Chapter Six: OMG! A Date?
From the Diary of Kelly
Playing on the television in the mall was a commercial of an upcoming movie, Free Willy 3. It would be playing in a few weeks.
The trailer was nice. I was happy to hear they've made another sequel on my favorite movie but I still frowned. My parents had decided that when the movie would come out, we'd all go watch it.
Now we couldn't.
Do you think I'm awful? Running away from my family like that? I love them, I really do...but that's just it. I love them too much to tell them about these dreams. I didn't want to make it difficult for them with the things I see in my dreams.
Now, I was alone in the mall. Running away from everything I held dear to me. And as I watched happy families passing by, I was sad because I knew it would never be the same again.
There would be no more outings eating at Pizza Hunt and Dairy Queen on Sundays. No more walks to the arcade with Bax. No more window shopping with Mom. No more taking Dad to the bookshop or the newsletter stand on the occasional days.
There would be no more family time. Now that I've left mine, there was never a joyful foursome anymore.
I couldn't imagine a time when my family was without me. It had always been us as a whole lovely-dovey family. For eight years, I've grown up as a daughter and an older sister. And my family and I always did things together.
The day I took Horatio home from school, I was worried. Bax had once wanted to have a pet cat but he couldn't because Dad was allergic to them. So what would my parents think of keeping a dog in the house? Surely, they wouldn't like the idea.
And I believed they'd be angry at me for leaving school in the middle of Math.
But I didn't want to leave Horatio alone. Not when he had been waiting me the whole morning. At least no one was home. So I gave him water and some chicken meat, and played with him.
Until Bax came home with Dad.
Oh no, I thought and quickly hid Horatio in the closet. But it became pretty bad when Bax came to my room and asked why I left school early. I tried to lie but he still noticed I was hiding something.
So he opened my closet door and hollered to Dad. I reluctantly brought Horatio to the living room and waited for Dad's discipline. But he didn't scold me harshly, just coolly told me his opinion that keeping a dog in the house wasn't a good idea.
Mom shortly came home from the community club. And when she saw Horatio, she smiled so widely and shouted, "Ohhh! What an adorable doggie!"
And suddenly, after I told her I found him abandoned, she declared we'd keep him.
Bax and Dad didn't get a chance to debate. Bax thought it was a bit unfair, since he couldn't have a cat. But after a while, everyone decided to make him part of the family.
Mom gave a call to the school, telling them my reason for leaving school was because I was still not well from the hospital. I apologized to Bax but he shrugged his shoulders and said, "We have a pet now. That's better than none." Dad then said we should play a game to name our new pet. And we played Pick a Name out of the Hat the whole afternoon.
I was the one who picked out the name, Horatio, in Dad's handwriting. He told me it was from a book he liked. Hamlet, where a man named Horatio was Hamlet's friend. It also meant "time".
So that was what we called him. Horatio.
Although they were my foster family, I loved them so much. And now I was leaving them.
I cried in the mall.
Jake
I sighed. I was asking myself why Marco had to call me at six in the morning. Why we had to give every cereal box we could find to Ax when one box should be sufficient. Why Tobias had to drag me to the mall after school was canceled.
And why I was spending my time watching Ax gorge down his second Cinnamon bun like a starved animal.
"Sorry about this," Tobias apologized for the second time as he put another plate of Cinnamon buns on the table. "But it was the only way to stop Ax from thinking about...you-know-who."
"Couldn't you have thought of another alternative?" I asked.
"What other choice was there? He really liked this girl."
"You're using my allowance," I mumbled.
"I'll pay you back. Somehow."
"No need. Marco will do that for you. He owes me big time..." I groaned. "But is it true you-know-who...'dreamt' about us?"
"Briefly, I guess," Tobias explained. "She said she saw kids in her dreams. Nothing specifically about us."
"Are you talking about Kelly? Ke-lee."
We stared at Ax, his mouth covered with crumbs and smudges. Ok, I guess we couldn't say "you-know-who" anymore.
"Yes," I said. "Yes, we are. Just keep on eating, Ax."
Ax grabbed another hot bun and began scoffing it down.
But I still couldn't believe it. When Tobias told me the whole story, I thought this was something Marco planned up as a joke. But nope, Tobias and Ax assured me.
There were mixed emotions. First, I was taken back to hear Ax ignored my order. And in his defense, he wanted to tell Kelly he couldn't meet her again. That made me speechless. Guess there was a first in everything.
Second, startled to hear Kelly was attempting to go all the way to Canada. Third, horrified to hear a girl I knew at school has some sort of premonition power.
And fourth, anxious that she could suddenly discover about us, the morphing power and the Yeerks.
It took me a while to digest all that in. But now...now, I had to think. And it wasn't a good thought.
If Kelly had dreams about us, she'd eventually figure out they were real. And if she would, what would happen next? Would the Yeerks discover Kelly's gift and use it to their advantage? Against us? Would we have to do something about it?
Would we have to decide what to do with Kelly?
I really didn't want to think that far ahead. From what Tobias and Ax told me, she hasn't figured them out...yet. But sooner or later, she would.
It has been almost four months since the incident. But I could still remember it clearly. It just felt too soon. The idea of deciding what to do to another kid was just too untimely to think about.
I wasn't ready for that and I know the others weren't. I knew that when it'd come to that, everyone was going to look at me and wait for my answer, my final take in our decision. To take charge like always and stop anything that gets in our way in this war.
Even if we all have met the optimistic, happy-go girl Kelly was. I was feeling awful inside, already going ahead and making decisions of her fate.
But...no matter what, eventually, we'd have to chose whether to protect her...or recruit her or...get rid of her...
I sighed, mentally shaking all that aside. I shouldn't think of that, not right now. Not on Kelly. Not until we were sure she couldn't be...like that guy.
Guess we'd have to keep a closer eye on Kelly and make sure the Yeerks weren't after her.
"Still, I can't believe it. How can someone dream of real people and...'real beings'? Let alone what's really going on," I said.
Ax managed to stop munching on his third bun and whispered quietly enough so that no one in the noisy mall could hear, "It sounds similar to an Eszum."
"A what?" Tobias uttered.
"An Eszum is a vision of the subconscious but only occurs with some females of my race. However, I am not sure to apply them to a living human, especially to Kelly," Ax explained.
"Well, she is a girl," I said. "But I think this is a more down-to-earth phenomenon."
"Kelly's phenomenon could be an Oezol, a natural and also spiritual rite only few have the ability to cultivate dreams of the future. It is a very rare ability. At least a small percentage of my race is born with it so there is very little information about it. Most of my people, however, discards it as a myth. I don't know much of Oezol. When they taught about it, I was-"
"Not paying attention. We know," Tobias and I said together.
And Ax went back to eating his bun inattentively.
"Still, if it's a natural thing, maybe Kelly has had her dreams for a long time," Tobias pointed out.
"True. That would mean she had dreamed the war before we knew about it."
"If you think about it, then Kelly might have more experience than us. In a way."
Her? Experience? C'mon. This was Kelly we were talking about. She used to be bashful back in the first year of our school. Now, she was the most ecstatic person I knew but she was also the clumsiest kid at school. Maybe in this city.
I wouldn't want her to go up against a Hork-Bajir.
"Right. We fight 'them', go through everyday turmoil while she sees 'them' in her nightmares," I told him.
"I think they're taking a toll on her," Tobias explained. "Could you handle something you didn't have answers to every night?"
He was right about that. I couldn't imagine myself going my whole life with haunting dreams about the invasion. I would think that I've lost it.
Then, I realized something. For as long as I knew Kelly, Kelly always had a visible baggy eye. It made me wonder how many nights she'd wake up scared to death because of those dreams. But anyone would easily disregard it whenever she'd come up to you and be her cheerful self. Telling you she was as right as rain.
Until now. Had she been hiding it all this time?
"In any case, we'll have to be careful around her," I said. "There's no telling when she'll find out about them."
"If she did, she would have said something," Tobias pointed and sighed. "But you're right. She hasn't told anyone but she has written them done in her diary. If somebody found it, they'd know."
"Wait. You read her diary?"
Tobias frowned. "It was Marco's idea! I didn't want anything to do with it."
Of course. Marco was probably searching for 'weaknesses' to his advantage. I didn't know which plan he had for revenge was worse: scaring Kelly or peeking into a girl's diary and use something.
You might be wondering why he was seeking vengeance on just one girl. I actually wasn't sure but I think it was the way Kelly did, rejecting him that day. Sure, Marco was used to getting 'no's from a lot of girls but I guess not Kelly. To this day, she was the first person I know that Marco couldn't let go.
But she was terribly depressed the same day she rejected him. For what reason, I didn't know. It was also weird because Kelly was the one who asked me about Marco weeks ago.
Well, the past was the past. Nothing Marco could do about it.
"So what else has she seen in her dre–"
Then out of the blue, Ax quickly stood up from his seat. He had stopped eating altogether, the half-eaten bun dropped onto his plate.
"Ax? You alright?" I asked.
He didn't answer. Instead, he bobbed his head about, clearly trying to glance beyond the mass of people. I gazed over my shoulder but from where we sat, I wasn't sure who he was looking for. I didn't recognize anyone walking pass the Starbucks.
"What's wrong, Ax?" Tobias asked.
Could it be a Controller? Or maybe...
"Kelly..."
I heard Ax, alright. But when I looked around carefully, there was no sign of her anywhere. I was more amazed that the girl sure knew how to appear unexpectedly.
"I don't see her–"
"There! She is there! There!" Ax yelled and fiercely pointed, which attracted a lot of eyes around us.
"Wow, did time fly that fast?" Tobias uttered, noting the stares. "I think we should go. Now."
"Agreed," I said.
However, before we had the chance to leave, Ax did the next best thing. He bolted.
"Ax!" I yelled and we chased after him.
Ax really ran fast, pushing his way through the crowd. He had never run this wild in his human morph before. A few times, he would nearly trip and fall. But he skipped back up and kept on sprinting. He wasn't going to stop for anything.
Ahead of a several people, I noticed a kid with a cap on as he turned round a corner to the elevators.
Ax disappeared around the corner.
THUD!
It was a loud noise, followed by the sounds of two bodies collapsing and some stuff dropping onto the floor. People stared at one focal point bewilderedly and chitchatted softly of how a clumsy boy had to run into another kid.
Tobias and I peered over the crowd.
On the marble floor, Ax had fallen onto his butt, rubbing the soreness on his chin. While in front of him was the kid laying down as he moaned painfully, hands on his possibly battered face.
The kid's cap had fallen off, revealing light brown and medium long hair. Wait, I thought as I took a better look. That wasn't a guy.
"Ouch... Oh, god. That hurts..." she muffled. "I feel like I hit a brick wall..."
"I am sorry. Sor-rie."
The hands lowered from her face, changing from agony to surprise. She slowly got up and found Ax before her.
"Phillip?" Kelly uttered.
Gradually, the number of passer-bys decreased, clearing the area. But we didn't step in, just watched them stand up and Kelly gather her groceries back into her paper bag.
"Twice in one day... We have to stop meeting like this," Kelly said. "Least you didn't scare me this time... Did crack my skull, though."
"I am sorry. Sor-rie. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Hey, it's alright. I've been through worse things. Crashed my bike several times and got myself into a few accidents but I quickly get back up," she assured Ax with a smile and wore back her cap. "But really, seeing you again? That's real something."
"What do you mean? Meen." Ax asked curiously.
"Well, it's like we're meant to keep on meeting each other," she explained. "'Everything happens for a reason. And when fate happens, look for the good in it as it is there,' by Catherine Pulsifer."
Ax looked puzzled. "I do not understand. Un-der-stand."
Kelly giggled. "It's a quotation. An artistic expression."
"Oh."
"And meeting you again is the good out of this fate. My dad sometimes philosophizes it now and then." They soon started walking away and we followed. "Wonder what will happen next. Like my friend always said, everything is connected."
What on earth were we doing? We should be grabbing Ax and taking him away from Kelly as far as possible before he did something stupid. But we both feared it could make Kelly suspicious, especially with those dreams of her.
Two old ladies were whispering behind our backs but I heard every single word. One of them said, "Why are those two boys after such a sweet couple?"
Ok, not what I expected to hear. I mean, really? Ax and Kelly? A couple? Them?
Those women must have serious senility.
"Kelly, were you distressed earlier?" Ax blurted it out.
Kelly stopped in her tracks. Her expression abruptly changed. "Why would you ask that? I never get distressed."
Ax didn't buy it. "You were sad six minutes and thirty-five seconds ago. Sec-kes. You were also watching a television. Tele-vizh-en."
"...Heh, you got good eyesight," she chuckled weakly.
"You are also without Horatio. Ho-ray-sho."
"Well, you can't bring pets to the mall. He's being looked after for a while."
"So is there something wrong? Rong?"
Kelly at first did not reply. She took a moment before sighing very deeply. "...I really can't seem to lie to you."
"Why would you lie? Lie? That is an unfavorable thing to do. Do. Do."
"Yeah, you're right... But I'd lie...because I don't want to trouble anyone with my problem. And if I told the truth...people would think I was weird...or just wouldn't understand me."
Now, that made me a little guilty. I did think of her as a weird person. She was a bit of an oddball. And perhaps, if she had told me about everything, I would honestly believe she was being stressed out.
"But when I'm with you...I just can't," Kelly continued. "I don't know why... If you must know, I was sad because I was just thinking. When I leave for Canada with Horatio...I'd never see my family again... And it would never be the same again..."
"You do not have to run away, Kelly," Ax stated. "Your family would miss you very much. Much. They must be very worried about you. Wured"
"Yeah," she laughed. "By now, my mom's harnessing the cops and my dad's hiring the best detective across the state, just to find me."
"Are they?"
"Nah, they wouldn't be too serious...but my mom, she's a different story. But you're right... I've made them terrible just by running away..."
"Maybe they can help you. With your dreams. Dre-e-ms."
Kelly frowned. "It's not that simple. They are my family but...that's it. I don't want to worry them about my dreams. And I don't think they could understand them. I don't even understand myself..."
"What do you mean? Mean."
"It's just like...I'm completely lost and alone in a crowd of people," Kelly tried her best to put it in words. "And there's no one there to listen to me...because I know deep down, they'll never believe me..."
She let out a weak smile.
"It's actually a cruel and excruciating way to experience it...makes you wonder what your purpose is in the first place."
I was surprised to hear that. Even Tobias. When she said those words, it made me wonder what could be worse. Fighting Yeerks everyday or fighting dreams every night until you wanted to break down. And above all, you couldn't tell anyone.
From hearing how bad Kelly's dreams were, I didn't want to compare between the two battles.
To compare just wasn't right.
A long pause between Kelly and Ax hung as she bit her lower lip. Then Ax said the most unexpected thing.
"I believe you."
Kelly wheeled up, greatly astonished. And for a while, she waited for him to say saying. But eventually, she shook her head when he didn't.
"What's to believe?" she said, again beaming out her smile. "Scientists would declare me as crazy, in need of paramedic. You don't have to say that to make me feel better."
"I am not," Ax said. That changed her smile to a small gap. "I have not said I do not believe you, Kelly."
Kelly went quiet. Her eyes were full of surprise but also contentment. What he just said was something she must had longed to hear, an end to her extended anguish.
She smiled at that. "You're a sweet guy, Phillip."
"I am?"
"Hee-hee! Of course, you are."
And that made Ax very happy. I think he really liked it whenever she smiled at him. However, his happiness quickly faded away with a heavy look.
"It is sad that you will be leaving. Lev-ing."
"Hm?" she uttered.
"I will not get to see you anymore."
Kelly didn't expect that. Neither did me nor Tobias. Everyone was right about one thing: he truly have feelings for this one girl, even if he wouldn't admit it.
In the loud racket of the mall, there was another silent and steady pause between them.
Kelly was the first to break it.
"Alright." She raised a hand to Ax and waited. Ax glanced at her, baffled as she grinned cheerily.
She was asking him to grab her hand.
"Let's make this one memorable day for us," she said and unexpectedly took hold of his hand. "C'mon!"
She took off, pulling Ax along through the crowd. Oh dear god, she was going off with an alien.
"This is bad," I cried out.
What am I saying? This was worse! What if Ax would demorph in the middle of the mall AGAIN or get struck as a human? Or blow our secret out! ?
"We got to go after them!" I hollered and we scrambled off our feet.
We tried to catch up with them but it was so packed that day. Already, they were up a floor. Hopefully, without getting some angry faces, we shoved our way through.
Then, we lost them.
"Where'd they go?" Tobias wondered.
Did we really mess this up? And this was like, what? Second, no, fourth or fifth time Ax wandered away from us. Only this time, he was taken.
We glanced around. Then, suddenly, I saw two familiar faces entering the arcade.
"There!" I yelled. "I think."
"At the arcade?"
It didn't take long to spot them inside. They were already at one shooting gallery game that just came out.
"I like this game 'cause of the sea monsters. It scares me a little but it's fun playing with someone rather than alone," Kelly uttered, tossing in four tokens. "But it's kinda upsetting when you're shooting at sharks and animals."
"Game?" Ax exclaimed. "Gaa-mmeee."
"Alright!" She grabbed hold the handles of one of the yellow turret-like guns. "The barracudas are really annoying. And the bosses too. I've only gotten to the fifth one. You set, Phillip?"
"But...I have not played a 'game' before. How do you play it? Pl-aa-y."
"What?" The moment she glanced at him, a couple of in-game sharks devoured their characters mercilessly. 'Game Over' read boldly on the screen but that didn't catch her attention. "You've never played games before...? Wow, first time I ever heard a guy say that..."
"Am I supposed to know how to? Too," he asked. "I have seen my friends on a game. Gamme. I am a little familiar with the technology. Tek-nol-a-je."
"I don't think watching people play helps. Guess I'll have to teach you now, don't I?" Kelly popped in another two tokens but kept one in her hand. "Okay, this is how you play."
So she explained about the game to Ax: you're an underwater adventurer searching for seven great sea monsters of the Seven Seas and collecting bounties placed on their heads. The player shoots at many aggressive sea creatures along the way, like sharks, sea snakes, eels and squids. And at the end of the level is the boss, which you pretty much have to kill it and get rewards.
But finding out Kelly knew a great deal about a game wasn't what made me dumbfounded.
Kelly was teaching an alien how to play.
She was greatly patient with Ax. Every time he asked a question, Kelly unwearyingly answered back. No matter what, she wouldn't get tired and simply turn away like anyone else would do.
I have never seen anyone last more than two minutes with Ax.
"Do you see what I see?" Tobias asked.
I answered, "Yup."
"So it gives us rewards? Ri-word. Re-wards. What kind of reward? Kind. Something good to eat?" Ax asked.
"No, silly. It's points for your score," Kelly replied.
"Points. Pooint. Why do you need points for a score? Skore."
"To get the highest score. If you do, you get to put your name at the highest rank for everyone to see."
"Highest rank. Rang-k. People find that fun? Fun."
"Yeah. Guess you can call that gloating. You sure ask a lot of questions, Phillip," Kelly exclaimed. "Anyway, all you need to do is to shoot the bad creatures and not the divers. That's all."
"I understand. It is like educating the aristh in the line of fire."
"Excuse me?"
My heart leapt into my throat. I wanted to go over there and drag Ax away from Kelly before he'd spill anymore information we didn't want spilling. But Tobias clutched my shirt and stopped me.
"Wait! Just wait for a second!" he whispered.
And Tobias was right. Kelly had no clue what the word, aristh, meant.
"Oh, it is nothing. Na-thing," Ax stuttered. "I am ready to play."
"You say that now but later..." Kelly murmured.
Shrugging her shoulders, she threw in the last token and the game started. At first, Ax wasn't sure what to do but once he saw Kelly grab the gun and pull the triggers, he mimicked her before his second life depleted.
Eventually, Ax got the hang of it. He easily took down the graphic sharks, snakes and barracudas without a flinch. And then the giant octopus at the end of the level.
"Whoa, you managed to get them with just one life," Kelly uttered. "Are you sure you've never played games before?"
"No. Nooo," Ax replied, his eyes still fixed on the screen as more sharks came into view.
Well, he does know how to handle alien guns before. A toy gun was no different.
After losing one of the mini-bosses in the third round, Kelly decided they should go play another game.
Would you believe she chose Tekken? And again, she lectured Ax on it?
After Ax 'became familiar' with it, they started playing. Kelly went with choosing Michelle Chang and Ax...pretty much didn't know which to choose so he just randomly picked Roger.
"The way they move seems rhythmic. Ri-th-mik. Is this a combat practice?" Ax asked.
"Well, this is a fighting game so yeah," Kelly replied. "This is all martial arts."
"Martial arts. Arrrts. So that is what these primitive actions are called. Called. It looks very brutal but effective. E-fek-tive. It is also interesting too. In-ter-esting."
"Brutal, yes. Effective, yes again. Interesting, not if you're the one getting your butt kicked."
"Yes, that is very true. Tru."
Ax won a few rounds but Kelly beat him many times, probably because she was so used to the game.
Come to think of it, I've rarely seen a girl play games before. Rachel prefers fashion over games and Cassie with animals. So it was a rare sight to see a girl walk right in the arcade, fork out five dollars and start playing.
"YES! I win!" Kelly cheered. "That's three wins out of six. You're gettin' better, Phillip. I'd win four times before my brother calls it quits."
"How did you become excellent at these games? Ga-meee."
"Oh, my brother got me hooked up on them."
"Hooked up? Hooked. You need a fastener to play these programs? Pro-gram."
"No, silly. I mean it was my brother that got me started on games. Every Friday afternoon, he'd always drag me here because he needs a partner. But 'cause I learn so fast, he gets beaten many times."
"I see. Ceeee."
"Wonder what he's up to now..."
Although Kelly smiled like normal, her eyes were a very different story. I could tell. And so did Ax, too.
"Let's go get something to eat," she quickly said as she smiled widely to hide the pain. Kelly grabbed Ax's hand lightly and led the way out of the arcade. She wanted to forget what she just said and go on with the day.
No. She didn't want Ax to feel concerned over her.
Kelly missed her family a lot, even if they weren't related.
Two floors down, they stopped at the Baskin-Robbins and headed to the counter. We didn't follow them in and peered through the shop's window. Kelly couldn't know we were following them.
Hopefully, she'd get distracted and we could quickly swoop in and get Ax.
Like always, Ax examined the store from top to bottom as curious as a child.
"So what would ya like?"
Ax snapped out from the abundance of things around him. Kelly was waiting for an answer, pointing to the menu above. When he noticed it, he tried to study it.
It didn't help.
"C'mon, pick anyone. It's my treat," she beamed brightly.
"Pick anyone? A-ni-one..."
He struggled with the choice giving, seeing so many ice-cream favors, sundaes, cakes and pies. Then again, Ax probably didn't know about two-thirds of what the ingredients were.
Kelly could tell he wasn't sure.
"How about this?" she uttered, breaking him away from the menu. "Which favor you like the most? Vanilla?"
Ax just stared at her blankly and confused.
"Caramel? Strawberry? Mint? Cookie Dough?"
Nope. He knew nothing of those favors.
"Sherbet? Coconut? Pistachio?"
Again, no. Ax doesn't even know what they were. Not even ice-cream.
"Ok," Kelly uttered. No doubt she was astounded. "What about chocolate?"
Oh no.
"Chocolate. Chock-lit. Yes, I like chocolate the most."
"Alright." Kelly turned to the cashier. "Two Chocolates, please. In cups."
Two big servings were given to them. And I knew this wasn't good. Every time Ax touched chocolate, it was chaos! And once he had his chocolate, nothing could stop him.
Ax picked up the spoon his cup came with and looked at it. We didn't teach him about spoons yet. And I could only expect the worse out of it. He'd instantly toss it away and wolf down the ice-cream with his hands.
But he didn't. Instead, Ax watched Kelly take the first scoop with her spoon.
"What are you waiting for? Dig in before it melts," she said happily.
Something completely stopped Ax from devouring his ice-cream at once like a crazy glutton. He didn't dive in first but rather, he stared at her eat as she smiled with content. Maybe mesmerized by her smile? Curious of how she ate like any normal human? I don't know but whatever she did got him to halt before eating.
He then took his spoon and scooped up a glob of chocolate.
Did Kelly just somehow tame and teach Ax without realizing it? And at the same time? If she did, I'd like to know how.
Ax's eyes lit up with the ice-cream in his mouth. And this was the part I feared would come.
"It is cold! But it is chocolate!" he hollered, nearly scaring the cashier. This is excellent! Ex-ce-lent."
"Great invention of food, huh?" Kelly said.
"It melts in my mouth. Mouuuth."
"That's the best part. The taste last longer. I like eating ice-cream slowly."
"Oh." Ax dug up another blob, chucked it in his mouth and let it melt inside. But it was barely a slow melt.
"Hey, Jake," Tobias whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Would this be called...?" He stopped, trying to find the word.
"What?"
"I don't know. A date?"
I looked at him as if he was talking crazy talk. A date? An alien on a date! ? It sounded weird. Freaky even. I mean, an alien dating a human who has no idea that the person she's with is actually an alien.
Then again, Kelly treated him like a friend. And Ax liked her company.
"Yeah, I guess so..." I uttered in disbelief.
"Marco would flip his lid off if he had seen this."
"Rachel too, that's for sure."
The ice-cream was almost finished when I noticed Ax looking gloomy again, his eyes aimed at the near empty cup in his hand.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Kelly asked, noticing it too.
"Uh... It is nothing. No-thing."
But she could tell it was something.
Ax was bothered. Not because that the ice-cream would be gone but also it would end after the desert.
Kelly would say her goodbyes and leave.
A hand touched his cheek. Ax flinched with shock but relaxed when he realized it was Kelly as she cleaned a brown smudge off his face. Then his face turned a bit red.
Or did I just imagine that?
"As my dad always say, "the day's still young"," Kelly exclaimed.
A smile from Kelly gradually made him pleased. It would not end anytime soon.
But that was bad for us! He couldn't have forgotten he was in his human morph with a limited time only! Did he seriously not know he could slip up?
With the last spoonfuls eaten, they were off again. To where, I wondered because this was starting to get tiring.
I checked my watch. More than an hour and a half had passed.
"Left twenty minutes," I said. "We'd better get him before he becomes a permanent human."
"I hear you. But how?" Tobias asked.
"We'll just tell Kelly we're Ax's cousin and friend and it's time for all three of us to go home."
"Right."
"JAKE!"
I jumped with fright. The voice was at full volume behind us. We wheeled round, wondering where it came from among the huge crowd around us.
A hand popped out and waved violently at us. It was Marco. Man, did he have to shout so loud?
"Jake! Tobias! You're not going to believe this!" he yelled, rushing over to us. "Even I can't believe it! But OH! This is real! It's not a figment of my imagination!"
Oh boy. Here we go again with the rejection again, I thought.
"Marco, if this is another lame excuse about Kelly, I don't want to hear it," I groaned.
"Wait, WHAT! ?" he yelled with frustration. "It's not about her! It's about him!"
I shook my head. "So she likes Ax. You've gotta let go of the past. All she said was no-"
"David!" he suddenly yelled. "It's David! He's back!"
I froze. I was hoping he was pulling my leg but just looking at his panicked face, I knew he wasn't joking.
"Oh sh-!"
CRASH!
All three of us turned to the sound of broken glass.
It almost became silent around us. The crash brought everyone's attention to a fashion shop. Its window bay was shattered into a million pieces by something. And that something was lying on the floor, bleeding shallowly. Inside the shop with broken shards surrounding him was a blond-haired man in whites.
Footsteps echoed in the mall. A woman slowly approached the shop. But I wasn't sure to call her a person because she wore a motorcycle helmet and a strange suit that looked right out of a game.
I only had one thought in my mind.
What the hell was going on?
For as long as I could remember, I have been fighting these battles by myself. But I guess you couldn't call it fighting. Every time I wake up after a dream, I'd break into tears and hid under my bed from the monsters in them.
I was afraid of them, of losing everything to them...and myself.
But there are times, helping me escape these dreams. I would always feel calm when I stop and truly admire the beautiful things in like. Like the blackbirds Phillip and I watched at the field. Or my special spot.
Or that one cold night when I was with Chogan by the riverside.
It was also the same night that I had one of those dreams. I couldn't call it my first dream. For all I know, I had them before I forgot my past.
My crying woke Chogan up that night. He wiped my tears, carried me to the river, sat down with legs crossed, placing me on his lap.
Chogan was big. His arms also were, wrapped warmly around me.
Then he waited.
He waited for a very long time. I looked about, wondering if something would happen.
Then they appeared. One speck of light materialized out of nowhere, followed by another and another. The more they were visible, the brighter it became in the dark forest. I may have forgotten my memories but I knew what they were.
Fireflies.
It was a breathtaking sight. I stared in awe as Chogan began humming a tune to them dancing across the water. The melody and fireflies seemed to give life to the quiet river.
But gradually, my eyes became heavy. I wanted to continue watching the insects. Listening to Chogan's Algonquin song. But before I knew it, I was already asleep. And when I opened my eyes again, it was already over.
That was the first time I felt like all my worries were gone. I knew that even if I had lost everything...I was safe.
Now that I think about it, it made me wonder. An experience like that wouldn't happen to anyone in particular. It might probably be one in a million. Meeting Chogan, learning new things I would have never have known of since my amnesia was a rare thing to me...and the good out of that fateful week. My loss of my pervious past was unfortunate but I was happy to have met Chogan.
And meeting Phillip now, it felt like a second time. Another rare occurrence to me.
Spending that fateful day with Phillip is now one of my cherished memories. He was just an odd kid I met in the woods. Then, he became a close friend to me and I to him. And when he said, "I believe you," I thought he was kidding. I wouldn't believe me myself. But when he said he wasn't...
...I was relieved. So much that I wanted to cry. For the first time in my life...I've found someone who really understood me.
Right on the spot, I began to feel grateful of my life. If I had thrown it away so easily, I would never have these happy moments. All I had were Chogan's words to hold on to before I stepped into my new life. And here I was, enjoying the time with Phillip.
It's heartbreaking that I was leaving that life very soon. But it was alright. I was happy to see Phillip a third time.
I was happy to meet someone like him.
CRASH!
But the day...had to end when we heard glass break.
Vickie: YELLOW EVERYONE! Back after two and five days of work and here's the latest chp. And I expect a lot of people going happily crazy over this chp with the phrases that includes, "AWWWWW!" :P But this little date has to end, people. Cuz next chapter is the fight! The introduction of the black-suited woman!
Whoops, gave a spoiler. Ah well. :D
Marco: Oh c'mon! Give me more spoilers! Who the heck is that woman?
Vickie: Nope. That is not gonna be revealed next chp.
Marco: Hey, I'm in this story getting myself tortured by you! I have the right to know. We already got that rat here!
Vickie: So you really want to know?
Marco: Yes.
Vickie: Really?
Marco: YES! Now tell me.
Vickie: Ok, after you win a match from Mr. Scary. – big scary teddy bear with razor claws and bat wings appear behind Vickie –
Marco: Oh-! Not you again! AAAAAAAAH! –gets chased by Mr. Scary-
Vickie: So I lie. But only to fictional characters. :D On with this note. The friendship is getting further between Ax and Kelly. And I've said this before in my first chp. While you demand a shipping between them in this first fic, I will not
And besides, we are going to have some fighting in the next chp. Blood is going to be everywhere. And there will be punches, kicks and guns. Doesn't action sound much better than romance?
Cricket: ..crick.
Vickie: ...Seriously, what's with you and going mushy on kisses between characters?
Rachel: BOO! Give us some A/K romance! –has literally become one of you, the fans-
Vickie: I'm going to ignore you. And no matter what you all do to me, Ax and Kelly are going to remain friends until Ax admits he does have feelings for her instead of them being a human condition. Which is not going to happen anytime in this fic.
Rachel: What? –morphs to bear and holds claw at Vickie's throat-
Vickie: O-O-Ok. M-Maybe afterwards. I-In another fic!
Rachel: Good to hear that. –leaves happy-
Vickie: Phew... Just because I said in another fic, I don't mean the next one after this. –grins evilly- Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who has so far read and reviewed this fanfic. I really appreciate all the support and feedback from everyone. :D So I do hope you all will enjoy the latest chp!
And with that, I bid you all night. –instantly sleeps on desk-
P.S. May relook the chp for mistakes tomorrow morning.
