Alex shook her head, and she watched Colin's face drain. She simply smiled.
"You're laughing at me."
"I am not."
"Then why won't you go out with me."
"I never did say no now did I?" his face lit up, "Colin, of course I'll be your girlfriend."
"YES!" was all you heard from behind them. Alex turned around and she watched as George danced around in a circle, with no food in his hands. She sighed, for she had figured it out.
Colin laughed, "Okay, then come over and sit next to me love." George jumped at this. He beat Alex to sitting next to Colin and slid so that he was shorter than Colin.
He looked up into Colin's eyes and said, "Hello lover."
All three of them laughed at this. "Alright, alright, up lovers," Alex said, and George got up sitting where Alex usually sat and Alex took George's place in Colin's arms. Now she felt safe. He had his arms wrapped around her waist, and she had her head on his chest, she could hear his heart beat. George was smiling from ear to ear.
"What?!" Colin and Alex asked at the same time.
"I don't think you two realize how long I have known this was going to happen," George said, taking a drink of water.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked now confused.
"You two have probably liked each other longer than either of you started to realize it," George said.
"Oh thanks," Colin said.
"You're very welcome. I'm guessing Alex figured it out recently, but I know that Colin has known for a while," George said. Alex was shocked; he guessed right, but how did she not pick up on Colin liking her? Was she really not paying enough attention? "But back to what we usually talk about-" George was stopped by the bell, but it was a warning bell.
Alex looked up, the lights flickered off, and the whole room went silent. Colin pulled her closer, and George quietly got up and sat on the opposite side of Alex. The lights came back on, but they were a deep blue this time.
Then the loud speaker screamed with another bell. Then it stopped and a voice came on very relaxed but angry, "Get out."
Alex jumped up taking Colin's hand, and grabbed the back of George's shirt. Everyone was running out the doors, but Alex led them to a window.
"Jump," was all she said. Both Colin and George looked at her. They couldn't believe what she was asking. "You heard it, we're leaving, and running, now jump!"
"What about our parents? What will we tell them?!" George asked.
"They'll find us," Alex said, and she jumped out the window. The six story drop was easy for her, she said a spell to get one of those blow up things that stunt doubles use when they take jumps like this, and it was under her feet. She knew George and Colin were watching, Colin about to come out too, and now they knew her one secret from them. She flew threw the air and felt hands on her, she looked and it was Colin, she gave him a hug, and he ended up under her, and they landed on the blow up. She let go of him, and looked into his eyes. She leaned in and gave him a kiss. She wanted to live in that moment, but she knew George was to come down soon too. She got off Colin and got off the blow up, pulling Colin with her. They watched George come down and Alex made the blow up disappear. She waved the two of them out of the alley they jumped into, and ran to the closest subway entrance.
"Where are we going?" George asked trying to keep up with the two of them who could get through the people in the subway faster, being shorter, and just as skinny.
"Train station. We're leaving," Alex said. They got on the train for the subway that would take them towards the Penn Train Station.
"Leaving? To…?" Colin asked. "We don't have anything with us, like clothes."
"We have money, and ATM cards don't we? We'll call our parents once we're leaving NYC. We'll tell them to keep money in our ATM accounts, and that we will be fine," Alex said. She knew there was no need to call her parents. She knew the voice that was on the loud speaker. And when it said get out, it only meant her. But she couldn't leave Colin and George behind, they would have been evidence, and asked questions they didn't know the answers to. She couldn't leave and have them get hurt. And since this was because of her, that meant her family had already left for somewhere. They planned this before. They all went north by train, but Alex was going to go south with George and Colin. They would head down by boat.
"True," Colin finally said. "We'll come. But Alex, you're not okay. You know that voice don't you."
"Yes. When he said get out, it was directed at me, and me only. You two are coming though. The rest I'll explain later."
"Fair," George and Colin said at the same time.
The subway ride wasn't that long, just quiet. Alex was lost in thought, trying to think how to get them out of most of this. Their ATM cards could be tracked. They would have to take money out along the way. South, they would head to Miami. She had Harper down there, which is why Harper was down there. Harper had to go into hiding from the last time this happened, but got away with saying her grandmother wanted the family to live down there with her in her retirement. They couldn't stay there long, since Harper too could be tracked, but Harper was in Miami, not Miami Beach. They could stay there. Alex felt a hand go around her waist. She relaxed. It was Colin, and he was trying to make her feel better, but she could tell it was a protective hold, not comforting. She looked up from her hands that she now realized she had been staring at and looked at Colin's stare at the people who just got on the train. He may not have known who they were, but he was right, they were dangerous. She grabbed both George and Colin and dragged them off the train; still being five blocks from Penn Station.
"Why are we getting off? There's a closer stop," George said.
"This way is safer," Alex said, keeping it short. She still had the image of them in her mind; long, dark cloaks and their long black hair choppy. They looked to be just another group of gothic teens, but Alex knew these people. They were on the side of the people who were trying to find her family. They would have to pay in cash for their tickets, and go out of their way to get money out of an ATM. She dragged them in the opposite direction of their school, and the train station, and went to the closest bank with an ATM.
Using her card four times, and taking $300 out each time she was satisfied. She told Colin and George to do the same, and they all packed their money away. She pulled them back out of the bank, and now towards Penn. She told them to buy a one-way ticket to Trenton, and they would go from there. They checked which platform, and waited from there.
"Why Trenton?" Colin asked.
"We're not going to Trenton," Alex answered. George and Colin both looked at her.
"But…what?!" George was now confused, and Colin was at the same point.
"We're getting on another train there. We're going down to…you'll see," Alex stopped. She didn't know if she was being watched or not, so she didn't want her plan to be overheard by someone who shouldn't know it. But she did know that they had to get to Atlantic City, and from there they would head down to Miami Beach. She thought about her plan though. Taking a boat would be long, and bad. They could always go to the Atlantic City Airport, but that was out of Atlantic City. But her uncle worked there, she could get him to fly them down, without them needing an adult to drop them off or pick them up. It could work out to her advantage. That's what they would have to do.
The train came, and Alex pulled her phone out, directing George and Colin to do the same. "Call your parents," was all she said. She texted hers; Going down, have orange child 1 and 2 with me. She didn't know if her phone was being tracked, so she didn't want to tell them too much. She would find out if it was being tracked later. Using the nickname's that her father had given to Colin and George when he first met them.
George and Colin talked to their parents, who were okay with them leaving with Alex. They had no worries. Which made this trip a lot easier for her; they promised to call them, and would keep them informed with the fact that they were okay.
