Chapter 2: Four New Friends

"Jess, it's time to get up!"

I groaned and pulled my sheets over my head. I was never one for getting up early in the morning, and now was no exception. Plus, dad and I had spent all day yesterday helping those guys unload our stuff. Then, dad insisted that we put everything in its proper place. It took so long that I didn't get to bed until after 11.

"Come on Jess, you're going to be late for school," called Dad. He always got up early in the morning, no matter how late he went to bed. Maybe it was because Grandpa was a drill sergeant, and even acted like one after the war.

I slowly rose out of bed and rubbed the crust out of my eyes. I walked to my dresser, put on some clean clothes, and walked over to the bathroom to finish up. Once all that was done, I walked down to the kitchen. Dad was hovering over the stove, and the smell of bacon drifted through the air.

"Glad you see you woke up Jess. I was afraid I was going to have to shake you awake again," said Dad, who dumped a large load of bacon onto a plate.

I grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat down at the table. Dad pushed me a plate of bacon and eggs, and then started chowing down on his own.

"Sorry I'm not an early riser like you dad. Plus I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm pretty worn out," I said, before digging into my plate.

"Well either way, you'd better eat quickly. The bus will be here any minute, and you don't want to miss it," said Dad through a mouth full of food.

"Yeah, got it dad," I said while I finished off the last of my breakfast. I grabbed my backpack and headed for the door.

"Forgetting something," asked Dad.

Groaning, I walked back to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then I turned around and walked out of the house. It was a pretty cool day, given that we were in the middle of October. Sunlight was halfway over the horizon, and a group of teens were standing by the bus stop.

I walked over and leaned against a pole, trying not to attract attention to myself. But the next thing I knew, someone was poking me in the back. I turned around and saw a girl smiling at me. She wore a pink tank top and short blue jeans. Her backpack was covered in images of flowers, and her shoes were pink as well.

"Hi, my name is Amy. I haven't seen you around before, so you must be new. I always like meeting new people, because then you get to know a lot of different things. So what's your name," she asked with a big smile.

It took me a second to register what she had said, because she said it so fast. She definitely had the attributes of a "girly" girl, and I never really liked those kinds of people. But hey, someone was talking to me, so the least I can do is reply.

"…my name is Jess. I just moved in down the street. It's, uh, nice to meet you to," I said nervously.

She started to say more, but then the bus pulled up. Everyone rushed to the door and quickly took their seats. I was one of the last ones on, so only seats in the front were open. I sat down, ready to get a little extra sleep. But then Amy plopped down next to me, before taking a small book out of her backpack. There was no cover on it, and no title on the binding.

"So…you like to read?" I asked.

"Oh, I LOVE to read. I get a book from the school library every month. I read during study hall, during lunch, during breaks in class. Whenever I got time, I'm reading a book;" said Amy "let me tell you how I got into the hobby."

Oh man…this was going to be a long day.

My eyelids were drooping down half my eyes by the time the bus rolled back towards my house. Once I had got to school, I learned that Amy was in all but two of my classes. And she sat next to me in every one, and insisted on telling me the plots of all the books she has read. Good news was that if I ever needed to tell the plot of the Percy Jackson series, I'd be ready.

"And that's when Harry watched his sons go off to Hogwarts and new all was good," said Amy as the bus pulled to a stop.

"Well…that was great Amy. But this is my stop, so I go to go," I said while I picked up my backpack.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll tell you all about Shipbreaker," she said with a smile.

"Can't' wait," I said with a fake smile, before walking down the steps and onto the sidewalk. The bus pulled away, and I started walking up to my house.

I was almost at the door when I heard a voice.

"Hey Jess, how was school?"

I looked towards the fence, and saw Chris standing near the fence. He still wore a blue hoodie, but had on a brown shirt under it. He wore blue jeans, and a pair of red tennis shoes.

"Hey," I said, walking over to him. "What are you doing here? I didn't see you at school today."

He ran a hand through his hair and gave a nervous smile. "Oh, I'm home schooled. My dad doesn't believe in the American Educational System. So he hires a private tutor to teach us everything."

I raised an eyebrow questionably. "What do you mean 'us'," I asked.

"He means the three of us," said a voice.

I looked to the left, and saw two girls walking towards us. One looked to be about 15, while the other looked to be 13. The older one had long brown hair, and wore a green shirt and tight blue jeans, with brown shoes. The other girl had short blond hair, and wore a black leather jacket over a blue red shirt and had long blue jeans with orange shoes.

"Chris, you didn't tell us you have a girlfriend. I want to know when my big bro becomes a man," said the girl with the brown hair.

"Yeah, we'd tell you if we met a nice guy. Such shame you bring to the family," said the other.

I looked back at Chris, who had his hand over his face in embarrassment. "Uh, Chris…who are this girls," I asked.

Chris removed his hands, and looked annoyed. "Jess…these are my sisters, Veronica and Hilary."

I looked at the girls with wonder. "You didn't tell me you had sisters," I said.

"I didn't because there was no need at the time. These two are always on my back, and are as annoying as a fly," said Chris.

Hilary made a fake sad face "calling us flies Chris, that's so mean. I should tell dad on you."

Chris looked at her angrily. "You wouldn't dare. Last time I upset him he had me clean out the whole basement."

"Oh, I can just think of what he'll make you do this time," said Veronica happily.

"Alright, that's enough. Sorry Jess, but we have to go," said Chris, and he ushered his sisters back to the door in the fence.

"But Chris, we didn't get to talk to Jess yet," said Hilary.

"Well you should have thought about that before you started running your mouths. Now I'm in charge when dad's gone, so get back inside," he said, before the three disappeared through the fence door.

"…well, they seem nice," I said, before walking back to the porch and walking inside.

After finishing my homework, and telling dad about my day over dinner, I retreated to my room for a little me time. I spend my time going on my computer and seeing if there are any updates on my favorite websites. It wasn't always fun, but I was excited when they did update.

I was just looking at the latest news on Doctor Who TV, but then I heard something. It sounded like a whistle, but unlike any I'd heard before. And, it sounded like it was coming from next door. I walked over to the window and looked at Chris' house.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and the whistle sound was gone. I was beginning to think I had imagined it…but then I heard screaming. It sounded feminine, so it must have been Hillary or Veronica.

Then, I heard the whistle sound again, and then I saw what looked like steam blast through an open window and splash into my window. The view became hazy and I couldn't see a thing. Not only that, but the screaming stopped to.

Something was going on at that house, and Chris, Veronica, and Hilary were in trouble. I quickly ran to my door, into the hallway, and down the steps. Dad was in his study downstairs, working on new scripts for a few shows. I ran up to him, and he looked up surprisingly at me.

"Woah Jess, where's the fire. You look like you've seen a ghost," said Dad.

"Dad, something's going on at Chris' house," I said.

His eyebrows rose up, like he usually does when he's intrigued about something. "And who's Chris," he asked carefully.

"He and his sisters live next door. Listen, I heard screaming coming from their house, and I think they're in danger. We have to go see if they're okay," I said quickly.

My dad's face became serious "okay then, let's go see."

The two of us walked over to Chris' house. The yard was a mix between well-kept and unkempt. I could see a small metal railroad boxcar sitting near the porch, covered in plants.

We walked up the steps, and dad knocked on the door. I noticed a small wooden sign hanging next to the door. It only had one word on it: Sodor.

A few seconds later, the door opened. Standing there was the man that had scolded me the day we moved in...Chris' dad.

My dad smiled and held out his hand. "Hello there, I'm Mr. Alster, your new neighbor."

Chris' dad looked down at my dad's hand, before slowly shaking it. "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked coldly.

"Yeah, where are Chris, Hilary, and Veronica," I asked sternly.

"Jess, calm down. I'm sorry Mr...oh, I don't know your name. Would you mind telling me what it is?" asked Dad.

Chris' dad looked at the both of us coldly, like he was seeing if we were trustworthy. "My name is Wilbert, and you can just call me that."

"Well, alright then Wilbert. What my daughter was trying to say was that she heard screaming coming from over here and wanted to make sure her friends were alright," said Dad.

Wilbert looked at me sternly, but then turned back into his house. "Christopher, Veronica, Hilary, come to the front door," he called.

A few seconds later, the three siblings came into view. They all looked fine, except that Chris had a large red spot on the left side of his face.

"Jess, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I heard screaming coming from your house, and a large blast of steam come out a window. I wanted to make sure you were all alright," I said.

"Oh, yeah we're alright. A water heater pipe burst, which is how I got this mark," said Chris, who pointed to the red mark on his face.

"And the screaming was me. I was scared because the pipe burst right next to me. It was Chris who pulled me out of the way, so I didn't get hurt," said Hilary.

"You see, they're fine," said Wilbert.

"But I heard a whistle too, a strange whistle. What was that about," I asked.

The four's faces all became ones of concern and worry. Chris and the others looked at Wilbert, who now had on his cold face again.

"I'm sorry Miss Alster, but none of us heard a whistle. Did any of you," he asked the three coldly.

"No sir," they said shaking their heads.

"Then that settles it. You must have heard something else. Now if you excuse me, I have some things to discuss with my children," said Wilbert, who quickly shut the door.

"...alright then, see you later," said Dad cheerfully, and he turned around and walked back to the house. But I stayed behind for a minute, and put my ear up to the door. I couldn't hear very much, but I did hear a few snippets.

"...too close...almost found out...be more careful…"

I didn't understand what they were talking about, but I knew they must be hiding something if they didn't want me to find out about it.

I couldn't hear anymore voices after that, so I walked away from the door and towards home.

Next time I saw Chris, I'd have some questions for him.