Chapter 2

"What do you mean? He seems fine… except for the whole mysterious side…." I shout.

Grandpa puts his fingers to his lips signaling me to be quiet. I do as I am told.

"I am not supposed to go into much detail. I just wanted to warn my grandchildren so if something were to happen…. They would be far from it."

"But why? I mean I already stay away from him. It's Shelby who you should be worried about. Sam asks.

"It's not like I follow him around or meet him in weird places. I just say hello to him every once in a while."

"Still. I am most concerned for you. He is dangerous. Please just stay away from him!" Grandpa shouts loudly.

We are all silent. Obviously Grandpa would know this. He is a head of the lab. He helped us become to water Core. He is the one who made the water process easier instead of having to use a giant polluting machine like they did back then.

"S-So what should I do?" I ask.

"I have no idea. I felt I needed to tell you to keep you safe. He is dangerous. He has so much power… I wish I could tell you both." Grandpa says.

"I never trusted him for a minute!" Sam shouts.

"I have another thing to tell you."

We all sit on the edge of are chairs to listen to the news. What else could he possibly have to say?

"The sport sign ups. Don't try hard."

"B-But I always try hard to get on the teams!" I shout.

"No. Not this year. Scientist from each Core worked hard for about three years to conduct the perfect tests."

"Tests? What kind?" Sam asks. Grandpa looks to the ground.

"I wish I could tell you. It would be so much easier. But to protect myself and you two…. I warn you."

Grandpa sits down and grabs his cake. He takes one bite and know his serious tone is floating around the room. Pressing down on my shoulders. What should I do? Become the laughing stock of the school for coming in last?

"Do not tell anyone. Not even those you care about. They will only be the ones hurt in the end." Grandpa says, interrupting my thoughts.

"Why? If it's a danger to be around Jackson and try extra hard out the sports, shouldn't we save them?" Sam says longingly.

"The people observing will know something is up. Perform tests on each student and end up sending them to do something horrible.?"

Sam sits down as he stares at his cake, untouched.

After about an hour or so Grandpa and Grandma get ready to leave. Sam helps Grandpa take containers of leftovers to the T.U.P. Teleporting You Places. Stupid name, I know. They didn't want our world to end up polluted and economically unstable like our last one.

Grandma bends down a little to meet me at eye level.

"Take care Shelby. Be a good girl for Sam. The last thing he needs to worry about is you when he has so much on his plate." Grandma says.

"I will. Good-bye." I say hugging her and waving as the T.U.P lights up and they disappear.

I run upstairs and look at myself in the mirror. My hair has lost its body from the intensity of the night.

"Shelby? Do you want any cake before I put it away?" Sam calls up to me.

I sit there silent for a moment wanting to block out the world. Sam takes my silence as a no and I hear him walk to his room next door. I flop in the bed and sigh. Why do I have to be trusted with this Kind-of-secret? Not only is the world at war but I can't trust anyone anymore. I was so close to coming back. Now all I can think is how many secrets are behind those white doors of the houses around me.

Sleep soon comes to encase me in dreams but all I have is nightmares. Nightmares of my parents, Sam and Ian, and Jackson. In each dream they betrayed me. I wake up early but remember its Saturday. I take a shower anyways since today is sport sign-ups. We can pick any sport we want to do once the winter months are over. We are famous for our water games. Most of the hot-shots at school always go for those. I am not into water even though I live in the water Core. I prefer land. Stable and safe.

I realize I have had the water running a long time and start to wash my hair. The sweet smelling bubbles wash down the drain as I wrap up my hair. I put my sleeping clothes back on and sit in bed. I am tired but don't feel sleepy. I decide to watch what ever is on T.V and slowly drift back to sleep.

Sam comes rushing down the stairs while holding a piece of toast in his mouth. I rub my eyes confused until I remember today is sport activity sign-up. I scramble to my feet and run upstairs, change out of my Pjs, and brush my hair. I get down to the front door as Sam shouts at me.

"Hurry! If were late the good things will be taken!"

"I'm coming!"

We hurry up at a jog to the school. I see a moving van in a house a few blocks from mine. I stop and stare.

"Shelby! If you don't come now you'll be stuck with pee-wee kickball!"

"Hold on! Why don't we go see if there are any new people in that house?" I say, pointing at the white, two story house with a beautiful apple tree out front.

"Fine. You can! I'm going." With that, he walks off towards the school, finishing his bite of toast.

I walk up the path to the porch and see an old man sitting on a rocking chair. I hear a lot of commotion in the house. Then, a boy, looks to be my age, runs out the front door.

"Bye Mom, Grandpa-ahhhh!" He says as he runs into me.

I open my eyes to find I'm on the grass as he lay on top of me. The boy blushes and quickly jumps off. He holds out a hand to help me up. I distrust his kindness for a few seconds but grab it as he pulls me up off the ground.

"I-I-I'm very sorry. I-I just have to get to sport sign-ups! I need to do my best so I'll be picked!"

"For what?" I say.

I see his grandfather give a stern look at his grandson and suddenly the boy starts to laugh nervously.

"For uh….. The teams! Duh! I really want to be the uh….. MVP?"

"Oh. Okay?"

"Names Jesse Ace. Nice to meet you. Now if you'll excuse me." he says ready to book for the school. I grab the sleeve of his arm and hold him back.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Quickly."

I drag him to the porch next to his grandfather. He looks about 80 with a seemingly low amount of wrinkles.

"My grandfather works for the science community…. Lets just say trying your best at the sports thing isn't a good idea."

"I know. My grandfather works in the science area. Does it have to do with….. time travel?"

"Time Travel" runs through my head. It feels thick over the air. I feel Jesse's grandfather looking closely at me with his dark brown eyes. What is he talking about? But, Jesse's sweet voice brings me back out of my thoughts.

"Hello? Are you okay? I don't mean to be rude but I didn't catch your name." he says kindly. I peer into his bright blue eyes. Much more welcoming than the brown ones staring at me behind my back.

"S-Shelby. Shelby Gaddiel…." I croak.

Jesse's grandfather just nods his head and sits back in his chair. The late bell rings and it is extremely loud.

"Oh no! We've got to go! Bye grandpa!" Jesses says grabbing my hand and dragging me. We reach the side walk as Jesse slows down and points to the apple tree, bare without it's leaves. "The apples on the tree are the best in summer." With that he runs for force toward the school.

I struggle to keep up. Surprising since I'm very fast. Lately lots of people are faster than me. First Jackson then Jesse. Who's next? Ian? We reach the school and get inside just as the second late bell rings.

"Wow. You're a good runner." Jesse says.

"Your not so bad yourself." I say trying to breath steadily.

I see Jesse's smile and notice his teeth are perfectly white. Only Tope people have such white teeth. I turn around to prevent from blushing. When I look back he's gone. I continue to walk around with no sign of him and no Jackson. At least I won't have to worry about possibly dying or being blown to bits. Why couldn't Grandpa tell me what danger I'd be in?

"Hey Gaddiel!" I hear someone shout. I look over to see Collin, the jock. He tries to beat me at everything. He is much stronger than me but I'm just a tiny bit faster than him.

"What do you want Collin?" I ask annoyed.

"Duh! You tryin out for track?"

"What's it to you?"

"Just want to watch you cry when I bet you!"

"How many times have I told you! I am, and always will be, faster then you."

"What ever. You except my challenge? I'll even give some handicap points to start with."

"Fine. You can keep your stupid points. You'll need them!"

"You know its more than that wimpy running!"

"Of course! I can beat you any time!"

"Oh yeah? As soon as the booth clears out I'll take you down!"

Collin walks off and I walk the other way feeling confident. Then I remember what Grandfather said. As I walk feeling sad and irresponsible I bump into a man. He looks sober but has a slight smell of liquor on him. He looks down at me and smiles. I cough at the vapor that surrounds me.

"Hey there. You enjoying the sports?" he says not looking me in the eye.

"Uh yeah. You know. No drinking on school grounds." I say. He looks at me with an annoyed expression and I know is not my place to step in. The man looks about 20 with brown shaggy hair, not combed in god only knows, green eyes, and he looks a little strong, just a little. The man pushes past me and moves from stand to stand. I walk around as the gym starts to die down. I look over at the track and field stand almost every second hoping Collin had to leave for some weird reason. Maybe I should just leave….. As I start to walk to the door people walk up the me and push me toward the booth.

"Where are you going Shelby? You have to beat Collin!" one person says.

"He's making rumors about you!" another person says.

I walk up and see him standing there. I notice out of the corner of my eye. Jesse's brown hair in the crowd. The only brown in a sea of blonde.

I step up to Collin and within an hour, we have done almost every track and field thing there. Except for running. Collin looks to be out of breath but heads to the starting line.

"The score is tied! The one who wins the 100 m dash is the winner!" someone shouts.

I get in position forgetting about Grandpa and his warning. All I'm thinking of is beating Collin. The gun sounds and I'm off. I use all my energy but Collin isn't far behind. I see him slowing down.

"You getting tired?" I shout back. He speeds up and I panic and start to stumble.

"Nope. Looks like you are!" He pulls ahead with only about 10 meters left. I push all my energy and run across the finish line with meters to spare.

People start to cheer as I grab a bottle of water and gulp it down quickly. I see the man I bumped into earlier write things down and walk over.

"Good job kid. I was betting on Collin. But I see bright things in your future….' He waves me away and walks off.

I see Sam and Ian walking out of the second building while Jesse is behind me. Sam's face turns serious and he races towards me.

"Who's this?" he says trying to speak calmly. I pull away and introduce him.

"This is Jesse. He's the one who moved in and you didn't want to come."

Sam gives me a dirty look and I smile at him. I introduce Ian too after a series of coughing.

"Well….. Its nice to meet you both. I hope to uh… see you guys around." Jesse says, heading to his house.

We drop Ian off at his house as Sam and I head to ours. I know he wants to ask me about the sport sign-ups but he doesn't. The silence kills me. It is less bearable than him actually asking. We get to the front of the house and Sam unlocks the door. He walks right into the kitchen and washes his hands. I walk right into the living room and watch the junk Tope people think is entertaining. Its just some show about people trying to fit in shapes cut out in Styrofoam. How interesting is this?

For the next hour, Sam says nothing. Its so quiet I can hear his breaths. I try to be interested in the new soap opera, but I can't. Dinner gets finished and I help by setting the table. I wonder if he knows what happened…..

"How did the sign-ups go? Get anything good?" He asks in a kind voice as he serves me a few spoonfuls of mac-and-chesse.

"Uh….. Good. How about yours?"

"I didn't show off to much so I think I'm at least good for wrestling or the smaller parts of track. And you?"

I sit silent. Unsure how to say this or how he'll react. I'm sure he'll be devastated when he finds out his little sister forgot Grandpa's warning and put her life in danger all by herself in a matter of like an hour.

"You there Shelby?" Sam says, interrupting my thoughts. I must have been silent for too long since he knows. "You showed off. Didn't you?"

"Uh…..'

"Didn't you?" his voice more stern and starting to rise.

"Yes! I'm sorry! I had to! Collin was telling people rumors about how I was stupid and weak!"

"So? You could have ignored him!"

"And look like a weakling! Dad wouldn't have told me to do that! He'd tell me to do my best!"

"Well Dads not here! I'm in charge!"

I open my eyes wide. Sam has never said anything like that. Never gotten mad at me. Not when I broke the vase in the hall, or accidentally let the neighbors dog out of their backyard. He would never bring up Dad or Mom unless it was a kind thing. I run upstairs. Tears spilling out and running down my face. Dad will always be here. He will come back.

I wake up and my face is stuck to the pillow with dried tears. My face is sweaty, red, and puffy. I look like a mess. I hop in the shower and get dressed. 7 A.M on a Sunday morning. The smell of my favorite breakfast comes upstairs. Blueberry pancakes with honey. I walk downstairs to see Sam cooking and someone next to him, watching intently. Jesse.

"Hey." I say quietly, hoping my shower washed away my tears.

"Hey." Sam says after a long pause.

"What's he doing here?"

"Oh. I was told we had to be together this morning for an important assignment. I have no idea-" Jesse says as Sam slams the spatula on the counter.

"I'm sure its about what Grandpa told us." Sam says.

"Jesse know about the warning. Just a little more….. Detailed…."

"Yeah?" he says.

"He won't tell anyone."

Jesse puts three pancakes on my plate and drizzles honey on top. I take a bite and can't help but smile.

"Glad you like them." Sam says smiling.

I know he still remembers last night. I must have really upset him. I can't say anything now with Jesse here. Why couldn't Sam try hard? He could have knew what I was thinking or at least back me up if Grandpa found out.

A knock at the door jumps me back to reality. Sam quickly opens it as General Isaac walk in, Grandfather, and the man I met yesterday walk in. I can still smell the faintness of the liquor.

"Shelby, Jesse. Come with me." Isaac says while guiding Jesse out of the house. Grandfather leads me to the back of my house and into my room. "It will only be a minute General." Grandpa says.

I sit on my bed. Unsure of what's going one. Grandfather says nothing. He comes over and pats me on the back.

"I-I-I-I'm so sorry Grandpa!" I scream thought tears and a croaked voice.

"It's okay. I'm actually kind of glad. I can trust you."

"With what? I thought you'd be mad I actually did my best. What do you mean trust?".

"you will know very soon. Please go with General Isaac today. don't worry. You'll be back by dinner." Grandpa kisses my forehead and pulls out the angel from my jewelry box.

"Take this with you." he says as he unlatches the angels wings."

I stare at the contents. A shiny purple pill.

"W-What's this?"

"Do you remember the song? The one your mother sang?"

I concentrate very hard to remember.

Someday, we will live in peace

Someday, we will live with love.

Whenever you need a friend,

Unlock the way to my heart,

And be safe forever…

The melody begins to become cloudy and I hum what I know. Grandfather smiles and hugs me tightly.

"I taught her the song. I'm glad you can remember the most important part."

"But what does it do?"

"Um.. Mr. Gaddiel? It's time to go."

"Okay. Come on Shelby. Time's wasting." he says leading me down the hallway.

I get one last look at him and Sam until I am being pushed forward by the sober yet drunk man. He looks down at me, for only a brief second. I see Jesse outside his house. We get pushed into an actual vehicle. Must be a fancy water running one.

"Please. Follow me to where you will take breaks today." says General Isaac.

I follow him until we reach two doors, side by side. One labeled "Boy" and the other "Girl".

"You will be staying here until we call you first as a group, then individually." General Isaac says.

I look over at Jesse and he gives me a reassuring smile. I open the door and see two other girls sitting on cots.

"Hey. Shelby, right?" the one with curly hair says. I nod and see a small girl standing next to the window. She looks like she is in first grade.

"I'm not in first grade you know." she says almost inaudible.

"Oh. Um….I….."

"I'm in your grade. You haven't seen me around? We go to the same school too! Just cause I'm short…."

The girl with the curly hair crosses her arms and turns to the wall, hugging a pillow.

"I'm sorry if you thought I was thinking-"

"No. It's fine. I get it all the time. I just come from a line of small people." she goes back to staring out the window as the sun rises a little more. I sit on one of the cots and play with my hair. It feels like hours before the door starts to open. I am hopeful that it might be General Isaac but instead comes the drunken mad actually holding a wine bottle, half empty.

"Hello ladies!" he blurts out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Curly asks.

"Eh?"

"Obviously he's been drinking! can't you smell it?" I say crossing my arms over my chest.

"Obviously? I had…." he puts the wine bottle under his armpit and starts to count with his fingers.

"I'm guessing more than one gulp."

"You guessed right missy!" he stumbles over and breathes the heavy red wine on me. I shove him away as he lands on a cot.

"I'll be back. I'm guessing the guys will be better at taking jokes." he stumbles out of the room as I see him take a swig of wine and slam the door behind him.

"What a creep." says the little one.

I nod and walk over to her. I stare out t the same scenery she had been looking at all morning. It's a beautiful scene of the woods. The lush pine trees, covered in snow. A deer walking by and the birds flying back and forth, from branch to branch.

"My names Shelby Gaddiel. What's yours?"

"Britta. Leave it at that."

"Okay. Do you know why were here?"

"Nope. I was just called here today. Do you know who that drunk was?"

"Nope. Doesn't have an affect if I ever know him."

The door swings open and in walks General Isaac. "Come with me ladies." he says. Britta, Curly, and I follow him as the three other guys join us. There's Jesse, a guy with light blonde hair, and a guy with glasses. The drunk is no where to be found. Probably vomited everywhere and was sent to a doctor to see he had alcohol poisoning.

"Welcome. As you see before you is a series of physical tests. Please try as many as you want and have fun. Pay no attention to the group that may or may not come in to observe you." General Isaac says as he shuts the door behind us.

"Where to begin!" one of the other guys shouts. He looks very strong and his light hair matches the blonde stereo type of his blue eyes.

"I'm going over to this!" curly shouts, running toward the rock wall. Britta, Jesse, and I stand still. I have no idea what to do. No body has walked in yet so I guess it's okay. I look over my shoulder to see a small guy with glasses. He doesn't particularly look strong or physically active. I underestimated him. He goes over to the javelin throw and chucks the stick about as far as I can shoot an arrow. That's far.

"Just gonna stand here?" Jesse says looking at me. I hold out my hand as a sign of trust and we walk over to the track. He gives me a smile of approval and we run around a few times. I see Britta pick up one of the guns and shoot down three of the targets with a single bullet. Great shooter for such a small person. Everyone here has something to contribute. Curly can climb the whole rock wall in under a minute and half, Britta can get an accurate shoot every time, glasses kid can throw almost 50 yards, and the strong guy can lift 400 pounds. All I can do is run and shot an arrow. What use do I have to these people? I notice Jesse out of the corner of my eye, doing something I would never thought he'd do in a million years. Archery.

"Wow. Where did you learn to do that?" I ask just trying to string my first arrow.

"It's easy. I just kinda picked it up a few years back…." he says hitting another dummy right between the eyes. Could've used him as back-up when Ian went to check the traps.

The door swings open and in comes a group of officials. They roam around the gym watching everyone do their thing. Jesse and I move on to the track and field stuff. I take charge of it. I run, jump hurdles, and do it all quick as possible. The Officials nod at me and begin to file out of the gym. What ever the nod means couldn't possibly be as meaningful as the ones given to Jesse and Britta.

"I think I did pretty good." Jesse says gulping down a bottle of water.

"Pretty good? You shoot those targets dead center each time!"

"Yeah but it's not compared to Britta's gun shots. I'm sure what ever they want us to do will be more revolved around guns." Jesse says.

"Thanks. Good job to you too Shelby. Never seen someone split an arrow right down the middle! " Britta says smiling for the first time since I met her. She's referring to the training. I didn't notice Jesse had shot, so I shot. I split his arrow in half since I had aimed in the exact same spot.

When we get back to the rooms curly and strong guy are missing.

"You know the "strong guy" has a name. So does glasses kid." Jesse says. Turns out glasses kid is Gregory and strong guy is Rohan.

"I wonder where they went. Maybe they got lost." Britta says taking sips of her water.

"Doubt it. It's pretty straight forward." Jesse says.

"Yeah. Maybe their doing there individual tests." I say.

"Or making-out. They go to the same school and both are in that class of 'Annoying football player and bubbly cheerleader'".

"Wow. You always categorize people. But I sometimes do it too."

"It's fun! Like he looks like a 'jump to conclusions' kind of guy," Britta says pointing to a man dressed in camouflage.

Just as we walk past him an other man walks up and says that the testers are running late. The man bursts out in a fit of anger and yells at him.

"Wow. Your good."

"I know!"

We walk back to the room and see curly girl there swinging her feet on the edge of a cot. She smiles at us and walks over. I see a slight bounce in her step.

"Guess what!"

"Um….. What?" Britta and I say at the same time.

"The tester say I have a promising role on the team!"

"For what?"

"They didn't tell me. But they told me to send…. Uh… you," she says pointing at Britta.

"Thanks."

Britta walks out of the room and meets Gregory. They walk side-by-side as two men guide them out of sight. Two other men come in and guide Curly out. Now I sit in the hospital looking room, and wait. The drunk walks in and looks somewhat sober.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah. Lose the attitude, babe"

"Whatever. And Don't call me 'Babe'"

"Where are the other two?"

"Testing."

"Okay."

He starts to walk out the door but I stop him. "What's your name?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Just tell me."

"Names Flint Varner."

"Shelby Gaddiel…."

"I already know."

"What did you want?"

As I see him about to speak the same men who took Curly away come to the door. "Ms. Gaddiel. Please follow us." I get up off the cot and walk past Flint. He smiles at me. "Good luck kid." At least he's one less person that has to be on the list of people I don't like.

I get out in the hall and see Jesse waiting. He smiles at me. "Hey. You ready?"

"I think. Not really sure what for." He reaches down and holds out his hand. I look up at his face and look in his eyes. They look sincere. One of the men pushes us forward and my hand falls into his.

"Sorry." I say pushing a loose strand of hair from my face. "No problem."

The doors look like all the others. Big, gray, with one window on the left door. They have a faint creaking when I push one open. The men are gone and we are standing in another gym. Men dressed in official uniforms, white with black boots, and a couple generals. I see a few things thrown around and some dummies with gun shots in them. Britta.

"Please. Show us what you can do by your self. Then together." Jesse and I just stand there, unsure where or what to start with. "Go. Just pick up what ever you want."

I start to run and Jesse starts to shoot. After a few laps I walk over and string a bow. I am able to string it quickly. I shoot and the arrow reaches the dummy behind it. I see them write a few notes and what not. After a few hours, we are able to leave. My legs hurt and I am hungry. They never even fed me lunch! I got here at 7 in the morning and now its 5 in the afternoon.

"Man! I'm starving. You wanna stop and get something?" Jesse asks.

"Sure."

We get in the back of the water-car and they drop us off at the front of our run down neighborhood. We walk down a few blocks until we reach a small store with Annie Mooncrest out front. Her grandfather, Otto Mooncrest, owns the local bar while her grandma, Cordelia Mooncrest, cooks stews for the poor people in town. I am okay with Annie. We talk when I come down for something. She even gives me herbs for my brother to use.

"Hey Shelby. Thought I wouldn't be seeing a lot of you cause of the winter." she says.

"I can always find something to trade."

"I have some more herbs for your brother by the way."

"Thanks but I have nothing to give you for it."

"Take them anyways. I have a lot."

I nod my head and follow her inside. She puts them in a bag and writes a few notes on paper. "Tell Sam these are some tips to cooking with these, okay?" she asks. I nod again smiling. "See you around!" she shouts as I walk out. I walk toward the smell of the stew and see a hot bowl sitting next to Jesse.

"Got you a bowl. Hope you don't mind."

"It's fine." I take a seat next to him and slurp up a spoonful.

"Used that wild turkey in it." Cordelia says.

"Tastes great!" I say eating another five spoonfuls in under a minute.

She clears the bowls as I lean back and sigh. The sky looks slightly gray. No snow. Only a thin layer on the ground.

"We should get home." Jesse says. I nod and wave bye to Annie and Cordelia. "That was great. Who new that turkey could last so long." I say. The herbs are attached to my pouch at my side. We reach Jesse's house first so I wave good-bye to him as he walks into the small house. Through the window, I can see his grandpa and mom talking quickly. I walk down the rest of the block until I reach my house. The light is on. I just barley make it through the door when Sam rushes up to me a hugs me tightly.