi was pushed up against the arm of the sofa, bowl of ice cream in her hands. Courtney lay on top of her, popcorn falling out of her mouth. Harmony was stretched out on the opposite couch, skittle packets laying around her. Their discarded sleeping bags lay on the air mattresses, which had quickly turned into trash cans. They didn't plan on sleeping tonight. The movie they were watching was called Krampus, and it was amazing! At least in Alexi's opinion. Harmony and Courtney were terrified. Nothing scared Alexi though. Well, not a lot of things scared her.
A huge scene was coming up mid-way through the movie and all the girls were silently watching and waiting for what they guessed was an inevitable jump scare. Instead, a blinding flash of light shone outside the window, it lit up the whole room and all the girls jumped off the couch in horror. They heard a loud BANG and an orange glow seemed to emit from the outside. Instantly, the ever curious Harmony jumped up, skittle packets flying, and ran to get her sneakers on. Alexi threw Courtney off of her and they both jumped and ran to get their coats.
All three girls ran out the door and down the stone pathway to Courtney's sprawling jungle of a backyard. They skidded to a halt at the bottom of the path and froze. There, laying in a burning heap of metal, was an orange and blue spaceship. The whole thing was shuddering and shaking, flames leaping towards the sky. Alexi was the first to race towards the ship, Harmony on her heels. Courtney came up behind, standing a safe distance away due to the intense smoke coming off of the craft. Harmony used her shoulder and pushed the door in. Both girls rushed inside and started looking for anyone who was alive.
First Harmony found a very muscled looking man laying unconscious on the ground. She grabbed his arm and started hauling him out of the ship. She passed Alexi who was lifting a green skinned lady out of the wreckage. They took the two people outside and layed them on the ground. Then they both ran back inside and started searching the back rooms. Harmony found a pot with a small tree inside. A crack was running alongside the pot so Harmony lifted it with much care and then turned to leave. She stopped when she saw another man, this one more human-like, laying on the ground. His arm was twisted oddly. Harmony grabbed him too. Alexi was carrying a small raccoon in an orange jumpsuit.
The girls carried the odd people out of the burning ship while Courtney turned on the hose and put out the fire. The girls moved the odd group inside and layed them down on the soft carpeting. They looked relativity okay, the human guy looked like his arm was out of place and the green lady had a cut along her forehead that was bleeding, but the rest were okay. Minus the fact that the girls had just discovered aliens.
Gamora blinked open her eyes. Her head was spinning and all she could see was the fire, guns, and invading army. All she heard was Peter's frantic shouting at the ship. All she remembered was smashing her head against the wall of the Milano as the ship exploded into flames. Where was she? Where were the others? Was she dead? Were they dead? Gamora tried to sit up but her vision was completely wonky. The room she was in seemed to spin, and small black dots were appearing in her line of sight. All of a sudden a hand rested on Gamora's forehead. It gently pushed her head back down onto the soft surface beneath her.
"Hey, it's okay." A female's voice said. "Your friends are okay. Your vision might be off because you have a slight concussion." Gamora closed her eyes and relaxed at knowing her friends were okay. Then her mind started whirling again, a splitting headache making it's presence known. Gamora felt her body mods already going to work on the cut along her forehead. Something soft and wet wiped the blood off of her face. Gamora slowly was able to open up her eyes and looked up at the girl (Who she guessed was Terran, judging by her stature) sitting next to her.
The girl had tanned skin and was extremely thin with wiry muscles dominating her arms and legs. Her hair was a bright fiery red that fell in ringlets down to her shoulder blades. Her brown eyes were large and wide, thick eyelashes making them look even larger. She had a kind smile on her face. Gamora then noticed something else about the girl, her fashion style was rather gothic. Leather jacket over a white T-shirt with a skull on it, lace choker wrapped around her neck, small skull earrings, long black and purple leather pants, calf high black boots, and black and silver nail polish.
"Hey, how do you feel?" The girl asked Gamora. Her voice was light but the lightness sounded forced. She's probably talking like that because loud noises can affect concussions. Gamora decided.
"I'm fine." Gamora answered her, sitting up a little. The girl nodded, her posture relaxing a little. Gamora looked around the room she was in. It was a large room inside what looked like a rather large house. We must have crashed on Terra. Gamora concluded. The room had a gray ceiling and tan walls. Pictures of young children were hung in wooden frames around the room. Two couches covered in blankets and food were pushed against the walls in front of her. A small table with a lamp gave off the only light in the room. Behind her was a TV and to her right was a dark room with another couch and many other objects scattered around. Gamora was laying on a mattress on the carpeted floor.
Gamora saw Drax sitting against the wall, looking wary of the new environment. Groot was sitting in his pot on the table looking drowsy. Quill was laying with his arm in a sling next to her, slowly blinking his eyes open. Gamora looked to her other side and saw Rocket sitting upright on the other mattress, fiddling with his fur. Sitting on the couch were two other girls. One had dark skin and frizzy hair held back by a white headband. The other had pale skin and had a blue bandanna tied around her head. Gamora sat up and placed her back against the nearby wall, Quill managing to boost himself up with only one arm.
The Guardians looked at the three young girls that sat in front of them. Red head went back and plopped down on the couch next to frizz hair. The girls stared back at the Guardians, their eyes challenging them to speak first. Of course Peter did.
"Who are you three?" he asked. "Are we on Terra? Where's my ship? What happened?" Quill rapid fired questions onto the three girls. Frizz hair and bandanna looked at red head. Apparently they followed her. Red head spoke up.
"My name is Alexi." She said. "This is Harmony," Alexi motioned to frizz hair. "And this is Courtney." She pointed at bandanna. Gamora observed the other two girls more closely.
Harmony had cat-like brown eyes that looked near black, her eyelashes longer then the others'. She looked older then the other two, Gamora guessed her height was about 5 ft 8 while Alexi looked around 5 ft 5 and Courtney looked about 5 ft 6. Harmony also was very well developed in her, um, chest area. She wore a black cross back top with a white sweater over it that said, Messy Hair Don't Care. She had on blue yoga pants. Her nails were pained electric blue and had small silver spots on them.
Courtney had extremely pale skin, downcast blue oval eyes, and small freckles dotted across her nose. She was thin like Alexi but had some muscle on her legs, more then Harmony, less then Alexi. She wore white shoes with a lone red stripe going around the outside. The heel read Converse. She had on short jean shorts and a breezy white top that said I'm #1! on it. Her nails were bright green and seemed to be glowing.
"You are on planet Earth." Alexi continued. "I don't know anything about a planet called Terra. Your ship is in the backyard."
"If that's a ship I'd hate to see a junk heap." Harmony grumbled under her breath. Alexi slugged her in the arm.
"Anyway," Alexi continued. "You guys apparently crashed." Rocket mumbled something but no one caught it. Gamora guessed he said something along the lines of 'well ya don't say!'. Alexi sat back as Peter and the others went over this information in their heads.
"Well this isn't good." Peter stated dryly. Rocket rolled his eyes.
"How about you tell us who you guys are?" Harmony asked. That girl had a lot of sass! Her hand went to her hip and she leaned to the side as she said it, focusing her cat eyes on the Guardians. Her voice was a mix of deep and light all at once.
Peter cleared his throat and spoke first. "My name is Peter Quill, most people call me Star-Lord."
"No one call him that." Rocket interrupted. Peter shot Rocket a look then continued talking.
"Anyway, I'm part Terr-I mean Human. This is Gamora. Over there is Drax the Destroyer. That's Rocket Raccoon, and over on the table is Groot." Peter finished with his introduction of his team. The Guardians glanced warily around the room.
"Where exactly on Terra are we?" Gamora asked, rubbing the healing cut on her head. When the girls didn't reply right away Gamora added, "Terra is another name for Earth." The girls nodded.
"You guys crashed in my backyard, you're in Miami, Florida." Courtney answered. Her voice was thin and small but she spoke well and sophisticated. She seemed to be the youngest of the three, seeing how tiny she was.
"Are all three of you sisters?" Drax asked. The girls shook their heads.
"We were just having a sleepover with Courtney." Harmony answered. She wrapped an arm around Courtney's shoulder.
"We like to think we're all sisters though." Alexi added. Gamora had one question nagging her.
"How old are you three?" She asked.
"I'm 11." Harmony answered. Gamora tried to keep her face neutral. How was this girl only 11? She was almost 6 feet tall and looked like a teenager!
"I'm 12." Courtney continued. So small for her age. Thought Peter.
"And I'm 13." Alexi finished. At least she looks her age. Gamora noted. Minus the well-defined muscles. Harmony all of a sudden got up and headed down a short hallway towards a room with wood floors and marble counter-tops.
"I'm hungry." She declared. Then Harmony turned around. "Do you guys want anything?" She asked. The Guardians glanced at Peter, he was the only one that knew of Terran food.
"Send over some more ice cream!" Alexi called. Courtney rolled her eyes.
"I'll remember that all you eat is ice cream next time we hang out." She remarked.
"Well when you buy the good kind that's exactly what will happen." Harmony tossed a container at Alexi who caught it swiftly. The container read Cotton Candy Ice Cream. The Guardians remembered just how hungry they were. Alexi sat down on the mattress with Courtney and opened the container.
"You guys want any?" She offered. Some small metal spoons were laid out on the ground. Peter reached for one first, then Gamora. Harmony came back out and tossed two boxes on the ground. The word Pizza was written on them. She handed Alexi a can that read Root Beer.
"Oh no you don't!' Courtney quickly grabbed the can from Alexi. "You already had four cans of this tonight! The fact your not getting you usual soda spasms is odd enough. No more soda." Courtney's voice was firm but Alexi yanked the bottle back and took a gulp out of it.
"Is that real beer?" Rocket asked. watching Alexi place the can down. She laughed.
"Nah, but if you drink enough of it you might have the same effects as if it were." Alexi answered.
Courtney rolled her eyes. "Your crazy enough without the soda." Alexi lightly hit Courtney on the arm. The Guardians found it hard to believe these girls weren't related somehow, they acted so familiar with each other.
"So, you guys are aliens." The way Harmony said it, it sounded more like a statement then a question. The Guardians nodded anyway.
"We're the Guardians of the Galaxy." Peter stated proudly. The name had no effect on the girls.
"Outer space is cool." Courtney mentioned. Her eyes had a far-off look in them. She smiled lightly. "So how many alien races are there?" She asked.
"Thousands." Gamora answered. "Many more then anyone could count." Courtney nodded.
"Court here is a huge nerd with space and everything." Alexi laughed. Courtney nodded in confirmation.
"I get it from my dad, you know that." Courtney smiled.
"Is your father a scientist?" Drax asked. Courtney shrugged.
"Kinda." She answered. "He's currently on the ISS, or International Space Station to study moon dust." Courtney explained. "He left about 5 months ago and he'll be back in about a year, maybe two."
Peter felt sorry for the kid. He had grown up without his father in the picture. Her dad had to leave when she was old enough to remember him, that was the hard part. It was easier to not have someone in your life if you never knew them.
"Well I'm going to sleep." Harmony announced. She climbed up on the one couch and stretched out, kicking half of the pillows off in the process. Alexi rolled her eyes and downed the rest of the soda in one gulp. Courtney grimaced at the sight.
"Come on." Alexi said to the rest of the Guardians, her speech was slurred slightly and her legs seemed unsteady as she stood up. "You guys are probably tired." The Guardians nodded. they honestly were pretty tired.
"My mom won't be getting up until later. They can sleep down here on the air mattresses." Courtney offered. Alexi nodded and took over the other couch, curling up against the arm rest in a tight ball.
Baby Groot was already asleep in his pot. Gamora stretched out on the mattress she was already laying on. Peter lay next to her. Drax took the other one and Rocket curled up in a pile of blankets. Courtney took the rest of the couch that Alexi wasn't occupying. As everyone drifted off Gamora couldn't help but watch the three strangers that had saved them. She hoped the other Guardians had made the connection to the three girls as well. When the Guardians had been crashing, the red infinity gem, known as Reality, had uttered a prophecy.
There shall come three, born from Earthen flesh, one with the spirit of a wildfire, one as docile as the water, another as sharp as the wind. They shall posses the elements which have brought them unto your presence and shall save the known realms from a disaster more then universal. So speaks The Elemental prophecy!