CHAPTER 2
Never did Amy think that anything could make her as surprised as she was right now. It beat that time Dan brought a rat home, and she came upon him training it with a tiny wooden sword. Or when his water balloons, meant for the kid next door, hit her in the face instead.
It had been a long day. They'd changed flights what felt like a thousand times to her, in order to reach their destination and get away from spies who could be tailing them. Thank goodness they'd finally stopped to rest at a hotel.
They'd just finished their transaction when one of the receptionists, a dark-skinned lady, leaned forward, confusion in her eyes, but kept on her friendly smile anyway. She handed Amy a small gift-wrapped package. "Amy Cahill, right?" she confirmed. Numbly, Amy nodded, holding the package in her hand like it was acid slowly eating through her skin, but she couldn't summon the right reaction.
The moment they were out of earshot, Dan pounced on her like a hungry cat. He was in his element now, though he'd been dragging his feet and complaining a while ago. This was not something Amy enjoyed. "Throw it away," he suggested, then turned around with suspicious eyes, scanning crevices and the people walking behind them. He turned back to her. "It might be a bomb."
Amy rolled her eyes, exasperated at the way he acted. She was supposed to be the cautious one, the one afraid of her own shadow. The world was strange sometimes. "Maybe that's what you need. An explosion that would shock your brain, enough for it to finally work," she shot back.
"If it's not working, I'd be dead by now," Dan reminded her smugly, burrowing into the only loophole he could find. "Besides, you might need it. It just might be your chance to lose your baboon face!"
Amy smacked his shoulder, hard. "Then maybe you're a zombie. I mean, you're a dweeb with no common sense or feelings."
Dan scowled. "Hey, if this is about what I said when Ian Kabra dumped you, I'm sorry. Look, I was angry at him, okay? Do you think---"
"Doesn't change the fact that you called me dumb," Amy grumbled, interrupting him. "Besides, he didn't dump me. It's not as if I'm his girlfriend or anything. And this is not about Ian Cobra." Saying his name sent a shiver of hate down Amy's spine. But there was something else, which was a hundred-no, a million- times greater than the revulsion she felt. Longing. Love. Something on the fringes of obsession. This wasn't just some completely random crush. She couldn't help looking over her shoulder, hoping to see his face somewhere, finding her like she was finding him, to tell her that he---
That he what? Loved her? Ridiculous. No, not ridiculous. Impossible. Ian could never love anybody. Except for himself. How did that saying go? Me, myself, and I? That was all that mattered him. Me, myself, and I. Amy tried to keep that in mind.
Dan went to the bathroom as soon as they'd found their room. Uncle Alistair sighed, turned on the TV, and lounged on the couch, tired out. Nellie plopped on an armchair, singing an off-key rendition of what sounded like Red Jumpsuit Apparatus's "No Spell." Amy wasn't sure. She sat on one of the two king-size beds, stopping only to take off her shoes.
It probably wasn't a good idea to do it here. If the package did explode in flames, it would spread faster, because bedclothes catch fire easily. But something told her that it wasn't dangerous. Only fragile.
She ripped off the sparkly wrapper, and let the ribbon fall away, amidst the bits and pieces.
A box. A velvet box. A velvet Tiffany box.
Fingers shaking, she opened it up.
Glistening under the glare of lights on a bed of jade-green silk that was almost the color of Amy's eyes, was a solid gold chain. Suspended from the chain was a golden heart, encrusted with diamonds, spelling out the letter A.
Amy's mind began reeling, going a mile a minute. Who could have sent her this? Who? Someone rich, definitely. An unknown relative? A secret admirer who'd mysteriously guessed she would be here?
In her heart, Amy knew who she wanted it to be. But she would as soon fester in hell before that miracle would occur.
It couldn't be Ian. It would never happen in a hundred years.
What bothered was not the fact that Ian was such a conceited little idiot. She'd known that years ago. No, what really bothered her was the way that thought had cut through her heart, mangling it into a million tiny pieces. The glaring reality that she was nothing more than a…a…a tool to him. One of the females constantly falling at his feet.
She examined the necklace, toying with it. Trying to find a logical reason why anyone would give her this.
And then she found it.
A latch, so small and camouflaged under more tiny diamonds, that it was barely noticeable. Curious, she unlatched it and peered inside.
There was a small, folded square of paper inside. Amy reached in, picked it up, and-her curiosity raging now-unfolded it.
What she read there transported her into a realm of shock.
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Well.
Tell me what y'all think!!!
You're not gonna find out what's in that piece of paper(though I think some of you can guess) until I get ten reviews! Dramatic of me, I know.
But…LOL! Just do it=) Hehehe…
